June 2008 Archives

More follow-up to our Sunday column on the maple bat problem in the MLB (click on this link), comes this story on the Associated Press today:

By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Derek Jeter is astonished as he watches splintered pieces of shattered bats spinning around the infield like pinballs.

"It seems like this year more than any other year, the bats are flying all over the place. I can't remember a year where it's been this bad," he said Monday. "It's dangerous. Hopefully, somebody doesn't get hurt."

Jeter is an ash man, using Louisville Slugger models since he came up, and has never been tempted to make the switch to maple. Major League Baseball has started considering whether to ban maple bats, a move that would have to be done jointly with the players' association.

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Another take on the maple bat problem came today from Washington Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young, the former Oxnard's Rio Mesa High star, in a story (linked here) on the Nationals' MLB.com site.

"I'm scared," said Young, who uses maple bats.

Young said he had a large chunk of a shattered maple bat fly toward him in a game earlier this year while he was trying to make a play on a ball.

"I wound up making the play, but it's just, when you see the bat, the first thing you do is get the deer-in-headlights look," Young said. "You don't want to get hit with one of those; you don't want to get stabbed."

Young said he thinks the problem with the bats isn't what they're made of, but how they are made.

Now in his 12th professional season, Young said he sees many young players with poor weight-to-length differential, making their bats more top-heavy and negating the maple's density. It is that density that makes maple stronger than the formerly preferred ash, which many players agreed splinters too easily, though it rarely shatters.

Whatever the reason may be for maple bats' propensity for breaking, Young is not the only member of the Nationals to express concern about the dangers of shattering bats.

"Get rid of the maple," pitcher Shawn Hill said.

"Every year, it's getting worse and worse," added Jason Bergmann, standing next to Hill in the Nationals locker room Saturday. "We probably get four of five balls a game that are breaking bats. They're projectiles."

Earlier this month, Lenny Dykstra told me he was ready to sell his house. You know, that beast of a thing on the Sherwood Country Club that once belonged to Wayne Gretzky.
Lenny's good on his word.
The house -- 12,713 square feed, 8 bedrooms, 7 baths on 7 acres -- has now been listed by Sotheby's International in Brentwood (see the link here).
Asking price: $24.9 million.
"It's a compound; it's not a house," said Dykstra, the former All-Star outfielder. "I can go for a couple of days and not see any other family members. I found out I had a tennis court I didn't know I had. And I had to buy it completely furnished. I couldn't afford to buy furniture to fill this place. Are you kidding me?"
Janet Gretzky spent a lot of Wayne's cold, hard cash to make this place top of the line -- they had lived in another house in the Lake Sherwood tract before moving to this place up on a hill -- before they sold it to Dykstra a couple of years ago and then made their home in Arizona their primary residence.
Again, look at the slide show that realtors F. Ron Smith and Nick Segal have up on the listing.
Property ID#0353524 is listed as a "luxury single-family family home" at 1072 Newbern Court in Lake Sherwood, a "timeless estate, designed by architect Richard Landry, (sitting) atop a secluded promontory w/ panoramic views of Lake Sherwood community & the Country Club facilities. This 7 +/- acre gated compound, creates the perfect blend of old world grandeur w/ today's modern amenities which include Formal Grand Salon, Billiards room, Screening Room, Outdoor Verandas, Fitness Facility, Championship Tennis Court, 2 separate guest apartments, all set against the backdrop of manicured gardens & lawns."
All too much for Lenny and the Dykstras to handle, maybe even more so since son Cutter was drafted earlier this month by the Milwaukee Brewers out of Westlake High.
Still Lenny has the car wash in Simi Valley.

As we wrote in today's column (linked here) about the conundrum over the MLB's use of maple bats -- mostly, the affect these splintered objects have become as more than just weapons of mass distraction -- here's a better visual about what's going on here:

What can you do?
Check first the back of your ticket stub. The language is quite clear who's not at fault if you get hit by a flying bat (or ball, or whatever):

WARNING -- ASSUMPTION OF RISK:
By using this ticket and entering Dodger Stadium, the holder assumes all risk and danger incidental to the game of Baseball, whether such risks occur prior to, during, or subsequent to the actual playing of the game, including specifically (but not exclusively) the danger of being injured by thrown bats and thrown or batted balls. The holder further agrees that Los Angeles Dodgers LLC, Dodger Tickets LLC, the participating Clubs, and their agents and players are not liable for any injuries from such causes.

It says nothing, of course, about bats that are broken and fly into the stands -- only "thrown bats," which occasionally happen when the bats fly out of a batter's hands and land in the stands in tact.
This language, for now, is what protects the Dodgers from having to pay out any kind of insurance money to Sharon Rhodes of Sherman Oaks when her lawyers contacted the team after her injury suffered on April 25 at Dodger Stadium, when a piece of the bat belonging to Colorado's Todd Helton snapped off and hit her in the jaw. The family is still considering suing the bat company. Or someone.

Here's a link to the Yahoo.com story by Jeff Passan that revealed Rhodes' story a month ago.

Here's another link to a story from SI.com's Jack Donovan that gives the bat maker's opinion on the subject.

So what would happen in a jury trial, of you get 12 citizens sitting in the box deciding who's more at fault -- a fan who happened to get hit and killed by a sharred bat, or the team, based on this language in small print on the back of the ticket?
Are you willing to take that risk sitting in a seat so close to the field?

There was no question in Vin Scully's mind -- or voice -- as to what the proper call was after the Dodgers' Matt Kemp hit that spinning ground ball down the first base line in the bottom of the fifth inning Saturday's game against the Angels, one which Angels pitcher Jeff Weaver tried to field but couldn't.
Scully's call on the KCAL-Channel 9 broadcast:

"That looked like a run-away gyroscope. And let's see how they're gonna rule it. I mean, he's got a no-hitter in the fifth inning. A squbber ... look at this thing (on the replay) ... I mean, he (Weaver) has got to make that play and he doesn't."

The scoreboard then flashes a hit for Kemp.

"I can't believe they're gonna give Kemp a hit ... wow."

Then the scoreboard changes.

"Well we were gonna tell you all... Now they change it. OK, that's better. I mean, holy mackrel. This is the big leagues. You're supposed to make that play for sure. So Kemp is aboard on the error."

Thankfully, it got Scully on a tangent about the unspoken rule in baseball where you don't talk about a no-hitter in progress -- which Scully had already done in this case -- and how he and Mel Allen called Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

"Back in the '50s if you were doing a ballgame and someone was pitching a no hitter -- even in the fourth, fifth inning -- you had better not talk about it. And we were so intimidated, Mel Allen and I ... Mel did the first half (of Larson's perfect game) and what he did was, he would count the outs. He'd say, 'Well, that's the 12th consecutive out. ... that's the 14th consecutive out.' So by the time I got on (for the second half), I figured, well, that's good enough for him, that's sure good enough for me."

Finally:
Here's Scully's call as there is one out left and Saito was pitching to Kendrick:
"How many times crowds have stood and roared as a pitcher was pitching a no-hitter. This is in reverse. This is Alice in Wonderland, we've just gone through the mirror. ... (with the count 1-and-2) 55,784 seeing one of weirdest of the weird. ... (everyone) just mesmerized by the drama ...
(Kendrick doubles, Napoli then walks on five pitches; Willits comes up as a pinch hitter)
"It's great here, isn't it? It's really great. Well, maybe not if you're Billingsley (waiting to find out if he'll be the winning pitcher)."
(Willits works the count to 1-2, then swings and misses for strike three).
"Unbelieveable. And the Dodgers win a game without a hit. Leave it to the Dodgers."

UPDATE SUNDAY MORNING:
Scully said it to start Sunday's Dodgers-Angels telecast:
"Naturally, a lot of talk about last night, and our favorite headline happened to be in the Daily News this morning and it summed it up pretty well. It said: 'No hits, no problem.'"

LONDON (AP) -- Athletes looking for a performance boost appear to be turning to a little blue pill more usually taken for its off-the-field benefits: Viagra.
But experts are divided over whether it actually offers athletes an edge.
Some sports authorities say the drug is now finding a following among athletes. It isn't clear how many might be taking it in hopes of improving athletic performance.
It also has attracted the attention of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The agency is studying Viagra's effects in athletes, but hasn't yet banned it. Viagra is not on the International Olympic Committee's list of prohibited drugs, so athletes can take it at the Beijing Olympics.
Viagra, also known as sildenafil, is manufactured by Pfizer Inc. It originally was developed as a heart drug; its use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction was accidentally discovered.
But whether Viagra makes athletes faster, higher or stronger is uncertain.
"Just because you have more nitric oxide doesn't mean that you are going to be a better athlete," said Anthony Butch, director of the Olympic Analytical laboratory at UCLA. "If you have all the nitric oxide you need, and if you generate more from Viagra, it's not clear what effect that would have."
Still, some preliminary studies have shown that cyclists taking Viagra improved their performances by up to 40 percent.

After Saturday's two-hour practice that the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team had in Las Vegas, Kobe Bryant was asked about the rap song and video performed by former teammate Shaquille O'Neal, who rapped that "Kobe couldn't do without me."
Asked how he took the video, Bryant shook his head and said: "I didn't take it any kind of way whatsoever."

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Paul Byrd doesn't reveal anything new about using human growth hormone or provide any enlightenment on the subject in his new book.

"Free Byrd: The Power of a Liberated Life," deals mostly with how the Cleveland Indians' right-hander, a former Angels pitcher, strives to balance his strong religous beliefs with the day-to-day life in a baseball clubhouse.

"What I did learn was that writing on deadline scared me to death," Byrd said Friday before Cleveland opened a three-game interleague series against the Cincinnati Reds. "Facing the Yankees at Yankee Stadium? That's something I've prepared myself to handle.

"But when my editors moved up my deadline, it was nerve-wracking because I was writing it last December and didn't know what the commissioner's office was doing about me and HGH."

The final chapter is about how Byrd was at the center of controversy hours before Game 7 of last fall's AL Championship Series in Boston, when it was reported he had purchased HGH from 2002-05 to help control a problem with his pituitary gland.

Byrd has insisted all along that his use was legally prescribed. Nevertheless, he and others implicated in the Mitchell Report concerning drug use in baseball were under investigation all winter. All were granted amnesty in April.

In the book, Byrd does admit that he wondered if he doubled his prescribed dosage whether or not it would make him throw harder and enhance his career.

"I was able to say no to those tempting voices," Byrd wrote.

One of the more amusing chapters describes how Byrd, while pitching for Philadelphia, got into a skirmish with Atlanta's Eddie Perez. Phillies teammate Curt Schilling came to his rescue, much to Byrd's surprise.

"I just think it shocked me because at the time I thought Curt would be the last person on our team to go to battle and risk injury for me," Byrd wrote.

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore Ravens fans could see real ravens this season.
A trainer in Georgia is working with two eight-week old ravens, hoping to have them ready to fly around M&T Bank Stadium before home games this season. Ravens officials plan to have one of the birds fly out of the tunnel players use to run onto the field.
The Ravens' vice president for marketing, Gabrielle Dow, thought of the idea after seeing a trained hawk at a Seattle Seahawks game.
Trainer Daniel Walthers says he is even teaching the birds to mimic the words "touchdown," and "Go Ravens."
The birds are not native to Baltimore. They are an African variety because it is illegal to
keep or train migratory birds native to this country.

This of course brings up all kinds of problems, in our opinion.
Why doesn't every sports team try to find a mascot that's much closer in reality to its nickname? Then we could have real lions devouring real eagles, real bears mauling real Texans, real rams butting heads with real chargers (whatever that is).
Good luck finding a real saint.

