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The Daily Digest for Friday, June 29, 2007 |
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June 29, 2007 |
≡ Afternoon Bell ≡
= Program Note =
We’ll be off next week for a little summer vacation before resuming on Monday, July 9.
But while you’re drowning a hot dog in beer on July 4, don’t forget to watch for the announcement of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games host city by the International Olympic Committee. There are plenty of signs that no matter who wins, the process is going to be revamped for the second time since 2000.
= L.A. Stories =
>> Catching the Draft: The wait is over for UCLA’s Pac-10 Player of the Year Arron Afflalo and USC stars Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt, all selected in yesterday’s NBA Draft.
Of Afflalo, selected by Detroit, Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg wrote:
I don’t know why [Pistons general manager Joe] Dumars gets better players with late picks than with early ones. But I would be surprised if it happens this year – the Pistons grabbed UCLA’s Arron Afflalo with the 27th choice and there are serious, legitimate question about Afflalo’s athleticism.
Dumars says judging players on leaping ability “is a common mistake. I want tough guys. I want guys who compete.”
Most of Dumars’ draft mistakes – [Rodney] White, [Darko] Milicic, [Carlos] Delfino – came when he went for athleticism over work ethic and toughness. He won’t make that mistake again.
Ernie Grunfeld, president of the Washington Wizards, told the Washington Times that he feels “good about this kid. We really do.
“We think he’s one of the more mature players in the draft, We didn’t think he would be there when we picked. The thing about him that we really like is he can get his shot. He’s an athlete. Obviously, he has to learn the pro game, but I think he has a great future in front of him.”
Gabe Pruitt went to Boston with the no. 32 pick, but you wouldn’t know it from the coverage there. The complete focus of attention was the trade for Ray Allen, who with Glen “Big Baby” Davis will go to the Celtics with Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and the draft rights to Jeff Green going to Seattle.
“It’s official,” wrote Eric Wilbur of the Boston Globe. “Danny Ainge doesn’t have the slightest idea what he’s doing.
“Ray Allen and Paul Pierce together? Hoo-boy. That would have been awesome . . . in 2001.”
Does anyone in Boston even know that Gabe Pruitt exists? On their own Web site, the Celtics issued a four-line release which recounted Pruitt’s statistics at USC. So, maybe not.
>> Laker Lines: Just one question: how does Jordan Farmar feel today?
>> Kings Reign: The NHL announced that its salary cap for the 2007-08 season will reach $50.3 million, up from $44.0 million from last season. Question: with the Kings reportedly about $6 million under the cap for 2006-07, will they even get close to it next season?
By the way, the minimum payroll is $34.3 million. The Kings will make that.
= Panorama =
>> The National Pastime: In a long story in the San Francisco Chronicle about whether the Giants will sell some talent at the trade deadline to start a rebuilding process, the most insightful comment came from Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin:
“The way salaries have skyrocketed, you need younger players.”
That puts the Dodgers with Russell Martin, James Loney, Tony Abreu, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier in their first or second season and Jonathan Broxton in his third season, in very good position. And that doesn’t count possible future third baseman Andy LaRoche.
>> NBA Hoopla: Just had to share the views of New York Post columnist Peter Vecsey, who was less than impressed with the Knicks’ draft-night efforts, primarily the trade that brought Zach Randolph to Gotham:
“It’s official: The Knicks’ low docks arteries are clogged. Unless Zach Randolph is rerouted for a forward who genuinely complements Eddy Curry, 11 out of 10 NBA experts purporting to appreciate proper chemistry strongly recommend the team undergo an immediate angioplasty.”
And Marc Berman, who covers the Knicks beat, noted: “The Blazers were desperate to get rid of Randolph, whose career in Portland was marked by prolific offense and a prolific amount of brushes with the law and included an arrest for possession of a firearm. His record dates to high school days with reports of shoplifting, battery and receiving stolen property.” A list of Randolph’s various offenses from 1995-2007 was shown under the header, “Knick of Crime.”
>> Swinger: Michelle Wie’s first-round 82 at the U.S. Women’s Open was the latest sign of collapse from a player from whom so much has been expected. In her third year on the LPGA Tour, she hasn’t won yet although she’s only 17 years old.
Ron Sirak, writing in Golf World noted that with all of the attention on Wie and the combination of a bad stroke and injuries so far this season, “In September, she’ll be off to Stanford University to begin her freshman year. Right now, the escape offered by college probably seems like a great alternative to Wie, who has been getting some harsh lessons in the school of hard knocks.”
≡ Morning Recess ≡
= Tonight’s Menu =
>> The 49-30 Angels are in Baltimore tonight to face the 34-43 Orioles with Kelvim Escobar (9-3, 2.81 ERA) on the mound against Steve Trachsel (5-6, 4.55). Los Angeles is 8-2 in its last ten against Baltimore, but is coming off three straight losses to Kansas City! However, the Angels – with a 20-17 road record compared to Baltimore’s 18-19 record at home – is a big favorite: it takes $115 on the Angels to try to win $100 while $100 on the home team could return $150.
