Kobe Bryant Broke His Nose; The Horse to Beat at the Kentucky Derby
Today in sports: Kobe Bryan's injury explains why there's so little defense in the NBA All-Star Game, Nike begins selling a $130 Jeremy Lin-themed shoe, and Mets owner Fred Wilpon speaks.
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The Los Angeles Lakers have confirmed that Kobe Bryant broke his nose after being fouled hard by Dwayne Wade in the third quarter of yesterday's NBA All-Star game. It's unclear how many regular season games Bryant will miss or why Wade violated All-Star game protocol by momentarily attempting to play defense. The good news, if you're a fan of the Lakers, is that Bryant was healthy enough to stay on the bench and razz LeBron James in a non-good natured fashion for passing up multiple opportunities to take what would have been a game-winning shot for the Eastern Conference. [ESPN.com]
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The Daytona 500 -- which went 54 years without being postponed due to weather -- has now been delayed twice in the span of 24 hours. NASCAR officials now say they're hoping to start the event at 7:02 p.m. tonight, weather permitting. [AP]
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Nike commenced the process of cashing in on Jeremy Lin over the weekend by unveiling a Lin-themed, blue-and-orange version of their Hyperfuse sneaker. The shoes -- which aren't going to be sold in stores -- are going for a cool $130 and, per Nike, won't be delivered to customers for another month. [Newsday]
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The Kentucky Derby is still three months away, but Union Rags is already looking like the horse to beat. This was particularly true yesterday during his dominant win at the Fountain of Youth Stakes that's being called "Barbaro-esque." That's a fair comparison, considering both horses came from trainer Michael Matz's stables, though not one superstitious race fans want to hear, even though they really do look the same and run the same. [The New York Times]
New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon conducted a rare (for him) 20-minute minute chat with reporters Monday, just before the team's first full-squad workout of the spring. In addition to confirming a New York Times report that SportsNet New York has a deal to acquire four minority shares in the club for about $100 million, Wilpon also tried to reassure fans that he'd be the club's owner "for a very long time," which may or may not have struck Mets backers as a threat. [New York Daily News]
