Keeping Score

Greg Cote, in the Miami Herald: “The PGA Tour’s new season supposedly is underway. Tell you what. Wake me when Tiger starts his comeback, OK?” . . . One more from Cote: “Mark McGwire's younger brother Jay is trying to sell a tell-all book in which he writes he injected Mark with steroids. Let me get this straight. One brother is a cheating liar. And the other is a money-grubbing rat-snitch. Ma McGwire must be so proud!” . . . The best reality TV show to this point in 2009? The Australian Open. . . . If you’re a night owl, it is one of the highlights of the year and it hasn’t disappointed. . . . Gary Loewen of the Toronto Sun, following the AFC championship game: “After the Baltimore Ravens‚ Willis McGahee took a vicious hit from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ryan Clark in the AFC final, players kneeled down and prayed. In the NHL, three guys would have jumped Clark.”

The assets that the original KIBIHT bunch sold to Langley interests — including all trophies — may be returning to Kamloops. The group that is working to make KIBIHT a healthy part of the Kamloops sports scene again — it is scheduled for April 8-12 — has made an official offer to purchase those assets for $500, which is what they were sold for last year. . . . The original KIBIHT bunch said it wanted to move the tournament to late April in order to attract better competition. When the City couldn’t provide ample ice at that time, Fred Cavanagh and Co. sold the tournament. But now the Langley tournament is scheduled for April 8-13, which means it is recruiting directly against KIBIHT. So what’s up with that?

Remember the Pine Tar Game? I still laugh when I see replays of George Brett charging from the Kansas City Royals’ dugout. Well, it was Goose Gossage who gave up that particular home run and he told a fundraiser in Los Angeles the other day: “That's the maddest human being I've ever seen." . . . Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Plaxico Burress was given a free truck from a dealer in exchange for agreeing to schmooze and sign autographs for customers. Burress loaned the truck to a cousin, who got into a highway gun fight, and the truck was wrecked. The dealer complained that Plax never showed up for the autograph-signings. Of course he didn’t. How would he get there?” . . . Mark Recchi, one of the Kamloops Blazers’ owners, has ties to Pittsburgh which may be why he has the Steelers by 12 on Sunday. Recchi is playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Super Bowl is in Tampa but, no, he doesn’t have a ticket. “It’s too damn expensive,” he notes. “I’ll probably just watch on TV.”

The West Coast League, an eight-team short-season baseball circuit that includes the Kelowna Falcons, will have some bloodlines in it this summer. Outfielder Jason Brunansky, the son of former major league outfielder Tom Brunansky, and first baseman Jake Williams, whose father is former big leaguer Matt Williams, will be with the Spokane RiverHawks. The Wenatchee AppleSox’ roster will include outfielder Trayce Thompson. His father, Mychal, is a former NBA player. . . . Rick Reilly, over at ESPN.com, writes: “Saw a quote the other day from Clippers owner Donald Sterling that made me choke on my tuna fish. After the last-place-yet-again Clippers absorbed another loss, Sterling told the L.A. Times: ‘I don’t take too well to losing.’ Are you kidding, pal? You take it better than anybody in NBA history! All you DO is lose! You are to losing what the Titanic was to sinking!”

There are some interesting Super Bowl betting lines over at Bodog.com. Included are the number of times broadcasters Al Michaels and John Madden refer to Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger as Big Ben (the over/under is 71/2) and how long it will take Jennifer Hudson to sing the anthem (the over/under is one minute 54 seconds). . . . Hats off to former WHLer Sean LeBrun and his bantam tier 1 Prince George Farr Fabricating Cougars. It was most enjoyable to share a Valleyview eatery with this well-behaved group of young men the other night. They were on their way home after a 6-0 run to the championship of a tournament in Vernon. They beat the Camrose Kodiaks 4-2 in the final. . . . Is there anything better for the heart than to hear young people laughing? . . . If you’re into U.S. college hockey, Rogers Sportsnet Pacific is bringing us the 57th annual Beanpot tournament from Boston. It’s Boston University versus Harvard on Monday, 2 p.m., and Boston College against Northeastern at 8 p.m. The final is scheduled for Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. Centre Brock Bradford, who was a third-round selection by the Kamloops Blazers in the 2002 WHL bantam draft, is a senior with Boston College.

Saw this headline in the Vancouver Sun on Monday: Canadians ‘too fat’ to fly. . . . Figured that was bad news for the WestJet flights into and out of Kamloops. . . . Read the story and discovered it’s Canadian ski jumpers who are too fat. . . . Trevor Morrice stands 6-foot-11/2 and weighs 166 pounds. And he’s too fat? . . . Mommas, I don’t think you want your boys to grow up to be ski jumpers. . . . Yes, Mike Tyson saw the documentary Tyson at the Sundance Film Festival. His reaction? "I never used to understand why people perceived me as such a monster. And then I saw the movie, and it all made sense." . . . According to the Miami Herald, divorce proceedings between Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade and his wife Siohvaughn are getting nasty. She claims he abandoned their two sons, committed adultery and infected her with a sexually transmitted disease. As Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post notes: “That’s one ugly three-point play.”

Janice Hough, the Left Coast Sports Babe, says that Barack Obama’s inauguration “was an event of such Olympic proportions that NBC almost tape-delayed it on the West Coast.” . . . In case you missed it, Gustavo Kuerten, the former Brazilian tennis star is on his way back to school. At 32, he is going to study drama. Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times quickly noted: “Theatre wags are already queuing up for the first Kuerten call.” . . . After hearing that a southern Californian woman had given birth to octuplets on Monday, comedy writer Jerry Perisho said: “Eight kicking, screaming southern California babies . . . throw in a washed-up pitcher and you’d pretty much have the Dodgers.” . . . NASCARmatch.com is an Internet dating site that got this posting from Belinda, 29, of Denver: "Hello peopel I will like to meet poepel and share ideas for a relationship." . . . Frank Fitzpatrick of the Philadelphia Inquirer responded: "I will like to share this, Belinda. Poepel who need peopel are the luckiest popele in the world."

Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca and gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Keeping Score appears Saturdays.