Luc Robitaille (pictured at left), the Kings' president of business operations, on Tuesday will receive an award recognizing the Kings' support of U.S. troops.
The Kings honor a member of the military before every game by inviting that person onto the ice for the national anthem and recognizing him or her on the scoreboard during the game.
The award will be presented before the Kings' game against Dallas at Staples Center -- on Veterans' Day -- by Step Up 4 Vets. The organization's founder, Patricia Kennedy, will give Robitaille a medallion.
--Helene Elliott
Photo credit: Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times
The Ducks will play host to about 200 members of military families from the Southern California chapter of Operation Homefront today at the Honda Center. That will cap a two-day event that treated the families to a private practice, a barbecue and various events in which players participated.
The family members will be recognized in the arena during the game and during the TV broadcast on FSN Prime Ticket.
Operation Homefront is a nonprofit that assists military families around the country.
Fans interested in supporting military families through Operation Homefront can visit its website for more information.
--Helene Elliott
Photo: Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks works with a child of a military family on stick handling. Credit: Anaheim Ducks
Was driving to the California-USC game at the Coliseum and decided to forego the ESPN Radio 710 interminable pregame show that begins at, like, dawn, and has run out of steam by, oh, noon. With five hours still to go before game time.
But luckily we have recently added a car with satellite radio and so on offer was both the Iowa broadcast of the Penn State at Iowa game and the Louisiana State broadcast of Alabama at LSU, two games about which the outcome could have huge impact on USC's tiny national titles hopes.
Being bred a Midwesterner with Big Ten genes, the first choice was the Penn State game. According to what's on the University of Iowa website, the broadcast team is Gary Dolphin on play-by-play and former Iowa player and NFLer Ed Pololak doing analysis. Iowa was leading 7-3 when I tuned in and there was no hint -- no crowd sound, no slap of pads hitting pads, no grunts from the players, no shouts from the coaching staffs -- that these broadcasters were actually at the game. They could have been inside a studio in Des Moines calling the game off TV.
So a switch was made to the Alabama-LSU game. The immediate sign that this was different was the gutteral roar of the crowd. Play-by-play man Jim Hawthorne and analyst Doug Moreau sounded like they were actually at the game! They were a little homerish (lots of 'Oh nos' and 'I can't believe thats') but with the sounds of the outside let onto the broadcast it didn't matter. So that's the game that stayed on the radio.
The best radio makes you feel as if you're at the game, not listening to it.
-- Diane Pucin
Photo: Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark fumbles as he is sacked by Iowa's Adrian Clayborn during the first quarter Saturday. Credit: Jerry Lai / US Presswire
We have already seen Barack Obama’s strength as an election-day closer. Now the Professional Bowlers Assn. wants to address an Obama weakness -- his bowling game.
During the primaries, Obama gave bowling a try at Pleasant Valley Recreation Center in Altoona, Pa., but managed only a 37 over seven frames. That prompted Obama to quip to Jimmy Kimmel that he was going to get rid of the White House bowling alley and replace it with a basketball court. The PBA has offered to give the Obama family bowling lessons. PBA veterans Billy Oatman and Norm Duke have offered their expertise, with Duke in a news release assessing the President-elect’s game.
“I saw the clip on YouTube and I have some tips for Obama,” Duke said. “Obama’s been in a suit and tie too long. He needs to get some athletic apparel and a bowling ball that fits his hand. He needs to work on hitting the head pin because he didn’t do that very well.”
The head pin, and/or any of the other pins left standing around.
Trivia time
Who is the only man in PBA history to win three consecutive major championships?
No Teacher's Pet
Stephon Marbury had a distinctive response to his lack of playing time with the New York Knicks. He volunteered to go back to school -- high school -- and practice with his alma mater, Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn.
Marbury changed his mind by Friday, telling reporters that he spoke to the NBA Players Assn., and “they said it wouldn’t be a good idea.”
That’s one difference between the NBA and Major League Soccer -- and one difference between Marbury and David Beckham. When Beckham wants to stay in shape, he says he’s going to Milan for a few months and, well, he winds up going to Milan for a few months.
A Rhodes game
Florida State plays Maryland on Nov. 22 in an important Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division game, probably without safety Myron Rolle in the lineup.
Rolle isn’t hurt. He isn’t facing suspension. He’s a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship and he is due to interview with the scholarship selection committee in Birmingham, Ala., the same day the Seminoles play the Terrapins in Maryland.
Rolle has decided to attend the interview, which could keep him in Birmingham until 6 p.m. If the Florida State-Maryland game is a night game, there’s a chance Rolle could take a private jet to Maryland to give him a chance to play in the second half.
Game time has not yet been set, and Florida State Athletic Director Randy Spetman told the Palm Beach Post that the school will try to accommodate Rolle if possible.
