17 year old accused gunman to enter plea for death of Sean Taylor

The accused gunman of football player, Sean Taylor, is trying to enter a plea bargain. The Washington Redskins safety was gunned down last Monday November 26th in the bed room of his home. He was brought to the hospital and died the next day. His death was reported as an intended burglary that went wrong. Taylor’s house was allegedly broken in to 8 days before but he was home during this particular incident. Sean Taylor’s death has been mourned all over the country. At only 24 years old, his death came as a shock to teammates and fellow NFL players and coaches. His funeral was held Monday and thousands of people were in attendance. Furthermore, on Sunday, the Redskins sent out 10 men instead of 11 on the opening play to signify that Taylor was still with them. And teams all over the country wore the number 21 on the backs of their helmets.

Eric Rivera who is only 17 was the alleged gunman in this case however there are 3 other men who were supposedly with him and are also being charged with first degree felony murder and armed burglary. The other men range in age from 18-20 years old. Although Rivera has not admitted to the murder as of yet, he is still the main suspect. All men convicted in the case are denied bail. Rivera’s attorney is trying to come to a deal with prosecutors on the case to try to reach a deal. One of the other men’s attorney, David Brener, said that he was trying to distance his client from any wrong doing that Rivera had done. Brener was quoted as saying “I believe that the acts of Mr. Rivera, who was the shooter of this case, constitute an independent act. My client never contemplated that Mr. Rivera was going to arm himself or use lethal force against Mr. Taylor.”

It’s sad to see such young kids get stuck in a situation like this. Eric Rivera is 17 years old and had his whole life in front of him. Now he’s being prosecuted not only for burglary but for murder of a well known athlete. Part of me wonders if he had a personal vendetta against the player. Maybe if Rivera put his life into something like sports he would have been sent down the right path in life. Sean Taylor wasn’t exactly the model citizen, having once been accused of drunk driving, having two misdemeanor counts of brandishing a weapon and even being charged a $17,000 fine from the NFL for having spit in a player’s face. But his teammates claim he has tried to clean up his life and has done a good job at it. He has a one year old daughter, who they say has changed his life around and now she will never have the chance to get to know her father.

Taylor Death a Loss to the Sporting World

Sean Taylor, a star safety for the Washington Redskins, died on Tuesday morning from injuries resulting from a gunshot to his leg on late Sunday night/early Monday morning. He was airlifted to a local Miami hospital after the police responded to a phone call from his girlfriend early Monday morning. He was shot in the upper leg, rupturing an artery causing very significant blood loss. The attack is being investigated by Miami-Dade Police, which came only eight days after an intruder was reported seen at Taylor's house. He died in the very early morning on Tuesday. I found in an article that "gun violence is the No. 1 killer of black men like Taylor." Taylor was raised in a good area, attending a prep school for high school, and then going to a private college in Miami. "He was a multi-million dollar athelte and even his dalliance with lawbreaking and gun brandishing was said to be something of his recent past. He was a father now too. He had someone to live for forever besides himself. " In the article, it mentions another killing of a young black man, who was a simple cook at a famous Washington D.C. eatery. This isn't real significant with sports of course, but it was just to prove a point that young black men die all the time, and by gunshot at that. But anyways, back to Taylor. Keyshawn Johnson, a former wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, had something to say on the death and Taylor in general. "Sometimes we assume that because one is raised in a certain way one is going to come out a certain way. Look at Andy Reid's kids. He's the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and they're sons are selling drugs out of the house. You can't assume that because Sean's dad was a police chief that his life...would be different. It depends on how you approach it." Johnson knows all of this too well, being raised in the toughest section of South Los Angeles. He survived being shot twice after being stuck up outside of his favorite barbershop with friends behind him. "You just become an easy target," Johnson says.

Last year Darrent Williams, a former defensive back for the Denver Broncos, "was doing a responsible thing while out last New Year's Eve enjoying the night. He was in a limousine. A wrong word or misunderstanding in a club turned into bullets fired into his ride. He was killed. He was Taylor's age and another statistic in the deadly demographic." I agree and disagree about what Johnson said on the topic of young black men being killed by gunshot more. I mean yeah, most of the time it isn't where you grow up per se, but just the way you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. For example, the shots that were fired at Johnson himself. He was just outside a favorite hangout, and somebody came up and attempted to rob them. A key example of the "wrong place, wrong time" statistic. Then there's Williams, he was out partying it up for the new year, and there was an argument of some sort, and he was shot. An example of the "be careful what you say" problem. Taylor doesn't really fall under any category. It was just some guy breaking into his house, then shooting Taylor. It's sad. It always is. To help remember him, people are holding candle light vigils outside his home, and people are painting his number in their yards and places people will see it. Rest in peace, Sean Taylor.

Hester saves the Bears

Whether or not you’re a bears fan, Sunday’s game against the Bronco’s would have captured anyone’s attention. With a 34-31 win in overtime, the Bear’s took it much to my excitement. Although, games like this come around only so often, this wasn’t the best part of the win.

The Bear’s never would have pulled it off if it weren’t for Devin Hester and his two kick returns for touchdowns. The first one, Hester ran almost untouched and hurdled a Bronco’s player to get them back in the game with the Bronco’s. The second one tied the game for the Bear’s but it was short lived. An early injury to Cedric Benson had him benched for the game as well as the rest of the season. This didn’t make the Bear’s shot any better. But they ended up pulling through. The real question is why the Bronco’s continued to kick to Hester. There were a couple of punts that were bounced to the Bears, but for the most part the Bronco’s kicked it to him. Friday, Bronco’s kicker Todd Sauerbrun, told the Denver Post that he was kicking the ball to Hester. He believed that his special team’s defense could hold off Hester. Clearly, he was wrong. Hester now has 10 touchdown kick returns under his belt and 3 this season. As a Bear’s fan, I hope he sticks with the team for quite a while.

NHL Hall of Fame Inductees

On November 12 the NHL inducted this years hall of fame crop of Mark Messier, Scott Stevens, Al MacInnis, and Ron Francis. Each of the four were in their first year of Hall of Fame eligibility. It’s not really a surprise that any of these four were included in their first available year, but that doesn’t make their inductions any less special.

Mark Messier, perhaps the most well recognized of the four, was one of the most idolized leaders that has ever played the game. Versus, a TV channel, has even given Messier the opportunity to present his own award for leadership to whoever demonstrates that quality the best within the NHL. He is the only professional athlete to captain two different teams to championship victories. Messier led both the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Rangers to Stanley Cup victories. He is the second most prolific scorer in NHL history by compiling 1193 assists and 1887 points in the regular season. He has also played the second most games in the sport’s history with 1756 games played in the regular season. He even won two Hart Memorial Trophies, given out two the NHL’s most valuable player in the regular season. Even with all of his regular season prowess over his career, his fame and respect really came from the playoffs. His name is on the Stanley Cup 6 different times a feat made even more impressive by the fact that he is also second in playoff points in a career with 265. This shows that he was not only on great teams to win those cups, but he was also a vital member that contributed greatly to those teams.

Scott Stevens will be remembered as one of the best defensemen to ever play the game, as well as one of the most physical. Stevens has played the 4th most games in the NHL with 1635 games played over long stretches with the Washington Capitals and the New Jersey Devils as well as a season played for the St. Louis Blues in between. Over his career he never had a season with a negative plus/minus rating, finishing off with a +393 rating over his 22 season career. Stevens won 3 Cups with the Devils during his stay captaining the team(1995, 2000, and 2003). He was the first player in the Devils franchise history to have his number retired. Stevens fame mostly came from his solid defensive play with his punishing, yet clean open-ice hitting, which even sent some of his victims unconscious.

Al MacInnis will also be remembered as one of the best defensemen to play, but for a different reason than Stevens. MacInnis was known for his amazingly powerful slapshot which helped him amass the 3rd most points, goals, and assists for a defensemen in the history of the NHL being one of only a few defensemen to break the 1000 point mark. His shot was so hard that early in his career with Calgary, he blasted a shot that shattered the goalie mask of St. Louis Blues' goalie Mike Liut. He also won seven Hardest shot competitions at the All Star skills competitions. He only won one Stanley Cup out of his 23 seasons in 1989 with the Calgary Flames. He only played for two teams during that span, the Calgary Flames and the St. Louis Blues. He won the Norris trophy once for the 1998-99 season with the Blues. He was also one of the few NHL players that refused to switch to the new composite sticks, and kept using his wooden stick. One interesting fact about Al MacInnis is that he played instrumental roles in two of the three largest third period comebacks in NHL history.

