• After 50 years of business, mini-golf course closes in Tucson (via Boing Boing)

• Stephon Marbury is running up mountains (the Karl Malone workout! Of Course!) to stay with the Knicks

• Larry Bird is filing a lawsuit against the people who bought his home and turned it into a tourist attraction

• The U.S. of A might not show for the Olympics, frankly, as long as the Brazilian Women’s Volleyball team is there, then I’m ok with it

• Get real familiar with Gina Carano, after MMA premieres on National TV this month you’ll be hearing a lot about her I predict

• The ESPN Lottery Draft…er, generator? Capacitor? The hell do you call this thing?

USA Today reports that Monday’s Earthquake in China could affect access for those seeking to reach the summit of the World’s highest peak.

The city of Chengdu, home to 10 million and a gateway for Himalayan trekkers and climbers, saw extensive damage to the city’s structures including rail lines and the hotels and hostels that house thousands of travelers en route to the mountains.

The New York Times reports that officials raised their estimate of the number of people killed by the quake to nearly 15,000, with thousands more trapped and missing in remote areas. The epicenter of the quake was said to have reached a 7.9 magnitude.

Earlier this year, Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the peak of Mount Everest (29,035 feet), died at the age of 88. And in 2007, 71-year-old Japanese man Katsusuke Yanagisawa became the oldest man to reach the top.

Check out this video from CNN of the Olympic torch reaching the summit earlier this month:

Tourism in the Himalayas is expected to feel the effects of the earthquake for years to come.

Fox 13 in Tampa reports that a Tampa Bay women’s kickball league that meets every Sunday has been banned from the park unless they can come up with $1400 to form an official league.

The story says activists for the league claim they are being discriminated against because they can’t afford the high fee. Also, they claim that other teams that use the park don’t have to pay.

“Am I outraged? Yes. Did I make a formal complaint with the NAACP? Yes, I did. And they’re taking the case,”says community activist Michelle Williams.

The women’s league consists of seven teams and has met for the past six weeks.

Alvin Lewis, Chief of Security for Tampa Parks and Recreation said that the leagues has drawn up to 1000 spectators at a time. In lieu of playing, this past Sunday players protested the measures levied by the city against the league (see the photo above).

Concerning the security of the League’s gathering, Police Lieutenant Rocky Ratliff said “I think they had a good idea to play kickball with the family, but you always have that one percent that messes it up for everyone else.That one percent be drinking and smoking marijuana, we don’t allow that in the park.”

The City representatives would not share with Fox the details about fees required of teams to use the park. They did encourage the women to find businesses in the community to sponsor them so that they can continue the league.

Check out video from the news report on My Fox Tampa Bay

If you go to the Memphis Grizzlies’ home page, you get hit with an offer to exchange your $600 economic stimulus plan check for a pair of Grizz season tickets:

Memphis, April 24, 2008 – The Memphis Grizzlies are helping fans stretch their entertainment dollar further than ever this tax season. For a limited time, fans can take advantage of Uncle Sam’s generosity with the Grizzlies Season Stimulus Plan. Fans receiving payments as part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Economic Stimulus Package can exchange it for two 2008-09 Grizzlies full Season Tickets and $25 Grizz Bucks – without ever touching their pocketbooks.

…sounds like the type of hat that oughta come with a free bowl of soup.

Darren Rovell posted this morning on a new video game destined to find its way into the Wii Sports Game pak…Major League Eating: The Game

MLE President Rich Shea calls this the game for people who want to be a professional athlete…right.

Check out some game footage below. All I was able to figure out from watching this is that you can burp hot fire at your opponent.

Here’s to hoping there is a code to unlock Eric “Badlands” Booker.

Chris Cooley’s blog and contributions to Yahoo! Sports blog Shutdown Corner are all the rage lately, and I’m sure many folks saw his interview on The Blog Show that was posted this morning.

Great interview by the way, check it out over at the DC Sports Bog or Mister Irrelevant…or anywhere else this nugget gets embedded.

Personally, I enjoyed it the most when he recommended Matt Leinart keep it on the down low in reference to Matt’s partying ways

Keep It On the Down Low. Coined by Ronald Isley and R. KELL back in the early 90′s I believe…

…umm, Chris Cooley has a totally awesome life.

Which prompted me to send him an email that read:

Subj: Hey Chris, if you could, would you be Usher?

Hey man – obviously a no-brainer for a johnny-working stiff like me, but you’ve got a pretty sweet life, so it’s worth asking: If you could, would you be Usher?

Best,
Mike



…chew on it, and get back to me when you have the chance, Cooley.

Made it home in one disheveled piece from Louisville. Go check out my post on Yahoo! Sports about the journey from New York to Louisville by way of Columbus, OH. I didn’t get it to Jamie at Yahoo! until late Monday afternoon due to my demented state.

I’ll be posting on Yahoo! again for the second leg of the Triple crown at the Preakness in two weeks. If there is any conceivable way you can get to Baltimore on Saturday, May 17, it would be irresponsible for you not to go.

A few additional Derby Odds & Ends (and check out all my photos in this flickr album):

We posted up at Ohio State (a mere 2.5 hours from Louisville) for the weekend.

I thought I knew about college partying…these kids make me look like a seminarian. As you can see, their football stadium seats a few people. According to my hosts, tickets for an Ohio State vs. Youngstown State game will go for $200.

In my four years at Fordham University, I went to one football game. That game, I’m pretty sure the highlight for everyone there was me and my buddy Bob facing off in the field goal competition at half time. After he put three 20-yarders through the up-rights, I went an embarrassing 0-3, kicking in bare feet. People. Were. Booing.

My advise to those of you still and college. Don’t graduate in four years. Stay for like eight, nine. Fail a few classes, immediately.

In reading up on the Derby going into the weekend, I noticed that they love to report on the lineage of the horses. For instance, they were giving Recapturetheglory a fighting chance because he was sired by a relative of Secratariat. And that is the term they always throw out: sired (it sounds sort of evil, right?). You don’t hear about siring in any other sport…except maybe bull-riding.

Sometime in the near future Ken Griffey Jr. is going to hit his 600th home run. And you heard it here first, Junior was sired by Ken Griffey Sr. – a ballplayer who himself had over 150 home runs and averaged just under .300.

I’ll let these videos speak for themselves. As you will realize, I had a much better view of the mud soccer game than I did of the Derby race.