Categories
College Football

Houston Nutt denies affair with television anchor


Things are getting so out of hand for Houston Nutt down in Arkansas that he issued a letter to the press concerning internet rumors that he was having an affair and that he was actively seeking higher profile jobs.

First, a little background:

– In December of 2006, disparaging comments previously made by Arkansas QB Mitch Mustain in 2005 about coach Nutt were published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
– Family friend Teresa Prewett then sends an email to Mustain addressing him as the “Interception King” and calling him a “little boy” and a “fag”. (You can read the timeline and entire email at Hog Blogger.)

– Mitch Mustain uses the Freedom of Information Act to request the telephone records of Houston Nutt.
– Everyone gets suspicious when it’s revealed Nutt text messaged a cute blonde television anchor over 1,000 times.

First, Nutt asserts that he remains “committed to our players, our fans, and the Razorback program’s tradition of excellence and success.” Well, that’s fine but we have heard that one before. No one trusts coaches after what Nick Saban did at Miami. Second, Nutt also addresses the rumors that he was having an affair:


The speculation and rumors that I have had an inappropriate relationship with Donna Bragg are unfounded and false. Let me be unequivocally clear that the relationship between Ms. Bragg and me is that of a friend and colleague in the community. Any allegation or suggestion that our professional and personal friendship or involvement goes beyond that is false, careless, and purposefully vindictive.

…
My communications with Ms. Bragg have concerned her work as a professional fundraiser for a non-profit organization dedicated to providing services to the developmentally disabled, her insights regarding the media, words of condolence and support regarding the loss of my mother-in-law after her battle with cancer, and information relating to her close friend who was diagnosed with cancer.

Translation: “Look, dickheads, my mother in law died of cancer and I was supporting a friend who had a friend with cancer. So back off.” You see what Nutt did there? Well played.

Links:
[Arkansas Online]: Nutt defends text message traffic in open letter

[Hog Wired]: Houston Nutt Open Letter to Razorback Fans

Categories
Boston Red Sox

Manny Ramirez is off his rocker, tell us something we don’t know


Manny Ramirez is no ordinary outfielder. In fact, the only way that most people can appropriately describe the guy without saying he is a nut-job is by using the old reliable description of “that’s just Manny being Manny.” Well, David Ortiz didn’t find that depiction to be accurate, so in an interview with The New Yorker big Papi stepped up to the plate and delivered a home run of a quote in regards to his vision of his teammate.

As a crazy motherfucker.” Then he pointed at my notebook and said, “You can write it down just like that: `David Ortiz says Manny is a crazy motherfucker.’ That guy, he’s in his own world, on his own planet. Totally different human being than everyone else.

Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard something like this; Jim Rome has been saying for years that Ramirez lives on “Planet Man-Ram.” But according to Ray Negron, Ramirez is actually a pretty stable guy.

They should be fair about this. I got to know Joe DiMaggio, and I was very close to Billy Martin, who knew everything about Joe DiMaggio. You know the difference? Manny’s probably a better hitter.” He went on, “I came up with the craziness of the Yankees in the seventies–the `Bronx Zoo,’ and Sparky Lyle and all of them sitting on cakes without clothes on. Manny was mild compared to what I had been used to.”

The reporter then reminded Negron that Ramirez too used to walk into the video room naked to study tapes of pitchers.

“Do you understand why I would see that as normal?” Negron said. “He wasn’t sitting on a birthday cake.

It’s pretty bad when the only way someone can find to describe you as “normal” is because you don’t sit on birthday cakes in the nude.

Links:

[The New Yorker]: Waiting for Manny

Categories
All Other Sports

(Less) Fat Man finishes the Boston Marathon!


A couple of weeks ago, we told you about the fat guy who was running the Boston Marathon for charity. We had his chances of finishing the thing about the same as the Royals winning the World Series. Well, guess what? He did. In 9 hours and 40 minutes.


Boston Marathon… check.

I’m pretty sure that by the time I finished, the Kenyans were already back in Africa celebrating.

