"Lazzari's Sports Roundup" -- 01-22-05

Boxing promoter Don "Only in America" King has filed a $2.5 billion defamation suit against ESPN--claiming that a "SportsCentury" segment that aired last spring referred to him as being "a snake oil salesman, a shameless huckster, and worse." Geez, and I thought they were being NICE to the guy. Question: Shouldn't all of us former boxing fans file a similar suit against KING--for running the sport we once loved into the ground over the past 10-15 years?..........TRIVIA QUESTION #1: Who holds the Toronto Blue Jays record for most stolen bases in one season? Answer to follow..........If pitcher Derek Lowe is worth $9 million per season, then sports editor Bill Pucci will soon be purchasing the entire musical library of Snoop Doggy Dogg..........The "Unwatchable NBA" Update: Last weekend, the Cavaliers beat the Jazz 84-71--with no member of the losing team scoring more than 12 points. In addition, the two teams managed to shoot a combined 4-for-26 from three-point range and missed a staggering total of 26 free throws between them..........Did you know that, in 1935, outfielder Wally Berger of the Boston Braves led the National League in home runs (34) and RBI (130)--playing for a team that finished in LAST place? The pitiful Braves won only 38 games that season under manager Bill McKechnie. The runner-up to Berger in home runs on that infamous Boston team? The great Babe Ruth with only six..........ATTENTION, JENNIFER ANISTON: Sports columnists, though vastly underpaid and not mansion dwellers, are great boyfriend material..........Lazzari's "Lopsided Score of the Week": In a Connecticut high school basketball game two weeks ago, the Coventry High girls defeated Vinal Tech 48-8--with the victors leading Vinal 30-2 at the HALF. Hey, things could have been worse for the losing team; they could have forfeited the game, stayed home instead, and watched some old Madonna movies, right?..........Answer to trivia question #1: DAVE COLLINS--who swiped 60 bases for the second-place Blue Jays in 1984..........Does anyone out there, like myself, badly miss watching Barry Sanders run with the football?..........It's been reported that Major League Baseball and its Players Association have joined together to donate $1 million to the tsunami victims in Asia. Question: Considering that total figure is about 5% of ONE player's (Manny Ramirez, for example) annual salary, shouldn't these guys be ASHAMED of themselves for offering such little assistance?..........This week in sports history, January 24, 1986: Mike Bossy of the N.Y. Islanders scores the 1,000th point of his illustrious hockey career--assisting on a goal during the Islanders' 7-5 victory over Toronto. On the same date five years earlier (1/24/81), Bossy had joined the great Maurice Richard as the only players in NHL history to have scored 50 goals in their first 50 games of a season..........TRIVIA QUESTION #2: Four former ABA teams joined the NBA in 1977. Name them; answer to follow..........Former Olympic hurdler/gold medalist Angelo Taylor has been arrested for allegedly having an intimate encounter with a 15-year-old girl in a parked car. I guess that's one opportunity he shouldn't have "jumped" at, huh?..........Newly-signed N.Y. Mets superstar Carlos Beltran recently told the New York Post, "I'm a family man. I just love being around my family." Believe me, Carlos--now that you've signed a $120 million contract, you're gonna find soon enough that you have family members you never even KNEW existed..........I don't care if you're lining up against the "Doomsday Defense," the "No-Name Defense," or the "Purple People Eaters" COMBINED. For the N.Y. Jets to NOT score an offensive touchdown during last week's playoff loss to Pittsburgh is BEYOND disgraceful. With talented offensive players such as Chad Pennington, LaMont Jordan, Curtis Martin, and Santana Moss on your team, an underachieving performance like that MORE than justifies the removal of Paul Hackett as offensive coordinator..........If Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson lands a camera endorsement deal this coming season, I'm giving up watching sports for good..........Interesting fact in the Sporting News a couple of weeks ago: According to STATS, Inc., Barry Bonds did NOT hit a single home run farther than 450 feet in his first 14 big league seasons. In just his last FIVE seasons, he's hit 21 homers that surpassed 450 feet. Hmmmmmm..........Answer to trivia question #2: The NEW JERSEY NETS, DENVER NUGGETS, INDIANA PACERS, and SAN ANTONIO SPURS..........The Anaheim Angels now want to be known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim--mainly for marketing purposes. I'm now wondering if the Expos would have fared better up north had they been known as the Montreal Expos of Quebec of the Great Country of Canada on the Great Continent of North America..........Finally, happy birthday wishes go out to former major league pitcher Wally Bunker--who blows out 60 candles on January 25th. A righty who pitched for the Orioles and Royals from 1963-1971, Bunker went 19-5 in his rookie year with Baltimore and also threw a six-hit shutout in the 1966 World Series against the Dodgers. However, arm problems limited Bunker to only 60 wins over his entire nine-year career. Best wishes, Wally.

Bob Lazzari

Reprinted by permission of the Valley Times.