Devils The Isles are in the Finals!
xactly how much juice did the Devils take out of the Stanley Cup Finals by eliminating the Rangers in the Eastern Conference?
Apparently quite a bit. If you watch your local television news, you would have noticed. Ch. 7 here in New York reported that the Islanders — not the Devils — were taking on the Los Angeles Kings for Lord Stanley’s chalice. And this was Thursday’s broadcast, after Game 1 had been played (more on Game 1 in a minute).
Hopefully, someone will learn something from om this.
In Los Angeles, however, the same mistakes seem to be happening over and over — and over — again. It seems some of the local affiliates are confusing the very good Los Angeles Kings hockey team (of the NHL) and the very bad Sacramento Kings basketball team (of the NBA).
On its May 14 broadcast, an NBC affiliate in L.A. ran a graphic on the three local teams in the playoffs — the Lakers, the Clippers and the Kings, with a Sacramento Kings logo in place of the L.A. Kings. Four days later, a CBS affiliate was starting a piece on the Kings-Coyotes series — “Southern California hockey fans still are counting on a Stanley Cup this morning...” the newscaster begins — they show a little B-roll of Kings fans.
The problem, of course, is that the footage was of Sacramento Kings fans with the Sacramento Kings mascot, Slamson.
The LA Kings mascot, Bailey, was deeply offended, Tweeting: “@CBSLA DOES THIS EVEN LOOK LIKE ME????? ?#IAMVERYHURT”.
Things have gotten so out of hand, the L.A. Kings have created an infographic that tells you all you need to know — especially that they are NOT the Sacramento Kings.
Even with all this nonsense — hey, you never hear L.A. mentioned as one of the best sports towns do you? — perhaps the worst gaffe of all was committed on the league’s own website. As recently as Thursday, Shop.NHL.com was selling “Alex Kopitar” L.A. Kings shirts. The problem? The Kings leading scorer with 76 points (25 goals, 51 assists) — who beat Martin Brodeur for the winner in overtime of Game 1 — is named Anze Kopitar.
Maybe if the Kings win the Cup, everyone will be a little more careful.
WAY TO GO, JOHAN!
June Penthouse Pet of the Month Alexis Ford — a Christ the King grad and Mets fan — is still celebrating Johan Santana’s no-hitter, the first in the franchise’s history.
“It’s very exciting. I think that guy should get a raise,” Ford told The Score after a photo shoot at Rick’s Cabaret, where she recently celebrated her birthday.
Santana probably doesn’t need to worry about spare change finding its way to his bank account. Ford says if the Mets can end one drought, maybe the Jets can do the same behind new QB Tim Tebow, who seems to put Pets in a tizzy.
“He’s definitely hot,” says Ford of the southpaw. And she’s not turned off by Tebow’s strong religious beliefs. “I can turn any Christian bad.” How’s that for Hard Knocks?
U.S. TENNIS NEEDS A FEW GOOD MEN
There’s a reason we don’t hear “USA! USA! USA!” chanted at men’s tennis matches.
Andre Agassi and John McEnroe agree that the current crop of elite players — Nadal, Federer, Djokovic — may be the best ever. There is, however, a dearth of U.S. males at the top of the heap. That’s why the two tennis legends are teaming up with Martina Hingis on July 9 for a World Team Tennis fund-raiser on Randall’s Island. The New York Sportimes will face off against the Boston Lobsters Lo that night to raise scholarship funds for McEnroe’s r Tennis Academy. The school has annexes on Long Island and in Westchester County in addition to its Randall’s Island home.
“We have grown really well and it shows that the system and the coaches we have here in New York, where kids go to school and live at home and then come play tennis, te is the right one to bring a balance to those who may love the game,” McEnroe said. For more information, go to JohnMcEnroeTennisAcademy.com.
JIM BROWN RE-LAXES
Jim Brown is best known for barreling over defenders on the gridiron in the 1950s and 60s. But he wasn’t just a football standout. The NFL Hall-of-Famer is also considered one of, if not the best, lacrosse player of all time and is also enshrined in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Now at 76, Brown’s focus is back on his passion for lacrosse, a passion so rich that the two-sport star says it would have been a tossup between him playing football or lacrosse if a pro lacrosse league had existed in his prime. He’s enjoying a homecoming of sorts, as he grew up in Manhasset, L.I., and is now a minority owner of Major League Lacrosse’s Long Island Lizards. The Syracuse alum has partnered with Medallion Financial Corp., which owns 60 percent of the Lizards under the new ownership agreement. Brown’s primary goal is simple.
“Winning is a big part of it,” Brown tells The Score. “To have an outstanding team that people can really enjoy, a highly competitive team. And also to be a part of an organization that wants to spread the availability of lacrosse.”
According to Brown, lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in America and one of his goals is to add fuel to that fire by being a part of MLL. He also wants to expand the Lizards’ reach throughout the tri-state area, which could include a name change for the team.
BIG BLUE BOWLS FOR CAUSES
Four months ago, the Giants were winning Super Bowl XLVI. Now a handful of them will try to win a different bowl.
Justin Tuck, Victor Cruz and newly minted SNL star Eli Manning will rejoin retired Super Bowl XLII hero David Tyree at 300 NYC, a bowling alley at Pier 60 on Chelsea Piers, for “David Tyree’s Charity Bowl.”
Along with a handful of other Giants, including Jason Pierre-Paul, all will be bowling to help raise money for a pair of charities, Children of the City, which has worked with innercity youth since 1981, and The Legacy Center, a community development center serving Queens and Brooklyn.
Tickets are still available to bowl with the Giants, starting at $325 a person. For more information, visit www.childrenofthecity.org or contact Abby Meadows at (718) 436-0242.