Keeping Score

Former NHL enforcer Dave Schultz spent more than 68 hours in the penalty box
during his career. What did he do to kill time while in the sin bin? “I used to think about all the points I was going to miss by not being out there,” Schultz told Stan Fischler. “What I liked about it was that it wasn’t as crowded as being on the bench. I had a towel and a Coke. It was relaxing.” . . . Ian Hamilton, in the Regina Leader-Post: “The NHL’s Calgary Flames were denounced after their players were vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus before other high-risk groups got their inoculations. It’s believed to be the first time ever that a hockey team has been criticized for taking shots.” . . . Here’s one from The Left Coast Sports Babe: “Breckenridge, Colorado, has voted to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and over. Which gives San Francisco a few years to follow suit so they don’t lose Tim Lincecum as a free agent to the Rockies.”
A movie titled The Men Who Stare At Goats opened on big screens last
weekend. Here is Vancouver comic Torben Rolfsen: “Finally, a documentary on
Bill Buckner and the 1986 World Series.” . . . Bryan Hall has been the radio voice of the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos seemingly forever, but his run will end with the team’s last game this season. If you’ve seen Hall, you’ve seen the hair, which is right up there with Donald Trump’s ’do. “People think it’s a rug,” Hall told The Globe and Mail's Bruce Dowbiggin, “but it’s not. I had one woman — I was at a public appearance — and she came over, didn’t say hello, just yanked on my hair to see if it was real. It is.” . . . Steve Simmons, in the Toronto Sun, after the centre of Canada’s universe was awarded the 2015 Pan Am Games: “There’s nothing like a city striving to get what Winnipeg has already had twice. What’s next? Pursuit of the Manitoba Moose?” . . . Nothing says American football like The Who, which is why Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and the gang will be the Super Bowl’s halftime show in Miami on Feb. 7.
The Seattle Mariners are impressed with the play of Tyson Gillies, the 20-year-old outfielder from Kamloops who played this season with the Class A High Desert, Calif., Mavericks. “Tyson’s not afraid of anything, he’s hungry, and those are the players you want,” Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu told Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune. Pedro Grifol, who runs the Mariners’ minor league operations, told LaRue: “He had a great year, his on-base percentage was off the wall, and he just spent two weeks in Arizona working specifically on base-stealing. He’s one of those guys who has two tools you can’t teach: Hand-eye co-ordination and speed. His defence is special.” . . . After Sammy Sosa surfaced the other day with something of a pale look, Seattle Times reader Bill Littlejohn noted: “Well, looking at Sammy Sosa’s skin lately, it’s obvious he’s still comfortable around the bleachers.” . . . New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter makes untold millions per season, so who better to appear as a homeless person in The Other Guys, a Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg movie shooting in the New York area?
Former Kamloops Blazers head coach Ken Hitchcock became the 16th person to coach in 1,000 NHL games when his Columbus Blue Jackets played host to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. Then with the Philadelphia Flyers, Hitchcock coached his first NHL game on Jan. 10, 1996, and that, too, was against Detroit. "It was 4-0, could have been 14-0," Hitchcock told NHL.com. "That's when Detroit was on a roll. They were unbelievable. That one game set my coaching back career about 12 years." . . . On Wednesday, the Wings won, 9-1. No word from Hitchcock on how many years that one was worth. . . . If you missed it, Boston Bruins winger Mark Recchi, who owns a chunk of the Blazers, picked up his 900th regular-season NHL assist on Tuesday night. He is 14th on the alltime list, with Bryan Trottier next up at 901.
Cam Hutchinson, in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, after a recent vacation: “One
of the most interesting places I visited in Philadelphia was Carpenters’ Hall. It is famous as being the building where, in 1774, colonial leaders met just before the American Revolution to condemn the actions of the British. . . . If Carpenters’ Hall had been built in Saskatoon, it would have been demolished for a parking lot.” . . . Greg Cote, in the Miami Herald: “It turns out layering wet newspapers under a bed of mulch significantly retards weed growth. Seriously. New hope for our industry! If I cannot enlighten or entertain you with pithy prose or astute commentary, at least let me help you fight crabgrass.” . . . Whoops! Jay Cutler just threw another interception. . . . If Wally Buono saves this B.C. Lions season with a Grey Cup appearance, he should be nominated for sainthood, never mind the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Last week, Michael Jordan’s son Marcus refused to wear adidas shoes — yes,
he wore Air Jordans — during a Central Florida basketball game. Adidas
promptly ended its deal with the school. As Steve Rosenbloom wrote at
ChicagoSports.com: "Remember, kids, there is no 'I' in team, but there is
'me' in money." . . . Linebacker Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins, explaining New York football fans on Sirius NFL Radio: "The Giants fans are a different type of people, just put it that way. There's a little more class on the Giants side and
some Jets fans take the 'cl' out of class." . . . Ndamukong Suh, a nose tackle with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, got only a ticket the other day after his vehicle hit three parked cars. Suh, whose blood-alcohol content was within the legal limit, told police he swerved to avoid a dog. Noted Reggie Hayes of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel: “Later, that same dog ate his homework.” . . . After Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, finished their Canadian tour, RJ Currie, from over at the Sports Deke blog, noted: “A lot of Toronto Maple Leafs fans can really relate to the Prince. He's also been waiting decades to be No. 1.”

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