It figures that fantasy football was just too big a deal for Las Vegas not to get involved.

Station casinos -- a chain of so-called local casinos that has gone upscale over the last few years with Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock casinos -- announced that for this football season it will offer its own version of fantasy football at its sports books.

Now, the broad concept isn't completely novel. The Hard Rock Casino incorporated some fantasy elements into its sports wagering a few of years ago and so-called proposition bets, where gamblers wager on an individual player's performance (especially in the Super Bowl), have been around for years.

But this does seem to be the closest blend of fantasy sports and sports wagering. In the Station version, bettors won't be a league per se but will be able to bet the over-under on a player's projected fantasy league number for that week. A player gets six points for a touchdown, one point for every 30 passing yards and one point for every 10 passing or receiving yards. Station will set the players' fantasy lines and offer wagers on 24 players each week -- eight quarterbacks, eight running backs and eight receivers. The players can change week to week. Examples for the opening week are Eagles QB Donovan McNabb, 16, and Cowboys WR Terrell Owens, 14.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Well, the cyber gremlins seem to have taken off for Labor Day weekend, thus allowing us to return to our business.

We wanted to mention the latest odd chapter in the fabled Red Sox-Yankees saga, one that revolves around Boston manager Terry Francona's wardrobe. Francona, because of heath issues, often wears a pullover during games and Major League Baseball rules stipulate that regardless of the outwear, a uniform jersey must be worn underneath.

OK, that much is clear. But what wasn't clear to Francona was why a major league staff member wanted to check his jersey in the middle of a game at Yankee Stadium recently. Francona apparently directed some colorful language at the MLB security agent who wanted to do the jersey check.

Baseball officials appear to be contrite over the timing of it all -- it was the second inning of Wednesday's game, a 4-3 Yankee win, and Derek Jeter had just hit a double.

And none of this was instigated by New York. In fact, Yankees manager Joe Torre was squarely in Francona's corner and called the incident "a farce." Hard not to agree with that.

Photo credit: Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

If you missed last night's game between the Orioles and Devil Rays -- and consider yourself fortunate if you did -- Baltimore lost its ninth in a row, 8-6. At this point in the season, the details seem somewhat immaterial, but Kevin Millar and Nick Markakis hit home runs (the Markakis shot gave the O's a 3-0 lead). However, starter Jeremy Guthrie was roughed up for six runs (five earned) in six innings and gave up a pair of homers himself.

For a good article on the psychology of losing streaks like this one on a team and its fans, take a look at Childs Walker's story in today's Sun.

*  Elsewhere, the Yankees swept the Red Sox in a three-game series behind Chien-Ming Wang, who pitched seven scoreless inning and gave up just one hit. Boston's lead in the American League East is down to five games.

* In the National League East, the Phillies are similarly trying to chase down a division leader.  They completed a four-game sweep of the Mets, 11-10, scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth after having appeared to blow the game when the Mets scored five in the top of the eighth. Pat Burrell homered twice for Philadelphia and Chase Utley drove in the game-winner off Billy Wagner. The Phils have closed the gap to two games.

As we mentioned earlier, technical difficulties have gummed up the works at O, by the Way and we'll post offerings as the cyber gods allow.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Internet and is a wonderful thing but it and all those moving parts that make it work can be a little fragile. We're experiencing technical difficulties at O, by the Way today and our posts may be a little sporadic. Thanks for your patience.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It's a little difficult to decide whether this qualifies under sports record or technological breakthrough but a fellow from the south of England just set a record for the fastest street luge ride -- that's 112.7 mph on a wafer of a board powered by a jet.

According to the BBC (I've missed writing that), Joel King is a 27-year old IT worker from a place called Bognor Regis and he streaked down a runway on his back, just two inches off the ground.  The so-called "Gravity King" explained that to stop the hurling street luge, you use your feet -- which means, I suppose, that you have to wear really, really thick soles. 

So here's the BBC report and you can click through to a video of the Gravity King and his jet-powered cafeteria tray.  Thanks to the Fark blog for pointing it out.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Today's music video has no relevance to anything in the news but I happen to like it a lot.

