Welcome to Friday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY FRIDAY:
MLB: Rangers at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)

SATURDAY:
MLB: Rangers at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)

SUNDAY:
MLB: Rangers at Red Sox, 1:35 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ Lakers guard Ron Artest continues to make headlines while the NBA is stuck in a lockout. In an interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Artest guaranteed the Lakers will win the 2012 NBA title. “Win it all,” he said he asked how his team will do. “Win the whole thing. That’s a guarantee.”

Artest, recently named to the upcoming season of “Dancing With the Stars,” wasn’t as confident about being successful on the dance floor. “That’s going to be a problem,” he acknowledged.

Artest also said that new Patriots receiver Chad Ochocinco inspired him to change his name to Metta World Peace. “When Ocho did it, I was like, ‘That’s kind of dope,’ I want to change my name,” Artest said.

Artest’s petition to change his name was put on hold due to unpaid parking tickets. Said Artest: “I don’t know how to pay a parking ticket. I’ve never paid a parking ticket in my life. There’s so much fine print. I just get them and throw them in my glove compartment.”

♦ Former ESPN writer Bruce Feldman left the company for CBS and finally is speaking about his situation with the sports media giant after being silenced for his involvement with former Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach. Feldman said ESPN was well aware he was writing “Swing Your Sword” with Leach, who is suing ESPN. Yet, ESPN still chose to limit Feldman’s workload and keep him from attending events related to his job covering college football. After being offered a one-year contract extension instead of the three years he expected, Feldman departed for CBS. “There’s more to the sports world than ESPN,” Feldman said, adding that he could no longer trust his former employers.

Replied ESPN in a statement: “We have significant disagreements with his account. Beyond that, we aren’t commenting.”

♦ The Louisville (Ohio) High School football team was penalized for excessive celebration because two players pointed toward the sky after a go-ahead touchdown with 1:15 remaining in their game against Walsh Jesuit this week. The players were paying tribute to a 16-year-old teammate who died the previous week in a car accident. Following the penalty, assessed on the kickoff, Walsh Jesuit took advantage of the better field position and was able to get into position to kick a 29-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. “We have good kids here,” Louisville coach John DeMarco said. “It wasn’t taunting or anything like that, it was celebrating one of their friends.”

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Sept. 2, 2001, with Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina one strike away from a perfect game, which Red Sox pinch-hitter singled to center field?

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Welcome to Wednesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY WEDNESDAY:
MLB: Yankees at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ A former payroll manager for the defending World Series champion Giants was arrested and charged with embezzling more than $1.5 million from the team’s salary and expense payments. Robin O’Connor, who was fired July 6, allegedly started taking the money beginning in June of last year. Her scheme unfolded when she forged a letter from a team human resources manager in an attempt to explain her boost in income while in the process of applying for a loan to buy a property in San Diego. O’Connor, a 41-year-old married mother of two who had a salary of $80,000, apparently admitted to at least some of the thefts after being confronted by Giants management.

♦ In The Wall Street Journal, Reed Albergotti looks at another consequence of the NFL’s new kickoff rules: It makes it more difficult for teams to identify players who have the combination of ability and fearlessness needed to succeed in the league. He uses former Patriot Rodney Harrison and controversial Steelers linebacker James Harrison as examples of players who turned heads with their play on special teams and earned their way into the starting lineup.

♦ Lakers guard Ron Artest said he will donate the $125,000 (plus any additional winnings) he’s receiving for his apperance on “Dancing With the Stars” to cancer research. Artest originally had said he wasn’t considering the show because of a lack of dancing skill, but his 8-year-old daughter convinced him otherwise. “She said, ‘Daddy, you can do it,’ ” Artest recalled. “It’s going to be fun.”

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Aug. 31, 2002, which Red Sox player committed an error for the first time in 250 games, ending his American League-record fielding streak at 592 chances?

