Fans at Angel Stadium this weekend will have the rare opportunity to chant "Beat L.A." without actually revealing which team they're supporting. . . .
Mike Scioscia sounds like his old mentor, Tom Lasorda, when he compares pinch-hitters to pasta sauces. . . .
Of course, he was in San Francisco, a restaurant mecca. . . .
"Maybe in honor of Torii Hunter," reader Werner Haas of West Hollywood e-mails to suggest, "major league baseball might establish the Joshua award -- you know, the biblical guy where the walls came tumbling down." . . .
No sentence would have been too harsh for Mel Hall, who deserves every minute he'll spend in prison. . . .
Len Bias died 23 years ago today. . . .
The 1979 film "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" had nothing to do with Derek Fisher, but it did feature NBA players such as Norm Nixon, Mychal Thompson and Julius Erving. . . .
In the film, which stars Erving as Moses Guthrie, the Pittsburgh Pisces win the championship over a team from Los Angeles. . . .
Casey Blake wears a playoff beard throughout the season. . . .
Kobe Bryant is 30 years old, three years younger than Michael Jordan when Jordan won his fourth NBA title. . . .
Magic Johnson was 28 when he won the last of his five. . . .
Dan Topping and Del Webb won 10 championships as co-owners of the New York Yankees from 1945 to 1964, a record that Jerry Buss could match as soon as next June. . . .
That might be reason enough for the longtime Lakers owner to re-sign Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom. . . .
Tiger Woods, tied for 12th after Thursday's rain-suspended opening round of the U.S. Open, finished tied for 12th in 2001 and tied for 20th in 2003 the only other times he played the event as defending champion. . . .
Reggie Theus, a front-runner to replace Tim Floyd as USC's basketball coach, played the role of Coach Bill Fuller in the 1990s Saturday morning NBC sitcom "Hang Time." . . .
Theus didn't hang long, appearing in five episodes. . . .
Ex-Gonzaga forward Austin Daye, projected as a first-round pick in Wednesday's NBA draft, is the son of former UCLA forward Darren Daye, a third-round pick in 1983. . . .
Jon Voight was nominated for an Academy Award after portraying a character named Joe Buck in the Oscar-winning film "Midnight Cowboy," which was released in 1969, the same year Joe Buck the Emmy-winning Fox broadcaster was born. . . .
