If you thought that head-butts were exclusive to WWE murdering psychopaths, idiotic foreign kids, Zinedine Zidane and tiny jockeys then you are sorely mistaken. Of course, you’re not as sore as Mike Fisher is after he took a few fists and a forehead to the face from the Hurricanes Scott Walker.
Nice technique. Walker must have been taking lessons from this guy.
Links:
[SLAM! Sports]: Canes’ head-butt `cheap’
[James Mirtle]: Walker’s headbutt
After having the Bill Belichick/Eric Mangini rivalry shoved down our throats for close to a week now and with no apparent end in sight until we witness another frigid handshake between the two following Sunday’s Pats/Jets showdown, we’re ready for some new blood. Make that some new bad blood.
On ESPN‘s Sunday NFL Countdown last, errr, Sunday, Keyshawn Johnson made a comment about how Bill Parcells is responsible for building the current 12-1 Cowboys squad and should the `Boys win the Super Bowl it would be because of the foundation laid by Parcells. Johnson also said that Owens needs to chill out on his old coach. Well, in case you’ve been under a rock for the past couple of years, Terrell Owens hates Bill Parcells. In fact, Terrell Owens hates even having his name associated with Bill Parcells. So, of course, as you would expect, T.O. fired back.
Oh yea, this has the potential to be a tit-for-tat for weeks to come as neither one of these loudmouths is going to let the other get the final word in. As T.O. would say, “Get your popcorn ready.”
Links:
[MSNBC]: T.O. blasts Keyshawn for Tuna comments
Ray Lewis is usually a pretty scary and intimidating guy, but apparently when he’s not engaging in full-contact collisions with other enormous men, he’s not really all that tough.
Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis says it was one of the scariest experiences of his life.
He had to endure an unnerving ride aboard a helicopter during fog and rain Tuesday afternoon. Lewis was on his way back to Baltimore from New York when the fog enveloped the chopper and it became impossible to see.
Lewis says he put on his headphones and started praying. The pilot descended and finally found a safe place to land in a field in Cecil County.
From there, Lewis rode with police Baltimore where he appeared at a Christmas Party for 600 children.
Wait; you almost lost your career and your life to the correctional institutions of America for murder, but a little turbulence has you tucking your head between your legs and kissing your butt goodbye? Not that we wouldn’t be doing the same, it just seems that after a beating a homicide rap and lasting over ten years as a head-hunter in the NFL that he’d just laugh off a little fog. We’re just saying. After all, after O.J. got off, he thought he was damn near invincible.
Links:
[WJZ.com]: Tough Linebacker Endures Scary Flight
As if slipping out the back door just a day after coaching the Falcons in a Monday Night Football contest wasn’t pathetic enough for Bobby Petrino, the new Arkansas Razorbacks coach doesn’t even have the guts to talk to his old team like a man. Instead of facing his former squad to explain his sudden change of heart, possibly for fear of having snarling pit bulls released on him, Petrino decided to let his fingers do the talking and wrote his ex-players a letter that was posted in the locker room on Wednesday.
Out of my respect for you, I am letting you know, with a heavy heart, I resigned today as the Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons. This decision was not easy but was made in the best interest of me and my family. While my desire would have been to finish out what has been a difficult season for us all, circumstances did not allow me to do so. I appreciate your hard work and wish the best.
Sincerely,
Bobby Petrino”
The letter was hand signed.
Now that’s classy. Arkansas should be proud to have such a stand up guy leading their charge to the top of the SEC.
Unfortunately, while Michael Vick can be put in the slammer for his stupidity and cowardly behavior, Petrino gets a sweet office and a plump paycheck. Personally, we don’t know how the guy is going to live with himself after this act of gutless betrayal and his half-hearted, callous and insulting attempt at an apology. Guess he’ll be spending a lot of time with fellow Judas and notable NFL back stabber, conference colleague Nick Saban.
Links:
[AJC.com]: Petrino wrote farewell letter to team
1. Career in question
The Raptors won in Atlanta last night, but nobody really cared. T.J. Ford, in an all too eerily reminiscent manner, was taken off the court on a stretcher after being flagrantly fouled by the Hawks Al Horford with 1:32 left. As Ford drove to the basket for a layup, Horford took a hard swipe for the ball, unintentionally hitting Ford in the face, causing him to fall awkwardly and crack the back of skull on the floor. Ford was in tears as he lay on the court, his career possibly over. It is reported that he has full range of motion, but with his history of spinal cord injuries, his future is defiantly up in the air. You have to feel bad for Horford; after the game, it was obvious he meant no harm. Still, the foul was a big time blow to the Raptors who were finally forming an identity around Ford and superstar Chris Bosh. The duo combined for 46 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists against Atlanta.
