Morning Briefing

Shaq’s split a challenge for many

Amid the jokes about Shaquille O’Neal filing for a “second divorce” -- his first was from Kobe Bryant -- Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley said he is “saddened” that O’Neal is seeking to end his nearly five-year marriage.

“I am really sort of devastated by the news, from the standpoint that actually I love Shaunie. I think she’s a great, great, great girl,” Riley said during an interview on 790 The Ticket, a South Florida sports talk station. “You get to know these people after a while as couples.”

Conflict over money appears to be one issue, suggesting that even people who make $20 million a year can find a way for it to cause problems in their marriage.

More troubling: The couple has six children, including four together.

Looks as if Shaq’s Big Family Challenge might be more reality than he imagined when he signed up to help overweight youngsters get in shape for the ABC show “Shaq’s Big Challenge.”

Trivia time

Rafael Nadal’s fourth-round loss to David Ferrer at the U.S. Open ended in the wee hours of the morning -- at 1:50 a.m. Wednesday in New York, to be precise.

Who played in the latest-ending match in U.S. Open history, and what time did it end?

Game time

If there’s a 14- to-34-year-old male in your life, the leading video-game maker wants more of their time -- and your money.

Peter Moore, president of the sports division of Electronic Arts, wants EA Sports to expand its reach to compete “with the likes of Nike and ESPN,” the New York Times reported.

“That could mean broadcast sports, sports camps, the ability to license consumer products around the EA Sports brand,” Moore said. “That means technology that brings sports to life for coaches, players and television viewers, and it means services online for sports fans to connect with one another.”

EA Sports already sells millions of copies of Madden Football, FIFA soccer and Tiger Woods golf games every year, but Moore wants, well, more.

“It may sound like heresy, but I’m not here to just sell more Maddens and more FIFAs,” he said.

Translation: Hang on to your wallet.

Trivia answer

Mats Wilander defeated Mikael Pernfors in a 1993 match that ended at 2:26 a.m.

What happened

to flasks?

A pitch for a product called the Beerbelly landed in the in-box, promoting a “stealth beverage system” perfect for football season because it allows you “to drink anything, anywhere, any time.”

“The Beerbelly is made up of a neoprene ‘sling’ and a polyurethane ‘bladder’ with a tube for dispensing.”

Did they really have to mention the word bladder?

And finally

In the post-match news conference after Wilander’s five-set victory, a Newsday reporter remembered, someone asked Wilander if that was the latest he had ever played.

“Played what?” the exhausted winner deadpanned.

robyn.norwood@latimes.com