The subject is the late Kirby Puckett. Now, I know all about the unpleasantness and controversy that occurred after the Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer was forced to retire in 1996 because of the sudden loss of sight in one eye. Certainly he could have worn the mantle of retirement in a more dignified manner as accusations of inappropriate public behavior sullied his reputation. And he obviously could have taken much better care of himself considering the stroke that killed him in 2006 was due, in part, to weight gain.

But as a player, the always smiling Puckett not only embraced the game with both arms, he invited the fans to the same. So, we remember the good times.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It's a good thing that English soccer import David Beckham is playing in Los Angeles and not, say, in someplace like Missouri.

That Midwestern bastion of "Show Me" would be highly disappointed in Beckham's performance to date while Tinsel Town is more likely to be dazzled by the hype and trappings of superstardom.

The Beckham Experience had another woeful outing yesterday when the zillion-dollar fashion mag model who dabbles in sports sprained his knee (left) in what turned out to be another loss for his new U.S. team, the Los Angeles Galaxy. In the fractured world of pro soccer, this game was against Pachuca in the championship match of SuperLiga, which was held in L.A. Puchuca won, 4-3, on penalty kicks. The injury surely will sideline Beckham for the Galaxy's next MLS game against Real Salt Lake, and, quite likely, across the pond on behalf of England in a pair of Euro 2008 qualifiers next month.

When he arrived in America and hailed as sports royalty, Beckham was nagged by an ankle injury that got his U.S. soccer show off to a slow start. Now, it's the knee. In between, he has tried to split his playing schedule between here and the United Kingdom.

And here's the point: Soccer is a hugely tough sell in America to begin with. If Beckham falls on his face, it will set back the cause of the sport here in ways that are difficult to measure -- but it will be profound.

Photo credit: Lori Shepler/Los Angeles Times

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
                    

The Mets and Phillies, involved in a four-game series in Philadelphia and a struggle for first place in the NL East, ended their game on a runner's interference call when the Mets' Marlon Anderson was whistled, thumbed, whatever, for taking out Phillies second baseman Tadahito Iguchi on, well, a take-out slide. 

The Mets, trailing, 3-2, had runners on first and third with one out in the top of the ninth. The Mets' Shawn Green hit a slow grounder to shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who threw to Iguchi.  Anderson's slide took him inside the bag and toppled Iguchi. The relay to first didn't come close to beating Green, and the Mets seemed to have tied the game. But umpire CB Bucknor completed the double play for the Phils and ended the game when he ruled Anderson had intentionally gone after the second baseman.

Philadelphia now has won the first three games of the four-game series and is within three of New York in the standings.

Photo credit:  Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Lose by a mile, lose by a hair. It's all the same in the standings, I suppose. But psychologically, it's really quite different. Watch the other guys score 30 runs or 11 in a single inning and you can kid about it -- after all, what else you can you do? But to have a three-run lead evaporate and lose in 12 innings -- mostly on unearned runs -- against a team that has a payroll that's the equivalent of pro sports' minimum wage and, well, I'm not sure what comes next.

Neither does Orioles manager Dave Trembley, I fear, whose graciousness and patience and gung-ho attitude is being tested.

If you didn't hang around for it, the Orioles lost, 5-4, in 12 innings to Tampa Bay, which has the worst record in the majors. Twice in the ninth inning, they were one strike away from a win. If the Orioles don't end their eight-game losing streak tonight, they will have been swept by the Devil Rays. Only two teams, Tampa Bay and the Chicago White Sox, have fewer wins in the majors. And Baltimore will be hard-pressed to finish with a better record than nominal I-95 rival Washington, which had a starting rotation at the beginning of the year that probably included your brother-in-law.

Moving on.