I’d also like to congratulate the 122-year old guy who passed me around mile 13. I have no idea if he finished but as he passed me — he took with him any and all self-resecpt that I may have ha

Well done, Jacob. The guy lost 100 pounds and ran the Boston Marathon. Hell, it’s quite a feat even if he walked for most of it. It doesn’t look like anyone actually ponied up for his auction for charity on ebay. But he did something most of us wouldn’t even attempt. And most of us didn’t look like this.

Links:
[What would Jacob Do]: Jacob’s blog

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Dice-K can’t catch a break


1. Bad Roll of the Dice: Daisuke Matsuzaka is perhaps the unluckiest pitcher in baseball this season. He has lost two starts in a row despite pitching a quality start in both games. Dice-K was simply outpitched by Felix Hernandez a week ago and Gustavo Chacin on Tuesday. Chacin improved to 2-0 for the Blue Jays after allowing one run into the seventh inning. Matsuzaka, meanwhile, allowed three runs and struck out 10 but didn’t get any support from the offense. With the win the Blue Jays passed the Sox for first place in the AL East, and there are still two games left in this series.

2. Powerhouses: Everyone knows Alex Rodriguez is great. He is having an April like Albert Pujols did last year, as he leads the majors in homers (8) and RBIs (21). Last night A-Rod was part of a Yankees offensive rampage that led to eight runs in the firs two innings and a 10-3 rout of the Indians. While it shouldn’t surprise too many people that Rodriguez is having this type of season, what is surprising is the second-most-powerful player in baseball–Ian Kinsler of the Rangers. Kinsler, a fantasy breakout pick by many this year, has provided a monstrous 7 homers and 13 RBIs, including 1 and 3 in the Rangers’ 8-1 romp over the White Sox. Also in that game, Sammy Sosa hit his third homer of the year, a three-run blast that gave him 10 RBIs. While nobody should expect Sammy to hit above .250, he could have a 30-homer season if healthy.

3. Beasts of the East: The Braves and Mets have been exchanging wins recently as they crush their divisional competition. The Braves beat the Nationals on Tuesday, led by Chipper Jones’ 4th homerun and four hits by leadoff man Kelly Johnson. The Mets, meanwhile, manhandled the Phillies 8-1. Moises Alou of all people had 2 homers and 3 RBIs for New York. The Braves and Mets are a half-game separated in the divisional race, with their next series against each other this weekend.

Player of the Day: Carlos Lee, Astros: 3-4, HR (5), 4 RBIs (16), and 2 runs in a 6-1 win over Florida. If there had been a Full Count on Saturday, Lee would have won this as well with a 3-homer, 6-RBI performance.

Walk Off: The Detroit Tigers are showing this year that their 2006 run was no fluke. They are 9-5 and are standing out in the crowded AL Central race. While their strength of schedule hasn’t been too impressive–they’ve played the Blue Jays twice, Orioles, and Royals twice–they are beating the teams they should beat while going 3-3 against the potent Blue Jays. The Tigers have crushed Kansas City a combined 19-11 the past two nights, showing that they have more ways to win than a pitchers duel. And the top half of their rotation–Verlander, Robertson, and Bonderman–have been fantastic. Detroit was my preseason pick to win the division, and they haven’t showed anything that would make me change my mind.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Even Mr. Clutch can’t save Memphis

1. West walks away
Jerry West will always be the logo of the NBA, but yesterday he announced that he will no longer be the face of the Memphis Grizzlies. West told reporters that his five year run as the Grizzlies’ director of basketball operations will end on July 1. Mr. Clutch said “I’m not a youngster anymore,” and said that the constant losing, uncertainty and injuries have all added up to be too much for the soon-to-be 69 year old. West has done all that he can for the Memphis franchise and while they might have some pieces to build on; they seriously need a centerpiece to build around. And according to West, Pau Gasol is not that guy. But with the luck of the bouncing ping-pong balls, perhaps Kevin Durant could become what Gasol never did.

2. Skiles shoots down Curry’s season

If the Tim Duncan/Joey Crawford drama isn’t enough to keep your NBA interest peaked, then perhaps a coach/player rivalry will be more intriguing to you. Last week, Bulls coach Scott Skiles said that the Knicks Eddy Curry is “having a very good year but it seems like he’s being put on a pedestal awful quickly here.” It sounds to us like somebody is upset that Curry didn’t have his breakout season while playing in Bulls’ red. Curry said that his former coach was “very disrespectful” in his comments. This is a great start to a bad blood rivalry, but it’s not going to get a chance to get fully rolling until next season since New York won’t be participating in the post season.

3. Jamison doesn’t mind carrying the load
With Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler out of the lineup there are gobs and gobs of points available for the other 12 players on the active roster. And on Tuesday night Antawn Jamison did his absolute best to make sure that he grabbed as many of those points for himself as he could by scoring 48 points against the Magic. Unfortunately, the 48 point effort was in vain as the Wizards fell by six to Orlando, 95-89. Jamison jacked up 26 of the Wiz’s 80 field goals and attempted 24 of the team’s 44 free throws. Talk about a one many show! Jarvis Hayes was the only other Wizard to finish in double figures with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Antawn Jamison vs. Orlando 48 min, 48 pts (FG: 14-26, 3FG: 5-9, FT: 15-24), 9 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: Golden State (41-40) @ Portland (32-49) Portland might be the home team in this contest, but the Trailblazers have nothing to play for. Golden State, on the other hand, has everything to play for as their post season hopes ride on the last game of the last day of the schedule. If the Warriors can pull out the victory, then they are in the playoffs for the first time since 1994, snapping the longest current streak of going without any post season lovin’. However, if Golden State fails to win against Portland then the Clippers can sneak into the post season by beating the Hornets in LA.

Buzzer Beater: Jermaine O’Neal didn’t try to hide the fact that he wanted out of Indy if the Pacers failed to reach the playoffs, but now that the season is over O’Neal is backing off of his demands for an off-season trade. “I want to retire here, but I understand the business part of it. The business part is brutal. If they feel they can’t rebuild the team, they have to tear the team down.” While O’Neal isn’t admitting it, he’s probably still looking for a change of address and one attractive location is in LA; with Kobe Bryant, not Elton Brand. The Lakers desperately need a big man to compliment their superstar scorer but they’ll have to give up some young talent in return; perhaps Andrew Bynum. Unfortunately, The Captain would not be happy with that.

Categories
Texas Rangers

Odds and Ends: Six Degrees of Kenny Lofton


We stumbled upon this amazing stat today on InsideBayArea.com: 87% of active players have roomed with Lofton. How is that even possible? That’s gotta be a misprint right? He’d be like the Derek Jeter Justin Timberlake of baseball, hitting hotel rooms with everyone in sight. We think the writer was using one of them artistic license thingamajigs. Nonetheless, it’s pretty amazing the number of unis Lofton has donned over the years.

Kenny Lofton broke into the majors in 1991 with the Astros, spent 9 seasons with the Indians (with a stint in Atlanta to break up the monotony) and since then has played for a different team (or two) every season. 2002: White Sox, Giants. 2003: Cubs, Pirates. 2004: Yankees. 2005: Phillies. 2006: Dodgers. 2007: Rangers. Wow. What a baseball ho.

In other news:

[Portfolio.com]: Athlete stock exchange? It’s one way for college players like Kevin Durant to get paid.

[SignOnSanDiego]: Teenage matador who left Spain because they ban teenage matadors gets gored by bull in Mexico. Of course.

[Flash Warner]: In case you needed more evidence that Bode Miller is a bitch.

[Yay Sports]: Sure, Danny Ainge has made a mistake… or 5.

[The Hater Nation]: Damn, you’d think Tom Coughlin shtupped his wife or something. Give it a rest, Tiki.

And finally, a couple of youtube videos that prove that video blogging is a BAD BAD idea. First, a Cowboys fan calls out an Eagles blogger. And then an Eagles fan(?) compares Eagles fans and Cowboys fans to Shiite and Sunni muslims and asks, can’t we just get along?

Categories
NBA General

David Stern ejects Joey Crawford for being a jerk

Well it’s about freaking time that David Stern held his officials responsible for their actions and dished out a stiff penalty to one of the league’s favorite refs by suspending Joey Crawford indefinitely after he threw Tim Duncan out of Sunday’s Spurs/Mavs for no good reason. Crawford is done at least until next November when the 2007-08 season tips off. That should give him plenty of time to get into shape for that fight with TD that he supposedly wanted. Here’s what the commish had to say about the situation.

