Sports

In an age of long commutes, late sports practices, endless workdays and 24/7 television programming, the image of Mom hanging up her dish towel at 7 p.m. and declaring "the kitchen is closed" seems a quaint relic of an earlier era. It also harks back to a thinner America. And that may be no coincidence. A new study, conducted on mice, hints at an unexpected contributor to the nation's epidemic of obesity - and, if later human studies bear it out, a possible way to have our cake and eat it too, with less risk of weight gain and the diseases that come with it. Just eat your cake - or better yet, an apple - earlier.

An attorney for former UCLA basketball player Reeves Nelson filed a suit against Sports Illustrated. The suit alleges defamation, false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress stemming from a story on the Bruins’ basketball program while Nelson was a member of the team. Nelson was painted as a bully to his teammates in the story. He was dismissed from the team in December.

WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana said they improved his strength and posture. Celebrity Kim Kardashian boasted they allowed her to ditch her personal trainer. But federal and state officials said the rocker-bottom Shape-ups and other toning shoes made by Skechers USA Inc. don't live up to the hype from the company and its high-profile endorsers. On Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach company agreed to pay $50 million to settle false-advertising allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 44 states, including California, as well as the District of Columbia.

The fate of trainer Doug O'Neill, charged by California Horse Racing Board enforcement officials with a substance abuse violation involving one of his horses, will be addressed Thursday morning at a board meeting at Hollywood Park. These are usually low-profile procedural meetings, but the item on the agenda involving O'Neill, whose I'll Have Another will take a run at racing's coveted Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes June 9, has triggered much interest and speculation. Racing's enforcement officials ruled that an O'Neill-trained horse, Argenta, tested positive for high levels of carbon dioxide after a race Aug. 25, 2010, at Del Mar. High levels of carbon dioxide are considered evidence of the use of a "milkshake" to illegally boost a horse's stamina.

Brian Price, once a wrecking ball on UCLA's defensive line, has beaten long odds to return to the NFL after two off-season surgeries aimed at keeping his hamstrings attached to his pelvis, rather than breaking loose and coiling down the backs of his thighs. For Price, who will start at defensive tackle Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his excruciating recovery was a 10-step process. Meaning just two months ago, he could run only 10 steps. "You have these doubts in your head at times," said Price, a second-round pick of the Buccaneers in 2010 who, because of his congenitally malformed pelvis, spent the last half of his rookie season on injured reserve.

When Pink Floyd first took its concept album "The Wall" to the concert stage more than three decades ago, even lead singer and chief songwriter Roger Waters couldn't imagine a day when rock music might get any bigger. But 32 years later, his magnum opus about the battle between individual freedoms and authoritarian oppression has magnified beyond Waters' own expectations of yore. Now the man who once excoriated the voluminous expansion of the rock concert experience has helped institutionalize it. "I famously hated playing to large numbers of people and playing in stadiums," Waters, 68, said from a tour stop in Austin, Texas, earlier this month.

PHOENIX — Andre Ethier said Tuesday he does not plan to impose a deadline on negotiations on the contract extension that could keep him out of free agency. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has said he would like to re-sign Ethier and has discussed the idea with Dodgers President Stan Kasten , who took office three weeks ago. Ethier said Tuesday he and his agent have not received a formal contract proposal from the Dodgers. Ethier also said he did not anticipate a point where free agency could be so close that he would put any contract talks on hold before he could test the market.

It was evidently good enough for Gilligan and Robinson Crusoe. But is coconut water a healthy choice for people who aren't stranded on a deserted island? A longstanding treat in tropical regions across the globe, coconut water hit U.S. supermarkets a few years back and is now being marketed with a vengeance. Sometimes billed as nature's sports drink, the slightly sour beverage has also acquired a reputation for being able to improve circulation, slow aging, fight viruses, boost immunity, and reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.

"Oh, you mean the guy with the 70-year-old head and the 20-year-old body-builder body? That picture has got to be Photoshopped." Dr. Jeffry Life smiles when I tell him about the general reaction I get about the famous picture of him with his shirt off, the shot that turned a mild-mannered doctor in his mid-60s into a poster boy for super-fit aging and controversial hormone replacement Appearing in medical-clinic ads in airline magazines and...

You look fat in that. Of course I'll be late. Your baby reminds me of Gollum's uncle. This is what the 2013 Subaru BRZ might say if it could talk. The all-new, rear-wheel-drive sports car starts at $26,265, and boy is it honest - perhaps more so than any other car on the market today, save for its mechanical twin, the Scion FR-S. The two were jointly developed by Subaru and Scion's parent company, Toyota, with both assembled by Subaru in Japan. The question about the BRZ is, can you handle the honesty?