(AP photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Art Pennington looks at a poster of himself from his playing days in the Negro League, in front of his flood-damaged home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

By JIM LITKE
AP Sports Writer

Baseball stole Art Pennington's future. The Cedar River washed away his past.
His house, his car, his clothes, nearly all his pictures, even one of his two dogs -- it was all lost to the Midwest floods. "Every damn thing I had just floated down the river," he said.
He is hardly alone: There are 10,000 or so others totaling up their losses just in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, perhaps 10 times as many across the waterlogged region. But possessions can be replaced.
"A big part of my life is gone for good," he said.
His skin color cost Pennington a shot at the major leagues as a young man. He flourished instead in the Negro, Cuban, Mexican and Venezuelan leagues in the 1940s and, when baseball in America finally opened the door to blacks, in minor leagues across the country.
Six decades later, the water came and carried off nearly every bit of proof that Pennington was the equal of just about anybody who played anywhere he went.
Newspaper clippings, programs, autographed photos from Mickey Mantle, Sal
Maglie and a dozen other big leaguers who assured him he would play alongside them someday, scrapbooks that gave his living room the look and feel of a baseball museum.
Last year, Billy Valencia, Pennington's agent and his guardian angel, talked the old man into letting him scan some of the albums to create a digital archive. But that was just a small fraction of what he had.
"He used to carry a camera to Negro League get-togethers and he had priceless videos of Cool Papa Bell and some other guys, talking and laughing and horsing around, and now they're all gone," Valencia said.
Now, a month past his 85th birthday, Pennington wonders where he'll find the cash or the strength to begin picking up the pieces.
"When you get old, you can't keep moving. You have to stay where people know you. I'm
not doing too good, but I'm lucky to have a few good friends. Without them," Pennington chuckled, "I'd really be up a creek."

If you happen to be collecting scribbles at "Autograph Alley" before Sunday's Dodgers-Angels game from Dodger Stadium, and you see a bunch of ESPN cameras taping stuff, it's just part of this summer "SportsCenter"-filler contest called "TitleTown, USA."

Run away. Run far away.

ESPN has decided that 20 communities in our country will be in a contest to determine America's "TitleTown" by a vote of the fans.

Kind of like what The Sporting News does once a year to decide which town has the best sports city. Except they don't call it "TitleTown." So this is way, way different.

It's kinda a lot like what ESPN did a year ago when trying to pick the "Who's Now" athlete. So starting July 23, fans can start voting to their heart's delight. If the turnout for L.A. voters is anything like how Dodger fans have voted on the MLB All-Star participants (you see any Dodgers in the top five for any position?) then it's likely another futile effort.

The last of the 20 cities to be named in the hunt for the "title" will come today.

In addition to L.A., the cities are (and I can't believe I'm actually typing this): Boston; Chicago; ittsburgh; Knoxville, Tenn.; Valdosta, Ga.; Parkersburg, W. Va.; Columbus, Ohio; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; the San Francisco bay area; Green Bay, Wisc.; Louisville, Ky.; Gainesville, Fla.; Detroit; Williansport, Pa. ... there's a few more announced, but we've lost track. Intentionally.

Please don't read on for more on this.

ESPN imported Andy Gray said during Wednesday's broadcast of the Euro 2008 semifinal game between Germany-Turkey semifinal, as he was trying to figure out who had won while everyone was in the dark because of a power outage at the international feed headquarters: "This tournament should come with a health warning for every fan."
The other warning: Caution: You may become addicted.

Adding to today's media column, linked here, which covers such matters as ESPN's Euro 2008, Fox's hiring of Michael Strahan and other miscellanous corner kicks:

==An explanation again by ESPN executive producer Jed Drake on what happened with the interrupted coverage of the Euro 2008 semifinal Wednesday between Germany and Turkey:
"The international broadcast center in Vienna suffered from a very strong weather front. The interesting thing was if you looked at the stadium, which was in Switzerland, it looked as everything was fine. The weather tripped three breakers simultaneously from what we call the shore power source -- that's the power grid that services the city with its power as well as the backups and eventually goes to the backup of a power generator. That's a setup common to us and the rest of the world.
"But for reasons that have been explaned to me via email, a defect in the breakers that resulted in it not switching over to the backups or the generators cause the electronic equipment to surge, like what happens with your home computer, and it shut down. Then it had to restart. These mobile units, whether it's from us or anywhere else where the brains are, are really large computers. Once they shut down, they're like PCs that take a while to get fired up again. But when you have so much of a surge because of more electrical storms, it got wacked again. That's what happened.
"When we do a Monday Night Football game, we run off generator power. We don't rely on shore power, but use generators that isolate us from anything like that happening to a city or stadium."

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- U.S. newspapers got a failing grade for gender diversity in their sports departments and a C for racial diversity, according to a study released Thursday.
Seventy-eight percent of the staffs at Associated Press Sports Editors newspapers and
Web sites are white men, the study found.
Just 5 percent of sports staffs are black men and just under 3 percent are Latino men.
Only 11.5 percent are women.
The report was done by Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.
"I don't think anybody thought it was as stark as it turned out to be in 2006 and 2008," Lapchick said.
Among sports editors, 88 percent are white men, with just under 2 percent black men,
slightly more than 2 percent Latino men and nearly 6 percent white women. There was
just one black female sports editor among the 341 newspapers surveyed.
"I know we were all hoping for better results but it should serve as a constant reminder as to how far we have to go and to why we can never give up the fight," John Cherwa, an Orlando Sentinel editor who is Tribune Co.'s sports coordinator, said in the report. "There are fewer hiring opportunities than there used to be."

They'll be talking about the future -- considering the NBA Draft is taking place in the hours before it comes on -- but primarily the "Lakers Live: Season In Review" that FSN West offers up tonight at 8 p.m. will be, as the title suggests, more discussion about what might have been during the NBA Finals.
Bill Macdonald moderates, Stu Lantz and Norn Nixon provide some deep thoughts, and Joel Meyers, the team's play-by-play man, will also be on the set. Why? To give play-by-play? Isn't his job to call the action, not break it down as if .... oh, right, that's what he does anyway on the air.
Enjoy. It sets up as a roundtable rehash that's could almost be as breathtaking as watching dogs playing poker.

We ran down the pros and cons of the new hybrid sport of Beach Tennis when it hit the Santa Monica shorelines last summer, and there's another local chance to see it played this weekend in Hermosa Beach when the "SoCal Series Slam" comes about a block south of the Hermosa pier for a stop.
The top pro division teams from across the country are competing for $10,000 in cash, and one of the favorite on the men's side has to be Hermosa Beach resident Joe Testa, who competes with partner Bertrand Coulet of France.
Testa won the 2007 "SoCal Series Slam" with Ozzie Osswald, while Coulet took the 2007 "Sunshine State Slam" in Miami with Matteo Marighella of Italy.
On the women's side, Laura and Lisa Maloney of San Diego are the favorites.
The premils start Saturday at 8:30 a.m., with elimination rounds Sunday starting at 9 a.m. The finals start at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
An amateur event starts Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
It's just too bad this event couldn't have been coordinated to run on the same weekend as the AVP played in Hermosa Beach back in early June. The built-in crowd would have been perfect for Beach Tennis spectators.
More info: www.beachtennisusa.net.

One of the things the graphic experts at ESPN2 are trying for this year's Wimbledon coverage is a new way of conveying the score of a live match as a strip across the top of the screen.
Confused yet?
Take this morning's Roger Federer-Robin Soderling second-round match as a poor example of what we're seeing:

If you just tuned into the ESPN2 coverage above, you'd guess Federer is serving (because of the yellow arrow), but would you necessarily guess that he's leading? Of course he is. But play along.
Does the (30-0) 6-3, 2-1 easily relay to you that Federer has that lead in the match?

Now here's the same match available on ESPN Interactive TV, supplied by DirecTV Channel 703:

The traditional stacked score box in the top left corner makes it much easier to decipher, but you don't know the score of the first set, right?

ABC's Jimmy Kimmel promoised to eat the headband of Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce if his team beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
Kimmel made good on it (sorta of):

Pierce appears on Kimmel's show tonight. Expect more hijinx.
Mike Myers is also on the show (12:05 a.m., technically Thursday morning), to promote the terribly lacking-at-the-box-office flick, "The Love Guru." There's a reason why "Kung Fu Panda" had a bigger box office take than the debut of "Love Guru" (see BoxOfficeMojo.com here)." Fewer wee-wee jokes.

More media followup Tuesday to the stuff that Don Imus and Shaquille O'Neal did to put themselves all over the sports-talk radio and ESPN "SportsCenter":

==Drew Sharpe, the Detroit Free press columnist, said it during ESPN "Outside The Lines" panel discussion on what to make of the comments by Imus and O'Neal:

"The problem I think has to do with a lot of us in the media ... We're giving them this type of attention here. Did anyone even know Imus was still on the radio? Do you have any interest in what Shaquille O'Neal has to say right now? His team got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Why should we care about him? . . . They're doing this deliberately because they know it's our media culture, the way that it is right now, we're gonna jump on it."

=="Outside The Lines" also mentioned a poll it was conducting at ESPN SportsNation asking for voters' reaction to the Imus and O'Neal stories.
As of Tuesday night, 52 percent of the more than 73,000 voters said they "were not offended by either." Only 14 percent they were "offended by both."

==It was also interesting to note the scroll during Tuesday's ESPN2 programming all day that updated Imus' explanation for his comments about Adam "Pacman" Jones. It finished with the line:

"Imus is unlikely to be disciplined according to radio station WABC-AM, which is not affiliated with ABC or ESPN."

Nice way of covering your corporate rear ends -- distance yourself ASAP. During other reports during the day on ESPN "SportsCenter," the anchor was specific to say that WABC was owned by Citadel Broadcasting.

The Celtics' latest NBA title made it to the Sports Illustrated cover story that arrive in subscribers' mailboxes this week.

Perhaps you can look past the cover, flip it over and get to Chirs Ballard's "Point After" piece on Milton Bradley. The former Dodger and current Texas Rangers problem, who tried to "introduce" himself to the Kansas City Royals' TV announcers after their "negative" comment during a game, has inspired Ballard to create a Milton Bradley board game.
If it looks like you're playing the game without some cards, you're not. Part of the fun of this Milton Bradley game is you never play with a full deck.
First one to lose all his marbles wins.

OK, Shaq, it was only a joke.

Freestyle on this: Your special deputy's badge in Maricopa County, Ariz., is null and void.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the Phoenix Suns center's use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language in a rap against Kobe Bryant found by TMZ.com and circulated in the media left him no choice.

Arpaio made Shaq a special deputy in January and promoted him to colonel of his largely ceremonial posse earlier this month.

"I want his two badges back," Arpaio told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they're fired. I don't condone this type of racial conduct."

The video shows O'Neal asking Bryant "tell me how my a** tastes," and mentiones other derogatory terms.

"I was freestyling. That's all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever," O'Neal told ESPN.com Monday.

"Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I don't think that either conduct should be out there publicly, even if media wasn't there," Arpaio said.

O'Neal previously served as a reserve officer with the Miami Beach Police Department while playing for the Miami Heat. He also volunteered with the Tempe Police Department after being traded to the Suns in February. With the Lakers in 2001, O'Neal was also talking classes to join the Sheriff's Reserves on Harbor Patrol. That's him above with a cardboard cutout of himself -- presumably a recruiting tool for those who wanted to spend some time in San Pedro looking for those swimming with the fishes.

Fox Sports decision makers David Hill and Ed Goren said they weren't convinced of anyone joining a successful NFL pregame show as an extra wheel until Michael Strahan came along.
Starting in September, the recently retired New York Giants defensive end will be the fifth wheel with Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson and host Curt Menefee.
"There's a likeability factor that's important," said Goren, the network's president and executive producer. "The guys on your pannel are invited into your home and it's more personal. Michael is more than just liked, he's loved by a lot of people and he's earned that through the years as his great character has come through. All this combines to he's a perfect fit."
Hill, the Fox chairman, adds: "You don't make changes to something good. But Michael proved over the last five or six yeras that, of al lthe poeple who've come out of the NFL, he's the only one Ed and I thought could work with the show and add to it. And this isn't an easy gig. Instead of studying one team every Sunday, he needs to know every team. The amount of studying he has to do is 20 times whe he's done in the past.
"And if he needs a shot to the chops, Howie and Terry can do it."
Strahan, 36, retired after 15 season after the Giants won the Super Bowl in February.
He automatically brings the average age of the show down a notch, if advertisers are worried about the demographics.
"Definitely that youthful factor, just coming off the field, may attract certain people to watch the show, to tune in," Strahan said. "I think that was definitely one of the things they were going after."
Strahan says he doesn't compare himself to another ex-Giant who joined a network studio -- Tiki Barber -- who was critical of his former teammates, especially quarterback Eli Manning.
Look how that turned out.
"We're two different people with two different opinions," said Strahan, who sat out last season's training camp while that controvery brewed. "Tiki left under different circumstances and I did. Not to say he was right or wrong. But I have a clear head and a clear heart. i'm not looking to criticize any team or player and be maliciouis about it. I'll tell the truth. I respect Tiki for the opinions he gave, but if anything, it caused Eli to come out of his shell and the team stood behind him more than in the past. Other than that, the guys just went about their business. And in this business, I know first-hand that when you're out of the locker room, you're out of that locker room in a lot of ways."

It's apparently an impromptu rap that Shaquille O'Neal performed on stage at at Greenwich Village's Village Underground Sunday night in New York, but the former Lakers center seems to have worked out some snarky lyrics directed at former teammate Kobe Bryant and his recent failed attempt to win the NBA title.
The four-minute video that popped up on TMZ.com shows Shaq venting on several things from the past that only seems to refuel his fued with Kobe.
The lines are such as:
== "You know how I be ... Last week Kobe couldn't do without me."
== "Kobe (bleep), tell me how my a** tastes."
== "I'm a horse. Kobe ratted me out ... That's why I'm getting divorced. He said Shaq gave a bitch a mil. I don't do that 'cause my name's Shaquille. I love 'em, I don't leave 'em. I got a vasectomy, now I can't breed 'em."
(Apparently a reference to Bryant's 2004 arrest when he told police that O'Neal paid up to $1 million in hush money to various women.)

It was Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer who broke the news earlier this month that Michael Strahan had passed on a $4 million salary and retired after 15 seasons with the New York Giants.
So why shouldn't it be Fox who scoops him up as its next studio analyst?
They will.
Fox announced a press conference for tomorrow morning to "make a major announcement regarding its 2008 NFL coverage," with Fox Sports chairman David Hill and president Ed Goren on the call.
If this isn't an announcement for Strahan's hiring, they'll have some explaining to do.

UPDATE:
SI.com's Richard Deitsch says he has confirmed the Strahan hiring by Fox, and as a studio analyst since he lives in Hermosa Beach and will need only a short hop to the L.A. studios on a weekly basis.

Interestingly, Fox is willing to bring Strahan on after he had a scrap on the air with Best Damn Sports Show co-host Tom Arnold on the set:

Aw, that was only an April Fool's joke. But a good one. If only Strahan really smoked Arnold.

For those who already flip their lids over the different style of MLB caps available out there, there's another one to buy that'll actually help a cause.
The MLB announced today a program that will assist a group called "Welcome Back Veterans," which gives back to the men and women returning from tours of military duty in the Middle East who have any kind of health issues or adjustments in their lives that are necessary.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of MLB caps with a red, white and blue flag pattern over the team logo will go to the organization.
Or don't buy a hat, and donate something on your own.
The cap for the Dodgers (at this link) and the Angels (at this link) run $34.99.

A clip from George Carlin, being interviewed by Bob Costas, during his HBO show in 2002:

Costas: "You grew up as a Brooklyn Dodger fan. Where were you when Bobby Thomson hit the home run that broke all of Brooklyn's heart in '51?"

Carlin: "I was sitting at home listening on a little Crosly Radio and I had my little cat in my hand, a little kitten, it was a black cat and I named him Ezzard, after Ezzard Charles, who I think had beaten (Joe) Walcott earlier that year."

Costas: "He was heavyweight champion of the world."

Carlin: "Right. So I had Ezzard in my lap, and I love animals and I'm not cruel to them at all but when Bobby Thomson hit that home run and I heard Russ Hodges describing it, I tossed the cat. I didn't throw him in a mean way, I tossed him in disgust, and I looked over and saw him heading for the window, an open window and we had two stories, plus the backyard in the apartment house. So it was a three-story drop. Fortunately for Ezzard, the curtains were there. He grabbed the curtains, then swung out over the yard, and swung back in and I went and got him."

Costas: "He had the good claws."

Carlin: "Yeah, he has the good claws, he had good hands. And he lived."

UPDATE:

HBO says it will replay many of the concerts that Carlin did for the network over the years, starting in 1977 with a show at USC. (A list of Carlin's HBO shows at this link.)

Here are a list of 11 replays on HBO2:
Wednesday
8 p.m.: George Carlin at USC (1977)
9:30 p.m.: George Carlin Again! (1978)
11 p.m.: Carlin at Carnegie (1983)
Midnight: Carlin on Campus (1984)
1 a.m.: Playin' with Your Head (1986)

Thursday
8 p.m.: What Am I Doing in New Jersey? (1988)
9 p.m.: Doin' It Again (1990)
10 p.m.: Jammin' in New York (1992)
11 p.m.: Back in Town (1996)
12:05 a.m.: You Are All Diseased (1999)
1 a.m.: It's Bad for Ya (2008)

Also, replay of his last concert, "It's Bad For Ya," is on HBO Friday at 9 p.m.

Only the late, great George Carlin, who died suddenly Sunday at age 71, could lay out the obvious differences between baseball and football, and make it sound as if anyone who likes the horse hide instead of the pig skin had real issues to deal with.

Baseball is a 19th century pastoral game; football is a 20th century technologal struggle.

Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, blocking, piling on, late hitting, unnecessary roughness and personal fouls. Baseball has ... the sacrifice.

Don't tell us, show us:

On a personal note, I was in Las Vegas back in February to cover an indoor beach volleyball tournament at the Orleans Arena. I had already filed my story for the Sunday edition, and started to watch the beach players compete at 7:30 p.m. About 15 minutes in, I sensed I really didn't need to be there -- the story was done, the results didn't really matter -- so I wandered over to the casino to see what time Carlin was performing in the hotel. It started at 8 p.m. It was 7:55 p.m. I pulled out the credit card and asked if there were any tickets left. The ticket person said there were only single seats left; no two seats together. That's fine, I said. What do you have? I ended up sitting maybe three rows back, right in the middle.
The beauty of hearing Carlin in a live setting -- it goes back to when I attended a concert of his more than 25 years ago at USC when he performed on campus, and did the entire seven dirty words -- is priceless. Even better was watching older couples get up in the middle of the concert and leave because they couldn't handle the content. These were the same people laughing hysterically at the opening comic who did the really pedestrian material about ordering food in a restraunt, etc.
Carlin started on about how long you keep someone's phone number in your book after they die. His rule: six months.
How ironic. Had I ever had his number, it would never be erased. Kind of like Chick Hearn's.
That same concert, nearly word for word, was done as a recent HBO special. Hopefully, it'll be replayed.

As for the "Baseball-Football" rant, here's a more complete transcript at this Baseball Almanac site. Also, Amazon.com has this MP3 download from Carlin doing the routine originally on his "An Evening With Wally Lando" album released in 1975. The bit expands into another track called "Good Sports," where he goes on about how in football they moved the hashmarks in, but "the guys found 'em and smoked 'em anyway."

In the final game of the inaugural season for your Los Angeles Lightning of the International Basketball League, guard Phil Givens was almost as hot as the weather outside.
The 6-foot-2 guard hit 57 points in the Lightning's 140-124 win over Arizona on Saturday night in hot n' sweaty Thousand Oaks.
Givens, whose season average coming into the game was 13.7 points a game, had a chance to tie the IBL high for points in a game this season, but missed a free throw with 21 seconds left.
The Lightning finished the 20-game schedule 9-11, but still head to the IBL West division playoffs next weekend in Seattle.
Givens had 21 points in the first quarter, hitting 9 of 10 field goals, as the Lightning led 33-22.
"All the other cats on the team know I can play," said Givens, who once scored 54 in a prep summer league. "They told me, 'Don't think, just do what you do.' I can score the ball and that's what I focused on."
Ronell Mingo added 27 points and 13 rebounds. Greg Minor scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and Billy Knight had all 15 of his points in the opening half, helping the Lightning to a 62-48 lead.
League assist leader Kamran Sufi had 13 assists and center Keith Closs collected nine blocks, eight rebounds and seven points.

Your Los Angeles Amazons of the National Womens Football Association rolled over the Phoenix Prowlers 41-14 on Saturday night to finish the regular season 8-0 and secure the top seed in the Southern Conference.
Deana Guidry led the Amazons with 252 yards rushing and four touchdowns, while Ashley Moody returned a kickoff 63 yards for a touchdown.
The Amazons have a first-round bye in the playoffs and host the winner of Saturday's Pensacola-Kentucky playoff game on Saturday, July 5 at Bassett Stadium in La Puente at 7 p.m.
A link to the Amazon's final regular-season statistics.

A link to the BBC site sent to us from a loyal soccer reader, a clip from the Euro 2008 tournament where those sitting on the Dutch bench seem to be accusing teammate Rafael van der Vaart of ... you figure it at this link.
This must be the proper way to keep the bench warm.

NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller issued an apology Friday after viewers complained that comments made Sunday during the U.S. Open about Rocco Mediate could be construed as anti-Italian slurs, according to a story posted by Neil Best in New York Newsday.
"I apologize to anyone who was offended by my remarks," Miller said. "My intention was to convey my affection and admiration for Rocco's 'everyman' qualities and had absolutely nothing to do with his ethnicity. I chose my words poorly and in the future will be more careful."
Miller said Mediate, as he competed with Tiger Woods during the final round of the tournament, "looks like the guy who cleans Tiger's swimming pool," and later added, "Guys with the name Rocco don't get on the trophy, do they?"
The Order Sons of Italy commission for social justice contacted NBC and demanded an on-air apology and suspension of Miller, saying in a news release that "if Johnny Miller had made a similar remark about Tiger Woods, he would have been fired."
The New York Times also reported that the chairman of the National Italian American Foundation contacted NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol to say: "We are certain that NBC and Mr. Miller meant no harm and was simply having some fun at the expense of Italian Americans. Nonetheless, this type of humor is problematic as it reinforces a demeaning and damaging stereotype about an entire ethnic group."

The Culver City-based NFL Network and ESPN are talking about a partnership that could involve content sharing and pave the way for the league-owned network to land a better beachhead in the cable channel world.
The Associated Press is reporting that a deal, reported first in today's Wall Street Journal, was instigated with NFL Network head man Steve Bornstein, who used to be chairman of ESPN, according to a person who requested anonymity.
NFL Network spokesman Dennis Johnson said only that the company is "in talks with ESPN and our other broadcast partners all the time on a wide range
of issues."

