Friday, March 25, 2011






It turns out that the stick figure that is San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum works hard at trying to get his weight up. He told Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY that he dines regularly at In-N-Out burger outlets. He orders up two double-doubles, two fries and a milkshake. Which adds up to more than 3,000 calories. “I’ve gone away from eating more cheeseburgers,” Lincecum said, “and just adding patties.” . . . It worked, too, because he gained 11 pounds, to 168. . . . And his cholesterol level is over the moon. . . . Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Former boxing champ Christy Martin suffered knife and bullet wounds in a fight started by her husband, who was upset because Christy told him she was leaving him for a woman. Now there’s a country song that will pretty much write itself.” . . .
Is there a pro athlete with a bigger heart than Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki? So far, he has donated US$1.2 million to earthquake/tsunami relief in Japan. . . . And a tip of the hat to Vernon’s Chris Baryla for pledging US$1,000 and half his Nationwide Tour earnings from this week to Red Cross Canada and its Japanese relief effort. . . . Larry Brooks, in the New York Post: “This just in: Gary Bettman says the citizens of Glendale, Ariz., will be required to absorb the cost of bonds so that the Blues can remain in St. Louis. The mayor of Glendale endorses the commissioner’s position.” . . .
The Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy will be in Vancouver, June 27-29, and Prince George, July 4-6. For more information, visit bluejays.com. Click on community and then amateur baseball. . . . Ron Judd, in the Seattle Times: “In an interview with Yahoo! Sports, running back Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings called the business of the NFL ‘modern-day slavery.’ So that explains Paul Allen’s odd decision to replace the Seahawks’ modern charter jetliner with a creaky old ship with long wooden oars.” . . . A tweet from Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register: “Matt Cooke has made more heads hurt than Jack Daniels.” . . . WYFF4.com supplies breaking news to the Greenville, S.C., area. And it is there that the frontrunner as headline of the year appeared last weekend — Deputy: Strip Search Finds Crack Between Buttocks. . . .
The WHL playoffs have arrived. We know that because forward Matt Fraser of the Kootenay Ice explained it to Matt Coxford of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman. “We’ve all been frantically trying to dye our hair (black) the past couple of days to get everything in place,” Fraser said, “and we’ve told all our girlfriends that we’re not going to be talking to them for a while because we’ve got business to take care of.” . . . You will note that Fraser specified “talking” and didn’t say anything about Facebooking or texting. . .
So what will it mean should Chad Ochocinco earn a spot with the MLS’s Sporting Kansas City? Well, here’s Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: “If he makes it, this means vuvuzelas will be only the second-most annoying thing at a soccer match.” . . . The World Baseball Challenge is back in Prince George for a second run this summer (July 8-19) and the Beijing Tigers confirmed this week that they will be among the teams competing. The Tigers formed the nucleus of the host team for the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. . . . The Tigers were to have played in the inaugural WBC, in 2009, but cancelled when the H1N1 virus reared its ugly head. . . . I’m hearing that Kevin Tillie, the TRU WolfPack men’s volleyball team’s superb outside hitter, may not be back for a third season. A couple of NCAA schools, USC and BYU, are said to be interested in him. Tillie, who is from Cagnes Sur Mer, France, was a second-team all-Canadian this season. . . .
Craig Slater, a sports writer with the Regina Leader-Post, chatted during a media scrum with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly the other day. Mattingly’s brother, Randy, was the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ backup QB in 1974 and ’75. Here’s Don: “I was up in Saskatchewan once to see (Randy) play. That Ronnie Lancaster, wow, what a player. For all of you (media) who don’t know who Ronnie Lancaster is, he’s a football legend in Canada. Randy didn’t play much, and that’s all because of Ronnie Lancaster. Man, that guy was a heck of a player.” . . . Outfielder Tyson Gillies of Kamloops has more hamstring problems. He’s in the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league camp but that left hamstring injury that cut short last season, has knocked him out to the sideline again. “Yep,” he told The Daily News in an email this week. “Never healed properly apparently. Very frustrated.” . . . According to the Phillies, he is day-to-day, and it isn’t know if he’ll be ready to open the season with the Class AA Reading Phillies. . . .
With third Jeanna Schraeder stepping aside to have a baby, Kelowna skip Kelly Scott has added Dailene Sivertson to her women’s curling team. Sivertson, from Victoria, is a three-time B.C. junior champion, winning her most-recent title on Dec. 30 by beating Corryn Brown of Kamloops. . . . Stan Van Gundy, the head coach of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, isn’t about to shed any tears for the oft-complaining members of the Miami Heat. As he told the Orlando Sentinel: “My suggestion would be if you don’t want the scrutiny, you don’t hold a championship celebration before you’ve even practised together.”

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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