|
|
|
No longer Chargers, they’re the San Diego Smiths! |
|
February 13, 2007 |
 Lofton |
 Stratosphere |
 San Francisco treat? |
Los Angeles, February 13, 2007 – It’s pretty amazing for an NFL team to have a 14-2 season. It’s even more amazing to fire the coach after a 14-2 season, even with the playoff blemishes on Marty Schottenheimer’s record. But with the exodus of so many assistant coaches and Schottenheimer signaling he wanted to bring his son Kurt in as defensive coordinator, team president Dean Spanos finally decided to give in to his general manager A.J. Smith and fire Schottenheimer.
Now the responsibility for the team is strictly Smith’s. He will end up finding and hiring the coach and only time will tell if the Chargers will continue to be a dominant team. For Smith, the $4 million that Schottenheimer will be paid for doing nothing is just the cost of doing business, but quite a bit for a team which ranked 27th out of 32 in revenue for the 2005 season according to Forbes magazine.
So who’s next? The obvious choices are Bill Cowher, of course, maybe Jimmy Johnson or the always-good-for-a-headline Pete Carroll of USC. A better bet might be current Chargers receivers coach and Hall of Fame receiver James Lofton, who interviewed for the Raiders’ head job, but who played in Buffalo from 1989-92 while Smith was player personnel director.
= Tonight’s menu =
>> The 30-22 Lakers return from their 3-5 road trip to once again play at Staples Center against the 22-29 Knicks, who beat the Lakers at Madison Square Garden last week. The Lakers are still without Kwame Brown and Luke Walton, but are favored by seven with an over-under of 203, so the home team is supposed to triumph, 105-98.
>> The Kings, who are 19-30-5 but still in the league, will be in Raleigh tonight to face the 28-23-3 defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. Both teams are 3-7 in their last ten games, but Carolina is 14-10-1 at home and the Kings are only 8-18-1 on the road. Carolina is currently eighth in the Eastern Conference and needs a win to keep in the playoff chase. If you like the ‘Canes, you have to put down $220 to try and win $100 on the money line while $110 could win you $100 on Los Angeles . . . if they win!
>> The Anaheim Ducks are also on the road in Denver to face 26-25-2 Colorado, and the Ducks have a better road record – 15-10-1 – than the Avalanche have at home (15-13-1)! So, you have to wager $115 on Anaheim to win $100, but a Franklin on the Avalanche could return $115.
= NBA/pro basketball =
>> The party hounds are getting to ready to bark at a long weekend of NBA All-Star Game activities in Las Vegas and there’s a lot to do. Beyond the games and the skills contests, the most coveted invitations seem to be for Michael Jordan’s birthday party at the Bellagio on Saturday, or Paris Hilton’s party at the Hard Rock, also on Saturday.
>> Right now, much of the Las Vegas Strip is covered in NBA-related advertising, including the world’s biggest ad at 56,250 square feet (about 1 1/4 acres!) for T-Mobile’s wrap around the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The head of Dwyane Wade is about eight stories high! T-Mobile is also projecting the world’s tallest ad from the base of the 1,149-foot-tall Stratosphere to the top.
>> Last add, NBA All-Stars: the All-Star Game in Las Vegas is, of course, the backdrop as Mayor Oscar Goodman continues to lobby NBA Commissioner David Stern to put an expansion team at the Thomas & Mack Center. Says Stern, “Our issue is with basketball betting,” he told Joe Juliano of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We are of the opinion that our fans are not point-spread-focused, and we’re concerned that it would change the view of the fans if there was widespread gambling.” Say what?
= Baseball =
>> Tsunami in the making: the New York papers are rubbing their hands in glee at the possibilities for the upcoming season in the Bronx: Joe Torre on the hot seat, potential manager-in-waiting Joe Girardi in the broadcast booth, will the Yankees sign Roger Clemens, will Alex Rodriguez opt out of his contract after this season, what about George Steinbrenner’s health and now the scribes at the New York Daily News are upset that the Yanks have no new public relations director to pound into submission starting this week as pitchers and catchers report.
>> Money matters: during an interview with Bryant Gumbel on HBO’s “Real Sports” show, Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard noted that he sends his paychecks to his mother, Cheryl, who gives the 27-year-old an allowance. Comment: on the assumption that Cheryl Howard isn’t addicted to drugs, cars or jewelry, that’s the smartest thing I’ve heard a baseball player say in years.
