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Kings trade Conroy, who beats them the same night! |
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January 31, 2007 |
Los Angeles, January 31, 2007 – The Los Angeles “Kings” season is going from bad to unbelievable. Yesterday, they traded 35-year-old center Craig Conroy for a couple of draft picks and laid off about $2.4 million in annual salary costs. So what does Conroy, who had scored a total of five goals in 52 games, do in his first game with the Flames, against the Kings? He scores two goals in a 4-1 Calgary win! Couldn’t they have waited to trade him until after yesterday’s game? I can’t tell you his name, but his initials are General Manager Dean Lombardi.
= Tonight’s menu =
>> The 27-18 Lakers, losers of three straight, lumber into the TD Banknorth Garden to face the 12-32 Boston Celtics. Kobe Bryant will be back from suspension, but Los Angeles is still without Kwame Brown and Luke Walton while Boston is missing leading scorer Paul Pierce. The Lakers have lost five of six, but that’s nothing compared to Boston, which has dropped 12 straight! So the Lakers are seven-point favorites with an over-under of 197, so write this down: Lakers 102, Celtics 95.
>> The 22-22 Clippers are at Staples Center to face the Chicago Bulls, who are 6-2 in their last eight games while the Clips are 5-1 in their last six. And Los Angeles added guard Doug Christie today, who signed a 10-day contract to be a reserve shooting guard. Bulls center Ben Wallace may not play because of a knee injury, so the Clippers are favored by three with an over-under of 193. Translation: Los Angeles 98, Chicago 95.
>> On the ice, the 23-25-1 Phoenix Coyotes are in Anaheim to face the 31-12-2 Ducks who are suddenly healthy again. That means they are a big favorite on the money line: you have to wager $120 to win $100 on the Coyotes, but $260 on the Ducks to win the same $100!
= NHL/pro hockey =
>> The Versus Network has secured the right to NHL games through 2011, exercising its option for the 2007-08 season for $72.5 million and then extending the deal for another three years at an undisclosed price. Comment: This isn’t the best news for the NHL, which needs to be on a television network that can reach more of the country. For Versus, it makes perfect sense, since without the NHL, where are they?
>> Ratings for the Detroit-Colorado game last Sunday came out at a 1.3 on NBC, up 8% from last season. But the Detroit Free Press suggested that the league would be better off if Sidney Crosby had a celebrity girlfriend like Tom Brady. Wrote Steve Schrader, “Who’s in Sid’s age bracket? Hilary Duff?” He also suggested making hockey “a contact sport again.”
= NFL/pro football =
>> The oddsmakers are at it again. Posted today is a line on how long it will take Billy Joel to sing the national anthem! The over-under line is one minute, 44 seconds.
>> Sales report: NFLShop.com statistics showed that Chicago Bears jerseys were the top seller in 2006 with Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys the most popular individual jersey, just ahead of Chicago’s Brian Urlacher.
>> More Bears: Chicago supporters in and around Miami and those who can’t get tickets for the game have already made their reservations at Capone’s Flicker Lite bar for Super Sunday Reservations for between 400 and 500 people have already been made, a giant tent is being set up to accommodate the overflow and Bears fans are invited to tailgate in the bar’s parking lot. You’re talking about Capone’s here, pal. The restaurant was originally in Chicago, but moved to Miami in 1962.
>> More Super Bowl: today’s big events include Bud Bowl 2007 where you can dance to Latin music and meet the Clydesdales, Playboy’s Challenge A Playmate on Sony PlayStation 3 at the South Seas Hotel and Prince is playing at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
>> Last add, Super Bowl: A Miami-area attorney named Alan Fertel has come up with ten tips to keep NFL players out of the lock-up this week so they’ll be ready for the Super Bowl:
No. 10, carry a cell phone with pre-programmed numbers for your agent, a local criminal attorney and a bail bondsman.
No. 9: Have a local criminal attorney all lined up in case you get detained!
No. 8: Check in with your agent.
No. 7: Don’t carry any weapons.
No. 6: Exercise restraint, especially with members of the opposite sex!
No. 5: Go nowhere unaccompanied. Take a bodyguard or a friend.
No. 4: Avoid public intoxication!
No. 3: Avoid all drug use.
No. 2: Follow a confirmed agenda prepared by your agent, including meals and entertainment.
And the No. 1 tip on staying out of jail during Super Bowl week? Take a chauffeur everywhere so you’ll have no worries about drunk driving and a buddy to look after you!
= College football =
>> Coaching carousel: Kentucky’s Rich Brooks won eight games this season and the school’s first bowl victory in 22 years. So of course he got a raise to $1 million from $725,000 in a new four-year contract, plus plenty of incentives. Not bad for a 65-year-old coach who is still one of the lowest-paid coaches in the Southeastern Conference, but a nice keep for Kentucky, whose Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart understands that despite Kentucky’s reputation as a basketball school, the real money in college sports is in football.
>> Coming or going? California’s Jeff Tedford reiterated his intent to stay with the Bears while the issues surrounding the new athletic department offices and renovation of Memorial Stadium are litigated. Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News analyzed the response, which is all he can do since Cal’s Athletic Director, Sandy Barbour, gave instructions that none of Cal’s coaches or athletes are allowed to have one-on-one interviews with anyone from the paper since she got upset with an article Wilner wrote last August.
>> Former and perhaps future UCLA assistant coach Tom Cable is apparently being wooed by the Oakland Raiders, to be reunited with ex-Falcons offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, who Cable worked with last season. It would keep Cable in the NFL, but with a first-year coach in Lane Kiffin who is, as yet, unproven.
= NBA/pro basketball =
>> Breaking the brokers: the Cleveland Cavaliers are working to create the first fully-electronic ticketing system that will eliminate paper tickets and essentially eliminate the ticket broker business. Their system, created by Flash Seats, which just happens to be owned by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, allows ticket holders to use a credit card or driver’s license to get into Quicken Loans Arena, similar to the procedure used by some airlines. You can also sell your seat on Flash Seats, naming your own price, but the company charges the buyer a 20 percent fee! The NFL is looking into this technology and 15 Major League Baseball teams also have a system similar to the one used by Flash Seats. Prediction” whoever figures out how to make the most money for the teams will corner the market for paperless ticketing the way eBay has for auctions.
= Baseball =
>> Attention Frank and Jamie McCourt of the Los Angeles Dodgers: your goal of four million in attendance per season in Dodger Stadium might not be far off . . . in New York! The Yankees drew 4.2 million last season in the Bronx, selling 91% of their tickets. The Mets drew 3.4 million last season at Shea Stadium, will surpass 3.5 million this season and are still selling less than 80% of their tickets. With a strong season, they could push up their average close to 50,000, which would get them to four million this season.
>> Energizer Bunny: Red Sox’ star pitcher Curt Schilling, now 40, told the Boston Herald that he hopes to pitch not only this season but in 2008 thanks to support from his family. “My wife and kids want me to continue to play,” he said on WEEI radio this week. Schilling handles his own contract negotiations, so at least he’ll know what’s happening.
>> Steal sign: quite a dust-up in Kansas City, where the Royals are asking taxpayers to pay for a $900,000 Panasonic video coaching system as part of a $250 million, Jackson County bond-funded renovation of Kauffman Stadium. The Royals say other stadium renovations include such systems, but most of those are paid for by the teams. You can imagine what the opinion of Jackson County legislators is about this one!
~ Rich Perelman
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