8:00 PM CSN Baltimore has video of Marcus Smith, a U.S. soldier who dressed as a minor league umpire to surprise his children at a Bowie Baysox game with a home visit from Afghanistan.
7:45 PM A Japanese Harley-Davidson motorcycle that was swept out to sea during last year's tsunami washed up on a shore in British Columbia last month. The bike's owner asked that the motorcycle be displayed at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee as a memorial to the tsunami victims.
7:30 PM Buffalo Bills receiver David Clowneytweeted the results of his HIV test which came back negative. And to the critics of his decision to share his results, Clowney added: "Some people are Ridiculously stupid ... And can't see the bigger picture about things that are important in this world."
• The boat carrying missing NFLers Corey Smith & Marquis Cooperhas been found, and one survivor was rescued. However, the two players and another passenger still haven’t been found.
When longtime Patriots assistant Eric Mangini left to coach the Jets, New England coach Bill Belichick openly seethed about his right-hand man’s defection. Belichick refused to wish Mangini good luck, instead holding a grudge against him that extended all the way to chilling non-handshake meet-and-greets at midfield after games between the Jets and Patriots. Well, now another Belichick chosen assistant has departed and, like Mangini, Josh McDaniels may be getting slighted by his former tutor.
According to numerous sources, McDaniels’s Broncos were close to a deal for his former quarterback, Matt Cassel, on Friday night. At the last minute, New England backtracked from the deal and included Cassel, a player they were willing to franchise tag at a cost of millions of dollars, in a trade made earlier for linebacker Mike Vrabel with the Chiefs. The Cassel addition may go down as one of the great throw-ins of contractual history, right behind free jalapeno poppers when you buy a large Coke.
The decision to send Cassel to the Chiefs not only smacked of favoritism for Belichick’s former front office compatriot, longtime Patriots-turned-Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, it also tomahawked McDaniel’s new offensive lineup before he even gets a chance to work with it. When the Broncos angled for Cassel, it became clear the team was willing — anxious even — to deal Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler. That concept didn’t play well with Cutler or his teammates, as you read right here yesterday.
Suddenly, after the Patriots received only a second round draft pick for the package of Cassel and a Pro Bowl linebacker, it became clear that something was amiss. By keeping Cassel from the Broncos, Belichick not only hurt a team that has long been a thorn in New England’s side, he also stuck the move to his former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Belichick is smart enough to know that the Chiefs are still one, probably two years away from legitimate contention. That’s not necessarily the case for the Broncos, and being able to hold back an assistant he didn’t want to leave may have only made shorting Denver an easier decision for Billy B.
The lopsided deal — which, as we pointed out Saturday, could become a lot more plausible if the Patriots land Julius Peppers — was so out of character that some writers have called for an investigation into why the Patriots made it. FANHOUSE columnist Jay Mariotti is the biggest name among that group, and (somewhat shockingly) he makes some decent points as to why something is clearly fishy with the deal.
Mariotti probably won’t get his probe, but the Patriots may get a lot more scrutiny over future moves, and that’s something that would have seemed crazy even a week ago.
We hate to stick with sports teams that play in a single east coast city, but there’s another Boston move that bears further inspection: the Celtics’ signing of team-killer Stephon Marbury. Starbury made a predictably impressive debut off the team’s bench on Friday, but he was 0-for-3 against the Pistons on Sunday, racking up four fouls in 13 minutes, not to mention one embarrassing steal he practically handed to Detroit’s Rip Hamilton. In short, he looked awful, and his brooding gaze under a towel on the sideline didn’t seem to help things during Boston’s upset loss at home, either.
Naturally, that raises the question of whether, if Marbury continues to struggle in a bench role, he’ll be content sitting on said bench. Clearly the Celtics thought he would, because there’s no way he’s stealing any time or any of the role from emerging point guard Rajon Rondo, but there’s no precedent for Starbury “fitting in”. In fact, he’s never fit in, so why should the Celtics assume he will now? Clearly they may have been using specious logic in believing that Doc Rivers, as compelling a coach as he has been, could instantly get Marbury on board with Boston’s team dynamic. That just means that Marbury could be more trouble than he’s worth, which is precisely what the Celtics don’t need if they have any hope of repeating without James Posey.
