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Sticking his neck out for his team

A 13-year-old Toronto boy who almost lost his life in a hockey game was more concerned that his team ended up losing the match.

“The other team scored three goals after I left,” complained goalie Josh Eagles, whose throat was slashed by another player’s skate. “If we’d won we would’ve been in first place.”

Ambulance attendants said a mandatory neck guard and quick action by the trainer saved Eagles’ life.

A manager of Metro Ambulance, said that without the guard, the skate blade “would have taken out the two major arteries and he would have been dead in about 45 seconds.’

Roses at $50 a surcharge

Arizona State financial genius Tom Collins has done more for the Sun Devils program with a calculator than quarterback Jake Plummer has done with a football.

With Arizona State playing in the Rose Bowl for only the second time, Collins saw an opportunity to dramatically reduce the school’s $2.1 million athletic department deficit.

Collins decided to tack a $50 surcharge on 20,000 of the 36,416 game tickets allocated to the school at a face value of $75 each. That will come out to about $1 million profit. ASU’s opponent, Ohio State, said it had no interest in doing anything like that.

Although the surcharge didn’t break any rules, it did break traditional policy for the Rose Bowl, a college-football institution since 1902.

Once again, the Buckeyes missed out on a golden opportunity.

Here’s proof Syracuse sports are dead

Oakwood Cemetery has been declared off-limits for tailgate parties at Syracuse games because of complaints from lot holders and the cemetery’s board of directors.

The cemetery is close to the Carrier Dome and parking has been allowed in the cemetery for the past 20 years. This year, several hundred fans paid $200 for a permit to park for football, basketball and lacrosse games.

However, many families with loved ones in the cemetery complained about garbage and empty beer cans left behind.

Cemetery executive director Daniel Glavin warned he would enforce the new policy by revoking the parking permits of those caught tailgating or drinking alcohol on cemetery grounds.

NBA spokesman leaks news out of Denver

The locker rooms at McNichols Sports Arena, home of the Denver Nuggets, literally don’t measure up to NBA standards.

The urinals are 2 inches too low and, instead of eight shower heads 8-feet high in the Nuggets’ locker room, there are only five at 6-foot-6-inches.

Moreover, an NBA spokesman complained that the ceilings in the officials’ locker rooms are only 8 feet high instead of 9.

That prompted Woody Paige of the Denver Post to comment: “When was the last time you saw an 8-foot referee?” We’re assuming Paige didn’t touch the complaint over the urinals’ size.

The last word …

“He’s a guy who gets up at 6 o’clock in the morning regardless of what time it is.”

- Manager Lou Duva on his boxer Andrew Golota’s lively attitude before his rematch against Riddick Bowe

, DataTimes