LITTLE ROCK — Knuckleball as hard to catch as hit
Toronto catcher J.P. Arencibia has been preparing to catch knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, working with the Cy Young Award winner in Nashville, Tenn., since the New York Mets traded Dickey to the Blue Jays in December.
That doesn’t mean Arencibia expects it to go well.
“The problem going in is that you know you’re not going to catch every ball. Even the best catchers are going to struggle every once in a while, Arencibia said. “As I’ve had more and more reps, I’ve become more familiar with how he’s going to throw. I could sense which way the ball was going to go. But that pitch is really humbling. Each time you think you’re figured it out, that’s when it hits you right in the chest.” Faking it
Having a fake girlfriend has been tough on Manti Te’o’s popularity.
The former Notre Damelinebacker recently was chosen No. 2 among the nation’s 10 most disliked athletes in a Forbes Nielsen/E-Poll survey. The only athlete liked less than Te’o was disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong.
If it’s any consolation to Te’o, the “deceased” Lennay Kekua was No. 1 in the most disliked fake girlfriends poll, which, of course, is fake.
Oh, deer
Doug Ferguson of The Associated Press writes that Vijay Singh, who admitted to using deer antler spray, was the target of jokes at last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
“One photo circulating last week showed Singh’s face photoshopped on a deer,” Ferguson writes. “A magazine reported seeing Singh in the fairway at Spyglass Hill during a practice round with his caddie, trainer, manager - and five deer that had wandered out of the woods.”
It doesn’t help that Singh, who hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 2008, is in a rut.
Stacking the deck
The world’s largest baseball card was revealed in Lakeland, Fla., on Tuesday.
The Topps Co. card is 90 feet tall, 60 feet wide and features Detroit Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder.
Topps didn’t say if this was the regulation-sized card for the 275-pound Fielder.
Butting in
From Brad Dickson of The Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald:
“John Isner won the prestigious ‘Best Butt in Tennis’ award in December. And I thought there were too many awards in college football.”
“Shaquille O’Neal is launching a new gluten-free vodka.
Sounds like somebody didn’t get the memo over exactly what constitutes a healthy diet.”
“Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco went to Disney World and rode in the Main Street Electrical Parade.
Coming from the Superdome, he was just glad to be somewhere that had electricity.” Banned booster?
It seems even the annual race to the top of the Empire State Building can’t avoid a performance-enhancing scandal.
NBC’s Jimmy Fallon reports, “One of the competitors tested positive for elevator.”Quote of the day “That’s not a great
number, I’ll put it that way. We’d like to change that.” Arkansas junior guard Kikko Haydar on the Razorbacks’ 1-18 road record under Mike Anderson
Sports, Pages 24 on 02/13/2013