If you’re watching the MLB playoffs, you will have noticed that this autumn’s slogan is ‘Always October.‘ As Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle put it in a tweet: “That's so poetic! Was selected by MLB over ‘Kiss My November.’ ” . . . Greg Cote of The Miami Herald, on baseball commissioner Bud Selig forming a committee to look at speeding up games: “I still like my idea: First run wins.” . . .
The best quote out of this week’s 1984 Edmonton Oilers' reunion came from Mark Messier, who said: "I never finished high school, so this is my first actual reunion.” . . . Quarterback Kerry Joseph emerged from retirement this week and signed with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. Apparently, he walked across Wascana Lake to get to Mosaic Stadium for the official signing. . . .
“Paul Revere, founder of Paul Revere and the Raiders, has passed away at the age of 76,” writes Janice Hough, aka the Left Coast Sports Babe. “Please can someone get a comment from Sarah Palin on his death?” . . . Hough, again: “So the AL representative in the World Series will be either the Kansas City Royals or the Baltimore Orioles. And Fox executives just threw up.” . . . Having just spent some time on Prairie highways, I am shocked by how many Alberta drivers appear to have purchased vehicles that lack working turn signals. . . .
Michael Phelps, one of the greatest American swimmers of all-time, is facing a second DUI charge after being arrested in Baltimore on Tuesday. “Apparently,” notes comedy writer Jim Barach, “not only does he swim like a fish, he drinks like one, too.” . . . Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post added: “Phelps was released by police after doing a few lengths in the drunk tank.” . . . How are the St. Louis Cardinals doing it this season? Perhaps with a solid mix of older and younger players. As Matt Holliday told CBSsports.com: “It’s a good combination of experience and ignorance.” . . .
Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, has this idea involving football telecasts: “There would be no interviews with coaches just before the game or at halftime of the game. The penalty would be caning – probably 50 strokes would do the trick. The coaches clearly do not want to be interrupted from whatever zone they are trying to get themselves into; they never say anything even remotely interesting; the interviewer has to pretend to care about the pabulum answers. Stop this insanity and stop it immediately!” . . . OK! This is a great idea. But it should be extended to baseball, basketball and hockey telecasts, too. . . .
“A person who goes by the name Fake Gainer on Twitter says the No. 1 rivalry in sports in Canada is the Stampeders and Riders,” reports Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Express. “I’m going with Leafs-Habs, Rider fans-Bomber fans and Jennifer Jones-Rachel Homan.” . . . “An ESPN poll of fan satisfaction rates Toronto's NHL club last of 122 professional sports teams,” reports RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. “That's the Leafs for ya: when they finally finish first, it’s for being worst.” . . .
So what did I think of Sportsnet’s first night of NHL coverage? Well, it’s early but I was hoping for more new faces and new voices, less of some old faces and old voices, and more of Elliotte Friedman. . . . The new ref cam provides some interesting looks, but I’m thinking the guy wearing it has to be feeling a bit nerdish. . . . Yes, it’s early but these Edmonton Oilers look a lot like those Edmonton Oilers, don’t they? . . . Here’s Gary Player, 78, looking ahead in an interview on SiriusXM: “I’ve always said when I die I just hope that the golf course up in heaven looks like Augusta (National). I want to be the head pro, but I’m not in a hurry to tee off.” . . .
Headline at Fark.com: Tom Brady’s deal with the devil has finally expired. . . . “A friend in Oklahoma City tells me he attends Edmonton Oilers farm team games,” writes Vancouver comic Torben Rolfsen. “I thought Edmonton was the farm team.” . . . "What’s this we hear — Johnny Manziel wants to be Jameis Winston’s life coach?" ponders Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. "So what’s next, John Daly taking Tiger Woods under his wing?" . . . One more from Perry: "Scots went to the polls (recently) and voted by a 55-45 margin not to: a) Leave the United Kingdom; b) Join the Big Ten." . . .
"Remember," writes Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, “when NFL officials thought the biggest distraction this season would be Michael Sam?” . . . Doug Ferguson of The Associated Press writes: “Jim Furyk earned $5,987,395 this year without winning on the PGA Tour. That’s about $250,000 more than Jack Nicklaus made in his career.” . . . IN HIS CAREER! . . . Think about that for a moment or two. . . . Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James is producing a basketball-related comedy show for the TV network Starz. Asked how many seasons he thought it might run, he replied: “Last time I said, ‘Not one, not two, not three, not four …,’ that didn’t go over too well.”
(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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