Geiger counters
The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times recently published a story about the 40-acre estate put up for sale by former NBA player Matt Geiger. It’s a 28,000- square-foot mansion that has 40 televisions, a cigar room, a deejay station and dance floor, several bars and hot tubs, and includes a 5,200-square-foot guest house, a 330,000-gallon pool with a central lava pit, a putting green and an artificial lake stocked with 2,500 bass. Asking price: $19.9 million. Geiger signed a $52 million contract with Philadelphia in 2001, but knee injuries forced him into early retirement in 2002, and apparently some 76ers fans aren’t over it. Among the responses to the story on the newspaper’s website: “He took that franchise down single-handedly,” and, “I think we paid Matt $1 million per point.”
Britain’s great coverup
“I think the whole country should be covered.”
Mary Carillo, NBC tennis analyst, on the rain delays at Wimbledon and the roof being built to cover Centre Court
Number’s up for Gomez
The New York Rangers introduced their two major free-agent acquisitions Monday, and the new teammates immediately had to work out a minor problem. Scott Gomez and Chris Drury wore No. 23 while winning three Stanley Cups between them. When they came into the team’s practice facility for the first time, each had their name and No. 23 stitched on the back of a new Rangers sweater. So general manager Glen Sather tossed a puck to see which one would keep the number. As in 2001, when the Avalanche defeated Gomez and the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, Drury came out on top again. “We flipped and I lost,” Gomez said. “I wonder if I can go back and be a free agent to get my number back.”
$175 for that? He must be hallucinating
Just when you thought you’d seen every collectible imaginable, along comes this: 37 years after Dock Ellis’ memorable performance against the San Diego Padres, you can get a baseball with the former Pittsburgh Pirates hurler’s autograph and the words “I threw a no-hitter on LSD” scrawled on it. As for the $175 asking price, you not only get the baseball but a certificate of authenticity stating, “I was high on LSD when I bought it.”