2. Return of the King
LeBron James was back in the starting lineup lineup on Tuesday and, what do you know, the Cavaliers snapped a five game losing streak that started when LBJ was originally injured. James finished with 17 points, three rebounds and five assists off the bench in the 118-105 home win over the Pacers. So, is Mike Brown following in the footsteps of his mentor, Gregg Popovich, and boosting his bench by making LeBron the best sixth man in the league, similar to Popovich’s decision to bring Manu Ginobili off the pine? According to James, no.
3. Tim Duncan who?
Tim Duncan missed his third consecutive game on Tuesday after Gregg Popovich considered him to have a “50/50” shot of playing and the Warriors took advantage of the Spurs loss, picking up a 12-point victory in Oakland. Stephen Jackson led Golden State past his former squad, scoring a team-high 20 points while Baron Davis chipped in 18. But the real story of the game, besides SA being outscored 30-12 in the second quarter, came from the Spurs Matt “Red Rocket” Bonner who stepped up in Duncan’s absence. The 6-foot-10 forward/center had the game of his life in the loss, shooting 9-of-16 from the floor, including a trio of treys, for 25 points while grabbing 17 rebounds. Bonner’s career averages are 6.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Chauncey Billups @ Memphis 39 min, 28 pts (FG: 7-15, 3FG: 2-5, FT: 12-12), 5 reb, 14 ast, 3 stl
Wednesday’s Game to Watch: Utah (13-9) @ Phoenix (16-6)
The Jazz and the Suns are two of the favorites to make it out of the West this year and into the Finals, but, amazingly, they are both riding losing streaks into this contest. Phoenix is desperately looking to rebound from a pair of absolutely humiliating defeats at the hands of Minnesota and Miami. On the other side of the court, the Jazz are slipping down a slippery slope, with four consecutive loses, including defeats to conference powerhouses San Antonio and Dallas. Despite the losing skids, there isn’t a bad matchup to be found in this game. Deron Williams vs. Steve Nash, Carlos Boozer vs. Shawn Marion, Mehmet Okur vs. Amare Stoudemire, Andrei Kirilenko vs. Grant Hill. Ding! Ding! Let’s get this heavyweight bout underway already!
Buzzer Beater: Sorry Knicks fans, but you’re going to have to murder Isiah Thomas if you want a new coach in New York. No. Seriously. You must physically kill Zeke to get rid of him.
The big news today revolves around Bobby Petrino’s controversial, middle of the night, bolt from Atlanta to Arkansas. While we could talk about just how embarrassing it is for the coach to stab his former team in the back before the season even concluded, it is so much easier to let Petrino’s press conference pig call do the humiliating for us.
Oh, and coach, don’t let DeAngelo Hall see you doing that on the street. He’s not a big fan of yours at the moment.
C’mon, DeAngelo; it’s nothing personal. His heart just wasn’t in the pros. If you’re going to criticize him for anything it should be because he simply loves the college kids too much. The fact that Atlanta is currently swirling around the NFL toilet bowl with a 3-10 record while constantly living out the Michael Vick saga on a day-to-day basis had absolutely nothing to do with the jump.
Norm Johnson spent 18 years in the NFL as a placekicker where he nailed his share of game-winners. But none of that matter to a Seattle woman who just knows him as her hero.
The woman, Virginia Sayson, was driving when her car hit a patch of ice, throwing it into a skid before sending the car flipping over into a ditch. Sayson was knocked unconscious momentarily and when she awoke, she found herself upside-down, trapped inside the car as water flooded into the cabin.
She removed her seatbelt, crawled into the back of the car, frantically searched for her cell phone with no success and then, out of nowhere, the former Seahawk showed up on the scene.
Johnson, 47, initially tried to force open all of the doors, but they were pinned. He even tried kicking the window, but couldn’t break the glass because the car was “at a weird angle.”
The rock did the trick.
Ahhh, we love a story with a happy ending. And what really makes this a truly inspiring act is the selflessness Johnson displayed after the heroic deed. He doesn’t need or want recognition for his act; nope, just a little reciprocation would be nice.
Links:
[SeattleTimes.com]: Former Seahawk kicker pulls motorist from ditch
[King5.com]: Former Seahawks kicker rescues woman from car
The Spurs might be four-time NBA champions, just don’t expect them to act like four-time NBA champions. In today’s fast paced, `Johnny come lately’ world we live in, athletes never know when the endorsement deals are going to simply shrivel up and blow away. So when they’re there you gotta grab `em; even if it means dressing up like a cowboy and pushing milk to the masses.
