the game plan

Without question, on paper -- and to a large degree on screen -- "The Game Plan" is yet another formulaic sports movie, with the protagonist unexpectedly thrown out of his comfort zone, dealing with a life situation he is not prepared to face. Pro wrestler turned popular box-office draw Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays Joe "The King" Kingman, a Super Bowl-bound quarterback for the fictional Boston Rebels -- a guy who takes the concept of self-absorbed pro athlete to an entirely new level.

Though Joe can turn on the charm and is a total chick magnet, as Johnson's characterization makes clear from the get-go, this man is really only in love with one person: himself.

On top of everything else, Kingman sees himself as an athletic version of another "King" -- the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley. And his posh Boston penthouse is chock-a-block with valuable Elvis memorabilia worthy of a special Graceland exhibition.


Did the Milwaukee Brewers really put retaliation ahead of a division race last week?

They'll never admit it, but the rest of the baseball world has its suspicions.

Trailing by a run against St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, the Brewers saw the game slip away in the eighth inning. They allowed four runs during a rally that began when Milwaukee reliever Seth McClung apparently hit Albert Pujols as payback for Prince Fielder being drilled in the second.



Related links
Thin blue skin?
Roch Around the Clock: Orioles-Yankees
O's photos: September Photos
The Brewers lost, 7-3, preventing them from sweeping the Cardinals. They would have trailed the Chicago Cubs by one game in the National League Central with four to play.

Tempers already flared during the first two games of the series. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and Brewers manager Ned Yost and bench coach Dale Sveum shouted obscenities from opposite dugouts Tuesday in an exchange, ignited by Milwaukee's Jeff Suppan buzzing Pujols, captured by television cameras and audio equipment.

The Brewers were convinced that La Russa ordered Brad Thompson to hit Fielder the next night with runners on second and third, first base open and two out. La Russa, of course, issued a denial.

"I swear on my animals," said La Russa, who owns a variety of dogs and cats. "That's all I can do."

Yost waited until the eighth and summoned McClung, who drilled Pujols in the back with his first pitch and was ejected.

"The pitch just got away from him," Yost said.

Sure it did. And one of La Russa's dogs ate his homework.

"The ball just got away from me," McClung said. "It's not the first guy I've hit.Why do you think Tampa traded me?"

Bonds' finale

Barry Bonds' last at-bat as a San Francisco Giant, and perhaps the last of his career, was a 400-foot fly ball to center field in an 11-3 loss to the San Diego Padres. He came out for a curtain call after embracing pitcher Jake Peavy, but didn't return when fans kept chanting his name after the game.

That might have something to do with Bonds heading to the parking lot several minutes before the final out.

The Giants announced that they won't resign Bonds, baseball's home run king, for 2008. He had missed 10 straight games with a toe injury and played only in the home finale.

"Yeah, I'm choked up. It's sad," co-owner Peter Magowan said. "In a way, you think back to all the happy times he was able to create for our fans, the excitement, the success we've been able to have. It's the end of an era.

"I'm sure he wishes he'd have hit three home runs in three at-bats, but he didn't. He was hurting."

Home and away

Playing at home should always be to a team's advantage. For the Los Angeles Angels, it's an absolute necessity.

Heading into the weekend, the Angels had the best home record in baseball at 54-27 -- tied for the best in franchise history -- but were 38-40 on the road. The team's batting average at home was .305, the third highest for an American League team since 1957, compared to .265 on the road. They averaged 5.7 runs at their ballpark, and 4.55 on the road.

They also wanted to avoid traveling to Boston, where they lost five of seven games this season and have dropped 20 of their past 28. Their .401 regular-season winning percentage at Fenway Park is their second lowest of any current stadium in the league. The Angels are 1-4 in the playoffs, going back to games 6 and 7 of the 1986 AL Championship Series.

Their playoff rotation has John Lackey starting Game 1 of the Division Series. He's 1-4 with a 7.68 ERA in seven career games at Fenway, including 0-2 this season.

Quick hits

Pujols cracked his 32nd homer in the first inning Wednesday, giving him 100 RBIs for the seventh straight year. Pujols is the only player to hit .300 with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs in his first seven seasons. ... After battling an assortment of injuries all season, Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer said he might need offseason surgery to repair a hernia.


The Reds boss has drawn criticism for his constant and sweeping team changes this campaign, more recently for omitting Fernando Torres in last week's draw with Birmingham.


The Spanish international went on to score a Carling Cup hat-trick against Reading in midweek in a 4-2 win at the Madejski Stadium.


But with the Merseysiders chasing success in both the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League, Gerrard is happy to put his faith in Benitez.


"There are so many games," Gerrard told BBC Football Focus.


"It is impossible to ask the players to play in every game. We have got to trust Rafa.


"The players had adapted before the season started but when the fans and others don't see Fernando in the starting XI, a fuss is kicked up."


'El Nino' has made a strong impact at Anfield since his summer move from Atletico Madrid. Gerrard has been immediately impressed and hopes the Spaniard's goals can fire up a strong title challenge.


The England star added: "I knew he was a great player, a quick striker who scores goals but what has impressed me so much has been his workrate for the team.


"He is working really hard and giving defenders a nightmare job marking him. Hopefully he can do that for the rest of the season and we can be successful."