At one point on Sunday, the two sides were said to be less than $2 million apart on a two year deal, with only Ramirez holding an option on the second year. The chance to reach agreement on that faded away when McCourt showed his cheap side. Often dumb, but cheap, when he said the Dodgers and Ramirez will have to start from step one, reeling in Boras to a de-facto admission that the Dodgers are the only team with legitimate interest in Ramirez, then fleecing him by saying that a $45 million deal for the slugger is “off the table”.
The question now is only whether McCourt will suddenly get really, really stingy, trying to drive down Manny’s asking price by $5 million or more, or whether this is all an exercise in saving face and proving a point. The danger there, of course, is whether Boras convinces Manny he’s being disrespected, telling him to turn to some type of a strangely-structured deal with the Giants. That’s probably unlikely, but the way talks have been going, it sounds more and more like a deal between Manny and the Dodgers isn’t so likely at the moment, either.
Longtime Jazz owner Larry Millerwas laid to rest on Sunday, and all of his children drove to the funeral in sports cars, an homage to his start in an auto parts store. Naturally, Karl Malone and others were in attendance in a pretty classy ceremony.
Former NHL degenerate Steve Downie is back in the news, which can only mean one thing: He’s getting himself in big trouble. This time he didn’t take his frustrations out on an opponent, he used a ref … and slashed him with a skate.
Is anyone else sick of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant facing off? After missing each other for far too long, they suddenly have played three times in three weeks. Shaq won this round, but really, do we want to watch any more right now?
On Sunday, THE WASHINGTON POST reported that Maryland might have been on the verge of a recruiting violation because of contact between Under Armour, former Terp Byron Mouton and top prospect Lance Stephenson. Now the U of Md. is responding, and they’re not taking these allegations lightly. Naturally, Stephenson probably isn’t, either, which just means he’s almost certain to land somewhere else.
One of Bill Simmons’ favorite phrases that ESPN won’t let him say: Benedict Cockblock. Luckily, Adam Carrolla can say that whenever he wants. God bless.
You know those images that you don’t want to see, but can’t turn away from because they’re just too riveting? Meet female bodybuilder Christy Resendes squeezing an orange … with her biceps:
We know what you’re saying: “Wait, who scored how many on which team now?” The answer to that is not as significant as the subset in which the points came: A college basketball game in the SEC.
That’s right, Jodie Meeks, a junior guard for Kentucky, had the night of a lifetime, dropping a whopping 54 points on the No. 24 Tennessee Volunteers in a shockingly one-sided 90-72 win. Meeks hit 10 of his 15 three-point attempts, helping the Wildcats take control of a game that was still up in the air in the second half. In the process, he set the Kentucky record for most points in a single game. Really. It’s also the most points scored by one player in regulation in a decade, and six teams scored fewer total points on Tuesday night than Meeks did himself.
Not surprisingly, his coach and teammates had some choice quotes about the junior sharp-shooter.
“It was the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen,” said his coach, Billy Gillispie.
“I wouldn’t be talking at all,” Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson said about Tennessee players who he said continued to talk trash. “My mouth would be shut. Especially when a guy’s got 54 in your own gym. They can talk all they want. Jodie’s shots speak for themselves.”
If you’re like us, you saw the name of the NCAA nightly stud and thought, “Who is this Meeks guy?” Well, here’s some things we should all get to know about the most legitimate single-game college output since Kevin Durant was still wearing orange.
Meeks is averaging more than 24 points-per-game this season, which means we probably should have known about him already.
He was on the 2007 All-SEC Freshman Team and All-America Freshman Team (so we really should have known about him)
He’s from Norcross Georgia (how did he possibly not end up at Georgia Tech?)
