Anchors Aweigh as Fox Spreads Some Cheer

Fox’s new regional sports shows, operating on the principle that viewers like anchors who root for the home teams, are off to the expected start, and under fire from the non-cheerleader press.

The Detroit Free Press’ Steve Crowe wrote that it “hurt” to watch an anchor from Seattle named Angie Arlati “pretend to care as much about Detroit sports as Detroiters.”

In Houston, the Chronicle’s David Barron wrote, “One thing that absolutely has to go . . . is the ‘we’ references, such as [anchor Keith] Lebowitz’s ‘If we can get [Atlanta Hawk center Dikembe] Mutombo’ on the proposed trade. Do not let this happen again.”

Hint for Barron: Don’t expect too much.

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Trivia time: Who was the only Angel to win baseball’s Cy Young Award?

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Happy to be there: Not that he was in awe of his fellow all-stars, but Minnesota Twin outfielder Matt Lawton was thrilled when he walked past the San Francisco Giants’ Barry Bonds in a hotel hallway this week in Atlanta.

Lawton didn’t introduce himself or speak. Just being near Bonds, he said, was enough.

“I just wanted to see him, see how big he was, what he looked like up close,” Lawton told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “I don’t even care if I play in the game. I did what I came here to do. . . .

“Man, Barry is even bigger than I thought.”

Bonds is listed at 6 feet 2, 210 pounds. It’s a good thing Lawton didn’t walk past Mark McGwire.

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Room service: Participants in the All-Star home run derby were allowed to invite their personal batting practice pitchers to accompany them.

The Montreal Gazette says it’s “probably because McGwire was unhappy with the quality of pitches served up at Coors Field in 1997, when he lost to [Junior] Griffey.”

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New era: After years of lining up behind Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Steve Young at quarterback, the San Francisco 49ers are starting this season with Jeff Garcia.

Garcia told the Oakland Tribune, “The main way I have to look at it is not to try and step into anybody else’s shoes but try to be myself and do what I’m capable of doing.”

That’s what the 49ers are afraid of.

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Ask Mr. Wizard: The Boston Red Sox, delighted at the play of newly acquired Carl Everett, have found he’s not shy about expressing opinions, however, uh, unconventional they may be.

Everett, for example, insists dinosaurs never roamed the earth.

“I don’t mind giving my views, and that’s one of them,” Everett said. “I think there are others who share the same views as me but are afraid to say it.

“My son loves dinosaurs, but I’m not going to impose my beliefs on him and tell him there were no dinosaurs. He can have his own beliefs. It’s why he has his books and I have mine.”

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Cross-training: When the All-Star game was at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1972, baseball had a hit, pitch and run contest for youngsters.

The winner, Jeff Hornacek, 9, grew up to become an NBA all-star.

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Trivia answer: Dean Chance, who went 20-9 with a 1.65 earned-run average in 1964, before the award was given in both leagues.

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And finally: ESPN’s Mike Lupica, on NBC interviewing Jack Nicholson after the Lakers had won the NBA title:

“You couldn’t miss him because he was the second postgame interview NBC did, right after Kobe Bryant. That’s pretty much the way they tell you to go at the Columbia School of Journalism, right? Kobe, then Jack.”