THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2011
PAGE 21
Q: What four international cyclists have won the Tour de France five times?
sports
Weekly Sports Trivia
A: Jacques Anquetil of France; Eddy Merckx of Belgium; Bernard Hinault of France; and Miguel Indurain of Spain.
beembee.com
"A boo is a lot louder than a cheer, if you have 10 people cheering and one person booing all you hear is the booing."
Quote of the Week
Lance Armstrong
The 2010 Tour de France covers 3,642 kilometers. This converts to 2,263 miles of cycling.
— beembee.com
Fact of the Week
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THE DODGERS' DIVORCE
Grad writes up the intrigue
Josh Fisher, a University of Kansas graduate, is the creator of DodgerDivorce.com.
Ian Cummings/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
BY IAN CUMMINGS icummings@kansan.com
When Josh Fisher, talking baseball over burgers and fries at a downtown Kansas City restaurant, cryptically tells a jaded Royals fan "not to worry" because there are "good things in the works" for next year, one is inclined to listen, even if only cautiously. The University of Kansas graduate is, after all, a baseball insider, even if he is only 25 years old.
He has made himself an insider through the singular pursuit, as a citizen journalist, of one story: a messy Los Angeles divorce that opened up the Dodgers' books to public controversy and led to bankruptcy and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig's move to take over the team earlier this year.
Fisher is the creator of Dodgerdivorce.com, a website devoted to the public distress of the Los Angeles Dodgers and its owners. Frank and Jamie McCourt. In the past 20
months, Fisher has gone from unknown blogger to a public fixture in one particular constellation of the sports media, writing about the divorce and other baseball topics for ESPN-LosAngeles.com and The Hardball Times.
GAINING PROFILE
He missed the first month of law school last year because he was attending the McCourt divorce trial. Fisher said he found himself flying to Los Angeles for the trial because Molly Knight, of ESPN The Magazine, unexpectedly called him and asked "when are you getting in?"
the Los Angeles Times and Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated.
"That was a surreal experience," Fisher said. "That was when I was like, 'this is real.'"
"I wasn't planning to go," Fisher said. But Knight persuaded him that he should be there. He called Dodgers officials to ask about press seating, and when he explained that he was from Dodgerdivorce.com, they said he had a spot reserved, along with sports journalists Knight, T.J. Simers of
Since then, the New York
Times has profiled him and he has "stuttered and stammered" his way through several radio interviews. What Fisher called "the shock mo-
SEE DODGERS 122
GUEST COMMENTARY
Don't blame lockout on players
BY NICK SCHWERDT editor@kansan.com
In the wake of the current NBA lockout situation I've caught myself staying up, watching re-runs of every series from last year's playoffs, followed by violent weeping (i.e. Chris Bosh after game six) until I fall asleep.
It's been less than a month, and I'm already feeling Smeagol-like nostalgia. Why? Because I know the owners are about to take "my precious" away from me.
Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs capped off what was arguably the most provocative season since MJ called it quits. Television ratings and league-wide buzz were as high as they have been in recent history, and many casual fans have finally become intrigued by the NBA once again.
Perfect timing for work stoppage, right?
these tremendous losses?
Last season, 22 of 30 NBA teams lost a total of $370 million as stated by the league. So who's at fault for
The blame most certainly doesn't fall on the players' shoulders. This season they brought us an intoxicating seven months filled with more drama than an after-prom party at Becky's house. The likes of Lebron, Kobe, Dirk, Durant, and Rose restored the league to prominence once again, as if to tell the NFL and MLB, "Hey dudes, you know we kick-ass again right?"
Mary Altaffer/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Although he will be the talking head for the owners during these negotiations, David Stern shouldn't carry the burden of blame either.
Mary Altaffer/ASSOCIATED PRESS Union chief Billy Hunter speaks to reporters after a meeting with the NBA, June 30 in New York. Hunter said then that "it's obvious the lockout will happen tonight" after players and owners failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, potentially putting the 2011-12 season in jeopardy.
He implemented a dress code a few years ago to rid the association of the "thug athlete" image it had acquired thanks to Ron Artest and the melée at the Palace. The NBA is now a league of young gentlemen, and has finally gained the respect it had yearned for.
So much for that.
It seems absurd that so many teams are losing money, until you take a look at exactly how the -- -owners have been spending their scrilla. Last year Rashard Lewis averaged about 12 points per game, while Michael Redd has played in 28 total games in the past two
seasons. What do these players have in common? They are two of
SEE LOCKOUT 23