Author: Vin

Vin is a Philly boy who shouldn't be invited into your house because he'll judge you on your book and music collection. He owns Dawkins, Utley, Iverson, and Lindros jerseys, which is all you really need to know about him. He can be reached at [email protected].

Categories
College Football

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #4 Ted Ginn Jr.

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports.  Here’s #4.]

It could have been the fairy tale ending to Ted Ginn’s career. He returned the opening kickoff for a BCS title game record 93 yard touchdown but proceeded to injure his left foot during the end zone celebration. Ohio State was humiliated for the remainder of the game as the Buckeye’s offense could only muster a pathetic 82 yards while their playmaker watched from the sideline on crutches. Rumor has it that Ted Ginn Sr. more or less ordered Jr. not to return to the game, saying something along the lines of “you’re in the draft after this game” and “it’s not that important.” You can literally see dollar signs in Sr.’s eyes when he looks at his boy.

Here’s the fateful play:

Back to #5 | Forward to #3

Categories
NFL General

Kevin Federline’s Super Bowl commercial

We have a love/hate relationship with commercials and nowhere is that relationship tested more than the Super Bowl. People who don’t even like football watch the SB “for the commercials” which is really odd in itself… Anyway, here’s the first commercial from the Super Bowl that everyone will be talking about. This year’s Nationwide Insurance entry is a new commercial from their “Life comes at you fast” campaign. Last year it was the lame Fabio commercial that wasn’t funny. This year, we have Kevin Federline making fun of himself. It’s actually hilarious and therefore miraculously makes K-Fed less of a douche.

(via Awful Announcing)

Categories
New Orleans Saints

Maxim has found the F Da Eagles Saints Girl


Her parents must be so proud:

-“You know my daughter Heather?”
-“Oh, you mean F**k Da Eagles Heather? I saw her spread in Maxim.”

Yes, the fine folks over at Maxim immediately jumped onto the instant celebrity bandwagon and hunted down Heather Rothstein, the girl who wore the shirt on the Eagles-Saints telecast that said “Fuck Da Eagles“. She looks pretty good in the Maxim spread. For looking like ass on TV, she claims that she was completely wasted. We’ll reserve judgment.

She says that she went to the Saints-Bears game in Chicago and it was the worst experience of her life.


I had a really crappy experience in Chicago. People threw eggs, donuts, beer and snowballs at us. And they were cowards about it. They would throw something at us, and then we’d turn around and nobody would be there. I mean, if you have the balls to throw an egg at me you better have the balls for me to kick your ass.

It was the most terrible sports experience I’ve ever been through. And the dick-to-chick ratio sucked. For every 500 guys there was one girl. It was terrible. And in New Orleans, it’s guy-girl, guy-girl, guy-girl. It’s southern hospitality down there. We’ll get you shit-faced on Bourbon Street before we whoop your football team’s ass, and then we all drink together again after. So it was like a real culture shock for me. I was like “Wow, you guys suck!” They were mean.

Heather has season tickets and sits in the same seats every game. Looking at the 2007 schedule, we’re gonna need extra security around there as the Eagles visit New Orleans… and, well, Eagles fans travel well and are insane. Good luck next year, Heather, and for chrissakes, please don’t start writing for CNNSI.

Links:
[Maxim]: F**k Da Eagles Heather photos

Categories
College Basketball

Jan 30 in Sports History: UCLA Bruins start streaking



John Wooden

In 1971: UCLA’s basketball team looked to rebound from a tough loss at Notre Dame the week before with a little tune-up against UC Santa Barbara before conference play began. The loss to the Irish ended a 45-game winning streak for the Bruins. Led by Sidney Wicks, UCLA dispatched UCSB 74-61. Then they decided to get serious and win 87 more consecutive games (and three championships). Ironically, the Bruins’ streak would come to an end again at the hands the Irish in South Bend 155 weeks later. Even more ironically (according to a site called referee.com), referee Rich Weiler worked both Notre Dame games. The Bruins’ 88-game winning streak (it could’ve been 133 if Catholics decided not to build a lovely campus in Indiana) will forever be untouched in college basketball.

