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The Daily Digest for Tuesday, March 18, 2008 |
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March 18, 2008 |
≡ The Daily Digest ≡
 Mrs. Marcos, we'd like you to meet Mr. Childress . . . |
= To Our Readers =
In addition to posting our regular daily column of news, observations and commentary, we now send out The Sports Examiner DAILY, a .pdf-format newsletter – with bonus features – with the daily Tip Sheet that can be printed out to take with you or forwarded to your laptop to read later.
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= Tonight’s Menu =
>> Dallas, Tx.: The suddenly reeling 45-21 Lakers, now with Ronny Turiaf at center, are in Dallas tonight to meet the 44-23 Mavericks in another game with home-court implications for the playoffs. Pau Gasol remains out for the Lakers and Eddie Jones is out for Dallas, which is giving up only 95.4 points per game compared to the Laker average of 107.9 points per game.
Dallas is 5-2 in its last seven against Los Angeles and has won five straight overall, compared to the Lakers’ current stretch in which it has lost three of four. So, the sharpies have Dallas as a 5 1/2-point choice, with an over-under of 210, so the final is supposed to be Mavericks 108, Lakers 102.
>> Houston, Tx.: Just as compelling as the Lakers-Mavericks will be 53-13 Boston visiting 46-20 Houston with the Rockets’ 22-game win streak on the line. During the streak, Houston has been averaging 100.5 points a game and giving up just 88.1 with their opponents shooting a horrific average of 40.9% from the field. And they won 12 of the 22 with Yao Ming and now 10 straight without him.
The game is on TNT and Houston is a 4 1/2-point favorite with an over-under of 182, so the Rockets are supposed to move on, 93-89.
>> Los Angeles, Ca.: On the ice, the league-low, 28-39-6 Kings have just 62 points and will face surging San Jose tonight at Staples Center. The 42-21-9 Sharks have the second-highest point total in the league at 93 and has a 25-8-3 road record compared to Los Angeles’ 15-18-3 home record!
Moreover, the road team has won the last five games in this series, so San Jose is even money tonight, while $100 placed on the Kings could return $170. Don’t bet on it.
= L.A. Stories =
>> What’s Bruin:
See our daily blog on UCLA sports at LATimes.com!
>> The Clip Joint:
From the Orlando Sentinel:
Shooting guard Corey Maggette of the Los Angeles will be another one looking to see what the Magic will do, which is why he smiled last week when he was asked about opting out of the final year of his contract to become a free agent next summer. Maggette has an option to make $8.2 million with the Clips next season, but all the losing seems to have worn him out. If Elton Brand leaves this summer, he might do the same.
Reporter Tim Povtak suggested that the Magic could offer Maggette their mid-level exception “if they extend it out five years.” Maggette was originally drafted by Orlando and his parents live there.
= Panorama =
The National Pastime:
>> Chicago, Il.: Everyone knows the Cubs are big in Chicago, but this is ridiculous.
The Chicago Sun-Times noted that a new Harry Caray’s Tavern has opened near Wrigley Field on North Sheffield Street, replacing the old Hi-Tops pub and features a 123-inch (!), high-definition, flat-panel television for watching the home team. The Cubs really are big.
It’s the seventh location for Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group, best known for the downtown Italian steakhouse location on West Kinzie and its legendary phone number: (773) HOLY COW.
College Hoopla:
>> Gainesville, Fl.: “Donovan watches the same stoic team when practice started in October and admits he was just as worried then. The new Gators lacked the emotion and fire that make the old Gators so good.”
That’s Mark Schlabach’s take at ESPN.com on 21-11 Florida’s problems season, in which the Gators became the first defending champion to miss the NCAA Tournament since Kansas in 1989, which was on probation. But coach Billy Donovan isn’t standing pat.
He scheduled a practice during the CBS Selection show since there was no reason to watch. He banned the players from using the school’s $12 million basketball practice facility and sent them to the old Florida Gym on campus. He also told the players they could not wear any of their athletic department-issued practice gear as the Gators ready to play an NIT – called “Nightmare in Transition by the Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi – first-round game against San Diego State on Wednesday night.
