MORNING BRIEFING

Luc Robitaille’s election to the Hockey Hall of Fame recalls that no player strongly tied to the Dodgers or Angels has been enshrined at Cooperstown since the turn of the century. . . .

Don Sutton was inducted in 1998, Nolan Ryan a year later. . . .

Since then, Magic Johnson and five others with ties to the Lakers have been enshrined at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: James Worthy, the late Chick Hearn and coaches Bill Sharman, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. . . .

The Pro Football Hall of Fame over the last decade has welcomed former Los Angeles Rams Jack Youngblood and Jackie Slater, the late George Allen and ex-L.A. Raiders Marcus Allen and Howie Long. . . .

By trading for Shaquille O’Neal, the Cleveland Cavaliers all but guaranteed they’ll be playing a Christmas game against Kobe Bryant and the defending champion Lakers. . . .

Feliz Navidad, LeBron. . . .

ESPN’s Neil Everett, putting into perspective U.S. team’s upset of top-ranked Spain in the Confederations Cup soccer tournament: “Spain is like the Lakers, USA is like the Clippers.” . . .

The Lakers, in their two stabs at the top pick in the NBA draft, plucked Hall of Famers in Johnson and Worthy. . . .

The Clippers, in their three shots, tabbed Danny Manning, Michael Olowokandi and now Blake Griffin. . . .

In a Sports Illustrated poll of 380 major league players, a survey-topping 25% said the manager they would most like to play for was Bobby Cox of the Atlanta Braves, while 16% named Joe Torre and 8% picked Mike Scioscia. . . .

Chad Billingsley had given up only three home runs before Thursday, none with a runner on base. . . .

A.J. Pierzynski ended that. . . .

Ichiro Suzuki is no stranger to Dodger Stadium, where in March the Seattle Mariners right fielder delivered a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning to give Japan a 5-3 win over Korea in the title game of the World Baseball Classic. . . .

Look-alikes: The tattoo on the right shoulder of undrafted former USC point guard Daniel Hackett and the black tape worn by beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh on her right shoulder last summer at the Olympics. . . .

In its only season under new USC basketball Coach Kevin O’Neill, Arizona finished seventh in the Pacific 10 Conference with an 8-10 record in 2007-08, its only second-division Pac-10 finish and only losing conference record in the last 25 years. . . .

San Jose State, which needed a last-minute touchdown to squeeze past UC Davis in its 2008 opener, opens the 2009 season against Aaron Corp and USC at the Coliseum. . . .

Bill Snyder’s return to coaching at Kansas State this fall -- after a three-year retirement -- includes a Sept. 19 game against Rick Neuheisel and UCLA at the Rose Bowl. . . .

Snyder, 69, started his full-time coaching career as an assistant at Indio High in 1964 and later was a graduate assistant at USC. . . .

Louisiana State outfielder Jared Mitchell, the most outstanding player in the College World Series after helping the Tigers win their sixth national championship, won a Bowl Championship Series title as a wide receiver for the LSU football team two seasons ago. . . .

USC has won a record 12 College World Series championships, but only one since 1978. . . .

David Kahn, president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Chris Snow, director of hockey operations for the Minnesota Wild, are former sportswriters. . . .

As is Ned Colletti. . . .

The Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League is hosting a fundraiser Saturday for Jon Wilhite, a former Cal State Fullerton baseball player and lone survivor of the April car crash that killed Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others. . . .

Information: (562) 427-4487. . . .

Reader Elliot Levine of New York e-mails to note that while Connie Mack’s record of 3,731 managerial victories is a staggering figure, so too is Mack’s record of 3,948 losses. . . .

A recent Wall Street Journal study of major league rosters found no correlation between smarts (as in number of college-educated players per team) and victories. . . .

Three “All-Brains” division leaders -- the Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals -- are last-place teams, while the Dodgers are last in the National League West in smarts but first in what matters most: winning percentage. . . .

The study, by the way, found that only 26 major leaguers, including managers, have college degrees.

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com