In 1996: In the only Super Bowl where a player from the opposing team should’ve been given the MVP award, Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell “led” the Dallas Cowboys to their third title in five years with two horrendous interceptions in a 27-17 victory in Super Bowl XXX at Arizona’s Sun Devil Stadium. Brown was just sorta standing there, minding his own business and not covering anybody on either play. But O’Donnell insisted on landing him a huge free agent contract by giving Brown the MVP award. Even worse, O’Donnell questioned “which direction” the Steelers were headed that offseason when he landed an even bigger contract with the soon-to-be 1-15 Jets. Karma did the best it could, as Brown only played 14 games the next two years after getting all that money from the Raiders while O’Donnell fizzled out, became a journeyman backup and was not allowed anywhere near the ball during Super Bowl XXXIV with the Titans.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Latrell Sprewell is in good form


1. Grocery Budget
Latrell Sprewell is back on the court; no wait, sorry. Latrell Sprewell is back in court as his babies’ momma is filing a $200 million lawsuit accusing Spree of breaking a long-term cohabitation deal and then roughing her up last month in their home. Allegedly, Sprewell slapped a phone out of Candace Cabbil’s hands as she attempted to dial 911 and then he dragged her down a flight of stairs by her feet. Spree has not played in the NBA since leaving Minnesota in 2004-05 after turning down a three-year extension because he was insulted by the paltry pay. Apparently, Latrell’s right; $21 million isn’t enough to feed his family. It’s more like $200 million.

2. Suns Set
It took a monumental effort from Kevin Garnett to overcome the monumental effort from Steve Nash, but the Phoenix Suns have finally fallen. After 17 consecutive wins that spanned a period of one lossless month, the Timberwolves were able to capitalize on a rare poor shooting fourth quarter by the Suns; 44 points, including 15 in the final period, from The Big Ticket didn’t hurt either. With a win, Phoenix could have tied the 1969 Knicks, 1982 Celtics and the 1996 Bulls with the fourth longest win streak in league history. Instead, the Suns will begin from scratch as they attempt to build up a third streak of 15+ consecutive wins.

3. Time to Move On
Despite having one of the best seasons of his career, it appears that New Jersey is determined to shop Vince Carter before the trade deadline passes. Carter’s name has been floated around all over the league but it seems that the main contenders in the Vinsanity sweepstakes are Memphis, Utah and Seattle. Pau Gasol, Andrei Kirilenko and Ray Allen are the main possibilities to replace Carter in Jersey. The Nets just can’t seem to move ahead in the depleted Atlantic Division; it would be irresponsible of the front office to be content with a sub .500 record and it’s become painfully obvious their talent pool is not going to gel. Gasol could become an excellent compliment to Jason Kidd if he can remain healthy.

4. Skills Showdown
The NBA might have a hard time getting the big name superstars to compete in the slam dunk competition, but the league’s elite appear to be lining up to get a crack at the skills challenge. Dwyane Wade, the winner of last year’s event, will return to defend his crown against some of the best ball handlers in the game. Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and LeBron James will be dribbling, passing and shooting it out with Wade on All-Star Saturday. Nash is the only other player with experience in the event, after he won the challenge in 2005. In addition to being the only participant without a ring or MVP award, King James will be the only non-guard competing in the event.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Kevin Garnett vs. Phoenix 39 min, 44 pts (FG: 18-29, 3FG: 0-1, FT: 8-10), 11 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Detroit (25-17) @ Washington (26-17) Washington has only lost four games at home this year behind Gilbert Arenas’ MVP level of play. The Wizards currently have the best record in the Eastern Conference and before being blown out by Phoenix last week, the last time the Wizards had dropped a home game was back on December 9. Detroit, on the other hand, has done a majority of their damage on the road. The Pistons are only half a game behind Washington as they continue to work Chris Webber into the game plan. This will already be the fourth time these two teams have hooked up with Detroit winning two of the previous games, including one win in Washington.

Buzzer Beater: When looking at the NBA spectrum, you have two polar opposites serving as the bookends for the league. On the winning side of things, there’s Phoenix who has won 17 of their last 18. And then you have the Celtics, losers of 11 in a row and 18 of their last 20. Clearly, Boston is one of the more pathetic franchises in recent history and with Paul Pierce out for at least another week; it’s not going to get any prettier for Bean Town. At this point, the only thing that can save the Celtics’ season would be a number one pick in the upcoming draft.

Categories
Soccer

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #5 Paulo Diogo

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports.  Here’s #5.]

In a Swiss soccer league game, a Servette FC player set-up a successful goal and in wild merriment he scaled a fence that was in place to separate the fans from the field. The just married Paulo Diogo’s wedding band snagged on the fence as he leapt off and part of his finger along with his ring remainder atop the fence after he had hit the ground. Talk about a symbol of love.

And if having a finger ripped off isn’t bad enough, a referee misinterpreted Diogo’s writhing on the ground and shrieks of agony as an excessive celebration and threw a yellow card in his face. Unfortunately, doctors were unable to reattach the ring finger and instead opted to amputate what portion was left.

