Just last week, Andy Zhang became the youngest golfer ever to play in the U.S. Open. He is 14. “When I was 14,” writes Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald, “the focus of my golf game was on hitting the ball through the windmill.” . . . “The Regina Humane Society is encouraging its volunteers to bring books to the shelter and read to dogs,” according to Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Express. “The program will help dogs prepare for downtime at home when they are adopted, the society said on its website. If the program is a success, volunteers will read to the Regina Rams.” . . . One more from Hutchinson: “Matthew McConaughey married Camila Alves in a private ceremony. The bride wore white and the groom wore shirtless.” . . .
“Sidney Crosby will reportedly be offered a 10-year deal worth $90 million,” scribbles R.J. Currie over at SportsDeke.com. “It’s conditional on Penguins management having their heads examined.” . . . Currie, again: “Maria Sharapova finally won the French Open. Thus she completes the career Grunt Slam.” . . . A poll on Twitter asked: “If you could have two living people (broadcasting) tonight’s baseball game, who would you choose?” . . . Oakland A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy, who is from L.A., replied: “Vin Scully and someone to get him water.” . . .
Ron Judd of the Seattle Times, after a June 14 rally in Seattle: “That rollicking crowd of Sonics fans, estimated by organizers to be 66.6 million, sure was having a great time, building critical public momentum for a ‘self-financing’ arena proposal that includes what amounts to a $200-million public payday loan from a cash-strapped city to one of the world’s richest men. It was almost a shame when that darn bell rang and ended recess.” . . . One more from Judd: “If it ever does come to fruition, future Seattle NBA fans must promise one thing: For the love of God, never agree to come to a game all dressed up in the same shirt. The newest lame trend in fan conformity is like watching a sports event played before the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.” . . .
Brendan Langlois, the aspiring stock car driver from Kamloops, is back at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida. He’ll run a 100-lap Pro Late Model race on June 30 to make up for a March race that got rained out. He’s still driving for TRI Racing, which is owned by Tim and David Russell of Apopka, Fla. . . . “People in L.A. marking the Kings’ series-clinching victory over the New Jersey Devils were reasonably well-behaved,” notes Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post, “as evidenced by the fact only six arrests were made after the game. Just one question: Why were those six Vancouver Canucks fans at the game, anyway?” . . . Former Kamloops Blazers head coach Dean Evason was named head coach of the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals on Tuesday. On Wednesday, wearing shorts and flip-flops, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Brewers and the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. . . .
After the embarrassingly bad judges’ decision that gave Timothy Bradley a split decision over Manny Pacquiao, Richmond blogger T.C. Chong wrote: “Who knew that major league umpires were moonlighting as boxing judges?’’ . . . Here’s Greg Cote, in the Miami Herald: “Knicks guard Jeremy Lin won trademark rights to the word ‘Linsanity.’ Anybody have the heart to tell Jeremy his 15 minutes are already up?” . . .
“It’s like the back of Cheech and Chong’s van,” offers Rick Ball, the radio voice of the B.C. Lions on The Team 1410, as smoke obscures the uprights at Commonwealth Stadium as the Edmonton Eskimos attempt a convert on Thursday night. . . . The Kentucky Wildcats, the defending NCAA men’s basketball champs, are raising ticket prices in a move that should bring in US$3.5 million. According to Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “Increases range from $5 a ticket to $5,000 for unobstructed views of Ashley Judd.” . . . A tweet from Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Terence Newman: “If I had 10 minutes to live, I’d want them to be in NBA minutes.” . . .
Outfielder Tyson Gillies of Kamloops hasn’t played for the Class AA Reading Phillies since suffering a concussion on May 26 and, in fact, is on the disabled list. He isn’t likely to play again until sometime next month. Gillies got into only 31 games over the last two seasons due to injuries so this is nothing new to him. But he has played in 42 games this season and was hitting .280 and riding a seven-game hitting streak when he was injured in an outfield collision. . . . Rafael Nadal, the French Open champ, reported that a watch worth $347,000 — it was a Richard Mille RM027 ultra-light tourbillon — disappeared from his hotel room in Paris. “If I’m spending $347,000 for a watch,” notes Cote, “it had better be able to turn back the hands of time.” . . . Police later arrested a hotel barman who allegedly used his passcard to gain entrance to the room and then lifted the watch. . . . Headline at TheOnion.com: Dad insists perfect games were better when he was young.
(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.)
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