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."
Southern Mississippi gave Larry Eustachy a second chance after the former Iowa State coach’s career had gone belly up in 2003 after photos of him partying with students at Missouri came to light. At this point, I think it’s fair to say that his comeback has been a bust (and not a beer bust, either). After leading Cyclones to two NCAA tournament appearance in five seasons, he has yet to get the Golden Eagles to the post-season in his first four seasons, and at 14-14 it isn’t happening this year either.
So THE NEW YORK TIMES says that Eustachy did the right thing: he gave back a $25,000 bonus he had earned through ticket sales and various incentives. Granted, he kept his $380,000 base salary, and this might be seen as a cheap way to generate some goodwill and avoid being fired, but still: that’s about 3,000 12-packs of Natural Light we’re talking about (plus enough left over to keep the Omega Chi fire pit going all semester).
I’m not going to suggest that the Boston Celtics weren’t completely focused last night, but…for God’s sake, they lost to the freakin’ Los Angeles Clippers! I know that they were without Kevin Garnett, and then Paul Piercedislocated his thumb in the third quarter. And I know that the axiom that there are no easy road games in the NBA.
Except when you are playing the Los Angeles Clippers - I don’t care where you play them or what the circumstances are, that should be an “easy game” for any team. If they can’t beat the Clippers, then I guess we can eliminate the Celtics as legitimate NBA Finals contenders. We might as well go ahead and crown the Lakers…
…who lost to Sacramento earlier this year, who actually somehow have managed to be worse this season than the Clippers. OK then, how about the Cavaliers? What, they lost to Washington earlier this season? We’re going to wind up with the Spurs as champions again, aren’t we. The point is: it was a really, really bad loss, but no worse than any other team has during the course of a season. Let’s not freak out to much about it yet.
Nothing against Nolan Smith, but doesn’t anyone who isn’t a Duke fan feel good about seeing a Blue Devil get laid out by a vicious screen? Maryland’s Dave Neal was the one delivering the shot, flooring Smith and causing Mike Krzyzewski to fume. Smith had to be helped off the court but didn’t appear to be seriously injured, allowing us to enjoy our little moment of schadenfreude:
Of course, as the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER points out, that screen might have been the worst thing that could have happened to the Terrapins, as Duke’s Gerald Henderson came out of the ensuing time out as a man on a mission, scoring 11 of his 19 points in the game’s final 15 minutes and change afterward. Or, it could just be that Duke is a much better team than possibly NIT-bound Maryland; either way, Duke won 78-67.
Meanwhile, this is how bad it’s gotten for Indiana: they were swept by Northwestern. The Wildcats did what would have seemed improbable going into this season, breaking a 35-game losing streak at Indiana on Wednesday with a 75-53 victory. Then again, even with a young, inexperienced team, thinking that Indiana would be 6-21 overall or 1-14 in the Big Ten would have been pretty loopy before the season started.
More sports news as you fire up your NES and decide whether to play “Wrestle Jam” as Randy “The Ram” Robinson or The Ayatollah:
Remember those Powerade commercials that had LeBron Jamessinking one full-court shot after another to the amazement of a local reporter. After watching this pre-game video found by BALL DON’T LIE of King James swishing a more than half-court shot - underhanded- I’m starting to wonder how much editing trickery was used:
Further proof that Alex Rodriguez just doesn’t get it: FOX SPORTS says that after hitting a home run in his first Spring Training game, he left the stadium in an SUV … with his cousin Yuri Sucart, the same cousin who was allegedly his steroid supplier.
REUTERS says Australian swimmer Nick D’Arcy - pulled from the Olympic team after allegedly caving in another athlete’s face during a barroom brawl while celebrating making the team - will have to wait another month to learn his fate.
I know it’s from the Celebrity Game during All-Star Weekend, so it’s a little bit old, but seeing ESPN’s Jon Barry bite this hard on the old Harlem Globetrotters “Confetti in the Bucket” trick is worth it. Didn’t he ever watch the Globetrotters on “Wide World of Sports” as a kid?:
Another day, another investment scam impacting sports. This time NEWSDAY reports that two former New York Islanders executives have been arrested and charged with “with misappropriating more than $500 million in client investments, including tens of millions allegedly taken for things like expensive stallions and pricey Teddy bears.”