Meek’s 24 ppg (before Tuesday’s avalanche) were a stunning improvement from his prior seasons, when he averaged 8 ppg … despite playing fewer than 10 minutes less per game.
While the 54 points were beyond what anyone could have expected, these big busts aren’t unanticipated; he dropped 46 on Louisville at Freedom Hall back on December 20. Guess he really likes playing on the road.
Here are the highlights from Meeks’ absurd performance. Grab your popcorn, you don’t want to miss any of it.
The best part about Meeks? His demeanor actually matches his name. There was no jersey-popping after his big night, just honest answers. When asked why his performance was so special, he just dropped this gem: “We just never won here before.” Priceless.
If Kevin Garnett thinks Paul Pierce is Superman, what does that make LeBron James? We ask because LeBron’s triple-doubles have become almost matter-of-fact, with last night’s triple-double — it was just another workmanlike 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists — in Cleveland’s 102-87 win in Memphis almost seemed like an afterthought. With the Grizzlies on the schedule, you actually expected LeBron to drop a triple-double with at least 30 points.
The most amazing thing is that the points and rebounds weren’t even the most impressive part about LeBron’s night. No, that would be his defense, which included an early block that clearly set the tone for Cleveland’s defensive pressure.
Then there are plays like this, which really just aren’t fair.
It’s almost impossible to think about just how significant a cultural factor LeBron will be if the Cavaliers somehow win the title. He’s on the cover of this month’s edition of GQ. He makes his own commercials for Nike. Heck, he’s making the city of Cleveland relevant. That’s astounding in itself.
In fact, LeBron is already such a household name, and his cultural morays thereby tacitly acceptable, that he may subtly do for tattoos what Michael Jordan did for baggy shorts. Think about it. BronBron sports nearly full-sleeve tattoos on both arms, with images swirling into one another. He’s added to his tat collection each season, and it almost seems like a matter of time before the shirts with all of his tattoos start flying off the shelves (remember the Iverson edition back in the day?). By 2020, don’t be surprised if 75 percent of the people you know are sporting tats of some kind, and a lot of that may be due to LeBron, whether we want to admit it or not.
Speaking of basketball and the (not so) distant future, this announcement seemed to slip past most radars yesterday: Billy Packer and Bob Knight are going to be providing NCAA Tournament analysis for FOX SPORTS from Las Vegas during the opening weekend of this spring’s tournament. And, because they’re in Vegas, Packer and Knight are going to be televising their rants from a casino sports book.
(Get thee to Vegas, and quick!)
That seems like a good idea. After all, a sports book is definitely the place to catch all the first and second round action. And all of this would be well and good except, as FANHOUSE delicately points out, for the fact that the NCAA absolutely, positively does not condone gambling on its games.
That’s right folks, FOX SPORTS is openly thumbing its nose at the NCAA, taking a preeminent coach and a recently deposed preeminent broadcaster and having them talk about the tournament from the very site that the NCAA wants to believe won’t touch the games themselves. It’s a little like holding a dieting workshop at the entryway to a Twinkies factory. Sure, Packer and Knight may not talk about the gambling lines, but they’ll be surrounded by them. You might even be able to see them scrawl across the backdrop behind their set.
Just one more incident that proves the NCAA has much less power than it thinks it does. That and that alone should at least give the rest of us hope that eventually we’ll get that football playoff, by hook or crook (smart money’s on crook, sad as it may be).
Will the last person not named Bill Belichick on the New England coach staff or front office please turn off the lights? We know that Billy-B sleeps on a cot already.
If there was any question that Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo is headed to Real Madrid this summer, doubters should consider this: His agent is already copyrighting “CR9“, meaning his next number is probably “9″.
During the last few weeks there have been plenty of football coaches in the NFL being fired from their jobs, but I don’t think any of them were as surprising as Denver’s decision to dump Mike Shanahan after 14 years. Sure, the Broncos had only had one playoff win in the last ten years, but Shanahan had Bill Cowher status in Denver, and I thought he’d be there until he decided to leave. Now that he’s gone, I can only wonder how he feels knowing that he has been replaced by a guy who was only 18 years old when he first took the Broncos job.
