Fordham basketball can count on cantor
Good luck charms for sports teams can take on all various forms. At Fordham, a Catholic institution, a cantor at a Bronx synagogue has brought apparent luck to the Rams' basketball team.
Daniel Pincus is 3-1 when he sings "The Star Spangled Banner" at Rose Hill Gymnasium. He was 3-0 before the Rams lost to Xavier on Saturday.
"I think, not bragging, that if I'm singing it well, singing it with spirit, it gets inside people's hearts and heads," Pincus told the New York Daily News.
A member of Pincus' congregation suggested he sing the national anthem at the basketball games. Pincus called the school, gave a sample of his work, got hired and has become the team's good luck charm.
Fordham coach Tom Pecora is a big fan of Pincus.
"He belts it out," Pecora said. "And I'm very jealous because my teachers always told me to stand in the back and just mouth the words."
As for having a Jewish cantor perform at a Catholic school, Pecora said: "I think the basketball gods are nondenominational."
■ PAINFUL PANCAKES -- Here's another one of those fluke sports injuries that has nothing to do with the playing field.
According to SI.com, Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Penner was sitting at the breakfast table Saturday when his back suddenly gave out while leaning over a plate of pancakes.
"I just leaned over to dip into some delicious pancakes that my wife made," he said. "It's just like it (the pain) wraps around you and squeezes. ... So it was disappointing.
"Hopefully it's just an isolated incident, and not something that's going to become chronic."
Nothing against his wife's cooking, but it might be easier for Penner to grab an Egg McMuffin on the go next time.
■ CHIDE NOT LEST YE BE CHIDED -- For some Pittsburgh Steelers fans who made the trip to Denver to watch their team suffer a painful overtime loss to the Broncos on Sunday, there was one final indignity awaiting them at Denver International Airport.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that United Flight 648 to Pittsburgh had a message at the gate for Steelers fans that read "How 'Bout That (Tim) Tebow?"
The Broncos play at New England on Saturday. Maybe after the game the United flight from Boston's Logan Airport to Denver will have a message at the gate that says "How 'Bout That (Tom) Brady?"
■ SAVE THE REF! -- Thanks to three quick-thinking soccer moms, a Louisiana high school referee is alive today.
Tommy Manor collapsed while officiating a game, and Daria Hebert and Rhonda Zeringue immediately sprang into action when they realized there was something seriously wrong and began performing CPR. A third mother, Sandee Ellender, also assisted. That procedure continued until firefighters arrived on the scene.
The actions of Hebert, a registered nurse, and Zeringue, the director of nursing at St. James Parish Hospital, allowed Manor to live to ref again.
COMPILED BY STEVE CARP
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
