House Lighter In The Wallet

Eddie House of the Miami Heat is a little lighter in the wallet after what the NBA called an "obscene" gesture. House made the 'big balls' gesture after nailing a key three pointer in the Heat's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.



While I do think the fine is excessive, I don't remember House doing things like this while he was at Arizona State.

A Viola Grows In Brooklyn

I haven't heard the name Frank Viola in years. Even when I think of the Minnesota Twins his isn't thefirst name to come up. He was a long time Twin and tormented my beloved Tigers for years. He was one of the best pitchers in the American League and won a Cy Young in 1988. He was one of the main cogs when the Twins won the World Series in 1987.

After retiring in 1996 you didn't hear much of him. He has resurfaced again as the new pitching coach for the  Brooklyn Cyclones, the New York Mets Class A outfit. Before that he was coaching high scholl ball in Orlando, Florida and doing some work for Red Sox broadcasts.

"We are excited to welcome our new staff to MCU Park," said Cyclones General Manager Steve Cohen. "It's a wonderful thing to have a Cy Young Award winner like Frank Viola guiding our young pitchers, and we look forward to a great 2011 season with all of our coaches."


The Mets are betting there will be some "Sweet Music" in Brooklyn.

Quote of the week: Norman Chad

Columnist Norman Chad on when the Chicago Bears brought in Caleb Hanie, who nearly saved their season.

"I immediately Googled 'Caleb Hanie', and it said, 'Who'? I'm not even certain a Hanie was on the Bears roster when the game began."    

No one is ever familiar with the third string quarterback. 

"Fanny" Of The Week: Cat Washington

This week's "Fanny" of the week is Cat Washington

Durant Has Some Harsh Words For Bosh

You don't hear too much about Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant trash talking anyone. He just goes out and plays. Until Miami's Chris Bosh decided he wanted to get in his business then it was on. He called Bosh one of the "fake tough guys" in the NBA. And he added more than that. Durant got a rare technical foul for jawing with Bosh.

“I was talking to my teammate and he decided he wanted to put his 2 cents into it. I’m a quiet guy, a laid-back guy, but I’m not going to let nobody talk trash to me. He’s on a good team now, so he thinks he can talk a little bit,” Durant said. There’s a lot of fake tough guys in this league and he’s one of them.”

Bosh had interrupted a conversation between him and teammate James Harden.

“I think he was telling Harden to dunk on me, or dunk the next one,” Bosh said before giving a cleaned-up version of the exchange. “I expressed that, `No, he’s not going to dunk that.’ And he expressed, `Yes, he is.’ It just kind of went back and forth.”


Bosh has never been a tough guy and needs to just go out and continue being the third wheel. I like Bosh but he's trying to pull some of that Kevin Garnett stuff and that isn't him. Durant had more for Bosh.

“I’m no punk. I wasn’t even talking to him, first off. He decided to butt in and I’m not going to just let that slide, especially in our house,” Durant said. “Like I said, he’s not one of those guys that I look at and say, `Oh, he has a rep for talking back to guys or always getting into it.’


“No, he’s a nice guy. He’s not one of those guys, so I’m not going to let that type of person say something to me like that.”

Me and some friends at work had this conversation before and concluded that there are very few tough guys in the league. When you see an NBA fight they miss punches at point blank range. I don't advocate violence but damn, I think I'd be willing to take one of them on as long as it wasn't Kenyon Martin or Nate Robinson.

Bosh needs to quit the tough guy act because he's far from an enforcer.    

Penny Is Ready To Roll

After an injury plagued 2010, the newest Detroit Tiger, Brad Penny, wants a chance to prove that he's healthy and ready to go. The Tigers better hope he's healthy because that's when Penny is at his best. I know baseball is the ultimate team game, but it all starts with pitching. If the stars align right and everyone stays healthy the Tigers will have as good a staff as any. As spring training rolls around Penny is slated to be the number five starter. He might be the best number five starter in the league, if he's healthy.