Ron Francis is perhaps the most underrated and least known great that ever played the game. Francis played for four different teams in the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburg Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, and a brief stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over his lengthy career which is good for 3rd on the all time list with 1731 games played, he won three Lady Byng Trophies awarded to the most gentlemanly player. He also holds the fourth spot for the all time scoring lists at 1798. He’s captained three of his teams over four periods including two periods with the Penguins and excluding the Maple Leafs. Either way it’s clear that all four of these players left a significant mark on the NHL.

A's Pitcher dies

At just 28 years old, Oakland A's pitcher, Joe Kennedy, died the morning after Thanksgiving. He died early in the morning at his home in Florida while with his family. Although, the exact details of his death are not known, he was reported to have passed out and then rushed to the hospital.

The president of the Blue Jays, where Kennedy used to play, said that Kennedy was supposed to be the best man in a friend's wedding today. This just makes the story that much more sad.

Joe Kennedy started his season with the A's as a started but got moved to the Bullpen. On August 4 he signed with the Diamondbacks and over the course of his career he has played for 7 teams. Blue Jays president said that they were interested in reaquiring Kennedy.

How a seemingly healthy athlete can die at 28 is a mystery. Maybe he was under a great deal of stress due to changing teams and perhaps being a best man. But its his seventh team he's played for and he is out of season. I don't feel that stress was an issue in this case. But it's such a sad story when a person with a career in front of him and a young family passes at such a young age.

Bonds Indicted

Barry Bonds, all time leader in home runs in Major League Baseball, was indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I've never seen these documents before," Bonds said, speaking before a federal grand jury investigating the Bay Area Lab Co-Operative, or BALCO, after he had just been shown what prosecutors say was a positive steroid test conducted on a player with the name Barry B. Bonds simply repeated, "I've never seen these papers." These results may be the key result to proving that Bonds lied under oath, giving him the charge of obstruction of justice. "Bonds' lawyers are expected to fiercely attack their reliability, much the way O.J. Simpson's legal team undermined the football star's murder case by questioning the handling of his blood samples." Michael Rains, who is Bonds' attorney, offered no comment on the subject. However, Victor Conte, founder of BALCO offered his own insight to how his legal team would cast their doubts on the evidence. According to Conte, a convicted steroids dealer, Barry Bonds came into the lab on Saturdays, always after regular business hours, with a group of men that included his trainer (Greg Anderson) and his personal physician (Dr. Arthur Ting).

Anderson had convinced Bonds that BALCO would develop a dietary and supplementary regimen, which Conte had designed based solely on the results of past blood and semen results. The only thing that the indictment does NOT say is WHERE the prosecutors obtained the results, only that they were obtained when federal agents raided Conte's lab back in September of 2003. "There is always an opportunity to attack that kind of forensic evidence through its chain of custody," said attorney William Sullivan, who recently won an acquittal for former federal prosecutor Richard Convertino on an obstruction charge alleging he withheld evidence in a terrorism trial in Detroit. "You look at how the evidence was preserved, who handled it," Sullivan said. "You can even attack the analysis itself. Conte said, "I don't think you can prove those were Barry's samples." So as of now, there is no way the jury can prove to anyone that Bonds has used steroids. Until they can, there is nothing that they can do. He will still be allowed to play baseball, and won't have to worry about the maximum 30 years in prison just yet, just how to prove that those results are either tainted, or not his at all.

Final games brings much anticipation

So the final week of regular season college football is upon us.

There are two games this Saturday that will make or break the year for me. First of all, Purdue University vs. Indiana University. This game is important to because I am a student at Purdue University and of course IU is our rival. It’s the bucket game and this is what the season boils down to. I’m pretty confident in Curtis Painter’s ability to make this a good game. Dorien Bryant and the rest of the team have been pulling their slack for the most part over the couple of weeks. They did better than I expected against Michigan State. I can’t blame the team for anything bad over the last couple weeks. If I were to place blame, it would be upon the coaching staff and the of course the referees.

The second game that has me in major anticipation for this Saturday is the University of Michigan vs. Ohio State University. Being that I’m not from Indiana, I don’t completely feel the rivalry that most native “hoosiers” feel between Purdue and IU. Therefore, I get excited about beating IU, but not THAT excited. However, despite being born and raised in Illinois, I have been a Michigan fan for most of my life. I go to Ann Arbor about once a month and love it there. And, as any Michigan fan does, I hate Ohio State. I can’t deny that they are good. I just don’t like them. So this weekend will be interesting. I wouldn’t be as riled up for it as I am if Ohio State didn’t lose last week to University of Illinois. This shows that Michigan does have a shot since they beat Illinois just a few weeks ago. Last week Michigan lost to Wisconsin, but I think that both teams want this not just because they hate each other but to compensate for their losses last week. Hopefully, Henne and Hart will be fully healthy and ready to go for the game.

So as the final week approaches us before the bowl games, there is a lot to be excited for. Hopefully Michigan and Purdue pull through for me.

NFL allows ejections for hard hits

A new rule instated by the NFL is allowing players to be ejected from the game for helmet to helmet hits. There were two fines that foreshadowed the making of this rule. These fines ranged in amount from $15,000 to $21,176.

These hits are illegal because of how dangerous they are to the players head and neck. There is a high rate of concussions because of these helmet to helmet hits.

I think this new rule will be great for football. One of the main concerns in the sport is the high rate of injuries including concussions. One of the worse things to do is watch a player being carried off the field on a stretcher. Fining a player won’t really teach him a lesson. With the amount of money football players make, a few thousand dollars won’t even make a dent in his bank account. However being kicked out of a game or being suspended would hurt a player more because they’d have to watch their team compete with out them. It’s like letting down your team. Being suspended or kicked out of a game is also very embarrassing for the player.

Hopefully this will teach players how to act more fairly so fewer players get hurt.

Adrian Peterson Breaks Another Record

Adrian Peterson is a record breaking machine. Only eight games into the season, Peterson has already broken a multitude of franchise records for yardage throughout various points in the season and also single game performances. He’s already set and broken his own record for most yards rushing in a game. Last week, Peterson broke the NFL single game rushing record, originally held by Jamal Lewis since 2003, with a 296 yard performance against the San Diego Chargers. It’s important to note that all of this has happened in his first 8 games in his career. He already has 1036 yards rushing, a feat that some runningbacks don’t even accomplish in an entire year. He’s just about 300 yards ahead of the pace at this junction. Peterson’s highlight game came against the Chicago Bears. He gored the normally stingy Bears defense for 224 yards on 20 carries and 3 touchdowns. He broke a few franchise rookie records with this game; most 100-yard gain games and the longest touchdown from scrimmage, as well as a then-franchise record for yardage gained. After this game Deion Sanders , now an NFL Network analyst said the following about Peterson: "He has the vision of a Marshall Faulk, the power of a Terrell Davis, and the speed of an Eric Dickerson. Let’s pray he has the endurance of an Emmitt Smith.” It’s clear that Adrian Peterson is the real deal.

T.O. Terrorizes Eagles

Terrell Owens is still managing to be a disruption to the Philadelphia Eagles franchise. Last Sunday T.O. destroyed the Eagles secondary in a Cowboys blowout over the sub-par Eagles. Philadelphia had a chance to redeem it’s season and turn .500 last week but they just couldn’t cover T.O. who had 10 catches for 174 yards and a TD and lost with a final of 38-17 Dallas. We all remember the ruckus that T.O. caused two years ago when he criticized McNabb and head coach Andy Reid. For all that he put the organization through, two years later the crowd didn’t seem to give T.O. all that much trouble. Perhaps it’s because Philly is playing poorly this year and the fans are less enthusiastic, or maybe it’s just because they’re sick of giving T.O. so much attention. Either way, Owens was taunting the crowd more than they were taunting him. After his touchdown he even brought out his old celebration, flapping his arms like a bird.
Owens wasn’t the only reason that the Eagles lost on Sunday, and he wasn’t even the largest factor in the game. Tony Romo had an impressive showing after signing a 6-year, $67.5 million contract extension, completing 20 of 25 for 324 yards with 3 TD’s and 1 interception. An interesting fact for the game is that Romo was the only quarterback that the Eagles have not sacked this season. It was clear that McNabb’s day was not going to be very good after he fumble the ball on the Eagle’s first play from scrimmage. Dallas recovered and eventually turned the turnover into a touchdown.

