Keeping Score

Yes, it’s true. Keeping Score is back a week earlier than originally advertised. Thanks to all who called and emailed requesting an early return — well, er, thanks to Tom McInulty Sr. . . . Greg Cote of the Miami Herald reports that the Florida Panthers did some celebrating after not making the NHL playoffs: “Panthers players spent $21,000 throwing themselves an end-of-season party at the South Beach club B.E.D. Hey, it isn’t easy missing the playoffs eight seasons in a row. It’s a rare feat. You want to celebrate!” . . . Gotta wonder what the tab would have been had they made the playoffs. . . . Here’s one from NBC-TV’s Jay Leno: "Worried about an IRS audit? Avoid what’s called a red flag. That’s something the IRS always looks for. For example, say you have some money left in your bank account after paying taxes. That’s a red flag.”

Bill Plaschke, in the Los Angeles Times: “The best and brightest neighborhood in the Los Angeles sports landscape is a very different place today. Mannywood has officially gone to hell. The giddy streets are lined in shadows. The colorful houses are painted in lies. The friendly shops are stocked with juice. The mayor is a drug cheat.” . . . Jon Heyman, at si.com: “Manny being Manny has taken on a whole new meaning. Fun antics or not, Manny is a drug cheat, just like the others.” . . . Gotta think A-Rod was quick to send Manny a “Thank You for taking the heat off me” card. . . . Dwight Perry, in the Seattle Times: “Not everyone was shocked that Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez got hit with a 50-game drug suspension. Team hairstylists figured something was amiss when his dreadlocks suddenly needed three trims a day.”

Frank Fitzpatrick of the Philadelphia Inquirer, on the chance the 2016 Olympic Summer Games end up in Chicago: “Can’t wait to see the cross-pollination between Windy City pols and those fine, upstanding International Olympic Committee members.” . . . And here’s Steve Rosenbloom of chicagotribune.com after a recent visit by IOC officials to Chicago: “The members of International Olympic Committee’s evaluation team left Chicago, presumably with a bag of unmarked, non-sequential Benjamins.” . . . T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who left the Cincinnatti Bengals for the Seattle Seahawks, got a phone call from a former teammate the other day. As he told the NFL Network: “Chad Johnson called me today. Crying. He wonders why everyone can get traded but him.”

“Dustin Pedroia may be the reigning American League MVP, but he also is a major league asshat,” writes Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “In a recent interview with Boston Magazine, he called his hometown of Woodland, Calif., ‘a dump’‚ adding that ‘everyone wants to get out of there. The place sucks.’ I’m thinking you should never diss your hometown unless, of course, you’re from Regina.” . . . One more from Hutchinson: “Michael Phelps will have a new freestyle technique when he returns to competition (this) month. Sources say Phelps will use a new rhythm — stroke, stroke, toke; stroke, stroke, toke.” . . . Lesslye, the oldest daughter of PGA player Kenny Perry, is a cheerleader for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. . . . I say Roger Millions and you say. . . .

So there was LGIW running a cash register, as she does from time to time, at Shoppers Drug Mart in Sahali the other day when she was sure she recognized her customer. Yes, it was Clint Black, who was in town filming Flicka 2. It wasn’t long before Black and the gregarious LGIW struck up a conversation. And there was Black using his cellphone to show off a photo of his daughter. So from LGIW and me, here’s a happy birthday to Lily Pearl, who turned eight on Friday. . . . Outfielder Tyson Gillies of Kamloops is off to a pretty good start with the High Desert Mavericks, a Class A farm team of the Seattle Mariners. You may listen to Mavericks’ games by going to highdesert.mavericks.milb.com and clicking on the audio link.

Gary Loewen, in the Toronto Sun: “Because of advances in drug-testing technology, the winners at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver will be able to pick up their medals in 2016.” . . . One more from Loewen, who outlines the perfect golfing situation: “All cameras are on Tiger as he contends for the win at a PGA Tour event, and following Woods as the on-course reporter is Pierre McGuire.” . . . “You have to wonder,” Loewen wonders, “if golf is losing its snobbish image when a guy (Bubba Watson) can play at a posh golf club while wearing a belt buckle that reads ‘Bubba.’ It gives new meaning to the term ‘country club.’ ” . . . We close with words of wisdom from a couple of cheerleaders. . . . Krista Kay, who cheers for the Denver Nuggets, was asked what most people don’t know about her. Her response: “I speak fluent Canadian.” . . . . Not to be outdone, here is Sarah, one of the Washington Capitals’ cheerleaders. Asked to name her favourite book, she replied: “Facebook.”

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