Categories
St. Louis Cardinals

Josh Hancock’s father might try to sue God next


Dean Hancock, the father of Josh Hancock, the St. Louis pitcher who was killed in a traffic accident last month, really needs to blame somebody for the death of his son. He is suing the restaurant that served his son alcohol which certainly has legal precedence.

But here’s the kick in the crotch — he is also suing the man whose Geo Prism stalled and the tow truck driver who stopped to help the Prism. Damn that Prism owner for not being rich enough to afford a reliable car… say like a top of the line SUV. And damn that tow truck driver for actually trying to help someone.

Now, we don’t want to desecrate the memory of the dead but Josh Hancock was drunk, speeding, wasn’t wearing a seat belt, and was talking on his cell phone at the time of his fatal accident. Is this really anyone’s fault but Josh’s? Or Perhaps Dean Hancock did such a shitty job of raising his son that he needs to blame people for his own failures?

Everyone felt bad about Josh Hancock’s death. And even when the facts of his accident came out, most people just swept it under the rug and paid their respects. But now Dean Hancock is using up whatever ounce of goodwill was left in community by being a complete asshat. Way to honor the memory of your son, pops.

Links:
[SI]: Hancock’s father files suit

Categories
All Other Sports

Countdown to UFC 71: Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson


The UFC spent a whole lot of money to pry Quinton “Rampage” Jackson away from Japan’s PRIDE Fighting
Championships and now it’s time for Jackson to earn his money and show off his skills in front of an American audience as he competes for the world light heavyweight belt against “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell.

Rampage has been making his living overseas for some time now and he has built up a Godzilla-sized reputation as one of the baddest men in the world when inside the ring with a 26-6 record that includes 12 victories determined by either KO or TKO. One of his most notable wins came against The Iceman back in 2003 when Jackson threw him hard to the mat and unleashed a barrage of punches that caused Liddell’s corner to throw in the towel. That was the last time that Liddell lost a match.

Since getting pummeled in Tokyo, The Iceman (20-3) has ripped off seven straight victories, won the light heavyweight championship and avenged two (Randy Couture and Jeremy Horn) of his three career losses. Oh, and he whopped some guy named Tito Ortiz’s ass…twice! The only measure of professional revenge that Liddell lacks is a victory over Rampage.

Jackson loves to get a hold of his opponents and slam `em on their heads but Liddell has such an excellent defense against the takedown that this will probably turn into a Liddell/ Ortiz style of stand-up fight. And since both of these guys have tremendous power in their hands and chins made of concrete, nobody will complain about an all out slugfest.

Unlike the debacle that was Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, this fight will be exciting. The Iceman always puts on a show for the fans and he almost never lets the judges decide his fights; in fact, it has been nearly five years since one of his bouts went to the cards. We love Rampage’s entertaining style, both in and out of the octagon, but he doesn’t always perform to his best against the elite competition; just look what happened against Wanderlei Silva (twice) and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Liddell is on top of his game right now and not even a monster of a man like Jackson is going to knock him off his MMA throne.

Prediction: Liddell wins by TKO

The weigh-in will be broadcast live on ESPNews at 3:50pm PT/6:50pm ET on Friday

Links:

[UFC.com]: UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson

Categories
Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers have a unique way of building a large fan base


Hey, fat boy! Yeah, you; the one stuffing your face with pork rinds, sitting on your couch in a pair of stained tighty whities with America’s pastime playing out on the tube. We think we might have found a way to coax you out of your mamma’s basement.

Dodger Stadium now has an all-you-can-eat section of seats out in right field where the Dodger Dogs, peanuts, popcorn, nachos and sodas flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. OK, so we made up that last part about the babes but you really can stuff your face for one low price and people have been taking advantage of the free dogs ($4.75 throughout the stadium) by downing `em in bulk. The only thing slowing down these ballpark Kobayashis is the limit of four items per trip to the vendor.

