Celebration extra sweet for Hamilton

Champagne celebrations in sports have been traced to the 1940s, and a new tradition began Tuesday after the Texas Rangers won their first playoff series in the club's 38-year history -- 49 if you count when the franchise was in Washington, D.C.

Teammates sprayed Josh Hamilton, the Rangers' American League Most Valuable Player candidate, with a bubbly fluid when he walked into the clubhouse.

Instead of champagne and beer, it was ginger ale.

"Everybody yelled, 'Ginger ale!' and I just jumped in the middle of the pile, and they doused me with it," Hamilton told ESPNdallas.com. "It was the coolest thing for my teammates to understand why I can't be a part of the celebration, and for them to adapt it for me to be a part of it says a lot about my teammates."

Hamilton is a recovering drug and alcohol addict and avoided the celebration after the team earned a playoff spot three weeks ago. Once Hamilton was doused with the soft drink, he left the locker room before his teammates uncorked champagne.

"It was pretty amazing to get a little taste of what the celebration was like," Hamilton said. "The guys really doused me good. This stuff burns your eyes just like the alcohol does."

The Yankees are favored to beat Texas when the American League Championship Series begins Friday, but the Rangers' camaraderie is an intangible that shouldn't be overlooked.

■ BLEEP YEAR -- Perfect Timing Inc., a Wisconsin company, shipped 2011 Cleveland Cavaliers calendars, but it is not likely many will be bought. The cover features LeBron James, who opted in July to leave the Cavs for the Miami Heat.

Few have sold in Cleveland, but anything "LeBron" is hot in Miami.

As of mid-September, the Heat had seen merchandise sales rise 1,000 percent over last year, with a long waiting list for James' jerseys, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Cleveland.com website.

Perfect Timing -- the company should consider a name change -- is working on calendars for the Green Bay Packers featuring Brett Favre and another for New England with Randy Moss on the cover.

■ GIVING THE FINGER -- Playing with pain doesn't faze Virginia Tech junior left guard Greg Nosal.

Nosal's left pinky finger got caught in an opponent's face mask Saturday in the Hokies' 45-21 win over Central Michigan.

After seeing a glove on the hand turn crimson, he headed for the sideline thinking he cut one of his fingers.

"I was more shocked about seeing my bone and the yellow fat in the finger," Nosal told the Lynchburg (Va.) News & Advance. "I kind of knew this wasn't the most normal cut."

Trainers scoured the field at halftime looking for the pinky tip until Nosal realized it still was in his glove.

He got a shot of Novocaine and played in the second half.

"My pinkies get jammed every day," Nosal said. "I guess I have to cut my pinky off every time just to get some attention."

He is expected to play Saturday against Wake Forest.

COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL