The month of February saw some strange things happen in the month of February. Naturally I would like to throw my 2 cents into the ring.
Probably the most popular item was the Jeremy Lin situation in NYC. Lin was a Harvard graduate who was undrafted in 2010, played in the NBA Development League and appeared in 29 games for the Golden State Warriors during the 2010-11 season. At the beginning of the current season he was waived by the Warriors and the Houston Rockets before landing with the New York Knickerbockers. Lin spent the first few weeks on the bench before injuries got him into the line-up and from there he took off. It's a given that playing in NYC was the cause of much of his popularity but he went on to do things that no NBA player had done since the NBA/ABA merger back in 1976. Lin is still raw but he definitely as talent and he almost single handedly made the Knickerbockers relevant again, something Carmelo wasn't able to do with his ballyhooed arrival last season. There really aren't any comparisons to Tim Tebow as Tebow was a big time college player (with suspect QB skills as he went into the NFL) and Lin had an unheralded college career (a solid one but it was in the Ivy League so draw your own conclusions and he stayed all four years which is a career killer in the NBA these days) and came from nowhere (I heard that Lin was sleeping on the couch of teammate Landry Fields before his career took off). I doubt Coach D'Antoni knew how good Lin was going to be. Lin's play may have allegedly saved D'Antoni's job. Lin started a craze and let's hope his play and the fortunes of the Knickerbockers continue to improve.
In the NFL, the Peyton Manning/Jim Irsay soap opera continued. Manning's health has put his career in jeopardy. The theory is that he may never play again because of the neck & nerve surgery he had over the offseason last year. Peyton is due a $28 million roster bonus on March 9th and the Colts hold the #1 pick in the NFL draft and the consensus that they will take highly touted Stanford QB Andrew Luck. Personally, I think the Colts should let Manning go and rebuild with Luck. The NFL is the coldest of the pro sports and all the players know it. As an NFL fan, I don't want to see Manning's career end like this but that's the way it goes. There's no reason why this has dragged on like it has, neither Manning nor Irsay want to be the "bad guy" but this issue won't solve itself.
In Pittsburgh, the Steelers got parted ways with Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians, a favorite of QB Ben Roethlisberger, and hired former KC Chiefs Head Coach Todd Haley to replace him. When Haley came in he apparently called everyone except Roethlisberger and suffice to say "Big" Ben was a bit put off. This seemed a bit ridiculous to me a professional athlete (and grown man!) appearing to pout about the loss of his coordinator and the fact that the new coordinator didn't call him when he got into town. Ben is a heck of a QB but enough already. Ben should be wondering who thought it was a good idea for him to wear those ridiculous hats than when Haley gets around to calling him. I'm sure Haley has some blame as well but these situations prop up in sports from time to time and it's silly. The Steelers look like they're going to get rid of long time receiver (and fan favorite) Hines Ward as well.
Last year's NL MVP Ryan Braun won his appeal after failing a drug test for elevated testosterone levels last fall. The test took place before the Brewers playoff game on an October Saturday. Braun provided a sample and the taker prepared the samples to be shipped off to a lab in Montreal. Braun signed off on the samples and saw them sealed. Since it was a Saturday the collector, Dino Laurenzi, wasn't able to ship the samples until Monday morning. Laurenzi thought that Fedex was closed (it was late Saturday afternoon) so he called his superiors and brought the sample home to store in his refrigerator, which was ok'd by his superiors. Braun alleges that since the sample sat for 44 hours that something must have happened to his sample. Braun & his attorney later produced evidence that there were multiple Fedex drop off locations open until Saturday evening in the area that Mr. Laurenzi could've used. Mr. Laurenzi later issued a statement through his attorney saying that he is a professional and did nothing wrong. His name and reputation have been damaged by Braun's allegations that the sample was tampered with.
Here's some information I picked up while listening to Chris "Mad Dog" Russo not too long ago. MLB and the union have an arbitrator that they both agree on and pay to hear the appeals. In the last 12 appeals of this nature the arbitrator, Shyam Das, has ruled in favor of MLB. This time he overturned it MLB's decision. Russo alleges that Das threw the players a bone because the 44 hours of "grey area" where the sample sat before being tested. Russo did a lot of leg work to cover the bases by talking with labs and MLB reps. Like Russo, I believe that Braun was using something, though his only explanation for the high testosterone was that the sample had to be tampered with (he denies that he has/had any health problems that may require him to take testosterone as well). It's a variation of the old Marion Berry defense, "the bitch set me up!" Even thought the sample sat for 44 hours I doubt that the chemical composition of the urine magically changed to show elevated testosterone and the lab reported that the samples were intact when they arrived.
