Categories
Detroit Lions

Jon Kitna overcomes a concussion and then overcomes the Vikings


The whole world was reminded of the amount of guts it takes to be a big league football player when Kevin Everett possibly lost the ability to walk during a fairly routine tackle. And while that’s one of the scariest examples there is of inherit dangers within the game, one of the quieter dangers of the game involves those hits that leave someone’s bell ringing. Of course, we’re talking about those nasty concussions.

Steve Young knows all about it. Troy Aikman has plenty of experience with `em. And now Jon Kitna has a great ‘tough guy’ story to tell, even though he might get a headache just thinking about it.

Kitna took a nasty shot during the second quarter of a game between Detroit and Minnesota and was sidelined with a concussion until being cleared in the third. Then in the final period, Kitna led the Lions on a game-winning drive. But it wasn’t easy.

I’ve never felt anything like that, and for it to clear up and go right back to as normal as I can be, is nothing short of a miracle,” Kitna said Monday. “I just definitely feel the hand of God. That’s all it was. You can’t explain it.

“I have no headaches, no symptoms, no lingering effects. But that was the worst my head has ever felt, and the worse my memory was in the second quarter. Yet, after halftime there was nothing.”

Kitna said it was the third concussion of his NFL career, and the first since 2001.
After saying he knew who he was during the game, a reporter asked Kitna if he knew where he was.

“Barely,” he said.

Kitna appears to be just fine now, but we all know how quickly the effects of multiple concussions can add up. Just look at what happened to this former NFL QB after taking too many shots to the melon. Poor guy can’t even dress himself properly anymore.

Links:

[FREEP.com]: Kitna on concussion: `I’ve never felt anything like that’

Categories
Soccer

Soccer showoff gets no respect for his skills from his peers

We don’t know a lot about soccer, but we do know that most of these guys enjoy a good fight. So, when some punk decides to stop using his feet and begins to rely solely on bouncing the ball on his head like a seal, you know that someone is gonna get pissed. Luckily for us, that someone delivered a hit to `seal boy’ that would make Ray Lewis beam with pride.

Don’t you wish Lefty would have the same reaction should Tiger ever decide to get cocky and do his little ball-bouncing wizardry at the course again? Okay, maybe it’s just us.

Links:

[The Offside]: A Seal Clubbing in Brazilian Football

Categories
College Football

Oregon Ducks fans just love their booze and the cops just love bustin’ em


We showed you how Oregon’s mascot whooped the butt of a giant-headed cougar during a Houston/Oregon football game. Well, it turns out that Donald was probably sloshed. We have absolutely no proof to back up our claim, but we do know that there are plenty of Ducks’ faithful who like to partake in some refreshing adult beverages during the game. Even if they shouldn’t be.

A minimum of 57 people were booted from the Ducks game this weekend for drinking violations, including three folks who were arrested. But the arrests weren’t limited to the stadium itself. Police arrested an unspecified number of people for driving under the influence after leaving the game and there were also a pair of unfortunate drinkers who got thrown in jail for drinking while watching the game offsite.

Eugene police officers, Lane County sherriff’s deputies, and university DPS officers kept a watchful eye for those that had partied beyond their ability to behave appropriately, and for those attempting to drink in parts of the stadium where alcohol is not allowed,” Doug Mazon with the Eugene Police Deptartment said.

We’re kind of wondering if the reporters at KGW might be tossing a few back as well because we’re pretty sure there are only two Ts in “deptartment.” Anyways, we know that stuff like this happens at every game, every week across the nation, but 57 seems just a bit excessive to us. Maybe the Ducks could cut down on those numbers a bit if they simply adopted and adapted some of these suggestions from those fancy pants Ivy Leaguers.

Links:

[KGW.com]: 57 people ejected from Ducks game for drinking violations

Categories
All Other Sports

O.J. Simpson does not like people who aren’t "straight shooters"


The Juice was at it again as he got arrested on Sunday on chargers of robbing sports memorabilia from an auction house that was setting up shop inside of a Las Vegas hotel. Apparently, OJ showed up to the room with some thugs under the guise that they were customers, but according to Bruce Fromong, another collector inside the room, those were not Simpson’s intentions.