"It's not a competitive advantage or disadvantage for the player," Spetman said. "This is what the NCAA is here for, to help the student-athlete excel in both the classroom and on the athletic field."
Trivia answer
Duke, who accomplished the feat two weeks ago at the World Championships in Wichita, Kan.
A higher authority
Chicago White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams, to the Chicago Tribune, on the downside of Barack Obama's being a huge White Sox fan: "Now I not only have to answer to [chairman] Jerry Reinsdorf about pitching, I have to answer to the president."
-- Mike Penner
Photo: A bowler gets ready to let one go in Canoga Park. Credit: Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times
As we start the countdown of the 10 greatest L.A. Lakers of all time, this is just another reminder to send in your picks for the 10 greatest L.A. Lakers of all time, via e-mail to houston.mitchell@latimes.com or via the comment field below. I've received about 200 ballots so far, and there is basically a four-way tie for the lead.
And now, without further ado, the 10th and 9th greatest L.A. Lakers of all time, as selected by a commitee of one:
#10
Michael Cooper
Michael Cooper is the greatest defensive player in Lakers history. It is a testament to how good the Lakers were in the 1980s that Michael Cooper came off the bench. He would have started for almost any other team in the NBA. He also was an excellent three-point shooter and inventor of the Coop-a-Loop. And it is high time that the Lakers retire his number.
#9
Gail Goodrich
Even though Goodrich is in the Hall of Fame and has had his number retired, he has become sort of the forgotten player in Lakers history, overshadowed by his teammates and the Showtime Lakers. But, he averaged 25.9 points a game in the 1971-72 title season, and averaged 19.5 points a game in his Lakers career. And when the Lakers traded him to the New Orleans Jazz, they parlayed one of the draft picks they received into Magic Johnson.
Next Friday, the 7th and 8th greatest Lakers of all time.
Some NFL teams might figure that a Top 10 list of greatest games would be sufficient.
Not the Oakland Raiders.
Their list of "Greatest Moments" includes 27 games. The Raiders Hall of Fame includes such NFL stars as John Madden, Gene Upshaw, Eric Dickerson and Marcus Allen. And there are plenty of silver-and-black memories from Super Bowls XI, XV and XVIII.
The problem facing Raiders fans is that most of the franchise's storied successes are old news. The last big game of those 27 was played on Jan. 19, 2003, when the Raiders beat the Titans 42-24 in the AFC championship game. Which makes it even harder for Raider Nation to stomach what has been going on of late -- including Lane Kiffin, DeAngelo Hall and a 2-6 record.
Judging from comments that Raiders fans are lodging with the Fabulous Forum, there is one reason for the Raiders slide -- the eighth man named to the Raiders Hall of Fame.
Deeraiderette put it this way in a recent comment on the Fabulous Forum:
Ok. Callin' out to all my Silver n Black faithful. Let's get together a collection and buy the damn team ourselves, make Al walk the plank! Who's with me?! I'm puttin' in the money I'll save by taking people off my xmas list that I realize I don't like much anyway! lol AL MUST GO, AL MUST GO...
A frustrated fan named Frank also wants Davis to go away:
The best thing that could happen to the Raiders is if Big Al sells the team and gets out of football altogether, he is an embarassment to the team and the league. He reminds me of Monty Burns on the Simpsons, a power mongering decrepit old geezer with more money than brains
Then there's Robert:
The NFL should have a rule that owners cannot actually run the football teams. this is what happens when a big ego gets old and senile. jerry jones, never a great gm, is going there too and will be a full-blown al davis type in eight years.
Word that the Raiders might look into signing Michael Vick prompted another round
In the race to please the money men who commendably pump their millions of dollars into Major League Soccer, the league has seen fit to abandon its history and, at the same time, snub its founder.
Since its inception in 1996, the league has had two bits of championship silverware.
The first, a rather gaudy looking thing, was the Doug Logan Trophy, named after the league's first commissioner. It was won by D.C. United in 1996 and 1997 and then was scrapped. In 1998, along came the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy, a perfectly acceptable bit of hardware that correctly honored the man who, perhaps more than any other, brought MLS into being.
But the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy is now no more.
In its place, MLS has unveiled the not especially attractive Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, which will be presented to the winner of the Nov. 23 MLS Cup at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
The league described it in flowery hyperbole as follows: "The trophy features fluid and dynamic handles that include 11 facets on the front and back, symbolizing the 22 players that participate in a soccer match. The gold star represents the championship club, which often incorporates a star into its own team crest for each MLS Cup title it wins. The new trophy inherits select design elements from the previous two trophies, thereby honoring the league's history while moving forward. The bottom of the Philip F. Anschutz trophy features a map of North America, with a star identifying the location of each MLS market."
