This is my blog about sports where I add my pointless commentary about sports news, hopefully daily. Why "Nocturnal Sports" you ask? Because I stay up late and live and breathe sports. I find the sports news/stories and pass it along to you, so you can continue to be lazy and sit around playing Farmville. Also, just to clarify, I do NOT have sources nor do I consider myself one - strictly commentary and observations. Enjoy!
Here's what everyone should do when they get Virginia Tech gear...
I like this kid. He should have thrown it away and lit it on fire...and then smacked his sister in the mouth for wrapping it like that.
------------------------------------- WVU is in Miami and take a look at how they're getting around...
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Dustin Garrison out for Orange Bowl. Dustin was injured during practice yesterday and will not play in the Orange Bowl. Clemson's number 2 receiver. Now WVU's starting running back. Garrison sprained the ACL and MCL and will require surgery - expected to take 6 months to recover. With the recent news that Vernard Roberts and Trey Johnson are (both) no longer with the team, coupled with the Garrison news, this leaves WVU with a very limited amount of players at the running back position. Shawne Alston will obviously get a lot of carries, but you'd think this may also open up a spot for a few other guys to get some carries (Kovatch, Lindamood, Clarke, etc). You'll also see a return of more carries for Andrew Buie. The rest...we shall see. More news will inevitably come out on this as the game approaches. Will we see a return of Ryan Clarke to carrying the ball?
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Following up on some things mentioned in the previous paragraph...
4 players off WVU's roster in Miami. Both of the Roberts twins (Vance and Vernard) are apparently off the team (Holgorsen mentioned academics). Trey Johnson and Mike Dorsey are also no longer part of the team. Obviously of the Roberts twins you saw some of Vernard at the running back position, but in rather limited action. Trey Johnson also was a running back and coming into the season was expected to compete for the starting running back job but was obviously passed up by the group of freshmen running backs. Dorsey was a relatively highly recruited player, but hadn't made much of an impact, yet. All-in-all, based off of the current season performances, none of these guys are "huge losses" but you hate to see this type of thing when WVU's roster has had a lot of turnover the past few years. So much so that the scholarship numbers were well below the scholarship limits. No likely impact on the bowl game because of these guys not being there, but still something to mention.
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WVMetroNews covering WVU's arrival in Miami. WVU is staying at a swanky hotel and apparently this has a lot of people upset. Just one thing to note. WVU doesn't control what hotel they stay in. They are told what hotel they will stay in.
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Clemson has some entertaining fans...apparently. Yet somehow this guy thinks we're the rednecks? Good call, champ.
------------------------------------- 6-10 freshman attracting attention at WV high school. Big kid at 6'10" and 300 pounds. According to a lot of people he's a "big" (bad pun intended) fan of WVU. You'd think, given that he's 6-10 that he'd grow a little bit more, maybe, but either way I'm sure Huggins loves when things like this come through the WV high schools. Given the small population in the state the quality isn't always there and sometimes when it appears to be it doesn't pan out (Noah Cottrill) but hopefully this kid (Levi Cook) can continue to grow (basketball and size wise) and ends up in Morgantown in a few years. Other link here.
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WVU basketball embarrassed at Seton Hall, 67-48. Just an embarrassing performance all around. Sure it's a young team and I'm in no way a pessimist but that wasn't a great loss. I'm not even talking about the who, I'm talking about the why. Can't play with that little effort and expect it to just happen. Kevin Jones finished with 15 points, but it wasn't like it mattered. WVU shot poorly and went into the half down 38-22. WVU returns to action Wednesday evening at 7:00pm at Rutgers. Yes, that is the same night as the bowl game (Orange Bowl doesn't start until 8:30pm). Hopefully WVU can have a truly "great night" as Tony Caridi would say.
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WVU women host Elon. WVU women return to action tonight against Elon. If you're looking for something to do today head over to the Coliseum and watch the game. You can even print off a voucher to get in for only $1 by going here.
I'm sure there is probably more but hey I'm bored. So enjoy your New Years and see ya soon.
Just a couple of notes without a ton of links and all the writing...
Congrats to coach Bob Huggins on career win #700 last night vs Missouri State! My dad and I went to Buffalo 4 years ago to see Huggs get #600 vs Canisius. Funny that he got #700 exactly 4 years, to the day, after #600. Hopefully Huggs keeps up that pace over the next 4 (and then 8 and so on) years so he gets above 800...then 900, etc. As for the game...that game was too close for comfort (and then some) but I'll take a win over a loss, anytime, no matter how you get it. In case you missed it, WVU won 70-68 in OT. Tough game to watch so you didn't miss much - although the last 3 seconds of regulation (where WVU made a late three pointer to tie the game) and OT were mildly enjoyable. A win is a win. WVU moves to 9-2 on the season.
WVU returns to action tonight against the #6 (or 7) rated Baylor Bears (9pm ESPN, I believe). Baylor is long and big. Not a great match-up for WVU. We'll need a HUGE effort to pull this one off.
ESPN Insider is reporting that junior college offensive lineman Tavon Rooks has chosen Kansas State over WVU. Best of luck to him. WVU will have to put the full court press on now to get the best of whoever else is still out there. I try not to get too upset when kids don't pick WVU because someone else gets their spot and the kids that do come to WVU obviously want to be at WVU so it works out. Pitt commit offensive lineman Adam Pankey is visiting in January (13th) along with junior college o-lineman Mark Glowinski. Plus I'm sure there are some "sleeper" linemen (Sonny/Sunny Odogwu, for example) that may get a look now. We'll see.
WVU transfer basketball player, Aaric Murray was arrested Thursday morning in Philadelphia (he's a native of Philly) for possession of marijuana. As of the time the stories published he was being held on bail. Huggins was in Las Vegas (obviously) and said he's aware of the situation and that it will be handled internally. We'll see what happens here but Murray, as of late, had not been sitting at the end of the WVU bench for home games - sparking speculation that he was in the doghouse. If true that he already was in the doghouse I can't imagine this helps much. Even still, I'd be shocked if this gets him kicked off the team - given that he is currently sitting out and has ridiculous potential. You hope for his sake he can straighten up because his potential has him on NBA radars. We'll see...
