Author: clay

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All Other Sports

Jon Bon Jovi doesn’t like mainstream sports


Are you one of those people who can watch absolutely any trivial garbage that comes across your television screen? If so, then, boy oh boy, do we have the show for you!

NBC announced yesterday that they will have a sports/reality show where people compete for a chance to participate in the U.S. championships which could even lead to a trip to the 2010 Olympics. Not spicy enough for you? Well, what if we throw Bruce Springsteen or Jon Bon Jovi into the mix? Sounds like a crazy combo already, but you haven’t heard anything yet. So, are you curious to know the sport these athletes will be competing in? Would you believe us if we said curling? Better yet, what if we told you the name of the show was going to be Rockstar Curling?

According to sources, the two rock stars are among a group of entertainment types who rent arena time on occasion to pick up brooms instead of guitars.

Organizers are trying to negotiate a deal to get one of them involved, possibly as a host.

The series is the brainchild of New York-based sports marketing agency mktpartners and Carr-Hughes Productions of Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Mktpartners has an office in Toronto and has an advertising commitment from the likes of Tourism Canada, sources say.

“This show is all about the opportunity to expose American viewers to curling,” said Colin Campbell, Canadian president of mktpartners and one of the creators of the show. “We feel there might be some great athletes out there who might develop into good curlers given the chance.

We know lots of people actually enjoy the sport, but we just don’t see how it will translate to the tube. Of course, we thought Pirate Island had more potential than Dancing With the Stars, so what do we know.

Links:

[TheStar.com]: Rock stars courted for curling reality show

Categories
Florida Panthers

Richard Zednik’s throat gets slashed by teammate’s skate

Hockey is a sport that is not meant for the weak at heart. And we aren’t just talking about the players. If you’re the least bit squeamish then you might want to turn you head for this.

Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik took an inadvertent skate to the throat during yesterday’s game against the Sabres, having to undergo major surgery as a result.

That is easily the most horrifying accident that can happen in professional sports and, frankly, we’re surprised it doesn’t happen more. But we’re thankful it doesn’t. In fact, once every 19 years is about all we can stomach to be quite honest.

Links:

[TheTimesOnline.com]: Panthers’ Zednik Cut on Neck by Skate

Categories
Golden State Warriors

Around the Rim: Disappointing debut


1. Chicago shocker
Chris Webber made his return to Golden State on Thursday evening, but the beleaguered Bulls somehow managed to ruin his second debut. It was Chris Duhon, not Webber, who stole the show, scoring a career-high 34 points, lifting the Bulls to 114-108 road victory. Duhon’s previous season-high was just 13 points. Joe Smith was smoking hot as well, finishing with 27 points on 7-of-11 field goals while making it to the charity stripe a whopping 14 times (13-14 FT). Webber started the game for the Warriors, but found himself on the bench for most of the contest. In 13 minutes of action, C-Webb was rustier than Madonna’s nether regions, totaling four points and two assists. Luckily, Golden State has plenty of offense. Stephen Jackson (19 pts), Al Harrington (20 pts), Baron Davis (22 pts, 8 ast) and Monta Ellis (25 pts) all scored at least 19 to keep the game close until the final minutes. Andris Biedrins was all over the glass for Golden State, collecting 18 rebounds to go with 12 points in the loss.

2. Rockets are immune to the Cavs

Tracy McGrady was sick all day long on Thursday, spending time in the hospital before showing up the Rockets/Cavaliers game just in time to change and hit the court. But it didn’t long for McGrady to transfer his nausea over to LeBron James. Houston took the game over in the third quarter, outscoring the Cavs 32-20, and never looked back as they cruised to an easy 92-77 win. McGrady was awful in the game, scoring eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, but Yao Ming had his back, finishing with 22 points and 12 boards. James had yet another MVPesque game with 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but it didn’t matter as the Cavs slipped in the standings. Toronto is now just half a game behind Cleveland in the East.

3. Steve Francis done for the year
In today’s “not a surprise to anyone” news, Steve Francis will undergo season-ending surgery to fix his bum knee. And, of course, he says he’ll be back next year. We say, why? The last time this guy was any good he was on the Orlando Magic’s roster. That’s a long time ago! Since rejoining the Rockets, Francis has played in only 10 games, the last being on Dec. 15. We’d like to see Francis get back to his glory days with the Rockets because he used to be something special, but the odds are he’ll never even be a glimmer of his old self ever again. Then again, we could have told you that two years ago, which is exactly our point.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: LeBron James @ Houston 41 min, 32 pts (FG: 12-23, 3FG: 2-5, FT: 6-11), 7 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk

Friday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (31-17) @ Orlando (32-19)
The Lakers are starting to scare some teams out west now that Pau Gasol is on the roster and Andrew Bynum is rounding out into legit starting center shape. Steve Kerr can say all he wants about the landscape of the conference, but we feel certain the Suns acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal was at least partially a tit-for-tat with the Lakers. But we all know Shaq isn’t the most dominant center in the league anymore and tonight Los Angeles will get an up close look with the man-child filling his shoes. Dwight Howard is averaging 21.8 points and 14.6 boards on the season, but his team is rather mundane in the Magic Kingdom (13-9). Luckily, Orlando has Hedo Turkoglu who is known for bailing them out in a bind.

