Thinking Outside the Box for This Little Champion

One good look at the Grocery Store Bagger, and you know what happens to a person who doesn’t grow up eating the Breakfast of Champions.

This is a concern, of course, because the granddaughter is now pulling herself to her feet, and although the family is under orders to make sure she doesn’t fall on her butt if Plaschke is around -- you saw what he did to that poor Sasha Cohen -- it’s important she start off life with the best chance for success.

So yes, the 7-Eleven Kid will be moving in with us soon, and although her parents claim it’s because they have sold their house and they all require a place to stay until their new home is ready, for the first time that I can remember, it will matter who is on the Wheaties box.

As excited as she is to move on from smushed peas, beans and squash, and knowing what Froot Loops did to her father, these are critical moments in her athletic development.

You think about poor horse trainer Bob Baffert, who took a liking to a certain skier more than a year ago, named his kid Bode, and now what? It’s probably too late to start calling the kid Apolo.

Can you imagine going to a mall, and having to raise your voice to yell, “Bode, come here,” knowing first of all, if the kid is named Bode, he’s not coming.

It’s obvious the decisions one makes for a youngster early in the child’s life are crucial to what might happen next, which is why I was so interested and then so disappointed in Wheaties’ announcement that Joey Cheek and Apolo Anton Ohno had been selected for the box.

Like I want my granddaughter growing up to be a speedskater, or winning some money and then giving it all away.

Frankly, the way things are going, I’d feel a lot better if Kelly Clarkson and Cheryl Burke were on the box, an American Idol and a winner from “Dancing With the Stars,” champions the kid could really admire, and one day aspire to be.

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THE LAKERS lost to Portland, obviously just trying to make Detroit (Saturday) and San Antonio (Monday) feel overconfident when they come to Staples.

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IF JEREMY Roenick is no longer going to speak to the media, there just isn’t any reason for me to go to a King game anymore.

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USA BASKETBALL’S decision not to invite Lamar Odom to join all the really good, consistent players whom you can depend on to training camp this summer, shouldn’t be a surprise to Laker fans.

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MY DESK in the office is next to Times TV reporter Larry Stewart’s desk, and I couldn’t help but overhear his interview with Barry Bonds on Wednesday afternoon. Bonds had dressed in drag impersonating Paula Abdul, and Stewart told Bonds, “You looked pretty good from the pictures.”

I will be moving my desk sometime this weekend.

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THE NEW York Daily News reported that Richard Jefferson appears to be a likely candidate to be dealt starting July 1, and the Nets are now armed “to make a trade if [Kevin] Garnett or the Clippers’ Elton Brand suddenly becomes available.”

I asked Coach Mike Dunleavy how Brand might suddenly became available, and I thought for a moment there I was going to have to find someone to give him mouth-to-mouth to revive him.

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THE DODGERS and Angels each contributed $100,000 recently to the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in Compton, with Angel owner Arte Moreno going a step further to donate $10,000 for supplies to Compton-area baseball teams.

Moreno, then reportedly incredibly moved by the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Academy this week, announced he would donate an additional $500,000 to the project, while the Dodgers’ owner, the Ex-Parking Lot Attendant, posed for pictures.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO jockey Alex Solis for being named one of the finalists for the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame. Solis, who will be riding Kentucky Derby favorite Brother Derek on Saturday at Santa Anita, needs to garner more votes than Eddie Maple and Craig Perret, while still collecting at least 75% of the tally from member voters to be inducted this August.

There’s a little-known rule in racing circles that if a jockey makes the Hall of Fame and later plays golf with a sports columnist, the columnist is entitled to five strokes a side without dispute. I’ve always known Solis to abide by the rules.

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USA TODAY ran two pictures of the Clippers’ Sam Cassell yelling in the face of a referee to illustrate a story suggesting the day is coming when a player might strike a referee.

“Never,” Cassell said. “As for a sportswriter, that might be different.”

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WHEN YOU think of Pee Wee Herman, Rin Tin Tin and Mickey Mouse, which is the first name that comes to mind? Correct.

Channel 2 sportscaster Jim Hill will get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 9, joining the likes of Herman, Tin and Mouse, making it a push, of course, as to who has the most distinguishable voice of the quartet.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Matthew Childers:

“Obviously Oscar De la Hoya isn’t finished if you’re still writing about him. When De La Hoya wins his fight against ‘some goof ball -- and by the way Ricardo Mayorga isn’t some ‘goof ball’ -- why don’t you tell your readers you’re finished. I’ve seen you on TV and you’re out of shape, fat and old.”

Who knew that De La Hoya and I had so much in common?

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T.J. Simers can be reached at

[email protected]. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.