• An incredible story in a Seattle newspaper makes clear just how bad a guy Jerramy Stevens was, and possibly still is. Stevens now plays for the Bucs. The Bucs reaction? That didn't happen under our watch. "Bucs" rhymes with "sucks" for a reason.
• Danny Ferry hasn't done jack to help out LeBron James, and now James is on the offensive: Get me Jason Kidd, he says.
• So what made the Twins gets off their rear end and finally trade Johan Santana? Johan Santana made them. Good for him. They were jerking him around, so now it was his turn.
• I'm not an Ohio State fan, but I sincerely hope this stud recruit chooses the Buckeyes over Michigan. Rich-Rod has turned my stomach. He doesn't deserve this kid.
• Meanwhile, stubborn mule Joe Paterno won't get the hint that the aforementioned stud recruit doesn't like Penn State.
• The season of The Ultimate Fighter 7will feature 32 fighters! Used to be 16, but these guys will be fighting just to get into the house. Should be a zoo.
Will he handle the truth?
Updated: Jan/30/2008 05:31 AM
• UConn coach Jim Calhoun is warring with his athletics director over the treatment of two of his players, who might or might not be druggies. It sounds like the AD is trying to find the truth. And it sounds like Calhoun doesn't want to know.
• A computer ran the Super Bowl 101 different times. New York won 12. So you're telling me there's a chance!
• If you're a nutso fan, there's hope for you, too. This guy did such a good job of being a Clippers fan that the Mavericks offered him a job. Mark Cuban is out there.
• UCLA fans giddy about the return of Rick Neuheisel need to understand what kind of sleaze their new coach is: He once let this scumbag play an entire season at Washington. And how about that incompetent, intimidated Seattle police department?
• Although he lived in West Virginia for years, up to and including the moment he walked away from his contract, Rich Rodriguez is trying to get his $4 million lawsuit with WVU heard in Michigan. What a sleaze.
• Something tells me the fawning over offensive coordinator Jason Garrett hasn't gone over well with the other Dallas Cowboys staffers. Otherwise, where did this story come from?
• The Mitchell Report practically named a 25-man roster of Yankees, but George Steinbrenner's idiot son says the dynasty is legit. Or was legit.
• UFC fraud Michael Bisping has a smaller body but continues to have the same big mouth.
• Did you know the UFC has a Hall of Fame? Apparently there are just four members. Soon to be five. And No. 5 is a strange choice.
Uh, what exactly is going over there?
Updated: Jan/25/2008 06:55 AM
• Read between the lines, or let me do it for you: The Dolphins are afraid of screwing up the No. 1 pick. Also in that link is an explanation of how the Dolphins are retooling their awful defense with failed college coaches. Excellent strategy.
• Oh brother. One of the Giants' defensive ends is calling out a Patriots offensive lineman as being a dirty player. This might come up during Super Bowl week.
• Cedrick Wilson's troubled ex-girlfriend told the Steelers receiver she tried to shoot herself but missed her head.
• If it was (almost) anybody but Rick Majerus, I might agree with this defense of his freedom of speech. But Majerus is a jerk, plain and simple, and whether it's for his commentary on abortion or something else, jerks need to be put in their place on occasion. Look at me, for example.
• This is no laughing matter, but I do wonder how -- in the macho world of an NFL locker room -- it will play that Steelers receiver Cedrick Wilson had to seek legal protection from his girlfriend.
• A month after the Mitchell Report outed steroids and HGH users, a pitcher for the Rockies announced he has put on 15 pounds for next season. Not to worry. This dude was super skinny, and needed to add weight. If you're into fantasy sports, pick this guy early.
• Jason McDonald fears that his opponent for UFC 82 -- a rematch with Joe Doerksen -- is a sign from the UFC that his career is in neutral. Bitching about it probably won't help much.
• Ever so gently, an Indianapolis columnist is calling Tony Dungy a hypocrite. And he makes a great case. Why did this family man move his family to Tampa, only to return to the Colts?
• We already suspected Philip Rivers, playing on a torn ACL, was one tough SOB for playing in the AFC title game. Turns out we had no idea. He also was playing six days after an arthroscopic knee procedure.
• After being called dirty (among other things) by a San Diego offensive lineman, the Patriots' Richard Seymour lashed back.
• Both Super Bowl quarterbacks prefer blondes. I can't believe I read that in a big-city paper. I really I can't believe I linked to it.
• Over-the-hill Tito Ortiz says the UFC threw him a weak fight by pitting him against Lyoto Machida. Ortiz should ask Rich Franklin about Machida. Or ask Stephan Bonner. Or Sokoudjou. Or ...
• Brett Favre says he'll decide quickly whether to retire. I'm calling bullcrap. He'll milk this thing for all it's worth, because that's what he does. He's either a drama king, or he's Macbeth.
