Ron Judd, in the Seattle Times: “One of four Americans has mental-health issues, a study suggests. The other three were staring blankly into space next to a Paxil bottle and failed to respond to the survey.” . . . One more from Judd: “Astronomers say they have finally spotted a planet other than Earth that appears not too hot and not too cold to support life as we know it. BP already has dispatched an exploratory team to soil its beaches.” . . . If you still are wondering how big the NFL is in the U.S., consider that the Boston suburb of Foxboro has rescheduled Halloween for this year. Foxboro is home to the New England Patriors, who are scheduled to meet the visiting Minnesota Vikings on the afternoon of Oct. 31. Foxboro civic leaders have decided that the little ones will do their trick or treating on Oct. 30. . . . After reports that Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was found to have high levels of plastic residues in his blood, which would seem to indicate blood doping, Jacinto Vidarte, his spokesman, said: “We are not aware of any findings of this plastic substance in any of the tests. We — officially and unofficially — have no information on anything to do with this.” . . . Officially and unofficially? I guess that kind of covers it, doesn’t it? . . . A tip of the cap to the players with the BCFC’s Kamloops Broncos. It can’t be easy sticking it out when the odds are so stacked against you, but, hopefully, the day will come when this organization will look back and salute you as the ones who were there when it all began. . . .
Ian Hamilton, in the Regina Leader-Post: “It seems like a contradiction to be staging the Commonwealth Games in India. Judging by the images we’ve seen on TV, wealth is anything but common in New Delhi.” . . . One more from Hamilton: “Members of the San Francisco Giants recently suggested that the Colorado Rockies are using ‘juiced’ baseballs when they are at bat. How’s that for the pot calling the kettle black? The Giants apparently have forgotten using Barry Bonds when they were at bat.” . . . Finally, we in Canada get to celebrate an American-style Thanksgiving. That means nothing but turkey and football on Sunday. Enjoy! . . .
Vince Wilfork of the Patriots is a 325-pound nose tackle, who met his wife, Bianca, online. But it seems the relationship got off to a rough start. "He didn't have any pictures, and he lied," Bianca told The Boston Globe. "He said he weighed 250. He hasn't been 250 since he was born, right?" . . . Bronco Mendenhall, the head football coach at BYU, explains some defensive breakdowns in a recent game to the Salt Lake Tribune: "I think it was a myriad of a couple things." . . . Phil Jackson, the head coach of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, admits that he’s at the stage of his career where every season might be his last. So he has told the Orange County Register that the theme to this Lakers’ season will be The Last Stand. . . . “I hope it doesn’t turn out like Custer’s,” Jackson said. . . .
Steve Simmons, in the Toronto Sun: “One thing Darcy Tucker won't have to worry about in retirement: Money. Tucker is still on the Leafs' books for four more years, and four more million. . . . Tucker was many things in his career: Annoying, aggressive, nasty, singular, intense, deranged, beloved, despised, but especially in his seven years as a Leaf, he was never, ever dull.” . . . Here’s Simmons again: “Nice, that winners of Olympic gold were given $20,000 bonuses by the Canadian government. Not nice, that the same government taxed a lot of it back.” . . . Forwards Sasha Golin and Brady Mason, both of whom had stints with your Kamloops Blazers, now are playing university hockey with the Okanagan College Coyotes in Kelowna. . . .
Kelly Olynyk, the product of South Kam who is starting his sophomore year at Gonzaga U in Spokane, will have some talented company next season. Kevin Pangos, who is billed as Canada’s best high school point guard, has committed to attend Gonzaga next fall. Pangos, 17, is the son of Bill Pangos, the head women’s basketball coach at York U in Toronto. . . . Pangos was named best point guard at the world cadet championship in Germany over the summer. David Wagner, who is in Grade 12 at South Kam, was on the Canadian team that finished third in Germany. . . . A five-star resort in South Africa would have charged US$376,930 for a 35-night stay during the World Cup. That’s how much a travel company wants from Drew Carey — it has filed suit against him — who is alleged to have booked a stay and then not showed up. . . . Maybe he thought the price wasn’t right. . . .
Former heavyweight boxer Tex Cobb graduated from Temple University last year at the age of 57. The best part? As he told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "It was nice to have that opportunity to wear a robe, to step up there and not have to worry about bleeding." . . . So, Derek Boogaard, when did you first become a hockey enforcer? "It started when I was 14 or 15,'' Boogaard told the New York Daily News. "I was in juniors — Regina rookie camp, mini-camp and all that stuff. Their so-called tough guy or whatever got into it with me in one of the scrimmages, and I just dropped the gloves, and I put his nose on the side of his face. It happens, you know?" . . .
Cereal boxes with Chad Ochocinco’s picture on them also include a phone number that turned out to be, shall we say, incorrect. The number turned out to belong to a phone-sex line. As Seattle Times reader Bill Littlejohn pointed out, this makes the Cincinnati Bengals’ receiver “the top wide receiver in fantasy points." . . . Jim Furyk won the PGA’s Tour Championship recently, and banked US$11.35 million in the process. He then sat out the first round of the Ryder Cup. "He's been counting the money," U.S. captain Corey Pavin told The Associated Press, "and he's been very tired." . . . Here’s Hasheem Thabeet, a centre with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, chatting with the Memphis Commercial Appeal about his rookie season: "I was like a deer in a flashlight."
Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. Email him at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, follow him at twitter.com/gdrinnan, or visit his blog at gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Keeping Score appears Saturdays.
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