Safety Terence Garvin and others out for Orange Bowl. Garvin (knee surgery - out around 6 months or so) is the "biggest" loss here, obviously, as he's the Mountaineer's third leading tackler - and WVU's defense already had enough problems with him there. Others out are two seniors, wide receiver Brad Starks (knee surgery - poor kid...never could stay healthy), defensive lineman Josh Taylor (knee injury - Pitt game) and freshman running back Vernard Roberts (academics).
There's a lot more national news but I'm done typing. Merry Christmas to you all!!
Ohio State receives one year bowl ban. The NCAA hit Ohio State with a one year bowl ban, put the Buckeyes on probation through December 19, 2014 and reduced football scholarships from 85 to 82 through the 2014-15 academic year. Still considering all that USC got this seems pretty light. It's also curious to a lot of people that Ohio State is allowed to have two coaching staffs. The current leftover staff from this season is there to coach for the bowl game while Urban Meyer's staff is allowed to go out and recruit - obviously something other programs aren't able to do to the same extent since they have to practice for their bowl games. So let's not get carried away thinking anything bad happened to them. The only way this slap on the wrist means anything is if Ohio State goes undefeated and should be in the national championship game - since they won't be able to based off of the bowl ban.
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Derrick Rose and Bulls agree to contract extension. 5 years, $94.8 million. Good for D-Rose, great player.
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Braves vs Disney/Pixar. The Braves aren't crazy about the new Brave movie's name. Awww...
Colby Armstrong hid concussion symptoms. Given all the attention concussions are receiving you hate to hear guys are trying to hid that they're dealing with symptoms.
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Cubs, Red Sox strike deal to keep Epstein from hiring from Red Sox organization.
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Endy Chavez agrees with Baltimore Orioles. 1 year, $1.5 million for the veteran free agent outfielder.
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Andrew Luck plans week off after Fiesta Bowl prior to NFL Draft prep.
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Louisville survives scare from College of Charleston to improve to 11-0.
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Marshall beats FIU in Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl. Interesting connection to this game - it appears that FIU's head coach is a leading candidate for the vacant University of Pittsburgh head football coaching job.
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WVU news:
WVU women beat Mount St. Mary's, 94-32. Sophomore Taylor Palmer led all scorers with 21 points.
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WVU recruiting news: Not much at the moment. Had heard Tavon Rooks may decide today (Wednesday) but we'll see if it actually happens. Deaysean Rippy did indeed visit over the weekend, as I said the other day but there's no word on what he will do yet. Although as Eerinsider.com points out it appears the WVU staff wants an answer soon or else they'll move on. See the link below for more information.
I'll probably take a few days off from posting complete updates, but if there's any big news or WVU recruiting news I'll try to post that stuff. If this is the last post before...have a very Merry Christmas (or insert your own holiday) and a Happy New Year!!
49ers black out the Steelers, 20-3 on Monday Night Football. Here's all you need to know about this game. The power went out twice - showing just how crappy Candlestick Park is and how desperately the 49ers need a new home. The 49ers defense played extremely well, led by rookie of the year candidate Aldon Smith and his 2 1/2 sacks (and multiple other hurries). Alex Smith managed the 49er offense well enough (given the defense's performance) that his 18/31 for 187 yards (1 pass TD) passing was good enough to win. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger played (head coach Mike Tomlin had the final say and played Ben) with a high ankle sprain and probably shouldn't have. Despite throwing for 330 yards, Big Ben's lack of mobility in the pocket and inability to plant his foot correctly led to most of his passes sailing on him (translation: the passes were often at receivers heads or higher leading to difficult attempts to catch the ball - often ricocheting off of finger tips directly towards defensive players) and ended up resulting in 3 INTs. Roethlisberger's inability to "escape" in the pocket, as usual, also led to a sack/fumble that all add up to 4 turnovers for the 49ers defense and spelled disaster for the Steelers. Going forward if Roethlisberger isn't healthy it doesn't bode well for the Steelers offense as, once again, they were largely ineffective running the ball. The Steelers did play without starting linebacker James Harrison (1 game suspension for tackling too hard), starting center Maurkice Pouncey and one of their receiver weapons, Emmanuel Sanders. Pittsburgh returns to action on Saturday at home against the St. Louis Rams and finishes the season on New Years Day at the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers and 49ers both came into the game with playoff spots already locked up, but were just battling for position and for home games in the playoffs. With the loss the Steelers fall to 10-4 on the season and a tie with the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North. Given that the Ravens beat the Steelers twice during the regular season if both teams finish with identical records the Ravens win the division and the Steelers end up as one of the two wild card teams.
Just a personal note: I did predict prior to the season (to many on Facebook) that the Ravens would win the AFC North and the Steelers would wind up with a wild card. Not sure the Ravens will end up in the Super Bowl, but despite the loss to the Chargers (that was ugly) they're still in position to host playoff games and that's the easiest path to the Super Bowl. We'll see what happens come playoff time.
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Clippers beat up on Lakers. In what will inevitably be one of the biggest story-lines of the entire NBA (shortened) season the Clippers took down the Lakers in style, 114-95. Chauncey Billups led the Clippers in scoring with 23 points while Chris Paul chipped in 17 (also 7 rebounds and 9 assists) and Blake Griffin added 12. It's been quite the two weeks for the two franchises as the Lakers thought they had a deal in place to land Chris Paul only to have the league step in and stop the trade for "basketball reasons." Then to have the Hornets turn around and deal Chris Paul to their (same building) "little brother" giving the Clippers quite the one-two punch of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. After the trade was made many analysts believed that it could significantly shift the balance of power in the LA market, at least as far as who has the better team. There's no doubt it's a "Laker town" but given the star power the Clippers now have maybe more celebrities (outside of Penny Marshall and Jim Belushi) will show up to watch the action. As for the pre-season game itself, it is the first of two pre-season games vs the Lakers (there are only 2 pre-season games, by the way). The next pre-season match-up will be Wednesday night as they'll flip the court and the Clippers will host this time at Staples Center.
