8:45 PM We always hear about Cuban baseball players defecting to the U.S., but Cuban umpires? The AP reports that Nelson Diazarrived in Miami on Sunday with his wife & two daughters. He was to work the 2009 WBC, but Cuban officials said they "didn't trust him".
8:30 PM La Salle University has reached a settlement to pay the family of former football player Preston Plevretes $7.5 million for medical care. Plevretes suffered a serious brain injury during a 2005 game. La Salle dropped its football program in 2007.
8:15 PM Florida Panthers defenseman Keith Ballard demonstrates his disgust at allowing an Atlanta Thrashers goal by swinging his stick at the goalpost - only to take out goalie teammate Tomas Voukon. Voukon had to leave the ice on a stretcher. (H/T Litter Box Cats)
The NFL Draft has just come to a close, and one of the great traditions of the draft is the crowning of “Mr. Irrelevant,” otherwise known as the last pick of the entire draft. The “winner” of this honor gets to spend a week in Newport Beach and is awarded something called the Lowsman Trophy at an actual banquet that concludes a celebration called “Irrelevant Week.”
And, I’m proud to announce that this year’s recipient of the tremendous honor is none other than… Billy Mays?
Mark Teixeirais a Yankee. It’s a crushing blow to, well, just about every team outside of New York. The big fish — Red Sox, Angels — wanted him. The little fish — Orioles, Nationals — wanted him even more. Still, if you thought one of those jilted big fish was about to wade back into the pond for another bite, well, think again.
(Neither Manny nor the LADIES… know where he’ll will end up.)
According to Angels GM Tony Reagins, the team was absolutely, positively, never ever interested in moving on from Teixeira to Manny Ramirez. Let’s repeat that: the Angels were never interested in Manny. Wait, let’s just let Reagins do it himself, in this exclusive audio provided by KLAA 830’s THE SPORTS LODGE show:
Yup, you heard that right. The Angels never wanted Manny Ramirez, probably because he’s, well, Manny Ramirez. And that makes him borderline clinically insane. Or retarded. One or the other.
That’s right, in case you didn’t get the picture, the Angels really, really, really want nothing to do with “Manny Being Manny.” All of which begs the question: Where in God’s name is this guy going to end up? There really aren’t any big market teams interested — the Angels, Mets, and Red Sox (obviously) are all out of the picture. The Cubs and White Sox have absolutely no need for another overpriced outfielder. The Orioles, where Manny loves to hit, say they’re not interested.
So will Manny have to go back to the Dodgers? It’s a real possibility, just because there’s so little competition out there. The Nationals? They claim they aren’t interested, yet that may not be the case now that Ted Lerner has finally been outed by agent Scott Boras as an owner who does, in fact, have bags of money.
Of course, despite losing out on Teixeira, it wasn’t all a bad day for Boston. After all, the Celtics won again. That’s right, Boston won a 19th-straight game. Nineteen in a row. Without a loss. It hasn’t been done since … well, last year, when the Houston Rockets won 22 in a row. (And who stopped Houston’s streak? Yes, the Boston Celtics.) And every team that’s had a streak of 19 or more games has gone on to win the NBA title … except for last year’s Rockets. That’s the kind of stat that’s a little hard to minimize.
In the past week, as Boston’s winning streak careened past the level of “improbable” into solid “something’s got to give eventually” territory, there was a rush to minimize the accomplishment. “They aren’t playing anyone good,” said one Grinch. “They’re healthy when other teams are banged up!” chimed another. Both are somewhat valid points, but they do little to minimize or trivialize what the Celtics achieved by winning a 19th straight game last night, knocking off Philadelphia 110-91, at T.D. Banknorth Garden.
Perhaps more significant is the way that the Celtics are winning these games. Boston isn’t just beating teams, they’re blowing them out. The Celtics are playing better than they did all of last year en route to the title, yet they insist they can get even better.
That’s more than you can say about Boise State. They finally lost — by a point, a crushing point — to TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl, which might just be the lowest status bowl to ever host a No. 9 vs. No. 11 matchup. Think about it: The Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day has No. 15 vs. No. 20. This was the stinking Poinsettia Bowl. On Dec. 23rd. Amazingly, it was also an incredible game. It might just be the best game of the bowl season that isn’t part of the BCS (for that matter, it might be better than the BCS, too).
Remember how Shaquille O’Neal — and then the REAL Shaquille O’Neal — showed up on Twitter one day? Well, evidently he’s not alone among athletes in the new technology. In fact, he’s not nearly as good looking as the newest addition, one Natalie Gulbis. Read her early entries here, via our friends over at RANDBALL.
You know, this Devin Harris guy is starting to look pretty good. Just check out the composure. We’ll take one of him and one Brandon Roy in the three-point contest, please.
Wow. Think it’s too late to start a soccer career? More unbelievable photos here.
That’s dedication, homes: Former NBA star and accident victim David Wesleyis a student manager of the Baylor basketball team while finishing his degree at the school. Seriously.
If this isn’t the best thing you’ve seen about Monday night’s Bears-Packers divisional brawl, well, you’ve probably been reading far too much NFL copy.
German soccer superpowers Bayern Munchen are really, really pissed off that their stadium — the Allianz Arena — is being blown up in this clip from a forthcoming movie.
Speaking of soccer, does it look like Arsenal’s Robin Van Persieis getting hugged by a four-armed man in this shot? KICKETTE thought so, and we agree.
Say what you will about ESPN — and we often do — but this ad is absolutely great.
The beards on Billy Mays‘ wife and kids are totally realistic looking. Admit it, you want one.
