He Found Hole, but Soccer Team Found Loophole

Last Sunday, Carlos Mojica connected in a “Kick-to-Win” contest sponsored by the Toronto Lynx soccer team. He lofted the ball though a hole in a refrigerator-shaped cutout in the net during a game against the Worcester Wildfire.

Mojica, a 42-year-old house painter, thought he had won $10,000. But the team balked, saying Mojica had earned only a consolation prize of $500.

The Lynx have offered several explanations as to why Mojica didn’t hit the jackpot. Initially, team officials said it was because it was his second attempt and that only the first try was videotaped, as required by insurers.

Mojica contends the Lynx is waffling.

“Show me the real money,” is his stance.

Trivia time: Who is the leader in stolen bases in a season for the Angels?

Go away! Good thing Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox, isn’t in the running to buy the Dodgers. ESPN’s Chris Myers asked Reinsdorf on “Up Close” if he could own any other team, which team would it be.

“The L.A. Dodgers, and I’d move them back to Brooklyn,” said Reinsdorf, a Brooklyn native.

Scoring drought: As an example of how scoring has diminished in the NBA finals, the Chicago Bulls averaged only 87.8 points for the six-game series with Utah. The Jazz averaged 87.2.

That is quite a drop, compared to the NBA record set in the 1966-1967 finals. The Wilt Chamberlain-led Philadelphia 76ers averaged 124.5 points for their six-game series with the San Francisco Warriors, who averaged 117.8.

Counterpoint: Steve Aschburner in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis on Dennis Rodman: “Hasn’t it gotten to the point where getting slurred by Rodman is as good as a character reference from some legitimate, upstanding citizen? If Rodman likes me, then I’ll start to worry.”

Add Rodman: His future? “Two words. Casino greeter,” writes Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Misery baggage: Clipper Coach Bill Fitch on unhappy Shawn Kemp of the Seattle SuperSonics, who wants to be traded:

“The problem is with a guy like that, if he’s unhappy at one place, he’ll find a reason to be unhappy someplace else.”

Looking back: On this day in 1947, pitcher Ewell “the Whip” Blackwell of the Cincinnati Reds fell two outs short of matching Johnny Vander Meer’s major league record of consecutive no-hitters when Brooklyn’s Eddie Stanky singled in the ninth inning.

Looking back again: On this day in 1937, Joe Louis knocked out James J. Braddock in the eighth round to win the world heavyweight boxing championship.

Trivia answer: Mickey Rivers, with 70 in 1975.

And finally: LPGA player Laura Baugh is seven months pregnant with her seventh child. When she teed off last week in the second round of the Oldsmobile Classic in East Lansing, Mich., a spectator shouted, “You the mom!”