It’s Time His Record Goes Up in Smoke

Dan Barreiro of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says there are a million reasons to root against the Lakers in the NBA Finals:

“Folks are tired of the Lakers hogging all the attention and the rings. Folks are tired of the obligatory police-car torching outside Staples Center.

“People are tired of Shaq. They’ve seen enough of Kobe. They’ve seen way too much of Jack Nicholson and Dyan Cannon.

“There is, on the other hand, one outstanding reason to cheer for the Lakers to destroy the Nets.

“It would further annoy Red Auerbach.”

More Barreiro: “Red has his nose out of joint. Phil Jackson is on the brink of tying Red’s record for most titles won by an NBA coach [nine].

“So, when interviewed about the prospect, has Auerbach taken the high road and congratulated Jackson on approaching such a magnificent milestone?

“Of course not. Red has done everything he can to denigrate Jackson’s achievements.

“The message to Red should be clear: Shut up.”

Trivia time: It’s widely known that Jerry West’s silhouette is on the NBA logo. Whose silhouette is on the Major League Baseball logo?

Night and day: Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times says it isn’t difficult to tell the difference between heavyweight foes Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson:

“Born in England and raised in Canada, Lewis has a diffident, no-nonsense demeanor, a quiet out-of-the-ring life (featuring a lot of chess) and, of course, that lilting British accent.

“Compared to Tyson’s snarling Brooklynese, Lewis’ diction sounds like an Oxford professor’s. And the tone of his voice makes us feel that, yep, here’s a basically normal guy.”

For the record: Tyson, taking offense to something former New York Post columnist Wallace Matthews once wrote about him, said:

“[He] called me a rapist and a recluse. I’m not a recluse.”

Earning his stripes: Tiger Woods says one of his most memorable rounds came when he was allowed to play Navy Golf Course in Los Alamitos on his 10th birthday.

“They wouldn’t let anyone under 10 play,” Woods said.

But Woods’ father, Earl, said his son actually began playing the course when he was 3.

“He did so well that they complained, and pulled out some Naval regulation that said you had to be 10,” Earl said.

Crowded field: Even after the U.S. soccer team’s upset of Portugal, the World Cup probably will have trouble attracting an American audience, says Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald:

“It is competing with the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup finals, baseball, golf ... [and it’s] just soccer’s luck that this World Cup coincides with a horse’s run at the Triple Crown.”

Trivia answer: Former Minnesota Twin slugger Harmon Killebrew.

And finally: Like a lot of people, Chuck Culpepper of the Oregonian was pulling for longtime underdogs Sacramento and New Jersey to reach the NBA Finals:

“Think of it, and it’s sublime. It’d be sort of like looking out the kitchen window and seeing a purple horse run across the yard. Might startle you, might scare you, but eventually you’d come to appreciate the sheer originality of it.”