By Josef Federman
Associated Press

JERUSALEM -- Israel's professional baseball league is coming back for a second season after a tumultuous inaugural campaign that left it on the brink of collapse.
The Israel Baseball League said Thursday it would begin play on July 27, about a month behind its original schedule and in abbreviated form. The league will consist of four teams --the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, the Modi'in Miracle, the Jerusalem Gold and the Netanya Tigers -- down from six last year. The length of the season is also cut in half to 20 games.
Still, simply returning to the ball field is an accomplishment for the fledgling league, which suffered from low attendance, financial difficulties and a mass defection of executive board members last year.
"While it is important to acknowledge, correct and learn from the mistakes that happened in year one, at the same time, we cannot lose sight of the incredible accomplishments that were attained," said Dan Rootenberg, a former player and the league's new president.
"The goal of having a three-week season this summer is to keep the momentum going, build on the fan base that was created last summer ... and bring back the high level of talent. We hope that all of this will lay the groundwork for a 45-game season in 2009 and beyond."
The league said it has received financial backing from a group of Boston businessman to pay off remaining debt, including some unpaid player salaries, and provide funds for future play.

Those openly weeping in their oatmeal over Tiger Woods' injury-related hibernation for the rest of the '08 calendar year can use this opportunity to go over to John Ziegler's First Church of Tiger Woods site and begin to say a few prayers to the golf gods.
Ziegler's latest message to the parishoners:
"From the religious perspective there are two things to keep in mind here.
"First, Tiger does turn 33 this year, which is a year that was obviously not good for Jesus of Nazareth as well as many other bright lights that were extinguished far too early. The Pastor has always feared that something tragic would befall Tiger and take him (or at least his talents) away from us prematurely. The Pastor certainly hopes that this situation is not that event.
"Secondly, if there is an obvious lesson here it is to appreciate what you have when you still have it because no matter how great and indestructible it may seem, it can all be gone in an instant.
"Is that the lesson Tiger is trying to teach us through this? Who knows. But there is no doubt we should savor every moment we have to witness his greatness and certainly appreciate even more what he accomplished at the U.S. Open."

Now, on to more delicate matters after polishing off today's media column at this link:

==Hot off the Internet machine from Onion Sports:

Man Who Used Stick To Roll Ball Into Hole In Ground Praised For His Courage

SAN DIEGO--A man who used several different bent sticks to hit a ball to an area comprised of very short grass surrounding a hole in the ground was praised for his courage Monday after he used a somewhat smaller stick to gently roll the ball into the aforementioned hole in fewer attempts than his competitors.
"What guts, what confidence," ESPN commentator Scott Van Pelt said of the man, who was evidently unable to carry his sticks himself, employing someone else to hold the sticks and manipulate the flag sticking out of the hole in the ground while he rolled the ball into it.
"You have to be so brave, so self-assured, so strong mentally to [roll a ball into a hole in the ground]. Amazing."
The man in question apparently hurt his knee during this activity.

Two local sporting events to consider off the beaten path:

==Saturday, your Los Angeles Amazons, riding a 7-0 record in the National Womens Football Association South-West Division, play their final regular-season home game Saturday against the Phoenix Prowlers at Bassett High in La Puente at 7 p.m. Having already clinched the division title, the Amazons will likely be the No. 1 seed in the Western Division heading into the playoffs, having outscored their opponents 320-20 so far.
The Amazon's victories include 90-0 over Modesto and 62-0 and 75-6 over Arizona. Since those teams folded during the season, the Amazons were credited with 2-0 victories over each team the last two weeks.
Deana Guidry, pictured, leads the Amazons with 691 yards rushing on 40 attempt (17.3 yards per carry) and 14 touchdowns.
The Amazons are gearing up for the playoffs with two scheduled home dates on July 5 and 12.

==Friday and Saturday, your Los Angeles Lightning of the International Basketball League concludes its first season with games against the Arizona Flame. Both are at 7:30 p.m. at the Cal Lutheran gym in Thousand Oaks.
Lamond Murray, the former Clippers forward, leads the Lightning and is third in the league in scoring at 26.5 a game, and leads the league with 12.2 rebounds a contest. Guard Kamran Sufi leads the league in assists at 11.4.
The Lightning (7-11) are coming off a four-game losing streak from a road trip through the Midwest. They lost to Battle Creek 104-99 last Sunday.
Five of the L.A. players participated in last Thursday's All-Star Game in Gary, Ind. Lightning guard Billy Knight, the former UCLA standout, won the 3-point shooting contest held during halftime.
Thursday, the Lightning signed another former Clipper, 7-foot-3 center Keith Closs, to play with the team for the last two games. That gives the Lightning four players with NBA experience, in addition to Murray, Toby Bailey and Fred Vinson.

According to those who know such things, Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Torre, Fernando Valenzuela, Don Newcombe, Maury Wills, Eric Karros, Russell Martin, Ron Cey ... oh, and caretakers Frank and Jamie McCourt ... will be gathered at Hollywood and Highland on Friday at 11 a.m. to see a star put on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to honor the Dodgers.

They call these things an "Award of Excellence," to acknowledge "significant contributions to the community of Los Angeles and world culture and entertainment."
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerece says that the Dodgers are the first sports franchise to ever receive such an honor.

That's gotta bring a warm glow to the Lakers' organization.

The ceremony comes one day before the Dodgers' annual Hollywood Stars Game -- an tradition that once included the likes of Frank Sinatra, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon and Billy Crystal turning double plays in a hard-ball contest, then morphed into Tony Danza injuring himself, and is now is highlighted by such things as James Van der Beek tearing down a temporary outfield fence hauling in a routine-hit softball hit by some soap opera stand-in.

Scully, as you may know, already has his star on the Walk of Fame, bestowed back in 1982 (at 6675 Hollywood Blvd.), just a month before he went into Baseball's Hall of Fame.

When the American Film Institute got around Tuesday night to ranking the Top 10 sports movies of all time in its CBS special, "AFI's 10 Top 10" -- if you flipped over there at about 8 p.m. when the Lakers were getting smoked, you'd have seen it -- it opened itself up for some backlash by omitting some classics, but including a couple of other suspects that we suspect were the result of ... who knows what.

Their list:
1. "Raging Bull"
2. "Rocky"
3. "The Pride of the Yankees"
4. "Hoosiers"
5. "Bull Durham"
6. "The Hustler"
7. "Caddyshack"
8. "Breaking Away"
9. "National Velvet"
10. "Jerry Maguire"

Like I need Brad Garrett, Vanessa Williams, Rob Reiner and Ben Gazarra to tell me why "Raging Bull" is the best sports movie ever.

You've got your own Top 10 list. It's all subjective. But there is a rhyme and a reason to it.
AFI says it defines "sports" as a genre of films with protagonists who play athletics or other games of competition.
Like Jerry Maguire played .... oh, we'll get back to that.

Randy Williams, who recently came out with his book, "Sports Cinema: 100 Movies: The Best of Hollywood's Athletic Heroes, Losers, Myths and Misfits" has his Top 10:

1. "The Hustler"
2. "Bull Durham
3. "This Sporting Life"
4. "Chariots of Fire"
5. "Raging Bull"
6. "Olympia"
7. "Rocky"
8. "Breaking Away"
9: "Requiem for a Heavyweight"
10. "Slap Shot"

As for "Jerry Maguire"? No. 45 on Williams' list. Which is pretty high, actually. Jerry Maguire had us at "Good bye." We suspect "Maguire" made it into the Top 10 because Cuba Gooding Jr. was the star who ran down the list for AFI. But then, we suspect a lot of other inconsistencies in these lists, depending on what the criteria was for these entries.

Says Williams of the AFI list:
"We live in era of specialists. Though I don't like that we annoint expert status so easily in all walks of life -- and I don't consider myself one, but rather I classify myself as an ongoing and eager doctoral student whose professors are the filmmakers themselves along with their films -- I would like to know if AFI uses the same judges for each genre. In any event, what are the qualifications?
"I'd be more inclined to view a list of the best romance or horror movies, etc., from those that have written, directed, and performed in the specific genre, especially those that have done so on multiple occasions -- the equivalents of Michael Ritchie, Ron Shelton or Mark Ciardi in sports cinema -- or those critics that have viewed a high percentage of them and interviewed the filmmakers."

You've got your own opinions, right? Type 'em in...

Courtesy of www.BodogLife.com.

Odds to win the 2009 NBA Championship

Boston Celtics: 7/2
Lakers: 5/1
Detroit Pistons 6/1
San Antonio Spurs 8/1
New Orleans Hornets 11/1
Orlando Magic 14/1
Houston Rockets 15/1
Utah Jazz 15/1
Cleveland Cavaliers 16/1
Chicago Bulls 20/1
Phoenix Suns 20/1
Dallas Mavericks 25/1
Denver Nuggets 25/1
Portland Trailblazers 25/1
Washington Wizards 25/1
Golden State Warriors 40/1
Miami Heat 40/1
Atlanta Hawks 50/1
Charlotte Bobcats 50/1
New Jersey Nets 50/1
New York Knicks 50/1
Philadelphia 76ers 50/1
Toronto Raptors 50/1
Indiana Pacers 75/1
Clippers 100/1
Memphis Grizzlies 100/1
Milwaukee Bucks 100/1
Minnesota Timberwolves 100/1
Sacramento Kings 100/1
Seattle Supersonics 100/1

Hope you didn't delete that Monday U.S. Open playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate. Because that's all you'll have to watch of Tiger for the rest of this calendar year.
The Associated Press reports within the last hour:

Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the season because of surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left knee, an injury he has been dealing with the last 10 months despite winning nine of 12 tournaments.

Woods also said he suffered a double stress fracture of his left tibia while preparing to return to the PGA Tour last month, which forced him to miss the Memorial and was the source of his pain at Torrey Pines when he won the U.S. Open.

He had arthroscopic surgery April 15 to clean out cartilage in his left knee, bypassing ACL surgery with hopes it could get him through the 2008 season. But going 91 holes for his 14th career major made it impossible to play any longer.

"Now, it is clear that the right thing to do is to listen to my doctors, follow through with this surgery and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee," Woods said.

Editor's note: Woods actually made the announcement on his website, linked here.

Woods was last seen in public late Monday afternoon walking with a pronounced limp across Torrey Pines toward the parking lot, the U.S. Open trophy in his arms. Upcoming surgery makes his 14th major title even more staggering -- despite the stress fractures, he managed to win a U.S. Open that required 91 holes over five days.

Woods played only seven times worldwide this year and won five of them. He will miss a major championship for the first time in his career and will not be available for the Ryder Cup in September.

This is also the cover shot of this week's Sports Illustrated. This is his 18th cover appearance -- which still keeps him chasing Jack Nicklaus.

This is the list of SI's all-time cover appearances:
1. Michael Jordan: 49
2. Muhammad Ali: 37
3. Magic Johnson: 23
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jack Nicklaus: 22
6. Tiger Woods: 18

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Cricket officials hope that allowing technology to help players challenge umpiring decisions will improve the game.
Cricket will use the challenge system on a trial basis during India's three-test and five limited-overs international tour of Sri Lanka next month, taking the lead of tennis, which has used TV technology to allow players to challenge decisions in Grand Slam events since 2006.
International Cricket Council chief executive David Richardson hopes the move will cut down on incorrect calls.
"Our elite and international panel umpires already ensure the vast majority of decisions made in any test or ODI are correct but we want to see if we can enhance the game further by reducing or removing the few clearly incorrect ones," Richardson said Tuesday.
Like tennis, each side will be allowed three challenges in each innings, which Richardson said would eliminate "frivolous challenges and, instead, only seek a referral to decisions that, it is quickly clear, are highly likely to be incorrect." The number of challenges remains intact if a decision is overturned using the system.
A player can request the review of any decision taken by the on-field umpires except a "Timed Out," which dictates the maximum time a batsman is allowed to reach the crease at the fall of a wicket. The appeals can be made only by the batsman subject to the umpire's original decision or the captain of the fielding side, each indicating it with a "T'' sign with both forearms at shoulder height.
"Once the series is over we will conduct a thorough review of the process before deciding whether the trial was successful and worth persevering with," Richardson said.
Sri Lanka cricket chief executive Duleep Mendis, who led Sri Lanka to its first test series win in 1985, backed the decision.
"As a past player we used to say that good and bad decisions would even themselves out, but times have changed," Mendis said. "The stakes are much higher now for all concerned and if the technology is available then why not use it?"
The test series starts July 23 in Colombo. The one-day series begins Aug. 8.

