|
|
|
The Daily Digest for Thursday, February 28, 2008 |
|
February 28, 2008 |
≡ The Daily Digest ≡
 TNT happy to have Barkley's explosions for years to come |
= To Our Readers =
We signed an agreement last August to place a daily audio show on a new Internet site to be called TheGoodSportsNetwork.tv. It was supposed to launch September 4, then September 24, but the site is still not live. Maybe some day it will launch, but we’re not optimistic.
We are delighted to say that our readership has never been stronger and our Web statistics program shows that TheSportsExaminer.com had more than 1,000,000 page views in December. Since you seem to like what we’re doing, we’ll continue for now, posting a weekday note and sending out the Tip Sheet to keep you informed. Thanks so much for your support.
= Tonight’s Menu =
>> The 10-45 Miami Heat, with Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade but not Shaquille O’Neal, visits Staples Center tonight to take on the 40-17 Lakers, now leading the Western Conference by a game. Alonzo Mourning and Smush Parker are out for Miami and Dorrell Wright is questionable; Vladimir Radmanovic is questionable for the Lakers with his calf injury. Even though the Heat is 4-3 against the Lakers in their last seven meetings, Los Angeles has won nine in a row by an average margin of 15 points. So the Lakers are a 13 1/2-point choice with an over-under of 209; thus, the final is supposed to be Lakers 111, Heat 98.
>> In Tucson, 17-9 USC faces 17-10 Arizona with the Trojans a game ahead (8-6 to 7-7) in the Pac-10 standings. The Wildcats are just 2-4 in their last six games and USC has been solid, winning seven of 10. But Arizona has handled USC in six of their last nine meetings and is a 4 1/2-point choice with an over-under of 134. That makes the projected final Arizona 69, USC, 65.
>> The Kings (26-34-4) are tightening their grip on last place in the NHL this season and play 29-30-5 Edmonton tonight at Rexall Place. However, the Kings have beaten the Oilers in three of their last four meetings, but are only 3-5 in their last eight games overall. Edmonton is favored on the money line: it takes $145 to try to win $100 on the home team, but $130 on the visitors could return the same $100.
= L.A. Stories =
>> What’s Bruin: See our daily blog on UCLA sports at LATimes.com!
>> Thinking Blue: WagerWeb.com has odds out on winning the National League West this season, with Arizona the favorite. A $100 wager could return $180 on the Diamondbacks, $250 on the Dodgers, $270 on the Rockies, $275 on San Diego or $1,500 on the Giants!
>> Halo Talk: In the American League West, the Angels are favored again. It takes a $230 wager to try to win $100 on the Halos, but a $100 bet on Seattle could return $190 or you could get $1,100 back on either the Oakland A’s or Texas Rangers!
= Panorama =
>> The National Pastime: Although the Oakland and Boston players may not have been excited about having to open their season a little early and in Tokyo, they’re being well compensated for their troubles.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chroncle reported that players from both teams will receive $40,000 or more, depending on the total revenue generated by the series. Travel expenses will be covered for 30 players on both teams and the two games that count will have 28-man rosters from which 25 must be designated as eligible to play in each game. Players will, of course, receive per diem payments in addition to all the other money they get.
>> The Real National Pastime: Pittsburgh is the latest to embrace the all-you-can-eat section for home baseball games, setting aside up to two outfield seating sections for the food fest with tickets costing $35 if purchased prior to the game or $40 on the day of a game; tickets in that section normally cost $17. The endless menu will be limited to hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream, soft drinks and salads. Salads?
The Dodgers were the pioneers in baseball gluttony, introducing the concept in the right field pavilion in 2007 and it has caught on, with local modifications elsewhere.
>> College Gridiron: Second-year coach Jim Harbaugh shook the college football world last season with the Cardinal’s stunning upset of USC in the Coliseum. Now, he’s changing the nature of spring practice with an unusual split calendar. “It’s a minicamp format, along the lines of a pro-style offseason,” he told reporters. “There’s a lot of benefits we’ll pick up with that on a lot levels. It’s new; it hasn’t been done before by anybody that I know of. We’ll be pioneers in that regard, but I feel good about it.”
The Cardinal started the first of nine sessions on Tuesday, then will take three weeks off and have another six practices in April, with the Spring Game on April 12.
On the field, there are the usual injury issues, but the open quarterback job will be of paramount interest. Sophomore Tavita Pritchard, who engineered the USC upset, will be competing with Michigan transfer Jason Forcier (the older brother of UCLA’s Chris Forcier) and sophomore Alex Loukas.
>> Hog Calling: Former Atlanta Falcons coach and new Arkansas Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino was welcomed at a banquet in Wynne, Arkansas on Tuesday. The interim president of the East Central Arkansas Razorback Club, Buddy Billingsley, told the new coach that the club is fully behind him . . . as long as he beats Ole Miss and Tennessee.
The offensive-minded Petrino did his part, saying: “We want to be the no. 1-rated offense in the nation, and I want to find 11 guys who expect that and who believe we can do that. Each time we step on the field, we have to expect to score.” In a minor upset, he did actually mention defense. “We will run full speed to the football, we will tackle well and we will create turnovers and most importantly, we will stop the run.”
>> College Roundball: Although Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA and Tennessee have been at or near the top of the college polls for most of this season, the team that might be the best bet for a no. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament might be Texas.
The Longhorns, without last year’s star Kevin Durant, are 24-4 and 11-2 in the Big 12. They’ve defeated UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, Kansas and Tennessee by 19 points and are steaming toward the post-season with an 8-0 mark in February. Star point guard D.J. Augustin says he’s gotten better from playing against former Longhorns star T.J. Ford in the summer and if forwards Justin Mason and Damion James continue playing strongly, Texas can play with anyone.
One mock bracket had Texas seeded no. 1 in the Phoenix region with UCLA no. 2, meaning the two teams could face off again. The first meeting ended in a last-second 63-61 win for Texas against a UCLA with a still-recovering Darren Collison at guard. The second could be another classic.
>> NBA Hoopla: The New York Daily News reported today that James Dolan, the often-pilloried head of Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks, is trying to replace team president and coach Isiah Thomas with Kiki Vandeweghe in the front office, with Thomas to remain as coach.
The newspaper noted that the Knicks have a 51-89 record under Thomas and have not had either a winning season or a win in the playoffs since he took over in December of 2003. Vandeweghe us currently a special assistant to New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn, so he won’t have to go far if he’s hired by New York. He played for the Knicks from 1988-92.
>> NBA Sound Check: Stream-of-consciousness analyst Charles Barkley agreed to a multi-year contract extension with TNT. In a victory for mock turtleneck wearers across the nation, Barkley is in his eighth season with the network and will appear in the future on TNT as well as on the Turner-managed NBA TV and TNT NBA Overtime on NBA.com.
>> Rassle Maniacs: The WWE’s Vince McMahon was singled out for his absence at the House committee hearings in which the commissioners and union heads of Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA and NHL were all present and testified. And he’s not happy about it.
In a statement, McMahon said, in part:
Any suggestion made today by Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that I or my organization, WWE, have been uncooperative or that I have in any way “flipped [my] finger” at the Committee by not accepting its invitation to testify today is inaccurate and unfair. The WWE has provided over 3,000 pages of documents and cooperated with all requests of the Committee, as we have with similar requests from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
McMahon noted that he wished to be accompanied by his counsel, who was unavailable and added that “Since I sent my letter of declination 30 days ago, there had been no response from the Committee until today’s unfair and inaccurate comments made by members of the Committee.” McMahon smartly did not include a reverse invitation for any of the Members to take on Big Show in the ring.
>> Kicking and Screaming: Believe it or not, Mixed Martial Arts is coming to network television. Multichannel News reports that CBS is preparing an agreement with ProElite, Inc. to create MMA events to air every other month. ProElite is hardly a household name (?) in the MMA community and isn’t in the same league as UFC or Pride, the leaders in the MMA category. But they’re going to be on CBS and UFC and Pride – not to mention boxing, track & field or even roller derby – aren’t.
~ Rich Perelman
>> Have an opinion? You can send it using the “Comment” button below!
|
|