Joey Crawford’s handling of this situation failed to meet the standards of professionalism and game management we expect of NBA referees,” NBA commissioner David Stern said. “Especially in light of similar prior acts by this official, a significant suspension is warranted. Although Joey is consistently rated as one of our top referees, he must be held accountable for his actions on the floor, and we will have further discussions with him following the season to be sure he understands his responsibilities.

Way to go David; that’s why you’re the best commissioner in sports. And in case you’ve forgotten, here is Crawford’s moment of machismo that sent him on an unexpected vacation.

And Stern might want to consider suspending the referee that called an offensive foul on Fabricio Oberto when Josh Howard delivered a flying body block on the other end of the court.

Links:

[NBA.com]: NBA Referee Joey Crawford Suspended

Categories
All Other Sports

Well, stop changing your national anthem then!


Whenever we see a story like this, we always think about Team America and the song “America – Fuck Yeah!“. Yesterday a Russian woman won the Boston Marathon but the organizers played the wrong national anthem.

To be fair to the race organizers, the Russian national anthem had been replaced in 2000 by new lyrics to an old national anthem which was used pre-1996. From 1996 to 2000, there was an entirely different anthem. On top of that, the anthem is ok for presidents but not for athletes. What? Confused? Us too. Still, for one of the most prestigious marathons in the world, a little research probably is in order, especially since this is the second time it has happened.

Spokeman Jack Fleming from the Boston Athletics Association must have been learning his trade from pro athletes as he offered this pseudo-apology:


If we did, then that’s a mistake on our part and we are sorry.

He might as well have said, “hey, you’re lucky we didn’t just play the Kazakh national anthem to the tune of the Stars Spangled Banner” and given the finger.

Links:
[International Herald Tribune]: Boston Marathon organizers play wrong Russian anthem — again

Categories
All Other Sports

$1000 for a mint julep wasn’t high enough?


The people who brought you the $1,000 mint julep last year (no, sorry, does not come with hand relief) at the Kentucky Derby didn’t think the $50,000 they raised for charity was enough so they’re stepping it up this year. Not only are they offering more of the cocktails (132 vs 50), they’re letting Christie’s handle the auctioning of 13 jeweled cups.

The gold cups in which the cocktails will be served will feature the engraving of the name of a previous Derby-winning horse. Eleven of the cups will have three rubies and two will have diamonds. The two with diamonds will feature the first derby winner Aristides and Barbaro. Barbaro? Shouldn’t the most prestigious cup feature Secretariat? That’s like picking Dwyane Wade over Jordan just because he was more recent. And no, we’re not suggesting that Wade be put down like Barbaro.

The auction start today so get your credit cards out.

Links:
[SignOnSanDiego]: Want to toss back jeweled mint julep?

Categories
NHL General

Maggie the Monkey picks the 2007 NHL playoffs – round 1


We love Maggie the Monkey around here. Even though she picked the Oilers to win the Cup last year, she has done an overall excellent job picking the NHL playoffs. She basically proves what we all know: that a monkey spinning a wheel could do just as well as an expert in picking games and series. We actually have no problem with the TSN folks so it’s too bad a monkey consistently beats them out. We wish Maggie would pick NFL games too because we are convinced that she would beat Merrill Hoge easily.

Well, without further ado, here are Maggie’s picks for the 2007 NHL playoffs:

Detroit vs Calgary: Detroit
Anaheim vs Minnesota: Minnesota
Vancouver vs Dallas: Vancouver
Nashville vs San Jose: Nashville
Buffalo vs NY Islanders: Buffalo
New Jersey vs Tampa Bay: New Jersey
Atlanta vs NY Rangers: Atlanta
Ottawa vs Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh

The Minnesota over Anaheim and Thrashers over Rangers isn’t looking very good right now but keep the faith, Maggie gets stronger as the playoffs go on. And the playoff beard is impressive.

Links:
[TSN]: NHL Playoff Picks