Buzzer Beater: Shaq is one of the funniest guys in the league. Normally, he slays people with his humor and yesterday at his press conference was no exception. That is, until he laid out his clever idea for a marketing campaign. Apparently, it’s not just his play that is in decline.

Start selling the t-shirts now. All the marketing people, I’m giving you this one for free. The sun will rise in Phoenix. Start selling them now. $9.99.

Categories
New York Giants

Tiki Barber "helped" the G-Men win the Super Bowl, just ask him


It’s not that we give a flip about the Patriots, but we just aren’t particularly fond of the Giants. So, when New York pulled off the upset on Super Bowl Sunday, we were hit with a tidal wave of mixed emotions. In the end, we found what gave us solace was 1.) knowing Jeremy Shockey was injured for the big game and could take absolutely no credit for the shocker, and 2.) Tiki Barber must have wanted to jump right in front of a moving bus. Well, believe it or not (we say not), Barber claims to be cool with missing out on getting a giant ring. But, at the same time, it sounds to us like he’s expecting one in the mail at any moment.

I feel great joy for them because I know in a lot of ways I helped a lot of guys on that team,” Barber said. “I know Brandon was someone who benefited from me being there; even criticizing someone is a way of getting them to think about themselves.

After all, it was Barber’s stern words for Tom Coughlin that got the ball rolling. But Tiki doesn’t need to tell you that because apparently he’s not the only one drinking his own Kool-Aid.

Last summer, a current Giants veteran, who is a member of Coughlin’s advisory board of players, confirmed the effectiveness of Barber’s outspokenness in an e-mail message. Under the subject line of “Miss U,” the message read:

“You would be happy to know all your work paid off for us. Tom has been unbelievably cool this year. Took us bowling last night instead of meetings and just been joking around and busting on guys all the time. You would be impressed by his transformation.

And Eli Manning’s MVP trophy; Tiki might be responsible for that too.

I asked Barber if he thought his criticism of Manning helped prod him out of a shell. “I don’t know, cause Eli doesn’t pay attention, ” Barber said laughing. “In this case, it made him stand up and I guess become aware.

Links:

[Awful Announcing]: Tiki Barber Finally Says What We All Know He Was Thinking
[NYTimes.com]: For Barber and Giants, a Parting, Then an Embrace

Categories
College Football

New angle on an old play, but Trinity still pulls off the miracle

You remember the lateral-laden, game-ending touchdown from last season, right? We know it’s been a while and there was a whole lot of great action in college football since then, but there’s no way you could forget. Well, no matter how many times you’ve viewed the fantastic finish between Division III’s Trinity and Millsaps, you probably haven’t seen it from this angle. And if you have, are you really going to complain about seeing 87 laterals on one play one more time?

Categories
Washington Wizards

Gilbert Arenas has absolutely no concept of T.M.I.


We’ve always known that Gilbert Arenas was a strange cat. A really strange cat. The dude has absolutely no filter and never feels an ounce of shame for the words that come out of his mouth. In a way, it’s admirable and shows a level high level of self confidence and comfort with himself. On the other hand, when someone will say anything about anything to anyone it can be more than anyone really wants to hear. And we’re not just referring to boring plans for his birthday plans.

When I was new in the NBA the team veterans convinced me to shave, you know, down there, because they said the hair stinks. I used my girlfriend’s razor, which was rusty and gave me keloids. The doctor prescribed medicine to dab on, but I just poured it all over. Three days later I woke up screaming. The skin was burnt off my scrotum, down to my crack, everything — just raw flesh. I still had to run and play, so I used a numbing spray for a month until it healed. Now I use clippers.

Woke up screaming three days later, huh? Why do we get the feeling your honesty is going to have the same effect on us?

Links:

[The Big Lead]: Gilbert Arenas Recants Tales of Private Skin-Loss
[WashingtonPost.com]: Gilbert’s New Favorite Drink

Categories
General Sports

Hockey shows off its softer side


If it’s taking you a while to adjust to the idea that MLBers on occasion use pink bats, then you might want to watch your college hockey on a black and white television set this weekend. But don’t be alarmed if you come across your favorite team looking oh so pretty in pink because it’s for a good cause: fighting cancer.

