Role Reversal

Davey Lopes was standing behind the batting cage earlier this week when he was visited by a ghost of a championship past. It was one of his former Philadelphia Phillies players, and he had a question. "He looked around the stadium and shook his head and was like, 'Man, what happened here?' " Lopes recalled Wednesday morning. "He was like, 'Didn't this used to be the Dodgers?' " During what is arguably the worst Dodgers season since they arrived here 53 years ago, that question has been asked often, but perhaps never more poignantly than this week, during a visit from the team the Dodgers used to be. Remember October 2009?

Curators at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame should watch Steve Nash closely in the coming weeks. If recent trends persist, they may have to make the following addendum to his biographical blurb: Switched to shooting guard halfway through the 2012-13 season to help save one of the most disappointing teams in NBA history. In this most surreal Lakers season, the top point guard of his generation suddenly deferring ballhandling duties to Kobe Bryant has been the oddest twist.

Golf fans yell boooo when Boo Weekley hits a good shot. What do they do when he hits a bad shot? Clap? Gary Robb Los Feliz

An influential proxy advisor criticized Walt Disney Co.'s board of directors for naming Chief Executive Robert A. Iger as the company's next chairman, a decision that it claims "reversed a commitment to independent board leadership. " Disney disputed Institutional Shareholder Services' contention in a regulatory filing Thursday, calling it "false — no such commitment was made. " The matter of an independent board chairman dates from a contentious period of the company's history, in early 2004, when 45% of Disney's shareholders heeded the late Roy E. Disney's call to cast a vote of no confidence in then-Chairman and Chief Executive Michael D. Eisner.

With their second-most dramatic postseason comeback in franchise history Sunday afternoon and the New York Yankees' division series-clinching win over the Minnesota Twins hours later, the Angels went from the haunted to the hunted. Many of the questions posed to the Angels before their division series with Boston were of a mental, even mystical, nature: Are the Red Sox in your heads? How do you break the "hex" the Red Sox have over you? The Angels disposed of those queries and the Red Sox -- with Sunday's comeback from a 5-1 fifth-inning deficit for a 7-6 victory in Fenway Park that completed the first playoff sweep in club history.

Whoopi Goldberg believes actors should be able to play all roles, regardless of race or sex. "The part I played in 'Burglar' was written for Bruce Willis. 'Burglar' was his film, and he dropped out of it," she said in the November issue of McCall's magazine. Goldberg, currently starring as the hotheaded, softhearted owner of television's "Bagdad Cafe," said, "That's why my Broadway show was so startling to some people, because I could do all those characters."

Contrary to what you might think, tonight's Lifetime domestic drama, "Custody of the Heart," is not about organ donors. That's merely the terrible title for an otherwise decent drama delving into the split of a troubled couple. Somewhat of a cross between "Ordinary People" and "Mr. Mom," the film stars Lorraine Bracco as Claire, an attentive mother and thriving entrepreneur who has become the breadwinner for a family of four.

If anyone wanted to make a movie about the first stages of the 1992 presidential race, the title would be a natural: Switch. In both parties, dramatic role reversals are driving the early primary contests, an analysis of exit polls and election results suggest. Key actors in each drama are playing parts that are virtually the opposite of what their strategists had anticipated.

Inside.com, a new Web site that covers the media and entertainment industries, has grabbed attention with edgy reporting, a big publicity budget and by operating on a paid-subscription model. So far, only a handful of Web sites--such as those run by the Wall Street Journal, Playboy and Consumer Reports--have been able to pull in an appreciable number of paying online customers, spurred by the strength of their print brands. But in a role reversal born of commercial opportunity, Inside.

Angel pitchers Jarrod Washburn and Troy Percival had been through this so many times before. The game on the line, one out needed to get through a late inning. Only this time, Washburn was doing the pitching and Percival was doing the watching. Washburn was on the mound, staring in at Boston's David Ortiz. Percival squinting in from the bullpen. This was a "Freaky Friday" night in Fenway Park, where the role reversal turned into a wrap on the Angels' season.

