"Lazzari's Sports Roundup" - - - 2/18/12

My friend/colleague John Buro--weighing in on Gisele Bundchen's not-so-nice comments about some Patriots receivers following New England's loss to the Giants in the recent Super Bowl: "Gisele may be married to Tom, but she is now definitely DIVORCED from his teammates"..........TRIVIA QUESTION: In Minnesota Timberwolves team history, what player has made the most 3-point field goals? Answer to follow..........Kemba Walker and Shannon Gagne have been named the 2011 "Athletes of the Year" by the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance; in addition, Casey Cochran will receive the first ever Hal Levy High School Athlete of the Year Award. Walker--now with the Charlotte Bobcats--was the only UCONN basketball player to start all 41 games last year. He also set a new single-season record with 965 points and led the Huskies to 11 straight wins on their way to a national championship. Gagne is the University of New Haven's most decorated track athlete in school history. She competed in both indoor and outdoor track in 2010-2011 and became only the third athlete in Division II history to win five national championships in one year; she is also an Academic All-American. Finally, Cochran passed for over 3,000 yards this past season at Masuk (CT) High School and finished as the state's career leader in passing yards, completions, and TD passes. The three award winners will be honored at the 71st annual Gold Key Dinner on April 29th at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington. For more info, contact George Albano--the president of the Alliance; you can email him at Truckin114@aol.com or call (203)434-2320..........New York Post headline last Sunday--regarding the sudden, meteoric rise of NY Knicks guard Jeremy Lin: Linderella Story..........NBA fact: Going into this week, J.J. Redick of the Orlando Magic had made 69-of-72 free throws so far this season (96%)--including a perfect 37-for-37 on the ROAD. I can also guarantee that two of the three he missed were probably halfway down--then somehow rattled out of the hoop..........ITEM: LSU freshman pitcher Carson Baranik is arrested on suspicion of DWI, disobeying a red light, and reckless operation of a vehicle. He is the second LSU hurler to be booked on the SAME charges in the past year; Kevin Koziol was dismissed from the team for his own indiscretions back in 2011. My solution to this pattern of misbehavior? From now on, I'd have the regular LSU catcher write the following in BIG, BRIGHT, ORANGE letters on his catcher's mitt--and use it as a target: DWI=DRINK WATER INSTEAD..........Answer to trivia question: ANTHONY PEELER--who connected on 465 three-pointers as a member of the 'Wolves from 1998 to 2003..........I used to think that watching Wayne Gretzky "glide" on the ice was the ultimate thing of beauty. That all changed the other day when I saw a picture of actress Rachel McAdams wearing a stunning, light blue dress at the premiere of her new movie "The Vow." Goodness, gracious; some things in life are just SO unfair, folks............Happy birthday wishes go out to former NBA player Erick Barkley--who blows out 34 candles on February 21st. A native of Queens, NY who had an impressive career at St. John's, Barkley was chosen by the Trail Blazers in the first round (28th overall) of the 2000 NBA draft. The 6'1" guard just could never duplicate his college success at the pro level. He played only two seasons from 2000-2002--appearing in just 27 games while averaging 2.9 ppg. Following his short stint in the pros, Barkley later became a coach at his high school alma mater--Christ the King in NYC. Best wishes, Erick..........Finally, condolences go out to the family of former college basketball coach Charlie Spoonhour--who died recently in North Carolina at the age of 72. Spoonhour, known for his great sense of humor and turtleneck sweaters, coached Missouri St. (formerly SW Missouri St.) for nine seasons from 1983-1992--winning 197 games and leading his teams to five NCAA tournament appearances. He then took over the Saint Louis program and truly put that school on the "basketball map." While there, he put together back-to-back 23-win seasons at one point and led his squad to the second-round of the national tournament in '94-'95. His success enabled the Billikens to play to sellout crowds while students planted plastic spoons all over campus in honor of Charlie. After a brief retirement, Spoonhour coached at UNLV--where he went 54-31 in three seasons before retiring for good in 2004. Altogether Charlie Spoonhour amassed a Division I college coaching record of 373-202. Thanks for the fond memories, Charlie; you put smiles on MANY fans' faces over the years. Rest in peace, "Coach."