When the Montreal Canadiens are involved in a Stanley Cup playoff game that begins at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, on a Saturday, you know that TV is running the NHL’s show. Of course, you’re not surprised, are you? . . . There is an interesting court battle going on in Orlando, Fla, where the City wants to buy some land and put up a stadium that would house a Major League Soccer franchise. The land, appraised at US$700,000, is owned by Faith Deliverance Temple, which is reported to have stuck a $35-million price tag on it. . . . The City is hoping a judge will issue a red card to the folks from the temple. . . .
“The Running of the Bulls was just held ... no, wait,” writes Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald, “that was sponsors fleeing the Los Angeles Clippers.” . . . “Oprah Winfrey is reportedly interested in buying the L.A. Clippers,” reports RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. “So now it's really become a soap Oprah.” . . . Donald Sterling purchased the Clippers for US$12 million in 1981. If the NBA’s governors are successful in trying to force a sale, as expected, he is likely to get about $1 billion for the franchise. “That’s a $988-million profit,” notes contributor Bill Littlejohn. “Is this a great country or what?” . . . U.S. President Obama referred to Sterling’s comments as “incredibly offensive,” which resulted in NBC-TV’s Jimmy Fallon adding: “And you know it’s bad when even Vladimir Putin says, ‘I hate to say it, but I am with Obama on this one.’ ” . . .
If you live in the Kamloops area, you should know that the TRU WolfPack athletic department is selling season tickets for $60 each. That will get you into all baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer and volleyball games, and on a single-game basis would set you back $280. The deal is only good in May. Call Erin Connelly-Reed at 250-377-6116 if you’re interested. . . . The Gambian Football Association has drawn a two-year suspension from the Confederation of African Football for age cheating. It seems the Gambian team at Africa’s under-20 championship included five players who were too old. Under those rules, Chinese gymnasts would never be able to compete. . . .
“Another reason the San Antonio Spurs just don’t fit the NBA mold,” notes Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe. “Tony Parker, 31, barely made (Wednesday’s) game because of the birth of his FIRST child.” . . . More from Hough: “Bruins president Cam Neely denounced fans who attacked the Canadiens’ P.K. Subban, who is black, with racial slurs on social media after Subban scored the game-winning goal for Montreal over Boston (on Thursday) night. In related news, Donald Sterling called the Bruins to inquire about rink-side tickets.” . . . Hough also noted that the San Jose Sharks “went from looking unstoppable to dead in the water so quickly that you have to wonder if Richard Dreyfuss was somehow involved.” . . .
Our neighbours in Washington State have some great names for entries in the lottery for legal bug retail licenses, like Weyzer Bud in Danville, Street of Greens in Bellevue and Bellinghamsterdam. Should Olympic Bliss in Port Angeles come up a winner, you have to wonder how long it might be before owners hear from the IOC. . . . If you’ve watched an NBA game, you have seen at least one timeout and you likely have wondered what goes on during one of those sideline meetings. Here’s Doc Rivers, the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, in conversation with the San Francisco Chronicle: “I meet with my coaches out on the court and they tell me what they think we should do. I ignore them, go back to the bench and tell the players what I think they should do. They ignore me and go out and do whatever they want to do.” . . .
On Friday night, ESPN Stats & Info tweeted that Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox had hit a homer that travelled “359 feet and had an apex of 160 feet, the highest apex of any home run hit this season.” Just what baseball needs, an apex statistic for home runs. . . . Headline from SportsPickle.com: Tallahassee Police clear Jameis Winston after crab refuses to press charges. . . .
Gotta love the NHL where Minnesota Wild forward Matt Cooke will be eligible to return for Game 4 of his club’s second-round series, while Colorado Avalanche defenceman Tyson Barrie, who was taken out by one of Cooke’s knees, can’t even play golf. . . . Look, if the NHL wanted to get this stuff out of its game, it would start with 20-game suspensions. . . .
Cheerleaders for the Buffalo Bills are suing the NFL team, claiming, among other things, poor pay and unfair working conditions. As Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel wrote: “Who knew that ‘two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar’ was the hourly wage for these poor girls?” . . . Al Feldstein died Tuesday at the age of 88. The former editor of Mad magazine gave a lot of us Alfred E. Neuman and words to live by: “What, me worry?”
(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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