Foul play by a referee would be tough to stop

\o7Text messages from press row ...

\f7\o7I\f7n an age when cheating seems to be taken lightly by many in the sports world, it's sadly not all that surprising to learn of allegations against a referee....

What could be easier for a referee to manipulate than the over/under on a basketball game? ...

Just keep calling fouls until the over number is reached....

When the Stanley Cup champion Ducks open the season with games against the Kings on Sept. 29-30 at the new 02 Arena in London, they will be the first team from the NHL, NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball to begin defense of their title with a game outside North America, according to the Elias Sports Bureau....

Both teams have sold out their allotment of tickets, so as many as 1,000 Southland hockey fans are expected to make the trip....

It's probably worth noting again that Tom Glavine of the New York Mets, two victories shy of 300 as he takes to the mound tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates, was a fourth-round pick of the Kings in the 1984 NHL entry draft....

Glavine, the 69th pick overall, was taken two rounds before Brett Hull and five rounds before Luc Robitaille, who was the 171st pick....

Five days earlier, Glavine had been picked by the Atlanta Braves in the second round of baseball's amateur draft, and the native of Billerica, Mass., gave up hockey -- though he did skate with the Boston Bruins at a practice in 1992....

Including Glavine but not Mario Lemieux, who was the top pick in the '84 draft, 82 of the 170 players taken before Robitaille never played in the NHL....

Regarding the so-called "Legends" match between John McEnroe and Jim Courier on Aug. 6 at the Home Depot Center: Since when is Jim Courier a legend? ...

Jack Nicklaus won one major title in the year after his 31st birthday, the ninth of his career, so 31-year-old Tiger Woods, with 12 major championships, is still ahead of the Golden Bear's pace despite his oh-fer so far this year....

The major Nicklaus won as a 31-year-old: the PGA Championship....

Kevin Garnett, who owns a home in Malibu but is based most of the year in Minneapolis, showed Saturday night that he is not quite fully versed in the ways of the typical L.A. sports fan, arriving more than an hour \o7early\f7 for David Beckham's Galaxy debut at the Home Depot Center....