You may have heard that New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain gained 30 pounds over the winter. What you may not know is that he also had a home gym installed. . . . Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle writes: "One unsubstantiated report is that he swallowed a 25-pound barbell plate, mistaking it for an Oreo." . . . How bad are the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers? “They aren't just bad, they're toxic,“ explains Michael Rosenberg of SI.com. "When they watch Hoosiers, Hickory High loses." . . . Cam Hutchinson, in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: “A study found stretching before running has no impact on preventing injuries. I've also found that not stretching or running prevents injuries.” . . .
Word is out that Amar'e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks is prepping a line of women's fashions. News of which had Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post noting: “We can hear the jingle now: 'When her clothes catch your eye/like a big-a pizza pie/that's Amar'e.' ” . . . After Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Keith Aulie, formerly of the Brandon Wheat Kings, handled Philly Flyers winger Scott Hartnell in a scrap the other night, some people started calling him Muhammad Aulie. . . . After the Chicago Cubs announced that they are looking for a public address announcer, Reggie Hayes of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel wrote: “You must be able to say 'Cubs lose' with the right mixture of empathy and resignation. But the best part of the job is you never have to work in October." . . . After the scrap in the Cubs' dugout earlier this week, word is that Michael Buffer has applied. . . . Contributor Tony Chong adds: “Chicago Cubs players Carlos Silva and Aramis Ramirez got into a fight at spring training. The Bears will be sending out scouts to the rest of the Cubs exhibition games.” . . .
Hey, Hockey Night in Canada, Don Cherry's disparaging remarks about Dr. Charles Tator, our country's foremost expert on sports-related concussions, were over the line and you know it. . . . Hey, Tim Hortons, that commercial with the guitar-strumming guy has got to go. Thanks. . . . Jay Leno hit the nail on the head the other day when he came up with: "Facebook is looking into buying Twitter for around $10 billion. If all goes as planned, the two companies will combine, creating the biggest waste of time the world has ever seen." . . .
You are going to be hearing a lot about 6-foot-4, 310-pound Danny Watkins. He's from Kelowna, he's 26 and he's an offensive lineman at Baylor. Despite not playing organized football until 2007 at a junior college in Butte, Mont., he started 25 games at left tackle for Baylor. Oh, and he just might be a first-round pick in the NFL draft on April 28. The B.C. Lions took him fourth overall in the CFL's 2010 draft but he's expected to be an NFL starter for years to come. . . . The car wreck known as Charlie Sheen opened a Twitter account on Tuesday. To follow, or not to follow? That is the question. . . . The Left Coast Sports Babe, after Los Angeles Clippers leaper Blake Griffin jumped over a car to win the slam dunk contest during the NBA all-star festivities: “It might have been the biggest dunk ever over a large inanimate object not involving Shaq.” . . . It also may have been the moment the dunk contest jumped the shark. . . .
Last Saturday night, former Kamloops Blazers winger Scottie Upshall was dining with Matt Hulsizer, the proposed new owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, and tweeting stuff like: “Glendale deserves us still. We appreciate our fans here and know we can do big things in Phx with the right support. No offense to the peg.” And: “But it'll only work w/ an owner who has love for our game. That's what matt brings. Glendale and the yotes deserve that for once.” . . . On Monday, Upshall was dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets. . . . Now that the B.C. Liberals have their leader, and now that Kevin Krueger has put on the flip-flops, and now that we have a new premier, whatever will we do for entertainment? . . .
Here's Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, with a comment on the fortunes of his city's NBA and NHL franchises: "While local TV ratings for Heat games are thriving, the local rating for Panthers games, 0.19, is the worst in the NHL. Panthers games draw fewer viewers - I swear this is true - than a 7 a.m. Sunday kid's show called 'Doodlebops,' and fewer than a recent infomercial for the Ninja Professional Blender. The good news? The Panthers occasionally narrowly outdraw the test pattern and the whining siren of the Emergency Broadcast System." . . . A Wednesday night tweet from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun: “Another sign Leafs have turned the corner, no one boos the pre-game 'no waffle' warning when it's broadcast at the ACC.” . . .
The press that has printed these pages for so many years made its final run last night. When it stopped, a number of folks left this building for the last time. From here on, the silence from downstairs six nights a week will be deafening and will serve to remind us of what used to be. Bob Dylan was correct when he sang: “The times they are a-changin'.”
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.
Posts
