A Thursday night tweet from former NFL star Warren Sapp: “Congratulations Ron Washington & The Texas Rangers World Champions!” . . . That was before the St. Louis Cardinals came back from the dead. . . . Then there was this tweet from Bill Simmons of ESPN (aka The Sports Guy): “I love Ron Washington but I’ve waived Mark Lowe from my AL Keeper team 3 times over the years. This will not end well.” . . . Washington’s biggest problem was that he couldn’t bring in Nolan Ryan from the front row to pitch the 10th inning of Game 6. . . . This World Series proves why baseball is the greatest sport of them all. . . . If the late Ben Hatskin and Wild Bill Hunter, two of the WHL’s founding fathers, were in charge, the World Series would have become a best-of-nine sometime Thursday evening. . . .
In a column late last week, Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette tried to make the point that Leafs versus Habs has lost some of its spice. “Is diminished Leaf-loathing symptomatic of something?” he asked. “Perhaps, in my case, the serenity and acceptance that come with age? Or the first hint of a dementia that will lead to liking UFC, country music and Ben Mulroney?” . . . Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “When Lindsay Lohan showed up at the morgue for her community service the other day — did she spot her career there?” . . .
A new California law requires vehicle booster seats for children until they are 4-foot-9 or eight years of age, whichever comes first. As the Left Coast Sports Babe noted: “Good thing about that ‘whichever comes first,’ or kids like Doug Flutie would be in boosters through high school.” . . . Defenceman Joe Hicketts made his WHL debut with the Victoria Royals a week ago as they put up a 3-2 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna. Hicketts, who is from Kamloops, was named grinder of the game by his teammates. . . . Hicketts and pal Ryan Gropp are in Moose Jaw this weekend playing for Team B.C. at the WHL’s U-16 Challenge Cup. . . .
Of course, visors should be mandatory at every level of hockey. The best suggestion I’ve seen so far is that if an NHLer chooses not to wear a visor, he shouldn’t be allowed to wear a cup, either. . . . Hmmm . . . I wonder what side of the visor debate Don Cherry will take? . . . Vancouver police chief Jim Chu suggested a couple of weeks ago that there soon were to be arrests involving those Stanley Cup rioters. To which Richmond-based blogger T.C. Chong responded: “The city wants to get all these rioters processed and back on the streets before the Grey Cup game.” . . . Ian Hamilton, in the Regina Leader-Post: “The Vancouver Canucks’ slogan for the season is ‘The Heart of a Canuck.’ That narrowly edged out: ‘Come to a Canucks game. You’ll have a riot.’ ” . . . Here’s blogger R.J. Currie of sportsdeke.com after San Francisco right-hander Tim Lincecum’s former landlord sued him for US$350,000, claiming damage and theft from an apartment: “At least Lincecum didn’t try to smoke the joint.” . . . One more from Currie: “Kim Kardashian reportedly went bowling in New York dressed in skin-tight leather pants and a see-through top with an exposed lace bra. Male bowlers in attendance had a hard time keeping their mind out of the gutter.” . . .
If you’re a Kamloops hockey fan, you can’t be happy. The Red Deer Rebels will be here Nov. 11 and Feb. 17, but they won’t have centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with them. The first pick in the NHL’s 2011 bantam draft will spend the season with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. . . . Former Kamloops Storm head coach Bryant Perrier is the head coach of the MJHL’s Neepawa Natives, who are embroiled in a really ugly hazing-related kerfuffle. Perrier, a man who loves words, has chosen not to comment. However, he was quoted: “The league’s done the investigation, the people have been interviewed, the players have been interviewed, everything’s been done. They did an investigation. You want to do a second investigation? This isn’t the O.J. Simpson trial.” . . . Well, now it seems some players have changed their stories. So, Mr. Perrier, there will be a second investigation. You’re right, this isn’t the O.J. Simpson trial. . . .
Let’s close with a couple from Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: “The Orioles are erecting a statue of Brooks Robinson, throwing. Memo to sculptor: Robinson was called the Human Vacuum Cleaner, not the Human Rifle or the Human Howitzer.” . . . And one more from Ostler: “The NBA lockout reminds us that basketball is the best sport. It’s the only major sport that millionaire pro players play for free in their spare time. You never see major-league baseball players or NFL players running around looking for pickup games.”
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
