Wranglers will keep this idea on ice

The corruption scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has sparked the marketing imagination of a Las Vegas minor league hockey team.

The Las Vegas Wranglers have announced they will be holding a Blagojevich night on Friday, Jan. 30, during which the team will wear vintage prison uniforms -- the kind with stripes -- and prison numbers.

After the game, the uniforms will be signed and auctioned off for charity, presumably not Blagojevich’s defense fund.

Trivia time

The Wranglers are the affiliate for which NHL team?

How’s your short game?

Golf Digest is running a contest to be part of a foursome that includes Michael Jordan and two other celebrities. Note: Applicants should have a succinct way with words.

The magazine’s essay contest asks applicants to describe in six words why they should represent all average American golfers in the 2009 Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge. The winner will join Jordan in a group that will play Bethpage Black on Long Island a few days before the U.S. Open.

In 2008, the foursome included Tony Romo, Justin Timberlake and Matt Lauer.

“If I shoot anything over 100, I might as well put my game in the bag,” Jordan said. “If Justin Timberlake can break 100, I know damn well I can.”

K-Rod is already talking

It didn’t take long for Francisco Rodriguez to enter the fray that is the New York Mets-Philadelphia Phillies rivalry.

“Of course, we’re going to be the front-runner. Of course, we’re going to be the team to beat,” he said Saturday during a conference call from Venezuela.

Two days earlier, Cole Hamels of the Phillies told WFAN radio, “For the past two years [the Mets] have been choke artists.”

Said Rodriguez: “Everybody knows what happened, unfortunately. They didn’t get the job done. Unfortunately, you know, it happens. We cannot be living with the past. We’ve just have to get that behind us and get focused.”

Rodriguez said he was looking forward to the intense atmosphere of New York.

“In Anaheim, they’re more calm,” he said. “They’re really relaxed when they’re watching the game.”

By comparison, “New York’s atmosphere is totally different. The fans are really passionate,” he said. “A lot of players like to be on that stage. I’m the kind of guy that likes to be on the big stage.”

Trivia answer

The Calgary Flames.

Finally

From Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk: “Feel free to double check the math, but at a salary of $23 million next season, if CC Sabathia doesn’t miss a start, the Yankees will be paying him about $6,250 per pitch.”