2:04 PMNewsday's Alan Hahn was courtside for Knicks' embarrassing non-competitive loss to the Cavaliers last night: "Knicks down 51-25....boos come at a timeout. Quick, throw the Yankees back on the court!"
1:57 PM Iowa's QB Ricky Stanzi is out of the Hawkeyes' game against Northwestern with a right ankle sprain. It's doubtful he'll return against the Wildcats, who lead 14-10 midway through third quarter. Iowa's new QB is redshirt freshman James Vandenberg.
1:04 PMMike Florio reported this week that a source told him NFL players might be considering striking during the playoffs. Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas did his best to marginalize Florio in strongly denying the possibility. Florio is a former practicing attorney, he ain't making stuff up A.T.
12:35 PM I feel bad for Univ. of Maryland football and hoops fans. Athletic Director Debbie Yow is a complete embarrassment. Witness her insistence on Baghdad Bob-treatment on a real, live Washington, DC radio show. Pathetic. She needs to be reassigned to Title IX compliance.
It’s a scenario that would be totally rejected as an “Entourage” spec script, but since this is real life, and Cleveland, it’s totally believable. The Browns’ Braylon Edwards supposedly slugged a friend of LeBron James outside of a nightclub late Sunday night, and now James is sniping back at Edwards via Twitter.
Edward Givens has told police that Edwards assaulted him outside of View nightclub in Cleveland at about 2:30 a.m. this morning. Givens, who said that he went to Lutheran Hospital this morning for a black eye, a cut and a headache, is friends with LeBron. This is what LeBron has to say about it via a sportswriter’s Twitter account: Read more…
As we mentioned on SbB Live last night, Delonte West missed his second straight day of practice for the Cavaliers, apparently holed up in his apartment and not answering the phone. Well, now make that three missed practices (out of a total of three), as West didn’t show up for this morning’s workouts, according to the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER’s Brian Windhorst.
The Cavs are saying that West is “attending to personal matters,” which translates to he hasn’t been taking his meds for what is reportedly bipolar disorder. If that’s true, the Cavs have bought themselves a lot more trouble than they likely realize. Read more…
• Washington State RB James Montgomery underwent surgery on his injured knee last Sunday. And doctors soon learned that it was a good thing James didn’t delay - or he might have died.
At this point the speculation surrounding LeBron James leaving the Cavs has become folklore; like Bigfoot sightings, or Chad Ochocinco shutting up for five minutes. But if there’s one man who can lure The King from his Clevelandly realm, it’s the man below; a Russian billionaire who once played professional hoops and flips jet skis to relax. It’s like I have a twin!
Who is Mikhail Prokhorov? Think of the New Jersey Nets as owned by Goldfinger, or the alternate James Bond villain of your choice. Russia’s richest man, who made his $9 billion fortune mainly in nickel and gold production and nanotechnology development, has been called Russia’s most eligible bachelor. He’s fond of traveling the world in his private jet with beautiful women in tow, and was once arrested in an investigation of a high-end prostitution ring.
The Brewers had hit Manny Ramirez earlier in the game, presumably for being Manny and admiring a slump-busting home run he hit as part of the Dodgers’ biggest home scoring outburst since 1979. So, with Ramon Troncoso warming in the bullpen with a 13-run lead and two outs in the ninth, Mota beaned Prince Fielder. Mota was tossed immediately and a befuddled Fielder had words for him as he left the field. Troncoso came in for the last out, but the situation was far from over.
After the game, Prince decided he wanted to go have a friendly chat with Mota and the rest of the Dodgers, so he tried to storm their clubhouse. Like, actually go in there and try and throw down, I guess. Fortunately, a combination of security guards and Brewer teammates were able to keep him out. Prince was soon safely in his regular spot in front of the postgame spread. Mota, once again displaying mighty courage, was nowhere to be found afterward and left Russell Martin to speak for him.
This is the sort of thing that happens all the time in baseball, but two aspects were troublesome: One, obviously, is Fielder’s attempt to actually go in the opposing clubhouse and get in a confrontation. Baseball has always had their “codes” and all that, but it’s supposed to stay on the field. Fielder’s choice to escalate the situation showed pretty poor judgment. But I don’t think Joe Torre is off the hook here. Hittting Fielder wasn’t the problem. But the Dodgers should’ve at least preserved the conceit that the whole thing wasn’t pre-planned. It’s hard to say “it just got away from him” when you have a pitcher warming up in the bullpen with one out remaining in a complete blowout. Clearly this was not only permitted by Torre, but presumably was encouraged, which may earn him a suspension.
(I don’t think Mota wants to run into Piazza at a Dodger reunion any time soon)
Meanwhile, things may have finally hit rock bottom for the Mets this year. Francisco Rodriguez blew a two-run lead in the ninth, then Albert Pujols hit a granny in the 10th to lead the Cards to a 12-7 win at CitiField. It was Pujols’ fifth grand slam this season, and he has hit six homers in his last 11 at-bats with the bases loaded. Even more frustrating for Mets fans, pitcher Sean Green hit the previous batter, Mark DeRosa, with the bases loaded to allow Pujols to come to the plate. This with two out in a tie game. To add injury to injury, as the Mets have been doing all season, Luis Castillosprained his ankle on the dugout steps.
(”Hey Albert, up here. Up top, bro. Do you see me here? No, dude, not the guy in the white shirt.”)
Horrifying news coming out of the Pittsburgh area last night, as a man opened fire at an LA Fitness gym in the southwest suburb of Collier, killing at least three people and wounding at least 10 others. At this time, it’s assumed that the gunman then killed himself. The PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW has the scary details:
Allegheny County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said the gunman may have fired 50 shots at the 20-22 women inside the room at the time before turning one of his guns on himself and taking his own life. There were perhaps another 50 people in various other parts of the facility at the time.
Moffatt said the gunman left a note inside his gym bag that indicated he expected to die in the carnage.
From all accounts, this seems like the sort of attack that is nearly impossible to stop. The 49-year-old gunman, who has not been identified as I write this, was a member of the club who was able to gain access simply by swiping in. It could, however, not be as entirely random as it looks now, as he specifically went into a room where an aerobics class called “Latin Impact” was taking place. He only shot women who were in that room, then apparently killed himself.
Despite the chaotic scene, a number of people lent whatever help they could:
Richard Walker went to the gym to play basketball with a group of friends. Two of them left carrying shooting victims, both women, over their shoulders, Walker said.
They got 50 yards from the gym’s side entrance, and took cover between cars as soon as they reached the edge of the parking lot, he said two hours after the shooting, his Oklahoma All-State T-shirt covered in dried blood down its right side.
“They were like losing blood and almost freaking out,” said Walker, 23, of Carnegie, who recently moved from Tulsa. “I just knew you put pressure on the wound.”
Thoughts go out to all the victims. Let’s hope all of the wounded are just that, and don’t take any turn for the worse.
“I don’t think there’s a woman in the United States of America that would say I’m gay. So, you know, I don’t hang around men.”
• Based on this video posted by NESW SPORTS, I don’t think LeBron James would even be a top 5 pick in my Monday night pickup game. At least he doesn’t have to worry about getting dunked on again:
• Drew Carey is excited about tonight’s FC Barcelona-Seattle Sounders match at Qwest Field. But the real gem is at the end of the story: Seattle midfielder Freddie Ljungberg says he missed a penalty kick in the MLS All-Star Game because of a migraine triggered by eating food with red wine in it. Oh, soccer players.
(When you need a guy to miss a penalty kick, accept no substitute)
eBay listings come in all shapes, sizes and degrees of crazy, but nothing quite beats this. Looking for that very special gift for the LeBron James fan in your family? Or perhaps you’re LeBron himself, and have forgotten several of your high school accomplishments. Well, you’re in luck. One very special fan has been scrapbooking LeBron’s every move, and the result is now available on eBay for the very, very reasonable price of …
… $250,000. This man, who is obviously not at all clinically insane, has compiled eight scrapbooks containing a total of 535 laminated pages of articles on LeBron James, most clipped from the AKRON BEACON JOURNAL. And there’s a few ticket stubs, and a couple of autographs, one from former Michigan coach Tommy Amaker! So act now, before this historic collection is snapped up. Read more…
In our sacred quest to bring you dance and cheerleader tryouts from every NBA team, today we proudly present the official Cleveland Cavaliers Dance Team auditions. These photos are from the finals, held July 20-23. It’s like an extra-special episode of “Fame,” only with somewhat creepy judges:
And I guess it takes more to be a Cavaliers Dancer than any of us thought. Not only does one have to be attractive and limber, but - as seen at the top of the official Cavaliers Girls site - apparently journalism skills are also required:
What’s going on in that pic? Is she preparing to interview the horse?
• A Mets VP rips into a minor league team, taking off his shirt & calling one of the players a [vulgar term for a specific part of the female anatomy].