Isn't This an Odd Injury?

Zach Thomas, middle linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, is about to miss his fourth game of the season this Sunday. On Sunday, the Dolphins will host the Buffalo Bills, but Thomas will miss the game due to recurring migraines. Not only will it be his fourth missed game this season, including two throughout the month of September. He participated in full-contact drills on Thursday, but was then held from practice on Friday, ultimately leading to his being ruled out for the game. The seven time Pro Bowler has been held back by migraines and concussions in former seasons, but this is only his 17th missed game in 12 seasons. Thomas hasn't played since the Dolphins' loss to the New England Patriots (28-49) back on the 21st of October. The reason he has been held up in playing since then is due to whiplash he suffered in a car accident he was caught up in on the drive home from that game. Head Coach Cam Cameron said, "That's the recommendation of our medical staff. He had a good practice yesterday (Thursday), but as we're finding out in these situations, one day isn't always indicative of the next day. ...He came in this morning (Friday morning) and things were not quite the same." It's just too bad that an injury such as recurring migraines are the reason for missing yet another game, but it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to injuries, I've learned from experience. Hopefully he'll have recovered enough to play next week.

How is This Not Good Enough?

Troy Williamson, the third year wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings out of South Carolina, found out that he was going to be fined $25,000 for one of the most bizarre reasons, to me. Williamson's grandmother passed away, and he decided he was going to spend the week with his family. How is that not a good enough reason to be out of play? The Minnesota Vikings' management should be ashamed of themselves! How can you possibly penalize, let alone fine, a player for wanting to spend time with family after a family member passes away? It's ridiculous. His grandmother, being a very important part of the family, passed away. What would the Vikings' management have done if one of their grandmothers' had passed away? On top of staying with his family for the death of his grandmother, he also spent some of the week with his brother, who is in a coma after a car accident. Again, how is that more important than playing football? I mean yes, it is his profession, but if it was any other job, he would have been given time off for personal reasons. When asked of the fine, Williamson said, "I don't care if (the Vikings) would have took my pay for the rest of the year, I was going home. It wouldn't have mattered to me. No matter what (Brad Childress) would have said, if I had to stay up here or not, I would have been at my house (in South Carolina) for that week." The $25,000 fine was his pay for one game, roughly. In my opinion, the Vikings acted unfairly. Do you think it was unfair, even with the reasonable excuse?

Dear Football Players: Manage your Anger!

It seems like some people just have anger issues and can’t stray from them. On the night before rejoining his Bengal teammates after an eight game suspension, Chris Henry allegedly involved himself in a disagreement with a parking attendant.

Henry was suspended for the entire first half of the season for reasons unknown. The Cincinnati Bengals commissioner, Roger Goodall, said it was for “repeatedly violating the NFL’s conduct policy.” He was scheduled to start practice on Wednesday and play in the game Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

Apparently the disagreement was started because Henry and another man reportedly parked their vehicles without paying a parking fee. Henry threw a $5 bill to the man but it was given back to him and eventually the police were called. No charges have yet been filed. The Bengals have not taken any action against Henry as he is still scheduled to practice and play with the team on Sunday.

One would think that a man making so much money would just pay the parking attendant to avoid conflict especially because he is already in trouble with the Bengals. Even if he already paid the parking fee and there was just a mistake being made, one would think he’d save himself the bad PR. Even if Henry is causing this disturbance based on “principle” maybe he would consider saving himself and the team some embarrassment.

Lindros Expected to Retire

According to ESPN.com the Globe and Mail of Toronto reported Tuesday that Eric Lindros is expected to announce his retirement from the NHL on Thursday. The paper said Lindros, 34, will likely make the announcement as part of a news conference with University of Western Ontario sports injury expert Dr. Peter Fowler in his hometown of London, Ontario. Lindros has had an injury ridden career, never completing a full season in 14 attempts. In 760 games he’s compiled 372 goals and a total of 875 points. Last month, Lindros was asked about his future playing hockey and his involvement with the league. "Right now my focus is the 'PA work," Lindros told The Canadian Press last month. "I'm not really concerned about the rest of it. But the last couple of years have been pretty frustrating in terms of not getting through without being injury-free. ... It's just frustrating." He also said that he would work with the NHLPA, or the NHL Player’s Association.
Lindros won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1994-95 and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player in the league as voted by the players. He led the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997 in which they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings. He played on the feared “Legion of Doom” line with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg. With his physical play, it’s understandable that he has suffered multiple concussions throughout his career. Because of one memorable concussion suffered from after a check from New Jersey's Scott Stevens in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals, which gave him number six in his career, he missed all of the 2000-01 season recovering.

Barry Bonds: Targeted?

Barry Bonds has been whining lately about being singled out by the media for the alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. Bonds, who still claims innocence, believes this is unfair.

The San Francisco Giants, who Bonds has played for since 1993, has chosen to not renew Bonds contract. This is a little bit of a surprise since Bonds has surpassed Hank Aaron’s home run record in August. The Giants made no comment as to why they would not resign Bonds.

“I don’t bring baggage to a team. I’ve never brought baggage to a team. I’ve brought my baseball bag, but I don’t bring any baggage. I go on the field and I play,” says Barry. I think this is pretty much the biggest load of crap ever. Bonds takes a lot away from the Giants. Their fans do not him and therefore are not committed to the team 100%. It can be argued that this takes a little bit of the advantage of playing at home, to have your own fans boo a member of the team. He also brings a lot of bad publicity to the Giants. As for the team who signs him for the 2008 season, they will have a lot to deal with. Their fans will probably not be too happy with them. I know if the White Sox decide to take on Barry Bonds, I would be horribly disappointed.

As for Bonds crying about being targeted by the media, I think can be argued either way. I’m not a fan of Bonds at all, and just hearing his name makes me cringe a little bit, but I do feel like he is being targeted. But all in good reason. He clearly has been under the influence of something that has made him double in size over a short period of time. However, he has never failed a drug test. He’s targeted so much because of his questionable character. He also has the homerun record after surpassing the precious record of 755 homeruns that was held by Hank Aaron. Since the hitting of these homeruns without the use of performance enhancing drugs is arguable, a lot of people are upset. The record books are essentially ruined by this scandal. This is why the media is targeting him so much.

He isn’t the only one. Mark McGuire spent sometime in the spot light as well. McGuire broke the single season home run record in 1998 but this was broken by Bonds in 2001. McGuire has never been convicted of using steroids but his innocence has been questioned. The baseball steroid scandal made the opinions of Mark McGuire go from one of admiration to one of disdain.

So is Barry Bonds being singled out by the media for the use of performance enhancing drugs? Yes. Is it unfair? Maybe. But I think he deserves it. I, along with most other baseball fans, believe that Barry Bonds is guilty of using performance enhancing drugs and should pay for it, if this includes being ridiculed by the media and having the Giants not renew his contract, then so be it.

Another Tennessee Football Player Kicked Off For Drug Use

The Tennessee Volunteers have now dismissed two players, to my knowledge, for drug usage. First James Banks, someone I knew personally, and now LaMarcus Coker. Both showed spectacular skills on the field, and both were dismissed from the team after brief stints. Both of these players were kicked off the team for their continuous usage of drugs. First, James Banks. James Banks was someone I looked up to going through junior high school, into high school, because of his love for his sports, football and track. He helped Ben Davis High School, located in the westside of Indianapolis, to two 5-A state championships and a spectacular 42-2 record over his years there. I heard he was going to the University of Tennessee and decided I was going to watch as many games as I could, hoping to see him. But after he got there, he was repeatedly causing trouble, causing him to be benched, and ultimately leading to his dismissal from the team for several incidents, which I won't go into. Banks was, according to coach Philip Fulmer, "the best pure athlete on the football team." But Banks was let go from the team in December after those several incidents. From the last I heard, Banks was possibly going to be playing football at Carson-Newman College, a liberal arts Southern Baptist college located in Jefferson City, Tennessee. I need to find out what he's doing now, as I am thinking about it, because all of my friends from high school don't seem to have any idea either.
Now, the latest player released from the team for drug use, sophomore tailback LaMarcus Coker. Coker's release from the team was for one reason, well sort of. Coker failed a total of four drug tests, meaning he had four chances to straighten himself out. But he didn't, and that's a shame, because according to ESPN he had "shown flashes of brilliance on the field during his brief Tennessee." "I'm disappointed for him," said coach Fulmer. "This is his life, and I hope he gets straightened out and succeeds in whatever he chooses to do. I can lay my head on my pillow and know that, within the rules, we have done everything we can do to help LaMarcus overcome his challenges." It really is a shame, that these athletes couldn't straighten themsleves out while they were still on the team. Coker was just now released, so he hasn't really had a chance to yet, but Banks' incidents occured back in 2003/2004, so he has straightened out and started playing again, which is the best thing he could have done. Hopefully Coker can do the same.

