| Basketball signups end Thursday
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Monday, November 26, 2007. Valley Press
Youth basketball registrations are currently underway. Divisions are available for boys ages 5-17 and girls ages 5-16. The registration fee is $51 and the deadline is Thursday. Adult basketball league registration is also available for ages 16 and up. Games will be played on Monday and Wednesday nights. There is also a 35 and older league that plays on Sundays. Team fees are $400. For additional information, call Randy Autry at 267-5611. Volleyball Revolution Volleyball Club tryouts will be held at Vasquez High School on Saturday. Ages 15-16 will tryout from 9-11:30 a.m., 17-18's from 12-2:30 p.m., and 12-14's from 4-6 p.m. The tryout fee is $15 for each participant.
'Female Yao'
Wei Wei, the sizable center of the Guangzhou women's basketball team, caused quite a stir at the 6th Chinese City Games. Her performance earned her a reputation as a "female Yao Ming". Although her team failed to top the podium last week after losing to defending champion Nanjing 80-72, plenty of observers took notice of the towering talent. The 18-year-old Wei is 2.07m tall, three centimetres taller than Zheng Haixia, the enormous centre who helped the national women's basketball team win the silver medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. "Other than Wei Wei, we haven't found any other potential stars," said Gong Luming, former head coach of the Chinese women's national basketball team. Standing at 2.07 metres, Wei Wei will be a scene in the WNBA if she realises her dream of playing in the world's top women's basketball league.
Cardinals' La Russa pleads guilty to drunken driving
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. � St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa pleaded guilty to driving under the influence today, eight months after police found him asleep inside his running sport utility vehicle at a stop light and smelling of alcohol. La Russa said he had decided to plead guilty to the misdemeanor because it was in the best interest of all concerned. ``I accept full responsibility for my conduct, and assure everyone that I have learned a very valuable lesson and that this will never occur again,'' La Russa said in a statement released by his attorney, David Roth. La Russa did not appear in court to plead guilty. As part of his plea agreement, La Russa will serve at least six months' probation, pay a $678.50 fine, complete DUI school and any recommended treatment and complete 50 hours of community service, according to state prosecutors.
Pele: England lacks good players
Pele believes England is too quick to blame its managers for underachieving - instead of admitting that the soccer-mad country is starved of talent.
The national team's only significant triumph remains the 1966 World Cup, which it hosted, and is now in danger of missing its first major tournament since the 1994 World Cup after last month's defeat in Russia maintained a patchy qualifying campaign for the European Championship.
Manager Steve McClaren, fighting for his future after 15 months at the helm, needs Israel to deny Russia three points on November 17 and for his team to beat Croatia four days later at Wembley.
"England has few very good players," three-time World Cup winner Pele said on Wednesday.
"When those players get injured in a tough, long tournament they don't have a player to replace them - that is the big problem in England.
Steelers, NFL should be ashamed of conditions
There is no excuse — none — for the conditions the Pittsburgh Steelers provided for their game Monday Night against the Miami Dolphins. It was a travesty of football and an insult to the NFL, the players, the fans, and anyone who turned on a television in the hopes of enjoying Monday Night Football. It was a disgrace. The announcers kept talking about old-school football and summoning the names of the Chicago Staleys and Canton Bulldogs from the earliest days of the league, but that was an insult to those teams and those times. I've seen old-school football in old Cleveland Stadium in the days before modern drainage and turf science. Those games were played in mud. This one was played in a bog. .
Crew caps season Tuesday with Tecos exhibition
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew will officially close out its 12th season on Tuesday (Nov. 13) when it plays host Tecos UAG of the Mexican Premier Division in an international exhibition at Crew Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday's match will be broadcast live exclusively via webcast at TheCrew.com, with Neil Sika on the call. The game is included in all Gold-level Crew Soccer Nation memberships, designated as Special Game "C." Tickets - priced at $12 adults/$10 youth (south end), $17/$13 (north end), $20/$15 (upper sideline), $24/$17 (lower sideline) and $37/$27 (club seats) - are on sale at the Crew Stadium Box Office, all central Ohio Ticketmaster retail locations, via Ticketmaster phone at 614-431-3600 and on-line at TheCrew.com. Group pricing is available and may be acquired by calling 614-447-CREW.
Regional Sport Briefs
Fire Pro Wrestling returns Saturday night at Impact Christian Church, 401 W. 82nd Pl., Merrillville. In the main event, the "Aerial Assassin" Roach takes on Cade Lee for Lee's heavyweight title.Doors open at 6 p.m. Bell time is at 7 p.m.Table tennis tourney at Lincoln CenterThe South Bend Table Tennis Center is sponsoring The Highland Open this Saturday and Sunday at the Lincoln Center. The event is due to attract some of the top players in the nation.FYI: Call (219) 838-0114.Friday Night Baseball with Mike ColesFormer Purdue standout and Baltimore Orioles draft choice Mike Coles will hold Friday Night Baseball lessons at Dave Griffin's for ages 9-16. Coles, a member of the Windy City Thunderbolts, will offer instruction in hitting, outfield play and base running. The camp will run from Nov.
Fans are losers in NFL Network impasse
The NFL knew it had something special when its scheduling formula spit out a Packers-Cowboys matchup this season. While the league could never have anticipated they would rank as the top teams in the NFC, it did know the value of tradition and could document each team's enormous drawing power on national television. So when the schedule maker divvied up 2007 games among the league's television partners, it decided the Packers-Cowboys would not go to Fox, the network of the NFC, or the prime-time packages on NBC or ESPN, a trio which anted up $2.41 billion in rights fees this season. Instead, the NFL delivered the game to its own fledgling NFL Network, which will deliver the game to only one-third of the country. It's part of the league's plan to help transform an ugly duckling into a cash cow.
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