8:00 PMJeRome Wilkins, a former University of New Hampshire football player accused of sexually assaulting a woman outside a house, said in court Friday that he did have sex with the woman but that it was consensual.
7:30 PMRafael Nadal says he was given a surprise drug test Saturday a few days after a French TV show lampooned doping allegations against Spanish athletes.
(”Okay, Kobe, on the inbounds pass, you… you’re not listening, are you? Fine. You go to the arcade and punch a hobo. I’ll get some lobsters and attach them to my nipples. Escalator hedgehog banana. Good talk. I want to quit.”)
One note tucked into the article, though, was something that most NBA fans had probably begun to suspect as the “Kobe Bryant pretends to be the coach” scenes became more prevalent over the course of the playoffs (though ‘Zo broke it first): Phil Jackson’s just on cruise control. To that, Barkley says Phil’s very, very, very gone… maybe:
The NEW YORK OBSERVER slams down news that the former Celtics center will be receiving a cool mil to pen a missive about the former cigar-chomping Celtics coach & GM. Read more…
The BOSTON GLOBE spent the last 18 months collecting FBI documents requested by the paper in Freedom of Information Act requests about deceased local sports stars, seemingly as a matter of course. (The deceased can’t legally or practically protest the release of records about them.) The results have been published in today’s GLOBE with interesting nuggets throughout.
(Oh, J. Edgar Hoover, you rapscallion! Was there anyone you wouldn’t try to control?)
For example, there are no shortages of racist diatribes and death threats against local athletes and coaches. The most titillating involves a threat to kill Red Auerbach for his progressive views on black athletes (like allowing them) sent to Bobby Knight in 1982 with the hope that Knight would help by inviting Red to a local game so the killer could reach Auerbach more easily. The writer was never found. Read more…
The circa-1970s instructional film features Red Auerbach going absolutely ballistic over the practice of flopping: “Now remember, coaches today, in high school, college and pro are teaching the players how to fall. This is unreal! … This segment is not aimed at referees, believe me. It’s aimed at coaches, it’s aimed at players. What are we going to do about it? Let’s clean this thing up. Let’s not hurt the game.”
Auerbach also brings in cigarette-voiced (and longtime NBA official) Mendy Rudolph to give his opinion on the practice of fake-forced-falls. Read more…