Bondra to Become Slovakian GM

Peter Bondra, one of the great goal scorer’s that the NHL has known in the past two decades, retired Monday to become the Slovakian national team General Manager. Bondra was one of the most prolific scorer’s in NHL history, clocking in at 37th all time with 503 goals. He is one of 39 players in the sport’s history to join the fabled 500 goal club. He amassed these goals playing in Atlanta, Chicago, and Ottawa, with the bulk scored in Washington. "I kept it a secret for a long time. They will know overseas only after this press conference," Bondra said, according to the Slovak national hockey association. "I hope I can help Slovakia win another medal at the world championship." Quote taken from ESPN.com where I found this article. Bondra has fond memories of the world championships, having scored the game winner in a 4-3 game against Russia to capture the title in the world championships held in Sweden in 2002. He enjoyed a long successful career mostly at the helm of the Washington Capitals, putting up his 892 points in 1081 at about a point per game pace. Depending on the success of his stay as the Slovakian GM, his contract may be extended past the current deal lasting until 2008 after the world championships.

Colts? Patriots? Who Do You Think Will Win??

Alright, is it time for another Colts victory over the Patriots? Or are they just too good this year?? I remember last years AFC Championship game, where the Colts and Patriots were playing in Indianapolis for the chance to head to the Super Bowl. The Colts went into the locker room at half time worn down, and pissed off because they were losing 21-3. They managed to overcome that deficit with 455 offensive yards and 32 first downs to make their way to their first Super Bowl since 1970, when they were still in Baltimore. The 18 point comeback was the largest EVER in a championship game, and tied the fourth largest post season comeback in league history. This was only the first time in 4 years that the Colts had managed to beat the Patriots in the postseason, losing to them in the AFC Championship game in 2003, losing to them in the divisional round of the playoffs in 2004, and they didn't even get to play them in 2005. As an Indianapolis native, and a long-time Colts fan, I was going absolutely crazy, on the verge of shutting the game off after halftime but deciding to give them one more quarter of football before I gave up on them. Thank god I didn't, I would have regretted it so much. That and I wouldn't have had anything to talk about at work the next day, since that's all everybody was talking about.

I decided after that to never give up on my Colts. There was that game last season, and just a few years ago there was the miracle fourth quarter down in Tampa Bay. Why not another one? If they go into halftime with a deficit tomorrow, the Patriots better get their cameras out so they can figure out how to stop us, because it simply will not happen. I'm putting my money on the Colts, who do you think will win??

The Reason My Account is redwings40

Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings is one of the best players in the National Hockey League that you don’t hear too much about. This might be changing after the spectacular start he’s had to begin this season. Through 11 games Zetterberg has a league leading 20 points, 9 goals(tied for second best in the league) and 11 assists(tied for second best in the league), amounting to a 1.82 points-per-game average. He has put up a point in every game so far this season. Putting up points isn’t all that Hank does either, he’s one of the best defensive forwards around. He has a +8, good enough to be tied for 11th, to go with that point total. So why doesn’t a league leading point getter and a fantastic two-way player get much attention? Your guess is as good as mine. I’ve been waiting for years for #40 to be nationally recognized for the player that he is. He's even more special considering he was drafted in the seventh round. Placed on a line with Pavel Datsyuk, a paring nicknamed the “Euro-twins”, and Tomas Holmstrom, they make one of the most dynamic and powerful lines in the NHL. They’re role is usually against the top defensive and offensive parings of the opposite teams which shows how dominant they are considering the each are higher than +13 and Hank with a +26 last season. Zetterberg’s +26 is impressive considering he also added extensive penalty kill time throughout last season. One thing is for sure, if he keeps up his point-getting madness and solid defensive play, it’ll be impossible for others to not recognize him as one of the NHL’s elite players.

Picture from NHL.com

Jets in More Trouble

The New York Jets, who are struggling to the max this season with their 1-6 start, now have more problems on their hands. ESPN reports, “Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a knee injury, ending the one time Pro Bowler’s season after seven games.” Vilma was hurt in last week’s loss against the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday, then missed this week’s practices and then got placed on the injured reserve yesterday. “‘This is not a career threatening injury and the doctor’s expect a full recovery,’ said Mitch Frankel, one of Vilma’s representatives.” “The loss of one of one of their defensive captains is the latest disappointing development in what has become a season full of them as the Jets have struggled to a 1-6 start.” It hasn’t yet been said what the extent of the injury is, or where in the knee the injury took place. “I am disappointed that my season ended prematurely,” Vilma said in a statement. “I was looking forward to playing the rest of the season and helping the team get back on track. I now look forward to supporting my teammates for the rest of the 2007 season and returning to the field with them in 2008.” Rookie David Harris, a rookie from the University of Michigan and picked in the second round of the draft, is the most likely to take the starting position tomorrow against the Buffalo Bills. Harris has been given limited playing time this season and has 24 tackles. “Vilma’s a great player,” Harris said earlier this week. “Anytime that you lose a player like that, it’s very hard to fill his shoes. He’s a great team leader. He’s very well respected and he has run the defense for four years now. I’ll try to be ready when my number is called.” Injuries have been major factors this season, with Marvin Harrison out for the Colts; Zach Thomas, Ronnie Brown, and Yeremiah Bell, Travares Tillman, and Trent Green out for the Miami Dolphins; and then I have to put out for the Buffalo Bills that Kevin Everett has continued to progress since his spinal cord injury in week one against the Denver Broncos.

Colts' Harrison Out. Possible Loss Tomorrow?

Being from Indianapolis, I am a diehard Colts fan. So going up against the 4-2 Carolina Panthers, I’m a little bit worried. Could the Colts be vulnerable in the wide receiver position enough to lose their first game of the season? I hope not. Marvin Harrison, who bruised his knee in the game on September 30 game against the Denver Broncos, will not be playing tomorrow’s game. Harrison, a twelve year veteran of the game, will not be the only Colts player not playing tomorrow, ESPN reports. “Indianapolis will also be without starting weak side linebacker Freddy Keiaho, who is suffering from the effects of a concussion.” Now Harrison, like I said was injured in the Denver game nearly a month ago, did play in last Monday night’s game in Jacksonville against the AFC South (the same division as the Colts) Jaguars. Harrison played minimal minutes however, and only caught three passes for a mere 16 yards. “The eight time Pro Bowl receiver told coach Tony Dungy after the victory over the Jaguars that his knee, which had limited him in practice much of the week, was no worse than before the game. In the Jacksonville game, Harrison was on a strict play count, and participated in about 40 snaps, far below his norm. Had he been able to play Sunday, it’s likely that Harrison would have been on a similar play count.” The problem that ended up knocking him out of the line-up for tomorrow’s game is the fact that he was unable to practice this past week. “The optimism that Dungy expressed early in the week turned to doubt Friday, when the team announced that the availability of the star wide receiver would be a game time decision. The Colts host New England next week, but Dungy insisted that would have no bearing on whether Harrison played at Carolina.” I almost want to say that it’s a better decision to let Harrison sit this game out, as our defense should be able to control the Panthers’ offense, especially with their sudden jump to the near top of the defensive statistics, this coming out of last season with their near league-worst defensive statistics, up until the playoffs at least. Let’s hope the defense can still hold it together for the season, and that Peyton Manning will still do as he always has by connecting with the other receivers with roughly the same amount of numbers, attempts and yardage.

Michigan defeats Minnesota without help from Henne or Hart

Michigan has not exactly had a storybook season. With early losses to Appalachian State University and Oregon, they will be attending a bowl game but certainly not the Rose Bowl. Their luck is still declining as both Chad Henne and Michael Hart sat on the side lines against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Michael Hart, who injured his right ankle in the game against Purdue University, has missed 2 1/2 games. Carlos Brown was first to replace Hart but was replaced by Brandon Minor after fumbling the ball in the second drive. The Gophers were up 10-0 into the second quarter, and Minor who scored a touchdown to put the Wolverines ahead. All in all, both replacement running backs stepped up to the plate in replacing one of the best players on the team.

