Joanne C. Gerstner: Spin cycle

Huggins gives image another black eye -- make that two

The old Nike ad campaign wanted us to believe that "Image is Everything."

If that's still true, West Virginia University may be wondering what the heck basketball coach Bob Huggins is trying to say.

Huggins showed up at his own fantasy camp sporting two black eyes and a welt, looking like he'd had a bad run-in in an alley.

His story, and he's sticking to it, is that he had a bad late-night run-in with a bathroom door. Huggins was leaving the bathroom, in the dark, when he walked smack into the corner of the door.

By the looks of things, the door clearly won.

What's odd about this is this is the second time Huggins has had a bizarre mishap. Last May, he ran into a traffic cone on an airport tarmac in Charlotte, N.C.

He says he was checking cell phone messages, wasn't paying attention to where he was walking, and the cone got him.

That collision knocked Huggins to the ground and left him with a bump on his head.

Perhaps Huggins needs to stay in a well-padded, baby-proofed basketball gym for his own safety.

Spell check for dummies

They say charity begins at home. So maybe we should band together and send a dictionary to the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals ballclubs.

First the Nationals thoroughly embarrassed themselves by misspelling their own team name on their jersey fronts. Yeah, it's not spelled "Natinals".

The blog homerderby.com caught the Orioles misspelling their own team name on a Twitter account, with the revisionist spelling coming out as "Oriloes".

Oh my.

The team quickly fixed the error, but still, let this be a lesson:

Know how to spell your own team name.

Trouble, trouble

Lions fans can deliver a dissertation about top draft picks that turn into epically failed quarterbacks.

But let's all be grateful that the disaster known as Ryan Leaf never graced Allen Park or Ford Field.

Leaf continues to sink lower and lower. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Leaf failed to show for a court date to answer for nine indictments issued for illegal use of prescription painkillers and burglary from a Randall County, Texas grand jury.

He allegedly broke into an apartment to steal Vicodin, saying he needed the painkillers for an old wrist injury.

Leaf is believed to be in a rehab center in Vancouver, Canada, but that doesn't mean he gets to skip court appointments.

There is now a warrant out for his arrest.

Let's hope Leaf can get things together.

Joanne.gerstner@detnews.com (313)223-4644