Montreal renames street after Hall of Famer Gary Carter

Gary Carter became a baseball legend as a member of the New York Mets 1986 World Series team but  his best years as a player were spent as a member of the Montreal Expos during his first 11 seasons.

On Tuesday, the catcher was honored with a street renamed for him in Montreal — Gary Carter Street — close to where the Hall of Famer played from 1974-1984.

Carter, who died from brain cancer at age 57 in February 2012, is one of two Expos to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and had his No. 8 jersey retired by the team.

Carter's widow, Sandy, and daughter Kimmy, were unable to attend the event, only learning about it shortly beforehand, but the family will travel to Montreal on June 15 for the official opening of the Gary Carter baseball park.

Long live The Kid.

Joe Namath: Jets wasted a draft pick on Geno Smith

Joe Namath was one of Mark Sanchez's biggest supporters last season — even after the New York Jets quarterback devolved into one of the least efficient signal callers in the NFL. Now — with the doomed Tim Tebow experiment behind them — the Hall of Famer thinks the Jets made a big mistake in drafting Geno Smith and would have benefited more by filling other positions with their second-round pick.

Joe Willie calls Gang Green’s new rookie QB Smith a “sensational athlete” with “good size.” But he also thinks drafting Smith with a No. 2 pick was unnecessary.

“No, I don’t think they needed a quarterback,” Namath said at the United Way’s 20th annual Gridiron Gala at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel on Tuesday. “They needed the other positions filled. Possibly offensive line. They got some defensive line. The safeties are still questionable. The outside linebackers are still questionable.”

Namath thinks the Jets already had a quality quarterback in the much-maligned starter Sanchez even though he has struggled in the last two seasons. But Namath attributed that to “distractions.”

“I am pulling for him,” Namath said of Sanchez. “I know that he can do better than he’s done. And we saw him lead a team to two AFC championship games, right? I also know what it’s like not to necessarily have the weapons you’d like to have, not to necessarily have the time you’d like to accomplish.”

Namath sounded confident that Sanchez will lift himself up — whether it's as a Jet, or in another NFL uniform.

“I know it’s a team game and I know Sanchez is going to play better,” Namath added. “I promise you you’ll see a different guy (this year). I believe you’ll see a different guy.

“Mark’s not a puppy anymore,” he added. “He’s gone through some things, growing process. As far as Sanchez goes, even if he’s not with the Jets, he’s going to play as long as he wants to. He’s that good. As long as he wants to, he’s going to be in the NFL.” 

Because of Namath’s ongoing faith in Sanchez, he said he didn’t think the Jets needed to draft a quarterback last month, but the Jets legend felt confident Geno Smith would be a good fit — on the field and off — if he beat Sanchez out as the starter.

“From what I’ve heard from his coaches in college, they think a great deal of him, so that carries more weight than any of the rumors you might hear,” Namath said. “I have watched him for the past four years. He’s a sensational athlete, good size, [but] he’s got to fill out a bit. He’s a little bit lean to get out with the big men.

“If Geno beats [Sanchez] out at training camp, he deserves to start, [but] I don’t know that the deserving guy always gets to start. The contract speaks for itself sometimes.”

Hate to break it to you Joe, but the Jets' 2013 quarterback controversy is just getting primed.

Argentinos Juniors fan tosses dentures at coach during team's loss

An Argentinos Juniors fan was so fed up at the miserable season his team was having he threw his fake teeth at the head coach while the coach was arguing a call on the pitch.

Monday's 3-1 loss  to Belgrano was just too much for the unidentified fan who hurled his phony uppers at Ricardo Caruso Lombardi while fans unleashed a chorus of boos and threatening chants against the last place club which has lost five straight.

Announcers from Argentina's TV Pública took in the bizarre scene from the broadcast booth while cameras zoomed in on the dentures that landed a few feet from an oblivious Lombardi, who was arguing in vain with the fourth referee in the dying moments of the match.

"I've never seen anything like this ... key chains, radios, shoes, but teeth?"

Dentures were just one of the things hurled at Lombardi and his players by fans at Diego Maradona Stadium.

 Despite the dire situation and one toothless fans' hatred of him, Lombardi was confident, even defiant, during Monday's post-game press conference.

