Heartwarming Waltons episode
WITH FATHER’S DAY only a week away, a hot book these days is “Heroes, Legends … Dads,” an Andrew McMeel publication by Joe Garner.
Among the fathers and sons profiled are Bill and Luke Walton. The younger Walton talks about Game 2 of the NBA Finals last year – when he played well for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Detroit Pistons – and his father was shown beaming while sitting in the crowd.
“Everybody kept telling me how proud my dad looked,” Luke Walton says in the book. “I finally went back and watched the game, and, seeing how proud I made him, that was a very special moment.”
Walton, who added, “If you see him on TV, he’s always ripping people,” said: “He was just watching from the crowd. Now, if he had been announcing the game, I would have turned the volume down.”
Don’t insult Bonds’ family bonds
Barry Bonds called former Chicago White Sox outfielder Ron Kittle “an idiot” for claiming in his book that the San Francisco Giants slugger once refused to autograph a jersey for Kittle’s charity because “I don’t sign for white people.”
“Who is Kittle? How long did he play? He played in our league?” Bonds asked the Associated Press on Thursday.
“Ha! Do you guys believe that? Do you guys know my life history a little bit? One, you insult my children, who are half-white. I was married to a woman who was white, so let’s get real. I don’t even know the guy. Tell him he’s an … idiot.”
Weighing in on Gordon’s statement
During a conference call promoting Saturday’s Indy car race at Texas Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick was asked about Robby Gordon’s comments that she had an advantage because of her weight.
“All I know is that the NBA doesn’t lower the hoop for the short guys,” she said.
Added Bud Geracie of the San Jose Mercury News: “So am I to understand that if I weren’t so fat, my ‘97 Camry would be going farther on a tank of fuel?”
The fine art of paying fines
Ron Gardenhire, manager of the Minnesota Twins, has to pay a $750 fine every time he gets tossed from a game, and it has already happened three times this season. So who pays the fine, Gardenhire or the team?
“I write the checks,” he told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “My wife just loves me for it.”
Prized advice for the newly rich
Agent Scott Boras, a guest on FSN’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” said that he tells his clients this about investing their money: “Just associate yourself with somebody I can sue.”