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Texas Rangers buy rights to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. Confused? Basically to get these players from Japanese leagues MLB teams have to first post the highest bid (among whichever MLB teams decide they want to pursue a deal) just to negotiate a deal with the player (and that posting bid money goes to the team the guy played for in Japan). The posting bid for Yu Darvish is said to be close to what the Red Sox posted for Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007 which would mean it's around $51 million just for the bid to gain the right to negotiate with him! On top of that you then have to sign said player for whatever amount which means the total investment in the 25-year-old will end up being around $100 million dollars. So much for the Texas Rangers not being a "big-market club" huh? Either way if this Darvish is as good as advertised he's well worth the money the Rangers will end up spending so we'll see how he adjusts to MLB and playing (and living) in Texas.
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Peja Stojakovic retires after 13 NBA seasons. You may say "who?" but if you've even watched a little NBA basketball, an All-Star game here or there, or the NBA Finals last year you've probably seen Peja Stojakovic, at some point. The amazing thing about Peja is he'll go down as one of the finest shooters in NBA history (ranks 4th all-time in 3-pointers made - granted three's haven't always been around) and I'll bet you I could survey 1000 US sports fans and 50% of them wouldn't know who he is. Stojakovic retires at the age of 34.
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New York Knicks sign Baron Davis. A player many thought the LA Lakers may try to pursue, Baron Davis was waived by the Cleveland Cavaliers last week and also has an injury (herniated disk in his back) that will keep him out at least 4-6 (and possibly as many as 8-10) weeks.
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Arizona Diamondbacks agree with Jason Kubel. Two years, $15 million for the now ex-Twins outfielder. Mutual option for a third year.
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Double Secret Probation
Craig James leaves ESPN to run for US Senate in Texas. If you know anything about who Craig James is you'll be thrilled he's leaving ESPN. For those that don't know he was the one who's son played for Mike Leach at Texas Tech and claimed his son was locked in an equipment locker (good recap here). ESPN, surprisingly, stuck with James through all this time, despite the fact that many of his (and his son's) claims about Leach have been debunked. Interestingly, ESPN stuck by James throughout all of that and instead of backing off of James and his allegations (that he was oddly aloud to articulate on air for ESPN) put then-writer Bruce Feldman on some sort of "double secret probation" and didn't allow him to post any information on the website after he published a book with the then-fired former Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach. Feldman later revealed that he was told he would not received the raise (and 3 year contract extension) he was promised from ESPN and instead they had changed it to one year and no raise (something unheard of at the "worldwide leader" or as Dan Patrick calls it "the mothership."). The ridiculousness of ESPN supporting James throughout all the years, especially over an extremely well-respected writer like Feldman, led to quite the Twitter uprising of #FireCraigJames and #FreeBruce - to no avail. Apparently the only thing that could keep Criag James off the air on ESPN was a shot at being an even bigger doucher than he already is...by running for political office. [Also check out sportsbybrooks.com since he ran big time with this story]
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New York Giants use play from Little Giants. Fun story.
Adrian Peterson claims the Saints are dirty. Maybe the Vikings just suck...just a thought.
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Canadien's new coach doesn't speak French...and apparently that's a problem, eh? The Quebec government isn't pleased that the new INTERIM coach of the Canadiens does not speak French. What are you all talkin' aboot? And once again, Canada shows it has no clue. Why would any player ever want to play for the Canadiens, that isn't French Canadian? I don't see US sports teams forcing players to learn English. So what they're essentially saying is that they believe speaking French is the most important thing, not winning hockey games or having the best players/coaches they can find. Makes sense to me.
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#10 Marquette loses at LSU...in basketball, yes. And Buzz Williams is still goofy looking.
Indiana wins, moves to 11-0. First time at 11-0 for Indiana since the national championship season of 1975-76. Cool story to see Indiana basketball back. In this game they crushed Howard...no surprise there.
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New Top 25 poll. Syracuse remains #1. Big East has four top ten teams.
Milwaukee Brewers win rights to sign Norichika Aoki. See the Darvish story above but basically the Brewers had to be the highest bidder to the player's Japanese club to gain the negotiating rights and then has to sign the player after winning the bid.
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Cincinnati Reds acquire Mat Latos. The Reds pick up Latos from the San Diego Pardes for Edinson Volquez and 3 others.
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Indiana Pacers ship Brandon Rush to Golden State Warriors. Louis Amundson heads back to the Pacers.
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Washington Wizards re-sign Nick Young to 1-year deal.
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Kemba Walker scores 18 in debut as Charlotte Bobcats beat Atlanta Hawks, 79-77.
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Couple of recent NBA transactions I missed as I didn't post yesterday:
Troy Murphy signs with LA Lakers. One-year at veteran's minimum (which is $1.3 million).
Sacramento Kings claim Travis Outlaw. Claimed off waivers under the new amnesty provision.
Detroit Pistons re-sign Rodney Stuckey. 3-year deal worth $25 million.
Charlotte Bobcats acquire BJ Mullens from Oklahoma City Thunder. For a 2013 second-round draft pick.
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2012 NHL Winter Classic preparations coming along in Philadelphia.
Marshall plays in the Who Gives a Crap Bowl...actually called the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl. Actually my version may be better. I'll still watch though...if I'm really bored.
