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• Barnes belts Rafer. Nash dashes in. Shaq shoves everyone. Things have certainly heated up between the Suns & Rockets.
• Maybe London isn’t so crazy about hosting the Olympics, after all.
• NASCAR honcho Bruton Smith could use some spare change - about a billion dollars’ worth.
• Courtney Bryan: from NFL rosters to Arby’s roast beef.
You’ve heard the saying since you were a child: “Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.” As a kid I thought this was the dumbest thing ever. If I wish for a Sega Genesis and I get it, how in the hell could that be a bad thing? Is the Sega going to come to life at night and kill me in my sleep? Of course, as I grew older I came to understand the meaning behind it.
For instance, as a Chicagoan, I’m not exactly sure how I feel about the city’s Olympic bid for 2016. While it would it be a cool experience to have the Olympics taking place only a few miles away from me, I’m not really sure it’s the best thing for the city. With the economy in the shape it’s in, I’m just not convinced that sinking the ridiculous amount of money it costs to get an Olympics and then prepare the city for it is worth spending right now. Just look at the people in London who are already starting to regret hosting the 2012 games.
• Coming soon to a silver screen near you: Al Pacino as Tommy Lasorda.
• Oh, the football-playing kids these days, with their hijinks ‘n’ horseplay ‘n’ penchant for shoving broomsticks up each other’s butts.
• With one quick skip across The Pond, John Daly goes from white trash to Eurotrash.
• George O’Leary wants his players to kill - er, make that George O’Leary wants to kill his players.
• Not learning the lessons from Vai Sikahema’s slaughtering, Jose Canseco wants to go a few more rounds in the ring.
The global financial crisis is threatening to tone down spending for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Existing venues may be used for some events in lieu of constructing new ones. The event, which was already slated to be smaller in cost and physical size than the 2008 Beijing Games, is having trouble securing loans for the Olympic Village and is also scaling back its broadcast center.
(London’s 2012 Ghettolympic Games)
BLOOMBERG PRESS reports:
(London) Mayor Boris Johnson told a parliamentary committee yesterday that the Olympic Park will be “cozier” than that used for this year’s Beijing games. The Chinese government spent four times the amount the 2012 organizers are planning to spend on the games.
Some further ideas for a budget Olympics (after the jump): Read more…
• Matt Millen is finally moved out of Motor City. Guess the Lions won’t be drafting any more wide receivers anytime soon.
• Erik Johnson of the St. Louis Blues has his season end before it even begins, thanks to his faulty footwork while driving a golf cart.
• Want to know the secret of Terrell Owens’ success? Read the book - and buy his energy drink.
• Plaxico Burress has done so much for the New York Giants, that he’s been given a two-week break - without pay.
• The Tampa Bay Rays can’t decide who’s worthy of tossing out their first-ever postseason pitch. Any ideas?
We’re barely a month past the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, which means that the efforts to get London ready for the 2012 games are well underway. London wants to make sure everything is perfect for their return to the world stage, and they want to make sure everybody is happy. Especially all those people who are going to need the bathroom.
You see, when you host an Olympics you aren’t just hosting the games and the athletes who are going to participate in them. You’re also hosting people from all over the world who have come to watch the Olympics, and that means you’re going to have a lot of different cultures and religions to deal with, and you want to do everything you can to make everybody happy. That’s why, to appease all the Muslims who will be visiting the country for the games, London has decided to make sure that their toilets do not face Mecca.
• Mike & The Mad Dog’s radio show is sent to live on a farm upstate.
• Alonzo Mourning helps a Miami Heat fan celebrate her 102nd birthday.
• Some things never change, like John McEnroe’s time-honored tradition of throwing tennis tantrums.
• Michael Wilbon sings for the faithful of the Friendly Confines, but is it a slap in the face to the fourth estate?
• China: Land of many diverse peoples, all played on the Olympic Opening Ceremonial stage by the same ethnic group.
Traditionally, part of the Olympics Closing Ceremonies is given to the country who is going to host the next Olympics, as a way to tell the world what their games are going to be like. Judging by what BBC SPORT is reporting the 2012 London organizers have planned, the message they are trying to get across about their Olympic Games is “totally and utterly insane.”
London’s portion will include: David Beckham riding on top of a double decker bus kicking soccer balls into the crowd, Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis performing (perhaps together?), and “hundreds of dancers performing ballet and break-dancing routines.” The whole thing has a loony, surrealistic feel to it, like Fellini directing The Night of 100 Stars with a hint of “Who can we get that doesn’t have anything better to do?”. (Speaking of which, isn’t Beckham, you know, still playing with the Galaxy?) The only thing missing is Prince Charles doing some juggling tricks while Hugh Grant wrestles a bear.
• Whoo-hoo! HOME RUN DERBY has video & pictures of Homer Simpson throwing out the first pitch at a recent Dodgers game.
• PUCK DADDY skates along word of a new musical about hockey. If it can be done with poker, why not?
• DEADSPIN doodles up some ideas from the British public on creating London’s official Olympic mascot.
• WITH LEATHER knows how hard it is to be an Italian soccer player in the offseason, surrounded by a bevy of babes in bikinis.
• Hideki Matsui, collector of wedding bets & even bigger collector of porn.
• Tim Tebow was able to tantalize Lee Corso & crew to come down and cover the Gators’ spring practice game.
• No bones about it, skeletons were discovered during digging for the London Olympics.
• A collegiate catfight may have been caused by couple of gals claiming an assistant coach.
