Mark Messier, 42 years old, is 6 points away from passing Gordie Howe in all time NHL scoring. For the second time, in an inappropriate way, the Rangers trade Messier's rights. Even though Messier was probably playing third and fourth line for most of the year, he managed at 42 years young to post numbers almost as good as 30-something Eric Lindros, the former "next Gretzky".

Messier had 18 goals and 22 assists vs. Lindros' 19 goals and 34 assists. He's clearly hanging on so he can pass Gordie Howe in all-time points. He brought NY it's first Stanley Cup in half a decade.

The loss of his presence after the first trade was the beginning of a very long decline for the Rangers. For years now, they had an amazing team on paper, the highest payroll in the league yet the last time they made the playoffs was before the first trade of Messier, losing ironically to Lindros and the Phillies.

They should have had the class to hold on to him, allow him to reach his milestone and retire gloriously in New York where he is loved. Maybe he still will and this trade was only a weird formality. Time will tell. But having watched the Rangers for years, I expect them to keep going nowhere until there is some different management. I know sports is a big business. But not only does management have no class, but they also have not been managing the team too well business-wise.

Happy Father's Day, David Robinson! Even though I was rooting for New Jersey, I'm happy for David Robinson that he went out playing a tremendous game, playing his last game as a champion, winning the championship in the waning moments of Father's Day. It doesn't get much better than that for a player. Congratulations!

Dominic Hasek gave such a bruising check to a player during an inline hockey game (inline=rollerblading) that the player had to go to the hospital!

When I saw the first couple of games between the Pistons & the 76ers, I really felt that the Pistons would win the series, despite being the underdogs. Tonight they have done it. The game went into overtime, some would say needlessly, as the 76ers coach egged on the ref until the 76ers got a costly technical foul...

In the meantime in hockeyland, on a power play, Minnesotta finally broke through the iron net of Jiggy and Anaheim. But with a 3 game lead, it may be too late for Lemaire and the Wild. Impressive runs for both teams no matter what happens, though!

Update: While posting this Anaheim tied the game. Instead of getting tired and weary the deeper they go into the playoffs, Anaheim seems to get more vitality and energy. They will be tough to beat in the final.

If Giguere does not allow the puck in the net, the Mighty Ducks cannot lose! Bravo Jiggy.

Even though they lost Game 1, the Dallas Stars are my pick to go all the way this year. Marty Turco only gave up 2 goals in the loss and if he stays hot, he can carry Dallas all the way. He's only 28 years old. He has a great career ahead of him.

The Montreal Expos are 3 and 0?? I thought the team was sold to the "league" and would be dissolved this year. What happened?

P.J. Stock, doing what he does best. I know hockey never was and never will be a "gentle" sport, but I'd rather see finesse players like Super Mario, than a PJ Stock, whose style of play I've never liked. What is the skill level in hacking at the hands of a Mike Modano level player? Anyone can do that....

Michael Waltrip has won the Daytona 500.

Serena Williams and James Blake defeat Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik to win $50,000 diamond-studded tennis balls. Here's an excerpt of the story:

Williams, playing here for the first time, and Blake, who was called in as a substitute in 2000, both pronounced themselves converts to the cause after carting off a prize packet of $120,000 and a pair of champagne-coloured, diamond-studded tennis balls worth $50,000 apiece.

Facto.org pointed out this article on sports stats guru Jeff Sagarin. An interesting read.

Super Mario Lemieux is living up to his namesake...his name in french means the best..he is averaging about 2 and a half points per game.... Mark Messier, even older than Super Mario, is amazing...recovering from a shoulder injury that took him out for half the season last year, that I thought would end his career...well he's proven how good he is... 7 goals already for the poor Rangers... Only 2 assists, I guess the people he's passing to aren't scoring...

Eric Lindros was supposed to lead the team but he has only a couple of goals and 5 assists...

Michael Jordan is doing ok...10 points tonight, a bad game one, but 21 points in 21 minutes the other night.

So the old fogies still have a thing or two to show the younguns...

F1 rejects radical change

Although change is badly needed, those proposed initially and finally rejected, are far worse than it is today. Here are the changes that WILL happen and were ratified:

The changes agreed for 2003 are as follows: The single one-hour session on a Saturday has been abandoned in favour of two one-hour sessions - one each on Friday and Saturday. Cars will go out one at a time for single flying laps. The points system will change in a bid to keep the championship open for as long as possible and to award points down to eighth place rather than sixth. The new system awards 10 points for a win, and will then go eight, six, five, four, three, two and one. Team orders that affect race results have been banned. The Belgian Grand Prix has been struck off the calendar because of a row over tobacco advertising. Tyre companies will be allowed to custom-make tyres for each team they supply.

In particular I like the ruling that the team can't decide who wins. This shouldn't be too hard to enforce. It would be rather obvious and which driver that is in the lead will be willing to give it up if they can point to a rule as their backup?

I also like each car getting a chance by itself on the race track. It's about time.

The cars will go out on Friday in championship order. And the faster car on Friday will get a second chance last on Saturday.

Good news for F1 fans.

Barry Bonds and the Giants prepare to battle The Anaheim Angels (aren't they supposed to be called the California Angels?) in game 7. Yesterday was actually a very exciting game. I even caught the beginning and for the first time saw Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz open it up on Fox Sports...seems Charlie's "Angels" are "Angels" fans.

Barry Bonds continues to impress. I'm not a big baseball fan but no matter what sport, when someone takes a sport to a new level, I tend to watch. He just hit a tough slider out of the ballpark. And when I say out, I mean OUT.

HBO pulls 'Arli$$'; Wuhl to stay on

I can't believe it's been on for 8 seasons already.

Nice article about Super Mario...

Following on the heels of the "success"? of MSNBC, Microsoft and the NHL have announced
that they will team up to deliver Web hockey.

Apparently almost every goal, every save will be available for $30 for a full season. That is one subscription I would happily pay for. Bravo.

The NHL needs to do something to get the word out that Hockey is an exciting sport! This is not a bad move at all.