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WVU news:
WVU men's basketball beats Tennessee Tech, 72-53. WVU won their 4th straight game and Bob Huggins won his 699th career game. Kevin Jones again led the Mountaineers in scoring with 25 points (14 rebounds). Truck Bryant added 15 and Deniz Kilicli also added 12. Walk-on Paul Williamson continued his strong shooting making the two shots he took in the game (of course three-pointers) and finished with 6 points. The Mountaineers return to action Thursday (Dec. 22nd) in Las Vegas against Missouri State (8:00 pm EST) and follow that up the next day (Fri, Dec. 23rd) in Vegas against top ten ranked Baylor (9:00 pm EST). WVU sits at 8-2 on the season. MetroNews recap here.
Big East's dismissal request of WVU's lawsuit denied.
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Tickets for troops. Want to send some troops to the Orange Bowl? Here's an article about it. If you're interested you can go to WVUGame.com or VetTix.org
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In WVU football recruiting news:
Tavon Rooks visited Morgantown over the weekend and apparently enjoyed his visit. According to this article he will decide Wednesday between WVU and Kansas State.
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Ryan Brodie eliminates WVU from his list. Brodie is one of the offensive linemen that WVU has had in for a visit (Dec. 9th) but apparently it wasn't the place for him. The New Jersey product will choose between UConn, Miami (FL) and Rutgers.
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Eerinsider.com's recruiting info from Saturday. Click here to read. Most of this I've already told you, but if you missed something have at it.
McQueary testifies; Penn State officials can be tried. Mike McQueary testified Friday in a preliminary hearing and said he believed he saw Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy on campus. McQueary also said he 'fully conveyed' the details to the Penn State officials. Those officials, former AD Tim Curly and Gary Schultz, can now be tried, the judge ruled, Friday.
Bonds sentencing goes as expected. Barry Bonds...steroids...yawn. This thing BALCO investigation has been going on seemingly since the Giants moved to San Francisco. All you need to know is that the US attorneys wanted a prison sentence but given the other athletes convicted of "obstruction of justice" Bonds' sentencing went exactly as expected. He'll serve a two year probation period and 30 days of house arrest (he's appealing so this won't even start for a year or more from now...if it even happens) - which is laughable when athletes/celebrities get house arrest...who wouldn't want to be forced to stay in 15,000 square feet homes? So there you have it - whether or not Bonds did steroids isn't important. He stood trial and the only thing he was found guilty of was obstruction of justice - something that isn't all that unusual in cases like this. And if you're a 'Bonds should be in prison' person I hope you're saying the same thing about Ryan Braun and EVERY other player ever associated with steroids or failed drug tests because there's no conclusive way to ever know who really did what.
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Pitt freshman Khem Birch leaves basketball team. Highly recruited forward/center Khem Birch has left the University of Pittsburgh basketball program for "personal reasons" according to head coach Jamie Dixon. This news flew all over the internet yesterday prior to the official announcement but it has to be noted that the Pitt coach that helped recruit Birch to Pitt left the team prior to the season starting. Is that the only reason? We may never know. There is no confirmation, at this time, if Birch texted his resignation to Pitt or not.
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Billy Donovan officially signs 5 year contract, through 2016. The University of Florida officially announced the contract had been signed, Friday. A deal that will continue to pay Donovan $3.5 million, annually.
Isn't the following what we all say about getting paid...
Just a quick observation about this video of Moss. He goes on to say "what's 10 grand to me?" yet fiddles around with his keys? I highly doubt his tricked out auto didn't come with key-less entry. [Sorry this really has nothing to do with Billy Donovan...I just wanted a reason to play the "Straight Cash Homie" video, lol.]
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Kobe's wife files for divorce. Hate to hear stuff like this, no matter who is the subject of the divorce. Been a rough week for Kobe when you factor in the non-trade/trade/mismanagement issues with the Lakers.
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Cowboys player restrained after near dust-up with reporter. I'm surprised they didn't duel. That's how they handle things in Texas, right?
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Miami Heat extended the contract of Erik Spoelstra. No word on how many championships he guaranteed the Heat.
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Mike Milbury charged with assault. Former Boston Bruins player and coach, "Mad Mike Milbury" was charged with assault and battery on a child after an incident at a pee-wee hockey game. It's a shame he has no history of this sort of thing. Ohhh wait...
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Free agent OF Michael Cuddyer agrees to multi-year deal with Rockies. It will be a 3 year deal worth around $30 million. Cuddyer spent his first 11 seasons with the Minnesota Twins.
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NFL denies Harrison's appeal. In what comes as a shock to absolutely no one, including James Harrison, the NFL denied his appeal for his 1 game suspension to be overturned. Prior to the hit on McCoy last week, Harrison had not been flagged for ANY helmet-to-helmet hits this season (despite a rash of them last season - some of which were extremely iffy but were obviously flagged because of who was doing the hitting not because of the severity of the hit).
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WVU news:
WVU football continued their hot streak with their 5th commitment of the week. Defensive Tackle Christian Brown became the 28th player to give their verbal commitment to the 2012 recruiting class at WVU. Defensive line help was an obvious need in the class as the team will lose stars Bruce Irvin and Julian Miller to graduation. Christian Brown is a big ole boy that checks in around 6'2" 290 pounds and hails from Bridgeton, NJ. Brown is a 3 star player (Rivals, Scout, 247, ESPN) and is ranked as one of the top 70 DTs in the country on all sites (highest ranking being #38 DT by Rivals). Brown chose WVU over offers from Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina State, Purdue, South Florida, UConn, Indiana, Duke, Minnesota, Iowa State, UAB and UCF. Rivals profile here. Scout profile here. 247 profile here. ESPN profile here.
