Selling Their Soles ... or Is That Souls?
Just about anything is for sale in the sports memorabilia business. But you’d be hard-pressed to find something more absurd than what Garth Woolsey of the Toronto Star found recently on the Internet.
Woolsey reports that the shoes Mike Tyson wore while doing time for rape drew three bids and sold for $765.
The blurb hyping the shoes noted that they had “actual dirt from the prison yard caked into the soles!”
Trivia time: What is the record of Phil Jackson-coached teams in best-of-seven series when they win Game 1?
L.A. oddity: Frankie Muniz, star of “Malcolm in the Middle,” likes the Clippers, but not the Lakers.
“Laker fans are fake, like all fair-weather fans,” Muniz is quoted as saying in ESPN magazine. “Everybody expects the Lakers to win, so how fun is it when they do? If the Clippers win, that’ll mean something.”
Extreme marketing: Pro sports teams are continually finding ways to get more money out of their customers.
According to Bloomberg News, the San Diego Padres sell 200 “Dugout Club” seats behind the backstop at Petco Park to customers willing to sign a minimum three-year contract, pay a one-time fee of $17,500 to $20,000 a seat, and then buy the tickets for $275 a game.
What else can fans who pay these prices expect?
Bloomberg quotes Philadelphia Phillie outfielder Doug Glanville: “I wouldn’t be surprised if one day they bench the managers and have fans clicking their computer mouses saying, ‘Take this guy out, and move this guy up in the lineup.’ ”
Reason to retire: Mandy Block, who was the Italian sausage hit with a bat by Pittsburgh Pirate Randall Simon, has announced her retirement from sausage racing.
“Maybe after the highly publicized Simon caper, she got tired of the grilling,” suggests Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Could be worse: Asked what he would be doing if San Antonio hadn’t won the NBA lottery in 1997 and drafted Tim Duncan, Coach Gregg Popovich said, according to the Ventura County Star, “I’d probably be the JV coach at Pomona right now.”
Time warp: Indiana Pacer Coach Rick Carlisle skipped a recent practice to be with his wife for the birth of their daughter.
“And if her daddy’s team keeps winning?” asked ESPN.com’s Tim Keown. “They have a chance to close out the Finals by the time she’s out of kindergarten.”
Looking back: On this day in 1920, Man O’ War won the Preakness by 1 1/2 lengths over Upset.
Trivia answer: 37-0.
And finally: “At a fund-raising gathering in Washington, President Bush raised a record $38.5 million,” says Jay Leno. “The best visual was President Bush shaking hands with boxing promoter Don King, and it made history. President Bush is the first guy in history to ever shake hands with Don King and walk away with money.”
Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.