The door burst open and they came in almost commando style, O.J. Simpson and some of his people, I guess you would call it, with guns drawn,” Fromong told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday. “O.J. at that time was saying, ‘I want my stuff. I want my stuff.’

“The thing in my mind as soon as I saw him, I’m thinking, ‘O.J., how can you be this dumb? You’re in enough trouble.”’

Fromong said Simpson later left him a voice mail message telling him some of Fromong’s things were “mixed up” with his and asking how he could give them back.

OJ claims that he was simply trying to get back items that were stolen from him. Things are still being sorted out, but Simpson was charged with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a burglary with a firearm on Sunday night. He could be facing up to 30 years on each robbery count if he’s found guilty.

Oh, but it gets better. Leave it to TMZ.com to unearth the audio of the Juice’s holdup in which a voice believed to be Simpson is heard shouting “Don’t let nobody out of this room,” and “Motherf***ers! Think you can steal my s*** and sell it?”

To be fair though, Fromong said that he never saw a weapon or felt threatened by OJ at any time, but two guns were seized by police during their investigation. We don’t know what the heck Simpson was thinking with this stunt, but we’re thrilled that everyone walked out of the hotel with their heads still attached.

Links:

[WAVE3.com]: Audiotape released of sports memorabilia dispute involving O.J. Simpson in Las Vegas
[TMZ.com]: O.J.’s Alleged Robbery – Caught on Tape!

Categories
Golf

This is what happens when Jackass and the Golf Channel violently cross paths

Yeah, it’s Monday and, yeah, life kinda stinks when you have to leave your weekends of football and ice coldies for another five days of slaving for the man.  Well, here’s a great way to let out some of that left over aggression or to pick you back up from a Monday morning let down.  Of course, you have to find an idiot friend who’s willing to be a human target for you, but that shouldn’t be too difficult.

Any volunteers?

Links:

[Our Book of Scrap]: Human Target Practice Using Golf Balls

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Thome’s 500th one to remember


1. Yet Another Milestone: In what has been more than anything a season of milestones, Jim Thome supplied the latest with his 500th career homer. Becoming the third player this year and 23rd overall to join the once-exclusive club, Thome has understandably received less attention than most to reach the mark. The home run, which dramatically was a walk-off shot in a win over the Angels, was Thome’s 28th this year. He is two homers shy of his 11th career 30-homerun season. Thome, contrary to fellow 500-homer sluggers Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez, is not a sure-fire Hall of Famer. His career average is .281, just .229 in the postseason. He never finished in the top 3 of the MVP voting either. Though Thome may not make the Hall, it is undeniable that he is among the league’s all time greatest sluggers. He is top 20 all time in career slugging percentage and OPS. Regardless of whether he is enshrined in Cooperstown, Thome deserves more recognition for what he has accomplished.

2. Right in the Race: The Philadelphia Phillies continue to make a push for the playoffs. With a weekend sweep of the Mets, they moved within 3.5 games of the previously dominant division leaders. They are also only 1.5 games back of the wild card-leading Padres. Whether Philly can pass one of these teams is still unknown. They continue to have the league’s best offense, with 49 more runs than the second-place Rockies. But their pitching staff, as always, has been a weakness, with only the Nats and Reds allowing more runs on the year. On Sunday, Philly outscored the Mets 10-6, with the Mets virtually beating themselves. New York had 6 errors, their most in five years, and 11 walks. Jose Reyes made two errors on one play in the second inning, which led to two Phillies runs. The Mets should still roll to the division title, as they have the easiest schedule they could have asked for down the stretch. Their four remaining series are split between the Nationals and Marlins, two of the worst teams in the National League.