Liverpool, last season's beaten finalists, return to Champions League action next week at Anfield when they face Marseille, under new manager Eric Gerets.


Benitez's side would want to redeem pride after their lacklustre performance against Porto, which resulted in a 1-1 draw.


It was one of three draws in a week and Gerrard accepts the team were not at their best.


"We had a bit of a blip," he said. "Because we started the season so well, we were on fire and were blowing most teams away, expectations went even higher. People were expecting us to do it every week.


"But at Premier League level and Champions League level it is not going to happen. There are going to be times when we have to grind draws out and times when you don't play well."

Diversity is the game plan for success during housing slump

Teams that are adept at both running and passing the football can adjust to whatever the defense throws their way. A diverse game plan also has helped area home-builders ride out the ongoing housing slump.

"The developers who are having big problems right now are the ones building cookie-cutter subdivisions the way they did five years ago," said David Gale, president and owner of Gale Communities Inc. in Lee's Summit. "Consumers are different than they were even five years ago. The key to housing is choice, and consumers have a huge array of choices compared to 20 or 30 years ago."

Gale practices what he preaches. His company has three developments under way in Lee's Summit ― New Longview, Arborwalk and Winterset Valley. "Each of the three projects is significantly different," he said, "and that is the key to success in this marketplace."

Diversity also works for Kevin Stucker, president of Stucker Construction in Blue Springs. Stucker has found a profitable niche as a leading builder of town homes, such as the 26 units under construction for Abba Homes in The Orchard at Chapman Farms.

"There is excess inventory throughout the city," he said. "All of the builders can attest to that, but we are doing our best to suck in our gut and ride it out. The main thing we are trying to do is have the right product in the right location. It may sound like empty rhetoric, but that's what it's all about. We have been able to do that with successful townhome projects in places such as Kansas City, Harrisonville and Belton."

Although area builders are feeling the pinch, many are faring better than their counterparts in the rest of the metropolitan area and across the nation.

"In general, eastern Jackson County has held up well compared to the rest of the local market and the national market," said Matt Derrick, communications director for the Homebuilders Association of Greater Kansas City "Some new projects, such as Chapman Farms, have helped. Blue Springs and Grain Valley both are up this year."

Attractive new housing options have helped those cities. "We certainly are seeing people moving out to Blue Springs who may not have considered it before because of new housing choices," he said.

Kansas City Homes in Grain Valley has carved a successful niche by building affordable housing for first-time buyers from Grain Valley south to Belton.

"About 70 percent of our projects are in the 140s, and the other 30 percent are in the 160-to-280 range," said Brian Colson, a partner in the business. "Starter homes are affordable for people tired of living in apartments. They can get in for about $900 a month, which may not be much more than they pay for rent."

Business is as good as can be expected in the current economy, he said. "It's been a different market in 2007," Colson said. "Our sales are off about 20 percent, but we currently have 118 duplexes and single-family homes under construction. We look for 2008 to be a good year."

Lee's Summit also is doing relatively well in a down market.

"Lee's Summit has been pretty solid," Derrick said. "The market is down 7 percent, but the overall metro is down 31 percent. Lee's Summit is performing well because it has a lot of housing choice and diversity, such as New Longview. That type of development is not necessarily available in other parts of the metro."



Walt Disney presents a film directed by Andy Fickman. Written by Nichole Millard and Kathryn Price. Running time: 110 minutes. Rated PG (for some mild thematic elements). Opening today at local theaters.
Surrounded by his adoring fans and supported by teammates who have no choice but to constantly stroke his enormous ego, Kingman thinks his life is about as perfect as it can get.
Suddenly, a 9-year-old girl turns up on his doorstep claiming she is his long-lost daughter Peyton (played by newcomer Madison Pettis in her feature film debut). Actually "lost" is a misnomer: Kingman never knew she even existed.

She claims her mother has headed to a humanitarian mission in Africa and is unreachable by phone or e-mail, and Kingman is quickly made aware of the fact he his going to have to take responsibility for the girl for the next month.

You can see where all of this is going, right?

The selfish, wealthy NFL star is forced to become "Insta-Dad," facing all the issues, problems -- and delightful opportunities -- that come with parenting a precocious young daughter.

An important subplot focuses on Peyton's love of dance and her desire to become a prima ballerina some day. That leads to Kingman connecting with the beautiful ballet school director Monique Vasquez (played by Roselyn Sanchez, best known for her starring role on the CBS crime series "Without a Trace").

At this point, it probably is clear that "The Game Plan" really doesn't offer any new twists on the "fish-out-of-water" genre of movies.

Yet what saves it to a certain degree and turns it into watchable family fare is the strength of Johnson's personality -- and the engaging fresh face provided by young Miss Pettis.

While other actors could easily have played the role of Joe Kingman, Johnson infuses it with his own special brand of big screen presence. He sucks you in and makes you believe that this guy actually could turn himself around and become a caring father.

Pettis is a wonderful revelation. She steals every scene she's in -- and seemingly with effortless elan. Though you see where this story is headed, except perhaps for a somewhat surprising twist near the end, it truly doesn't matter.

This is one film where I think audiences will happily sit back, enjoy the ride and walk out of the theater feeling somewhat satisfied.

Yes, this is a road we've traveled down before, but at least this time, it's paved with a lot of charm and heart.