But don’t think you’re going be getting on your knees, fumbling through your keys drunk by paying $40 for you ticket o’ gluttony. No, you’re gonna have to get wasted like the rest of the stadium; by forking over either $8 or $10 a brew!

Of course, if you can afford those kinds of prices then you might want to consider upgrading your Dodger dining experience to the Dugout Club behind home plate. Not only do you get a better view of the game (that is what you’re paying for, right?) but you’ll get your food delivered to your seats by the section’s staff. And it’ll only cost you $400 a ticket.

Now, we don’t know if he sat in the Dugout Club or with the right field fatties, but we’re guessing that this sports anchor had one too many of those mystery meat Dodger Dogs before making it into the studio.

Links:

[International Business Times]: All You Can Eat at Dodger Stadium

Categories
Olympics

Some moments in international competition should never die

If you’re anything like us then you can’t wait until the pageantry and spectacle that is the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics kicks off on August 8, 2008. So, what the hell are you supposed to do for the next 14 months and change until the opening ceremonies? Well, we can’t entertain you for that long, but we can help you kill the next five minutes by showing you highlights from the 2003 Trojan Games in Bucharest. So, enjoy these clips of the world’s greatest athletes as you relive some of the most incredible displays of agility and grace that sport has ever seen. (Videos are NSFW)

Judo Semifinal

Weightlifting and Precision Vaulting clips after the jump.

Continue reading “Some moments in international competition should never die”

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Another rough night for the young King



A 2-0 hole would make anyone a
little nervous.

1. Second half meltdown
Cleveland had a commanding halftime lead (50-38) in Game 2 but somehow managed to bumble it away and slip into a 2-0 hole by scoring a pathetic 26 points in the final 24 minutes and losing 79-76. The Cavs had an opportunity to win the game in the final seconds but LeBron James missed a contested spinning shot in the lane that he will undoubtedly be criticized for because he didn’t dish the rock off. But this would be Rasheed Wallace‘s night as he came on strong in the fourth when he put in 10 of his 16 points, including the go-ahead bucket with 24 ticks left on the clock. If this feels familiar, it should; last year the Pistons took a 2-0 lead over Cleveland in a second round series that eventually saw a Game 7. We can only hope that the James Gang has enough heart to force another game of ultimate elimination. The Cavs will find out on Sunday night if Dorothy was right.

2. The Magic make their coach disappear

The coaching carousel continues to turn in the NBA and the latest hard, plastic pony to become available is in Orlando where the Magic decided to part ways with Brian Hill after he spent two seasons with the team. Apparently a 40-42 record along with a first round sweep out of the playoffs just wasn’t gonna cut it in the Magic Kingdom. Where Hill goes from here is unpredictable, but he will have several options available to him over the off-season. However, the Magic are now forced to find a veteran coach who can take this talented team to a level that Hill wasn’t able to. While Stan Van Gundy isn’t exactly a grizzled vet, he does have head coaching experience with a winning club filled with marquee superstars, which is a lot better resume than most cheap, available assistant’s can offer. And with Rick Adelman out of the picture there aren’t a whole lot of proven winners available out there. Whoever the Magic decide to bring in is going to have to work fast because the Orlando bigwigs are certainly unwilling to wait for results; with a budding Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson on the squad, the Magic are ready to start blossoming right now.

3. Former baller behind bars
The NBA family took a punch to the gut this week as former player Henry Charles James was sentenced to five years in the pokey for dealing drugs. James spent the 90’s bouncing from team to team but now he’s simply going to be bouncing from cell to cell in the prison system. Last summer, James was busted by an undercover police officer after making two separate deals with the officer for a total of $750 worth of crack cocaine. Police arrested him on September 7th after James brought several children along with him to the spot where the deal was to go down.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Rasheed Wallace vs. Cleveland 33 min, 16 pts (FG: 7-10, 3FG: 1-3, FT: 1-2), 11 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk

Buzzer Beater: Historically San Antonio has struggled in Salt Lake City during the post season and this year the Jazz are undefeated at home in the playoffs, so it would seem that Game 3 would be the perfect opportunity for Utah to grab their first W in the Western Conference finals. But looks can be deceiving because, to this point, the Jazz have given very little reason to believe that they can turn this series around. Sure, they’ve had some fourth quarter surges behind the great play of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams but San Antonio has simply imposed their will on the Jazz for two games now; in fact, Utah never led once during Game 2. The Jazz are going to have to get someone to step up as a third option if they are going to start chipping away at San Antonio’s 2-0 lead. However, the time for Utah is now and if they can’t win Game 3 then the Spurs will be playing for their fourth title since 1999.

