D2


S


THE SIDELINE B


ack when I was working on a story about Alex Ovechkin this winter, I


asked a local restaurant owner what the Russian machine liked to eat. “The other day for lunch,” he


offered as an example, “[Ovechkin] had fried calamari and fried mozzarella sticks.” When you’re Alex Ovechkin, perhaps random fried foodstuffs makes an acceptable lunch. When you’re a 20-year old kid trying to make an NHL roster or impress a front-office type, you might take a bit more care with your diet. And thus, the dilemma of a Braden Holtby. The goalie prospect — in Ballston for the Caps Development Camp this week — tries to keep excess


D.C. SPORTS BOG Dan Steinberg


sugars out of his diet. Last season, he lived in an apartment in Hershey. Right above an ice cream shop. “King Cone,” he said. “I ate


there twice. Once when my parents came down, and then once we went in there with the [Calder] Cup and filled the Cup up with ice cream. It was


Quick Fix 6From the blogs at washingtonpost.com/sports


WIZARDS INSIDER Wizards reach agreement with veteran center Armstrong The Wizards agreed to terms on a one-year deal with veteran center Hilton Armstrong on Monday. Armstrong, a lottery pick in 2006, has spent the past four seasons in New Orleans, Sacramento and Houston and has career averages of 3.4 points and 2.6 rebounds. Terms were not disclosed. Washington, however, lost another free agent target on Sunday, when the Phoenix Suns landed Josh Childress in a sign-and-trade deal with the Atlanta Hawks. Childress was the veteran swingman the Wizards perhaps most coveted after watching him in the EuroLeague Final Four in Paris in May. A Stanford alum, Childress was someone the Wizards had hoped would add some professionalism and character to the roster. —Michael Lee


QUOTABLE


“My role is to tell them where to be and give my team the best chance to win.”


Wizards rookie point guard John Wall on his job as floor general after leading Washington to an 84-79 victory over Golden State on Sunday in summer league action.


WASHINGTON KASTLES S. Williams out for season because of foot injury Serena Williams, who was scheduled to play Wednesday in Washington for the World Team Tennis’s Washington Kastles, will not take the court at all this season for the Kastles because of a foot injury. She was scheduled to play in four matches this season for Washington. “I’m very disappointed that I


won’t be able to play in the WTT matches this season,” Williams said in a news release. “It is always such a fun experience and I love interacting with the fans in the cities that I don’t often have the opportunity to play in during the rest of the year.” According to the news release, Williams cut her foot, which caused her to miss Friday’s match against the New York Buzz.


—Jorge Castillo


KLMNO


WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS Check out Wizards Insider for full coverage of John Wall’s performance in the Wizards’ summer league game Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.


TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010


WASHINGTON POST LIVE WITH IVAN CARTER 5 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Mark Zuckerman and live guests from the MLB all-star festivities join The Post’s Gene Wang and Eric Prisbell.


At Caps Development Camp, you are what you eat


awesome. We just had about 10 guys hop behind the counter and start filling it.” Even that, though, was more a photo-op than a dessert binge. When Holtby goes back to Saskatchewan, his diet raises a few eyebrows. “People make fun of me when


I go home,” he said. “My parents are like, ‘Mix in a piece of cake or something.’ ” A couple hours before we


talked, Holtby and several dozen other Caps prospects were given a 30-minute seminar on nutrition. The session, led by team consultant Sue Saunders, could have doubled as an advertisement for Whole Foods. Saunders told the players they need to eat whole grains and


organic dairy products, that they should explore green tea and Kashi products and Greek yogurt and almond milk, that they need to be buying Omega-3 fortified eggs, that some people think hummus “sounds kind of gross” but that it’s a delicious snack. This, needless to say, is a bit


different from what Bruce Boudreau was taught as a prospect. “When we were younger, the talk was pasta the day of the game and steak the night before the game,” the coach said. “Things have changed. That was about as basic as it was. You take the Brooks Laichs of the world — they’re very conscientious about what they put in their bodies.” Take Joe Finley, for example.


The 6-foot-8 defenseman missed most of the past season because of a hand injury, and he said he spent part of his time on the shelf learning about nutrition. Which is why he could lecture me about soluble fiber and Lecithin, and why he asked three consecutive questions to Saunders after her presentation, including one about whether you can ever have too much dairy, and another about what alcohol you’d want to drink as part of a nutritious diet. You know, just in case.


Finley said he added 15 pounds to his frame while actually decreasing his body fat while he was out. He was eating up to 12 eggs a day, six raw in his protein shakes, until someone


pointed out “you don’t have to be Rocky.” And he significantly upped his fiber intake, which teammates have noticed, because he’s been “lighting up the weight room, kind of stinking ’em out a little bit,” Finley joked. But these players seem to be legitimately on-board with this nutrition thing. Finley packs organic chocolate milk as a snack and orders brown rice instead of white. Holtby goes to a Hershey farmers market every week. “It’s something you have to understand,” he said. “That’s your job, and if that’s all I have to do [to make the NHL], it’s pretty easy.”


steinbergd@washpost.com


Chat Rewind Michael Wilbon A full transcript is at washingtonpost.com/sports


MARC SEROTA/GETTY IMAGES The way LeBron James announced his decision to go to the Miami Heat continues to draw criticism from fans. Question / Comment


I don’t think fans are angry that LeBron switched teams, but that he appeared to go on the path of least resistance. . . . As it stands now, he just looks like he’s ring chasing, and doesn’t have the competitive fire that we expect our great stars to have. — Burnsville, Minn


TELEVISION AND RADIO


MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 8 p.m.


WNBA 7 p.m.


SOCCER 9 p.m.


CYCLING 7 a.m.


