In tight times, Lady Monarchs' game at Stanford won't fly

Grounded: The accumulation of frequent flier miles is not a good enough excuse for the Old Dominion women's basketball team's trip to Palo Alto, Calif., where it lost by 49 points to Stanford on Thursday. The schedule is left over from the previous coaching regime, but how can anybody think that in tough economic times, crisscrossing the country for a basketball game - not to mention an old-fashioned thrashing - is the right thing to do? 

Wordplay By all accounts, Chicago Cubs managerial hire Dale Sveum is a "good choice." We'll have to take the baseball media's word on this. All surgeries to athletes are "successful" and every new manager is a "good choice." That's just the way it works.

Neigh Jerry Sandusky keeps referring to what went on in the showers as "horseplay" and "horsing around." Actual horses are offended.

Local ties In the spirit of the season, our Norfolk neighbors at PETA asked the town of Turkey, Texas, to change its name to Tofurky. The mayor declined. It's not known if he gave PETA the bird.

One-sided On TV, David Stern doesn't act like a commissioner who wants the NBA season to begin. And isn't it about time ESPN stopped giving Stern a forum from which to excoriate the players? Coverage of the lockout could use a lot more balance.

Chip off block Ryan Ripken, Cal's son, recently committed to South Carolina to play baseball.

Hurting Baltimore's other Iron Man, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, is reported to be questionable for Sunday's visit from the Bengals because of a toe injury. If he's a no-go, Lewis' streak of consecutive games ends at 57.

Retro look Not to be cynical - though how can you be anything else when talking about the Orioles - but Baltimore fans better hope that bringing back the cartoon bird for the caps isn't the club's biggest offseason move. For what it's worth, I always liked the ornithologically correct bird.

Numbers game It figures that two of the least impressive one-loss BCS teams - Clemson and Virginia Tech - play in the ACC.

Wondering Why do gold uniform pants look so good on the Packers and so bad on the Redskins?

Car talk It's ironic that Jennifer Lopez is featured in a TV ad for a Fiat that has a very small trunk.

Hoop du jour While many of us haven't been paying much attention to the sport, college basketball already has had a few upsets. But here's the thing: They have no impact on the season.

Venue change Don't tune into a UCLA basketball game expecting to see the Bruins play at famed Pauley Pavilion. While the facility undergoes major renovations, the team has moved to the L.A. Sports Arena, with four games scheduled for Anaheim.

Quick hit The Presidents Cup is an example of what golf was never meant to be - a team sport.

Rugged All NFL players are tough; Ben Roethlisberger is virtually indestructible. The Texans lost Matt Schaub to injury, the Chiefs are without Matt Cassell. But a broken thumb on his throwing hand won't keep Ben out of the starting lineup when Pittsburgh's season resumes next Sunday. Roethlisberger's resiliency is why you can never count out the Steelers.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com