Chad Henne, Wolverine quarterback, also did not play in the game today. He was in and out of the game last week against University of Illinois. His injury is unknow as well the severity of it. Freshman, Ryan Mallett, replaced Henne and despite some screw ups, pulled his weight.

Mario Manningham who remains uninjured, who had a close call with the law after he was found with three vicodin pills, played a great game and helped carry the team.

Hopefully sitting Henne and Hart this weekend will help rest the team for the next few games as they face arch rivals Michigan State University and Ohio State University. It also gave some back up players gain some valuble practice and experience incase Henne and Hart are hurt themselves even more.

Michigan State University is known to be quite a violent place, especially when it comes to football. Continuing with this tradition, three Michigan State football players were arraigned on Wednesday for felony charges of robbery. This incident supposedly took place in April of 2007 when allegedly the players attacked and robbed somebody in a grocery store parking lot. The three players, SirDarean Adams, T.J. Williams, and Jeremy Ware, have since maintained their innocence.

According to Michigan State head coach, Mark Dantonio, the players will remain on the roster free from suspension and will even compete in games. I’m sure this was much to the contentment of MSU fans. The thing about this case that I feel is off is that the incident happened in April and was sent to the prosecutors but was sent back to police a few times for further investigation before charges were finally placed. I really don’t see this case going anywhere, any evidence of the incident is probably either long gone, or doesn’t hold much credibility anymore. I also feel that if the players were really in danger of being found guilty, they would be suspended by Michigan State or at least the football team.

If found guilty of unarmed robbery, the players could face a maximum of 15 years in jail, but would this sentence would probably never touch these players. T.J. Williams was also convicted of assault and battery but he would only face a maximum of 93 days in jail.

Suspensions to Come if Laws Broken

Major League Baseball officials are set to make more suspensions, for an unknown amount of time at this point. MLB players, such as Gary Matthews Jr., Paul Byrd, and Rich Ankiel face possible suspensions if the attained the used substances through breaking the law. According to ESPN, suspensions aren’t ruled out yet. “Citing a high ranking major league official, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Major League Baseball’s commissioner hasn’t ruled out such discipline for players even if they did not violate baseball’s policy. Major League Baseball did not ban HGH (Human Growth Hormone) until January 2005, but steroids and HGH have been, and still are, illegal without a prescription.” It has been reported by Sports Illustrated.com that Matthews (Center Fielder for the Los Angeles Angels) made an order for HGH in 2004. “Matthews is expected to be called to Selig’s [League Commissioner Bud Selig] office in November to discuss the report,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Paul Byrd, starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, is the latest player to have used, or at least accused of using, HGH. “On Sunday [October 21], the day of game 7 of the ALCS [American League Championship Series], the San Francisco Chronicle reported the Indians right-hander had purchased nearly $25,000 worth of HGH and syringes between 2002 and 2005. According to Byrd, a doctor prescribed him the drug for what he called a pituitary gland issue. It was researched and was found that it wouldn’t be out of the question that he was telling the truth. Byrd said that both the Indians management and Major League officials both knew of his use of the drug, although both deny all knowledge of it.

Austin Scott Insists on Innocence

Penn State’s Austin Scott seems adamant about his innocence. So much so that I’m actually starting to really believe he’s telling the truth. Call me easily persuaded, but I actually feel bad for the kid. After being arrested and accused of rape charges on October 12, 2007. The tailback for the Nittany Lions has been suspended since these charges have been placed. This is his super senior year at Penn State and has a lot to lose if this case does not work out in his favor.

He seems so persistent about proving his innocence that he has insisted on setting up a meeting with the Centre County District Attorney, Michael Madeira. Scott spoke publicly on the issue for the first time on Saturday and was quoted as saying “I still think that if they would speak to me and look me in the eyes and ask me any questions they want that they would know I am telling the truth.” Either Austin Scott is innocent or he is a very good actor and I’m easily manipulated.

Seeing this happen to a young athlete makes me really upset. As I have stated in earlier posts, men and women in the sports world, whether they be college athletes or professional athletes, are role model’s for kids and teenagers. These kids look up to them and aspire to someday live the life they lead, but so much controversy surrounds their world that it ruins the glamour of it all.

Devin Hester Carries Bears On His Back

Devin Hester is the only reason that the Bears are putting up any points this season. He’s coming off of a massive rookie season setting the return touchdown record and also being the first player to return the opening kickoff in a Superbowl. Hester already has 3 return touchdowns this year and an 81 yard receiving touchdown. He’s done this as teams kick away from him and try and discover new ways to try and shut him down. Teams focus entire special teams strategies around Hester and he still manages to get 3 returns at this point in the season. If the Bears can get Hester to be a consistent force on offence, then we could be in for something special. If the Bears stop using him as a decoy and leave him in for more than a play a drive, we could finally see a successful Bears offense, especially without Grossman as QB. We could be seeing one of the most potent players in the NFL become a nightmare for opposing teams. Do you kick away from him on special teams and leave the Bears good field position and face Hester on offense? Do you kick to Hester and let him run at you in the hope that you back the Bears up? These are the questions that will need answering in the coming weeks as Hester is integrated into the Bears offense in a hopefully more permanent way. It should be interesting to see how this turns out and if Hester can take this Bears offense on his shoulders and turn their season around.

Madden Curse Continues

The infamous Madden curse continues. Vince Young injured himself this past weekend against Tampa Bay. Young, who injured his right quadriceps, has not practiced all week and remains a game-time decision for this weekend. Although this injury doesn’t look to be that serious, it still adds to the impressive list of madden cover’s who have been injured in the following year. The list of cursed players is as follows: Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb, Shaun Alexander, and Vince Young. Daunte Culpepper’s season was ended to a back injury in the 11th game of the 2001 season. He was the first madden cover player to suffer a season ending injury in the season following. Marshall Faulk was the next cover player and in 2002 he suffered an ankle injury, missing five games. Michael Vick was the next cover to get injured during a following season. In the 2003 season Vick broke his right fibula in the preseason and missed all but the final five games. The next season doesn’t really follow the madden curse because Ray Lewis wasn’t injured. The only reason he is included is because the 04 season for Lewis was nothing near his previous two. Donovan McNabb was on the cover for the 2005 season in which was ended due to sports hernia surgery. Last year was Shaun Alexander who broke his foot in the 2006 season after one of the best running performances in NFL history in the 2005 season. He missed six starts and has failed to get back to form since that time. LaDainian Tomlinson reportedly declined to be on the cover of Madden, and we all know what kind of start he’s had. I wonder if the Madden curse has affected him in some weird way as well. Vince Young is the newest addition to this “club” or whatever you might call it. Whether or not this injury will affect him at all, we’ll have to wait and see.

Thrashers fire head coach Hartley

After starting the NHL regular season 0-6 the Atlanta Thrashers organization canned Head Coach Bob Hartley. This poor start to the season combined with their first round sweep in the playoffs last year gave GM Don Waddell enough reason in his mind to fire Hartley. Hartley was 136-123-32 with Atlanta during his stay, and he won a Stanley Cup with his previous team Colorado in 2001. In those six games this season, the Thrashers were outscored 27-9. Waddell is 4-5-1 as an interim coach after he fired Coach Curt Fraser during the 02-03 season before hiring Hartley. It’s easy to see why he was upset at starting without a win in six games after winning their division last year and making the playoffs for the first time. It was a concern that the Thrashers have lost all momentum gained from last year’s campaign and Waddell hopes that this move will motivate his team to play like they did last year before the playoffs. Hartley, who has proved himself in Colorado and again in Atlanta, should have no real problem finding a job within the next year or so. Supposedly there is no real time frame for finding a new coaching job in Atlanta. They’re looking for a coach that is less intense than Hartley, so the players can relax more on the ice and have more fun out there. We’ll just have to see how this move affects the Thrashers season this year.