Although Donovan recruited the players, he’s been outspoken in his disappointment this season. Now he seems to have their attention, at least according to freshman point guard Jai Lucas. “I think we’re going to have this taste in our mouths all the way until we make the NCAA Tournament,” he told reporters. “This is something that will never leave us. This pain is unbearable. If this doesn’t [motivate us], I don’t know what will. This might be one of the worst things that could happen to a team.”
No word on whether Donovan will allow the Gators to wear their regular uniforms during the game Wednesday, or whether he will provide blank uniforms with numbers.
>> Atlanta, Ga.: In a remarkable show of sportsmanship if nothing else, Georgia Tech will not charge the Southeastern Conference any rental fee for the emergency use of Alexander Memorial Coliseum for the final two days of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament after the Georgia Dome was hit by a tornado on Friday.
“That is what friends do for each other,” said Georgia Tech senior associate athletic director Paul Griffin in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Georgia Tech facility seats 9,191 as opposed to 26,000 for the Georgia Dome, so the SEC only allowed working officials, school bands, cheerleaders, and friends and family of the players to attend the Saturday and Sunday games. About 3,700 were on hand to see Georgia complete its four-day run to the championship by beating Arkansas. The SEC is still sorting out what to do about ticket refunds for Friday, since one of two games of the late session was played, but will issue full refunds for Saturday and Sunday. Good thing the conference has plenty of money from football!
>> Charlotte, NC: Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News wasn’t impressed with ESPN’s Mike Patrick’s constant promotion of how good the game he was calling was on Saturday as Clemson beat Duke in an Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal. “But the guy deserves slack. Remember, he has to work with [Dick] Vitale.”
>> Bristol, Ct.: Bob Knight hasn’t thrown any chairs at anyone on the ESPN college basketball studio set yet, but he’s been quite the fashion plate. ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz confirmed to Newsday that the network had sweaters – with the ESPN logo – specially made for Knight, who has worn navy, green and cream-colored versions so far. Krulewitz said “We’re doing the rainbow and beyond.”
Knight picked a dark-horse – Pittsburgh – to win the NCAA title and has looked fairly comfortable on the set, especially seated next to his long-time friend Digger Phelps.
NBA Hoopla:
>> Indianapolis, In.: From the Indianapolis Star: “There’s a strong belief that either [Larry] Bird or [Donnie] Walsh will return – but not both.
Something has to be done to fix the Pacers, who were a perennial NBA title contender in the Reggie Miller days, but are 26-41 this season after a 35-47 record in 2007 and 41-41 in 2006.
Team President Bird told reporter Mike Wells “I don’t know” when asked if he’d be back next season. “I think there’s a lot of blame to be passed around and obviously it starts at the top.”
Walsh, the team’s chief executive, has been rumored by the New York papers to be a potential successor to Isiah Thomas as President of the Knicks, but no agreement has been announced.
>> Atlanta, Ga.: Former Stanford star Josh Childress likes shoes. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he has more than 500 pairs in his collection of Nike products that spans decades.
“It’s my passion,” Childress told reporter Sekou Smith. “Some guys play cards. Some guys collect watches or cars or whatever. My thing is shoes.”
How obsessed is he? Childress said he knows the shoe brand, make and model worn by every NBA player. And he plans to open a store to show off his collection, but it might not be in Atlanta, since he’s a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Childress averages 11.8 points and 5.0 rebounds a game in a reserve role, averaging 29 minutes per game while shooting 58.5% from the field and 81.1% from the foul line.
College Gridiron:
>> Lawrence, Ks.: The long-promised bite of the NCAA’s new academic standards is sinking in, at least for the Kansas football program.
Flying high after its Orange Bowl triumph, the Jayhawks were hit with the loss of two scholarships for the 2008 season since the football team’s Academic Progress Report (APR) score of 919 is below the acceptable floor of 925, and two players left the program who were not in “good academic standing” with the university.
The penalty is only for the 2008 season and Kansas believes the poor score is due to a high number of transfer students. All of its other programs are projected to earn scores about 925 when APR scores are made public in late April or early May.
~ Rich Perelman
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