"I have the balls that are needed to prevail. And if we have to go [to the second division], we'll do it with our heads held high."

As for the still unknown denture-throwing culprit, just look for the guy gumming his chorizo in the stands.

Chelsea soccer goalie's adorable son scores goal that sends fans wild

The long season has brought some great memories for the Chelsea soccer club this season, including their Europa League triumph.

But perhaps the most adorable moment came after Sunday's 2-1 home victory over Everton, when Ross Turnbull's son, Josh, scored on a breakaway in front of the crowd.

Paulo Ferreira, leaving the club after nine years, was busy giving his farewell speech in the center circle while players and their children stood on the pitch to watch. All except one.

Without a coach in sight, little Josh dribbled the ball from the middle of the pitch towards the goal, with anticipation building among supporters. He stopped near the penalty spot and committed a handball - seemingly unnoticed by officials (heh-heh) - and eventually managed to find the net.

At first he was taken aback by the roar of the crowd, pausing to take the moment in. Then he raised his hands up in deserved celebration. As the little tyke stood in triumph, Chelsea fans chanted,  "Sign him up, sign him up, sign him up." 

He now has one more goal than his dad.

Lindsey Vonn tied to infamous steroids doctor

An investigation by The New York Daily News reports that Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn has visited the clinic of a 71-year-old doctor named Bernd Pansold — an East German doping doctor who played an instrumental role in the German Democratic Republic's notorious state-sponsored program to dope unwitting young athletes with hardcore anabolic steroids.

Vonn, the clean-cut face of the U.S. Winter Olympics team and an athlete representing Red Bull — the sugary energy drink that has paid her to promote the popular picker-upper since 2005. Each summer the Austrian company organizes a rigorous conditioning program for Vonn, lodging her at an opulent resort hotel near Innsbruck and letting her work out at the Red Bull pro soccer team’s state-of-the-art training facility near the Salzburg airport.

That is the location of Thalgau, a peaceful village on the eastern outskirts of Salzburg, where Red Bull has sent Vonn to its Diagnostics and Training Center, a secure and nondescript old tin-oxide factory that houses a top sports laboratory overseen by Pansold.

It is here where Vonn visited the clinic of the controversial doctor, said the report.

A Daily News investigation of Red Bull’s Thalgau operation has uncovered no evidence of doping by Vonn, who has never failed a drug test. But the mere fact of Vonn’s and Pansold’s mutual access shows how vulnerable today’s Olympic athletes are when the corporate sponsors supplying their income are accountable only to the bottom line.

Alex Sanabria goes to the old spitball after giving up home run

The lost art of the spit ball is back again and Miami Marlins pitcher Alex Sanabia wasn't exactly shy about loading up the old baseball after giving up a home run Monday night. We're talking old school spittle —not rosin or sunscreen.

After the Phillies' Domonic Brown slashed a second-inning homer into the stands against Sanabia,  cameras caught the pitcher hocking up a giant loogie and slobbering it all over the ball. The VIDEO at MLB.com shows Sanabia unashamedly lathering it up while Brown circles the bases.

Maybe he thought nobody was watching.

Sanabia (3-6) went on to give up seven slightly slippery hits in 6 1/3-innings en route to a 5-1 Marlins win. He should enjoy the victory while he can because it remains to be seen how MLB will feel about his unhealthy and un-stealthy habits on the mound.

Andrew Garfield, in Spider-Man costume, shoots hoops with kids in NYC park

You never know what you'll glimpse while strolling the streets of Manhattan but seeing Andrew Garfield —decked out in his full Spider-Man costume — taking time out during a break to play some hoops with a group of kids on a public playground isn't usually one of them.

The movie star, who's in the middle of filming The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in Chinatown, nonchalantly showed off his Spidey skills with these lucky kids as his on-screen and real-life girlfriend Emma Stone stood to the side of the court with her dog.



Shooting movies on location in New York is big business but the street closures and the constant yapping of the P.A.'s to stay out of the shot can be a nuisance to real New Yorkers. So it was nice to see a big star take time out to make a couple of local kids smile.

The best part is watching Spider-Man walking away from the court, still in costume, casually waving to surprised pedestrians on the sidewalk. He seems like a nice guy.  Just like Peter Parker.

Too bad the Knicks didn't have Spidey around last week.