AT MINNESOTA When: 5 PDT. Where: Target Center, Minneapolis. On the air: WNBA.com. Records: Sparks 2-0, Lynx 2-0. Record vs. Lynx (2011): 1-4. Update: Sparks guard Sharnee Zoll sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during Monday's practice and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Zoll, who played in Europe the last four seasons before the Sparks signed her in February, averaged seven assists in the team's two exhibition games but did not play in the team's season opener Friday.

VS. SAN JOSE When: 7:30. Where: Home Depot Center. On the air: TV: KDOC, KWHY; Radio: 1330. Records: Galaxy 3-6-2, San Jose 7-2-3. Record vs. Earthquakes: First meeting. Update: Yes, that really is the Galaxy in last place in the Western Conference, looking for its first win since April 14. And the defending MLS champions will be doing that without two of their highly paid designated players, because captain Landon Donovan and striker Robbie Keane will miss at least the next three weeks because of international duty, Donovan with the U.S. and Keane with Ireland.

DALLAS — If you're looking for quiet and unassuming, Jordan Burroughs might not be your man. Not that you would expect reticence from someone who spends his days grabbing people and throwing them to the ground. This is a guy who does not hesitate to proclaim himself the new "face of USA wrestling. " A guy who will be tweeting from the 2012 London Olympics under the name "alliseeisgold. " "Obviously, it rubs some people the wrong way," he said. "A lot of people mistake my confidence for cockiness.

OAKLAND — Mike Scioscia won't declare that Ernesto Frieri is his new closer — he'd still like the option of using veteran left-hander Scott Downs at the end of games — but the Angels manager's actions and Frieri's performance suggest the 26-year-old right-hander has assumed that key role. Frieri struck out three of four batters in the 11th inning Wednesday for his first big league save, nailing down the Angels' 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics that featured Alberto Callaspo's clutch two-out, two-run double in the top of the inning.

The NFL Players Assn. has accused the NFL of putting a secret salary cap in place in the uncapped 2010 season — a violation of antitrust laws — and is seeking monetary damages that could climb into the billions. The union filed suit against the league Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, accusing the NFL of collusion for conspiring to set a $123-million cap for 2010, when owners would have required the consent of players to do so. The NFL flatly denied the claim.

Dorsey High turned its football players loose at Wednesday's City Section track and field championships, and the competition was overwhelmed. Leading the Dons to their 15th boys' championship was 6-foot-5, 215-pound senior Rashard Clark, who plays tight end and is headed to Arizona State for track. He turned in an individual performance that reminded Dorsey alumni of their great 400-meter champion David Gettis, who went on to Baylor and the NFL's Carolina Panthers. First Clark took the baton on the anchor leg of the 400-meter relay team and rallied from three yards back on the final handoff to pass Taft's anchor runner and win in 41.64.

J. Paul Reddam might not be the type of businessman for whom people suffering through the recession can bring themselves to root. Reddam, 56, is president of Anaheim-based CashCall, the mortgage refinancing and high-interest personal loan company who critics say has unfairly capitalized upon people's financial woes during the country's economic and employment crisis. But the Sunset Beach resident is also owner of Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another, who could provide horse racing with a huge shot in the arm Saturday with a victory in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.

Lamar Odom's voice on the phone frequently was barely above a whisper. The pain clearly registered in words that flowed in stops and starts as he delivered a soliloquy about death and the effect it has had on his psyche. The Lakers forward spoke deliberately and expressed how emotional it has been for him to deal with two recent deaths. Odom attended a funeral in New York on July 13 for his 24-year-old cousin, who Odom said was murdered. The next day, Odom was a passenger in an SUV in Queens when it collided with a motorcycle.

PHOENIX — The hitting wasn't there. You could see that coming. The Dodgers had not thrown out a lineup without Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp all season. The pitching, well, that was a little off. The Arizona Diamondbacks scored early and often Wednesday, pounding Ted Lilly and Jamey Wright for 11 runs in the first five innings of an 11-4 victory over the Dodgers. The Dodgers' six-game winning streak came to an abrupt end. Nonetheless, the Dodgers (30-14) flew home with the best record in the major leagues, and a seven-game lead in the National League West.

OAKLAND — Several big league veterans, including Torii Hunter , were convinced Howie Kendrick would win a batting title some day after the Angels second baseman hit .285 as a rookie in 2006, .322 in 2007 and .306 in 2008. Entering Tuesday, the only category in which Kendrick ranked among American League leaders was strikeouts — he was tied for ninth with 39, including five three-whiff games, in 161 plate appearances. That Kendrick went five for 38 in 11 games through Monday, a .132 clip that dropped his average from .298 on May 9 to .257, is disturbing enough.