For those unclear how baseball found its roots in cricket, maybe you can brush up on that at this link, then consider how long it will take for MLB to get on board for a replay system.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- For now, the scarlet and gray of Ohio State are not colors for Pink.

Columbus, Ohio-based Victoria's Secret is coming out with sweat pants, tank tops and panties featuring logos of UCLA, the University of Michigan, Harvard and other schools.

But not Ohio State, its neighbor in Columbus, at least not yet.

The school is treading carefully because Leslie Wexner, the CEO and chairman of Limited Brands Inc., parent company of Victoria's Secret, also serves on Ohio State's board of trustees.

University director of licensing Rick Van Brimmer said Ohio State needs to be cautious about perceptions of conflict of interest.

The decision has nothing to do with the clothing sold by Victoria's Secret, known for its lingerie and racy ads, Wexner said.

Thanks to Mike Myers, the Kings made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. With Justin Timberlake as their goalie.
In a flashback to the 1993 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, when the Kings and Wayne Gretzky snuck past the Toronto Maple Leafs to make it to the finals against Montreal, the two teams are back in the spotlight in the new Myers' flick, "The Love Guru," which hits theatres Friday.

Flashing back to the most recent NHL standings, both the Kings (in the West) or the Maple Leafs (in the East) need any help they can get these days just to make the playoffs. With a large assist from Hollywood, it's happened.
And to even suspend reality any further, the star hockey player in the film is an African American.
Here's the story line:
Guru Pitka (Myers), the "second-best guru in India" who specalizes in celebrity romance, is contacted by Toronto Maple Leafs owner Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) because star player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) has gone in the tank. The cause: Roanoke's wife, Prudence (Meagan Good) left him and is now datings Kings legendary goalie Jacques "Le Coq" Grande (Timberlake).
Read that name again. Slowly.
Oh, and the Leafs' coach is Cherkov (Verne Troyer).
Myers, who grew up a Maple Leafs fan, now gets to put his team in the Stanley Cup finals without any heartbreak. That's the screenwriter's perrogative. Note the name of the Leafs' owner and the "Bullard Curse" -- a direct spinoff former Leafs owner Harold Ballard.

Kings defenseman Rob Blake has supposedly plenty of screen time, but he'd been told that all his lines ended up on the cutting room floor.
"But at least 70 percent of my lines didn't make it either," said Myers. "(Rob) did a great job."
As for why Myers picked the Kings to face the Leafs in the finals, he said: "I needed a team from the West, and I thought the logos looked good together. It's not revenge (for '93). The Kings won that series fair and square and Gretzky proved himself. There's no bitterness."
In Timberlake, Myers said he found someone who despite the fact he hadn't skated before, "he did an amazing Tony Espo butterfly stance. The film has kind of a mid-'70s feel, because that's the era I remember hockey most. And Justin had that kind of '70s look, which he loved."
More on the film from a sports angle from the Detroit Free Press, SI.com, and the National Post.

And, yes, I've talked to him about the Prostate Cancer Foundation's annual Home Run Challenge, as we focused on in today's column linked here. He's all good. So is Bill Macdonald.

By MIKE CRANSTON
The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Billy Werber steered his motorized wheelchair to the end of the table. The waitress pointed to the lunch menu, but the oldest living ex-major leaguer had no use for it.

Days shy of his 100th birthday, Werber knew what he wanted: a hot dog -- with onions and a little ketchup. After his first bite, the link to baseball's golden era began his storytelling.

"Babe Ruth hit a home run and I wanted to show them how fast I could run," Werber said of being driven in by Ruth after drawing a walk in his first major league plate appearance in 1930 with the New York Yankees. "So I get into the dugout, and -- finally -- Babe got into the dugout. He patted me on the head and said, 'Son, you don't have to run like that when the Babe hits one.'"

Werber chuckled. Ruth's old teammate may occasionally forget dates and appointments these days, but remembers vivid details of playing ball when games routinely lasted less than two hours, starting pitchers were rarely taken out, and fielders left their gloves on the field when it was their turn to bat.

Werber, a career .271 hitter who led the American League in stolen bases three times, is the last of his generation. Just don't ask him about his impending 100th birthday on Friday.

"It's an annoyance," said Werber, before taking another bite of his hot dog.

Will Leitch, author of "God Save The Fan" and soon to be leaving as editor of Deadspin.com, posts a list of the "10 Worst Broadcasters in Sports" for MAXIM.com (with a brief excerpt of his opinion):

1. Chris Berman: "The godfather of taking a spectacular athletic moment and butchering it."
2. Chip Caray: "A foundation of inaccuracies."
3. Joe Morgan: "The most condescending broadcaster in sports."
4. Dick Vitale: "A mugging cartoon."
5. Bryant Gumbel: "Gravitas ... only matters if you don't suck."
6. Bill Walton: "The undisputed king of hyperbole."
7. Billy Packer: "Brings the joy of a diaper change to every gig."
8. Mike Patrick: "A forgettable play-by-play man."
9. Walt Frazier: "Tone down the pimp wear."
10. John Madden: "Became a parody of himself long ago."

Our alterations:
Remove Walton and Frazier, add Stuart Scott and Steve Lyons (if he still counts as a national broadcaster), and move Madden higher on the list.

Charlie Jones, who came up through the network ranks as one of ABC's original voices of the American Football League and covered two Super Bowls for NBC, died Thursday of a heart attack. He was 77.
Martin Mandel, Jones longtime agent, said Jones was dressing to go to dinner with friends who had come to San Diego for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines when he suffered the fatal heart attack at his home.
"Charlie is one of the legends of sports broadcasting starting with covering the first Super Bowl," Mandel said. "He had a wonderful kettledrum voice. He was known for that and his versatility."
He is survived by his wife Ann, two children and three grand children.
"All of us at NBC are saddened at the passing of one of the great pioneers of NBC Sports," said NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol. "His work in particular on the NFL, golf and the Olympics left a lasting legacy."
Said NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller during the network's coverage of the U.S. Open this afternoon: "I just loved working with Charlie. He was loved for announcing and being part of sports. Just being around him was really a treat. I will miss him."
Jones did 38 season of the AFL and NFL and was ABC's first broadcaster on an AFL game in 1960. He also contributed to ABC's "Wide World of Sports" during his five years with the network.
Jones followed the AFL to NBC in 1965, where he worked through 1997. During his football broadcasting career he teamed with nearly 60 different analyst partners and covered Super Bowls I and III for the network.
At NBC, he covered 28 different sports, including track and field and diving at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, and swimming, diving and water polo at the Barcelona Games in 1992. He was the lead voice for rowing and flatwater canoeing/kayak at the '96 Olympics in Atlanta.

Thursday's Game 4 of the NBA Finals could have left any Lakers' fan head spinning (just ask Justin Timberlake). Spinning off more media notes from today's column on the relationship between Fordham U. grads Spero Dedes, the voice of the Lakers' radio broadcast, and Mike Breen, ABC's NBA Finals play-by-play man, there's always room for more intoxicating, controversial subject matter:

==Breen and Dedes had a common ground, beyond Fordham: Both grew up listening to Marv Albert call NBA games in the New York area. It couldn't help but influence how they approached the game as well.
"Any play-by-play guy from my age group on, and before, know Marv is the standard, and obviously I was influenced by him and how he did games," said Breen of the Hall of Famer who turned 67 on Thursday. "That's a common thread with many New York broadcasters."
Said Dedes: "The first time I met Marv was when I was doing a Nets game, subbing for Ian Eagle on the YES network. I'm 23 years old, and it was completely surreal. I was getting ready to do the pregame, and I felt a tap on my shoulder -- and it's Marv, introducing himself. It was like meeting the Pope. He said he had listened to me and said I had a big future and he wanted to come by and say hello. I was completely speechless."
The other common bond: Knowing Vin Scully is the dean of Fordham sportscasters. Dedes has told us in the past about the chance to meet Scully in the Dodgers press box a few years ago, a meeting arranged by statistician Doug Mann, who worked for both broadcasters.
"He's one guy I'm just in awe of," said Breen. "Any time I meet him I sound like a stumbling teenager trying to talk to him."

==Another element of Breen's call that Dedes has always admired is his ability to be true to what's happening on the court -- even if it means calling out players for poor play. Doing Knicks games lately has given Breen plenty of opportunity to do that.
"Mike is very unbias, and even with working for the Knicks, it struck me how refreshing it is to hear that," said Dedes. "I think I picked that up from him as well. I've heard Chick (Hearn) was like that as well, and I've heard tapes of him doing that -- and got stories from Mychal Thompson as well."

By CHRIS JENKINS
The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE -- First, Doc Rivers wanted to hear more about Marquette University's student work-study program in South Africa, because he was thinking about taking his family there to visit.

Then Rivers wanted to find out more about the teachings of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who spoke at the school in 2003.

Marquette administrator Stephanie Russell was happy to oblige the Boston Celtics coach -- and current university trustee -- during a lunch break from a board meeting last September. Little did she know that she would wind up giving Rivers a word that would become the motto for a team destined to contend for a championship: ubuntu.

"He was really excited about this word," Russell recalled Wednesday. "We were kind of unpacking this word, 'What does this mean?' It really did not occur to me that it had anything to do with his own professional life or the team."

Rivers made ubuntu, which roughly translates to "I am, because we are" in English, the Celtics' team motto this season. And it seems to be working: Boston made it to the NBA Finals and still holds a 2-1 series advantage over the Lakers despite losing Tuesday night.

KSPN-AM (710) afternoon hosts Steve Mason and John Ireland talked to NBA commissioner David Stern, which you can hear at this link.
It was a little prickly, but much more cordial, than how Stern came off earlier in the day with Fox Sports Radio's Chris Myers and Sean Farnham on "The Drive," a transcript of which was sent out to the media.
So based on the following, make you own judgment as to whether Farnham was just a little vague about asking a question about questionable point swings in a playoff series, or Stern was a bit too defensive about questions that question his league's credibility.
We start with Myers first asking about the latest game-fixing allegations by former referee Tim Donaghy:

Myers: "Whether these things are true or not are you concerned about the public perception or image these types of things create?"
Stern: "We would rather not have them but it's an interesting question, so if someone makes false allegations and we know them to be false, am I concerned? I guess unfortunately given the way the media works these days, not about you, just generally, I guess I'm concerned because I'd rather not have them out there, but you do what you do and you keep operating with integrity. ..."

Farnham: "We watch the NBA playoffs, why is there such a dramatic change. Take the Spurs-Hornets series for example, I know the Spurs closed it out in New Orleans but a 40-point difference between the road game for the Spurs and a home game for the Spurs. We see that as kind of a common trend throughout the course of the playoffs. Is there something that can be done to regulate the officiating so that we don't see dramatic shifts in the way games are officiated at certain venues?"
Stern: "Wait a minute, 40-point difference? What are you talking about?"

