In the most anticipated NBA opening night in some time, the Miami Heat chilled in Boston. After which Jackie McMullan of ESPN.com wrote: “The Miami Heat shot 36 per cent from the floor, LeBron and D-Wade combined for 14 of their team’s 17 turnovers and, for extended portions of the third quarter, when James barreled down the floor past lumbering center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and hoisted shots for himself as his teammates gathered around the perimeter to watch, it almost felt as though the King had never left Cleveland.” . . . Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “How about that Tour de France champ, Alberto Contador? He tests positive for steroids and blames it on some tainted filet mignon. Turns out he also tested positive for the plasticizer used in blood-doping IV bags. Apparently it was a bad idea to smush up the tainted filet mignon and eat it intravenously.” . . . Headline at SportsPickle.com: Cliff Lee wins playoff game for whatever team it is he plays for now. . . .
If you missed it, Prince George has been named host city for the 2012 Canadian senior baseball championship. First, the 2015 Canada Winter Games and now this. . . . Is there anything left for the rest of us? . . . Great to see Cheryl and Donna Rock with a new Chelsea’s outlet up and running. When I was there the other day, they didn’t even have signage up but they still couldn’t keep the cinnamon buns from rushing out the door. . . . They’re in Aberdeen, next to Gourmet Greens. It won’t do you any good, but tell them I sent you. . . . If you weren’t aware, NFL Films has prepared a 10-episode series — Top 100: NFL’s Greatest Players. . . . Former cornerback Deion Sanders came in at No. 34, which he termed “preposterous.” He also said he was “appalled.” As he put it: “How can you tell me with a straight face that 33 other players had a greater impact?” . . .
That young fellow whose howling countenance was shown on the video screen late in the first period of the Kamloops Blazers’ game on Wednesday? Turns out his name is Tristen and he is two months old. Maybe he’ll flash us a smile at the next game. . . . Social note: Left-hander C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers and Dominique Piek, one of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit models, are an item. . . . The Gonzaga Bulldogs men’s basketball team, including Kamloops’ own Kelly Olynyk, is No. 6 in The Associated Press’ preseason Top 25. The Zags open with an exhibition game against Southern Oregon on Nov. 11 and they could meet up with No. 1 Duke at a tournament in Kansas City, Nov. 22 and 23. . . . If you’re not doing anything Monday evening, drop by the Noble Pig at 650 Victoria St., and offer up congratulations to Dylan Armstrong and Sultana Frizell. They’re fresh off gold medal-winning efforts at the Commonwealth Games in India. . . .
Dwight Perry, in the Seattle Times: “Looks like there’s no end in sight for Dwyane Wade’s court battle with his ex-wife over their two sons. Now she wants custody of LeBron and Bosh, too.” . . . Remind me one more time why Rick Rypien is on the Vancouver Canucks’ roster? . . . Ahh, yes, he’s responsible for crowd control. . . . So you’ve got a Russian team coming to Kamloops to play the locals and you just know you’re going to be scrambling to sell tickets. So you make sure the kid who is arguably the local team’s best forward is on the team. Right? Wrong. . . . Whoever was involved in the decision not to include Blazers winger Brendan Ranford on the team that will play that Subway Super Series game here on Nov. 17 should be embarrassed. All the kid does is show up and play hard every night. And if that doesn’t warrant a spot on your team, along with the fact that he has given the WHL more than two years of his young life, nothing does. . . . Former Blazers winger Mark Rooneem has returned home to Hinton, Alta., where he now plays for the North Central league’s Heat. He is playing on a line with his brothers, Kris and Hillar. . . .
Peter King of Sports Illustrated after Sunday‘s NFL games: “In the past 365 days, the Titans are 13-4 and the Broncos 4-13. A year ago today, Denver was 6-0 and Tennessee 0-6.” . . . After that officiating botch job in Miami on Sunday, Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register wrote: “The Pittsburgh Steelers might have won a game they shouldn’t have won, because the zebras couldn’t tell who recovered Ben Roethlisberger’s fumble in the end zone, setting up a field goal for a 23-22 victory. Yeah, I couldn’t tell which of three Dolphins was on top of the ball, either.” . . . Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel had a female friend make this suggestion to him: “If Brett Favre really wants to impress women, he should text them photos of his paycheck.” . . .
Headline on the front page of the New York Post one week ago: $210M Bust! Yanks for nothing. . . . I recently discovered that Sportsnet One now is accessible on my dish. So I checked it out the other afternoon. Beach volleyball. . . . Checked out the other Sportsnet channels: Poker, poker, billiards, Premier League World. . . . At the same time, the two TSN channels were showing NASCAR qualifying and, yes, poker. . . . Thank you, CRTC, for allowing us to have such a variety of quality programming in our country. . . . Stan Lee, an icon of the comic book world with Marvel Comics, is working with the NHL to come up with hockey-themed superheroes. Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: “Maybe they could name a trophy for him — the Stan Lee Cup.” . . . One last time: Book ’em, Danno.
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.
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