>> Road trip suite-neer: Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News reported that among others, Barry Bonds, Eric Gagne, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, Randy Johnson and Gary Sheffield have contract clauses which require them to be accommodated in suites rather than simple hotel rooms on the road.
>> Dateline Ft. Myers, Florida, turning Japanese: More than 100 members of the Japanese news media will be having dinner in Ft. Myers tonight in advance of Friday’s reporting date and the first appearance of Daisuke Matsuzaka in a Red Sox uniform!
>> More Japanese media: as if the Matsuzaka circus wasn’t enough, there will be a half-dozen Japanese newspaper reporters and an NHK television crew following Tampa Bay third baseman Akinori Iwamura, who was signed from the Yakult Swallows of the Japanese League over the winter.
>> Haute cuisine: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig wasn’t in Milwaukee last week as he was attending the annual Bay Area Baseball Luncheon in San Francisco. But his regular lunch was available, all the way from Gilles Custard Stand, courtesy of Gilles owner Tom Linscott. He served his famous custard to the 250 attendees and made sure Selig had his usual lunch of a hot dog and Diet Coke. In San Francisco, one of the world’s great restaurant cities?
= Soccer =
>> Football vs. Football, true or false: the world’s highest grossing football team is the Washington Redskins. Did you say false? You’re right, that’s wrong! It’s Real Madrid of Spain at more than $380 million The Redskins come in at $303 million, followed by the New England Patriots at $250 million.
>> Open mouth, insert foot: the president of Inter Milan, one of Italy’s soccer superclubs, said Monday that if his team and others are required to play their matches without spectators – as was done last weekend – the Italian season should be ended now. Of course, he would say that: Inter is leading Serie A with a 19-0-3 record and 60 points, 11 ahead of second-place Roma, and is riding a 15-game winning streak.
>> More soccer violence: about 800 fans of a county-league team in Saxony (Germany) rioted on Saturday, leading to the cancellation of 60 matches down to the local league level and injuring 45 people. The local professional team, FC Lokomotiv Leipzig, threatened to walk off the field if similar violence broke out during one of their matches. The Saxony Interior Minister, Albrecht Buttolo, was quoted as saying “It’s can’t go on like this. I would rather see empty stadiums than a dead police officer.” And yes, it’s likely that the outburst on Saturday was a copycat attack modeled after the violence in Sicily on February 2.
>> Think soccer isn’t important: last Wednesday’s meaningless friendly between the United States and Mexico drew 6.1 million viewers on Univision, making it the second-most-watched Spanish-language sportscast in history! That’s 18% higher than the Hispanic audience that watched the Super Bowl on CBS and in Los Angeles, the Hispanic audience of 1.2 million was greater than the individual audiences on the same night for “American Idol” on Fox, “Lost” on ABC or “CSI: NY” on CBS.
= All around the world =
>> Speed freak: 72-year-old James Hylton is already the sensation of Daytona 500 and he may not even get into the race! Hylton raced on what became the NASCAR circuit beginning way back in 1966, and finished second or third overall in six of his first seven seasons, but age and sickness kept him out of a car. He put younger drivers in his car, but when the offers to race in his car got down to only $5,000, he decided to start driving again himself. He’ll have to qualify on Thursday, but if he makes it, he’ll be the oldest driver ever to compete in the top NASCAR series; the record is age 65, set by Jim Fitzgerald.
>> Attention, lacrosse fans: the National Lacrosse League, which has – shall we say – a low profile in the U.S. is now up and running on television in 50 countries thanks to a new agreement with Eurosport2 and Eurosport World!
>> Fun and games: The Chinese government is deadly serious about making the 2008 Olympic Games a success in Beijing. So it is not happy about an Internet prank which took the “Dancing Beijing” logo for the Games and turned it into restroom signs for men and women! Not to be outdone, another prankster did some surgery on the five mascots for the Games, the five Fuwas, replacing their heads with those of five well-known Chinese comedians.
~ Rich Perelman
>> Have an opinion? You can send it using the “Comment” button below!
>> Don’t forget to register for our drawing for free sports memorabilia! Just click on the “Register & Win” tab at left; enter today!
|
|
