Morning Report: Obama bobbleheads bottlenecked

Bobbleheads depicting President Obama as a high school basketball player haven't gotten the nod from customs officials and may not be available for a minor-league baseball giveaway tomorrow.

The West Virginia Power, a single-A team in Charleston, W. Va., said yesterday that 1,000 of the figurines have been held up at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection warehouse in Los Angeles since May 20.

A U.S. Customs spokeswoman in Los Angeles said she didn't have information on why they were stalled.

The bobbleheads are a likeness of Obama in his high school basketball uniform and were to be part of tomorrow's theme of fitness and healthy lifestyles.

Fans will be given vouchers to pick up the bobbleheads once they arrive, said Kristin Call, marketing director for the Pittsburgh Pirates' South Atlantic League affiliate.

History lesson. It was 22 years ago last night that one of the great moments in Flyers playoff history occurred. (You remember when the Flyers used to play nearly into June, don't you?)

In the sixth game of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals, the Flyers were in a desperate struggle with the Edmonton dynasty of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and their high-scoring cohorts.

With the Flyers trailing 2–1 entering the third period in front of one of the loudest crowds Spectrum old-timers can remember, Brian Propp scored a power-play goal at 13 minutes, 4 seconds to tie the score.

A little more than a minute later, at 14:28, J.J. Daigneault scored a goal still talked about when his bullet from the point bored through four bunched players, past Oilers goalie Grant Fuhr and into the net.

With the 3-2 victory, the Flyers had come back from a three-games-to-one series deficit to force a Game 7.

Edmonton won that game, 3-1.

The Flyers have only been back to the Stanley Cup Finals once in the ensuing 22 years - the 4-0 wipeout by Detroit in 1997.

Just wondering. Now that sports betting in Delaware has been sustained by a decision of the state's Supreme Court, how can the NFL sue to stop it?

How can a league or any other sporting entity tell a state what internal laws are good for the state?

Isn't that kind of like NASCAR suing to strike down Delaware's speed limits, saying it restrains fans from roaring down Route 1 to the Monster Mile at Dover at 90 m.p.h.?

It's the state's business.

Humor. You've gotta love Charles Barkley.

He's a bit of a dipstick, but he's funny and fun-loving.

The former 76er, now a commentator on TNT, said he's still drinking - but not drinking and driving.

In a conference call to promote his appearance at the 20th annual American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in Reno, Nev., Barkley said his January DUI arrest after leaving a nightclub near Scottsdale, Ariz., turned out to be a "good thing."

He pleaded guilty, served three days in jail, paid $2,000 in fines, and attended an alcohol treatment program.

Barkley said it taught him it is "stupid of you to drink and drive." He told himself: "You can't do that again, that's unacceptable."

While he hasn't sworn off drinking without driving, he said he no longer gambles.

"I like to drink," he said. "I haven't missed the gambling, to be honest with you. I needed to take a break from gambling, because I was losing."

As Barkley cheerfully pointed out, nobody ever takes a break from gambling because they were winning.