Penny says he had offers from other teams, but the Tigers gave him the best chance to compete for a starting spot and he also felt the Tigers had a chance to win. Penny has been on a World Series winner and would like to get a shot at another one.

“I had some offers from teams that I didn’t think were able to compete,” Penny said. “I would have been more in a role of teaching young kids how to go about business, but I’m at a point where I want to win.”

“I was leaning towards Detroit most of the time, but I had a few offers that I had to consider."

Penny matches up well with other fifth starters in the American League and everyone knows that there aren't too many fifth starters with Penny's credentials. Sure he had a rough time in is first stint in the American League. But I think pitching in Comerica Park will help him out.

That's good for the Tigers since they had an obvious need for a number five starter. And Penny wants to prove he still has something left and isn't simply playing for a contract.  

Flacco Calls The Jim Zorn Firing A Personal Attack

When a coach is fired it's usually an indictment on how the coaches planning or teachings translate to the playing field, not the players themselves. If so there would be a whole lot of professional athletes out of work. Like any Detroit Lions or Los Angeles Clippers team. Apparently Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco doesn't think so. Flacco is pretty angry about the firing of his quarterbacks coach and feels it's a personal attack on his performance.


"I'm not happy about it, and they know I'm not happy about it," the third-year quarterback said.

"I also feel like a little bit like I'm being attacked," Flacco said. "You fire the quarterback coach. Usually when your fire a position coach, it's because you're not really happy with how that position did. And when I look back on my season and our season as a team, I mean, we won 13 games. I felt like I had a pretty good year and you're firing the quarterback coach? It's kind of an attack on me, I feel like."


"I'm not going to be happy about it, for a long time," he said. "This year will be what it is. We're going to be successful this year. I would have just liked him to be a part of it. He would have liked to be a part of it. And I think it would have been good for him to be a part of it.


"I think Jim was a great coach, I think he was great for our team. I think he was great for me. That's how I feel about it."

Joe, if it were a personal attack against you, you would be cut today. It's not though and you shouldn't take it as such. I know that sometimes players and coaches form a bond and they work well together, and that's probably what happened in this case. Flacco and Zorn had that kind of bond. Being a former quarterback in the NFL, Zorn's teaching probably went over well with Flacco and he probably taught him more than I'll ever know about the sport. I guess the Ravens didn't feel the same way about Zorn as Flacco did. He was there for only one season so I figure there was room to grow.

My guess is that there had to be some philosophical difference between Zorn, head coach John Harbaugh, and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. There was a seven hour meeting of the minds and Zorn was questioned about his handling of Flacco. Alledgedly Harbaugh is going to give more playcalling control to Cameron. Behind those closed doors there had to be some disagreement. Harbaugh probably should've asked Flacco how he felt about it and came to a conclusion. But that's not how it works in professional sports.

Flacco had one of his best years statistically, and this is what happens to one of the coaches responisble for it.

Tanushree Dutta, Showing her boobs

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Tanushree Dutta, Bollywood's Hot and Sexy Actress

Fernando Vargas To Attempt A Comeback

Fernando Vargas is the latest boxer to attempt a comeback after a three year layoff. Personally I think he should stay retired. The motivation is unknown, although there is plenty of suspicion that he's fighting for the money. Translation, he's broke. I won't go that far because I don't know his situation, it's just what I've read on lots of message boards and you take with a grain of salt.

I believe this is a bad move. He thinks it's a good one. He still feels he can compete at a championship level and eventually win another world title. Of course that remains to be seen. He'll be facing Henry Buchanan on April 16 in Las Vegas. I don't know much about Buchanan (20-2, 13 KO's), except that he went the distance with titlist Andre Ward. I don't think that's going to be much of a measuring stick if he expects to be in the title mix. The only thing that'll be able to tell is if he still has any skills left after three years. If he looks good and stops Buchanan or at least is dominant he might can get a fight against a name opponent that can boost him back into contention. If not, it'll be a long climb back and he'll be a name fighter that gets beat by up and comers.

