Bits n Pieces
LeBron James has quite a reach, all the way into the Cavs front office. A Cleveland newspaper is reporting 39-year old Zydrunas Ilgauskas may attempt a comeback. The Cavs would be forced to un-retire his number.  Does Illgauskas have enough gas in the tank to play?  Possibly limited minutes and in a back-up role.     

In Kobe hatin’ news an unnamed (naturally) NBA GM says Kobe Bryant has 0 trade value. Okay let’s see if I understand this, Kobe has 19-years under his belt and is 36-years old. In addition he’s returning from a season where he only played six games. I almost forgot the contract that pays him over $30 million a season. With those numbers why would any team want him?

Not fair to report this since I missed the opportunity to hear it. Veteran sports radio talk show host Mike Francesca’s topic was Kentucky basketball. Guess who was in New York listening and decided to call in. “We have John from Kentucky on line one” came the announcement to Francesca. John from Kentucky turned out to be Kentucky Coach John Calipari, I would have loved to hear the exchange.

Sports today is devoid of characters, individuals whose statements sometimes take on legendary status. Shaquille O’Neal certainly has his share among them; “Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God's way to say nobody's perfect or former Yankee great Yogi Berra. Berra once stating; “Its like déjà vu all over again.“ Long-time Mizzou Coach Norm Stewart always had a ready one-liner for the media. “We (Mizzou) don‘t have any McDonald's All-Americans but we eat at McDonald's.”

We have questions
No one doubts Michael Beasley is a talented offensive player however we have questions on his NBA career. He burst on the scene from Kansas State to become the second pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. From that point on his NBA career has been on a roller-coaster. Last September he re-signed with the Heat for his second tour of duty, so far the Heat appear to have no intention to re-sign him. In July Beasley was in Los Angeles working out for the Lakers and I indicated I’d like for the Lakers to sign him.

To date the Lakers have made no indication they intend to sign Beasley. The roster is nearly complete although there is still room on the roster for a quality shooter. Although the roster is almost complete there is still room on the roster for one more quality shooter. In preparation for training camp the Lakers invited several D-League players not included an invite to Beasley. It appears the Lakers and Heat no longer have interest in Beasley‘s services. It’s really too bad Beasley made have worn out his NBA welcome.

Collegiate Arenas
Venerable Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis is undergoing renovation. The arena featured in the movie Hoosiers is home to Butler University. Hinkle Arena opened in 1928 and is one of the oldest arenas in the nation in current use. From the list below a number of universities have nearly new palaces however it’s not the same all over. Several athletes compete in arenas their grandfathers and great-grandfathers played in. Please note this is only a partial list:

Palestra (1927) - Penn Quakers
Cameron Indoor (1940) - Duke Blue Devils
Allen Fieldhouse (1955) - Kansas Jayhawks
Lundholm Gym (1938) - New Hampshire
Moody Coliseum (1956) - SMU
Devlin Field house (1933) - Tulane
Rose Hill Gym (1925) - Fordham
Gallagher-Iba Arena (1938) - Oklahoma State
Dahlberg Arena (1953) - Montana
Worthington Arena (1957) - Montana State
Colberg Court (1955) - Sacramento State
Williams Arena (1928) - Minnesota
Welsh-Ryan Arena (1952) - Northwestern
Tudor Field house (1950) - Rice
Calihan Hall (1952) - University of Detroit Mercy

News readers
I’ve long held the belief morning and evening newscasters read stories. In this instance the discussion centers on the media not associated with sports. My beliefs most are readers were confirmed this morning based on a local anchor. A female Kansas City anchor reported; “Britney Griner had a slam-dunk for the first time in a WNBA playoff game.” The anchor then concluded by saying; “If I knew what that means!” I hope females reading this will not conclude (incorrectly) I have issues with females. Far from the case I’m more concerned with credibility of a reporter than their than gender.