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In other WVU football recruiting news... WVU will play host to several more players in on official visits this weekend. The word on the street is the group of visitors is headlined by 4 star linebacker Deaysean Rippy from McKees Rocks, PA and junior college (Navarro College) Offensive Tackle (OT) Tavon Rooks. Obviously, these two would be HUGE gets for the WVU recruiting class, especially Rippy. And if you were wondering about WVU trying to get a few Pitt commitments, WVU met with Pitt commit Offensive Guard (OG) Adam Pankey the day the news about Graham leaving broke and they scheduled an official visit to WVU for January. There's also a possibility WVU will go after a few others, but we'll discuss those as they pop up (if they do). It appears Pankey will visit on January 13th along with Lackawanna offensive lineman Mark Glowinski and possibly a few others (Clint Heaven was rumored for this weekend as well). You may also see Garrett Hope visit in January as well along with several others. If you'd rather view another recruiting site's page type in said player's name and see their rank on that site. For the commitments I give you all the links but for prospects I just stick with whatever site I'm on.
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Nice article from Bob Hertzel on WVU freshman Pat Forsythe. Read it and pass it along to your friends and family.
Nike's 'Rise and Roar' Campaign tabs WVU.
Nike's new campaign relies on fan voting and the top 16 schools with
the most feedback will earn a cool Nike designed shirt for their
school/team. Here's an article about the campaign from WV Illustrated. And here is the link to the voting - spread the word!!
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Just a quick reminder that WVU men's basketball has a game today.
WVU takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Morgantown (2pm Saturday)
in the opening game of the iBN Sports Las Vegas Classic. They follow
that up with another game of the tournament in Morgantown on Monday
night (7pm) vs Tennessee Tech. From there the Mountaineers will travel
to Las Vegas for the last two games of the tournament. Thursday,
December 22nd vs Missouri State at 8:00pm and the finale on Friday,
December 23rd vs Baylor at 9:00pm.
WVU women's basketball plays today, as well. WVU travels
to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne at the A.J. Palumbo Center (2pm). If
you decide to go see the game it's "Buck Day" where tickets, hot dogs
and drinks are all $1. After that the ladies will be back in Morgantown
for a Tuesday night (7pm) tilt vs Mount Saint Mary's.
Here's your sports update for Friday...Friday...gotta get down on Friday...
Chris Paul is a Clipper. Chris Paul met the media, yesterday, as the newest member of the Los Angeles Clippers. Paul was very complimentary of his former home (New Orleans Hornets) and talked about how he's ready to win now. Usually, I'd make a 'but you're a Clipper' joke but Blake Griffin + Chris Paul is a pretty legit combo...as long as they can stay healthy. And if they both stay healthy the Clippers very well could be a play-off team this year. There's also the chance that strange things happen this season thanks to the shortened training camp, pre-season and regular season. We'll see if it makes a difference or not but not having camp to develop chemistry between all these new guys could cause some issues. Then again it could cause a lot of issues league-wide where bad teams like the Washington Wizards could steal a few extra wins from the good teams - due to the lack of a pre-season/training camp. Should be fun to watch. Yahoo! version of the Paul to Clippers move here.
Here's a small quote from Chris Paul in the ESPN article: "Why did I make a long-term commitment? Because I believe in this
organization," Paul said. "I believe in the players here and I want to
win and I want to win now. I'm excited about what the future holds. I
can't wait. I'm tired of doing everything else, I want to play."
Kobe wants to be traded?Stephen A. Smith claims Kobe is 'livid' (because of the Paul deal falling through and the Odom to Dallas deal) and will demand a trade. I'm not a fan of Stephen A. Smith, but the NBA guys seem to love him so I doubt he's making it up. Kobe has every right to be furious at the Lakers, but more of his anger should be directed towards David Stern and whomever 'vetoed' that Chris Paul trade - because in reality the Lakers front office had the Chris Paul deal DONE and it was squashed. Not exactly anything the Lakers could have done better there. Turning around and trading Lamar Odom to the team that knocked you out of the playoffs (Dallas) didn't make ANY sense and didn't help make Kobe happy. This could also just be Kobe trying to make sure the Lakers bring in a big name guy. Either way all of this goes away if the Lakers pull off the deal for Dwight Howard (or another super star). Here is what Stephen A. Smith had to say; [transcribed from the link here - which got it from larrybrownsports.com]:
Appearing on SportsCenter, Smith said “I
predicted that Kobe Bryant will demand a trade, and I am not budging
from that. He’s livid. I’ve known Kobe too long. He is ticked off." “It’s not just because [the Clippers] got Chris Paul, which is a guy
that he expected to have. It’s because Jim Buss seems to be doing the
inexplicable,” Smith said. “It makes no sense. It’s one thing for the
team not to have improved [after losing to the Mavericks], it’s another
thing entirely for them to regress. If you know anything about Kobe,
that is the last thing that he wants to do.
I don't have any better or official links for this story - other than the one I linked you to that had the Stephen A. Smith quote. Will post more as it's available (or tomorrow).
Barry Bonds to be sentenced today for obstruction of justice.A non-story, really, unless for some odd reason the judge hands out a harsher sentence than is expected. Most analysts assume Bonds will end up with some variation of house arrest and/or community service based on the other sentences handed out to other sports figures convicted of similar charges. The main point here is that it will "end" the BALCO investigation. ESPN version here. Yahoo! version here.
Chicago Bears' Sam Hurd arrested on federal drug charges. Lots of drugs, lots of problems. Bad things happening in Chicago? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you! Yahoo! version here. Also, here's a few lines from the ESPN article:
The investigation into Hurd's attempt to buy large amounts of cocaine
and marijuana began in July 2011, when he was still a member of the Dallas Cowboys, and concluded when he personally met with an undercover agent Wednesday at Morton's The Steakhouse in Rosemont. At
that meeting, Hurd told the informant that he wanted to buy "five to 10
kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week for
distribution in the Chicago area," according to the complaint.
High school students suspended for 'Tebowing.' In what has to be one of the dumbest suspensions of all time, a group of high school students were suspended for what must have been "Excessive Tebowing" after they continued to perform the Tebow pose in the hallways at school. Yahoo! version here.
MLB owners ratify CBA. Labor peace for the next 5 years.