Yes, that’s right, the Broncos have found Shanahan’s replacement, and it’s none other than New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
The NFL coaching carousel has it’s first official shocking offseason casualty: Eric Mangini. According to PROFOOTBALLTALK and, shortly thereafter, FOX SPORTS’ Jay Glazer, the Jets dumped the former Patriots defensive coordinator after the Jets dropped their final two games with a playoff berth on the line.
(Guess who has more time to attend Lupus Research fundraisers!)
The move is one of three head coach firings on “Black Monday”, with the more expected falls of Browns head man Romeo Crennel and Lions coach Rod Marinelli also receiving post Christmas pink slips.
The move was a surprise, particularly after the Jets midseason surge that had many heralding the official arrival of the glory years of a Mangini-Mike Tannenbaum era.
“For the current New York Jets organization, we’ve made the decision to move on,” owner Woody Johnson, who was reportedly ‘visibly upset and agitated after Sunday’s loss’ said at a news conference Monday morning. “It’s a judgment call.”
The move doesn’t say much about Johnson’s truthfulness, after the owner pledged last March that Mangini and Tannenbaum would “absolutely” be back in 2009.
In what has to be the least-shocking NFL development of the year — ok, second-least shocking behind Pacman Jones starting another fracas — it’s starting to look like NFL league officials are not fond of the Patriots … and really like the Jets and Brett Favre.
(What? You mean the NFL is sick of this guy? Really?)
I know, it’s shocking. When you pick your jaw up off the floor, PROFOOTBALLTALK.com explains how we finally know that the NFL is pulling for the success of the New York franchises, particularly since a certain number 4 is slinging the ball around in a green and white jersey these days. Both NFL V.P. of football operations Ray Anderson and another league official walked down the tunnel beneath Gillette Stadium to congratulate Jets G.M. Mike Tannenbaum after the Jets’ overtime victory against the Patriots last Thursday.
In a player survey, 80 percent of NFL players were polled as to which coaches they’d most, and least, want to play for. It’s actually a fascinating look at how players balance their desire to win with their desire to play for a nice guy, two things that are often mutually incompatible. And Bill Belichick, probably the best illustration of that, got some interesting responses.
The last two Super Bowl winners ended up at opposite ends of the list. Tony Dungy, unsurprisingly, was named the most desirable head coach - his father-figure-like manner, and on-the-field success made him a clear number one. Hardass Tom Coughlin was the coach players least wanted to play for. The poll was conducted during last season, before the Giants’ championship, so those 53 players with rings are probably pretty glad they sucked it up. Plaxico Burress could not be reached for comment.
And what about Belichick, an a**hole who always wins?
Washington Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn is no Bill Belichick. While the Pats chief is known for his mastery of the art of “coachspeak” (that is, saying nothing at all of note in his press conferences), Zorn spent some time recently telling a reporter of his experience picking up and skinning road kill.
(How fitting that he coaches the ‘Skins)
According to the WASHINGTON POST:
“We lived on Lake Washington,” he began. “Ok, this absolutely was appalling to my bride of 29 years, but I actually found road kill. I didn’t hunt the coyote, I found road-kill coyote, put it in a bag, shoved it in my trunk. I thought, ‘A coyote pelt, this is awesome!’ “
Patriots offensive lineman are making all sorts of news this week: While some are blowing their protective duties to Golden Boy Tom Brady, hilariously ending the team’s chances this year, others like Nick Kaczur are doing their duty to protect this country by blowing up drug rings.
Good to see Curt Schilling is keeping busy. The Red Sox pitcher took time out from doing absolutely nothing to call Boston radio station WEEI and force his thoughts on the Tom Brady injury down our throats. And why shouldn’t he? He was last relevant in 2004, after all.
Apparently, there was much celebration across the five boroughs as Brady lay on the Gillette Stadium turf clutching his knee last Sunday. Which prompted Schilling into action.