That leaves me wondering, just who is in the cabal of evil doers who tamper with the urine samples of pro athletes causing them to fail drug tests? They apparently used an illegal cream to rub down Barry Bonds. They got Floyd Landis, Rafael Palmeiro and they somehow managed to add testosterone to Braun's sample. That means they followed Laurenzi home, broke into his house, tampered with the sample in the fridge and all without leaving any signs of forced entry or of tampering with the samples. Who are these people that they can pull this stuff off? Is there no end to their mischief? What wholesome and unwitting player will be next?
In the NHL, the Washington Capitals continue to underachieve. From 2008-2011 the Caps won the Southeast Division and were the #1 Eastern Conference playoff seed. During that time they got ousted in the 1st round of the playoffs twice (including 2010 when they won the President's Trophy for having the most points) and never even made it to the Conference Finals. Last season they made a commitment to defense but got swept in the Semi-Finals by the Tampa Bay Lightning (trust me when I say it was a lackluster performance). Coach Bruce Boudreau was fired 22 games into the season (his record was 12-9-1) because he had lost the players and Alex Ovechkin (the franchise) was no longer responding to him. The Caps have had the same core group of players over the last few years so what is the reason for their mediocrity? Going into tonight they're 6 games over .500 so new coach Dale Hunter has by no means worked any miracles. Granted Nicklas Backstrom has been hurt this season but that can't be the only reason. Ovechkin still shows signs of awesomeness (he scored the overtime game winner Tuesday night against the Islanders in a great come from behind win) but it seems few and far between. As I write this the Caps are the 8th seed with 69 points. They're 3 points behind the Florida Panthers for the division but only 1 point ahead of Winnipeg so they can still blow it. I hope they get the ship righted because they can be a very exciting team to watch.
On a closing note it came out that Allen Iverson is broke. He was offered $20,000 a game to play for a professional soccer team. I've also heard that Iverson bought new clothes for road trips (leaving rather expensive but used threads behind) and owes $800,000 to a jeweler. I'm no longer surprised when I hear this type of news (it also came out earlier this year that Terrell Owens is also broke). I do not feel sorry for Iverson. It's been said that Iverson's background didn't prepare him for the monetary success of his NBA career. That's true I'm sure but that can be said of anyone who has grown up not being wealthy. Iverson was a fierce (if not the fiercest) competitor on the court but like many other athletes squandered his millions. What kind of jewelry are you buying if you owe $800,000 to a jeweler? How about having your entourage get real jobs (I don't know if he had one but MC Hammer went broke paying for his entourage so their is a precedence).
As usual your comments are welcome. Thanks for your time.
Probably the most popular item was the Jeremy Lin situation in NYC. Lin was a Harvard graduate who was undrafted in 2010, played in the NBA Development League and appeared in 29 games for the Golden State Warriors during the 2010-11 season. At the beginning of the current season he was waived by the Warriors and the Houston Rockets before landing with the New York Knickerbockers. Lin spent the first few weeks on the bench before injuries got him into the line-up and from there he took off. It's a given that playing in NYC was the cause of much of his popularity but he went on to do things that no NBA player had done since the NBA/ABA merger back in 1976. Lin is still raw but he definitely as talent and he almost single handedly made the Knickerbockers relevant again, something Carmelo wasn't able to do with his ballyhooed arrival last season. There really aren't any comparisons to Tim Tebow as Tebow was a big time college player (with suspect QB skills as he went into the NFL) and Lin had an unheralded college career (a solid one but it was in the Ivy League so draw your own conclusions and he stayed all four years which is a career killer in the NBA these days) and came from nowhere (I heard that Lin was sleeping on the couch of teammate Landry Fields before his career took off). I doubt Coach D'Antoni knew how good Lin was going to be. Lin's play may have allegedly saved D'Antoni's job. Lin started a craze and let's hope his play and the fortunes of the Knickerbockers continue to improve.
In the NFL, the Peyton Manning/Jim Irsay soap opera continued. Manning's health has put his career in jeopardy. The theory is that he may never play again because of the neck & nerve surgery he had over the offseason last year. Peyton is due a $28 million roster bonus on March 9th and the Colts hold the #1 pick in the NFL draft and the consensus that they will take highly touted Stanford QB Andrew Luck. Personally, I think the Colts should let Manning go and rebuild with Luck. The NFL is the coldest of the pro sports and all the players know it. As an NFL fan, I don't want to see Manning's career end like this but that's the way it goes. There's no reason why this has dragged on like it has, neither Manning nor Irsay want to be the "bad guy" but this issue won't solve itself.