Hey, it was either do the cowboy thing or don the beatnik outfits again. Good choice guys.
Links:
[The Big Lead]: Two Videos, One Post
1. Suns drop it like its hot
Perhaps we misheard, but we could have sworn that the Phoenix Suns were going to use their embarrassing loss to the Timberwolves as motivation for the remainder of the season. Well, between Saturday and Monday, that plan flew out the window because in their very next game, the Suns got beat at home…by the Heat! We know that any team can beat any other team on any given night in the Association, but the Suns, who many consider to be the best in the West, just lost consecutive games to teams that are now a combined 9-30 on the season. Does the 117-113 loss spell the end of all hope for Phoenix fans? Of course not, but they are allowing the Lakers to creep back into the division race and the Suns’ schedule isn’t (and virtually can’t) get any easier. Here’s what’s on tap for Phoenix: vs. Utah, @ New Orleans, @ San Antonio, @ Dallas, vs. Toronto, @ Lakers.
2. The sleeping giant finally awakes
You might not know it by looking at the stoic, solemn expressions that almost never leave his gigantic face, but Yao Ming is a serious competitor. Labeled as a soft stick figure for the first few years of his career in Houston, Yao pretty much dispelled the myth that he’s got no heart on Monday when he called his club “soft” after losing to Philadelphia, their second consecutive defeat.
“It’s weird that we changed that quick. I never had that feeling. I feel like they traded me to another team, a new team I’ve never been on before.
Finally! The Rockets have been waiting for over five years for you to step up and take control of this squad. Now Houston is, at last, ready to start winning. At least Yao is and that’s more than we knew before.
3. Another angry giant
We told you how Shaquille O’Neal is more than a little pissed about not touching the ball enough. Shaq is averaging career-lows across the board, but it’s not his age that is getting the best of him. Nope, as always, with Shaq it has to be someone else’s fault.
“But I’m still shooting 60 or 65 percent from the field. So they’ve got to find better ways to get me the ball. It should be simple.”Shaq was asked whether he had voiced his concerns inside the Heat organization.
“I shouldn’t have to [expletive] communicate that.
Monday’s Player of the Day: Josh Smith @ Orlando 45 min, 25 pts (FG: 7-20, 3FG: 2-4, FT: 9-13), 16 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 4 blk
Tuesday’s Game to Watch: San Antonio (17-3) @ Golden State (11-9)
Since Tim Duncan came to the Spurs, San Antonio is 42-5 against the Warriors, undefeated through 19 games at home and sporting a 33-5 mark in Oakland. Luckily for Golden State, the Spurs could be playing for the third consecutive game without the former two-time MVP who is still nursing a sprained knee and ankle. The bad news for the Warriors is that, even without their man in the middle, San Antonio has beaten Dallas and Utah to extend their current winning streak to five games. Golden State has slowed down a bit in the win column after going on a tear when Stephen Jackson returned to the lineup, but they are still racking up the points and have the ability to run anyone right out of the gym. This should be a great matchup regardless of Duncan’s availability.
Buzzer Beater: Heeee’s baaaack! LeBron James was cleared for the Cavaliers game against the Pacers on Tuesday and the move couldn’t have come at a better time. The Cavs have lost every contest that James missed – five consecutive – and now sit 5 ½ games behind the division leading Pistons. Before the injury, LeBron owned the entire NBA, racking up four triple-doubles while leading the league in scoring with 30.7 points per game. At least James got to show off his impressive wardrobe during the sick leave.
If you thought that ESPN‘s stupid “Who’s Now” filler segments were a complete and utter waste of your time then hold on tight because the mothership is basically throwing three minutes of every SportsCenter telecast straight down the toilet. Introducing the totally useless ESPNU Championship Series.
Lee Corso: “Ohhhh, that’ll be a good one.”
Herbstreit: “That should be a very good game.”
Actually guys, it won’t be a good game because your system isn’t real!!!
Does America want a playoff? Hell yes! Is America going to be satisfied with a hypothetical scenario that could possibly allow for Hawaii to win a national championship as a play-in? Hell no!
People that tune into SportsCenter, those who still do, want analysis, recaps and even an occasional prediction. However, what they don’t want is to be treated like fools who are supposed to actually care if Lee Corso believes Kansas could be the sleeper of a fake playoff series!
Living with the horribly unfair BCS system is way better than trying to breakdown imaginary matchups for some imaginary title. Why don’t you guys make yourself useful and simulate the Orange Bowl on NCAA Football 07 so we know who to put our money on.