*  Cleveland, on a five-game winning streak, is beginning to put some separation between itself and Detroit in the AL Central and now has a 4 1/2-game lead. Last night was one of those hallmark games for the Indians as they not only completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota, 4-3, but they beat Johan Santana -- the AL Cy Young winner two of the last three years. Cleveland's own ace, C.C. Sabathia, pitched six innings, allowing two runs, and helped hold on to to a four-run lead his teammates gave him in the first inning. The Indians struggled for a while after the All-Star break and had let the Tigers get back into the divisional fight, but Cleveland has won 10 of its last 13 while the Tigers, losers last night to Kansas City, have dropped seven of their past 11.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I know we've all heard enough about Michael Vick. But I pass along the following thoughts from Tony Dungy because, to paraphrase an old stock brokerage TV commercial, when Dungy talks, we should all listen. What separates the Indianapolis Colts coach (right) from most in his profession is that he truly understands that there is a world of far greater import beyond the 100 yards of a football field, and he strives to make others understand that as well.

So here's Tony Dungy on Michael Vick.

"From a societal standpoint, it's a tragedy. I think that's what we've got to look at and not so much the impact on the NFL or how we're dealing with it. But as a society, we've got to -- especially as African-Americans -- we've got to get the idea that going to prison is not acceptable. It's just not what we should be about. So, hopefully, we can learn from it. And, hopefully, all of us can learn and maybe help ensure that it doesn't happen again."

Photo credit:  Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

I'm not sure how often we'll wind up writing about the University of Hawaii this season but since we're on the subject (see previous item), it's worth noting that the Warriors have become one of college football's glamour teams since coach June Jones showed up with his turbo-charged offense. Last year, Hawaii went 11-3 and finished the year with a 41-24 victory over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl. An interesting sidebar -- quarterback Cody Brennan (No. 15) took Samoan classes so he could call audibles that his teammates would understand but would confuse the opposition.

Here's a look at the Warriors from a year ago.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

College football, Heavens to Betsy, gets started in earnest this weekend. And we all know what that means -- the chase for the BCS title, the campaigning for the Heisman Trophy and obsessing over point spreads.

Actually, we're not going to make too big a deal about college football and wagering, but this little item is too good to pass up.

The University of Hawaii -- an offensive powerhouse, especially since run-and-shoot maniac June Jones took over -- is a 59 1/2-point favorite to beat Northern Colorado at Aloha Stadium. I checked -- it is the University of Northern Colorado and not high school. The Warriors (who used to be the Rainbows and then the Rainbow Warriors) have a triggerman named Colt Brennan (left), who is expected to put up the kind of numbers that will make him a Heisman candidate. Now, think about that point spread. That kind of line means Hawaii has to score a touchdown (and a few two-point conversions) every seven minutes, assuming Northern Colorado doesn't score at all.

Locally, there are couple of big lines as well. Maryland is a 30.5- to 31-point favorite to beat Villanova and Navy is about a three-touchdown favorite (20.5 to 21 points) over Temple.

Photo credit: Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I'm not sure what weird other-worldly dimension failed first-round quarterbacks fall into, but it's certainly not a happy place.

From the Left Coast, there is a news report that Todd Marinovich (right), the first-round pick of the Raiders in 1991, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and related implements. What's especially goofy about this is how Marinovich attracted the attention of police to begin with. The 38-year-old former USC star was skateboarding in a prohibited area of tony Newport Beach at 1 a.m.

Substantially less stupid-silly but a problem for ex-quarterback Tim Couch nonetheless is that there's an Internet report connecting him with regimens of human growth hormones. Couch said he took HGH briefly under a doctor's supervision to help recover from an injury, but that he has never taken steroids. Couch, the No. 1 pick overall by Cleveland in 1999, most recently was in the Jacksonville training camp but didn't last long. He made the point that he passed the Jaguars' steroids screening.

Photo credit:  Getty Images

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Chinese basketball star Yi Jianlian, the most intriguing prospect before the NBA draft and one of the trickiest to sign since then, finally agreed to a contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Leading up to the draft, there had been speculation that Jianlian (left) -- the No. 6 pick overall -- would be resistant to playing in Milwaukee because he wanted to play someplace with a more substantial Asian population. And since then, that concern seemed to be warranted. Playing for Team China in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Jianlian, a 6-foot-11 forward, averaged 12.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots.

Photo credit: Mark J. Terrill/AP