4 Players to Start Season With Suspensions

Josh Howard, who plays Guard/ Forward for the Dallas Mavericks, has been suspended two games (without pay) for being involved in a fight with Sacramento Kings’ center Brad Miller. “Howard’s penalty was announced Friday by Stu Jackson, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations. Howard will begin serving his suspension when Dallas opens its regular-season schedule at Cleveland on October 31.” Howard and Miller got into an altercation with 7:01 left in the second quarter of Tuesday’s preseason game where the Mavericks (Dallas) beat the Kings (Sacramento) by a score of 101-99. The initial situation was between Miller and Mavericks guard Devin Harris. But Howard raised the level of what happened when he ran across the court, hit Miller in the back of the head with his forearm, shoved him in the back, and then began getting into it with other Sacramento players.
Howard is the only one of the four players serving suspensions to start the regular season that occurred on the court. The other three players, James Posey (Boston Celtics), Stephen Jackson (Golden State Warriors), and Ron Artest (Sacramento Kings), had incidents occur off-court. Artest, serving a seven game suspension, plead no contest to infliction of injury on a spouse. Jackson, also serving a seven game suspension, pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness. And Posey, serving only a one game suspension, was suspended for pleading no contest to reckless driving. Again, this is another example of professional athletes acting recklessly, causing trouble, and not using their minds. Luckily for them, all they get is suspended. Had they been a “regular” civilian, then they would have been arrested and at least taken in for the night. These are prime examples of how professional athletes are “above” the law.

Former NBA Player Arrested

Keon Clark, former player for the Utah Jazz and then Phoenix Suns, was arrested this past Thursday for drug and weapon charges. The charges were placed under his name in Illinois, and U.S. Marshals found him travelling on a commercial bus leaving Houston, Texas. Clark, 32, “was scheduled for trial in Vermillion County in Illinois for possession of Marijuana, two counts of a controlled substance and two counts of firearm possession.” He also faces charges for driving while his license was suspended, operating a vehicle without insurance, and on top of that, driving under the influence. Why do people do crap like this? It’s asking for trouble. And so many athletes do it, some caught, some not. But then there’s guys like Tank Johnson who wrecked his Lamborghini into a pole, left the scene, and then fessed up after the fact. On Wednesday, “the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force got a tip that Clark was in the Houston area. The next day, they learned that Clark was on a bus going from Houston to Longview, Texas,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Marianne Matus. “After Marshals stopped the bus in Splendora, about 34 miles northeast of Houston, Clark was arrested without incident.” On Thursday, he was held at San Jacinto County Jail, unclear of whether he had an attorney or not. Clark, who is originally from Danville, Illinois, was originally drafted by the Orlando Magic in 1998, but was then traded to the Denver Nuggets, playing there for three years. He also played, as I said before the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns, as well as the Toronto Raptors and Sacramento Kings.

College Athletes are still in College

One thing everyone forgets about college athletes is that they are still in college. They still have classes to attend and they still have grades they need to keep up. Not because they need a certain gpa to be eligible to play but because after they graduate they will more than likely have a normal life that they will have to get used to. Being a star basketball player isn’t going to pay the bills for the rest of your life.

That’s why I was really happy to see that Trent Johnson, Stanford basketball coach, suspend Brook Lopez for missing two days worth of classes and one practice. He will miss the first 9 games of the season. Last year, Lopez started in 18 of the Cardinals games and played in 26. He is an asset to the team and it must have taken a lot of consideration on the coach’s behalf to have suspended this player.

Lopez who is already on academic probation from the team was suspended Friday. Even though he was already ineligible for the start of the season his punishment is a lot greater now. In the end, Johnson was looking in the best interest of Lopez as well the team. A lot of the time, I think that coaches only care about winning but I feel that Johnson realizes that eventually Lopez has to plan for the rest of his life if the NBA doesn’t work out. I feel that other coaches need to care about their college players the way that Trent Johnson does.

Penn State RB Pleads Not Guilty

When are the rape cases going to end for the collegiate athletes?!?
According to ESPN sources, “Suspended Penn State tailback Austin Scott pleaded not guilty Wednesday and was ordered to stand trial on felony rape and sexual-assault charges.” At this point in the season, Scott, a senior running back, has compiled 302 yards on 69 attempts rushing and 12 yards on 2 receptions. He’s already surpassed his rushing results from the 2006 season (273), and has nearly caught up to his results from 2005 (312). His projected rushing yards for the season were 518, according to ESPN, but now that he has these charges on him, he might not even be able to complete the season. At the preliminary hearing, the judge, Daniel Hoffman, “also upheld several misdemeanor charges. Prosecutors withdrew two felony charges of aggravated indecent assault against the 22-year-old because of a lack of evidence.”

Scott, the Allentown, Pennsylvania native, calls it consensual. The accuser, who is a fellow Penn State student, “testified that he and Scott had met once before and had been text messaging each other before getting together at a bar. The rape allegedly occurred in the early morning hours on Oct. 5 at Scott’s on-campus apartment.” He was suspended later on that same day and was charged about a week later. According to his defense lawyer, John Karoly, “Scott will remain in school while he fights the charges.”

There have been many rape accusations connected to athletes, professional and collegiate. Some of the most heard of ones are the Duke Lacrosse players and Kobe Bryant. According to USA Today, there have been 168 sexual assault allegations against athletes in the past dozen years, giving significant results. Out of the 168 allegations, involving 164 different athletes, only 22 of the cases went to trial. Only 6 cases came out with the athlete being convicted. In 46 of the other cases, there was a plea agreement reached. These numbers are alarmingly small, considering how big of a deal a rape charge is. Why is it that athletes are seemingly given special attention? They should be given the same punishment as any regular person who is charged with rape. This is the problem with athletes. It seems that they are above the law, it’s like with drug charges and professional athletes, always getting away with a fine, but never learning their lesson. When is they court system going to be straightened out?

If you don't want bad publicity, then don't pee on a bar

To all famous people of the world (celebrities, actors, singers, athletes, and coaches): You’re actions are watched. People know what you do. They care about your lives. If you do something stupid, people will know. And of course, there will be consequences.

Now that I’ve said that, we can discuss Eric Schnupp’s recent embarrassing moment. Eric Schnupp is Baylor University’s offensive line/tight ends coach and is now in trouble for urinating on the bar at a pub in the early hours of the morning Sunday in Waco, Texas. Fortunately for him, he was not arrested but still has to deal with the $258 fine for disorderly conduct and reckless exposure not to mention the embarrassment he now has to endure.

Here’s the list actions that lead up to this very interesting event. Baylor University had returned around 9 pm back to Waco, Texas from their loss to Kansas. Schnupp went to Scruffy Murphy’s, a local bar, where he drank quite a few shots of hard alcohol bought for him. Sometime around closing, Schupp began urinating on the bar for no apparent reason and thought no one could see him. How about that for an explanation of his behavior?

He must have had one hell of a hangover, right? Well now his poor life decisions have him suspended from the Baylor football team indefinitely according to head coach Guy Morriss. I just don’t understand why people like Eric Schnupp don’t understand that they are in the spotlight and their actions affect other people besides for themselves.

#1 Ranked LSU Blows 27-14 Lead, Loses in 3-0T, Becomes the 10th Team Ranked in the Top 10 to Lose

The Kentucky Wildcats, ranked number 17 in the Associated Press Polls, stunned the number 1 ranked Louisiana State University Tigers Saturday night, in a triple overtime thriller. Andre Woodson, Quarterback of Kentucky Wildcats, and his team are the latest team to shake up the National Title chase this season, but are the first team in nearly four years to topple the number one ranked team in the regular season, beating the LSU Tigers 43-37. The winning play was a 7 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Steve Johnson, putting the team up 43-37, but the team failed to convert the two point conversion that is required during the third overtime. It didn’t matter. LSU failed to get into the end zone with their four chances, and all four of the plays run were running plays. Charles Scott, running back for the LSU Tigers, failed to convert a fourth down play, only two yards. He nearly converted it, but came up just one yard shy. This is the first time that the Wildcats have beaten a number one ranked team since 1964, when they defeated Mississippi.

The Tigers became the 10th Top Ten ranked team to lose this season. The first was one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history, when the Michigan Wolverines lost to an incredible underdog in Appalachian St. in week one play. In the last two weeks, nine more top ten ranked nationally in the top ten have lost. This includes last weekend, when the number two ranked University of Southern California Trojans lost to the Stanford Cardinals by a score of 24-23. The last number one ranked team to lose was on December 6, 2003, when the Oklahoma Sooners lost the Big 12 title in an upset to the Kansas State Wildcats by a score of 35-7. The biggest problem for LSU is the fact that the first Bowl Championship Series polls’ come out. The BCS poll is the one that counts, not the AP or a Coaches’ Poll, because it picks the teams that will play for the National Championship in January. So whether or not they win the rest of their games this season or not, their run for a National Championship is more or less finished. However, this could change too, with all the upsets so far this season, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if more top ranked teams lost and at least one of the two teams that end up playing for the National Championship have at least one loss under their belts. It should be an interesting end to the season over the next few weeks now that a number one team has lost. To me, this season has been one of the most interesting yet. All these twists and turns in the National Championship run make for some VERY interesting games. I love it.

