"Lazzari's Sports Roundup" - - - - 4-12-08

A couple of weekends ago while channel-surfing, I discovered that, simultaneously, CBS was televising skiing, NBC was airing snowboarding, and ABC featured ice skating (yawn). Ah, yes, is there anyone else out there feeling EXTREMELY relieved right now that baseball season has finally arrived?..........TRIVIA QUESTION: Amazingly, the top five career point leaders in NHL playoff history were all once members of the Edmonton Oilers at the same time during the 1980's. Can you name these five players? Answer to follow..........At one point during last Saturday's FOX baseball telecast, the camera showed N.Y. Mets manager Willie Randolph with a concerned, forlorn look on his face. I wasn't sure if it was due to his team being down 4-1 at the time or the fact that his pitcher, John Maine, had thrown a ROBUST total of 96 pitches after just four innings..........Lazzari's "Lopsided Score of the Week": In a girls high school softball game here in Connecticut last week, Haddam-Killingworth destroyed Sport and Medical Sciences 24-0 in a game shortened to five innings; the winners scored SIXTEEN RUNS (not a misprint) in the third inning alone while the losing squad made a total of SEVEN errors during the course of this fiasco. I'm now wondering if there is a medical science out there that deals with severe trauma caused by one-sided, blowout victories..........This week in sports history, April 14, 1969: In the first regular-season baseball game ever played on foreign soil, the expansion Montreal Expos defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7 at Jarry Park in Montreal. A crowd of 29,184 packed the small stadium and saw the young Expos jump out to a 6-0 lead--only to see it disappear during the Cards' seven-run, fourth inning outburst. Montreal would ultimately come back to win the game on pitcher Dan McGinn's 7th inning single; Mack Jones led the way for the Expos with a homer, triple, and five RBI's..........A message to the N.Y. Giants team doctors: After seeing a recent picture of Eli Manning's lovely wife-to-be, Abby McGrew, I can assure you that his eyesight is totally PERFECT--and there is no need WHATSOEVER to check it during his next yearly physical..........The Partnership for a Drug-Free America offers some terrific information about the dangers of steroids at its informative web site--which should be REQUIRED viewing for any coach/player at the amateur level. Go to www.drugfree.org to view the multimedia feature "The Steroids Story" for some valuable lessons regarding steroids and performance-enhancing substances..........How 'bout that women's basketball regional semifinal between LSU and Oklahoma State two weeks ago? OSU guard Andrea Riley was the ONLY Cowgirls player to hit a field goal in the entire first half (the rest of her squad went a combined 0-for-20!). Geez, I know they refer to the NCAA tournament as the "big dance," but did Riley's teammates think they needed an invitation or an actual dance partner in order to SHOW UP?..........I crossed paths with New Britain Rock Cats President/CEO Bill Dowling recently at a CT Sports Writers' Alliance luncheon; he relayed to many of us there that a main selling point of minor league baseball right now is that "you couldn't spend $100 for a family of four if you TRIED." Yes, Bill, I concur. Folks, get out there and support minor league baseball here in Connecticut--or ANYWHERE, for that matter. It'll be easy on the wallet and allow you to see a more "pure" form of baseball--WITHOUT all the dollar signs and egos so sadly familiar to the big league level..........Answer to trivia question: WAYNE GRETZKY (382), MARK MESSIER (295), JARI KURRI (233), GLENN ANDERSON (214), and PAUL COFFEY (196)..........Happy birthday wishes go out to former major league second baseman Ted Sizemore--who blows out 63 candles on April 15th. Sizemore appeared in 1,411 games between 1969 and 1980 while playing for the Dodgers, Cardinals, Phillies, Cubs and Red Sox--hitting .262 lifetime. A native of Alabama, Sizemore broke into the "bigs" in fine fashion while with L.A. in 1969--appearing in 159 games, accumulating 160 hits, and winning the NL Rookie of the Year award. He led the NL in sacrifices (25) in 1973 while playing for the Cardinals and hit .385 (5-for-13) during the 1978 NLCS as a member of the Phillies (vs. the Dodgers). Best wishes, Ted..........Finally, condolences go out to the family of Presbyterian College wide receiver Larry Carlson Thomas--who died last week following a single-vehicle car accident in South Carolina; he was a 20-year-old physics major. As a very promising sophomore in 2007, Thomas caught 41 passes for 539 yards while scoring seven touchdowns. He was the son of Larry and Sandra Thomas; may this young man rest in peace.