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Smoltz gets his 200th win


1. Bicentennial Man: Future Hall of Famer John Smoltz, pitching against former teammate Tom Glavine, passed an important milestone on Thursday. He pitched nearly flawlessly to lock up win number 200 on his career. Smoltz also became the first player in major league history to record 200 wins and 150 saves. His 7-inning, no-walk performance improved his record to 7-2 on the year with a 2.58 ERA. He’s first in the National League in wins. Glavine pitched well too, with two runs in six innings, but it wasn’t enough as the Braves won 2-1. Glavine is five wins shy of a much bigger milestone: 300. With the way he’s pitching this year (3.39 ERA), he’ll reach that easily. But the focus was on Smoltz, who hasn’t allowed a run in either of his last two starts. With the win the Braves won their third straight series against the Mets this year, and they’re 1.5 games back now of New York.

2. First-place rout: The Tigers and Angels is a matchup of two first place teams, but only one of them looked playoff-caliber on Thursday. The Tigers won in a 12-0 rout, with great offensive and pitching performances. Jeremy Bonderman came off the DL and threw 8 scoreless innings. Carlos Guillen hit two homers and five RBIs. Magglio Ordonez went 4-4 with three RBIs to bring his league-leading total to 45. Gary Sheffield also got in on the action with his 9th homer and three runs. Ervin Santana was the main victim for the Angels, as he allowed 8 runs and his ERA ballooned to 6.00. The Tigers still only lead the Indians by a half-game, while the Angels have a comfortable four game lead over Oakland.

3. Baseball game with a football score: 13-12 sounds more like the score of a Bucs-Seahawks game than a Devil Rays-Mariners contest. But Tampa and Seattle combined for the most runs in the majors this season in a crazy game. Devil Rays pitcher Jae Seo got the win despite allowing 7 runs and 13 hits. The Mariners piled on 18 total hits, with four players collecting more than three hits. But it wasn’t enough as Tampa has 7 players with an RBI and 8 score a run. Seattle reliever Sean White gave up an incredible 7 runs in 0.2 innings.

Player of the Day: Carlos Guillen, Tigers: 2-3, 2 homers, 5 RBIs in a 12-0 rout of the Angels. Guillen continues to be one of the more underrated players in baseball with a .327 average and 35 RBIs on the year.

Categories
NFL General

Odds and Ends: Will Keyshawn be any good?



Am I an asshole?

By now, you’ve heard that Keyshawn has decided to retire and join ESPN. Now, my first reaction to this is that it’s another example of ESPN just going completely down the toilet. However, if you look at Michael Irvin’s work, he wasn’t all that bad. And Keyshawn is basically just another version of Michael Irvin.

I feel like Michael Irvin really did have some decent insight into the game of football (certainly more than that Chris Berman asshole) but he simply wasn’t articulate enough to express his opinions and he also had the habit of trying to be funny by saying the stupidest. So while ESPN’s NFL coverage is all but unwatchable, having Keyshawn on the show isn’t going to make it any worse. Thank God we have the NFL on FOX.

