Will We Ever Get Relief From Rocker?

Retired pitcher John Rocker, perhaps best known for the comments he made during the 1999 Braves-Mets playoff series, has been in New York, promoting a reality series in which he’s one of the stars.

That’s not all, according to a New York Post gossip column, which reports that the former Atlanta reliever has been seen “snuggling” with fitness model Alicia Marie, who is black.

The Post inquires, “Has race-baiting ex-Atlanta Brave pitcher John Rocker turned over a new leaf?”

Off her rocker? Apparently, there’s something to this story. Marie, who is also a freelance writer, wrote of Rocker recently in widewebofsports.com:

“Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing in at roughly around 220 toned and activity-conditioned pounds, Rocker strode out looking like an athletic Adonis, if you will, and every bit as impressive as he did in his major league days.”

Here’s hoping Marie’s modeling is better than her writing.

Trivia time: On this date in 1972, Bill Walton scored 24 points to lead UCLA to an 81-76 triumph over Florida State and help the Bruins claim the national championship in college basketball. What was the added significance of the victory?

Safety first: The mayor of a town in New Zealand is trying to cancel a nude cycling race scheduled Sunday. The reason? Participants won’t be wearing helmets.

Not too bright: A British man accepting welfare and disability because of what he claimed was a condition that left him perpetually tired and out of breath, has received a one-year jail sentence for fraud.

Authorities in Liverpool became suspicious when they learned that Stephen Sinnott was a member of the Penny Lane Striders running club and had been competing in half-marathons.

Don’t bet on it: Ron Kantowski of the Las Vegas Sun writes: “Now that Paul Tagliabue and his Paleozoic Era views toward legal sports gaming will be removed from the equation, perhaps his successor will be a little more progressive in viewing the city that indirectly made it famous.

“If there’s one thing that everybody in Las Vegas agrees upon, it’s that an NFL franchise here would be a, well, lock, to succeed.”

Phoenix still rising: The return of Amare Stoudemire to the Phoenix Suns’ lineup Thursday had the Arizona Republic’s Paola Boivin concerned that it may affect team chemistry.

“Privately, there is anxiety about a room of fragile egos,” she wrote. “This is a fact of life in the NBA, a league of highly paid athletes whose success is fueled in great part by their self-absorption.”

So much for anxiety. Stoudemire returned from his preseason injury and scored 20 points in a seemingly effortless victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Trivia answer: The Bruins finished the season 30-0 and increased their winning streak to 45 games.

And finally: Comedian Argus Hamilton on the importance of March Madness to American society: “Children need to learn there is more to life than poker.”