Friday, August 6, 2010

Keeping Score

A tweet from Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, who is touring NFL camps: “Back in the day, writers and GMs pounded beers at training camp. I just finished organic green tea with Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff.” . . . Ahh, the price of success! Your Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, are said to be in the process of increasing ticket prices by 20 per cent. . . . Len Berman, at ThatsSports.com: “The sales staff for the Miami Heat sold out all their season tickets. What was their reward? They all got fired. With the seats all sold, who needs ’em?” . . . If you’re like me, you can hardly wait for the arrival of Rogers’ Pokernet One. The thought of poker on five TV channels at once leaves me sleepless in Kamloops. . . . Greg Connors, in the Buffalo News: “The North Korean soccer team, just days after being routed in the World Cup, reportedly was summoned to an auditorium in Pyongyang and subject to a six-hour public ‘shaming. Anyone thinking we went too easy on Scott Norwood?" . . .

Barry Bonds’ perjury trial may not get before a jury until some time in 2011. “By the time they finally bring this case to court,” wrote the Left Coast Sports Babe, “the only performance-enhancing drug Bonds will be using is Metamucil.” . . . The Nash brothers, Brendon and Riley, and former Blazers captain Tyler Shattock are among the players who have confirmed that they will play in the annual Pro Am Scholarship Game in Salmon Arm on Wednesday. Game time at the Sunwave Centre is 7 p.m. . . . Wondering why USC picked Pat Haden as its athletic director and asked him to clean up what is an ugly mess? Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune has the answer: “Eliot Ness died in 1957.” . . .

A birdie whispers in my ear, telling me that CFJC-TV has hired Susan Edgell as the new host of Midday, its noon-hour news and information show. She will replace Tracy Pellizzari and also will anchor the news at 6:30 p.m. . . . Infielder David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals was sidelined with a sore right foot, only to have a weight fall on his left foot during a workout. That one broke his left big toe. . . . “That,” wrote Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, “is called waiting for the other shoe to get dropped on.” . . . Talk about a tough season! Freese suffered a tendon injury to his right leg in his first rehab start on Monday and now is done for the season. . . . The New York Post reports that actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler and New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez have split because the latter had a “wandering eye.” . . . As Perry noted: “Maybe he was merely trying to look off the safety.” . . .

Here’s Jeff Blair, in The Globe and Mail: “Explaining the trade for (Anthony) Gose, GM Alex Anthopoulos called him a premium centre fielder who’d be tough to sign as a Latin American free agent.” . . . The Blue Jays gave up first-baseman Brett Wallace, who is a blue-chip power-hitting prospect, for Gose, 19, a speedy outfielder whom Anthopoulos has wanted for a while now. . . . So how does centre-fielder Tyson Gillies, the Kamloopsian whose first season in the Philadelphia Phillies organization has been hurt by hamstring problems, stack up against Gose? Here’s Cliff Corcoran, at SI.com: “Tyson Gillies . . . is a better centre field prospect than Anthony Gose . . . but he’s been alternately hurt and struggling in his Double-A debut this year.” . . . Gillies, 21, hasn’t played since late June but is back running and should return to the lineup with the Reading Phillies at some point this month. . . . For now, he’s rehabbing in Florida and will get some starts with Philly’s Gulf Coast League team, perhaps as soon as this weekend. . . . While in Florida, Gillies says he’s been hanging out with Colin Kleven, a pitcher from Kamloops who was a 33rd-round selection by Philadelphia in the 2009 major league draft. Kleven is 0-4 with a 7.82 ERA with the GCL Phillies. . . . Of late, Kleven has been dealing with some back soreness. . . .

Lovie Smith, the head coach of the Chicago Bears, isn’t at all perturbed by last season’s 7-9 record and sees only sunshine for a new season. As Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times put it: “He’s called Lovie for a reason: Pollyanna was already taken.” . . . A reminder to charities in the area: The deadline to get applications into the Christmas Cheer Fund is Sept. 30. Go to www.kamloopsnews.ca and click on the Christmas Cheer logo for details. . . . Former Blazers head coach Barry Smith and his three sons have been devastated by the sudden death of Carolyn, his wife and their mother, on Monday. In time, they perhaps will gain some solace from the fact that her organs and tissue were donated to help others. Barry and Carolyn had been married for 20 years. She was 47. . . .

Former Minnesota Vikings running back Chester Taylor, upon hearing earlier this week that quarterback Brett Favre was retiring: “Brett did those Sears commercials where he was confused. He might still be confused.” . . . As the afore-mentioned Peter King put it: “(Favre) just talks too much even though he doesn’t talk much.” . . . Sorry, dear, but it’s the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day. . . . Looking ahead to the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert wonders: “Will the athletes have to learn how to run on the other side of the track?” . . . Veteran hockey writer Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette: “There is one thing to be said about the Heritage Classic, which will be held in Calgary on Feb. 20 when the Montreal Canadiens visit the Flames — the guy who decided to describe it as a ‘classic’ had a vivid imagination. A money grab it is, a ‘classic’ it ain’t.”

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 appears Saturdays.

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