• I'm not saying a word about LaDainian Tomlinson's inability to play with an injury -- seriously -- but it turns out Philip Rivers is one tough SOB.
• The Cardinals are thinking of inviting suspected steroid user Juan Gonzalez to spring training. McGwire, Canseco, Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus, now Gonzalez ... Tony La Russa has no shame.
• Happy to say I believed Randy Moss from the get-go when he denied hitting that woman in Florida. I believe him even more after reading how much money she wantedto extort from Moss to keep the whole thing quiet.
• To explain Andrew Bynum's injury to the dumb media, the Lakers' trainer brought a skeleton to the press conference. You think it was Mark Landsberger's skeleton? Whatever happened to that guy anyway?
• Former Notre Dame receiver Jeff Samardzija has a shot at making the Chicago team. The Chicago Cubs, that is.
• The Braves and local government officials kept quiet their plans to move the Triple A team near Atlanta and build a $45 million stadium. Isn't that illegal?
• In a bizarre move that might be classy but is definitely homer-ish, a Detroit paper has reprinted an old article for the sole purpose of reminding people in Michigan that West Virginians are kooks.
• Norm Chow has been trying to become a head coach in college or the NFL. Then he gets fired by the Titans? Wow. Weirder still, he's wondering if Vince Young had anything to do with it.
• Big Ben Roethlisberger has some things he'd like the Steelers to get for him for next season, including a tall receiver. If I'm Hines Ward or Santonio Holmes or Nate Washington -- all in the 6-foot (or less) range -- I'm mad. And I'm short.
• The idiot Astros traded for Miguel Tejada one day before the Mitchell report blew him up, and now of course the Astros are demanding he be treated fairly. What about all those opposing pitchers Tejada never treated fairly?
• A routine drug test might have saved Nene's life. A tumor in the testicle region is no joke.
• I'm a big fan of UFC president Dana White. Make no mistake about that. But do TV networks consider him radioactive?
• TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig will make his full-scale UFC debut against a Canadian in Canada. That's no way to treat a TV star.
• You've probably heard about that idiot Pacman Jones getting accused of assaulting his lawyer at a strip club (!). Now then, for the rest of the story. Please look at a picture of the lawyer, a woman, he took to the strip club in the first place.
• Julius Peppers picked one heck of a bad time to have an awful season. Forget Freeney money, Julius. Think Justin Smith.
• I hope Jim Fassel gets this job. I'm sick of seeing him in the press box. He sort of weirds me out.
• Warren Sapp is retiring after a great and fascinating career, but the general reaction seems to be: Don't let the doorknob hit you on the way out.
• It would be in the Miami Heat's best interest to give minutes to younger players and get a nice spot in the 2008 NBA draft lottery. But Pat Riley's ego won't allow it. He doesn't want those L's on his career record. Maybe he can pin them to Van Gundy.
• Atlanta doesn't care a great deal about its major league baseball team until October. How is that city going to support the Braves' Triple A club as well?
• As if Purdue's utterly bizarre search for its next football coach -- while Joe Tiller remains the current coach -- wasn't weird enough, now the Black Coaches Association is pissed.
• Bobby Petrino found his first sucker to sign with Arkansas. I wonder who'll actually be coaching this kid in a few years? Because it won't be that skank Petrino.
They aren't afraid to become the news
Updated: Jan/15/2008 06:54 AM
• The New York Post has done some bizarre things over the years, so when someone compiles a list make sure to mention the time the paper hired a Jessica Simpson look-alike for the Giants-Cowboys 2008 playoff game. The link has pictures, too.
• Looks to me like the Chicago Bulls might not like Joakim Noah. Management suspended him one game for arguing with an assistant coach, but teammates voted to suspend him for a second game. Must have been one hell of an argument.
• Akron police pulled over a speeder going 101 mph in a white 2008 Mercedes with the vanity plates "KNG OF AK." You think it was LeBron James? Good guess.
• Great interview with UFC lightweight Joe "Daddy" Stevenson, who dishes on Penn, Guillard and Sherk.
Rich Rodriguez: Meet the real world
Updated: Jan/11/2008 07:01 AM
• Typical Rich Rodriguez: He cuts and runs on West Virginia before a BCS bowl game, and now will try to avoid his $4 million buyout. Maybe he thinks contracts are written in Crayon on construction paper.
• The Browns can't be this dumb, can they? Derek Anderson can't hold Tony Romo's jock. (That's Jessica Simpson's job.)
• Sports has passed completely through the looking glass when major newspapers are reporting on the potential retirement of TV's Terry Bradshaw ... in three years. This is news? Hell, even I'm dribbling on it. I suck.
• Remember Matt Mantei? He's so irrelevant, my spell-checker doesn't. Anyway, he's trying to make a comeback. Congratulations, Detroit fans. He's yours!
