The Final Score

So the Knicks traded for Patrick Ewing's son?!?! And they gave up Frederic Weis for him?!? We need a break!!!

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:03:02 -0500

The Knicks won't take Patrick Ewing back as a coach, but they'll trade for his son. And all it took was the most notoriously pathetic draft pick in team history. This, my friends, is the final straw. We need a break at The Final Score. So we're taking a break. Not a long one, just through Labor Day weekend. We need to refresh. And you should too. See ya Tuesday morning.

John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, was a high school jock

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:24:59 -0500

John McCain picks Sarah Palin as his running mate. Well, doesn't this make things exciting for The Final Score? Besides being Alaska's former Miss Congeniality, Alaska's governor was an athlete in high school. A quick web seach reveals that her nickname was Sarah Barracuda during her days as point guard for the Wasill High School Warriors. She was also captain of the team. She likes fishing and she's a hockey mom, or at least you would think so since she was the subject of a book entitled "Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down." Here's a prediction, and it has nothing to do with politics: In the next few days, Amazon.com and other purveyors of TV videos will be pushing "Commander In Chief," the short-lived series starring Geena Davis as the female VP who becomes President of the United States.

Fan ejected from Yankee Stadium for wanting to take a leak

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:57:37 -0500

When you gotta go, you gotta go, right? Not if they're playing "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch at Yankee Stadium. Bradford Campeau-Laurion of Queens says he got forcibly booted out of the park Tuesday because he dared to get up to visit the urinals during the stretch, in violation of Stadium rules. Campeau-Laurion said he didn't know about the rule, but said he had two beers. Which explains wanting to go to the bathroom. An NYPD spokesman said he was "cursing and they ejected him rather than subject others to his offensive behavior." Here's the full story from WCBS and a video interview with the guy.

I don't understand why "The Hills" is such a hit show, even if the gals wear football jerseys

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:24:25 -0500

This is what was in my mailbox Tuesday. It has nothing to do with football. I tried to follow the exploits of Lauren, Audrina, Heidi, Spencer and the other spoiled, addled children once and had to change the channel to save my sanity. Does "The Hills" have any merit or am I just an old fuddy duddy?

Jessica Simpson continues to crush Cowboys fans' hopes

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:12:29 -0500

If I were a fan of America's team, I'd give up right now. Jessica Simpson has told People Magazine that Cowboys QB Tony Romo is the love of her life. According to the mag, she has changed her cell number and e-mail address keep her ex-boyfriends and ex-husband from contacting her. Yup, that'll stop 'em. Sorry, Nick, Jude, Dane and Leonardo. And sorry Cowboys fans.

It's nasty being a fan of the nasty Nats

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:00:54 -0500

This item comes courtesy of Thomas Bonk of the LA Times Morning Briefing: "It's not bad enough that the Washington Nationals are a failing baseball team, now the Washington Post reports that they actually have fewer people listening to games on radio (cumulative weekly audience of 26,500) than attending home games (29,990 average)." Chicago Norm is sure that many of the almost 30,000 fans per game come to see the new ballpark and the cool Presidents race. As for the radio audience, Wow. Must be the announcers, because the team is just awesome.

A money-back guarantee from Stanford

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:46:24 -0500

While the Giants and Jets have announced plans to soak many of their diehard fans with PSL fees, the Stanford Cardinal are taking a different approach: a money-back guarantee that the team won't suck. The Stanford athletic department says it will give football season-ticket holders their money back if they don't get "proper entertainment value" for their money. The deal is called the Gridiron Guarantee. I can think of a couple of our local teams that would go broke making that offer.

Notre excursion de klaxon de but va à Montréal

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:40:38 -0500

That means that our goal horn tour visits Montreal.

Campbell's cuts moms from chunky soup commercials

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:32:42 -0500

NFL cutdown day is Saturday, but Campbell's Soup has already cut Wilma McNabb and other mothers who used to make sure their NFL sons ate their Chunky Soup on those sweet, annoying commercials. "LaDainian Tomlinson doesn't need his mom to tell him which products have protein and which products don't," Chunky soup spokesman Douglas Brand said. "He's learned that for himself, and we've learned our consumers want to do that for themselves as well." Wow, tough crowd. Here's a Wall Street Journal story detailing the whole thing.

Video of Hank Steinbrenner ripping the Yankees

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:27:01 -0500

Bored with the U.S. Open's night session, I packed up my belongings and headed to the Bronx. I arrived in the seventh inning, and the guy at the parking lot basically laughed at me as he said, "You're late." When I got there Hank Steinbrenner was yucking it up in the parking lot with a couple of other suits, so I thought I lucked into a cool story. But by the time I rushed out of my car, camera in hand, he was already gone. No worries - he came back out after the game ended, and stopped to talk to me and two other reporters for 20 or so amusing seconds. And I caught most of it on video. Enjoy.

Maybe Jack Nicholson thinks the Yankees are done

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:23:45 -0500

You know the Yankees are done when Jack Nicholson leaves a game early. That's what the legendary actor did mere moments after Dustin Pedroia's grand slam tonight. Wearing shades and a Yankees hat, he stopped on his way out of the Stadium to sign a few balls for a clubbie who chased after him. But he snubbed a woman who wanted a handshake, instead swiftly entering his idling limo. There's a bucket list / Yankees' dead season joke in here somewhere...

Kim Kardashian isn't worried about shrinkage

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:23:19 -0500

Reggie Bush's girlfriend was asked by In Touch Weekly whether training for Dancing With the Stars may cause her famous tush to go away. “I’m sure my butt is going to shrink, but there’s so much of it, I’m not worried it’s going to go away,” Kim said. Just for fun, here's a very old story about Kardashian buying booty insurance.

Live from New York, it's Michael Phelps

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:04:15 -0500

He'll host the Sept. 13 season opener of Saturday Night. I'll bet there's a swimming skit.

Alex Rodriguez and Gwen Stefani . . .

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:19:39 -0500

. . . Probably don't know each other. But I just noticed that A-Rod's new at-bat music is Gwen's "Hollaback Girl" Gwen, meanwhile, recently gave birth to a baby she and her husband Gavin Rossdale named "Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale" Poor kid.

Shaun Powell and I disagree how much blame Joe Girardi deserves. But I found someone who agrees with me.

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:35:53 -0500

In between shooting video of fan explaining the beauty of the back courts and another fan talking about the practice courts, I grabbed some Italian food from the concessions with Shaun Powell. Along the way we talked about the Yankees' demise, and we disagreed on the blame. I said Joe Girardi deserves to take a hit here; he said he doesn't give credit - or blame - to the manager. To which replied, what's the biggest difference between last year and this year? Yes there have been injuries, but we can't ignore that a manager who made the playoffs 12 straight years was replaced with someone with one year of managing on his resume. Shaun disagreed, saying the biggest difference between this year and last is the Tampa Bay Rays. If the Rays were the same losers that they always were before this year, the Yankees would be right around the lead for the wild card. Fair point, Shaun, but I'm still placing some blame on Girardi. And Ian O'Connor of the Bergen Record agrees. I'll give you the link, but please come back to Newsday.com after you're done reading it.