Memo to Corey Chamblin, head coach, Saskatchewan Roughriders. . . . Let the fans back into your practices and we’ll see what we can do. . . . Signed, The Football Gods. . . . Remember the pre-Olympic chatter about the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team and how it would stack up against the 1992 Dream Team? Well, as Charles Barkley said on The Dan Patrick Show: “C’mon, they struggled with the Gasol brothers.” . . . A tweet from Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) earlier in the week: “That awkward moment when you realize you’re not on Madden13 and have to create yourself…” . . . If you’re a follower of The Daily News Christmas Cheer Fund — and who isn’t? — you should know that the head elf had news on Thursday. “Just thought I would let you know Christmas Cheer is on its way!” she wrote in an email. “We received 2 donations today. I think that is a good sign. We are going to rock this year!” . . .
That is good news, but the week’s best news came from Los Angeles where the Dodgers let it be known that Vin Scully will be back for another go-round. Scully, 84, will be into his 64th season of calling Dodgers games in 2013. He began in 1950 when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn. . . . The inimitable Tommy Lasorda has told the Los Angeles Times that he wants a Dodgers schedule placed on his tombstone. “I want people who are in the cemetery visiting their loved ones to say, ‘Let’s go to Lasorda’s grave and see if the Dodgers are playing home or away,’ ” Lasorda, 84, said. “Hey, I love this organization so much I want to be working for it even after I’m dead.” . . .
The biggest story in baseball these days involves the Washington Nationals’ plan to shut down starter Stephen Strasburg, who had Tommy John surgery two years ago, after a couple more starts. . . . After the Washington Post endorsed the move, Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot asked: “Shouldn’t the Post be more interested in shutting down certain politicians?” . . . Headline at SportsPickle.com: Nationals approach Stephen Strasburg about pitching the remainder of the season left-handed. . . . The eyes of the football world will be on State College today as the Ohio U Bobcats visit the Penn State Nittany Lions. If you’re a baseball fan, you may be intrigued to know that Ohio U’s quarterback is Tyler Tettleton, the son of former catcher Mickey Tettleton. . . .
Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald is wondering what the Nashville Predators were thinking when they signed defenceman Shea Weber to a 14-year contract. “With global warming,” Dickson writes, “we may not even have ice in 14 years.” . . . On the one hand, we have NHL boss Gary Bettman stating publicly that his owners are paying players too much money. On the other hand, we have NHL owners continuing to sign players to rich contracts. . . . So what’s going on here? . . . “And once again,” notes Janice Hough, the Left Coast Sports Babe, after Prince Harry’s excellent Las Vegas adventure, “many 40- and 50-plus Canadians can thank their lucky stars they came of age before the era of camera phones.” . . . One more from Hough, who wrote, after the USADA said it would strip Lance Armstrong of seven Tour de France victories: “Uh, can they actually name any potentially clean winner during those years? It’s enough to make you long for the purity of pro wrestling.” . . .
Bill (Spaceman) Lee, 65, went the distance in a game last week as his San Rafael Pacifics dumped the Maui Na Koa Ikaika 9-4 in a North American Baseball League game. “I get invited to play and I play,” Lee told the San Francisco Chronicle. “So far I haven’t embarrassed myself. But it’s early.” . . . The Kamloops Broncos have filed a complaint with the BCFC office, protesting the way in which the Vancouver Island Raiders came onto the Hillside Stadium for the game a week ago. The Raiders ran single file through the Broncos’ bench area before crossing over to the other sideline. . . . According to Broncos president Dino Bernardo, the team has filed similar complaints with the league “several times.” . . . And you wondered why the Raiders are the most disliked team in the BCFC. . . .
With the NFL regular season set to begin with replacement officials on the field, Richmond blogger T.C. Chong has a couple of pointers for them: 1. When a player breaks the ‘plane’ of the goal line, it is a ‘touchdown.’ The call is not ‘SAFE.’ 2. Holding is not a two-minute penalty. . . . After ESPN ponied up $5.6 billion on a baseball contract that runs through 2021, Fark.com used this headline: ESPN gets new MLB contract to show even more Yankee and Red Sox games. . . . Veteran columnist Dave Kindred, writing for the National Sports Journalism Centre: “Do I buy the new LeBron sneakers? Or make a car payment?” . . .
During a game in Philadelphia in 1969, Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo hit a home run. As he got to the Cubs’ dugout, he noticed the fans on their feet and cheering. During a recent Cubs’ game, ex-teammate Glenn Beckert told the rest of the story: “(Santo) comes over to me and says, ‘I’ve never had a standing ovation on a road trip.’ I said, ‘You still haven’t, Ron. Take a look at the scoreboard. A man just walked on the moon.’ ” . . . The NHL released its TV schedule on Thursday, which prompted this tweet from Hockey News columnist Adam Proteau: “The NHL releasing a national 2012-13 TV schedule is like Van Halen’s tour plans: nice in theory, but don’t bet on all the dates panning out.”
(Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, gdrinnan.blogspot.com and twitter.com/gdrinnan. Keeping Score appears Saturdays,except when it doesn’t.)
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
Posts