All-Star Game » WTTG (Channel 5), WBFF (Channel 45), WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM)


Why did no one on “the decision” special bother to ask LeBron why he chose to do the special rather than release a statement to the same effect? Or LeBron, what did you hope to gain from dragging this decision out on television. He came off as an oblivious child. — NYC


Los Angeles at Tulsa » ESPN2 U.S. Women vs. Sweden » ESPN


Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were all drafted the same year, but it is absolutely inconceivable that they would have had a “free agency summit” and decide to all play together. Their competitive natures told them they wanted to beat their rivals, not join them. The NBA as I knew it is dead. — Boston


Tour de France » Versus


Did you get a chance to look at John Wall’s first pro game? If so, what did you think? — Wiz Fan


only from Comcast. DIGEST PRO BASKETBALL


Fisher will remain with the Lakers Derek Fisher announced in a


statement on his Web site that he’ll re-sign with the Lakers. The five-time NBA champion enter- tained offers from other teams as a free agent, including a recent conversation with the Miami Heat. He decided not to leave the franchise where he has spent 11 of his 14 NBA seasons. . . . Charlotte Bobcats center Tyson Chandler says he’s been told he’s being traded to the Raptors amid a report Toronto is also poised to send Hedo Turkoglu to Phoenix. Chandler wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press that his agent, Jeff Schwartz, informed him that he’s being traded. A Bob- cats spokesman said no deal is complete. The Toronto Star reported the


Suns would get Turkoglu and send guard Leandro Barbosa to the Raptors, then move guard Jo- sé Calderón and forward Reggie Evans to Charlotte for Chandler and forward Boris Diaw. The re- port said the deal is pending league approval. . . . Udonis Haslem is staying with


the Miami Heat, turning down of- fers that would have paid him more. Haslem signed a five-year deal worth around $20 million, roughly $14 million less than he could have received if he accept- ed offers from the Dallas Maver- icks and Denver Nuggets. . . . A person familiar with the ne-


gotiations says the Orlando Mag- ic have agreed to a deal with free agent Quentin Richardson. The deal was first reported by Yahoo Sports. . . . The San Antonio Spurs have signed Tiago Splitter, three years


after drafting the heralded big man from Spain. The 6-foot-11 center has played in the Spanish League since being picked 28th overall by the Spurs in 2007. . . . The Timberwolves and Heat


completed their trade that sends Michael Beasley to Minnesota for two second-round picks and cash considerations. The Heat get Minnesota’s second-round picks in 2011 and 2014. . . . Indiana Pacers center Roy Hib-


bert (Georgetown) won’t need surgery after injuring his right knee while training with the Ja- maican national team in the Do- minican Republic. Last week’s in- jury is a mild strain of his right patellar tendon. After being ex- amined by the Pacers’ medical staff, Hibbert was cleared to re- new summer workouts immedi- ately. ... The Minnesota Timberwolves


have signed free-agent center Darko Milicic to a four-year deal worth $16 million in guaranteed


money. The former second over- all pick was planning on return- ing to play in Europe before a February trade to Minnesota en- ergized his career. The Timber- wolves are Milicic’s fifth team in seven years.


HOCKEY The Anaheim Ducks have signed veteran left wing Josh Green to a one-year contract. An- aheim announced that Green will return to North America after spending last season with Modo in the Swedish Elite League. The 32-year-old Green has played for eight NHL teams, scoring 74 points in 322 career games. . . . The Chicago Blackhawks, who


have lost seven players since win- ning the Stanley Cup a month ago, said they plan to keep 23- year-old restricted free agent de- fenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. Calling Hjalmarsson one of his team’s “core” players, Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman


said that Chicago will match the four-year, $14 million offer sheet the defenseman signed with the San Jose Sharks last week.


PRO FOOTBALL An emotional John Madden


says there’s something missing because the late Don Coryell isn’t in the Pro Football Hall of Fame while some of his notable players and former assistants are. Madden, choking up while speaking at a memorial service at San Diego State’s basketball are- na, says he, Joe Gibbs and Dan Fouts are in the Hall of Fame be- cause of Coryell. Coryell, the innovative coach whose Air Coryell offense pro- duced some of the most dynamic passing attacks in NFL history, died July 1. He was 85. Coryell was a finalist for the Hall of Fame in February but was not selected for induction. Gibbs and Fouts also spoke at the service for Coryell, who


coached San Diego State, the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Die- go Chargers. . . . The Detroit Lions have agreed to terms with backup quarter- back Shaun Hill (Maryland). The deal keeps Hill under contract through the 2011 season. The Lions got the nine-year veteran in a March trade with the San Fran- cisco 49ers, who received a 2011 draft pick.


SOCCER World Cup television viewer- ship rose 41 percent over four years ago for English-language telecasts in the United States, with Spain’s 1-0 overtime victory over the Netherlands setting a record. Sunday’s game in Johannes-


burg, which gave the Spanish their first World Cup title, was seen by 15,545,000 viewers on ABC, according to fast national ratings.


— From news services Answer


I agree with your perception of the reaction to LeBron. And a great, great many former players, close to and away from the game, agree with you passionately. I know Hall of Fame players whose immediate reaction was “Wow, I’m glad the league isn’t full of superstars who chose not to compete with the best, but simply join the best.”


I didn’t ask him, no. And I didn’t feel like I wanted to come off as second-guessing my bosses on live television . . . just as I don’t use this space or the newspaper column to go through a major second-guessing of my editors of The Washington Post.


Ummmm, yes on all counts. AND, don’t think those three players haven’t expressed that sentiment, EXACTLY as you just did.


I know where you’re going with this . . . but John Wall won’t play his first pro game until November . . . No, I didn’t watch. Summer league basketball, to me, is like off-season workouts and training camp in football; it’s largely a waste of time if you’re trying to form opinion.


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