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??