When: 1 p.m. Where: Sports Arena. On the air: TV: Prime Ticket. Radio: 570. Records: UCLA 11-9, 4-4; Colorado Utah 14-6, 6-2. Update: No one could see this role reversal coming. UCLA was the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 Conference. Colorado was picked 10th in the media poll. But the Buffaloes come into Saturday's game in a four-way tie for first with California, Oregon and Washington. UCLA slipped into seventh place with a win over Utah on Thursday.

Davey Lopes was standing behind the batting cage earlier this week when he was visited by a ghost of a championship past. It was one of his former Philadelphia Phillies players, and he had a question. "He looked around the stadium and shook his head and was like, 'Man, what happened here?' " Lopes recalled Wednesday morning. "He was like, 'Didn't this used to be the Dodgers?' " During what is arguably the worst Dodgers season since they arrived here 53 years ago, that question has been asked often, but perhaps never more poignantly than this week, during a visit from the team the Dodgers used to be. Remember October 2009?

Reporting from Miami It's morning in America. About to topple into an 0-2 crater, the Dallas Mavericks, the Miami Heat's latest opponent and America's Latest Team, came from 15 points down in the last 6:18 to beat Miami, 95-93, Thursday night, tying the NBA Finals at a game apiece. Dirk Nowitzki, who missed 11 of his first 17 shots, playing with a splint on the middle finger of his left hand, made four of his last five, including the spinning layup with three seconds left — left-handed — that won it. Remember when the Heat, down 0-2 and about to make it 0-3 against Dallas, came back to win the 2006 Finals?

Aries (March 21-April 19): You'll maneuver your way through a sensory minefield that will be mostly fun but sometimes exciting in a way that is not so comfortable. Taurus (April 20-May 20): You gravitate toward people with whom you feel completely relaxed. A different and truer sense of self emerges when you are with these people. Gemini (May 21-June 21): You'll benefit when you place a higher priority on your own business, health and well being. Cancer (June 22-July 22)

Caregivers beware: Taking care of an elderly parent also comes with taking care of business. And handling finances might be as daunting as the role reversal that comes with taking over for Mom or Dad. Chicago Tribune staff writer Lisa Black know this firsthand. She writes in a column: "Like a few million other baby boomers, I have become a caregiver for my mother, a shift of roles that comes with many stresses. Cleaning out her California apartment and persuading her to leave the sunny climate for an assisted living facility just over the border near our home was just the start.

John J. O'Connor III, a lawyer who went to Washington in a historic role, as the husband of the first female U.S. Supreme Court justice, has died. He was 79. O'Connor died Wednesday in Phoenix of complications arising from Alzheimer's disease, the court said in a statement. He had been diagnosed with the disease nearly two decades ago. After Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman to serve on the nation's highest court in 1981, her husband gave up a partnership at a venerable Phoenix law firm to accompany her to Washington.

With their second-most dramatic postseason comeback in franchise history Sunday afternoon and the New York Yankees' division series-clinching win over the Minnesota Twins hours later, the Angels went from the haunted to the hunted. Many of the questions posed to the Angels before their division series with Boston were of a mental, even mystical, nature: Are the Red Sox in your heads? How do you break the "hex" the Red Sox have over you? The Angels disposed of those queries and the Red Sox -- with Sunday's comeback from a 5-1 fifth-inning deficit for a 7-6 victory in Fenway Park that completed the first playoff sweep in club history.

Eighth inning, Dodgers leading Chicago Cubs by two swings, phone rings in the Dodgers' bullpen for their setup reliever. Hello? Is turmoil home? "I started taking my stuff off," George Sherrill said, "then somebody said, 'It's Brox,' and I'm like, 'Ohh.' " Ohh . So went the three-letter theme to the two-run Dodgers victory over the Cubs on Saturday, a 2-0 decision that featured a bullpen shake-up that could not have been more pronounced if the pen were actually inhabited by a bull.