St. Louis restaurant drops Albert Pujols’ name, but statue stays

Albert Pujols. ( Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times)

The owners of the Pujols 5 Westport Grill in St. Louis, named after former Cardinals star and new Angels first baseman Albert Pujols, are dropping the slugger’s name from the restaurant, but a larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of Pujols pointing to the heavens will remain in front of the establishment.

The statue, which is 10 feet high and weighs 1,100 pounds and was unveiled in November, was a gift to the Pujols Family Foundation from an anonymous donor, and the land it sits on is owned by the surrounding Westport Plaza complex, not the restaurant.

Todd Perry, chief executive of the Pujols Family Foundation, said there were no plans to remove the statue in response to the restaurant name change or Pujols’ decision to leave the Cardinals to sign a 10-year, $240-million deal with the Angels in December.

– Mike DiGiovanna, Sports Now, Los Angeles Times

…Continue reading St. Louis restaurant drops Albert Pujols’ name, but statue stays

Ducks hit speed bump in 6-2 loss to Stars

Amazing how a few  weeks of hard work and well-deserved momentum  can be undercut by, say, 69 seconds of bad hockey.

Or two sloppy shifts. And all that heavy lifting goes for naught.

That is exactly what happened to the Ducks on Wednesday night in a rapid-fire first-period meltdown at Honda Center.  Dallas defeated the Ducks, 6-2, scoring three goals in a span of 3 minutes 54 seconds and two goals in 69 seconds.

That turned into a 3-1 lead for the Stars after one period. Though the Ducks flickered back to life, briefly, holding the deficit to two goals by the end of two periods. Still, in the end, their opening-period lapse proved costly.

– Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times

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Ducks’ Andrew Cogliano nets hat trick in 4-1 win over Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Andrew Cogliano has made a point of shooting more in recent games. With the luck he had against Phoenix, he might just start shooting on every touch.

Taking advantage of shaky goaltending, Cogliano had the second-fastest hat trick in Ducks history, scoring three goals in less than seven minutes to help Anaheim open the second half of the season with a 4-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday night, the Associated Press reported.

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Newport’s Cochran to throw for UC Berkeley

Newport Harbor High senior discus thrower Ethan Cochran said he plans throw for the UC Berkeley men's track and field program after high school. (Scott Smeltzer, Daily Pilot)

Newport Harbor High discus thrower Ethan Cochran said he plans to sign a national letter of intent with the UC Berkeley men’s track and field program on Wednesday, which is National Signing Day.

Cochran, the CIF State champion in the boys’ discus last season, said he chose the Golden Bears over Oregon, UC Irvine and Alabama because he felt the school is the all-around best fit for him.

National Signing Day for track and field, football, boys’ water polo, soccer, cross country and field hockey marks the first day high school seniors can sign with a college.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza, @DCPenaloza

Up next for the Ducks: Tuesday at Phoenix

When: 6 p.m.

Where: Jobing.com Arena

On the air: TV: Prime Ticket. Radio: 830

Records: Ducks 18-23-7; Coyotes 22-20-8.

Ducks record vs. Coyotes: 2-2.

Update: There was the almost-daily transaction with the Ducks’ minor-league team in Syracuse. On Monday, the Ducks recalled center Mark Bell and defenseman Nate Guenin. They joined the team for practice in Phoenix on Monday afternoon. The Coyotes recalled defenseman Chris Summers from the Portland Pirates, their affiliate in the American Hockey League. Coyotes Coach Dave Tippett told reporters in Phoenix: “In our situation, we needed the [All-Star] break bad. Our group has been exhausted for a couple of weeks. I think we were in a six-week period, 28,000 miles traveled. It’s unheard of in the league. I can’t remember ever a stretch like this.”

– Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times

Ducks’ Corey Perry is one low-profile MVP

Ducks right wing Corey Perry is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the Ottawa Senators in the second period of a game last week at the Honda Center. (Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times / January 21, 2012)

Most valuable player = mostly vanishing privacy.

You would think a league MVP in a major, celebrity-driven market would see his privacy vaporize in a dizzying flurry of red carpets, photo drive-bys and TMZ blurbs.

Thankfully, there are rare exceptions to that expected course of events.

Corey Perry, the Ducks forward who is the NHL‘s reigning MVP, recently showed that his skill for anticipation does not lie only on the ice. He seemed to know where the question was headed after the first couple of words and got off his response in rapid-fire fashion.

– Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times

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Angels closer Jordan Walden looks to change things up

A top priority for Angels closer Jordan Walden this spring will be to improve a changeup he had very little confidence in and rarely threw last season, when the rookie right-hander was 5-5 with a 2.98 earned-run average, 32 saves and 10 blown saves in 62 games.

“I showed bits and pieces of it last year, but I’m going to really work on getting a feel for it in spring-training games,” Walden told play-by-play man Terry Smith on Wednesday’s broadcast of Angels Talk. “Me and [pitching coach Mike Butcher] have been working on that and my slider.”

–Mike DiGiovanna, Sports Now, Los Angeles Times

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Chuck Finley provides laugh track for Jered Weaver roast

There were plenty of toasts but more roasts at Tuesday night’s dinner to honor Angels pitcher Jered Weaver as the Orange County Youth Sports Foundation sportsman of the year, the funniest lines delivered by former Angels pitcher and renowned quipster Chuck Finley.

Finley took the podium at the Newport Beach Marriott, turned to Weaver and said, “Six years [in the big leagues], and you’ve already got a roast. It took me 17 years …. Don’t get too high on your horse, though. If this thing was really special, they would have had it at the Ritz-Carlton.”

Finley then looked down the head table and, one by one, picked off almost everyone who had roasted Weaver before him.

– Mike DiGiovanna, Sports Now, Los Angeles Times

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Angels Manager Mike Scioscia moonlights as auctioneer

If Mike Scioscia retires from his job managing the Angels when his contract expires after 2018, he might consider a gig as an auctioneer. He did a fair impersonation of one Tuesday night at a banquet honoring Angels ace Jered Weaver as the Orange County Youth Sports Foundation Sportsman of the Year.

Impatient with the pace of bidding on four club seats for an Angels game, Scioscia grabbed the microphone from former Olympic gymnast Peter Vidmar, who was conducting the auction.

After ordering Vidmar to “give us a handstand,” which the 50-year-old Vidmar did — holding the seat and the back of a chair, no less — Scioscia started in on Angels Chairman Dennis Kuhl, who was at a table in front of the dais.

– Mike DiGiovanna, Sports Now, Los Angeles Times

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Ducks’ winning streak halted by Stars, 1-0

DALLAS — Kari Lehtonen made 27 saves for the 18th shutout of his career, defenseman Alex Goligoski scored in the first period and the Dallas Stars ended the Ducks‘ winning streak at five games with a 1-0 victory on Tuesday night, the Associated Press reports.

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