Commentary

The buzz

By Times Staff Writer
Published February 20, 2005

WHO'S HOT

Jose Canseco. Love him or loathe him, the guy has brought an important issue to light. We hope Canseco's new book, in which he describes using steroids and claims other baseball players did the same, will lead to some real discussion about their dangers.

How about a tie between Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League? Does anyone really believe the big shots in baseball had no idea players were using steroids? Don't insult our intelligence, gentlemen. As for hockey, well, let's just say the owners and players got what they deserve. It's pretty sad when a sport is in the news more during a lockout than when guys are actually on the ice. Of hockey's canceled season, TV host Jay Leno said, "I just hope there are no riots in south central L.A. tonight. It's going to be a tinderbox when people find out there's no hockey."

ESPN college football commentator Lee Corso is known for being one of the nicest guys in the business. But apparently the coach-turned-analyst lost his temper while being interviewed on a Dallas-based radio show. During the interview, Corso, who roomed with Burt Reynolds at Florida State, talked at length about Reynolds' nude centerfold that appeared years ago in Cosmopolitan magazine. When one of the show's personalities followed by saying, "And not a lot of people know this, but Lee Corso was actually the second person to pose nude," Corso got into an argument with the host and reportedly stormed off, but not before calling him a "jerk."

A Boston area paper reports that a 12-year-old who traveled to Boston for the New England Patriots championship parade collected more than a dozen autographs from players, but had them snatched away by a uniformed police officer. He had signatures from Ty Law, Adam Vinatieri, Mike Vrabel and Corey Dillon. The boy's father said he tried contacting Boston police but kept getting directed to a telephone line that never answered. ... Tecmo, the well-known gamemaker, apparently isn't thrilled that hackers have released a patch for its volleyball game that enables you to make the players compete in the nude.

Times staff writer Keith Niebuhr compiled this report, which used information from other news organizations.

[Last modified February 20, 2005, 00:54:14]