Vargas has been training with Floyd Mayweather Sr. lately and is down to 187 pounds after hitting 270 on the scales. He fought mostly at 154 pounds and that seemed to be a problem since he always had trouble making weight. That was something he cited in losses to Shane Mosley and Oscar De La  Hoya and was a reason he left the fight game.

"I was tired of these guys never fighting me unless it was at 154," Vargas said. "Oscar [De La Hoya], Shane [Mosley] -- none of them would fight me if it wasn't at 154. I was always crunching down my body and not eating."


Vargas (26-5, 22 KO's) will act as his own promoter and will only book fights and 168 pounds. Knowing about his weight problems, he'd be better off moving up to light heavyweight. Vargas was an entertaining fighter, but didn't know when to back away from a punch. I hope for the best for him but I think it's best he stayed in retirement. Vargas lost most of his fights in entertaining but brutal fashion. After a three year layoff he'll have to shake off a lot of rust and that could possibly lead to another bad loss for Vargas that could finish him for good.

Verlander Needs To Get Off To A Quick Start

One of the keys to the Detroit Tigers' season is the success of Justin Verlander. That's fairly obvious to anyone who watches the game of baseball. What Verlander needs to do in particular, is get off to a good start. That's something this team is going to need from their number one starter. If that happens the Tigers can surprise early.

In the past Verlander has struggled early. Not where he can't get the ball over the plate, but he ges knocked around a bit early in the season. I don't have the stats sitting here in front of me, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. He gets some early wins but not enough for others to doubt his status as the staff ace. His record usually hovers around .500 for his first six to eight starts before he hits a midseason run where he looks unbeatable before looking kinda ordinary toward the end of the year. He has Cy Young stuff and ability, he just needs more consistency from end to end.

Verlander is clearly the key to the rotation. If he can battle hard enough the offense will get him enough run support. I don't doubt his ability to be a top of the line starter, sometimes he makes me wonder though. I still feels like he has his moments where he wants to dial it up and try to blow everyone away. He's been around long enough to know that's not the way to pitch. If he wants to be in the Cy Young conversation, he has to get rid of that mentality. I'm not saying abandon the bread and butter fastball. Just don't rely on it to get you out of a jam. You gotta let the players behind you make plays sometimes. I know, for the Tigers that might be a stretch since some of the players in the field are better suited to a beer league. But you just can't  keep pumping fastballs over the plate. Verlander is good. The rest of the staff is good. But they can be a whole lot better and having Verlander off to a quick start may be the key early on.

Income Tax knocks Priyanka's door, finds Shahid

Income Tax officers, who went to raid Priyanka Chopra's home at 7.30 am, were greeted by Shahid Kapoor clad only in his shorts

"If I woke up as Priyanka Chopra one day, I would wonder what I was doing in Shahid Kapoor's bedroom and then walk over to my flat in the next wing," actor Shahid Kapoor had famously said on a popular chat show barely a month ago. Little did he know that the statement would come back to bite him.

I-T officials said that when they first saw Shahid, they thought they had
reached the wrong apartment.

Income Tax officials, who went to Chopra's Versova residence for a raid at 7.30 am yesterday, were in for a surprise when they were greeted not by the sultry siren but by a sleepy Kapoor, who was wearing nothing but shorts.

For a moment, they thought they had raided the wrong sixth floor apartment in Classic Building on Yari Road.  One of the officers disclosed that after rubbing his eyes in shock for a second it occurred to him that Shahid and Priyanka were "great friends".

He said Shahid left the house as soon as he finished getting dressed. "Shahid was very much at Priyanka's house, but he wasn't in the buff and nor did he open the door. She has servants, so why would he open the door? Shahid had spent the night at Priyanka's place and she had come from walking the ramp at a fashion show for Shabana Azmi. The two are trying to spend as much time together before PC starts the promotions for her movie Saat Khoon Maaf," said a source close to Kapoor. "Shocked as we were, we knew we had a raid to carry out and that's precisely what we did. It was meant to be a swift operation and security personnel in the building were not given a chance to warn the actor that we were on the way up," said an I-T official.

