Keeping Score

Rick Telander, in the Chicago Sun-Times: “I remember sitting right here where I am typing this, in the third row of the open-air Wrigley press box, back on June 3, 2003, the same year that (Sammy) Sosa was failing his drug test, but we didn’t know it. It was the first inning of a night game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Sosa’s corked bat exploded into pieces that I can still see sailing over the emerald grass like kindling. Would Sammy cheat? Let us count the ways.” . . . “According to a report by CNBC,” writes Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post, “former Chicago Cubs steroid-gobbler Sammy Sosa had the sleeves of his jersey altered to make his arms look bigger back when he was playing. There’s no truth to the rumour that he also wore a sombrero to make his ever-expanding head look smaller.” . . . After the New York Islanders made the first selection in the NHL draft on Friday, Hamilton wrote: “the Isles got it right when they took John Tavares. Tough break for the kid, though: He gets to go to his first NHL training camp — and it’s in Saskatoon.”

After the Florida Panthers dealt winger Stefan Meyer to the Phoenix Coyotes for the rights to forward Stephen Reinprecht, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun noted: “Only in Gary Bettman’s NHL can a team without an owner, Phoenix, make a trade with a team that doesn’t have a general manager, Florida.” . . . One more from Simmons: “I see where Mike Gillis, who often fudged the truth about his professional relationship with disgraced agent David Frost, wants to build the Vancouver Canucks on the values of character and integrity. If that’s the case, maybe he should start by resigning.” . . . Spies report that the Chinese short track speed skating team is returning to Kamloops for a second visit and will hold a training camp, July 18 through Aug. 23, at the McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre. . . . On top of that, the Long Blades are to play host to a B.C. provincial camp at Mac Island, Aug. 22-26.

While the junior B Kamloops Storm may not yet have a head coach in place (Greg Hawgood?), the always smiling Tyler Boldt is returning for a second season as the Chase Chiefs’ GM and head coach. . . . It wasn’t one of John Daly’s better driving experiences. He was behind the wheel of his RV and going into the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile, Ala., when, as he told the Mobile Press-Register, “The sign said ‘No trucks, cargo or hazardous material in the right lane.’ I’m reading the sign and don’t see the (clearance) footage. I’m thinking I’ve got to go to the left lane, and before I know it, the roof is torn out.” . . . One of the pitchers on the U.S. team that will play at the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines World Baseball Challenge in Prince George from July 16-26 will be right-hander Gerrit Cole. He was selected 28th overall by the New York Yankees in the 2008 MLB draft, but chose to attend UCLA instead of signing with the Bronx Bombers. He has a hard slider, a changeup and a 98-mph fastball.

When former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar filed for bankruptcy, among his debts was US$3 million owing to his ex-wife. Which may go down as the last sack of Kosar’s career. . . . Thankfully, talk of the NHL holding two Winter Classics on Jan. 1, one in Boston and the other in Calgary, turned out to be just that. Let’s be honest here — two in one season means these games no longer are Classics. . . . Where is a 50-game suspension not a 50-game suspension? In the world of MLB commish Bud Selig and union boss Donald Fehr. Only in their world could Manny Ramirez be playing in the minor leagues before his 50-game suspension for using performance enhancers was up. . . . Peter King, at si.com: “I don’t know who Jon and Kate are, and I pray to God I never learn.” . . . Ain’t that the truth? . . . With the NHL free-agent signing day arriving Tuesday, you might be wondering about Mark Recchi. He started last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning and finished it with the Boston Bruins. However, he told me Friday that he has yet to decide if he will play another season.

A note from Todd Esselmont, a former Kamloops Blazers forward, following the death of Dale Masson last weekend: “My brother Shea and I played with Mase for a couple of years under Ken Hitchcock. Was shocked to hear the news. We were born and raised in the Loops and used to see him here and there. A truly great guy. . . . He will be truly missed.” . . . Yes, the NHL should take a look at how it is that Brent Sutter bailed out of a valid contract as head coach of the New Jersey Devils and ended up as the head coach of the Calgary Flames, a team whose general manager is his brother, Darryl. . . . You are aware that only three of the seven Sutter brothers — Brian, Gary and Rich — aren’t (yet?) on the Flames’ payroll. But are you aware that the Sutter family doesn’t own the Flames?

Former Blazers coach Ed Dempsey has signed a two-year deal to continue as GM and head coach of the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings. He has been with the Spruce Kings since January 2004. . . . With the news that Tom Brady and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, are expecting, Fark.com came up with his headline: Bündchendeoven. . . . Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Nick Faldo will be knighted by the Queen of England. Aren’t they handing out a lot of those knighthoods these days? I can understand Paul McCartney, but Nick Faldo? The American equivalent of British knighthood is receiving a nickname from Chris Berman.” . . . After Craig Hartsburg was introduced as the new head coach of the Everett Silvertips on Tuesday, goaltender Thomas Heemskerk told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald: “He seems like a nice guy. As long as everyone works hard it might stay that way.” . . . And we close with a question from the aforementioned Ostler: “We can put a man on the moon, so why can’t the man be Jose Canseco?”

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