The NBA's only hope is that the Lakers-Celtics finals goes back to Boston. For two more games. And maybe a Game 8.
Whatever conspiracy theory developes between now and then as to how that'll happen, we present more TV ratings evidence that shows it benefits everyone -- particularily, the league -- if this series doesn't come to a grinding halt on Father's Day.
Tuesday's Game 3 had a 9.2 rating, the best-watched game of the series so far, averaging 14.5 million viewers in 10.3 million homes.
In L.A., it had a 28.6 rating; in Boston (contending with a 9 p.m. tipoff), it was 23.3.
Through three games, the series is averaging 8.8 (up a bunch from 6.1 last year at this time, but we've stopped making any sort comparisons to the Spurs' four-game sweep over the Cavaliers because that's a completely different set of trivial circumstances).
The viewership for Game 3 was the league's best Game 3 since the Lakers-Pistons series in 2004 -- which did a 10.5.
You'd think the Lakers and Celtics could have done better than 10.5? Apparently all that stuff we've written about how younger viewers are consuming more online and with video streaming means they aren't necessarily watching it on TV like the older (us) folks.

ESPN's immediate plans are to have Bill Walton back as part of its NBA Finals coverage when the Hall of Famer does studio analysis on Thursday's 3 p.m. "SportsCenter" from Staples Center before Game 4.
That's if Walton's back cooperates.
The Basketball Hall of Famer said Wednesday that it's been a slow recovery from buldging discs, pinched nerves, spinal stenosis and damaged ligaments and tendons in his lower back that has put him in agonizing pain since late February.
Walton said the problem started when he was getting off a plane in San Diego on Feb. 25 when his hip and back started to bother him. Walton is accustomed to all kinds of pain -- as he says, he was "the most injured athlete in the history of sports," missing more than nine seasons in a 14-year NBA career because of foot problems. But this was different.
"The pain just took me to the floor and I've spent the better part of six weeks trying to recover," he said. "I couldn't do anything except go to the doctor all the time."
He said he was able to go to the NBA Finals Game 3 on Tuesday to see his son, Luke, play for the first time since the NBA's All-Star weekend. Physical therapy, yoga stretching, accupuncture and cycling has got him to the point where can move better. He said he's also visited former UCLA coach John Wooden twice in the last five weeks on one-day drives from San Diego to Encino.
As for how much he'll do returning to ESPN or ABC, where has been doing games and studio work the last 13 years, he doubts he'll be able to fly to Boston for Games 6 and 7 if necessary.
"It's really up to ESPN," Walton said about doing any more broadcasting of the NBA Finals. "Every day is an advanture, but I'm convinced I will be able to make it all the way back and plan on continuing my broadcasting career on a fulltime level."

ESPN and NBC play nice and share coverage of the U.S. Open from Torrey Pines this weekend, and both are really pushing the fact that it's the first golf major to have four days in a row of prime-time coverage.
PT, that is, as long as you're not at the actual event.
And be sure to know that if Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are in the final group on Sunday, their tee times could get conveniently pushed back a few minutes so that their entire round will be the East Coast prime-time window, pushing 10 p.m. and beyond.
Here's the golf rundown of the hang glider-less event (they've been banned from hanging out):

Thursday and Friday:
=ESPN: 10 a.m. to noon
=NBC (Channel 4): Noon to 2 p.m.
=ESPN: Returns from 2 to 5 p.m.
Note: ESPN actually starts coverage at 8 a.m. each day with two hours of features, etc.
Saturday:
=NBC (Channel 4): 1 to 7 p.m.
Sunday:
=NBC (Channel 4): noon to 6 p.m. (but could go longer)
Monday:
=If there is an 18-hole playoff, ESPN has the first two hours (noon to 2 p.m.) and NBC has it from 2 to 5 p.m.

Other places to go:
DirecTV and Dish Network: Each has up to six different camera spots to choose from Thursday and Friday on their mix network. One of the spots will be the par 3 No. 3 hole. Another will be on the Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson-Adam Scott group. The service is also available on ESPN360.com.
The Golf Channel: Goes live with interviews, etc., Thursday and Friday (8 to 11 a.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.), Saturday (11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m. to noon and 6 to 8 p.m.). Kelly Tilghman hosts online chats on www.golfchannel.com Thursday (9 to 11 a.m.) and Friday (7 to 8 p.m.), while Rich Lerner and Vince Cellini will blog daily.

ESPN's on-air crew: Chris Berman and Mike Tirico host with Curtis Strange, Andy North, Roger Maltbie and Gary Koch. Hole announcers are Bob Murphy, Mark Rolfing, Terry Gannon and Jimmy Roberts. On-course reporters are Tom Rinaldi, Judy Rankin, Dottie Pepper and Bill Kratzert. At the SportsCenter desk is Karl Ravech, North and Scott Van Pelt. Rick Reilly will contribute.

NBC's on-air crew: Bob Costas is the host, joined by Strange and Peter Jacobson. Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller, Koch and Murphy are the tower reporters. On course reporters are Maltbie, Rolfing and Pepper. Jimmy Roberts is hanging around as the essay guy.

Also:
NBC has the "Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge," taped last Friday with Matt Lauer, Justin Timberlake, Tony Romo and contest winner Jon Atkinson, as each tries to break 100 on the course. It airs from 11 a.m. to noon on Sunday. The contest stemmed from Tiger Woods saying it would be nearly impossible for a 10-handicapper to break 100 the way that the course was set up. All four participants have a Handicap Index of less than 10 (Atkinson: 8.1; Lauer: 5.6; Romo: 2.2; Timberlake: 6.0). And we will give away the results (as they played supposedly under strict USGA regulations): Romo (13-over 84) and Timberlake (27-over 98) made it; Lauer (29-over 100) and Atkinson (43-over 114) didn't. Atkinson, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with Stage IV inoperable lung cancer last year at the age of 38.

Production:
Golf Trak and TrackMan technology are being used. Golf Trak uses real-life aerial footage in 3D. TrackMan captures trajectory data from the 6th and 13th holes.

The more ABC shows this thing Wall E during Tuesday's Game 3 telecast to promote its new movie, the more you wonder if they modeled it after ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy.

ABC play-by-play man Mike Breen, in town now to do the NBA Finals Game 3, 4 (and hopefuly 5) from Staples Center, cleared up any misinformation about why he was looking a little worse for wear during the Game 1 closeup:

(Photo from Awfulannouncing.com)

A couple of sources said that Breen had some recent skin cancer removed and that could have been more residual effect. During the earlier rounds of the playoffs, Breen was wearing a bandage after some cancer was removed on his neck.
In this case, however, it wasn't as life threatening.... and for him, just more embarassing.
Breen told us this morning that he'd smacked his head against the corner of the bathroom door in the hotel room as he shutting off the lights and leaving for the game, and the scalp wouldn't stop bleeding. He was across the street from a hospital, but didn't think it was necessary to go there. He ended up getting a couple stitches from the Celtics' team trainer and had to wear the bandage because it continued to bleed. No makeup could fix it -- in fact, if makeup had gotten into it, there could have been infection.
During Game 2's telecast, the camera didn't get as up-close on him and the makeup worked to cover it more.
But as for skin cancer coming back, he wanted to make sure friends and famliy weren't unnecessarily alarmed by his bandages...

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curtis Montague Schilling (his real name) got to sit courtside with "some ridiculously good tickets" for Game 2 of the NBA Finals, wearing his Larry Bird throwback jersey (we think with a T-shirt on under it, but we aren't sure). And the stuff he heard Kobe Bryant saying ... and Pau Gasol whining .. .and Phil Jackson cursing ... it was enough to make his sock bloody. (Although we all know that was fake, right Gary Thorne?)
First, straight from Schilling's blog, 38pitches.com, through extra commentary from SportsByBrooks.com, and now here, we become enlightened by Schilling's "newbie" observations on how teammates motivate each other (and why would you stick you son with the name Gehrig?)
And for some more commentary on Schilling's comments by TheBigLead.com: "Kobe bitching at his teammates is nothing new, but here's what we're interested in: Why didn't any sportswriters note this? Assuming at least a handful of them are still seated courtside - although in recent years, teams have jettisoned many of them to make room for high-rollers who are willing to shell out big bucks to have James Posey fall into their popcorn - surely some of them had to hear this. We can't seem to find any mainstream outlet that has written about this in the last 36 hours. And it's sort of difficult not to notice a teammate rolling his eyes at the team's best player, right? This leads us to believe Schilling is exaggerating, or perhaps sportswriters fear getting iced by Kobe.
And, by the way, what do you think Schill's response would be to a blogger who happened to be sitting in the AFLAC-close seats next to the Fens' Red Sox's dugout after the pitcher was cursing up a wicked storm, and then saw it posted on his Internet machine typing device?

A technology called GigaPan is available on Golf Magazine's golf.com website that allows you to see a few parts of Torrey Pines as close as if you were viewing from a teebox through a scope. The ability to get it close up, then pan left, right, up and down, as it refocuses in detail, is an interesting concept and a way to make it feel as if you're on the course.
Sports Illustrated photographer Fred Vuich took the high-resolution shots of the par 3 No. 3 hole that looks out onto the Pacific; the bunker-lined 18th green; the 11th fairway; the No. 4 par 4 and from tee to green on No. 13.
At the link above, there are more photos of Augusta National and TPC Sawgrass.
For best results, zoom the photo in as close as you'd like, then use the toggle arrows to move around from side to side.

Going back to Sunday's column on the Grand Sumo Tournament, some of the photos from the Sports Arena that Associated Press photographer Jeff Lewis was able to snap off:

==As part of the Saturday exhibition, this kid was able to enter the ring and size up his opponent:

You make fun of this stuff, and they'll squash you. Literally, figuratively, demonstratively, with arms flailing and butts shaking:

Todd Collins, the president of the U.S. Sumo Federation, who we profiled in today's column, says he does more coaching and training today after a successful competitive career "because I've obtained enough accolates as a competitor, and there's not much more I can do beyond being selfish, so I see more to do behind the scenes for the sport now."
That includes plenty of education. He can recruit athletes from other sports -- women, especially, who play ice hockey are prime candidates because of their ability to take hits but keep their balance -- but there is a lot of mental adjustment for the Americanized competitors who may catch on quickly to the rules but don't fully comprehend the cultural decisions behind them.
"You tell a woman amateur competitor that she can't compete as a professional because the tradition dictates that if a woman touches the ring, they have to tear it down, and that'll bring a negative reaction right away," Collins said. "How dare they do that? It sounds offensive to women, but when you study the history, it's not. It's like certain branches of Judism where women aren't allowed to touch the man, because it's seen as disrespectful."
We can respect that.
More on the U.S. Sumo Federation, click here, and email Collins directly.
More on local sumo tournaments, including photos of the recent event in Little Toyko last April, click here.

A column we did on Jim McKay on May 1, 1998, when his second autobiography, "The Real McKay" was released:

By Tom Hoffarth
Media columnist

In the fall of 1959, CBS asked Jim McManus if he'd be willing to move to Los Angeles to continue working on a court-drama re-enactment show called ``The Verdict Is Yours.'' The pay was great. But it would mean uprooting his family - his wife, Margaret, and his young daughter and son - from their home in Connecticut. McManus didn't need to deliberate long.
``Margaret and I are simply not the Hollywood-type couple. We think the town is ugly, the lifestyle pretentious and the whole scene immensely unconducive to raising children. So we said no.''
Awwwwright, so maybe that stuff about Hollywood is true. But when you read it in an autobiography from Jim McKay - the name by which he's best known to TV-sports viewers - it's like an indictment delivered on granite tablets for all the civilized world to behold.
Actually, what McKay reveals about the crossroad in his career from "The Real McKay: My Wide World of Sports'' (Dutton Books, $24.95) was this wasn't a decision made merely by stopping at the signal, looking both ways and driving forward. He felt helplessly stuck between this self-described ``velvet-lined rut'' of a job for CBS entertainment while he felt he was slipping out of the loop on network sports assignments.