• Jeff Kent says every player should have his head er his semen OK fine his blood frozen so it can be checked whenever an HGH test is developed.
• Since the Eagles won't get him playmakers on their own, Donovan McNabb ain't too proud to beg. Or blog.
• If Bill Cowher says no to Mr. Moneybags, you can book it: He's waiting on the Carolina Panthers' job to open.
• Not too many years ago I watched Kyle Shanahan try to play receiver for Duke. He couldn't. Not good enough. He's about to become an NFL offensive coordinator?
• Speaking of Clemens, get a load of this airhead doctor. He says Clemens must be innocent -- because otherwise Clemens "would have shared that with me." The wanton arrogance of doctors will never cease to amaze me.
• Florida State is about to lose a stud football recruit who refers to the FSU assistant in charge of his pursuit as "the guy who was recruiting me." Shiver.
• MMA fighter Ken Shamrock says fake wrestler Kurt Angle is scared to fight. Angle rips right back.
Gee, don't force anyone's hands
Updated: Jan/09/2008 07:54 AM
• The president of Ohio State is on record as saying the NCAA will only be able to "wrench a playoff system from my cold, dead hands." Does that mean the president of Georgia plans to kill him?
• Good Lord. Remember that 1970s cartoon Speed Racer? It's gonna be a movie. Flop cough-cough flop!
• T-Wolves boss Kevin McHale says he "couldn't be happier" with 4-29 coach Randy Wittman. Imagine if Wittman were 6-27. He'd get a 10-year extension.
• Brian McNamee's lawyer has this to say about Roger Clemens: "This is war."
• How are the Cardinals, or the MLB arbitration official in charge of this case, supposed to make sense of Rick Ankiel? He's arbitration-eligible primarily because of his service time as a pitcher. But now he's a hitter. And a good one, though one linked to HGH. Strange arbitration case.
• A small paper in Connecticut claims to have the scoop on the Dolphins' next football coach. A big paper in Texas has a rather good source who says the small paper is wrong. We shall see.
• Who was the one guy not to vote for Tom Brady as NFL MVP? This is the guy.
• Scottie Pippen called a sports writer to say the sports writer had misquoted him. So what did the sports writer do? He wrote about the phone call. I love this sort of stuff.
• Anderson Silva looks like the most devastating fighter in MMA, but his next opponent, Dan Henderson, thinks he will win. And explains exactly how it will happen.
• This can't be true, can it? Newspapers are reporting that Purdue already has selected the successor to longtime football coach Joe Tiller. But the successor coaches at another Big Ten school. That's crazy.
• John Rocker was dumb enough to give an interview to his hometown paper.
• South Florida was touting its star linebacker as a great husband and father, too. Oh well. At least he's still a decent linebacker. But the wife says he cheated in school for years.
• Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is a genius or a knucklehead. We'll know which soon enough, after he's had televisions all over the Steelers' locker room play an endless loop of the team's loss to playoff foe Jacksonville from Dec. 16. Could be a psyche-up for Pittsburgh ... or a psyche-out.
• The Baltimore Sun takes a huge swing at a scoop by saying the Ravens want Bill Cowher. Then again, the same story references a team official who says the Bill Cowher scenario isn't true. So either way, the paper is covered. Yeesh. Why not just run a crossword puzzle instead?
• Jim Caldwell is a wonderful human being, but before the Falcons hire him, they might want to ask why he was so lousy at Wake Forest.
• Question for you, Jevon Kearse: Why do you need three different million-dollar homes? Including two in South Florida? You're not a freak. You're an idiot.
• As if there was any doubt, let's make it official: Don Nelson has lost his mind. He says Stephen Jackson deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.
• Rick Neuheisel is already trying to weaken rival USC by taking one of the Trojans' coaches. And check out Pete Carroll's slap at Neuheisel's ethics. Pot, meet kettle.
• Rick Neuheisel must be a total moron. He says he wants to hire Norm Chow as offensive coordinator. The same Norm Chow who interviewed for the head coaching job that Neuheisel landed. Chow's not coming. Good grief, Rick. Why not hire Scottie Pippen?
• A huge defensive lineman for the Dolphins almost caused a terrible scene on an airplane. Think about how badly this could have turned out. If I'm federal aviation authorities, I'm prosecuting this idiot.
• So it looks like Tuna might keep Cam Cameron. Let me tell you why he'd do such a thing: Because in 2008, when the Dolphins are off to a 1-4 start, he can fire Cameron and with a straight face tell the world that no one else is available to coach the team except for ... Bill Parcells.
• Illinois lost to Tennessee Tech. Or Tennessee State. One of those lousy schools. Bruce Weber was great when he had Bill Self's players, though.
• Here are the salaries from UFC 79. Interestingly, Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva were given appearance fees only -- no "win" bonus for either fighter. Liddell made a ton, by the way.