3. Peavy for MVP?: In a season that lacks a standout contender for the NL MVP, Padres starter Jake Peavy certainly deserves at least some consideration. He is virtually an automatic win every time he takes the mound, with an 18-6 record and a 9-2 mark since the All Star break. Without him, the Padres would be nowhere near the Wild Card lead. On Sunday, Peavy shut down the Giants, with one run allowed in seven innings and 10 strikeouts. He leads the league in strikeouts (225), ERA (2.39), WHIP (1.04), and wins. There has certainly not been any offensive player in the National League that has done as much for his team as Peavy has done for the Padres.

Player of the Day: Michael Young, Rangers: 3-4, HR, 7 RBIs in an 11-9 win over the A’s.

Categories
College Football

Early season Heisman watch



McFadden could really be big pimpin’
after this season: how does Heisman
winner and No. 1 overall pick in the NFL
Draft sound?

We’re only entering the third week of the college football season, but it’s never too early to start getting worked up over the best players in the nation. And there are a lot of talented guys this year who could be taking home the hardware in December. Here’s how the college gridiron studs stack up going into, or in Steve Slaton’s case, coming out of, week 3:

1. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas

Arkansas didn’t play last week, which means Darren McFadden hasn’t been able to add to his 181 rushing/receiving yards, 19 return yards, 42 passing yards or two touchdowns yet. But McFadden will have a great opportunity to make a serious Heisman statement when the Razorbacks head to Tuscaloosa for their SEC opener against Alabama. McFadden will be facing a solid run-stopping defense in a hostile stadium, but after an extra week’s rest he should be ready for the challenge. However, if history is any indication then he’ll end up with about 100 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

2. John David Booty, QB, USC

John David Booty looked good in the Trojans season opener as he went 21-of-32 for 206 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-10 victory over Idaho. Now, after an early season bye week, USC will have a much more difficult opponent when they travel to Lincoln, NE., for a match-up with the No. 14 Cornhuskers. Last year, Booty passed for 257 yards (25-of-36) and three touchdowns as USC won 28-10 in the City of Angels. But it probably won’t be quite so easy this year considering that the Blackshirts have held opposing quarterbacks to just 124 yards per game (41.2 completion percentage) while picking off three passes.

3. Steve Slaton, RB, West Virginia

Steve Slaton did it again last night as he carried the load for the No. 4 Mountaineers of West Virginia with 137 yards rushing (147 total) and three touchdowns in a 31-14 win against the Terrapins, who ironically looked like they were moving in slow motion at times against Slaton. Now just one touchdown away from tying a the school record of 42, Slaton has already racked up 465 rush/receiving yards and nine TDs on the year. Not too shabby for just three games. Pat White, who many figure could be Heisman finalist as well, stayed fairly quiet on the evening (8-of-13 for 95 yards passing with 22 yards and a TD rushing), allowing the consistent criticism of how the two will split votes to be quelled for at least a week.

4. Colt Brennan, QB, Hawaii

Hawaii needed overtime to get past Louisiana Tech, 45-44, which allowed Colt Brennan to set a school record for completions in a game (43) and his 548 yards were the second most in school history. Brennan has now thrown for at least 400 yards in eight consecutive games and has already accumulated 964 yards (77-for-101) and 10 touchdowns in only two games. Brennan looked mortal last year when UNLV crossed the ocean to the Big Island where they limited him to 296 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Since then Brennan has thrown for 59 scores and only nine picks.

5. Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville

Brian Brohm threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns on a mere eight completions in the first quarter of a 58-42 shootout against Middle Tennessee State. By the time the game ended, Brohm had a career high 401 yards and five touchdowns to bring his season totals up to 776 yards and 9 TDs. Brohm could be commanding another air assault when the Cardinals travel to Lexington for a game against rival Kentucky. And if the Heisman trophy isn’t motivation enough, he should have some added incentive to put a hurting on the Wildcats after the Kentucky athletic department erected billboards of their well-known players throughout Louisville.