We did this column on Jim McKay on Sept. 5, 1997 -- the 25th anniversary of the Munich Olympics tragedy.

By Tom Hoffarth
Media columnist

Suppose, says Jim McKay, you were tuning in to watch a World Series.
"In the fourth inning, terrorists appear on the field, take all the players in the dugout hostage and hold them there for hours,'' the legendary ABC sportscaster continues.
Doesn't matter what channel you're watching at this point. Every network has broken in with live coverage.
"A helicopter comes to scoop them up and take them to the airport,'' McKay continues. "But gunfire breaks out and they're all killed.''
As horrific as that would be - it would be more believable as a movie than in real life - suppose that incident wasn't even the worst act of terrorism ever to have affected a sporting event.
Try as he might with that World Series scenario, McKay knows nothing can really compare to what he reported on live 25 years ago today.

(Gene Sweeney Jr./Baltimore Sun)
Jim McKay poses at his farm in Monkton, Md., in 1997.

The passing this morning of legendary sportscaster Jim McKay at age 86, on the day his beloved sport of horse racing could find itself with a Triple Crown winner, seems almost serendipitous.
The stories on the wire services and on the New York Times will cover in greater detail McKay's greatest journalistic moment -- his coverage of the hostage killing at the 1972 Munich Olympics -- but to us, the face of ABC's "Wide World Of Sports" really made a much broader impact on the sports scene.

Here are some of the responses that have come in so far to his passing of James Kenneth McManus:
=Sean McManus, the president CBS News and Sports, on behalf of his family: "There are not many men who achieved what Jim McKay achieved both professionally and personally. He had a flawless reputation and was a legendary figure in the history of sports television. However, with all his achievements the most important thing in his life was his family."
==Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, who worked with McKay for six years at ABC, starting as a 19-year-old researcher: "He was truly the most respected and admired sportscaster of his generation and defined how the stories of sports can and should be covered. While we all know what an absolute titan he was in his chosen field, I will always remember him as an extraordinary human being guided by a strong moral compass. He was the best husband to his wife, an extraordinary father to his own children and for all of us who had the privilege to grow up around him as boys, he helped shape us into men."
==Al Michaels: "He was the personification of class and style. There has never been a more respected individual in the business and deservedly so. His love for life could only be matched by his love for Margaret. His enthusiasm permeated every event he covered and thus always made it far more interesting. I always thought of him as a favorite teacher. He was so into whatever it was he was doing that he drew you into every event he covered."
==Bob Costas: "Jim McKay was a singular broadcaster. He brought a reporter's eye, a literate touch, and above all a personal humanity to every assignment. He had a combination of qualities seldom seen in the history of the medium, not just sports."

More from ESPN's reporting on this morning's "SportsCenter":

Toby Bailey's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 42 seconds left, plus a Ronell Mingo layup with eight seconds left, capped a 7-0 run that carried your Los Angeles Lightning past the Las Vegas Stars, 145-142, in an International Basketball League game Friday night in Las Vegas.
Bailey's basket put the Lighting up 143-142. Mingo's basket, off a Fred Vinson pass to break the Stars' press, provided the final margin.
Lamond Murray hit a season-high 37 points, including six 3-pointers. He was 8-of-10 and scored 19 points as the Lightning took a 41-33 lead in the first quarter. Murray from the field and scoring 19 in the opening quarter when L.A. took a 41-33 lead. Mingo added 26 points and 13 rebounds.
The Lightning (6-7) won for the sixth time in seven games to pull within a game of the first-place Stars (9-8) in the Southwest Division. The two play again tonight.

Vin Scully wanted to make sure everyone tuned into the Dodgers' telecast tonight knew that June 6 is a special day in U.S. history -- D-Day, 1944.
Angels fans are more in tune to the fact that on this day in 2000, the Rally Monkey mascot appeared for the first time. The Anaheim Angels came from behind to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 on June 6, 2000.
Which is more historic?
The way it happened, according to the Monkey's official website:
The Angels trailed 4-1 entering the bottom of the 7th.
=Garret Anderson singled, went to second on a walk to Troy Glaus walked and scored on Begie Molina's single to make it 4-2. Two outs later, Glaus scored on Darin Erstad's single.
In the 8th, trailing 4-3:
=Tim Salmon hit a one-out homer to tie it.
In the top of the 9th, Troy Percival gave up a run, putting the Angels back in a 5-4 hole.
In the bottom of the 9th, with Robb Nenn pitching for the Giants:
=With one out, Adam Kennedy singled. Scott Spiezio pinch hit for Edgard Clemente and walked. Erstad singled in Kennedy to tie it and put Speiezo at third. Kevin Stocker bunted, but the Giants got Spiezio at home on the failed squeeze play, Erstad moving to second. Then Mo Vaughn singled to win it.
For a wrap of that game, click here.

NBA.com and ESPN.com's NBA section report today that their websites each set all-time single day traffic record for visits during the Finals with nearly 5.7 million visits apiece Thursday while the Lakers and Celtics faced off in Game 1. For the NBA, that's up 65 percent when compared to the 3.4 million who went to the site during Game 1 of the 2007 Finals. For ESPN, that's a 64 percent increase. ESPN said it had more than 7.9 million views between Thursday and 3 p.m. EDT today.
Including the playoffs, NBA.com has lapped the 1 billion marks in visits in a full season -- 1.2 billion visits to date.
Take that into consideration, as we pointed out in today's media column, when you also read that ABC's ratings aren't all that rim-shattering.
The network reported an overnight of a modest 10.4 rating -- up 30 percent from last year (Spurs-Cavs, 8.0). In L.A., it was a stunningly low 22.8; in Boston, 21.7, even with the 9 p.m. local tip. In Southern California, the 6 p.m. tipoff may not be ideal, either, considering people getting off work and heading to a sports bar or restaurant -- none of which are measured in the Neilsen ratings.
The peak viewership was from 8:30 to 8:45 p.m. PDT, which were the last half of the fourth quarter -- a 12.3 rating.
The 10.4 marks the second-highest Game 1 overnight since ABC starting airing the Finals six years ago. The opener of the Lakers-Pistons series in '04, which was on a Sunday, had an 11.5 mark.
Later in the day, the actual rating came out -- much lower. In drawing an average of 13.38 million viewers, up 45 percent from last year, ABC had an 8.7 rating.
Interestingly, the Lakers-Celtics broadcast was the network's highest-rated and most-viewed NBA Finals Game 1 since Lakers-Pistons in 2004 (9.8 rating; 10,634,000 households). It should have topped that one easily, but it didn't.
To break it down more among key demos, the NBA led the competition on Thursday night TV among Men 18-34 (2,312,000 viewers); Men 18-49 (4,604,000); Men 25-54 (4,582,000); Adults 18-34 (3,536,000); Adults 18-49 (7,087,000) and Adults 25-54 (7,030,000)

This is the ad that ABC aired at halftime of Game 1, one in which studio host Stu Scott said you'd "be hating yourself" if you missed it after the commerical break:

We saw it. And we almost hate that we did.

Dribbling over from today's media column on the Lakers-Celtics perfect storm of viewership demos, we have these numbers to crunch in the interim of media notes spillover:

==The Sports Business Daily reports that the NBA has issued more than 1,800 credentials - a record 280 of them to media from outside the U.S., covering some 35 countries. The story also quotes NBC communications director Brian McIntyre as saying that a smaller number of mainstream media requests have "been offset by more requests from major dotcommers," including bloggers from both major media and other news outlets.
==The Finals will be televised to 205 countries and territories in 46 languages. In 1987, the last time the Lakers and Celtics met in the Finals, the games were televised to only 28 countries and territories.
==There are 27 media members from Spain, mostly to focus on the Lakers' Pau Gasol. "The amount of attention focused on Pau Gasol has increased significantly since the start of the playoffs and even more now that he is in The Finals," said David Carnicero, a commentator for Canal+Spain. "Anyone who was not an NBA fan previously is now watching Pau and routing for him to win a championship." In Spain, game one of the NBA Finals aired live on terrestrial broadcaster Cuatro, and the remaining games will go live on pay satellite channels Canal+ and Canal+ Deportes.
==The nation of Turkey is also carrying the NBA Finals for the first time.
"Twenty years ago, when I was an exchange student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, I remember hearing about the Lakers/Celtics rivalry, but it was only a myth for me," Murat Kosova, a commentator for NTV Turkey, said in an NBA release. "Now that NTV will be at the Finals for the first time, I get a chance to experience the Lakers-Celtics rivalry first hand."
==Live audio of the games are available in 12 languages on NBA.com: English, Arabic, Bosnian, Dutch, Flemish, French, Mandarin, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Taglog and Turkish.
=All three NBA TV networks -- ABC, ESPN and TNT -- had double-digit growth in television ratings and viewership during both the regular season and the playoffs.
=During the playoffs, TV viewership was up 29 percent (5.44 million) on ABC, 44 percent (4.10 million) on ESPN, and 14 percent (3.80 million) on TNT vs. last year's playoffs.
==NBA.com had an all-time traffic record with more than 900 million visits, up 60 percent from last year. Including the playoffs, NBA.com went past 1 billion visits in a full season for the first time ever with 1.2 billion visits to date. It also had more than 300 million video streams, up 70 percent over last year.

The Associate Press reports that, among the celebrity types at Thursday's Game 1 of the Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals who made it out to the Boston facility known as their home court included:
==James Taylor, a Boston native, who sang the national anthem;
==Bruce Willis and Leonardo DiCaprio, both Staples Center regulars who happen to be in town filming a movie (that's Willis, above, taking a photo with some unidentified fan);
=="Gray's Anatomy" star Ellen Pompeo;
==Chris Tucker
==New England Patriots players Randy Moss, Richard Seymour and Rodney Harrison;
==Former NBA greats Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson and
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, although the latter is a Lakers assistant coach.
==AP photographers also snapped a shot of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., talking with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick before hand.
That's all you got?
Wait'll Game 3 in L.A.
Eventually, AP also came up with a shot of "entertainer" Donnie Walhberg -- no Marky Mark? -- somewhere in the stands.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined.
It's not just the slogan of Hooters. It might well describe the sponsorship deal in which
Big Brown's jockey will wear the restaurant chain's logo when the horse goes for the
Triple Crown in Saturday's Belmont Stakes.
Hooters joined UPS as a sponsor of Big Brown, owners IEAH Stables and jockey Kent Desormeaux on Wednesday. Its logo, an owl whose eyes are seen in the word Hooters, will be stitched into the side of Desormeaux's pants.
A UPS logo also will be visible, as it was when Desormeaux guided Big Brown to victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. The horse was named in honor of UPS, a client of original owner Paul Pompa Jr.'s trucking business.
Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr was amused when a bevy of Hooters
girls in tank tops and tight orange shorts appeared at Belmont's Barn 2 for a photo
shoot with Big Brown and Desormeaux on Wednesday.
"I'll tell you, this horse is so cool," Dutrow said Thursday. "There are these five girls lined up looking away and he walked right up and put his head in between all of them. He didn't move his head. Every time I see this horse do something, he absolutely amazes me."
IEAH Stables co-president Michael Iavarone said others may look at the sponsorship "oddly," but added: "I think that you can cross the line a little bit. The regulatory side of racing will start to be a little more stringent. I can't say I have a problem with Hooters."
When the deal was first reported, Hooters' vice president of marketing Mike McNeil was quoted as saying Hooters girls and company executives would be in the winner's circle if Big Brown wins.
"That's not going to happen," Kelly Wietsma, the president of Equisponse, which represents IEAH Stables, said Thursday.

