Can’t They Just ‘Melo Out Over Aguilera?

April wasn’t the best of months for Denver Nugget rookie Carmelo Anthony. First, he lost out on at least a share of the NBA rookie-of-the-year award. Then he was injured in the Nuggets’ playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Not even the rumors of his dalliance with a certain Genie in a Bottle have a life to them, he says, not even with the St. Paul Pioneer Press, ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption,” ESPN.com, MTV and VH1 all reporting that Anthony is dating singer Christina Aguilera.

“I have never met her,” Anthony told the Denver Post. “It’s crazy that I have never met somebody and this rumor is going around.”

Some would say it’s crazier that it took this long for such rumors to get started.

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Trivia time: Who won the first Kentucky Derby raced in the month of April?

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You don’t say: According to the Philadelphia Daily News, Denny Crum, former Louisville basketball coach and a Hall of Famer, was spotted at Churchill Downs this week but declined to reveal his Kentucky Derby pick.

“This year’s field is harder to handicap than the NCAA tournament,” said Crum, an avid racing fan.

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Ah, how sweet: Jason Giambi, who bolted the Oakland Athletics for the New York Yankees’ riches three winters ago, laughed off a recent rumor that had him going back to the East Bay in a trade for pitcher Tim Hudson.

“I thought it was pretty funny, especially because I have a no-trade [clause],” Giambi told the San Francisco Chronicle. “No, I really loved playing in Oakland, believe me. I’m the player I am because of Oakland.”

So that’s how he got to be the Evil Empire’s underachieving first baseman-DH?

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Goaaallll! Many wondered if Carlos Ruiz would truly be the Galaxy’s answer as a scoring threat when the unproven forward came from Guatemala in 2002. He has not disappointed, scoring his team’s first goal for three consecutive seasons.

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Not yet: With Sin City making a pitch to become a permanent home to the Montreal Expos, Las Vegas 51 President Don Logan wonders where the nomadic squad would play while waiting for a stadium to be built.

Logan told the Las Vegas Review Journal that Expo relocation supporters haven’t answered that question. “It’s stupid to play here,” Logan said of Cashman Field, “and there’s no way.”

Cashman Field, home to the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate, played host to the Oakland Athletics for early season games in 1996, when Network Associates Coliseum was being renovated.

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Trivia answer: His Eminence, ridden by Jimmy Winkfield, won it April 29, 1901 by 1 1/2 lengths over Sannazarro.

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And finally: Local broadcaster Alan Massengale, tongue planted firmly in cheek, on why the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority wanted to prevent jockeys from putting advertisements on their riding pants:

“Such offensive ads could ruin the mood at the Crown Royal Derby party attended by Ford Motor Company executives, the official car of the Kentucky Derby, the first jewel of the Visa Triple Crown.”