I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting them to be as bright as they were. They’re bright,” [Fredonia State men’s hockey] assistant coach Greg Heffernan said, recalling when the special-order uniforms first arrived. “And the best part of it is, that’s definitely making a statement.”

And a colorful one at that as Fredonia — 50 miles south of Buffalo — joins most every school across the country by taking part in this weekend’s NCAA-sponsored promotion to raise both money and awareness for the American Cancer Society.

“We might get termed the `Pink Devils’ for the game,” Heffernan said. “But that would be fine by us.

Pink hockey jerseys shouldn’t be anything too shocking. After all, we’ve seen pink bats, pink socks, pink ribbons, pink jerseys, pink shoes and so on and so and so on. But have you ever seen a pink rink? No? Well, you need go no further than Mississauga, Ontario this Wednesday evening to think pink and watch some hard-hitting St. Michael’s Majors hockey.

The theme that evening will be breast cancer awareness and the colour pink will be resonating throughout the building. For that night only, the ice will be painted pink, which is a first in the history of the OHL. Also, the Majors will be wearing special, pink jerseys, which will be auctioned off on their web site (www.stmichaelsmajors.com) during the week following the event. And, the referees will be decked out in pink jerseys as well.

Links:

[Associated Press]: Fredonia Hockey Pink to Fight Cancer
[OurSportsCentral.com]: Majors Plan to “Paint the Rink Pink”

Categories
Olympics

Horses get turned into glue when they get old, horse riders go to the Olympics


We’ve always heard that life goes straight downhill at 30. By that point, your washed up, fragile, mentally lost, physically weak and your only options left in life are to join ESPN or learn the samba on Dancing With the Stars. Oh, wait; that only applies to NFL running backs. Turns out 30 years old might just be a jumping off point fro the rest us.

Equestrian rider Hiroshi Hoketsu last went to the Olympics when he 22 years old, finishing 40th in his specialty, the show jumping event. Well, Hoketsu is back in the saddle again a few Olympics later and he’s ready to show the world that age is just a number. Oh, did we mention the last time he took to the worldwide stage was in 1964?

At 67, Hoketsu would beat the previous record age for a Japanese Olympian set by fellow equestrian Kikuko Inoue, who was 63 when she rode at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

“It is more than likely Mr Hoketsu will take part in Beijing,” the Japan Equestrian Federation’s Azusa Kitano told Reuters on Thursday.

“He will be in the team dressage. He hasn’t been at an Olympics since 1964, which was 44 years ago, but he has continued riding all this time.”

The oldest Olympian was Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn who won his sixth Olympic medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games at the age of 72 years and 280 days.

The youngest athlete to participate at the Olympics was Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who competed in the 1896 Athens Olympics. He was 10.

Wow, now that’s impressive. The guy is going to be 67 and he’s still riding horses! Who does he think he is? Superman? Okay, maybe that was a poor reference.

Links:

[Reuters.com]: Age no barrier for sexagenarian horseman

Categories
General Sports

Sean Salisbury’s tactics might be childish, but you can’t blame him for being honest

Maybe it was “Bootgate” or maybe it was Plaxico Burress’ slightly awry (but nevertheless correct) victory prediction. Or maybe it was just because after two weeks of incessant coverage we just couldn’t stomach anymore jibber-jabber from the talking heads on SportsCenter. Any way you slice, we missed out on a sweet catfight between Sean “Shut Up Old Man” Salisbury and John “Crypt Keeper” Clayton.

We normally like Salisbury, but for some reason, he turns into ESPN‘s biggest jackass when sharing the screen with Clayton. Believe it or not Sean, but it is actually possible to be informed and have an opinion about football even if you’ve never stepped foot onto a field. Your history of wearing a jock doesn’t give you any special analytical powers and your school-yard-bully tactics make you look ridiculous.

You might be spot on in this instance, Clayton does look likes he’s been dead for about a decade, but you still look foolish in your approach. Even when side by side with the living Crypt Keeper.

Links:

[The Big Lead]: Salisbury rips Clayton on-air: “Tales from the Crypt”

Categories
College Basketball

We just can’t let go of Bob Knight

Don’t ask us why, we can’t explain it. Bobby Knight is just days into his retirement, but we’re already feeling nostalgic for the Knight era. We’ve hated the cantankerous old fart for decades now, but suddenly it’s as if our best friend took our dog and split town with our old lady. Okay, so it’s not quite that bad, but if we had to equate our inner feelings to something it would be a scab – it’s irritating, it’s a nuisance, it’s annoying and it can be painful, but when it’s gone, you always find yourself feeling where it once was.

Yup, the General was pretty much a verbal Picasso.