Baseball took quite a hit a week ago with the deaths of Stan Musial and Earl Weaver. . . . Musial put up a lot of great numbers during his career with the St. Louis Cardinals — for starters, he won seven NL batting titles. But the most impressive number associated with him may be 71. He and his wife, Lil, who died on May 3, were married for 22 days shy of 72 years. . . . In a 1986 conversation with Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell, Weaver, the long-time manager of the Baltimore Orioles, suggested: “On my tombstone just write, ‘The sorest loser that ever lived.’ ” . . . Weaver twice got tossed from games before the first pitch had even been thrown. . . . “I gave Mike Cuellar more chances than my first wife,” Weaver said in 1976 after taking a fading Cuellar out of the starting rotation. . . .
You should know that representatives from five charities arrived at The Daily News on Friday afternoon and left with big smiles on their faces. That’s because we split your Christmas Cheer Fund into five equal pieces, so each of them left with a chunk of the $101,261.30 that you folks so kindly donated. I am hear to pass along their thanks to all of you for your incredible generosity. . . .
The Sports Curmudgeon puts a wrap on the Manti Te’o saga: “The ‘girlfriend’ did not really die. Te’o made that up because he was too embarrassed to admit that she dropped him and then she eloped with DB Cooper to a remote part of the mountains in the Great Northwest where she and Cooper were married by Judge Crater in a simple ceremony with Bigfoot and Jimmy Hoffa as the witnesses.” . . . Steve Simmons, in the Toronto Sun: “There is something particularly sad and societal about the (Manti) Te’o story. How a young successful man can get lost online and in fantasy and then can’t find a way out.” . . .
“Considering how much his divorce cost him,” scribbles Mike Lupica in the New York Daily News, “Tiger Woods probably wishes he’d had imaginary girlfriends.” . . . Tiger and Lindsey. Danica and Ricky Jr. The sporting world is abuzz. The National Enquirer has had Tiger working to get back with his ex, Elin. But now comes word that he’s running — or should that be skiing? — with U.S. skiing star Lindsey Vonn. Meanwhile, Danica Patrick’s divorce isn’t final and she has told The Associated Press: “I have a boyfriend. His name is Richard.” To which David Whitley, at aol.sportingnews.com, responded: “We don’t think she meant Petty.” No, it’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., another Sprint Cup driver. . . . She is with Stewart-Haas Racing; he drives for Roush Fenway. . . . Watching Baltimore at New England in AFC final. LGIW says: “I’ve got Baltimore in the Grey Cup.” . . . Uhh, I didn’t tell her. . . .
Here’s Jimmy Fallon of NBC-TV: “A week after saying, ‘I’m not leaving Oregon for the NFL,’ Chip Kelly has agreed to be the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Even Lance Armstrong was like, ‘Pick a story and stick with it.’ ” . . . “If Oprah’s grilling of Lance was, in fact, a ‘no-holds-barred’ interview,” writes Ron Judd of the Seattle Times, “what would a ‘some-holds-barred’ or ‘all-holds-barred’ interview look like? And how exactly does one bar a hold in the first place? This is the sort of stuff that keeps us up at night.” . . . And there is this from The Sports Curmudgeon: “Who might be the best person to conduct the interview/confession for Oprah Winfrey wherein she reveals that she is a narcissist? Paging Barbara Walters.” . . .
I regret to inform the NHL that, as as the commissioner of my home, I have locked out owners and players. . . . No negotiations will be held until after the Super Bowl. . . . You know the NHL season is officially underway when the Toronto Maple Leafs are blowing a 3-1 lead and the home fans are chanting: “Let’s go Blue Jays!” . . . “Rob Ford can stay in Toronto but Geroy Simon has to leave Vancouver,” tweets George Johnson, the Calgary Herald’s sports columnist. “Try convincing me that makes sense.” . . .
Congrats to Lori Olsen, who curls out of the McArthur Island and Kamloops clubs, for being honoured as the recipient of the Kay Giles Sportsmanship Award at the provincial Scotties tournament in Cloverdale last week. This is a special award because it is voted on by the curlers, going to the competitor judged to be the most sportsmanlike. . . .
Here’s Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Rory McIlroy, making a ‘seamless’ transition to Nike clubs after signing a $75-million deal, misses the cut. A more positive way to look at it: Rory retired from the tournament to spend quality time with his money.” . . . One more from Ostler: “Lying is like riding a bicycle.” . . .
Len Berman of ThatsSports.com explains the essence of the NHL lockout: “So players could fight as soon as they dropped the puck. Nothing has changed. Coaches send out goons and they fight as soon as the game starts for no reason other than to get their teams and or the crowd revved up. Sure, hockey fans love it. But perhaps that helps explain why hockey has far fewer fans than the other more civilized sports.” . . . Tony Guadagnoli, a desk editor at the Seattle Times, calls for the New York Jets’ next three-ring circus: “T.O., Te’o and Tebow.” . . .
Following the Canadian figure skating championships in Mississauga, Ont., last weekend, eight figure skaters became embroiled in a scrap of sorts at a hotel and police had to be called. It was Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal who noted in a tweet that it was “quite a sequins of events.” . . . Headline at SportsPickle.com: Lance Armstrong sues Lance Armstrong for saying Lance Armstrong did steroids. . . . And one from The Onion.com: Seven lucky Oprah guests find Tour de France titles under their chairs.
(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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