Ouirks 6/17/09

A spokesman for Tim Donaghy says the former NBA referee was attacked in prison by another inmate claiming to have ties to the New York mob. Bureau of prisons officials reviewed the incident and subsequently announced the attack has been downgraded to a Hard Foul 2 with no further punishment being considered against the mobster.

Sidney Crosby-Lebron James comparisons are inaccurate at best. In this case if there is behavior to take the compare and contrast test it should be James with Kris Draper and Nicklas Lidstrom. Could it instead be that Draper and Lidstrom should be explaining why they couldn't wait patiently for another minute or two and then take the initiative to go shake hands....just like Lebron James didn't? As always, its easier to point fingers outward than to examine our own character. Or, in the case of Kris Draper, lack of.

Can someone explain to me where its etched in stone that a professional sports team is entitled to a city-financed parade for winning a league championship? Yes its tradition, but its not an entitlement. There's already way too many folks expecting/demanding entitlements these days without adding professional sports teams to the mix.

The New York Times reports that Sammy Sosa tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003. In the same story they report that Sosa had never tested positive, and during Congressional testimony in 2005 had denied any wrongdoing saying 'To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs'. To be even more clear Sosa also forgot how to speak English, which makes plausible deniability even more implausible.

Congrats to the Hershey Bears and Pittsburgh Penguins on winning their league championships, and to whoever won the NBA if its finally over.

Thanks for reading.