“Defenceman Chris Pronger, who knows a thing or two about dirty play, has been hired by the NHL to work in its Department of Player Safety,” writes Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post. “There, he’ll help mete out justice to players who have crossed the line. Man, talk about the pot giving the kettle a black eye.” . . . Vancouver comic Torben Rolfsen adds: “Joining (Pronger) as player rep on the Fair Play Committee will be Brad Marchand.” . . .
Here’s Hamilton with a couple of notes on Derek Jeter, the New York Yankees’ recently retired shortstop. . . . “Jeter is still cashing in on his final season in the majors,” Hamilton writes. “One of the newest items to hit the market to commemorate Jeter’s final season is a game-used sock, which can be purchased for only $409.99. That gives new meaning to the term ‘getting hosed.’ ” . . . Hamilton adds: “Anyone who buys one (or more) of Jeter’s stockings proves the adage that there’s a sock-er born every minute.” . . .
At some point in most every young boy’s life, he dreams of being a race car driver. I would like to thank the B.C. government for helping my dream come true, albeit at an advanced age. I realized last weekend, while on the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Kamloops, that on that highway we are all NASCAR drivers. . . . When the Kamloops Blazers gave goaltender Bolton Pouliot to the Portland Winterhawks the other day -- call it an early Christmas present -- it brought back memories of Jan. 19, 1983. That was the day the WHL’s Seattle Breakers traded forward Tom Martin to the Victoria Cougars for a used bus. . . .
Is it looking like the Kansas City Royals are a team of destiny, or what? . . . Outfielder Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels had the game-winning RBI in MLB’s all-star game, so the Royals have home-field advantage in the World Series. The Royals, of course, swept the Angels from the best-of-five ALDS. . . . Only in Bud Selig’s MLB. . . . Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer summed up the NFL perfectly the other day and it only took him 10 words. “You cannot lose games in the NFL,” the ESPN analyst said, “and still win.” . . . Hey, think about it for a moment. He’s right. . . . Headline at TheOnion.com: Report: More NFL stadiums cutting off fights after third quarter. . . .
“HelpAge International’s global rating of 96 countries has listed the best places in the world for seniors to live,” reports RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. “The top three are Norway, Sweden and the San Antonio Spurs.” . . . Currie, again: “A British chef has invented the Glamburger, the world’s most expensive burger at $2,000 Canadian. The most expensive hot dog continues to be Alex Ovechkin.” . . . A sign of the impending apocalypse: The cover story in the Vancouver Province newspaper on Thursday dealt with what the headline referred to as ‘Man Bun’ Hazard. . . . According to the subhead: “Hairstyle being sported by cutting-edge, trendsetting men may be causing Vancouver’s hipsters to go bald.” . . . Seriously! . . .
There is a move afoot in the NBA to reduce the playing time of its games. As Currie notes: “The NBA is considering reducing games from 48 minutes to 44 minutes. And that’s just the last three minutes.” . . . Richmond, B.C., blogger TC Chong added: ““I’d go with 46. It’s the last two minutes that take forever.” . . . Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., is hoping to get his golf season started next weekend. On Saturday, he tweeted: “Looks like my first start of the season will be @McGladreyClssc next week! Slightly relieved; extremely excited!!” The McGladrey Classic is a PGA Tour event held on the Seaside course at Sea Island, Ga. . . .
“Lakers point guard Steve Nash missed practice for three straight days after he injured his back carrying his bags,” writes Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “A cynic might say it’s the first time an NBA player ever got penalized for traveling.” . . . One more from Perry: “Romanian basketball prospect Robert Bobroczky stands 7 feet 4 — at age 13. Kentucky coach John Calipari, vacationing in Bucharest, declined to comment.” . . .
Over at ThePlayersTribune.com, Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers explained the difference between the team’s new owner, Steve Ballmer, and the previous owner, the disgraced Donald Sterling: “Steve is a good dude. He’s like a cool dad who gives you candy. Donald was like a weird uncle.” . . . ThePlayersTribune.com? That would be Derek Jeter’s first post-retirement project.
(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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