SPORTS
February 4, 2010 | By Diane Pucin
Phil Mickelson's Ping is gone for now. The No. 2-ranked golfer in the world made it clear Wednesday that he wants his game to create the buzz, not his much-discussed wedge with the square grooves. In a preemptive move, Mickelson, the two-time defending champion of the Northern Trust Open, said he would not be using the controversial Ping Eye 2 when play begins Thursday. "I'm playing too well to get sidetracked here," he told reporters. "I've got a unique opportunity, and I want to take advantage of it without other distractions."
SPORTS
February 3, 2010 | By Diane Pucin
Scott McCarron says he's sorry he used the words "cheat," "Phil," and "Mickelson" in the same sentence last week. McCarron says he has apologized personally to Mickelson, the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world, and that they are now on the same side in all things having to do with golf clubs, grooves and even Ping Eye 2s, which are legal but only thanks to a legal loophole. Oh, and the controversial Ping Eye 2 wedge that Mickelson used last week? It's still in play. Welcome to the "groovy" Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club, where McCarron told reporters that he talked to Mickelson for 10 minutes Tuesday after a previously scheduled players' meeting.
BUSINESS
January 12, 2010 | By Tiffany Hsu
Van Nuys sporting equipment maker Easton-Bell Sports Inc. has acquired lacrosse goods manufacturer Talon Lacrosse for an undisclosed amount, the companies said Monday. The deal will result in a new Easton Lacrosse division, to be based in Scotts Valley, Calif. The more than 2,000 employees at Easton-Bell produce equipment for sports including baseball, ice hockey, cycling and football. Talon founders Doug Appleton, Cort Kim and Blake Kim, who launched the private firm in San Carlos, Calif.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 2, 2009 | By Ruben Vives
It's common for people to do a double take when they enter Ernest Debs Park in Bell. Children frolic on the grass field, teenagers play pickup basketball and people chat on benches. Then there is the cluster of treadmills, rowing machines and air walkers at the front of the park. City officials didn't know what to expect a year ago when they opened a free outdoor gym. But it's become a big success, drawing droves of residents in the working-class town who cannot afford gym memberships.
BUSINESS
September 12, 2009 | Andrea Chang
Board shorts, bikinis and flip-flops were again the dress code at the biannual Action Sports Retailer trade show. But unlike last September's subdued event -- hampered by buyers scaling back orders amid a deepening recession -- many companies were upbeat as they displayed the latest surf and skate styles and products for next spring and summer. "This year it's a hundred times better," said Christel Hathaway, North America sales manager for swimwear company Banana Moon USA, which by Friday afternoon had already signed about 40 orders -- more than three times its total from last year's show.
TRAVEL
December 14, 2008 | Benoit Lebourgeois, Lebourgeois is a freelance writer.
When the first snow fell last season, traveling by air with skis or a snowboard to a mountain resort was mostly just burdensome. Now it's become costlier. The changes in baggage policies in the last year mean, at the outset, that most all but elite fliers will pay for checked bags, usually $15 for the first bag and $25 for the second. And that's if it doesn't exceed the weight limits, which could be as little as 50 pounds.