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Boy the Tampa Bay Rays have done a complete 180 this season, not only in their record, but now in their coolness factor. You would never think of the Rays as being a team to attract the celebrities before this season, and that's probably still the case, but they did have a celebrity in the owner's box on Thursday.

Comedian Chris Rock, who had a show at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center on Thursday, sat in the owner's box as a guest of the Rays.

"He was the first guy in line greeting us coming in," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "You go, 'Hey Chris,' bang," Maddon added, illustrating a fist-bump, "and move to the next guy."

Cliff Floyd said having celebrities visit the clubhouse is a byproduct of winning.

"I mean, if we were losing, he'd have come into town and his show would have been half about us last night," Floyd said.

And he probably would have made the mistake of calling them the "Devil" Rays too. Instead, Rock stuck to picking on rap music, Jude Law, and Chris Simms. But seriously, if it ever gets to the point where the real bandwagon jumping celebrities like Sylvester Stallone show up, then you'll know the Rays will have made it into the celebrity stratosphere.

Hockey and Black History will both get a great boost this fall as Willie O'Ree, the man who broke the NHL's color barrier, will guest star on an episode of "Everybody Hates Chris", the show starring comedian Chris Rock. The segment was to be filmed yesterday, and air during the fall season.

From LCS Hockey:

Willie O'Ree will be making an appearance this season on Chris Rock's "Everybody Hates Chris." In the show, li'l Chris Rock, played by Tyler Williams, will be ditching school with one of his pals so they can meet his hockey hero, Wayne Gretzky, who's visiting Long Island with the Edmonton Oilers.

But on the way to the arena, Chris and his pal get lost and have to ask an older gentleman for directions. Willie plays the guy giving them the directions. He also gives the kids a lesson in hockey history.

Also featured on the show will be goaltender Kevin Weekes, who will be an extra in the scene.

All in all, this is a great thing for everybody. The tribulations of black athletes in hockey has rarely been covered in the media, and hockey needs some feel-good mainstream exposure in the American market.

For more on Willie O'Ree, check out his Legends of Hockey biography.

See also: The Forgotten Negro Leagues of Hockey