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It's Good To Be Picked Last

Usually when someone gets picked last in a game on the playground, or anywhere else for that matter, is a bad thing. Except if your the Toronto Maple Leafs' Phil Kessel. Kessel received a car for being picked last with the 36th pick in the first NHL fantasy draft for the All Star Game.

Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward was the first pick by Team Staal, teammate Eric Staal. Kessel was picked by Team Lidstrom, captained by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. If I knew that hockey paid well and gave away cars I would've took up the sport as a kid.    

Favorite Moments From Super Bowls Past

More of my favorite moments from past Super Bowls.

Super Bowl XVI- San Francisco vs. Cincinnati. This was called the "Cinderella Super Bowl" since both teams came out of nowhere to get here. The best moment was the 49ers epic goal line stand.




Even though the Niners were ahead 20-7, this more than likely saved the game.

Super Bowl XVII- I wasn't the biggest Redskins fan but you gotta give John Riggins' run against the Dolphins some credit.


 

Sam Young Scores At Wrong Basket

For the second time this year an NBA player has had a hand at giving away two points. First it was Darko on a jumpball and now this.

The Memphis Grizzlies' Sam Young tried to grab a missed shot by the Philadelphia 76ers Louis Williams. The ball caromed off of his hand and went through the basket.

Sexting At Syracuse

I figure if your a coach in any sport, college or pro, men or women, you're married and have a family. I suppose you also have morals and wouldn't do anything to short change your family. Unless your Syracuse women's basketball coach Quentin Hillsman, alledgedly.

Former Orange player Lynnae Lampkins has filed a sexual harassment complaint against Hillsman. Hillsman was accused with inappropiate touching and texting which made her feel uncomfortable. I guess that would make a young woman feel uncomfortable. I don't know if this was the only player or to what extent this went to, but I feel that is something that could've been handled internally.

Lampkins told the USA Today that Hillsman would "slap butts and chest bump" and that "made her feel uncomfortable". She also says that Hillsman sent her a text message over the summer that read “I love you, I miss you, I can’t wait to see you.”


Syracuse conducted an investigation and says they find no substance to the allegations so no action will be taken against Hillsman. It looks like Q-Hill will be sticking around for a while.

Hillsman released a statement from the school. "This allegation is untrue and hurtful to me and my family. I have coached hundreds of student-athletes and never faced an accusation such as this. Specifically, the student has expressed concerns regarding a text message and conduct by me that occurred on the court. I utilize text messaging to communicate with our players and staff and the text in question was sent to multiple players and reflects my sentiments about the team, not a specific player."


If Hillsman wants to keep this from happening he shouldn't put himself in any kind of position that may be questioned.

Pacman Calls Fisher/Titans Divorce 'Dumbest Move Ever'

You would think that when Adam 'Pacman' Jones has something to say that it would be a bunch of garbage. However in this instance I can actually see where he's coming from. Jones seemed to be shocked when he heard that Jeff Fisher and the Tennessee Titans had a mutual parting of the ways. Jones spoke on their relationship and how Fisher tried to make him a better peron.

“I heard they fired Coach Fisher,” said Adam “Pacman” Jones, “and I was like, ‘What?! We had kind of a father-son relationship, he was hard on me, but he let me know he was there for me."

I guess a lot of people never knew about how Fisher tried hard to keep Jones on the right track and had some kind of special kinship.

"He never turned his back on me,” said Jones. “He came to my house several times. I could go to him and talk to him about anything. And I did. I got to a point in Tennessee where I ran out of options on my own and I turned to him. Coach Fisher was a great person. Great about caring, great about calling. Can’t get any better than him."

Wow, Jones actually respected Fisher. This I never imagined, probably because of all the off-field problems Jones had, there was the idea that Jones respected no one.

