Winning, pingpong go together for Indians

The Cleveland Indians have revived an old tradition.

Pitcher Chris Perez recently brought a pingpong table into the clubhouse at Progressive Field, and with the Indians taking over first place in the American League Central it might have been a good move to help keep everyone loose.

"We'd been talking about it for a long time," Perez told the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal. "But nobody pulled the trigger, so I pulled the trigger."

In the 1990s, when the team started a run of six straight division titles, Albert Belle introduced the game in the Indians' clubhouse. Tournaments were held, and it got competitive with Orel Hershiser reportedly the king of the hill. But then-manager Charlie Manuel had the table removed, claiming it was a luxury the team didn't need, and it had remained that way until Perez reintroduced the game.

Current manager Manny Acta has no problems with it.

"I don't think it'll be a distraction," Acta said. "It's just a pingpong table. I think computers and iPads are more distracting."

Yeah, especially when the Wi-Fi is down and everyone freaks out over a lack of a signal and an inability to send their tweets.

■ 'LUCKY' SHORTS? - Soccer players have been fined for many indiscretions over the years, be it attacking a referee or uttering a racist comment. But Nicklas Bendtner was fined for showing off his skivvies.

Bendtner, who plays for Denmark, displayed his green underwear bearing "Paddy Power," the name of a bookmaker, after scoring a goal against Portugal in the Euro Championship on June 13. UEFA, the governing body overseeing the tournament, fined him 100,000 euros (about $127,000) and suspended him for a World Cup match in 2014.

UEFA determined Bendtner violated the code of proper conduct and lowered the boom on him.

"It's just a lucky pair of boxer shorts," Bendtner said. "I didn't know I was breaking any rules, but I am aware of that now."

It begs the question: If you can get fined for wearing lucky underwear, how lucky is it?

■ PRICE OF SUCCESS - In the wake of winning the NCAA basketball championship, Kentucky announced Tuesday it is raising ticket prices for next season.

Per-game ticket prices will increase $5 for the 2012-13 season, and annual donations for approximately 7,000 lower-level seats will go up, ranging from an additional $50 to an additional $400. The $5,000 donation required for the best seats in Rupp Arena will remain unchanged, which is good news for superfan Ashley Judd, although Leftovers surmises she could handle any price hike in her courtside seats.

The guess is most Wildcats fans won't complain as long as John Calipari keeps taking their team to the Final Four. What's an extra five bucks when you can watch the next Anthony Davis cut down the nets on Championship Monday?

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL