Cheap Seats
Labor pains
From Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle on the NBA:
“If it’s in the worst interests of a sport, count on the players’ union to support it. NBA Commissioner David Stern actually decided to do something about his shoddy product, suggesting an age limit of 20 for incoming talent, and union head Billy Hunter was appalled. All he can see is one less millionaire; common sense be damned.”
Life mimmicks television
Among the 235 applicants to be a ballperson at the U.S. Open tennis tournament - a minimum-wage, two-week job that begins in late August in New York - is Kenny Kramer, the inspiration for the character of the same last name on “Seinfeld.”
The TV character, played by Michael Richards, had the job in one of the episodes.
Just the (bare) facts
Pitcher Brian Anderson of the Arizona Diamondbacks accidentally locked himself out of his hotel room in Cincinnati while sleepwalking… . naked. Without so much as socks.
“I guess as soon as the door closed behind me, I woke up,” he said. “I looked around and said, `What am I doing out here?’
“Then I thought I’d go to the workout room, to see if I could find a towel and go to the front desk. I went down two floors and saw a USA Today and grabbed a couple of sections and put one in front of me and the other behind me.
“I saw a guy cleaning the workout room and asked him for a key. He looked at me weird and handed me a towel and called downstairs. A security guard came and let me in my room.”
More of the naked truth
Maybe there’s something about Anderson. This is the same guy, after all, who last season, in trying to see if an iron was hot enough, burned a cheek.
Presumably on his face.
A strange case for pleading innocent
Steve Trachsel of the Chicago Cubs is 3-12 and lost eight in a row before winning on the final day before the All-Star break.
“There’s really not a whole lot I can do about it,” he said. “It’s out of my control. It’s a team game.”
Right. In one stretch of nine winless starts, he had an earned-run average of 9.41.
CBA Express
Gary Shelton in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times: “Turns out a lot of teams are excited about the prospect of Penny Hardaway on the free-agent market.
“Those teams include Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Fort Wayne.”
The last word …
“In Greece, Stratis Stratigis resigned as chief organizer for the 2004 Olympics, leaving the group without a strategist.”
- Bud Geracie of the San Jose Mercury News