>> The 45-34 Dodgers play their 11th game in as many days at home tonight against 44-33 San Diego. Hong-chih Kuo (1-3, 6.33) will pitch for Los Angeles against Chris Young (7-3, 2.08) so the Padres are favored: it takes $120 to try to win $100 on the visitors, but $100 on the Blue Crew could return $110. The Padres swept the Dodgers in San Diego on June 6-7-8.
Just as interesting as this battle for first place in the National League West could be the reception that ex-Dodger Milton Bradley gets if he is in uniform for this series.
>> The 7-6 Sparks will face off against the 7-7 New York Liberty tonight at Staples Center. The Sparks are a five-point favorite with an over-under of 141, so the home team is supposed to win by a 73-68 count.
= L.A. Stories =
>> Laker Lines: Did any team take a bigger hit than the Lakers at last night’s NBA Draft?
Not only did the Lakers not do much to improve themselves, taking a nice point guard with their first-round pick for a team running an offense that doesn’t require a designated point guard, but the three teams that finished right behind them in the Western Conference all got a lot better:
Golden State parted with sharpshooter Jason Richardson, but created as much as $10 million of cap space and added a potential star front-line player in North Carolina’s Brandan Wright. Richardson’s shooting will be missed, but the Warriors also drafted Italian shooting specialist Marco Belinelli.
Portland obtained Greg Oden with the first pick, then moved Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau and Fred Jones to the Knicks and got an experienced backup center in Channing Frye, skilled guard Steve Francis, and drafted another developing front-court star in Duke’s Josh McRoberts plus Florida’s point guard, Taurean Green. Even without Oden, the TrailBlazers got a lot better.
Seattle got Kevin Durant at no. 2, let Ray Allen go and got Georgetown’s clutch forward Jeff Green along with Wally Szczerbiak and second-year guard Delonte West. They also have a lot of room to deal some more with Allen’s contract off the books and Rashard Lewis a free agent.
Golden State and the Lakers both had 42-40 records last season to land the last two playoff sports in the Western Conference while Portland finished at 32-50 and Seattle at 31-51. At present, can the Lakers be any more than a 50-50 shot to make the playoffs next season?
>> Talk of Troy: Peyton Manning went to Tennessee, but he was on the USC practice field yesterday.
The Daily News reported that Manning came to campus to work out after filing a commercial at the Coliseum. Pete Carroll arranged for some of the Trojan receivers to catch Manning’s passes and quarterback John David Booty was also on hand for some catch with the Colts quarterback.
Manning was asked how the USC receivers compared to those he works with in the NFL; he told reporter Scott Wolf that “That’s not a fair question. I feel I have the two best receivers in the NFL.” Those would be Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne.
= Panorama =
>> The National Pastime: A remarkable side story to Frank Thomas’s 500th home run in Minnesota yesterday was what happened to the ball.
Charley Walters, writing in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, reported that a 24-year-old graphic designer named Todd Eisenlohr caught the ball in the left-field bleachers. It’s probably worth about $50,000 at auction, but Eisenlohr – who earns about $30,000 a year – gave it back to Thomas in return for a signed jersey, bat and ball from the future Hall of Famer.
“It’s only money,” Eisenlohr said of the potential auction value. “When I get older, I can go to the Hall of Fame and say, ‘I caught that ball.’
“If I wouldn’t have caught it, it probably would have hit my dad in the head.” Good thing he brought his glove!
>> NBA Hoopla: As Golden State coach Don Nelson pursues his claim to $6.6 million in deferred compensation from the Dallas Mavericks stemming from his time as coach there, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has reportedly counterclaimed that Nelson breached his non-competition clause in his contract with the Mavericks by using information he gained while Mavericks coach against the team in the playoffs.
Cuban didn’t hire Nelson as coach; that happened during the tenure of Ross Perot, Jr. as owner. But Cuban is fighting Nelson tooth and nail, although Nelson’s attorney says the counterclaims are laughable.
>> College Gridiron: Along with the normal movement of announcers to various game slots, ESPN also announced that former Miami coach Larry Coker will be an analyst on some ESPNU games. Larry Coker? Are you kidding? At least give the man some Red Bull before he goes on the air!
>> NFL Ticker: The NFL’s owners finally got unhappy enough over losing millions each season and shuttered NFL Europa after 16 seasons.
Although the recent World Bowl between Hamburg and Frankfurt drew 48,125, the league lost an estimated $30 million annually. The NFL will now concentrate on the promotion of its regular-season games played overseas, the first of which will be Miami and the New York Giants in London on October 28.
Which brings us to the question of how long the NBA ownership will continue – under the constant prodding of Commissioner David Stern – to subsidize the WNBA?
~ Rich Perelman
>> Have an opinion? You can send it using the “Comment” button below!
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