Clippers fans figure to call Brand out
Elton Brand stayed with the Clippers five years longer than he ever intended, which might be why it took only a slight nudge to push him away. ...
If Brand's agent is to be believed, Donald Sterling and the Clippers not only blew it in failing to retain a player who was the face of their franchise, they insulted him too -- though David Falk never actually mentioned Sterling by name. ...
Falk called him only "the owner." ...
Frustrated Clippers fans probably will come up with more colorful names they'd like to call Sterling now that the dream teaming of Brand and Baron Davis has gone up in smoke. ...
It's curious that contending teams such as the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs made offers to Corey Maggette, but the Clippers had no use for him. ...
Maybe that's because in the most successful of the Clippers' eight seasons with the statistics-conscious swingman, their run to the brink of the Western Conference finals two years ago, Maggette sat out all but 32 games. ...
Perhaps it's not a foregone conclusion that Roger Federer will supplant PeteSampras as the most prolific winner of Grand Slam men's tennis events. ...
Sampras is the all-time leader with 14, but the seven-time Wimbledon champion won only three Grand Slam events after his 27th birthday -- at Wimbledon in 1999 and 2000 and at the U.S. Open in 2002, when he was 31. ...
Federer, winner of 12 major titles, turns 27 on Aug. 8. ...
Just wondering: If Federer might not be the greatest player of his generation-- Rafael Nadal has won 12 of their 18 meetings, 10 of 14 in tournament finals -- can he truly be considered the greatest of all time? ...
A-Rod and Madonna are no DiMaggio and Monroe. ...
Dara Torres was the oldest U.S. swimmer at the Olympics eight years ago. ...
When the Beverly Hills-reared Torres, 41, won the first of her nine Olympic medals at the Los Angeles Games in 1984, Michael Phelps was not yet born. ...
Reader Mike Casey of Temecula notes that although Russell Martin will be the Dodgers' lone representative at the All-Star game, three ex-Dodgers were selected for Tuesday's gala at Yankee Stadium -- Dioner Navarro of the Tampa Bay Rays, J.D.Drew of the Boston Red Sox and Milton Bradley of the Texas Rangers. ...