In other news…

[buzzfeed]: Six fans who gave shout outs to their team on death row

[UPI]: Blind golfer seen reading scorecard

[DC Pro Sports Report]: 2007 Mock NBA Draft

[Bloody Long Odds]: Odds for 2010 World Cup already released

[MSNBC]: Rosenhaus supports Clinton Portis

[SI]: Ex Montana St player leader of drug ring

[Houston Chronicle]: 2011 Super Bowl could set ticket sales record at $93 million

[Seattle PI]: Jones soda pulls off Seahawks upset

[IHT]: Japanese red socks have become symbol for Red Sox

And finally, stay away from the salad at the Wheaton North High School

Categories
All Other Sports

Countdown to UFC 71: Terry Martin vs. Ivan Salaverry

You might not recognize the name Terry Martin right off the bat, but you are probably familiar with some of his work. Like this performance, for example:

To say that Martin has struggled in the UFC would be an understatement but the guy does have an overall record of 17-2. Unfortunately, those two losses came on the biggest MMA stage in the world and neither of them were what you would consider to be pretty losses. But the guy did deliver a TKO to Jorge Rivera in 14 seconds at UFC 67. However, while Martin is blessed with some fierce fists that are as heavy as bricks, he lacks the all-around talent that is crucial for UFC success. That’s exactly what makes his match-up against the well rounded veteran Ivan Salaverry so interesting.

Salaverry has an overall record of 12-4-1 but his UFC career has been up and down, which means this could be one of the last opportunities for an aging Salaverry (36) to move up in the middleweight ranks. Throw in a little smack from Martin during a recent Q&A and we have all the makings of a great brawl.

Q: Thoughts on upcoming opponent, Ivan Salaverry?

A: I’m gonna knock `Billie Jean’ out.

Q: Why is Billie Jean his nickname?

A: Because I looked at him fight and he dances around the ring.

Prediction: Martin wins by KO

Links:

[UFC.com]: UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson

Categories
NBA General

Why is Jon Barry behind a mic again?

We’ve been laughing at Jon Barry since Tuesday night for his stupid comments after the draft lottery and now we have the proof that Barry is a complete idiot. You have to be patient but at the end of the clip (4:35 mark) Barry actually says that Portland should trade away their number one pick for some veteran help after they won the rights to Greg Oden or Kevin Durant by turning chicken s*** (5.3% chance of winning) into chicken salad. Barry should be fired for simply thinking that the Blazers should get rid of one of the brightest talents to come into the league since LeBron James, whether it’s Oden or Durant. But then again, Barry had already humiliated himself once that night by guaranteeing that the Celtics would win the lottery so, why not make it a double dip.

Looks like Jon is attempting to make his broadcasting fame by going for the outlandish comment approach made famous by his ESPN colleague Bill Walton. So, we’re gonna guess that Barry was totally behind the Blazers’ Sam Bowie pick in 1984 as well.

Links:

[Blazers Blog]: You so crazy Jon Barry!

Categories
Atlanta Falcons

Add canine killer to the list of pseudonyms for Michael Vick



You can blame Michael Vick for this!

The judge is still out on the whole Michael Vick dog fighting case, but one thing we do know is that out of all the dogs seized on Vick’s property, all 65 of them, nearly all will have to be put to sleep. Way to go, Mike!

Almost 100 percent” of animals seized in dog fighting investigations are euthanized because they have a level of aggression that makes them dangerous pets and neighbors, said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States.

Vick can claim whatever he wants at this point, but that’s not going to slow down business at the Chesapeake animal crematorium. Actually, we have no idea where the dogs, mostly pit bulls, are being held at the moment because other sick individuals have been known to steal fighting dogs from shelters for their own personal canine Blood Sport reenactments.

While it sucks to see all these innocent animals get put down because they were just products of a miserable situation, you can’t blame the Humane Society for doing what they gotta do. Would you want those trained killers living next door to you? Goodwin didn’t think so.

It’s simply not fair to someone who has a black lab or a Yorkie to have a fighting dog next door because if that dog gets loose, he’s going to … kill that person’s pet,” Goodwin said, making it clear he was speaking in generic terms only.

The only suitable punishment for Vick at this point is ferret legging the bastard.

Links:

[KSDK.com]: Pit Bulls In Vick Case Likely To Be Euthanized