Morning briefing

He’s silver and black with envy

Ed McCabe is a card-carrying member of NFL Alumni, has organized charity golf tournaments for the organization and routinely passes out autographed photos of himself wearing an Oakland Raiders uniform in game action.

The problem is, McCabe never played for the Raiders.

The Palm Beach Post revealed this week that McCabe had doctored a photo of former Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski, changed the number from 53 to 29 and signed them “Ed McCabe, 29, ’80 AFC champs.”

“He better watch out,” joked former Green Bay Packers tackle Lee Nystrom, an NFL Alumni board member. “Romanowski might kill him.”

“It just goes to show the length and the breadth of what people will do just to become significant,” former Dolphins running back Mercury Morris said.

Trivia time

New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina has 250 career wins, which is fourth among active pitchers. How many times has he won 20 in a season?

Blood, sweat and cheers

Mikhail Youzhny might not be a household name, but the Russian tennis player is quickly becoming an Internet celebrity after an outburst Monday at the Sony Ericsson Open.

A video of Youzhny drawing blood from his forehead after repeatedly smashing himself with his racket has been viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube.

Said competitor James Blake: “I saw that. That was pretty funny -- not for Mikhail, I’m sure. . . . I did that as a kid and I kind of stopped doing that. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

All-Star marketing

Injured Miami Heat players Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Alonzo Mourning, Jason Williams, Udonis Haslem, Marcus Banks and Dorell Wright took calls from fans Wednesday in an effort to boost season-ticket sales, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The players gathered telethon-style at halftime of a loss to the New Orleans Hornets and chatted up fans while trying to sell tickets. Wade, who makes $13 million a season, seemed to most enjoy the experience.

“I’m going to get an internship over the summer up here to get myself a few extra bucks in my pocket,” he said.

Not catching on

Denver Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall recently cut an artery, a vein, a nerve, two tendons and three muscles in his right arm after slipping into a television set while wrestling with his brother.

He is already facing a DUI charge stemming from an October incident, had a spat with his girlfriend last year that landed him in court and was partying with Darrent Williams the night the cornerback was slain in a drive-by shooting on Jan. 1, 2007.

Quarterback Jay Cutler says the receiver is walking on thin ice.

“He’s had many wake-up calls,” Cutler said. “He said the same thing: ‘This is a wake-up call. This is the last thing that’s going to happen. Blah blah blah.’ I mean, until he goes out and proves it, we’ll see what happens.”

100-cent stamp?

Wilt Chamberlain put his stamp on basketball, now there is a movement to put Chamberlain on a stamp.

An effort is underway to immortalize the Hall of Fame center with a commemorative U.S. postage stamp. Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Joe Louis and Jesse Owens are among the sports legends with their own stamps.

“People should remember the great ones,” wrote Donald Hunt of the Philadelphia Tribune, who is leading the campaign. “They don’t come any bigger or better than Wilt Chamberlain.”

Trivia answer

None. Mussina won 19 games in 1995 and ’96 and has won 18 three times, but he has never won 20 in any of his 17 seasons.

And finally

LeBron James said he was impressed with Davidson’s Stephen Curry during Davidson’s NCAA tournament run, but said it all made sense when he found out that Curry was born in Akron, Ohio -- the same hometown as James.

“I didn’t know that,” James said. “That’s why he’s good.”

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