Local loss has ties to ‘The King’
The Bishop Gorman Titans weren't expecting to do anything to honor the 34th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.
The King died on Aug. 16, 1977, but his surviving family members have something to relish today thanks to Gorman and royalties from sales of Elvis toilet paper.
Gorman lost in the opening game of the American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C., on Friday to a team from Tupelo, Miss., the town in which Elvis first shimmied.
Adding significance to the 6-3 win by Tupelo is that Kirk Presley, a third cousin to Elvis, manages the team.
The New York Mets selected the younger Presley, a right-handed pitcher, in the first round of the 1993 draft out of Tupelo High School. He received a signing bonus of $900,000 -- the same amount the family gets in annual royalties from Elvis toilet paper.
Arm injuries ended his career in 1998.
The significance of the Tupelo manager's bloodlines should have been revealed to the Titans to give them added incentive to pound Tupelo. Such knowledge would motivate anyone growing up around here who has been bombarded by "Viva Las Vegas."
■ IMPROMPTU TEST -- An 18-year-old was dismissed from the U.S. Ski Team's development squad after he was accused of getting drunk and urinating on the floor near a fellow passenger aboard a redeye flight from Portland, Ore.
Police detained Robert "Sandy" Vietze, of Warren, Vt., at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday morning after he arrived there.
His defense should be that athletes are tested for drugs so frequently that he dreamed it was time for him to fill another bottle.
Or that he's just a moron.
■ WATER HUGGERS -- Conservation groups are calling on San Francisco leaders to improve plans for lessening the environmental impact of the America's Cup in 2013, when the world's fastest yachts will race on San Francisco Bay.
The groups want details of how the city will protect water, air and land from pollution during the event's 50 days of racing, with expected crowds of 500,000 a day.
Isn't a yacht race for boats powered by the wind? That can't get more "green."
Conservationists next will try to ban home runs to right field of AT&T Park, where the Giants play, because homers into McCovey Cove could nail a fish or waterfowl.
Wait, the Giants already have a self-imposed ban on hitting home runs.
■ BELOW THE BELT -- A high school student injured in a locker room incident before a football practice last year in Man, W.Va., is suing the Logan County Board of Education over the incident.
The sophomore was left with bruised ribs and head wounds, was bleeding from his ears and had swollen testicles.
No details needed beyond "swollen testicles."
He doesn't need Perry Mason to win this case; he just needs an all-male jury.
And it will be held in Man, W.Va.
Name your price, kid.
COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