Jones-Drew Fined for Celebration

Maurice Jones-Drew, tail back for the Jacksonville Jaguars, was fined $7,500 for his post-touchdown celebration. Jones-Drew had just scored a 52 yard rushing touchdown in last week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, and decided to have himself a little celebration. Jones-Drew staged a celebration where he used the goal post, simulating it as an ATM machine. “It was pretty cool,” said the second year Jacksonville tail back afterwards. “We laughed our way all the way to the bank.” However, the result of it was unexpected and now he really does have to make a withdrawal from his bank account, which he for sure is NOT laughing about.

The league fined him the $7,500, stating that he violated the rule that says that a player cannot use props as part of their touchdown celebrations. The play came during the second quarter of the game, when he shot through a hole and flew past the secondary Kansas City’s’ secondary defense for the 52 yard score. Now what he did next is where the fine comes in. After the score, he dropped the ball and then went to the goal post and, as a few team mates watched him, he simulated punching in his account number and then removed his deposit. He was surprised when he heard that he was going to be fined by the NFL pointing out that he did not use the ball as a prop, which is not permitted. League officials shrugged it off, stating that the goal post is considered a prop and that a player cannot use it as a part of a rehearsed celebration, and therefore they fined him for his actions. Nobody yet knows whether or not Jones-Drew will appeal the fine or not. His base salary for the 2007 season is roughly $360,000. It was Jones-Drew’s first touchdown of the 2007 season, who was a second round draft pick from UCLA. In his rookie season he rushed for 941 yards and 13 touchdowns. So far in the four games he’s played this year, he’s rushed for only 182 yards and that single touchdown. Now normally I would agree with the league on this, but only if the ball had been used in the celebration. In this case it's more of a league decision, they say he used the goal post as a prop, but he never really did anything with it, did he? He just walked up to it and made it LOOK like he was putting his account number "into" the post, but it's nothing like when Joe Horn of the New Orleans Saints, after his touchdown, went over to the goal post, LIFTED UP the cushioning part of it, and took out a cell phone. I don't think I agree with the league this time though.

Trouble for Austin Scott and Penn State

Last week I wrote about the Duke rape scandal. Well this week it’s the start of something new. Penn State running back, Austin Scott was charged Friday with rape, sexual assault, and two counts of aggravated assault. He is also facing three misdemeanor charges including two counts of indecent assault and one account of simple assault. This account was said to have occurred on Friday October 5, 2007 at Scott’s on campus apartment after the two met at a bar. He was suspended on unknown terms later that day by coach, Joe Paterno.

Austin Scott is a super senior at Penn State University and he remains enrolled. He was redshirted his senior year for persistent injuries he was facing. He led his team his freshman year in rushing yards.

He is pleading non guilty to all charges. Scott and his lawyer say that this incident was consensual and they plan to prove this. However, Scott originally told investigators that the woman initially did not want to have sexual intercourse.

I don’t really know how to feel about issues like this. In my opinion, the allegations could by all means be factual. But part of me thinks that a once star player on the football team would have no problem getting women to have consensual sex with him. Is the woman just looking for a little spotlight or is she really a victim of sexual assault and rape? I guess we won’t know until the jury deliberates but what we know that this is not good news for Austin Scott or the Nittany Lions.

Bengals CB Joseph Suspended

The NFL suspended the Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph for this weeks game against the Kansas City Chiefs because of a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy according to Sports Illustrated. We have yet another NFL player suspended for violation of the substance abuse policy. It seems like every week we hear of another player getting in trouble. I’ve always said that the behavior of these professional athletes, NFL players in particular, has been steadily disintegrating over the last few years. Joseph will lose salary for this week’s game and the following game against the New York Jets as a result of his violation. He is the ninth Bengal arrested over the past nine months. Two other Bengals players are suspended at the moment, linebacker Odell Thurman and receiver Chris Henry. Thurman violated the substance abuse policy last year and sat out the season, and isn’t allowed to return this season. Henry has been sentenced to miss the first eight games of this season for multiple violations of that same substance abuse policy. I have to ask… When will players learn to shape up and stop doing drugs? I guess this is a universal question that applies to plenty of people, but these professional athletes are in the public eye and as a result their offenses draw much more attention.

This image was found at www.bengals.com.

Texas Tech T-shirt controversy

According to ESPN.com Texas Tech has banned the sales of T-shirts that have Vick hanging the dog mascot of rival Texas A&M. The red and black shirts, with text that says "VICK 'EM" on the front in an apparent reference to the Aggies' slogan "Git 'em," was created by a Tech student who was trying to sell them before Saturday's game. The back of the shirt shows a football player wearing the No. 7 Vick jersey holding a rope with an image of the mascot Reveille at the end of a noose. (Description taken from ESPN.com for lack of better way to describe the shirts). The shirt creator Geoffrey Candia, a part of the Theta Chi fraternity, had sold around 300 of the shirts before the sales were banned, 200 shy of the projected sale total of 500. These two schools have a long bitter history toward each other, hence the reason they are considered bitter rivals, which would explain the T-shirts.

At least the issue is the subject of T-shirts rather than something much worse, such as a violent confrontation between the two schools. I personally find the T-shirts amusing rather than hurtful, even though this is not the preferred politically correct viewpoint. It’s only a student hoping to create a humorous T-shirt in the spirit of the fierce rivalry. There is no doubt that people are offended by the shirts, but as I said earlier the shirts would be preferred to violence. I almost feel sorry for Michael Vick. He just can’t seem to stay out of the media’s limelight, even if he is not directly involved in the controversy. Sure his situation is highlighted, but it’s almost refreshing to se that he’s not the catalyst in this particular story. Just let him serve his time and be done with it. It’s almost as bad as the constant coverage of Anna Nicole Smith’s death. If these shirts would have had any other subject on them, I doubt that the story would have made much more than the local newspaper if that.

Football just keeps getting better as tough teams go down.

What a weekend for football upsets. First who saw the Illinois defeat of the Wisconsin Badgers coming? This definitely will have significant repercussions on Big Ten standings. Right now Ohio State is leading the Big Ten with a perfect season so far and Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, and Wisconsin are all 5-0. Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State University are all trailing behind with 4 wins and 2 losses each. And rearing up the Big Ten conference is Minnesota with 2 wins and 4 losses. I’m sure now one credible really predicted Michigan to have 2 losses so far so early in the season but upsets in sports is what makes the games worth watching right?

College football weren’t the only ones to see action this weekend. The NFL got its fair share Sunday night as well. Bears had a great weekend thanks to the Packers. All bets were against them as they matched up against arch rivals, the Green Bay Packers. The first half was just as everyone imagined. Packers score a touchdown within 6 minutes of the game and in the first rush. The Packers had the ball for a whopping 341 yards in the first half alone but after second quarter ended Bears were within 10 points. This was all thanks to Charles Tillman of course who forced two fumbles on Sunday. Green Bay probably would have put points on the board in both cases. The second half of the game, the Bears fought their way back and lowered Brett Favre’s confidence just a little. A few good passes on behalf of Brian Griese also helped the Bears out. It was definitely a change for Bears fans to not have a quarterback to complain about after the game.

Other highlights from this weekend include Notre Dame’s defeat of UCLA which marks the Irish first win of the season. And of course, former champs, USC falling to Stanford. I guess all this is looking good to the still strong, Ohio State Buckeyes right now. All this is good television as far as I’m concerned. I, for one, am very excited to see some strong teams go down and to see all the surprising upsets take place. Keep ‘em coming.

Briggs Pleads Guilty

Last week Lance Briggs plead guilty to leaving the scene of his accident, and also the failure to report being involved in that accident according to ESPN.com. If you hadn’t heard of this incident, the Bears linebacker lost control of his $350,000 Lamborghini Murcielago outside Chicago early in the morning on August 27. He faces 120 hours of community service and will be under court supervision for the next year. Abandoning the scene of an accident is a misdemeanor and failing to report an accident is punishable by fine. He was only fined $485 for his failure to report, hardly a meaningful fine to an athlete who makes in the millions each year. Briggs was given a lighter sentence than what could have been sentenced because this was his first arrest and he was given the benefit of the doubt. The reason he fled from the scene is because he panicked and didn’t know what to do. I don’t know how much money you need to have, or how stupid you need to act, but if I wouldn’t abandon a car worth $350,000 for the life of me. His car is worth more than many peoples home’s, and he left it on the side of the road. As if we didn’t need any more problems with players in the NFL this year. It seems like the general behavior of NFL players has deteriorated to embarrassing levels over the last few years. This is a pretty minor issue, however, compared to the actions of Michael Vick, but it still tarnishes the image of the NFL.