Categories
All Other Sports

You’d think rubber balls would cushion your impact, but you’d be wrong

We’ve brought you plenty of crazy `sports’ in the past; some of `em were pretty cool, some of `em were complete wastes of time, *cough**cough*finger jousting*cough*. But we think we might have hit another homer with the discovery of our latest favorite pastime. So, without further ado, we bring to you BallBall, or, as it is more commonly known, “the sport for idiots.” While we couldn’t agree more with the catchy moniker, we also can’t wait to give it a go.

Links:

[Seal Clubbers]: This Is Gold Jerry! Gold!

Categories
New England Patriots

Even Roger Goodell bows down to the great Bill Belichick


Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who thinks that NFL commish Roger Goodell just got soft. After Bill Belichick intentionally broke the rules during the very first week of the season, Goodell decided to dish out measly fines of $500,000 to Belichick, $250,000 to the Patriots and took away the team’s first-round draft pick next year if they reach they playoffs and second and third rounders if they don’t.

Talk about a slap on the wrist! He says that the draft picks will hurt the team more than suspending Belichick. Okay, whatever, he’s got his reasoning and who are we to argue. After all, his tenure so far has been pretty spectacular with his gift of Pacman Jones to professional wrestling and his lengthy suspensions of other notorious bad boys. But what gets us are the puny fines. $750,000 combined just seems a bit weak. Just the other day on the other side of the pond, the World Motor Sports Council slapped Team McLaren with a $100 million fine and stripped them of all their points due to a spying scandal! Now, that’s a fine!

It’s blatantly obvious that this isn’t the first time this has happened, regardless of what Belichick says or doesn’t say. So, while it’ll never happen and we all know the comments are in jest, who knows, maybe the Philadelphia Eagles really do have an argument.

I think they should forfeit, man,” said punt returner Reno Mahe, smiling. “We won the Super Bowl. I think we should get it.

I’m going to go trade my NFC championship ring for a Super Bowl ring.

Links:

[KETV.com]: NFL Fines Pats Coach Belichick $500,000
[6ABC.com]: Did The Patriots Cheat in Super Bowl?

Categories
Portland Trailblazers

Oden ignored his injury and now he can forget about his rookie campaign


Thanks for ruining Christmas, Greg! Yea, that’s right; Greg Oden just ruined our Christmas. Sure, it’s still a few months away, but we were already planning our X-Mas day “Rookie Coming Out Party.” Not like a John Amaechi or Christian Laettner coming out party, but the welcoming of the NBA’s future as Kevin Durant and Oden hooked it up for the first time in the bigs. Well, exploratory surgery became microfracture surgery on Thursday and now we’re gonna be stuck watching A Christmas Story for like the billionth time because Oden is out for the season most likely. Now, we used to love that flick, but over the years, “You’ll shoot your eye out” has mutated into a wishful “Please shoot your eye out.”

Oh, well, we couldn’t possibly feel as awful about this as Oden does right?

Greg looked at me as he was coming out of his surgery, and he and his mom, Zoe, probably said ‘sorry’ 20 times,” Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said.

“I could feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. And as a leader and as leaders of this organization, my first thought was how lucky we were to have a guy that cares about the organization that much.

Yea, it’s obvious that he really does care about the team. He cares so much, in fact, that he hid his injury from the team and instead of being proactive, he ignored it and threw away his season.

Oden talked about the injury earlier this week in his blog. He said he had a sharp pain about a month ago when he was on vacation.

“I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want to seem like I was complaining or making excuses for anything. Plus, I wasn’t doing anything at the time I realized it hurt, so I figured it couldn’t be anything big,” he said.

We hate to tell you this, but when you’re the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, getting paid millions of dollars from a franchise, getting paid millions of dollars in endorsements and single-handedly took an entire city off the NBA’s suicide watch list then everything is a big deal. Sorry, Greg, but we really hope you get a lump of coal in your stocking this year.

Links:

[Fox Sports]: Oden likely to miss 2007-08 season