“I have no idea why they [fired him],” he says. “It’s gotta be the dumbest move ever. But that’s how they do things in Tennessee. It can be very weird down there. I still can’t believe it. But you know, things happen. I guess they fired me.”


Very insightful and kinda surprising considering the character he's exhibited in the past. I know I was also surprised when I heard that Fisher was stepping down. I look for him to take a Bill Cowher type of abscene adn wind up on one of the studio shows.







 

Snow Job

Usually when there's a major snowstorm, such as the one pounding the east coast, things get cancelled. School activities, meetings, postal service, basketball games. Except in the case of the Towson/George Mason game.

The Towson basketball team was caught in traffic for 10 hours and missed the scheduled 7 p.m. tipoff against George Mason. Officials delayed the game for a 9 p.m. start and Towson's team bus moved a mere 10 yards in that time frame.  The Tigers arrived in Manassas, Va. around 1 a.m. There goes a good night's sleep. So they played the game today. Towson fell to George Mason 84-58 in a game that should've been rescheduled.

Director of athletic communications Pete Schlehr believed that leaving at 3 p.m. for the 70 mile drive was sufficient enough time to beat the forces of nature. He was wrong about that and having federal workers released two hours early didn't help their cause.

The Colonial Athletic Association didn't think it was enough time either. The league figured the school should've taken a more proactive stance with their travel plans. The Tigers were reprimanded for missing tipoff.

“While everyone understands travel complications with winter storms, there is no evidence that any consideration was made by Towson to adjust their normal travel plans to account for the anticipated problems,” CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said in a statement.


What Mr. Yeager forgets are that these kids are student athletes. I know they really aren't, but that's what they'll tell us. They have to get everyone on the same page for travel and 3 p.m. seemed sufficient. So you reprimand them because they were snowed in by the forces of nature. That just doesn't add up to me. Weather forecasts are wrong all the the time and the snow probably hit sooner than expected. But you're the commish which makes you right.

Coach Pat Kennedy provided the comic relief. He thought it would be smart to lay under a bus tire thinking it would help gain traction to a highway ramp. That was a bad idea as the bus remained stuck and Kennedy's coat was torn to pieces. At least the players took everyhting in stride.

Rip Hamilton Out With The Flu. Really?

Richard Hamilton is sidelined for yet another Detroit Pistons game, this time for the flu. Is it really the flu or would there be some extra fireworks considering Hamilton's friend and longtime backcourt mate Chauncey Billups rolls into town with the Denver Nuggets tonight.

I find the flu thing quasi legit. I would never question one's health. But if you add sit back and add up everything it looks kind of fishy to me. Coach John Kuester and Hamilton haven't been the best of friends and Rip has been riding oak for over a week. The benching was thought to be a result of a trade that never materialized between the Pistons, Nuggets, and New Jersey Nets. Now he's just sitting there with a $12 million price tag and no takers.

I'm baffled as to why Hamilton 's not playing. Although I do feel they need to play their younger players and take their lumps, but he's clearly one of the Pistons' better players and in the NBA you play your best players to win. I agree with Billups' comment that it's disrespectful. Hamilton is someone that helped the franchise to the mountain top and this is his reward? I don't get it. Is this an edict from Joe Dumars? Or has Kuester had enough of Hamilton and won't play him at all. I don't think Dumars would give Kuester such an order. With the way things are going they're going to have to get rid of Rip for a bobsled.

As far as tonight's game goes, I have a feeling Hamilton was told to stay away. With Billups playing major minutes on the court, I think it would've been highly likely that Hamilton would've blown up. It has to be eating him up inside and to his credit he's been above it. It would've hurt him to see his good friend on the court while he's rotting away on the bench. This is puzzling and I'll be tuned in to see what happens.

A Follow Up To Larry Johnson's Tea Party

Here's the commercial for the sweet tea that Larry Johnson has a hand in marketing.

Jessica Alba | Hot and Sexy Legs