Back to #6 | Forward to #4

Categories
NBA General

Knicks are still the most valuable franchise in the NBA


Even Isiah Thomas couldn’t ruin the Knicks, at least on the asset sheet. Despite having the league’s highest payroll at $125M and only 23 wins last year, the Knicks are the most valuable franchise in the NBA according to a list released by Forbes. The reason? They luxury suites at MSG run upwards of $400k each. Still, the Knicks lost $39 in operating profit last year. (As everyone knows, paying Larry Brown to go away costs money.)

In case you don’t want to sit through the Forbes slideshow, here are the 2006 NBA Franchise valuations.

1. New York Knicks: $592M
2. LA Lakers: $568M
3. Dallas Mavericks: $463M
4. Chicago Bulls: $461M
5. Houston Rockets: $439M
6. Detroit Pistons: $429M
7. Phoenix Suns: $410M
8. Miami Heat: $409M
9. San Antonio Spurs: $390M
10. Cleveland Cavaliers: $380M
11. Sacramento Kings: $379M
12. Philadelphia 76ers: $375M
13. Boston Celtics: $367M
14. Indiana Pacers: $340M
15. Washington Wizards: $334M
16. New Jersey nets: $325M
17. Toronto Raptors: $315M
18. Memphis Grizzlies: $313M
19. Denver Nuggets: $309M
20. Minnesota Timberwolves: $308M
21. Utah Jazz: $297M
22. LA Clippers: $285M
23. Orlando Magic: $283M
24. Charlotte Bobcats: $277M
25. Atlanta Hawks: $275M
26. Seattle Supersonics: $268M
27. Golden State Warriors: $267M
28. Milwaukee Bucks: $260M
29. New Orleans Hornets: $248M
30. Portland Trailblazers: $230M

Links:
[Forbes.com]: The Business of Basketball

Categories
NFL General

How to please your man on Super Bowl Sunday

We stumbled upon this little press release today. And while we can’t actually disagree with any of it, we’d like to simplify it into two steps.

1. Give him oral.
2. Leave.

That’s it. Don’t pretend to want to watch the game. Don’t pretend you want to learn about something so “important in his life”. Prepare the food, oral, leave. This applies to every football Sunday but is even more important for the big game. Unless you were a bonafide football fanatic before you met him, just leave.

Here’s a tip ladies: guys might say they think a girl who loves football is awesome but they don’t really mean it. They just think if you actually liked football, you wouldn’t nag him all the time when he’s watching football with his buddies. Given the choice between not being able to watch football on Sundays and having to watch it with you, of course he’d rather watch it with you. But if he had his druthers, he’d prefer to watch it alone or with his buddies. You get about 344 days out of the year, is it so much to just leave him be for 17 weeks of regular season and 4 weeks of playoffs? That is the best advice we can give you. As the esteemed poet Nikki Sixx wrote, Girl, don’t go away mad…just go away.

Categories
All Other Sports

The Youth in Asia finally get Barbaro


In a simple one paragraph AP story, the end of Barbaro was written.

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized Monday morning after complications from his breakdown at the Preakness last May.

“We just reached a point where it was going to be difficult for him to go on without pain,” co-owner Roy Jackson said. “It was the right decision, it was the right thing to do. We said all along if there was a situation where it would become more difficult for him then it would be time.

The Barbaro message board will be out of control with unintentional comedy of people who are a little over the top so check it out now. It’s sad that Barbaro has been put down but, in the end, he was… a horse.

Categories
NBA General

Shaq serves and protects (his own stuff)


Here’s a novel way to meet your favorite NBA star: hit his Escalade and then drive away. According to police, Shaq and his bodyguard Robin saw a man hit his Escalade. They “leapt into the damaged sport utility vehicle to give chase.” They then caught up with the driver and the passenger and called the police.

The two men, Emmnueo Cibrin and Junior Rondon, said they were going to stop but then saw an Escalade chasing them so they kept going. This actually sort of makes sense but that didn’t stop the police from charging them with leaving the scene of an accident.

Can you imagine hitting a car and then seeing a 7’1″ 325 pound guy chasing you and then stepping out of his car. And then seeing that it’s Shaq? First you’re peeing your pants, then you’re wondering if you have a sharpie in the car for an autograph. They’ve gotta figure out a way to build Shaq into the next Grand Theft Auto.

Links:
[Miami.com]: Shaq helps Miami police nab hit-and-run driver