First a non-call, then the name-calling

Not long before the calendar turned to Sunday and Mother’s Day, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban celebrated the occasion with a verbal blast directed at Lydia Moore, mother of Denver Nugget Kenyon Martin.

Moments after his team lost Game 3 of its playoff series against Denver on a controversial non-call just before Carmelo Anthony’s winning jump shot, Cuban heard a fan screaming about the Nuggets being “thugs,” prompting Cuban to tell Moore, “That includes your son.”

According to Martin’s agent, Brian Dyke, Cuban also told Moore, “Your son is a punk.”

The NBA later said the non-call was an officiating mistake, but it was too late to help the Mavericks.

As for Cuban? League spokesman Tim Frank said, “The situation on the floor postgame is being reviewed.”

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Trivia time

In 1947, Cincinnati Reds right-hander Ewell Blackwell, having no-hit the Boston Braves in his previous start, attempted to match the feat of another Cincinnati pitcher, Johnny Vander Meer’s consecutive no-hitters nine years earlier.

Blackwell went into the ninth inning of a game against Brooklyn without giving up a hit. Which Dodger ruined the bid by getting a hit?

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Working blue

Vin Scully was honored Monday by the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission in a dinner at Riviera Country Club. The longtime Dodgers announcer told a story about how his career almost ended before it really got started.

It was in the 1950s, and a young Scully was announcing a game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds. The Reds batter, Lloyd Merriman, fouled one off.

“I wanted to say, ‘Hot shot hit foul!’ ” Scully recalled. “It did not come out that way.”

He added: “To think I could have made it here is a miracle.”

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Money changes everything

The passing of former NBA coach Chuck Daly prompted reader David Macaray to pass along a quote from Daly that “still makes me smile.”

Said Daly: “I said in a book many, many years ago that every player wants to play 48 minutes, shoot 48 times and make $48 million. The only thing that’s changed is the money.”

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Manny changes everything

It didn’t take long for Manny Ramirez to become fodder for late-night talk show comedians.

From Jay Leno: “Let’s see what is going on with Manny Rodriguez. I mean Ramirez! I’m sorry, did I say Rodriguez? Aw, sorry.”

And: “Actually, Manny Ramirez spoke out about it today. He said, ‘You know something, this is the last time I get painkillers from Paula Abdul.’ ”

And: “Actually, last night without Manny, the Dodgers lost their first home game of the season. So I think it is safe to say he wasn’t sharing the drugs with the rest of the team.”

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Trivia answer

Eddie Stanky.

(Question and answer provided by reader Jerry Clark of Glendale.)

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And finally

From Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: “I’m no chemist, so I don’t know exactly how HCG works, but I think it’s important that we keep Manny Ramirez away from Octomom.”

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