LOGAN, Utah (AP) -- Administrators are having a hard time getting behind shirts bearing a slogan at Utah State University.
At Utah State, "A" stands for Aggies. But when inserted into a slogan proposed for the back of T-shirts to be worn at basketball and football games, it takes on a new meaning.
"I'm Proud of My A," the T-shirts declare.
"We don't want anyone to say, 'Um, I probably can't wear that or I feel uncomfortable
wearing that,'" said Tiffany Evans, director of the campus Student Involvement and Leadership Center.
"We want it to be unifying. We don't want it to have to cross someone's mind, 'Oh, I like the shirt, but no.'"
Lance Brown, designer of the shirt and a member of student government, changed a word and came up with a new slogan: "I'm Proud of the A."
"I was a little concerned at first, but the more I've learned, the more I've become accustomed to the change. It is the right
thing to do," Brown said.
The shirt's front will stay the same, reading, "Go Blue or Go Home."
Brown said there were also complaints about the 2006-07 shirt, which said, "Bust Your A To Win."

A posting on the sports-savvy, blogger-ahead-of-the-curve Deadspin.com this afternoon brings the news that editor Will Leitch says he's leaving in three weeks to pursue a job at New York magazine.
The post already had more than 13,000 views and 400 comments since it went up at about 2:20 p.m. EDT today -- that's less than an hour ago.
Leitch has been editor, and voice, of the Gawker Media site that calls itself "sports news without access, favor, or discretion" since Sept., 2005.
"We'll go into the details more over the next few weeks, but we'll just leave you today with a simple quote of 'It's probably time,' and then try not to dribble tears on our keyboard," he wrote.
No truth to the rumor Buzz Bissinger will take over as the new Deadspin editor.

From today's Daily News front page, our attempt to sort out who'll win the Lakers-Celtics series considering much more subtext, outside influences and ghosts of the past that could turn this thing on a four-leaf clover:

ARENAS:

Lakers: Staples Center. Opened Oct. 17, 1999. Named for an office supply company. Estimated cost to build: $375 million. Holds 18,997 for basketball.

Celtics: TD Banknorth Garden. Opened Sept. 30, 1995 as the FleetCenter. Also known as "The New Garden." Named for a financial institution based in Toronto. Estimated cost to build: $160 million. Holds 18,624 for basketball.

Edge: Lakers.
Construction of the FleetCenter inexplicably led to the demolition of the old Boston Garden; Staples Center was far enough away from Inglewood to leave the old Forum in one piece (even if it's only used these days for a church). Today, TD Banknorth Garden could be mistaken for the Olive Garden restaurant. Staples Center, while antiseptic in ways itself, at least opened with a Springsteen concert.

EA Sports' "NBA Live '09" video game, thrown into auto play mode, has decided the Lakers will beat the Celtics in seven games, with Kobe Bryant averaging 29 points and six assists a contest.

Here's the breakdown with the creepy screen savers:

==Game 1: Celtics win as Garnett has 20 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Kobe has 25, 10 and 7 assists.

Already a classic?
That's what this week's Sports Illustrated has called the upcoming Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals. Spinning off the SI cover non-jinx earlier this year, and an SI Vault look into previous Lakers-Celtics covers, here's what they've thrown out there for this week's issue ... another Magic-Bird matchup.
Staff writer Jack McCallum looks at the current series and comes to the conclusion: More than any championship series in two decades, this Final - the 11th time that these franchises have met with the title on the line - will be a remembrance of things past, a chance to reexamine old prejudices and look for new meanings. For Celtics-Lakers was always about much more than hoops.

As part of ESPN's three-hour NBA Finals preview today -- a SportsCenter special that flashes back to the Lakers' 1987 Game 6 win over Boston, the last time the two franchises met in the finals -- special guests have come on to talk about the past and the future.
And there was a Bill Walton sighting.
The former NBA great, who has been battling back problems "the last 14 weeks and one day," he said on the broadcast -- enough to go back and miss UCLA's appearance in the Final Four last April -- addressed the mixed emotions he has watching the Celtics, whom he played for from 1985-87 at the tail end of his injury-prone career, face the Lakers, where his son, Luke, plays.
"I'm a Celtic, and I have been a Celtic my entire life," Walton said, trying to keep a straight face.
"The Celtics were the team that inspired me to play the way I did play, along with John Wooden and Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) ... Bill Russell was my favorite player of all time, on and off the court ... the way they all played ... K.C. Jones, who was the most like John Wooden of any coach that I ever played for ...
"The Celtics, they just didn't give me my career back, they gave me my life back."
But ...
"I'm also a dad. A very proud and a very lucky dad. And like every dad, I want what's best for my son, Luke."

You'd think the NFL Network would have been a perfect new home for the former HBO property, "Inside the NFL." But CBS wanted it more. Rather, Viacom wanted it, for Showtime.
The two Viacom properties will team up for staffing the show that will air on Showtime, it was announced this afternoon by all concerned. CBS Sports and NFL Films will co-produce it, and Showtime will run it on Wednesday nights, starting Sept. 10, at 9 p.m.
The show premiered in 1977 as a place for NFL Films to show some cool stuff behind the scenes that had no other outlet. HBO made it appointment viewing adding hosts such as (in its last form) Bob Costas, Cris Carter, Cris Collinsworth and Dan Marino, after Len Dawson and Nick Buoniconti did it for many seasons.
(We don't count the Jerry Glanville years).
CBS said talent announcements would come soon. It could easily be a vehicle that Marino, a CBS "NFL Today" analyst, continues doing, along with James Brown.

Since we were dozing in and out of the overtimes during last night's NHL Stanley Cup finals Game 5 between Detroit and Pittsburgh -- not because of the quality of the game, of course, but because we were just darn tired -- we weren't sure if we actually heard it or just dreamed the fact that NBC's Pierre McGuire said during the second OT that Pittsburgh's Petr Sykora , the former Anaheim Duck, had promised him he'd score the game-winning goal.
McGuire said: "Usually you don't have people tell you they're going to score in overtime, they just go out and do it. Petr Sykora just tapped the glass, pointed to his chest and said 'I'm going to score.'"
A few moments later, Sykora was in the penalty box -- possibly jeopardizing his team's chances of winning.
We woke up what seemed like a few minutes later, as the third OT started.
We woke up again with whatever show was on NBC late at night, and the game was over. We toggled backward, fast, and saw McGuire interviewing Sykora on the ice afterward -- after he scored the game winner.
Was this an episode of NBC's "Medium"?
This morning, scanning the newsapapers, we came across this story in the Detroit Free Press.
The lead to the story:
What was this, Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals or an episode of "Medium"?
Now, this is getting really creepy ...
I emailed Jim Rome, early this AM, to confirm that none of this was caused by the anchovy and octopus pizza I ate last night.
"I saw the whole thing," the hockey savvy sports-talk show host confirmed. "Not bad for a guy who hadn't done a freaking thing the whole series."
Now I believe it happened. Sorta.
Especially if NBC has Game 6 on Wednesday as promised.

More on AwfulAnnouncing.com.
And more confirmation on NBCSports.com:

As the Lakers have done in the past -- including earlier these playoffs -- Staples Center will be open for fans to watch Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals from Boston as a giant viewing party on the arena's center court video screen.
The "Lakers Home Court Advantage" promotion offers tickets priced at $15 for adults and $10 for kids (3-to-13) starting Tuesday at 10 a.m., available at the Staples Center box office, Ticketmaster outlets or at Ticketmaster's website.
Proceeds are donated to the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation and the Staples Center Foundation. In the last more than $300,000 was raised for those charities.
The Laker Girls will also perform during time outs, and many other events that take place during Lakers games will also be recreated.
Parking is available in Lot 5 (Figueroa and 12th) or Cherry Parking Garage (on Cherry between Pico and 11th) at $10 per car.

ESPN Classic does have some flashbacks to key games of the Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals this week, leading into Game 1 of the '08 Finals on Thursday, but ESPN has also decided to carve out three hours of prime time (in the East) on Tuesday to show the last Lakers-Celtics NBA meeting -- Game 6 of the 1987 series -- from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
"We're going back to the past and celebrating that game and adding context to that we can spin ahead to these finals," Norby Williamson, ESPN's executive VP of production, said this morning. "We're glad to reach fans wherever they are."
The three-hour window will come after the midday "SportsCenter" and replace "NFL Live" and two episodes of the 2007 World Series of Poker replay.
The '87 Finals were best remembered for Magic Johnson's sky hook at the end of Game 4 that put the Lakers up 3-1 in the series.
In Game 6, the Lakers won 106-93, with Magic clinching Finals MVP honors.

ESPN Classic, your one-stop viewing home for stuff other than "Cheap Seats," is breaking out some Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals games from the past worth at leasting putting on the TiVo for future reference.
The schedule:
Monday:
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1984 NBA Finals, Game 2: Lakers at Celtics
1-3 p.m. 1984 NBA Finals, Game 4: Celtics at Lakers
3-3:30 p.m. Best NBA Performances from the 2007-08 Season
3:30-4 p.m. Best NBA Games from the 2007-08 Season
Tuesday:
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1984 NBA Finals, Game 7: Lakers at Celtics
1-3 p.m. 1985 NBA Finals, Game 4: Celtics at Lakers
3:30-4 p.m. SportsCentury: Phil Jackson
Wednesday:
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1985 NBA Finals, Game 6: Lakers at Celtics
1-3 p.m. 1987 NBA Finals, Game 4: Lakers at Celtics
3-3:30 p.m. Best NBA Games from the 2007-08 Season
3:30-7 p.m. Best NBA Performances from the 2007-08 Season

Here's another list ESPN Classic has put up:
Top 10 moments in Lakers-Celtics history:
1. 1987 NBA Finals, Game 4 (Magic's running hook shot)
2. 1962 NBA Finals, Game 7 (Selvy misses a chance to win it in regulation for the Lakers, and they lose in OT as Russell has 30 points and 40 rebounds to clinch)
3. 1962 NBA Finals, Game 5 (Baylor has a Finals record 61 points in the 126-121 win)
4. 1969 NBA Finals, Game 7 (Russell's last game, Don Nelson's crazy shot)
5. 1984 NBA Finals, Game 2 (Celtics win in OT, Henderson intercepts a Worthy pass to tie it in regulation)
6. 1962 NBA Finals, Game 3 (West steals the inbounds pass and wins it before the buzzer)
7. 1985 NBA Finals, Game 6 (Kareem clinches the series and becomes oldest Finals MVP)
8. 1984 NBA Finals, Game 4 (McHale clotheslines Rambis, Celtics win in OT as Bird hit a shot over Magic)
9. 1969 NBA Finals, Game 4 (Sam Jones hits game-winning shot, ties series)
10. 1985 NBA Finals, Game 4 (DJ's jumper gives the Celtics a 2-point win)
Rankings by Peter Newmann of ESPN

Jerry West has always been David Kohler's favorite Laker player.
"I remember listening to a game when I was a kid, and Chick Hearn said Jerry West got hurt and was taken to Centinela Hospital," Kohler said. "Chick asked all the Laker fans to write him a get-well card. So I wrote him a letter.
"A few weeks later, I got a personally signed note card back from him, thanking me for the card."
And where is that note today?
"I can't find it," Kohler admits. "I think my little sister scribbled all over it anyway."
That may be the one piece of Laker memorabilia Kohler has failed to track down over the last 25 years.
A visit to his south Orange County home, where he has set up a Laker shrine in an upstairs room, is chronicled in today's paper at this link.

Some more pieces in the collection: