|
|
|
The Daily Digest for Friday, December 21 |
|
December 21, 2007 |
≡ Interim Report ≡
 O'Neal: performance-enhancing cereal? |
= Program Note =
We will be off on Monday and Tuesday and wish all of our readers a very happy holiday season. We’ll be back in the saddle on Wednesday, December 26.
We expected that TheGoodSportsNetwork.tv would be up and running on September 24, but the site is still not live. We have been told that TheGoodSportsNetwork.tv site will be up in November, but it is now almost the end of December.
While we wait, we’ll continue posting a weekday note and sending out the Tip Sheet to keep you informed. Stay tuned, and hope for the best.
= Tonight’s Menu =
>> In what is probably the worst bowl game of them all, 7-5 Florida Atlantic and 7-5 Memphis get together in the New Orleans Bowl tonight on ESPN2. Florida Atlantic is a 3 1/2-point favorite with an over-under of 66, so the final is supposed to be 35-31.
>> The 15-10 Lakers, fresh from an upset loss to Cleveland last night, are in Philadelphia tonight to play the 10-15 76ers. The Sixers are 4-2 in their last six against the Lakers and have won five of seven. Even so, the Lakers are favored by 2 1/2, with an over-under of 199. So Los Angeles is supposed to win (like last night), by a final of 101-98.
>> The 9-15 Clippers are in Dallas tonight against the 18-9 Mavericks with Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas back in the line-up. Dallas is 5-2 against the Clips in their last seven meetings and has won four straight, so they’re favored by 12 with an over-under of 193. Projected final: Dallas 103, Los Angeles, 91.
>> The 12-21-2 Kings are in Columbus tonight to play the 14-13-6 Blue Jackets, who have lost four of their last five. But the Kings are on a 2-8 streak of their own, so the Blues are favored on the money line: it takes $160 to try to win $100 on the home team while it takes $115 to try to win $100 on the Kings.
= L.A. Stories =
>> What’s Bruin: See our daily blog on UCLA sports at LATimes.com!
>> Around the Galaxy: Galaxy midfielder David Beckham, still trying to get his 100th national team appearance with England, will train with Arsenal of the English Premier League during the winter months. Arsenal manager Arsene Wagner told the Associated Press that “He comes to keep fit and work hard” and would not be playing for Arsenal during the training period. The Galaxy’s season will start on March 29.
= Panorama =
>> College Bowling: Gary Shelton is a columnist for the St. Petersburg Times and is calling for Florida State to “offer to withdraw from the Music City Bowl.”
That’s understandable, with the Seminole team being demeaned by 25 players who cheated on a music class exam and are suspended for the game. But then Shelton goes on to write that “perhaps this will surprise you, but I would like to see the Music City Bowl decide to let FSU play anyway.
“At least that way, we will know which Seminoles are innocent in this scandal.”
Shelton is at least as lost as the school. What’s called for is better management of the team’s academic affairs, not an illusory offer to refuse to play a game which impacts the economy of the Nashville area. If Shelton wants FSU to make a statement that means something, how about playing all of its 2008 games on the road. If you can’t take care of your academic responsibilities at home, you can’t play at home. That would be meaningful, not a staged apology.
>> NFL Ticker: Now things are getting serious. Two U.S. Senators wrote a letter to the NFL, demanding that the NFL Network – which will carry the Patriots-Giants game on December 29 with a perfect regular season possibly on the line for New England – make the game available to more viewers.
The NFL, for its part, offered to allow Time Warner Cable to air the NFL Network right away if TWC would enter into binding arbitration over the carriage of the NFL Network.
Time Warner Cable president Glenn Britt sent his own letter, declining arbitration and noting, correctly, that the company has been able to “successfully reach agreements with hundreds of programming networks without the use of arbitration. . . .
“We already have standing offers for carriage of NFLN and we remain willing to meet with you and your associates at any point to try to reach an agreement that benefits both companies and our customers.” Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune noted that Britt also repeated his offer to place the NFL Network on a sports or premium tier, or “by making games available on a per-game basis at a price set by the NFL, with 100 percent of the revenue going to the NFL.”
And Britt closed with “In the interim, we strongly urge you to consider moving the Patriots-Giants game to a broadcast network to ensure that broadest possible distribution of this potentially historic game for fans.”
>> NFL lines: OK, here are the current betting lines for a Tony Romo-Jessica Simpson marriage from Bodog.com:
Under one month from now: 6-1
1-3 months from now: 9-2
6-12 months from now: 2-1
Engaged but not married in 2008: 3-1
Married by the end of 2008: 7-2
>> NBA Epitaph: Even New York’s 108-90 win over Cleveland on Wednesday night hasn’t slowed Peter Vecsey’s wail against Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas. Here’s today’s lead:
Following the Knicks’ 18-point autopsy of the Cadavers, they’re back on the pace of giving an entire game of effort as often as a Spears sister passes a home pregnancy test.
Vecsey goes on to rip the players, writing:
“Has any team ever caught on slower?
“Imagine having to remind each other throughout the game, as the Knicks said they did, to keep on keepin’ on. Imagine having to tell yourself or be told to maintain your image at the line of scrimmage.
“As if complete physical and mental exertion shouldn’t come naturally to a registered adult in any vocation or avocation.
“Gee, and all it took to get the Knicks’ attention was being branded heartless, spineless, punk posteriors by their slack leader, who swears it’s not in the coach’s creed to motivate, arouse and otherwise inspire players.”
Vecsey can’t wait to see what happens next when the Knicks visit Charlotte tonight.
>> NBA Doper: Although Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal is having a career-low year in most categories, he hasn’t lost his sense of humor. Before Wednesday’s game against Atlanta, he told reporters “There will be a report coming out and my name will be on it.” He then “admitted” that he’s been eating “performance-enhancing cereal” such as Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops and Wheaties.
>> Rings & Things: “For certain sports it is almost impossible to get any tickets at all,” says the head of international affairs for the National Olympic Committee of Denmark, about the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The Chinese organizers originally allocated about 25% of the available tickets for the Games for foreign sale, but that will change. After Beijing Olympic officials were hammered at a meeting of the European NOCs, the domestic allocation is being reduced in favor of foreign sales.
China wants the world to come to Beijing in 2008 and see what it has achieved. Despite equally pressing domestic demand for tickets inside the country, foreigners will come first. The international image of the country must be polished and internal demand can be “controlled.”
~ Rich Perelman
>> Have an opinion? You can send it using the “Comment” button below!
|
|