Josh Willingham signs with Twins. 3-year, $21 million deal.
Prison inmate the 4th man to accuse Bernie Fine. Wow, sickening (if true). Glad Jim Boeheim defended this guy so vehemently. Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here. Also, here is a small excerpt from the ESPN article:
A 56-year-old New York prison inmate says former Syracuse University
assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine began molesting him more than 40
years ago and continued to have sexual contact with him into adulthood. Floyd
VanHooser told The Associated Press during a prison interview Thursday
that Fine began sexually abusing him when VanHooser was 14 years old. As
an adult, the contact included sex acts for money.
Falcons blow out Jaguars on Thursday Night Football, 41-14.
Dwight Howard still on the trading block.The Lakers are bummed about not getting Chris Paul and will almost certainly put the full court press on to land Dwight Howard. The Nets are also looking. And every other day Orlando seems like they might want to keep him. Ever-changing story. With this short pre-season though it might make it hard to pull off prior to the season starting. Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here.
New info on the death of IndyCar racer Dan Wheldon.Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here.
Flyers captain, Chris Pronger, out for season because of post-concussion symptoms. Concussions are a HUGE issue/topic in sports, right now, and even though this is a Flyer ya still have to feel for anyone dealing with this. Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here.
USC offensive tackle, Matt Kalil, to enter 2012 NFL Draft.Yahoo! version here. ESPN version here.
WVU football received two more verbal commitments, Thursday (at least that's when they became public knowledge, officially) bringing them to 27 total verbal commitments. One was well-known (Joseph), if you read this post yesterday. The other (Johnson) may not have been as widely known (on Thursday) but will replace the graduating Tyler Urban nicely. The order in which they were published is irrelevant, but I'll use the WV Metronews posts (since they're free).
Tight End Will Johnson commits to the Mountaineers. Will Johnson, from Osseo, Minnesota became WVU's 26th commitment (again if you're going by order they were posted). A 6'7" 245 pound tight end chose WVU over offers from Auburn, Boston College, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota and Mississippi. Johnson is a 3 star prospect (Rivals, Scout, ESPN and 247) and is ranked 24th best tight end by Rivals, 38th best tight end by Scout and 54th best tight end by ESPN. Scout profile here. Rivals profile here. ESPN profile here. 247 Sports profile here.
Safety Karl Joseph verbals to WVU. Karl Joseph, a 5'11" 190 pound safety, gave his verbal commitment to the Mountaineers at a press conference at his high school, Thursday. This marks the 27th commitment for WVU's 2012 class. Joseph is a versitle athlete that could play multiple positions in college (safety, OLB) but probably projects as a bandit safety for WVU. Joseph is a 3 star prospect (Rivals, Scout, ESPN and 247) and is ranked the 31st best safety by Rivals, 37th best safety by Scout and 36th best safety by ESPN. Joseph chose WVU over offers from Florida, Northwestern, Michigan State, East Carolina, Nebraska,
Illinois, Kentucky, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Miami-FL, South Carolina and
Tennessee. His final two were believed to be WVU and UCF. Scout profile here. Rivals profile here. ESPN profile here. 247 Sports profile here. WV Illustrated has more coverage here.
Nike's 'Rise and Roar' Campaign tabs WVU. Nike's new campaign relies on fan voting and the top 16 schools with the most feedback will earn a cool Nike designed shirt for their school/team. Here's an article about the campaign from WV Illustrated. And here is the link to the voting - spread the word!!
WVMetroNews Statewide Sportsline interviewed Johnson and Joseph's high school head coaches. You can listen here.
Here is a look at WVU's new football cleats:
Upcoming WVU basketball:
Just a quick reminder that WVU men's basketball has a game tomorrow. WVU takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Morgantown (2pm Saturday) in the opening game of the iBN Sports Las Vegas Classic. They follow that up with another game of the tournament in Morgantown on Monday night (7pm) vs Tennessee Tech. From there the Mountaineers will travel to Las Vegas for the last two games of the tournament. Thursday, December 22nd vs Missouri State at 8:00pm and the finale on Friday, December 23rd vs Baylor at 9:00pm.
WVU women's basketball plays tomorrow (Saturday) as well. WVU travels to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne at the A.J. Palumbo Center (2pm). If you decide to go see the game it's "Buck Day" where tickets, hot dogs and drinks are all $1. After that the ladies will be back in Morgantown for a Tuesday night (7pm) tilt vs Mount Saint Mary's.
Todd Graham leaves Pitt after one season for head coaching job at Arizona State. Graham, the now former head football coach at Pitt, had an assistant text/email his players to announce his departure. Varying reports claim, Graham called Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson the night before his decision hoping to receive formal permission to speak with Arizona State, but when it wasn't granted Graham decided to resign and accept the Arizona State position. This will be Graham's 4th head coaching job since 2006 (Rice, Tulsa, Pitt, Arizona State). The eventual replacement for Graham, at Pitt, will be the 4th head football coach at Pitt in the past 2 calendar years after the firing of Dave Wannstedt, the hiring and quick firing of Mike Haywood (arrested for beating his girlfriend/wife), Graham's less than one calendar year gig and whomever they choose next. Ironically, Todd Graham's college roommate and Pitt defensive coordinator, Keith Patterson, will coach Pitt in the BBVA Compass Bowl...reportedly, a real bowl game. Accounting for interim coaches, Patterson, will be the 5th person to lead the Panthers since Dave Wannstedt (Wanstedt, Phil Bennett - interim for bowl, Mike Haywood - never actually coached a game at Pitt, Graham and now Patterson - interim for bowl). Yahoo Sports writer Pat Forde has a nice write-up on Grahamhere.