The picture was found at www.chicagobears.com

Stripped of Her Medals.....But Why Now?

Marion Jones, winner of five medals during the duration of the 2000 summer Olympics, located in Sydney, Australia, has returned her medals to the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S Anti-Doping Agency officials. This consists of 3 gold medals and 2 bronze medals. Jones, who has always denied using performance enhancing drugs, such as steroids, has finally admitted to using such items. Jones gave back the five medals, and then further agreed to forfeit any race she participated in since September 1, 2000. Jones was the winner of the Gold medal in the 100 and 200 meter dashes and the 1,600 meter relay, as well as the Bronze medal winner in the 400 relay and the long jump. If the IOC (International Olympic Committee) decides to vacate her results from the Sydney Olympics, then her relay teammates could lose their medals as well. The USOC's (United States Olympic Committee) CEO and Chairman both said the would support the IOC in nullifying the relay results, encouraging the other Americans to give back their medals. Jearl Miles-Clark, Monique Hennagan, Tasha Colander-Richardson, and Andrea Anderson, as well as Jones, all won Gold medals as part of the 1,600 meter relay. Christy Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry, and Passion Richardson, and Jones all won Bronze medals as part of the 400 meter relay.

Now what's interesting about the USOC wanting the athletes to give their medals back NOW, is that two of the other women from the 400 meter relay, Christy Gaines and Torri Edwards, have BOTH served doing bans since the Sydney Olympics. So why would the USOC take away the athletes medals now that Marion Jones confessed to using banned doping substances? Is it just because Jones is more well known as being a user of doping substances? Why wouldn't they have taken away the athletes' medals after one of the other two failed their tests and served their bans?

Time for the Duke case to end

The Duke Lacrosse player incident that escalated in March 2006 has seen quite enough publicity. However, the players are making headlines once again as they file lawsuits against prosecutor, Mike Nifong, the city of Durham and the police detectives that were in charge of the case.

The case began March 13, 2006 when Crystal Gail Magnum accused 3 members of the Duke men’s lacrosse team of rapping her at a team party. The players were suspended for two games but the head coach was forced to resign and the rest of the 2006 season was eventually cancelled. The trial was a long and tedious one that only contributed negative public relations to Duke University. Finally, on April 11, 2007, all charges against the Duke Lacrosse players were dropped. Attorney General of North Carolina called the entire incident a “tragic rush to accuse.”

In the suit, the players accuse the defendants which include Mike Nifong as well as the former police chief and police investigators of conspiring to keep the case open even though there was really no evidence against the players. They stated that the defendants withheld evidence, manipulated witnesses and issued a photo lineup only including Duke Lacrosse players so that Magnum would have to choose at least one of them as her accuser.

They also stated that all of this was brought about because of motivation by Mike Nifong, the initial prosecutor on the case, to win an upcoming election for district attorney. However, Nifong’s name was quickly disgraced after he was accused of withholding important DNA information. He was forced to resign and spent a night in jail in contempt of court.

In the law suit, the players ask for an independent committee to review complaints of misconduct of the police force as well as improved police training. Furthermore, the want to ban the use of any evidence provided by DNA Security inc.

A year and a half after this case began, I think it’s about time it comes to a close. The players were acquitted of their crime but I do believe they deserve some retribution for everything that they have had to endure. Their names have been smeared all over the country and most of their college experience has been ruined. They have had to pay thousands of dollars in fees for lawyers among other things. And they have had to face embarrassment in front of family and friends. I think they deserve to win this case after the injustice they have faced but I also think its time that everyone moves on with their lives.

Cubbies on Brink of Elimination

After Thursday’s 8-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cubs are down 0-2, a mere one game from elimination. Their two best starting pitchers, Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly, should be well rested if there comes to be a game 4 and a game 5. Then again after a second straight loss that put them into the 0-2 hole, a game 5 seems very unlikely indeed. But what if they manage another winning streak such as the Boston Red Sox did just a few years ago, when they were down 0-3, also one game from elimination. The Red Sox managed to pull out the 4 games needed to beat the New York Yankees to get into the World Series, and then they won that. So it’s not completely out of the question, but it will be extremely difficult. Their fate rests in the hands of their 27 year old left hander, Rich Hill, who has an 11-8 record and a 3.92 ERA. Hill is to start game 3 at Wrigley Field. According to ESPN sources, “Hill was calm, cool and nibbling an ice cream bar after the loss.” “It’s going to be very exciting,” said Hill, “We’re in a very good position. This isn’t something to look at negatively. I know that sounds strange, but you’ve got to think positively. We’ve been in this situation, it seems, all year. We were way behind at the start of the year, we were chasing the Brewer’s (Milwaukee) for first place, we were behind in a lot of game – that’s something we need to remind ourselves. Coming back, in a way, has defined us a little.”

Lilly had a big part to do with coming back from the Cubs disastrous start. He won seven decisions in a row throughout June and July to keep the team from sinking Pittsburgh depths in the National League Central. On Thursday, however, he pretty much blew the game. To get through only 2 innings, needing only 6 outs, it took 58 pitches!! He threw 79 pitches in 3 ½ innings, only six fewer than Zambrano threw in 6 innings in game 1. “That was a nightmare,” Lilly said. “I don’t care how many games I won in the regular season. It’s the post season that matters.” Lilly can hopefully take comfort in the fact that he set an unofficial record for the hardest thrown pitch in post season history. Geovany Soto called for a curveball, with the count at 3-2, and Lilly shook it off, calling for a fastball. Soto being a rookie, only in the major leagues for only 5 weeks said “I wanted to go with what he was comfortable with. He wanted to go up and in with a fastball.” Unfortunately, Chris Young of the Diamondbacks smashed it, out of the middle of the strike zone, for a 3 run home run, giving the Diamondbacks a 3-2 lead that they never relinquished. He reacted terribly, ripping his glove off his hand and throwing it into the pitcher’s mound. Cub’s manager Lou Piniella said “I’ve never seen a pitcher throw their glove like that on the mound.” Lilly says of last night, “I’ve got absolutely no excuses. The fact of the matter is, I didn’t get my job done. I guess if I want to think up some excuses I could come up with some BS. …It’s something I’ll have a hard time with. I certainly want another opportunity.” The only way he will get that opportunity is if the Cubs win the next two games, tying the series at 2-2, as he is not scheduled to pitch again until game 5. We can hope, we can pray, and hopefully the Cubs will get it done. The last time the Cubs won a World Series was 99 years ago, in 1908. If they managed to win this series, they would be a top choice to do that, the same as the Red Sox were when they came back from 0-3 to win the series.

Vick attends animal cruelty class

According to Sports Illustrated online, Michael Vick attended a class held by PETA to teach respect for animals, and focused on animal cruelty. Dan Shannon, who was present during the entire class, said this about Vick during the class, "He was asking questions, following up on points we were making, taking notes. He seemed to be putting an honest effort into trying to get something out of the course.'' According to PETA’s website, the former Falcons quarterback first visited PETA's offices in Norfolk on Sept. 7 and met with Ingrid Newkirk, the group's president, in order to apologize for his abuse of dogs. At the end of this eight hour course, he was required to take an extensive written test, which he passed to the amazement of some PETA members. I think that this is part PR move, and part actually feeling bad for what he’s done. No one can deny that this move was probably made in part to make him look better to the jury, but I think that part of it is actually genuine repentance. Even though he took this course and demonstrated an interest in getting educated in animal cruelty, those a PETA still feel that Vick deserves prison time. This is typical, one class on why murder is bad would not keep him out of prison, but it might earn a little sympathy on the fact that he is truly sorry. Animal cruelty and murder is not as harsh or horrible as murdering another human being, but some people still feel strongly that there is little or no difference between the two. If Vick shows good behavior and demonstrates that he is truly sorry, then he may get a small break on the jail time or released earlier, however this probably isn’t very likely. Even if this move doesn’t influence his court decision, I still give him credit for trying to improve his image.

All quotes were found from www.sportsillustrated.cnn.com and the picture is from www.atlantafalcons.com.