Jim Brown, the Hall of Famer who is in the argument as the greatest running back of all time, has been quoted as saying: “The NCAA is the most reprehensible organization God ever created.” According to Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe, “God responded: ‘Don’t blame me, I didn’t do it.’ ” . . . One more from Hough: “Tiger Woods said that missing the Masters wasn’t that bad. ‘Speak for yourself,’ said CBS.” . . .
TSN with three new channels? The mind boggles at the thought of what might end up on those channels. . . . We could always use more darts and poker on TV, couldn’t we? . . . Here’s Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Express: “TSN is adding three more networks. They will aptly be named TSN3, TSN4 and TSN5. So we now will get five times the Toronto coverage.” . . . One more from Hutchinson: “If the NDP is elected in Ontario, it promises to raise the minimum wage to $12. I’m wondering how CFL teams in other provinces would cope with this salary increase.” . . .
Kamloops basketball fans are in for a treat later this year. I’m not certain of the date but the Gonzaga Bullodgs, most seasons a top-20 NCAA men’s basketball team, will be in Kamloops to play an exhibition game against the TRU WolfPack. . . . Headline from TheOnion.com -- Poll: 56% Of Voters Say Country Better Off Than It Was 4 Eons Ago. . . . Despite being unable to speak after taking a puck to the throat on Sunday, defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson of the Chicago Blackhawks was back in the lineup two days later. “Man,” noted Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post, “the guy’s a hoarse.” . . .
“Oprah Winfrey is among the celebrities interested in buying the Los Angeles Clippers,” writes Brad Rock of the Deseret News. “Sources say she plans to interview players about expressing their feelings in non-confrontational ways and slimming down for their high school reunions.” . . . Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda is friends with Donald Sterling, the owner of the NBA’s Clippers who has been banned for life because of racist comments that were recorded and made public by gal pal V. Stiviano. When Lasorda was asked by WPBF-TV in Florida about Stiviano, he replied: “I don’t wish that girl any bad luck, but I hope she gets hit with a car.” . . .
“Alberta skip Kevin Martin announced his retirement,” writes RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. “He leaves a curling career where he has owned 18 slam titles, four Brier crowns and Glenn Howard.” . . . Here’s Currie, again: “Roger Federer, holder of 17 Slam singles titles, is a proud papa of twins again: two boys to go with his twin daughters. Who knew he was a doubles specialist?” . . .
Is that Carey Price or a freshman named Ken Dryden in goal for the Montreal Canadiens these days? . . . Whoever it is, he is redefining “cool.” . . . BTW, Hockey Night in Canada, in its death throes, is proving that three voices on a play-by-play crew is one too many. Here’s hoping that Sportsnet is paying attention. . . . An old joke reworked by Richmond, B.C., blogger TC Chong: “A guy walks into a Vancouver bar and asks for 10 ounces of flat beer served in a plastic cup, and wants to be charged $9 for it. The bartender says: ‘Are you crazy?’ The guy replies, ‘No, I just miss going to Canucks games.’ ” . . .
In case you missed it, the CFL’s board of governors has approved the use of video review on pass interference calls. Having watched the early days of video review in baseball, we can only imagine what this will be like in the CFL. . . . At the end of the day, and even in slomo, pass interference is a judgment call and video review won’t change that. . . . Air Serbia has named an airplane in honour of former NBAer Vlade Divac. As Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald wrote: “Instead of landing, it flops onto the tarmac.” . . .
A gem from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: “No Toronto team in the NBA, NHL or MLB has won a playoff series since April of 2004. By comparison, in that same period of time in Boston, the Red Sox have won the World Series three times, the Patriots have won two Super Bowls, the Bruins and Celtics have been champions and the same teams have lost in four other championship series or games. . . . No other city with NBA, NHL and MLB ties has gone this long without winning a single playoff round.” . . . Of course, no other city has the Ford brothers, either. . . .
If you were watching on Thursday night, you saw three players from Texas A&M selected in the first round of the NFL draft. As contributor Bill Littlejohn noted: “So Aggie recruiters should have plenty of salary cap room for the next class.” . . . Jack Finarelli, aka the Sports Curmudgeon, wants the NFL to take its draft back to a two-day format, and here’s why: “The current draft format creates a situation whereby there can be mock drafts for both the first and the second rounds. That borders on a human rights violation.”
(Gregg Drinnan is a former sports editor of the Regina Leader-Post and the late Kamloops Daily News. He is at gdrinnan.blogspot.ca and twitter.com/gdrinnan. Keeping Score appears here on weekends, except when it doesn’t.)
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