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Welcome to Tuesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY TUESDAY:
MLB: Yankees at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)

AROUND THE WEB:

Jeremy Shockey

♦ Tight end Jeremy Shockey has not avoided controversy during his NFL career, but on Monday he showed his better side. When fellow Panthers tight end Ben Hartstock could not breathe because he was choking on a piece of pork tenderloin, Shockey stepped in and dislodged the meat, the National Football Post reported.

“[Hartstock] started to go to the bathroom, and I don’t know if he collapsed, but he couldn’t breathe,” said Hartstock’s agent, Mike McCartney. “Some new guy came and tried to give him the Heimlich. It didn’t work. Then Shockey hit him in the back pretty hard and out came the meat. The Panthers told me it was pretty scary.

“Ben told me, ‘Shockey came over and gave me the Heimlich maneuver and saved my life.’ He was in good spirits and he’s real thankful for Shockey.”

♦ U.S. women’s soccer team goalie Hope Solo, building on her newfound celebrity after the team’s World Cup runner-up finish, will compete on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” this fall. Solo and Lakers guard Ron Artest are the two athletes who were named to the Season 13 cast, announced Monday. They’ll join actor David Arquette, Sonny & Cher offspring Chaz Bono, legal analyst Nancy Grace, model Elisabetta Canalis, reality TV personalities Kristin Cavallari and Rob Kardashian, talk show host/actress Ricki Lake, singer/actress Chynna Phillips, war veteran/actor J.R. Martinez, and fashion analyst Carson Kressley.

♦ Real Clear Sports has a list of the top 10 shorelines for college football this season, while Stewart Mandel at Sports Illustrated makes his bowl predictions. Mandel has Alabama and Oklahoma in the BCS title game, and Boston College playing Navy in the Military Bowl.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Aug. 30, 1997, Nomar Garciaparra‘s American League rookie-record hitting streak came to an end against the Braves at how many games?

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With the lockout seeming more and more likely to derail the upcoming NBA season, the Lakers’ Ron Artest will trade his basketball sneakers for dancing shoes. Terez Owens reported Sunday that ABC will name Artest as part of the upcoming “Dancing with the Stars” season during Monday’s cast announcement.

By the time the season airs, Artest likely will have changed his name to Metta World Peace.

Lakers guard Ron Artest will not be able to change his name to Metta World Peace as expected Friday. The delay, according to a Los Angeles court official, is because “Ron has to clear outstanding traffic warrants.”

Artest will next appear in court Sept. 16.

In an interview with Inside MMA on Friday, Shaquille O’Neal listed Danny Ainge among the five former players he would like to face in a hypothetical mixed martial fight.

“Danny Aigne one time bit [Wayne] “Tree” Rollins‘ finger almost off in a match,” O’Neal said. “That’s not a move you can do in MMA but … the grit, the ferocity, the tenacity.”

The other four players named were Xavier McDaniel, Charles Oakley, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley. All five played in the 1980s and 90s.

Of the current NBA players, O’Neal said,”Ron Artest, you know you could probably put in there. But other than that, I’m not sure.”

Welcome to Friday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY FRIDAY:
MLB: Red Sox at Mariners, 10:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)

SATURDAY:
MLB: Red Sox at Mariners, 10:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)
MLS: Revolution at Crew, 7:30 p.m. (CSNNE)

SUNDAY:
MLB: Red Sox at Mariners, 4:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ Lakers guard Ron Artest told The Los Angeles Times Thursday that he is “definitely going to play for the [Chesire] Jets” of the British Basketball League. Although the Jets can only pay him about $2,500 per month, Artest was lured with a promise that he will get to appear in a television soap opera and perform his music. “When they told me I had the opportunity and asked if I wanted to do a soap opera, I said, ‘Of course, man.’ I’m not going to run away. When I was a kid, I wanted to be on TV. Why would I run away from being on TV?” Artest is expected to join the team in late November, missing the first two months of the season partly because he first promised to play in some exhibition games for a team in Finland.

♦ Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire, also is a politician in his homeland, recently elected to lead the Right Cause party. He has set some lofty goals. “I think I am capable of doing the tasks of the prime minister,” he said Thursday in Moscow. The prime minister (the country’s second-highest post, currently held by Vladimir Putin) is appointed by Russia’s president (Dmitry Medvedev). Prokhorov added that he needed to be in agreement with leadership in order to fulfill such a task. “I could not be a prime minister under an agenda which I don’t believe in,” he said.

♦ The New York City area has had three new sports stadiums erected in the past few years. According to Grantland’s Peter Richmond, it’s 0-for-3. Richmond writes that America seems unwilling to take design risks. Said designer Carlos Zapata: “The baseball stadiums are the ones that are a total shame. They are looking backward.”

♦ Florida Atlantic football coach Howard Schnellenberger, who coached the University of Miami to its first national championship in 1983, announced this will be his final season of coaching. In The Miami Herald, Greg Cote looks back at the 77-year-old Schnellenberger’s storied history.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Aug. 12, 1986, which Red Sox pitcher pinch hit and singled in a 6-5 loss to the Royals?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We had good guys, by and large, [but he] walked in the locker room and vomited on it.” — Former Vikings coach Brad Childress, talking about Randy Moss

STAT OF THE DAY: 47 — Points scored by the Patriots in Thursday’s rout of the Jaguars, the most points they have ever scored in a preseason game

‘NET RESULTS: Impressive goal from Irish soccer player Paddy McCourt.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Tim Lollar

SOOTHING SOUNDS: Dire Straits lead singer Mark Knopfler is 62 Friday.

According to an ESPN report, Ron Artest will visit the Cheshire Jets in Britain later this month to discuss the possibility of him playing for the club during the lockout.

Artest tweeted: Go Jets!!!!! Uk , here we come!!! Jets are the best!!! Jets are the best!!! New chant!!!!!!!!!

On the team’s website, director Peter Hawkins said: “We are honoured that Ron has even mentioned the prospect of joining The Jets. Financially we have nothing to offer him, but it would be so significant for UK basketball we have offered him a stake in the club and all the love in the world!”

Under FIBA rules, Artest would have to return to the Lakers once the lockout ends.

Welcome to Thursday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY THURSDAY:
MLB: Royals at Red Sox, 1:35 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ Controversial Lakers star Ron Artest reportedly is considering an offer to appear on “Dancing With the Stars.” Artest, who is in the process of changing his name to Metta World Peace, apparently is excited about joining the show, although the schedule might conflict with the early part of the NBA season should the work stoppage end.

♦ The University of North Carolina fired football coach Butch Davis Wednesday, after almost a year of accusations of inappropriate behavior by his players and staff members. In the Charlotte Observer, Luke DeCock writes that it’s the right move but the wrong time — Davis should have removed long ago.

♦ The suburban Cleveland man who became well known via YouTube last year for wearing a LeBron James jersey to an Indians game days after “The Decision” and was booed out of the park was in fair condition in a Toledo hospital Wednesday after being attacked early Monday morning. Matthew Bellamy, 30, had just left a bar with a group of friends and had stopped at a house to drop off someone. That’s when 23-year-old Robert Horton, who had followed in another car, attacked Bellamy, punching him three times as his head slammed against the concrete ground. An arrest warrant was issued for Horton, who fled when police were called.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On July 28, 1983, the Rangers replaced which former Red Sox manager with which other former Sox skipper?

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Celtics captain Paul Pierce has enjoyed his extended offseason thus far. “The Truth” showed he can bluff with the best of them at the main event of the 2011 World Series of Poker, lasting 17 hours and 40 minutes on the felt, according to the ESPN Poker Blog.

This begs the question: What else are NBA players doing during the lockout? Who is making the best (or worst) use of the extra time? Find out in the list below.

10. McGee stays cool during the summer

Wizards center JaVale McGee showcased his dunking ability last year, throwing down two balls into two hoops and three into one, on separate attempts. Now, he’s showing off his planking ability.

9. J-Rich hits the greens

Free agent swingman Jason Richardson has been spending time on the golf course. The former Arthur High School star hosts an annual charity tournament that has raised $23,000 for the United Way over seven years. Richardson hopes to eclipse the $30,000 mark this year, and also find a team to play for.

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