No ordinary Joe – Smith
David Wright has more common name
Mets relief pitcher Joe Smith takes a lot of kidding in the clubhouse that he has the most common name in the country.
“All the guys always say to me, ‘How many Joe Smith’s are there?’ ” Smith said. “Well, thanks to my uncle, it’s not as common as you would think.” Smith’s uncle, Jeff Ritter, sent him an e-mail from http://www.howmanyofme.com that listed 4,998 Joe Smith’s in the United States – behind David Wright, who shares his name with 6,824.
“I was shocked with the results,” Joe said. “I didn’t think there would be more David Wrights than me.” Some other interesting results from the Web site revealed that there are 620 Jose Reyes’s, 211 Billy Wagners, 1,746 Daniel Murphys and one Damion Easley. Smith’s last name is the most common surname in the United States, followed by Johnson and Williams.
Glanville: Brett can
hack NY – now
Former Falcons coach Jerry Glanville said Brett Favre is much better equipped to handle New York now than he was as an undisciplined rookie in 1991.
“Way back when I had him, New York [Jets] wanted him, and I always said if we would have traded him to New York [with] what he was doing at that age, his career was over,” Glanville said on SIRIUS NFL Radio. “What’s neat is he’s so mature. He knows now and he can put the blinders on, I hope, and just go play football. He now is the type of guy, I think, that can put everything aside.”
Parcells, jocks
fight cancer
Dolphins VP of Football Operations Bill Parcells will throw out the first pitch as the New York State Troopers battle Saratoga’s leading jockeys in this annual softball game tomorrow night in Saratoga.
Tickets are $5 per person; $20 for a family of five or more. The first 200 paid admissions will receive a free 8 x 10 photograph of the jockeys, while supplies last. All proceeds benefit the Catie Hoch Foundation, an organization dedicated to the fight against childhood cancers. For more information, contact John Steve of the State Police at (518) 457-9609 or Gina Peca at the Catie Hoch Foundation at (518) 877-7359.
NASCAR’s
‘Jackie’
Former Eastern Motor Racing Association champ Brian Donovan was a regular in Victory Lane at the old track in Bridgehampton and on slower days served as his own one-man pit crew.
Now the Long Island Pulitzer Prize-winning-journalist is back behind the wheel for his first book, “Hard Driving,” the story of NASCAR’s first African-American driver, Wendell Scott. Due out Aug. 19, it chronicles Scott’s struggle as auto racing’s version of Jackie Robinson during the segregated 1950’s.
Nike+ run
for charities
The world’s largest running event, the first Nike+ Human Race, will take place along the waterfront at Randall’s Island on Aug. 31. The 10k race will allow participants to support three official Nike+ Human Race charitable partners – the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the World Wildlife Federation and ninemillion.org. Money will be raised via give back from registration fees, a percentage of Nike+ Human Race T-shirt sales and a donation of $1 million from Nike. For more information on the Nike+ Human Race, visit http://www.nikeplus.com.
For Nate, it’s all
about the Skillz
Knicks guard Nate Robinson hosts his second annual Nate Robinson Skillz & Drillz Youth Basketball Camp basketball camp Aug. 18-23 at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northern Westchester in Mount Kisco, N.Y.
Two camp sessions take place Aug. 18-20 (Monday-Wednesday) and Aug. 21-23 (Thursday-Saturday) at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northern Westchester in Mount Kisco, 351 Main Street. Camp registration is open to boys and girls ages 7-16 at the cost of $300 per camper. Camp hours are 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. with lunch provided. For more information, visit nyknicks.com or call (347) 327-4995.
Fans get vote
on MSG teams
MSG’s summertime shows “Fans’ Most Wanted: Knicks” and “Fans’ Most Wanted: Rangers” will air their season finales Friday night featuring the fans’ picks for all-time teams for both franchises, as decided via voting on MSG.com. Some surprises from the voting include former Rangers defenseman Brad Park getting the most individual votes of any Rangers or Knicks player on the lists, and Patrick Ewing getting 79 percent of the vote for best all-time center over Willis Reed.
Gotta be the shoes
(with photo ??? in your e-mail)
In honor of the Olympics, Reebok is unveiling the Yao Ming Olympic shoes called The Yao Ming Limited Edition Pump Omni HexRide. Five of the shoes will be auctioned off to raise money for the Yao Ming Foundation. The shoe features Yao’s Zodiac sign, jersey number and initials.
Dundee: Ali an icon
(with mug?)The documentary “Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami” airs nationally on PBS tomorrow, and an enhanced version will be released on DVD Tuesday by Paramount Home Video.
His legendary trainer Angelo Dundee said charisma wasn’t the only reason Ali is an icon.
“Well, he’d be an icon anytime. What he did changed the whole complexion of boxing,” Dundee said. “Got to realize he was a high school kid. He had trouble adding with me. And, the spelling, forget about it. When he used to sign autographs, anything over five letters, he was in trouble. I’d have to spell it out for him. He graduated high school on account of his popularity.”
“First day he came to my gym, he popped up the steps, and he said, ‘Get all your bums lined up, Angelo, I’m going to knock them all out.’ And he – guys would laugh. They would have fun with it, because I used small guys to keep up his speed. I didn’t look to work with big cumbersome guys. It would have slowed him down. It was my own gimmick, my own thoughts. Thank God he came out good.”
Strahan speaks out
Former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, in the September issue of GQ, tackles a couple of controversial issues.
On whether there are any gay players in the NFL: “The culture of the NFL is still all about machismo,” Strahan said. “All that pressure. You can’t tell me it wouldn’t affect your game. But you know what? People would get over it. You get shocked at things, and then you get over it.”
On steroids in the NFL: “People look at baseball, and because everybody is doing it over there, they think it must be true in football, because football is a sport where you really need them. That’s [stupid]. Steroids won’t make you a better football player. I know guys who are stronger than an ox, can’t play a lick of football. Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane. Football is a lot more than running into each other and falling down. It’s angles. It’s science.”