Keeping Score

When Mark Recchi scored for the Boston Bruins in their first game against the Buffalo Sabres last week, he wasn’t aware that he had just become the third-oldest player to score a goal in an NHL playoff game. Only Gordie Howe, who was 52 when he scored for the Hartford Whalers in 1980, and Chris Chelios, 45 when he counted for the Detroit Red Wings in 2007, were older. Recchi, at 42, is thinking about playing one more NHL season but said there’s no way he’ll be moving any higher on that particular list. . . . Smith & Wesson has reported that its revenue from the sales of firearms declined 10.2 per cent in the fiscal quarter ending Jan. 31. It also reported that the sale of pistols fell 33 per cent. As Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times noted: “Well, duh — Gilbert Arenas quit buying.” . . . One more from Perry: “Derrick Coleman owes creditors $4.7 million and has filed for bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported — this despite an NBA career that earned him a whopping $87 million. Now that's what's known as taking it to the hole.” . . .
Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “(Ben) Roethlisberger seems to be different from Plaxico Burress in this way: Burress has a few pops with a gun on him and he's a danger to everybody in the bar. Roethlisberger is a danger only to the women in the place.” . . . Lupica, on the release of Avatar on DVD, a movie he has yet to see: “I just never felt the urge to see a movie where everybody looked like they'd painted their faces at a Duke basketball game.” . . . Lupica, again: “Who would have ever thought Larry King would be this kind of catnip to the ladies? Larry's probably another guy who thinks Tiger Woods and Jesse James were just living the dream.” . . . After Roethlisberger lost an endorsement over his latest mess, the Left Coast Sports Babe wrote: “He was dropped by a Pittsburgh company that makes beef jerky. I don't know, guilty or not, when you now think of jerky, don’t you think of Ben Roethlisberger?’’ . . .
Ron Judd, in the Seattle Times, with a nonsports item: “Sarah Palin, R-Sylvan Learning Centers, told a $200-per-head crowd in Hamilton, Ont., that Americans often mistake her for a Canadian because of her, uh, distinctive dialect. ‘They think that we talk alike,’ she said. Here's where we find out if it's possible for an entire nation to sue for slander.” . . . Bob (Hound Dog) Kelly played for the Philadelphia Flyers when they were the Broadstreet Bullies. How was it? As he told HBO, which is making a documentary about the team: "There's nothing like driving somebody's head through the boards to make you feel good." . . . So if you’re a fan of the Boston Red Sox, how close are you to pushing the panic button? . . . After Reuters reported that the extra-curricular activities carried out by Tiger Woods and Jesse James have led to a new word, chexting — cheating via cell phone texting — blogger R.J. Currie noted: “Think of it as lipstick on your caller.” . . .
How sad are things with the TRU men’s basketball program when it can’t even recruit a 6-foot-9 local star — Josh Wolfram — who wanted to go to school there and play at home in front of friends and family? The Calgary Dinos, who have attracted two players off the South Kamloops Titans, announced their recruiting class this week and it’s eight players deep. . . . TRU, which doesn’t have a coach even though the CIS season has been over for a month, has yet to announce even one recruit. The WolfPack finished 3-15 last season and you wonder if things can get worse. . . . Wolfram and Tyler Jaroszuk, another 6-foot-9 forward, are on their way to the Dinos. Also headed that way is quarterback Adam Ballingall of the Titans. . . . Meanwhile, South Kam footballers Domenic Mercuri, a linebacker, and Ethan Schnell, off the OL, have committed to UBC and the Thunderbirds. . . . As one of the province’s top prospects, Mercuri recently was invited to attend the annual Orange Helmet Awards dinner, which is played host to by the B.C. Lions. . . . As well, Erica Gardham of the Brocklehurst Broncs has decided she’ll attend Camosun College in Victoria and play for the Chargers. . . .
Steve Simmons, in the Toronto Sun: “As general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers for 10 years, Don Waddell has the distinction of never having won a playoff game. That kind of record would get most GMs fired: In Atlanta, it got him promoted to team president. I figure three more lousy seasons and the man should be commissioner.” . . . The NHL playoffs are almost two weeks old and you’re wondering: Who is the first star to this point? That’s easy. Craig MacTavish. The former Edmonton Oilers head coach is a hit on TSN’s nightly panel. . . . Do you think maybe outfielder Jason Bay is starting to wonder why he signed with the New York Mets? They are off to another terrible start and Citi Field is death to right-handed home-run hitters. . . .
The legendary Curly Neal of the Harlem Globetrotters was telling Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle about playing with Wilt Chamberlain in 1958-59 and again on a tour of Europe in 1973. "Wilt was a great guy, so easy to play with," Neal said. "And first one into the shower, first one out. He'd say, 'Let's go get 'em!' " . . . Ostler added: “Because that was postgame, apparently Wilt wasn't referring to the Washington Generals.” . . . One more from Ostler: “Bud Selig — who is still mulling the fate of Pete Rose, the future of the DH and when it was Selig became aware of steroids — says he is concerned about the increasingly slow pace of games. Uh, Bud, you're the guy who took away their amphetamines.” . . . OK, because you asked for it, we close with this from Ostler: “I admit it, I was rooting for Tiger Woods to win the Masters, just to see the stampede of bimbos running out of the gallery at the 18th green Sunday to tearfully embrace him.”

Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. Email him at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, or visit his blog at gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Keeping Score returns May 8.