Morning briefing

Maybe fans will follow him on tour

The long, strange trip of Bryan Saltus finally hit pay dirt Sunday when the 36-year-old professional golfer and self-professed “dead head” from Costa Mesa won on the Asian Tour.

He shot 66-67-71-67 to win the Cambodian Open by three shots for his first Asian Tour victory.

Saltus, a self-taught player who attended Orange Coast College before turning professional in 1996, played on U.S.-based mini tours before joining the Asian Tour full time in 2004.

He’s also found time to attend 153 Grateful Dead concerts, so it’s no surprise that his thoughts were with Jerry Garcia and Co. after his first significant professional victory.

“This is awesome,” Saltus said. “I would like to dedicate this win to the Grateful Dead as they have inspired me all the way.”

Trivia time

Kevin Garnett scored eight points Thursday against the New York Knicks, ending a streak of 411 consecutive games of scoring at least 10 points, leaving Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets with the longest current streak at 148. Who holds the NBA record for most consecutive double-digit scoring games?

The long run

Silviya Skvortsova of Russia won the women’s division of the Las Vegas Marathon and Christopher Cheboibich of Kenya took home the men’s first prize, but the real highlights were happening in the not-so-elite divisions.

About 150 participants ran dressed as Elvis, the Blue Man Group performed during the race and there was a run-through wedding chapel at

Mile 5 that added some time to some runners.

Organizers said 56 couples had signed up to get married as they passed through.

Money’s worth

As inflation and greed continue to drive up prices for tickets at sporting events, the Pittsburgh Pirates are standing pat, keeping ticket prices the same for next year.

They have not raised ticket prices since 2001, and their ticket prices average $17.07, among the lowest in baseball. Apparently, 15 consecutive losing seasons are enough to make even baseball executives feel guilty.

“We will at some point need to raise ticket prices to stay competitive, but the focus this season has been and will be on changing the culture of this organization to one in which our fans will again be proud,” team spokesman Brian Warecki said.

Kick the habit

The fallout from England’s failure to qualify for the European Championships in soccer has trickled down to video games.

At least according to British goalkeeper Robert Green, who blamed the demise of the national team on a generation of children camped in front of televisions instead of honing soccer skills.

“If you want to have the best national side on a longer-term basis, you need to go into every household and throw away the PlayStation, Xbox and video games,” he said. “Maybe in 15 years’ time you’d have the best national side.”

“It’s a society thing,” Green continued. “Look at countries who always seem to bring up world-class players, like Brazil and Argentina.

“If you look at the situations that they live in, it’s football or nothing.”

Trivia answer

Michael Jordan scored 10 or more in 842 consecutive games from March 25, 1986-Dec. 26, 2001. When he scored eight points on March 22, 1986 -- the game before the streak began --it was the only time he failed to score in double figures as a member of the Chicago Bulls.

And finally

Kevin Smith, the Central Florida running back who moved into second place on the NCAA single-season rushing list with 2,448 yards and needs 180 more to break the all-time record held by Barry Sanders, has a theory on how he’s been able to run for so many yards.

“Coach gives me the ball a lot,” he said.

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peter.yoon@latimes.com