Sabathia demotes Cap’n

For the record, CC Sabathia's initials stand for Carsten Charles, not Cap'n Crunch.

But the New York Yankees ace, 30, says he ate at least a box a day of the sugary breakfast cereal until giving it up this offseason.

"Not eating Cap'n Crunch every day," the 6-foot-7-inch Sabathia told the New York Times when asked how he shed 25 pounds, dropping to 290. "I used to eat it a box at a time."

Sabathia said he worked with a nutritionist and a chef to devise a suitable diet and added two daily cardiovascular workouts to his offseason regimen.

The former Cy Young Award winner isn't the first big leaguer to come clean about a cereal habit.

Former slugger Mickey Tettleton once claimed Froot Loops were the source of his hitting power, and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez claimed Cocoa Puffs were his favorite breakfast food.

New York reliever Joba Chamberlain showed up at spring training in Tampa, Fla., this week looking as if he'd consumed more than his share of sugary cereal over the winter.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman wasn't pleased.

"He's heavier, we'll just leave it at that," he said.

Told that Chamberlain said he packed on muscle, Cashman said: "He's obviously heavier. That's as much as I'll say."

Maybe Chamberlain should hire Sabathia's chef, or he could save some money by trying the Special K diet.

■ AUBURN DUMBBELL -- Auburn freshman defensive back Jordan Spriggs either has a strange sense of humor or isn't too bright. We're guessing the latter after seeing what he wrote Tuesday on his Twitter account: "man who is good at writing papers???????????????? I pay…"

Tigers senior defensive end Antoine Carter re-tweeted Spriggs' offer with the message: "u gotta be the dumbest person in the world lol."

But Auburn sophomore linebacker Daren Bates wasn't laughing when he wrote, "you've gone too far mahn."

Three things are clear: Former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton must have been Spriggs' mentor, Spriggs dearly needs someone to write his papers for him and Bates isn't the "mahn" to do it.

■ LUCKY FAN ICED -- Indiana Ice hockey fan Richard Marsh made the shot of his life Saturday night when he struck the puck nearly the length of the ice, through a tiny hole in the target and into the net to win $50,000 in a charity promotion.

The crowd of 4,500 erupted, and the selfless Marsh had already told team officials he would donate the prize money to charity.

But the United States Hockey League said an unidentified private insurance company voided the award because Marsh took the shot in front of the designated starting line.

Ice owner Paul Skjodt told the Indianapolis Star it was an "innocent mistake" on everyone's part and the team will "make it right."

Skjodt also said scoring a goal from that distance was like "hitting the lottery."

Yeah, if you have the winning ticket and don't get paid.

COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL.