The NFL Network has been showing a two-part documentary — Bill Belichick: A Football Life — over the last couple of weeks. Yes, the producers somehow got the New England Patriots’ head coach to wear a microphone last season. “Should be riveting,” wrote Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote. “I hear that in episode one, Belichick debates whether to go with the blue hoodie or the grey one.” . . . Actually, it is riveting. Don’t miss it if you get an opportunity to watch. . . . “From a room away,” writes Phil Mushnick in the New York Post, “all that grunting heard during U.S. Open women’s matches sounds like there are terrible beatings going on.” . . .
According to BCFC statistics from last Saturday, the Kamloops Broncos recorded only five first downs in their 77-4 loss to the visiting Vancouver Raiders, who totalled 11 touchdowns. . . . In the game of football, you know you’re in trouble when the other team has more touchdowns than you have first downs. . . . The Raiders, it seems, were concerned enough about the Broncos that they needed some motivation. Head coach Snoop Blokker told the Nanaimo Free Press that his club was angered by pre-game comments made by Broncos officials. Those comments allegedly had to do with the Raiders’ propensity for running up the score on weaker opponents. “We used those idiotic comments as motivation and they gave us something to keep us focused,” said Blokker. . . . Just a suggestion for Mr. Snoop, but I’m thinking you should be more concerned with the on-field discipline. In case you missed it, Mr. Snoop, your guys took 21 penalties for 200 yards, including two plays on which they took double roughing penalties worth 60 yards. . . . By the way, Mr. Snoop of the Raiders is not believed to be related to Mr. Snoop Dogg, who is a Raiders’ fan, albeit the Oakland Raiders. . . .
Here’s Sebastian Coe, the chairman of the London organizaing committee for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games, reflecting to The New York Times on the two weeks of rioting in that city this summer: “I’m not convinced in any way that was a political demonstration or this was a manifestation of distracted or disaffected urban youth. People sitting on pavements trying on different-sized Nike trainers and being photographed in front of plasma television sets, it doesn’t immediately strike me that this was the Martin Luther King movement. This was some fairly unstructured late-night shopping.” . . . So that’s what those Vancouver rioters were doing! Late-night shopping! . . .
HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant is 80 years of age and has been around the sweet science for a long time. But you can bet that he never made as much noise as he did a week ago when, after taking some verbal abuse from Floyd Mayweather during a post-fight interview, he told the boxer: “I wish I was 50 years younger and I’d kick your ass.” . . . Gotta wonder what that bout would be worth on pay-per-view? . . . After seeing the Mayweather sucker punch that ended his fight with Ortiz, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: “The equivalent in baseball would be a hitter walking to the mound and slamming the pitcher in the head with the bat, then walking away and getting drilled in the back of the head with a fastball.” . . . Ostler also noted one of the fight’s “classic elements” was “a zombie ref, apparently seeing the bout on five-second delay. The man couldn’t ref a bingo game. When Mayweather went berserk, the ref was walking away, scanning the crowd for a hot-dog vendor.” . . .
A tweet from @irbmikemiller, who is in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup: “On the road from Invercargill to Dunedin. A sign which said: Slow down. No doctor. No hospital. One cemetery.” . . . The Calgary Stampeders left Wednesday for Moncton where they will play the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a Sunday CFL game. “A lot of guys don’t even know what New Brunswick is,” Calgary QB Henry Burris told Donna Spencer of The Canadian Press. “They think it’s a company that makes bowling balls.” . . . Daryl Reaugh, who is a Kamloops Blazers Legend, has been added to the Hockey Night in Canada crew. He will work on the crew that covers the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. He also works as an analyst on the Dallas Stars’ broadcast crew and he’s excellent at it. . . .
On Sunday, the Asahi, a team of Japanese-Canadian baseballers who thrilled fans in Vancouver from 1914 to 1941, was honoured. The Asahi’s run ended with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and an ugly chapter in our history as these people ended up in internment camps. Sunday was the 70th anniversary of the Asahi’s final game at Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside — a plaque was unveiled and a tribute game was played. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Kaye Kaminishi of Kamloops. You can bet the 89-year-old Kaminishi threw a strike. . . . It’s early, but reports indicate that Devan Dubnyk, who was so popular during his days with the Blazers, has been the best goaltender in the Edmonton Oilers’ camp. . . .
If you’re looking for something to do this afternoon, head on over to the throws pit at the Tournament Capital Centre and watch some of the world’s best hammer throwers in competition. . . . Is it safe to say that Florida Marlins closer Leo Nunez — actually, his name is Juan Carlos Oviedo — is the greatest player to be named later in baseball history?
Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. Email him at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, follow him at twitter.com/gdrinnan, or visit his blogat gdrinnan.blogspot.com.Keeping Score appears Saturdays.
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