Deep thoughts, cheap shots & bon mots
The Warriors hit the All-Star break “running on fumes,” according to coach Steve Kerr. Why won’t it be the same deal when the playoffs roll around?
More cheating news! Congrats to Tim Brown on his election to the HOF. This might revive sales of my 2008 book, “How To Cheat In Sports,” in which Brown explains how he subtly tripped defensive backs. “I got pretty good at it,” Brown said, “and guys realized they couldn’t run beside me.” At Brown’s induction, maybe he can have Jerry “Stickum” Rice present him.
I asked Draymond Green, touted by many as the league’s best defensive player this season, if he’ll be ticked off watching the All-Star Game he wasn’t invited to. Green said. “I’m there! I got two of my teammates there, what do I need to be there for? I’m all right, I’m good. We’re 39 and 8 (now 42-9); think I’m going to be upset about not being an All-Star? Think I came into this season thinking I was going to be an All-Star? Just for people to say my name is enough for me. It’s a blessing.”
Billy “Country Breakfast” Butler tells our Ann Killion, “Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.” Good thing, be- cause Country Lunch is a lousy nickname.
Butler says of his trade to the A’s, “I’m here for a reason.” Yep, to hit 17 homers by the All-Star break and get traded for three minor-league pitchers.
The A’s, criticized in this column for charging a $10 admission to their FanFest, as opposed to the Giants’ freebie, want it known that they charged admission in order to limit crowd size and create a “better fan experience.” The A’s noted that they offered free parking.
The A’s can justify the trading of Brandon Moss, whose hip injury raised a red flag for some teams interested in trading for Moss. But no other legit, contender-type team trades away an MVP-level third baseman ( Josh Donaldson) because he’s reaching his baseball peak at a relatively late age and might eventually become too expensive.
Tiger Woods is taking a break. More accurately, he’s giving his pitching wedge a timeout. Tiger has become a messier chipper than the bad guy in “Fargo.”
Tiger might be a wreck physically and emotionally, but if the PGA Tour ever holds a bodybuilding contest, Tiger wins by the equivalent of 20 strokes.
Cute scene at Pebble Beach’s 18th green Thursday, Tour rookie Mark Hubbard proposing to his fiancee via the giant TV screen. Let’s hope Meghan doesn’t return to the scene four or five years from now and ask for a mulligan.