All very well and good, but why the new name?
That Anschutz kept the league afloat in its troubled early years is without question. That he should be recognized for doing so is commendable. But why did it have to be at the expense of Rothenberg? Why should the former president of U.S. Soccer and the man who oversaw the soccer tournament of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the man who brought the 1994 World Cup to the U.S. have been the fall guy in this marketing move?
In annoucing the new trophy, MLS failed utterly to even mention Rothenberg by name. Perhaps he has slipped into the shadows and no longer commands the soccer stage as he once did, but that is no reason to snub a figure without whom the league would not even exist.
Not a proud moment, MLS. Not at all.
-- Grahame L. Jones
Top photo: In that first MLS season in 1996, the Galaxy went up against DC United for the MLS Cup. In this shot from an earlier game that season, the Galaxy's Cobi Jones jumps over D.C. United's Jeff Agoos as they compete for the ball. Joe Marquette / Associated Press
Photo inset at left: MLS Commissioner Don Garber holds the new trophy. Standing with him is five-time-MLS Cup winner Jeff Agoos. Credit: Major League Soccer
Photo inset at right: Alan I. Rothenberg in 2007. Credit: Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times
The NBA season is a long one if you get through to the playoffs. And the Lakers' Kobe Bryant knows this, knows what it is going to take to get to the playoffs, to the finals, and to win the finals.
As The Times' Broderick Turner reports from today's practice, Bryant doesn't want his teammates to become complacent because of their 4-0 start, or to not put in a high-level effort in practice every time out.
"That's our message for the week ... we can either be good or we can be great," Bryant said.
Meanwhile, on the Lakers Blog, Andrew Kamenetzky writes about how Sasha Vujacic got in a little work after practice and how that affected Sun Yue, bringing to mind the legendary Buster Keaton. The blog post includes a montage of clips from Keaton's films.
Finally, below is Phil Jackson's session with reporters in which he discusses the Lakers' upcoming games. The Houston Rockets come to town for a game Sunday. Then the Lakers head out of town, first to Dallas and then New Orleans. Listen to what Phil had to say.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Kobe Bryant waits on the court during a break in the game against the Clippers on Wednesday night. Credit: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images
If you failed to get your fill of women's soccer during the Beijing Olympics, don't despair. Shannon Boxx and friends are still on their post-Olympics barnstorming tour, modestly titled "Achieve Your Gold," and will be in town next month.
Having already played a three-game series against Ireland, and due to play the third of three games against South Korea on Saturday in Tampa, Fla., the U.S. women's national team has added two games against China to a season in which it already is 30-1-1.
The first will be played at 6 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, after which Coach Pia Sundhage's Olympic gold medal winners will close out the year in Detroit.
If nothing else, the match in Carson should provide an early indication of how well -- or how poorly -- the Los Angeles Sol will draw when it begins play next spring in Women's Professional Soccer. Three Sol players, Boxx, Aly Wagner and Stephanie Cox, are on the U.S. roster.
-- Grahame L. Jones
Photo: U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx controls the ball during a game against Ireland's national team on Sept. 13 in Philadelphia. Credit: Eric Hartline / US PRESSWIRE
Marguerite Kuhlman, a 68-year-old retiree, was at the Chicago Blackhawks game at the United Center on Monday night. She collapsed during the game and later died.
The Chicago Tribune subsequently carried an eerie report. The woman's sisters, Patricia and Dorothea Kuhlman, said that their mother, Mildred Kuhlman, died March 30, 1986 -- while attending a Blackhawks game at Chicago Stadium.
"We've been hockey fans for many, many years," Patricia Kuhlman told the newspaper. "People laugh at us because we're old ladies who like to go to hockey games."
The Kuhlman sisters have season tickets just 15 rows off of the ice. The two older sisters had intended to accompany Marguerite Kuhlman to Monday's game, but they had to attend a meeting of election judges, so she went to the game with a neighbor.
On Tuesday, the medical examiner's office said that Kuhlman had died of heart disease.
On March 30, 1986, the Blackhawks lost in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4. On Monday, the Blackhawks beat the Avalache, 6-2.
Popular Events
With the NBA playoffs approaching, Lakers tickets are this month's hot item. USC Trojans tickets are also in high demand, as the NCAA football season starts up again.
Luc Robitaille (pictured at left), the Kings' president of business operations, on Tuesday will receive an award recognizing the Kings' support of U.S. troops. 
The Ducks will play host to about 200 members of military families from the Southern California chapter of Operation Homefront today at the Honda Center. That will cap a two-day event that treated the families to a private practice, a barbecue and various events in which players participated. 
We have already seen Barack Obama’s strength as an election-day closer. Now the Professional Bowlers Assn. wants to address an Obama weakness -- his bowling game.
But the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy is now no more. 
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