In Pittsburgh, the Steelers got parted ways with Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians, a favorite of QB Ben Roethlisberger, and hired former KC Chiefs Head Coach Todd Haley to replace him. When Haley came in he apparently called everyone except Roethlisberger and suffice to say "Big" Ben was a bit put off. This seemed a bit ridiculous to me a professional athlete (and grown man!) appearing to pout about the loss of his coordinator and the fact that the new coordinator didn't call him when he got into town. Ben is a heck of a QB but enough already. Ben should be wondering who thought it was a good idea for him to wear those ridiculous hats than when Haley gets around to calling him. I'm sure Haley has some blame as well but these situations prop up in sports from time to time and it's silly. The Steelers look like they're going to get rid of long time receiver (and fan favorite) Hines Ward as well.
Last year's NL MVP Ryan Braun won his appeal after failing a drug test for elevated testosterone levels last fall. The test took place before the Brewers playoff game on an October Saturday. Braun provided a sample and the taker prepared the samples to be shipped off to a lab in Montreal. Braun signed off on the samples and saw them sealed. Since it was a Saturday the collector, Dino Laurenzi, wasn't able to ship the samples until Monday morning. Laurenzi thought that Fedex was closed (it was late Saturday afternoon) so he called his superiors and brought the sample home to store in his refrigerator, which was ok'd by his superiors. Braun alleges that since the sample sat for 44 hours that something must have happened to his sample. Braun & his attorney later produced evidence that there were multiple Fedex drop off locations open until Saturday evening in the area that Mr. Laurenzi could've used. Mr. Laurenzi later issued a statement through his attorney saying that he is a professional and did nothing wrong. His name and reputation have been damaged by Braun's allegations that the sample was tampered with.
Here's some information I picked up while listening to Chris "Mad Dog" Russo not too long ago. MLB and the union have an arbitrator that they both agree on and pay to hear the appeals. In the last 12 appeals of this nature the arbitrator, Shyam Das, has ruled in favor of MLB. This time he overturned it MLB's decision. Russo alleges that Das threw the players a bone because the 44 hours of "grey area" where the sample sat before being tested. Russo did a lot of leg work to cover the bases by talking with labs and MLB reps. Like Russo, I believe that Braun was using something, though his only explanation for the high testosterone was that the sample had to be tampered with (he denies that he has/had any health problems that may require him to take testosterone as well). It's a variation of the old Marion Berry defense, "the bitch set me up!" Even thought the sample sat for 44 hours I doubt that the chemical composition of the urine magically changed to show elevated testosterone and the lab reported that the samples were intact when they arrived.
That leaves me wondering, just who is in the cabal of evil doers who tamper with the urine samples of pro athletes causing them to fail drug tests? They apparently used an illegal cream to rub down Barry Bonds. They got Floyd Landis, Rafael Palmeiro and they somehow managed to add testosterone to Braun's sample. That means they followed Laurenzi home, broke into his house, tampered with the sample in the fridge and all without leaving any signs of forced entry or of tampering with the samples. Who are these people that they can pull this stuff off? Is there no end to their mischief? What wholesome and unwitting player will be next?
In the NHL, the Washington Capitals continue to underachieve. From 2008-2011 the Caps won the Southeast Division and were the #1 Eastern Conference playoff seed. During that time they got ousted in the 1st round of the playoffs twice (including 2010 when they won the President's Trophy for having the most points) and never even made it to the Conference Finals. Last season they made a commitment to defense but got swept in the Semi-Finals by the Tampa Bay Lightning (trust me when I say it was a lackluster performance). Coach Bruce Boudreau was fired 22 games into the season (his record was 12-9-1) because he had lost the players and Alex Ovechkin (the franchise) was no longer responding to him. The Caps have had the same core group of players over the last few years so what is the reason for their mediocrity? Going into tonight they're 6 games over .500 so new coach Dale Hunter has by no means worked any miracles. Granted Nicklas Backstrom has been hurt this season but that can't be the only reason. Ovechkin still shows signs of awesomeness (he scored the overtime game winner Tuesday night against the Islanders in a great come from behind win) but it seems few and far between. As I write this the Caps are the 8th seed with 69 points. They're 3 points behind the Florida Panthers for the division but only 1 point ahead of Winnipeg so they can still blow it. I hope they get the ship righted because they can be a very exciting team to watch.
On a closing note it came out that Allen Iverson is broke. He was offered $20,000 a game to play for a professional soccer team. I've also heard that Iverson bought new clothes for road trips (leaving rather expensive but used threads behind) and owes $800,000 to a jeweler. I'm no longer surprised when I hear this type of news (it also came out earlier this year that Terrell Owens is also broke). I do not feel sorry for Iverson. It's been said that Iverson's background didn't prepare him for the monetary success of his NBA career. That's true I'm sure but that can be said of anyone who has grown up not being wealthy. Iverson was a fierce (if not the fiercest) competitor on the court but like many other athletes squandered his millions. What kind of jewelry are you buying if you owe $800,000 to a jeweler? How about having your entourage get real jobs (I don't know if he had one but MC Hammer went broke paying for his entourage so their is a precedence).
As usual your comments are welcome. Thanks for your time.
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