GOOD
Philip Anschutz
Six into four might not go, but that's the only sum going against the multibillionaire this weekend. With ownership stakes in the Los Angeles Kings, Lakers and the Staples Center, Anschutz is set to cash in when both those teams and the Los Angeles Clippers play host to NHL and NBA playoff games at the arena. With six games in four days, and an average ticket price of $206, it's going to be a bumper summer in the Anschutz household – like it wasn't already going to be.
BAD
Tom Renney
After helping the Oilers secure three consecutive first overall draft picks, head coach Renney was rewarded Thursday – with a pink slip. The former Rangers and Canucks bench boss likely felt like Doug Collins when general manager Steve Tambellini told him the bad news, and now will have to watch from afar as someone else rides in on a white horse, Phil Jackson style, to lead the group of budding superstars to the promised land.
Liverpool
Things were bad enough when a $191-million (U.S.) investment on players last year failed to improve fortunes at Anfield – costing club legend Kenny Dalglish his job Wednesday. But when an up-and-coming manager decides he would rather carry on coaching in the soccer backwaters of Swansea than have a chance at taking charge of the five-time European champions, can they seriously still consider themselves a big club?
Bryce Harper
Brett Lawrie wasn't the only major-league whipper-snapper who got a little hot under the collar this past week. The Nationals outfielder was so incensed after going 0-for-5 in a 7-2 win over the Reds last Friday night that he smashed a bat against a wall, only to have it recoil and hit him in the face to the tune of needing 10 stitches above his left eye before playing on Saturday. And they say physics is for nerds.
LeBron James
To coin a Yogi Berra phrase, it's déjà-vu all over again for the Heat forward. Ocean views may remind him that he's no longer in Cleveland, but on the court it's looking awfully familiar. With fellow Big Three members Chris Bosh sidelined indefinitely with a strained abdominal muscle and Dwyane Wade contributing just five points in Thursday's loss to the Pacers, James is being called on to do it all once again. Down 2-1 in the series, the outcome is looking awfully familiar, too.
Paul Attfield