Sunday, May 3, 2015

Is he Say-Hey-Rod? . . . Now that's a kids meal . . . Gone Daddy for Danica





The New York Islanders’ forwards combined for three shots on goal in their 2-1 loss to the host Washington Capitals in Game 7 of their Stanley Cup series on Monday night. That’s right . . . THREE shots! Yes, we’re back into a dead puck era in the NHL. . . . We learn every spring that when it comes to inconsistency NHL officiating is rivalled only by Canada’s winter weather. But remember one thing — the referees call the game the way the governors and general managers want it called. . . . Headline at SportsPickle.com: Thunder hoping to hire Cavaliers coach LeBron James as new head coach. . . .

Four shots from Bill Littlejohn, our South Lake Tahoe, Calif., correspondent. . . . 1. Alex Rodriguez hit his 660th career home run to tie Willie Mays on the all-time list. So is he now Say-Hey-Rod? . . . 2. Things are so rough with the Milwaukee Brewers, Littlejohn reports, that “one player was seen seeking hitting advice from Bob Uecker.” . . . 3. In Alabama, the salaries of high school football coaches are soaring past $120,000 per year. They soon will be on par with Crimson Tide running backs. . . . 4. Q: What do you call it when the IRS is after Plaxico Burress? A: A Plax Evasion. . . .

If you’re like me you’re wondering if head coach Mike Babcock is past his best-before date with the Detroit Red Wings. His contract is up and you have to wonder if the Red Wings will just let him walk. . . . Detroit has lost out in the first round in three of the last four seasons and hasn’t been to the third round since 2009. . . . The Red Wings also have Jeff Blashill with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, and he is seen as one of the top young coaches in the game. . . .

Here’s Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Express: “For 30 years no one has cared about the Pan-Am Games. And now Toronto hosts them.” . . . RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com reports: “Word out of Louisville is one of the Kentucky Derby veterinarians has laryngitis. That’s right, he’s a hoarse doctor.” . . . On the topic of Deflategate, reader Connie G. asked the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Why is Robert Kraft waiting so long to tell Roger Goodell what the Patriots’ punishment should be?” . . .

Molly Schuyler, a competitive eater, took all of 20 minutes to down three 72-ounce steaks, three baked potatoes, three shrimp cocktails, three salads and three dinner rolls. . . . “Or as they call it in Texas,” said NBC-TV’s Seth Meyers, “a kids meal.” . . . Did we mention that Schuyler weighs in at 120 pounds? With an appetite like that, I can’t imagine her being a cheap date. . . . After covering the NBA playoff series between the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun wrote: “A Washington reporter’s first impression of Toronto: ‘Too many homeless. Everywhere I went somebody was asking me for money.’ ” . . . Hmmm. Must be a Canadian thing. . . .

“While MLB is focusing on pace-of-game issues,” notes Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe, “maybe they should consider also fining national anthem singers who add several syllables to one-syllable words.” . . . Here’s Hough, again: “So what was the difference between the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs this year? About a week.” . . . If you watch a game involving the Chicago White Sox and don’t have a dog in the hunt, you just might agree that Ken (Hawk) Harrelson is the funniest thing on TV today. If you aren’t aware, he is the play-by-play man who doubles as the biggest homer in the sporting world today. It has gotten to the point now where his cheering has become absolutely hilarious. . . .

Here’s Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim, before the NFL draft, about how much attention teams should pay to the off-field discretions of prospective players: “If Hannibal Lecter ran a 4.3, we'd probably diagnose it as an eating disorder." . . . Headline at TheOnion.com: Draft pick hugs family that will bleed him dry over next 5 years. . . .

“The new University of Nebraska – Omaha arena will have a cannon that fires tacos into the crowd at hockey games,” writes Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald. “I saw a cannon firing tacos and my first reaction was, ‘These U.S. military cuts have gone too far.’ ” . . . “I was hoping for a Habs-Wings series,” writes Vancouver comic Torben Rolfsen, “but Tampa Bay won Game 7, setting up an Original 24 matchup.” . . . “It’s now Gone Daddy,” reports Richmond, B.C., blogger TC Chong. “Go Daddy is dropping its NASCAR sponsorship for Danica Patrick.” . . .

ICYMI, there was an occurrence in a baseball game on Tuesday that about sums up the state of professional sports and contracts today. In the game in question, Dan Uggla of the Washington Nationals homered to beat the Atlanta Braves. Interestingly, Atlanta is paying Uggla US$12,692,500 this season, making him the highest-paid player on the Braves’ payroll. . . . “The proposed NFL stadium in Carson, Calif., would celebrate Chargers touchdowns by shooting lightning bolts,” notes Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “So what’s next — the Bills flinging buffalo chips?” . . .

(Gregg Drinnan is a former sports editor of the Regina Leader-Post and the late Kamloops Daily News. He is at gdrinnan.blogspot.ca and twitter.com/gdrinnan. Keeping Score appears here on weekends, except when it doesn’t.)

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