Chris Paul traded to L.A. Clippers. In what seemed like a never-ending mess, the New Orleans Hornets finally found a deal that the NBA would approve to ship the All-Star PG to another team. The deal sending Chris Paul to the Clippers teams Paul up with young super-star Blake Griffin, giving the Clippers the makings of a special team. In return for Paul the Hornets did get younger (a stipulation that apparently held up the original Paul to Lakers trade) as they received guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu
and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round pick to the Hornets for
Paul. The Clippers will also receive two future second-round picks. Great deal for the Clippers, pretty good for the Hornets...in the long term. The Lakers deal would have made the Hornets better this season and next but not much beyond that while this Clippers deal may take a year or so to develop the Hornets into a playoff contender, but returned really good pieces that were much younger than the Lakers offer. No one will argue the youth angle to this, the problem always was the league stepping in and stopping the Lakers/Hornets/Rockets deal which wasn't as bad as David Stern (or the owners that whined) argued it was. It's fairly obvious the complaints really had more to do with the Lakers retooling than the trade itself. I mean come on, we've seen WAY worse trades go through without the league stepping in. But either way this should make the Clippers even more fun to watch and gave the Hornets a lot of talented young players (and draft picks).
Colt McCoy NOT checked for concussion after hard hit. Browns QB Colt McCoy was rocked by a hard hit from Steelers linebacker James Harrison that resulted in a one-game suspension for Harrison. Despite the helmet-to-helmet hit being penalized on the field and the Browns QB laying on the field for a few minutes after the hit the Browns' medical staff did not check McCoy on the sidelines for the symptoms of a concussion. Given all the concussion related news of late this is quite shocking. The NFL and NFLPA will look further into the staff's reaction but Browns team president, Mike Holmgren, did not expect that the league would take further action than investigating the incident.
Orlando Magic halt trade talks of star center Dwight Howard. The trade situation surrounding Magic center Dwight Howard appears to change almost hourly, but today the Magic have apparently (according to sources) decided to no longer field calls about the All-Star center.
Veteran free agent Richard Hamilton signs with Chicago Bulls.
Fresno State hires Texas A&M interim coach Tim DeRuyter as next head coach.
Miami Heat unveil new alternate all-black uniforms.
WVU news:
Casey Mitchell waived by Houston Rockets. Very small mention of this move in the lower left hand corner of this article (inside the "More Information" box under "Free Throws").
WVU pays visit to Pitt commit Adam Pankey. In the wake of the coaching change at Pitt, WVU wasted no time in checking in on recruits that may "flip" their commitment.
Florida safety to choose between WVU, UCF at 11am announcement, Thursday at his high school. Karl Joseph, a 5-11 190 pound safety from the Orlando, FL area will announce his college choice, Thursday, at a ceremony at Edgewater High School. Joseph has apparently already informed the school of his choice and according to internet reports it appears Joseph will select WVU. Joseph is a 3 star prospect on Rivals, Scout and ESPN.
NEW photos of the almost complete WVU basketball practice facility. Also check around on the WVU Men's Basketball Facebook page so you can see more photos and info about WVU basketball. Facility looks AWESOME!
J.R. House lands a minor league baseball hitting coach gig.
WVU Notebook has some interesting information (on msnsportsnet.com). Here are some of the best points:
West Virginia coaches Bob Huggins and Mike Carey are both within a
couple of victories of achieving milestone wins. Huggs is sitting on 697
wins heading into this Saturday’s game at the Coliseum against Texas
A&M-Corpus Christi as part of the Las Vegas Classic, while Carey
shows 498 career victories leading into Saturday afternoon’s road game
at Duquesne.
Carey has 210 wins at WVU while Huggins now shows 107 victories.
Did you realize that West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen is one of only
seven first-year coaches to lead his team to a BCS bowl game since 1998?
The others are Larry Coker (Miami), Chip Kelly (Oregon), Ralph Friedgen
(Maryland), Charlie Weis (Notre Dame), Chris Peterson (Boise State) and
David Shaw (Stanford).
That’s a great note researched by the WVU Sports Communications staff.
And
here’s another good one from our outstanding SID staff … West
Virginia’s appearance in the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl marks the seventh
New Year’s Day bowl appearance for the Mountaineers in the last nine
years. Only three other programs can make that claim: Florida, Ohio
State and LSU.
Miami Dolphins fire Tony Sparano. Todd Bowles named interim head coach.
Kansas City Chiefs fire Todd Haley (he guided team to AFC West title in 2010). Romeo Crennel named interim coach.
Proposed trade sending Chris Paul to the LA Clippers has apparently "collapsed" due to high asking price as of Monday afternoon. As of Monday evening/early Tuesday it appears there might still be life in the deal. Will address it again, as things change.
Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby out indefinitely (again) with concussion-like symptoms.
Dallas Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray suffered broken right ankle vs Giants, ending his rookie season.
LA Lakers trade forward Lamar Odom (Kardashian) and 2nd-rd pick to Dallas Mavericks for 1st-rd pick and a trade exception.
Houston Texans earned their 1st playoff berth in 10-year history of the franchise, clinch AFC South title.
Tim Tebow wins again, improves to 7-1 as starter for the Broncos. The Broncos have now won 6 straight games. People can hate all they want on him but the guy just wins. Gotta love that and his team oriented approach to his success.
All-Star forward David West leaves the Hornets, signs with Pacers (2-year, $20 million deal).
Free agent 3B Aramis Ramirez agrees to 3-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.
New Jersey Nets owner says he will enter Russian presidential election.
New York Jets starting safety Jim Leonhard out for season with knee injury.
J.J. Barea (formerly of the Dallas Mavericks) agrees to 4-year, $19 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Minnesota Timberwolves finalize contract with forward Derrick Williams (No. 2 pick in draft).
Syracuse new No. 1 in ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Ohio State 2nd, Kentucky drops to 3rd. Louisville and Duke round out the top 5.
Cincinnati Bengals starting RG Bobbie Williams to miss rest of the season with fractured ankle.
New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony day-to-day after hyperextending knee in practice Monday.
National League MVP, Ryan Braun (Brewers), tested positive for PED's, it was revealed over the weekend.
