Keeping Score

A lot of minor league baseball teams do what junior hockey teams do in billeting players in their communities. Which brings us to pitcher Josh Faiola, 25, of the Lake Erie Crushers. He is billeting at the Belvedere of Westlake, an assisted living facility in Westlake, Ohio. As Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post points out, “When his ‘roommates’ show up at his games, Faiola leads the league in walkers per nine innings.” . . . The annual Coaches for Kids golf tournament, that was to have been held at The Dunes on Aug. 5-6, has been put on hold for at least a year, a victim of the economy. It was sponsored by former Kamloops Blazers head coaches Don Hay, Ken Hitchcock and Tom Renney. When it comes back, perhaps it will be part of the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association’s annual coaches’ clinic. . . . “We’re still drawing pictures in Saskatchewan; there’s no video.” That was ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose claiming that while he danced the polka the last time he was home, there isn’t any visual evidence.
Bruce Dowbiggin, in The Globe and Mail: “Just wondering, but isn’t it time PETA looked into Marv Albert’s hairpiece? The legendary bingo caller for TNT and other networks seems to have trapped something against its will on his forehead.” . . . If Yani Tseng, who won last weekend’s LPGA event, married Yanni would she be Yani Yanni? . . . Cam Hutchinson, in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: “Is it just me, or did Paul Maurice become a pretty darn good coach after being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs?” . . . One more from Hutchinson: “Sean Avery has opened a bar and restaurant, called Warren 77, in lower Manhattan. So far the reviews have been very good, although you shouldn’t ask for seconds.” . . . The Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings play their hearts out to get to the Stanley Cup final and Gary Bettman rewards them by making them open with three games in four nights. Way to go, Gary. . . . Of course, all of this is an attempt to get exposure on NBC-TV. Except that Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final tonight is up against Game 6 of LeBron vs. the Orlando Magic. What do you think the Excited States will be watching? . . . As Detroit forward Marian Hossa said: “You get the Stanley Cup finals once a year. Why do you rush it? What if the first game goes to three or four overtimes? Then we have to start again the next night? I don’t think that’s smart.” . . . Obviously, the time has come for a Canadian to become commissioner of the NHL. Rick Mercer, are you available?
Darryl Sutter as the next head coach of the Calgary Flames? Sheesh, he couldn’t handle the salary cap properly this season as the GM; how would he ever manage trying to be both GM and head coach? . . . Just a thought, but why doesn’t the NHL take over the Phoenix Coyotes and turn over the franchise to the Sutter family? . . . Wondering what Kamloops Blazers head coach Barry Smith is up to these days? He’s with his family at their home in Whitefish, Mont., but will be in Windsor, Ont., June 11-14 as a clinician at Roger Neilson’s Coaches’ Conference. And he will be in Kamloops, July 24-26, for the KMHA’s third annual Professional Coaches’ Conference. . . . Smith, whose glass is always half full, was on Radio NL the other day, talking about how his club could very well end up having six or seven players selected in the NHL draft next month. That being the case, you have to ask how it was that Smith’s team got swept from the first round of the playoffs. . . . In truth, the Blazers are likely to have two players drafted — forwards Jimmy Bubnick and Tyler Shattock.
Samantha Haylock attended tryouts for the Lingerie Football League’s Tampa Breeze and later told the St. Petersburg Times that she was rather disappointed. “They aren’t very organized,” she stated. “They didn’t ask any questions. It’s all about looks.” . . . No kidding. . . . “(Brett) Favre is the supermodel who maxes out your credit cards,” writes Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “He is the sports car that wipes out your bank account. He is enticing, and he is captivating, and he is trouble.” . . . When Darren Helm scored in OT for the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night, it was a record-setter — he has five NHL playoff goals and none in the regular season. He had shared the record with former Montreal Canadiens forward Eddie (Spider) Mazur, who was one of the good guys on the Winnipeg sporting scene when he worked for Molson in the mid-1970s.
The recent Belgian bodybuilding championships were ready to go when a couple of drug-testers appeared on the scene, resulting in the fleeing of every competitor. “The event was promptly cancelled,” wrote SI.com’s John Rolfe, “because no one was left to compete — kind of like what the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be like in a few years.” . . . You have to love those Dos Equis beer commercials that star The Most Interesting Man in the World. Is he not The King of the World? . . . The role is played by character actor Jonathan Goldsmith, who has been in all kinds of TV shows and movies. . . . Is there any truth to the rumours that Gordo’s Liberals are soon to name ‘For Sale’ as the official sign of B.C.?
After NHL veteran Jeremy Roenick shot himself in the foot by suggesting that Detroit head coach Mike Babcock doesn’t like Americans, Red Wings defenceman Brian Rafalski, who is from Dearborn, Mich., told Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated: “Yeah, sure, (Babcock) doesn’t like me. He only lets me play with Nicklas Lidstrom, the Norris Trophy-winner.” . . . Through Thursday games, outfielder Tyson Gillies of Kamloops was hitting .307 for the Class A High Desert Mavericks. Along with six doubles, five triples and two homers, he had a .426 on-base percentage and a .869 OPS. Gillies has been batting leadoff for the Seattle Mariners’ affiliate.
If you missed Mr. T singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game at Wrigley Field on Monday, hustle on over to YouTube for a look that is guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes. . . . Over at Fark.com, Drew Curtis summed up the situation after the New York Yankees won their eighth straight game earlier in the week: “Now the ‘all that money doesn’t buy teamwork’ rants can stop and the ‘they’re trying to buy a championship’ rants can begin.” . . . Larry Brooks, in the New York Post: “It would be one thing for the NHL to bend over for a television network from which it receives massive rights fees, that would be understandable, but genuflecting for NBC, whose deal nets approximately $100,000 per team, is a scandal that demands inspection.” . . . One more from Brooks: “Having Dave Jackson, Dan O’Halloran, Kevin Pollock and Bill McCreary officiate the conference finals is kind of like having the Thrashers, Islanders, Avalanche and Lightning playing the games, isn’t it?”

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