Sonics move should give reporters food for thought

This Sonics move can really eat at an NBA writer, too.

"As a longtime NBA traveler, I'd much rather see the SuperSonics in Seattle," wrote Sam Smith of The Sporting News. "It's a beautiful city with phenomenal restaurants and culture and a quirky populace that makes you wonder at times if the country tipped in the late 1960s and the hippie movement landed there and stayed. It's a place unlike any in the U.S.

"Among the best last meals has to be the Copper River salmon available in the late spring.

"It hardly compares with my favorite IHOP in Oklahoma City."

Sticking with singles

Spanish pop singer Enrique Iglesias says he has repeatedly asked girlfriend and ex-tennis vixen Anna Kournikova to marry him — to no avail.

As for how many times, Iglesias says he lost count somewhere around love-40.

Attention, Bud Selig

Among the top 10 ways to make the 2008 baseball season more exciting, courtesy of e-mailers to CBS's David Letterman:

• "Exotic dancers on each foul pole.

• "Bullpen cars driven by Lindsay Lohan.

• "Stop testing for steroids, start testing for who watches 'The View.'

• "If a player falls into the stands, you get to keep him!"

Seizing the moment

Some of ex-pitcher Denny McLain's sports memorabilia and household items have been seized for sale at auction to pay creditors, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Now comes the hard part: getting the seized stuff away from O.J. Simpson.

Spare the hyperbole

"It's OK with me if Yankees president Randy Levine wants to describe a construction worker who liberated the David Ortiz jersey from underneath the new Yankee Stadium as 'heroic,' " wrote Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. "I just hope he wasn't within earshot of a New York City firefighter."

Pouting Thomas

The Blue Jays released designated hitter Frank Thomas on Sunday, just one day after he was benched and complained about his lack of playing time.

In a related story, Thomas asked to be henceforth known as The Deeply Hurt.

Talking the talk

• Steve Rosenbloom of ChicagoSports.com, fearing for Bears quarterbacks after season-opening road games against the Colts and Panthers: "When the first two weeks require blocking Dwight Freeney and Julius Peppers, it's possible that the Bears will be down to their third-stringer while the offensive line faces manslaughter charges."

• David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on an astronaut in orbit throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before a Yankees-Red Sox game last week: "Apparently, they had a baseball sitting around the space station from Chan Ho Park's days with the Rangers."

• Elliott Harris of the Chicago Sun-Times, after Miss Illinois Ashley Hatfield turned town a Blackhawks player's request for her phone number, telling him she has a longtime boyfriend: "So much for offseason moves."

Old News Dept.

In a classic gotcha moment, an ESPN interviewer whipped out a 1974 birth certificate on Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada, forcing him to admit he is actually two years older than he's always claimed to be, making him 33.

Veteran baseball watchers say they hadn't seen Tejada this red-faced since Danny Almonte struck him out looking at the 2001 Little League World Series.

Sideline Chatter appears Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com