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The Daily Digest for Thursday, August 23, 2007 |
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August 23, 2007 |
≡ Afternoon Bell ≡
 Sprewell: NBA's most versatile? |
= L.A. Stories =
>> Laker Lines: One of the most colorful coaches in Lakers history, Bill Van Breda Kolff, died today in Spokane, Washington after a long illness. He was 84 years old.
Van Breda Kolff took the reigns of the Lakers in the mid-1960s, replacing Fred Schaus who become the team’s general manager. He was the first coach of the team when it began play at The Forum in Inglewood and his two teams – ‘67-68 and ‘68-69 – both made it to the NBA Finals, but lost both times to the Boston Celtics. Van Breda Kolff’s two-year record was 107-57, but he was sent packing by owner Jack Kent Cooke, frustrated that a team with Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain couldn’t beat the Celtics.
Van Breda Kolff took his wild, exuberant style to the Detroit Pistons (1969-72), then to Phoenix (part of the ‘72-73 season), the Memphis Tams of the ABA (‘73-74), the New Orleans Jazz (‘74-77) and the New Orleans Pride of the Women’s Basketball League from 1979-81.
His overall record in 28 college seasons at Lafayette, Hofstra, Princeton and New Orleans was 482-272 and 287-316 in 10 seasons in the NBA and ABA.
= Panorama =
>> The National Pastime: George Mitchell’s report on steroids in baseball is going to be much more comprehensive than many anticipated, according to a report from Sports Illustrated.
The SI.com article by Jon Heyman noted that “Some owners have complained privately about the expense of the extensive investigation, which is believed to have cost at least $15 million. But one other person in the know predicted, ‘There’s going to be more to this report than people think.’”
Much is being made of information being provided by former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, who pled guilty to a charge of distributing steroids to major league players. It is not clear whether Mitchell’s report will name the players who Radomski reported selling drugs to.
>> NBA Hoopla: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle ripped ex-NBA star Latrell Sprewell a new one on Thursday, writing that “Sprewell has to be the NBA’s all-time most versatile player. No player ever found a greater variety of ways to get into trouble. Dennis Rodman, you say? I’ll take Spree.
“Besides, Rodman is a has-been, and, as we see by the repo of ‘Milwaukee’s Best’ [Sprewell’s 70-foot yacht]. Sprewell is still building his resume.
“Sprewell for years has been a great example of the Faustian bargain that sports team strike in their quest for championships. Even after Sprewell’s list of strange and illegal deeds grew, as his clashes with coaches and teammates become routine, NBA teams offered him millions.”
>> Hello Probation: An unbelievable note on the LionInOil.com blog:
The Purdue University Women's Basketball team was placed on probation for two years on Wednesday after a former assistant coach was found writing a paper for a player and made over 100 impermissible recruiting calls. While the team will not face a post season ban, the Lady Boilermakers will lose three scholarships.
Former Purdue assistant Katrina Merriweather has admitted to typing and revising a paper for guard Cherelle George during the 2005-2006 season. Sociology 220 must have been harder for George than she'd expected. Witness the following email exchange between the two:
10/26/05, 4:45 PM Merriweather to George: Here are some thoughts that should help. Make sure you read it and add your own info from class notes or any textbooks you use. All of my info is from the internet and what I remember...
10/26/05, 10:16 PM Merriweather to George: Throw away the other one. This one is better and more organized....
11/29/05, 2:43 AM Merriweather to George: Hey, you still have to do the title page and the reference page. I have attached everything you need to do those (two) things. Make sure you reread the paper and make it sound like you.
Finally, take a look at this instant-message exchange, one that the NCAA Infractions Committee called its “smoking gun.”
Merriweather: Hey Girl! I will be finished around 9 p.m...I did most of it over because I wasn't sure if the social issue had to be national or if it could be local.
George: Stop cakin' and finish the paper...dang!
Merriweather: So, I'm changing it so it will all be national.
It's no surprise that this sort of violation occur in the world of college sports. But these excerpts are remarkable in that they've been able to get such solid proof of it happening. And to think that if this happened in Women's Basketball, I can only imagine the extent and the fraud that goes on in Men's Basketball and Football. This is the kind of stuff that can take down a program, and with email, IM and more out there, it's only a matter of time before more of this comes out.
>> Basketball Fiesta: Lost in the coverage of the U.S. win over Venezuela in the opening round of the FIBA Americas tournament in Las Vegas was Mexico’s 100-89 win over perennial Americas power Puerto Rico on Wednesday.
The Mexicans had a familiar face on the sidelines to American fans, former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson, creator of the “40 minutes of Hell” style that worked so well for the Razorbacks.
And it was Mexico’s defensive intensity that shackled Puerto Rican point guard Carlos Arroyo. The Puerto Rican team committed 27 turnovers, including 15 in the first half as Mexico raced to a 12-point halftime lead. Next up for Mexico is Panama (0-1) on Friday.
≡ Morning Recess ≡
 Bad birds! |
= Tonight’s Menu =
>> The 65-61 Dodgers started at 10:05 a.m. Pacific time this morning against 66-59 Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Ballpark with Chad Billingsley (7-4, 3.63) going against newcomer Fabio Castro (0-0, 12.27) in his first big-league start. The Phillies went off as the favorite: it took $135 to try to win $100 on the home team while $100 on the Dodgers could have returned $115.
>> At Angel Stadium, 63-63 Toronto is in town to face the 74-52 Angels, with Ervin Santana (5-11, 5.96) on the mound for the Halos against Jesse Litsch (4-6, 3.49). The Angels took two of three from New York despite allowing 23 runs in the three games. The Blue Jays do well against the Halos and are 10-5 against the Angels in their last 15, but are coming off three straight losses to the A’s in Oakland. So the Angels are a big favorite: it takes $155 to try to win $100 on the home team, but the Jays are even money.
>> In tonight’s meaningless NFL exhibition, Jacksonville is a three-point choice over Green Bay at Lambeau Field, with the over-under set at 37. So the sharpies have penciled in the final as Jaguars 20, Packers 17.
>> At The Home Depot Center tonight, the Galaxy (3-8-5) and Chivas USA (9-6-3) are pick-it. There are no odds on whether David Beckham and/or Landon Donovan will have flight problems from Europe and miss the game . . .
= L.A. Stories =
>> What’s Bruin: See our daily blog on UCLA sports at LATimes.com!
>> Around the Galaxy: Just a reminder of how easy making soccer a major sport in the U.S. compared to what he has to deal with at home, David Beckham’s appearance with the English team in a 2-1 loss in a friendly against Germany last night in London was summarized in The Sun’s headline: “What a load of Robbish.”
England’s manager Steve McLaren is under heavy fire for keeping Paul Robinson in goal after some ghastly errors. The Sun’s view of England’s chances to qualify for the 2008 European Championships is not promising: “Israel will fancy their chances as will Russia and Croatia, who all visit Wembley for Euro 2008 qualifiers.
“Why should they have any fear. England are not worrying anyone apart from minnows like Andorra and Estonia.”
And this closer, noting the boos from the Wembley Stadium crowd as the game ended, “When you think about it, there aren’t many occasions when England aren’t booed off these days.”
On the bright side, Beckham played all 94 minutes.
= Panorama =
>> The National Pastime: Baltimore manager Dave Trembley was told before yesterday’s doubleheader with the Rangers at Camden Yards that he would be the Orioles’ manager next season.
His team responded by losing both games to Texas, 30-3 and 9-7! In fact, Texas scored more runs in the eighth and ninth innings in game one (16) than they had scored in the previous six games combined!
And don’t blame Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera. He only gave up six runs in his five innings of work. The bullpen – Brian Burres, Rob Bell and Paul Shuey – combined to give up 24 runs and 20 hits in the last four innings for an ERA of 72.00! All this after the Orioles had a 3-0 lead after three innings!
>> NFL Ticker: Tom Brady’s ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynihan gave birth to a son on Tuesday in Santa Monica, with Brady with his ex for the delivery. He skipped out on Patriots practice but will return in time for New England’s third exhibition game on Friday in Charlotte against the Carolina Panthers. Although Moynihan and Brady broke up last November, the Boston Herald speculated that because Brady is a devout Catholic, he might yet reconcile with Moynihan and marry her. That would certainly come as a surprise to Brady’s current ladyfriend, model Gisele Bundchen. Sounds like a reality series in the making . . .
>> NBA Hoopla: The NBA leveled a $250,000 fine at Seattle Supersonics minority owner Aubrey McClendon for comments in an Oklahoma City newspaper that the team will be moved to Oklahoma City and that the new ownership group bought the team with that intention.
Although principal owner Clay Bennett said McClendon did not speak for the ownership group, the writing is already on the wall. The owners have set an October 31 deadline for the city of Seattle or the state of Washington to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to help with the building of a new arena. They won’t and Bennett will petition the league to move. All that will stand in his way is a minor (?) obligation called a lease to play in the Key Arena through the 2009-10 season. Details, details . . .
And as McClendon put it: “Clay, very artfully and skillfully, put himself in the middle of [discussions about the Seattle ownership situation] and to the great amazement and surprise to everyone in Seattle, some rednecks from Oklahoma – which we’ve been called – made off with the team.”
~ Rich Perelman
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