....Also a new league record

Chad "Sharpie" LaRose just might have earned himself a new nickname: Nuke

The Hurricanes centerman and fan favorite was invited to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park to throw out a ceremonial first pitch on Thursday for the Bulls' game against the Norfolk Tides. This is the 20th anniversary of the great movie "Bull Durham", and the Bulls have been celebrating this all season long. LaRose's appearance on Thursday had nothing to do with the Bull Durham celebration, but in an unintentional way, it did.

From the movie, you may remember the professional debut of Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh, the fireball pitcher with control problems, played by Tim Robbins. After his debut, the manager "Skip" (played by Trey Wilson) and the assistant Larry Hockett (played by Robert Wuhl) had the following conversation:

Skip: He walked 18
Larry: A new league record
Skip: He struck out 18
Larry: Another new league record. In addition, he hit the sportswriter, the public address announcer, the Bull mascot. Twice! Also new league records.

Incidentally, I've always had a serious problem with this opening baseball scene. The visiting team is referred to as the Peninsula White Sox on a few occasions, but they are very clearly the Hagerstown Suns. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, Chad LaRose went out to make the ceremonial first pitch, which sailed high and wide, hitting a little girl in the back. She was on the field, about to go play the National Anthem on her flute, or recorder, or tambourine, or whatever. That detail isn't important. Only that he hit her. Apparently, Nuke's pitch was not exactly a fastball, because the little girl was completely uninjured. LaRose told N&O writer Luke Decock that there were no hard feelings on her side and that he was pretty shaken up by the whole ordeal:

"She came up to the seats and got pictures with me and everything," LaRose said. "I was the one more hurt by it than her, I think. … Everyone's fine except for me. I'm traumatized by the whole situation."

This is where Nuke misses his buddy Mike Commodore. If Commy were still around, he would have been the one making that pitch, and it would have been much more successful. Commodore, who is a baseball nut, was a regular fixture at Bulls games while he was with the Hurricanes. No footage of Sharpie's fiasco, but here's some archival footage of Commy at DBAP:
.

Jeez. I just wrote something about baseball. Is is October yet?

Another sports gambling scandal.

Remember "Wagergate"? Of course you do. Rick Tocchet, Wayne Gretzky, Janet Jones were implicated in a a gambling ring that involved interstate commerce and some other complications. So far, just a state trooper has been found guilty. He turned himself in, admitted to being a part of a gambling ring, and has been sentenced to five years behind bars. Although Gretzky and Tocchet were implicated, neither were active players, and none of the gambling was on hockey anyway. This "ring" was all about football. Mostly college football, and the SuperBowl. Oh sorry. I don't want to get issued a cease and desist. I should say "SUPERBOWL® brand National Football League Championship game". Anyway, these men were betting on football.

Last week, the news emerged about the NBA referee who was gambling on games that he was officiating. This is a HUGE deal. If, as the speculation goes, there are other refs and coaches and players involved in a gambling/point shaving ring, it could be a devastating blow to that sport. Personally, I don't care. I haven't cared about the NBA in almost 20 years. In the past few years, it hasn't done much to enhance its image, and this latest thing could be bigger than any black eye that baseball or football or hockey has ever had.

Now there's a supposed gambling issue in professional tennis. #4 ranked Nikolay Davydenko of Russia was playing #87 ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina at the Prokom Open in Poland. A small, unimportant tournament with a very small purse. A gambling house in London detected an abnormal amount of wagers coming in for that match. Ten times the projected amount. Not just that, but the overwhelming majority of the wagers were against Davydenko. The #4 player in the world. Even after Davydenko won the first set 6-2, the bets kept rolling in. Bets saying that Arguello would win.
Davydenko lost the second set (the SI article tells it wrong), and retired from the third set with a "toe injury". The $7M that had been wagered on Arguello was voided when the gambling house noticed the irregularities.

Now the ATP has launched a full-on investigation into the Davydenko camp. The suggestion is that he, or someone in his camp influenced the wagering patterns and behaviours. According to ATP rules:

players and their "support personnel" can't bet on any amateur or professional tennis matches. They also are not allowed to, "directly or indirectly, solicit, induce, entice, persuade, encourage or facilitate any other person to wager on the outcome or any other aspect of any event."

It's a very minor tournament. Why were so many people wagering so much money on the extreme underdog? Did Davydenko know that he would have to retire? Did he encourage people to wager against him?

Two other times in recent history, the ATP has investigated possible gambling scandals under similar circumstances, but no wrongdoing was ever found.

If this turns out to be a case of wrongdoing, will it ruin tennis? No.

However, it's good to know that this summer when baseball players are all 'roided up, when a star football player is engaged in dogfighting, when an NBA referee was gambling on games that he worked, the NHL's biggest issue is Eric Staal's buddies getting a little rowdy at his bachelor party.

Speaking of which, Staalsy's wedding was this past Saturday. We don't know yet whether or not John Law had to bust up the reception.

Congratulations to Eric. Also, congratulations to CrAdams on his new baby. And to newcomer Jeffrey Hamilton on his new baby.