Watching Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers dominate the Sacramento Kings in the first two games of their playoff series was an example of men against boys. Shaq scored 40+ in both and was the best player on the floor as the Lakers took a 2-0 lead.
BOTTOM OF THE WEEK
THE BAD SHAQ
O'Neal found himself in a bit of hot water when he went on an LA radio station and claimed to have slept with model Cindy Crawford, tennis star Venus Williams and singer-actress Aaliyah. Only trouble was that Shaq was making it all up. He later apologized, but Williams was pissed and rightfully so. It was crude and tasteless on Shaq's part and it was one time his legit charm failed to win us over.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
COURTING THE LESBIAN MARKET
The Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association have decided to directly market to lesbians, considered a first for a professional sports team.
On May 4, the team held a pep rally at Girl Bar Los Angeles and drew about 1,000 people. Los Angeles Times columnist Diane Pucin described the scene:
``They brought pennants, notebooks and basketballs to be signed by players from the Sparks. They grabbed free key chains and some signed up for season-ticket packages, which was the point. No women's sports team has ever partnered with a lesbian organization to attract fans. But Friday night the Sparks came to The Factory in West Hollywood to ask lesbians for support.
Good for the Sparks.''
DeLisha Milton, a Spark player, was supportive of the move, telling the Times: ``We're in Los Angeles which is one of the most diverse places in the world. We want everybody to come to our games. Blacks, whites, men, women, people who have alternative lifestyles. We've got plenty of room for anybody who wants to watch us play."
The move was spearheaded by Sparks general manager Penny Toler (herself a former player), and advertising director Michael Harris. Their rationale was summed up by team executive Joe McCormack, who
said:
``"We want to market this basketball team to fans whoever they might be, be they an inner-city youth basketball team or someone of an alternate lifestyle," he said.
The decision came as a way to breathe new life into the Sparks, who have seen attendance drop every year since the 1997 season. The team's 7,600 a game average ranks 10th in the 16-team WNBA. Team president Johnny Buss had once told the Times: ``"I know the lesbian community is showing up, so I leave them alone. I'd rather focus on pulling in more males. Would it hurt if most of our spectators were lesbian? That's hard to say."
The Sparks decision has generated relatively little controversy, though it has been a subject on LA sports talk radio. On Friday ESPN Radio's Doug Krikorian and Joe McDonnell discussed the Sparks for an hour, something unheard of during this time of year when both the LA Kings and Lakers are deep into the playoffs. Both hosts were supportive of the Sparks, calling
the marketing plan no big deal, and listeners who phoned in seem nonplussed.
There was a bit of a stir, however, when Times columnist T.J. Simers, who has a reputation for sarcasm, took some shots at the move. Among Simers' barbs:
--All I know is if this ticket-selling drive works for the Sparks, I'd think Disney would want to do the same thing for the Mighty Ducks. Then you could have, "The Gayest Place on Earth" right down the road from "The Happiest Place on Earth."
--I know I would take someone's word for it, but unless there's some kind of ID card that I'm not familiar with, how are the Sparks going to separate the lesbians at the ticket windows from someone like my wife?
Simers' column caused Fox Sports Keith Olbermann to demand his firing. In a letter to
Medianews, Olbermann, based in Los Angeles, said: ``Simers later jokes about whether or not lesbians have to produce ID and about his own worries that his daughter may be one. If you can't relate because like me you're not gay, try this. What if he'd written 'The Blackest Place On Earth' or 'The Most Jewish Place On Earth'?
You can't write it and he and whoever said it was OK to publish it, shouldn't be working there any more.''
Olbermann's letter brought this response from Kerri Covey (who did not identify her affilation): ``With all due respect to Keith Olbermann, I don't think T.J. Simers should lose his job. His bigotry, while evident, is rather too common to be notable. As I wrote to Mr. Simers, the Sparks are merely acknowledging the ongoing support of the WNBA by lesbians, and going one more step in marketing directly to them. It's an admirable move and doesn't deserve cheap shots by media people, to whom anything that is not "mainstream" is exotic and newsworthy. But I for one expect very little of the media -- which is probably why I'm so amused at Olbermann's indignation. I hear worse every day, everywhere.''
The best comeback to Simers' piece came from a poster on the Outsports Discussion
Board, who wrote: ``Homophobic? Offensive? Naah ... the guy does, however, commit the cardinal sin of sportswriting: trying way too hard to be funny and failing, embarrassing himself in the process.''
The Sparks' 2001 season starts June 12 with a home game against the New York Liberty.
NHL
In the midst of exciting playoff series most of the talk centered around thuggery on ice. Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Tie Domi delivered a vicious elbow to New Jersey defenseman Scott Niedermayer with less than 20 seconds to go in the Leafs' 3-1 victory on May 3. Niedermayer was taken from the ice on a stretcher. Domi was suspended from the playoffs and the first eight games of next year. Niedermayer later said that Domi had threatened to take him out.
Sports Illustrated thought Domi had gotten off too lightly and had this to say:
``The NHL's laughingly light punishment of Domi -- he was suspended for as few as six playoff games to as many as 17 playoff and regular-season matches, depending on the Leafs' postseason fortunes -- proves the league is continuing to tolerate on-ice mayhem. When commissioner Gary Bettman suspended Marty McSorley for one year for a slash to the head of the Canucks' Donald Brashear on Feb. 21, 2000, he said he was raising the bar on supplemental discipline, but the Domi decision made a mockery of Bettman's assertion (as did the fact that Toronto coach Pat Quinn, who grabbed a photographer around the neck and pushed
him aside as the photographer tried to take pictures of Domi entering an NHL hearing last Friday, escaped league punishment).
HORSE RACING We finally found one athlete who never holds out, abuses women or is rude to fans. And he'll work for peanuts (or at least hay): Monarchos. With the second fastest time ever at Churchill Downs, Monarchos was crowned the Kentucky Derby winner on Saturday. He covered the 1 1/4 mile track in 1:59 4/5, only 2/5 of a second off of the track record set by Secretariat in 1973.