More news in the slow, inevitable slog towards Manny Ramirez finally signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers: the LA TIMES reports that the team has made him a two-year, $45 million offer that he could respond to as early as today.
CANES COUNTRY has another sign that either newspapers are dying or economy is falling through a well (or both): the News & Observer has decided to not send reporters to Carolina Hurricanes away games, likely for the rest of the season and possibly beyond.
The PALM BEACH POST reports that Michael Jordan and his 30-year-old paramour, Cuban model Yvette Prieto, are moving in together in a house in suburban Miami. Michael: if you find Charlie Sheen coming out of your house at odd hours of the night, you have bigger things to worry about than your underwear.
So Travis the chimp isn’t the only one in Connecticut going apesh*t this week. On the heels of career win no. 799, Jim Calhoun had to deal with an itinerant political activist and freelance journalist (in that order), and man did Jim shut him down.
Ken Krayeske, a local personality best known for being arrested for breach of peace at the governor’s inaugural parade, tried to take Calhoun to task for his $1.6 million salary at a time when Connecticut’s budget deficit is soaring. Jim, as you’ll see, was having none of it.
Congratulations to Kobe Bryant for scoring his 22,000th career point against the Indiana Pacers last night. Your reward? A total fourth-quarter collapse by your team’s defense and a head-scratching 118-117 loss. Personally, as I gift I’d rather receive a pair of socks, or even a gift certificate to Arby’s than that.
The reason the Lakers blew a 15-point fourth quarter lead was simple: they stopped playing defense. They gave up 32 points in the quarter and six offensive rebounds, the last being Troy Murphy’s tip-in that gave the Pacers the victory. It’s the first Lakers loss to a bad team this season, but knowing the team’s recent history of falling victim to seemingly overlooking bad teams. (Between them and the USC football team, there must be something in the LA water.)
Meanwhile, Dallas Stars winger Sean Avery’s mouth has gotten him in trouble yet again. He’s been suspended indefinitely for “inappropriate public comments” after running his mouth before a game against the Calgary, specifically targeting Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf, who happens to be dating Avery’s ex, hottie actress Elisha Cuthbert.
Here’s Avery’s comments. If you look closely, you can see his teammates praying for an errant piece of Sputnik to come crashing down on him:
A class act, that Sean Avery. USA TODAY breaks down some of his recent “greatest hits“, including his swipe a few years ago at French-Canadians. This is Avery’s first season with the Stars, but he’s already managed to alienate his team. Dallas owner Tom Hicks said that the team would have suspended Avery if the league didn’t, and teammates like Marty Turco are already sick of his act. And we know how opponents feel about him.
If you are Thomas Cole, a former assistant girls high school basketball coach in Orange County, and you are accused of having sex with a minor, you might not want to text her. The ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER says that apparently Cole felt otherwise.
JOE SPORTS FAN gets into the world of sports humor videos, and they’re already ahead of the Sklar Brothers in terms of making something funny. Their first topic: EA Sports’ Adult Mens Softball 09.
To the surprise of some, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge has actually been a challenge so far, with each conference winning three games. Duke won the marquee match-up last night, rolling past Purdue 76-60 in what FOX SPORTS’ Jeff Goodman calls an especially impressive performance.
UConn freshman basketball player Nate Miles spent nearly two years trying to get into the school, and now his college basketball career has been derailed before it ever got started. Miles lasted only 70 days at the school before getting expelled for alleged sexual abuse of a female student.
Jim Calhoun has brought in some questionable characters in the past, but Miles will go down as one of his biggest busts since he never even saw the court. Miles bounced around five different high schools and most programs wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole despite his tremendous talent.
Tennessee escaped against LSU with a last-second shot, while Stanford stymied Connecticut to advance to the title game. And once again, the Cardinal have corrupted the potentially higher entertainment value of the ladies’ tourney.
Finally, a Cinderella story to make this year’s March Madness a little more compelling. Thanks, Toreros!
#14 San Diego was able to upend #3 UConn in a 70-69 OT thriller on Friday, giving Huskies coach Jim Calhoun his first-ever first round loss in 15 appearances - and no dobut causing Pepto-Bismol markups at the Storrs Walgreen’s. Read more…