Suspensions handed down by Xavier and Cincinnati teams following on court brawl near the end of rivalry game between the two schools. After the brawl ensued the game was ended with 9 seconds remaining. Each school's conference can tack on suspensions as well and an Ohio prosecutor is mulling the idea of criminal charges from the fight.
Kevin Sumlin introduced as new Texas A&M head football coach. Sumlin comes to A&M from the Houston Cougars.
Robert Griffin, III won the Heisman Trophy. RG3 is the first Baylor Bear to win the Heisman. Stanford QB Andrew Luck finished 2nd for the second-straight year.
Former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno fractures pelvis after fall at his home.
Pittsburgh Pirates trade RP Jose Veras to Milwaukee Brewers for 3B Casey McGehee.
NHL: Kings fire coach Terry Murray. Name John Stevens interim coach.
Seattle beats St. Louis on Monday Night Football, 30-13.
Green Bay Packers WR Greg Jennings out 2-3 weeks with knee sprain.
San Diego State will join Big West in all sports, except football (Big East), for 2013.
Miami (FL) RB Lamar Miller will enter NFL Draft.
LA Clippers claim PG Chauncey Billups off waivers.
LA Clippers match 4-year, $43 million offer sheet that C DeAndre Jordan signed with Warriors.
Andy's comments:
No surprises in the coaching firings.
The Chris Paul situation is sad for Chris Paul and for the Hornets. The Lakers trade offer (with Houston attached) returned a lot to the Hornets. As does the Clippers offer. Regardless, Paul has said he won't sign an extension with the Hornets so they stand to lose him at the end of the season either way. The travesty is that the league decided to step in and block the original Lakers/Rockets/Hornets deal. Sure, part of the lock-out focused on trying to keep star players in the smaller markets but when said market will lose the star anyway it was extremely petty for the league owners to protest the trade. Especially given that the Lakers gave up two of their top three players in the proposal - and Chris Paul has well-known knee issues, already. Funny, no one argued when the Lakers then turned around and traded Lamar Odom to the Mavericks for a trade exception and a draft pick. Point is that having the league running the Hornets is hurting the Hornets and the league. Either the Lakers deal or the Clippers deal are both fair trades (except to a small minority of whiny owners/GMs) that gave the Hornets a lot in return (quality and quantity) and the fact that BOTH deals have had such a hard time going through shows you that the "asking price" is way too high (and that there are ulterior motives at play) - when you see the Lakers/Rockets/Hornets and Clippers/Hornets deals on paper. But it is what it is...as they say. It appears now that the Clippers/Hornets deal may be back on again which is fine but frustrating from a Lakers fan perspective that the Lakers deal only didn't happen because owners like Dan Gilbert (Cavs owner that caused that huge fuss over LeBron as well) and Mark Cuban (who ironically then received Odom from the Lakers - and is a known whiner in his own right) didn't get Chris Paul (or the players they wanted - Lebron staying in Cleveland for Gilbert) and thus didn't want the Lakers to restock their shelves. Which is dumb as well because the Lakers can just sign whomever they want in the summer anyway.
Sidney Crosby often gets the "soft" label from fans of other teams (especially Caps fans) but you can't be too cautious with concussion or head issues. As we've seen with boxers just one too many blows to the head can cause permanent damage. This setback for Crosby has to be frustrating for him, even more so than for the fans. I'm getting tired of it, but again they're better off being overly-cautious so we'll see when (or if) he comes back this season. The Pens were winning without Crosby so they'll probably continue to do so without him, again. Hopefully, he can get over these issues though because, regardless of what haters will tell you, Crosby is a great draw for the NHL and is just great for the NHL, in general, as well.
Congrats to the Houston Texans on their first playoff berth!
Hats off to Tim Tebow for again helping lead the Broncos to a come-from-behind win against Chicago. The Broncos vs Patriots match-up next weekend should be entertaining...to say they least. Couldn't find two QBs that get more attention than Brady vs Tebow.
Not sure why the Lakers turned around (after failing to complete the Chris Paul deal) and basically gave away Lamar Odom to the team that knocked them out of the NBA Playoffs. Obviously, part of it was because of Lamar Kardashian...I mean Odom crying on the radio when asked about possibly leaving the Lakers. Sure, he gave the Lakers several really good years and had a good season last year but 1) it's a business - you have to realize that and 2) the Lakers LOST in the playoffs so someone was bound to move on. Not sure why Odom would be overly surprised. And I don't buy that it had ANYTHING to do with him being on reality TV. That sounds like something the Kardashians cooked up - you know because they don't accept responsibility for anything, either.
I guess you could say that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has "Put-in" to run for President - bad joke going around the internet.
The Pirates trade of Veras for McGehee is a surprisingly good deal for the Pirates (not "great" but good). Veras probably would have been "non-tendered" by the Pirates and this way they get a return for Veras. Not only that but in McGehee they received a nice insurance policy for Pedro Alvarez (in case he doesn't perform, again, at 3B).
Never been a fan of the Brewers (well at least since they joined the NL Central) so I wasn't sad or disappointed that Ryan Braun tested positive for PEDs. Actually, knowing the history between Braun and the Pirates (production wise and whining from Braun) I rather enjoyed the news. Braun swears he's innocent - man, where have we heard that before? Not like other accused baseball players have said that...oh wait. I always heard that steroids (or whatever performance enhancer) made certain parts of your body change, like your head, bigger. This FINALLY explains why Ryan Braun's eyes are always about to pop out of their sockets!
But just when I thought the Brewers might come back to earth they went and signed former Pirate (and more recently Cub) Aramis Ramirez. At least they won't have Prince Fielder and probably won't have Braun for the first 50 games.
...But finally I arrived at the world famous Albuquerque Holiday Inn!
Where the towels are oh so fluffy!
And you can eat your soup right out of the ashtrays if you wanna
It's OK, they're clean!
