Shawne Merriman has been linked to steroid use (due to his suspension for steroid use) and when news of an arrest warrent issued for domestic abuse surfaced, the assumptions were 'Roid Rage" all over again. Merriman was accused of choking and restraining Tila Nguyen (aka Tila
Now last time I wrote about Brett Favre, he claimed he was staying retired and I said I didn't believe him (go check if you don't believe me). Now he is in Minnesota and hashing out the final details of a contract that will allow him to practice with the Vikings, maybe as soon as tonight. What a shocking development. Pending a physical, Favre will sign a contract with the Minnesota Vikings for between $10 million to $12 million. Favre is expected to take a physical later Tuesday; the Star Tribune reported that an afternoon news conference was expected.
With Favre in the fold, the Vikings expect him to lead them all the way to the Superbowl. There was some internal support for this move so maybe the transition will not be very difficult. Head Coach and consistently lying Brad Childress already has told the Vikings that Favre will be starting in Friday night's preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. It is apparent that Favre just didn't want to participate in mini-camp and that the Vikings were ok with that. They have enough talent to challenge any of the top NFC teams for the right to play in the Superbowl, the question is will they mold into a team that can trusts each other so they can take it to the next level. The Eagles are still the front-runners in my mind for the NFC title but if the Vikings can put it all together, they should have much more success in the playoffs than last year. I can see it already, Brett Favre vs. Mike Vick er uh I mean Donovan McNabb in January for a chance to play in the Superbowl.
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Now the Knicks have a new plan to attract free agents and it revolves around pursuing Ricky Rubio. The same Rubio who is having a hard time coming up with the $6 million needed to buy himself out of his current Spanish league contract. The same Rubio who is currently property of the Minnesota Timberwolves. This Knicks are, how do I put this delicately, the dumbest organization in sports. The Lions finally wised up and fired Matt Millen, the Timberwolves finally got rid of Kevin McHale, and the Nationals even got rid of their crooked GM as well. That leaves the title of dumbest sports organization between the Clippers and the Knicks.
Now dumb luck gave the Clippers the #1 pick and Blake Griffin, but they also drafted Eric Gordon and Al Thornton over the past couple of years and got from under Zach Randolph's contract in the process. They're still not contenders but they look a lot closer to competing for the playoffs than the Knicks. New York has decided to pass on young up-and-coming point guard Ramon Sessions for no reason other than they don't know what they are doing. Most teams deem young point guards with a lot of potential as high commodities, not the Knicks. They are still clinging to this dream of retooling through free agency although it seems unlikely they will land a superstar with that money. Now the Knicks are turning their focus to trying to trade for Ricky Rubio with the belief that having him on the team is going to sway Lebron away from Cleveland or D-Wade away from Miami? Really? I must be a glutton for punishment. That's the only reason why I'm still going to root for this stupid team. Maybe some dumb luck is headed their way soon like it did for the Clippers.
Now dumb luck gave the Clippers the #1 pick and Blake Griffin, but they also drafted Eric Gordon and Al Thornton over the past couple of years and got from under Zach Randolph's contract in the process. They're still not contenders but they look a lot closer to competing for the playoffs than the Knicks. New York has decided to pass on young up-and-coming point guard Ramon Sessions for no reason other than they don't know what they are doing. Most teams deem young point guards with a lot of potential as high commodities, not the Knicks. They are still clinging to this dream of retooling through free agency although it seems unlikely they will land a superstar with that money. Now the Knicks are turning their focus to trying to trade for Ricky Rubio with the belief that having him on the team is going to sway Lebron away from Cleveland or D-Wade away from Miami? Really? I must be a glutton for punishment. That's the only reason why I'm still going to root for this stupid team. Maybe some dumb luck is headed their way soon like it did for the Clippers.
Syracuse has decided that Greg Paulus has shown enough to be the starter going into the season opener. Paulus doesn't just share the same name as the point guard who played the last few years for the hated Duke Blue Devils, he is the same person. Yes folks, Greg Paulus is still in college after finishing 4 years at Duke. I can't tell you what he's studying, but the rules allow for him to transfer schools and play as long as he has not used his four eligible playing years. The difference in this situation is Paulus was a senior last year and could graduate from Duke but only used 3 years of playing elgibility because he was red-shirted as a freshman.
Now Paulus isn't just walking into the starting job with no previous football experience. He grew up in upstate NY and was recruited out of high school to play both basketball and football. He chose basketball and was succesful enough in that endeavor to be a starter for a couple of seasons. However, he wasn't great and apparently coaches think enough of him to give him a chance to start at quarterback, which is no small feat. This would be a bigger story if he was more successful as a basketball player or if Syracuse were a higher profile school. Nonetheless, he is going to be a starter and people will be ready to give him a hard time if he isn't good immediately. Going to Duke isn't going to get you a lot of fans and there are plenty of people who would love to play college basketball or football, and will be jealous that Paulus will have the chance to play both for free at 2 different schools.
Now Paulus isn't just walking into the starting job with no previous football experience. He grew up in upstate NY and was recruited out of high school to play both basketball and football. He chose basketball and was succesful enough in that endeavor to be a starter for a couple of seasons. However, he wasn't great and apparently coaches think enough of him to give him a chance to start at quarterback, which is no small feat. This would be a bigger story if he was more successful as a basketball player or if Syracuse were a higher profile school. Nonetheless, he is going to be a starter and people will be ready to give him a hard time if he isn't good immediately. Going to Duke isn't going to get you a lot of fans and there are plenty of people who would love to play college basketball or football, and will be jealous that Paulus will have the chance to play both for free at 2 different schools.
Now let me detail this drama as quickly as possible because typing about the Raiders is burning my fingers. Raiders HEAD COACH Tom Cable and defensive assistant Randy Hanson were in some sort of altercation (verbal or physical) and in the midst of everything Hanson ended up with a fractured bone in his face and having police investigate the matter. There is no disputing that Hanson needed medical attention for his jaw on Aug. 5, the confusion is over how that happened. Hanson refused to press charges so no assailant was named, but we all are smart enough to know that Hanson didn't give up Cable because he wanted to keep his job. These events happened a couple of weeks ago so the bigger question is why is this event surfacing now?
The fact of the matter is it doesn't matter why this information came out now, the Raiders dis-Organization is the reason their team continues to struggle. The people I feel sorry for are the players. I can almost (almost) understand why Randy Moss shut it down for 2 years out there. The dysfunction in the Raiders will unfortunately trickle down into the locker room and severly prevent the players on that team from reaching their maximum potential anytime soon. JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden are two top potential players who are doomed to play in Oakland this season and while they have the ability to perform well, it is hard to have any conviction about their prowess when you look at their internal leaders. Cable should be suspended by the team or the league but you know nothing will happen. If a player knocks another player out (Steve Smith in Carolina last year), then you know something will happen but coaches get off easy under dictator Goodell. Hopefully for the Raiders players, they can use these events and rally the team to perform well despite the efforts of the team's leaders.
Many Americans are casual fans of track & field, when the Olympics come around then people remember the sport exists again. Usain Bolt is doing for track & field what Americans hope Michael Phelps can do for swimming, he is making any event he is in must-see-tv. Two days after setting a world record of 9.58 seconds to win the 100, Bolt was sleepy coming into the stadium and still set the early morning alight by winning his heat, even though his 20.70 was 1.40 off his world record. Watching him dominate a field of professional sprinters is one of the most amazing things you will see in sports.
The people Bolt has dominated are no slouches. Fellow Jamaican countryman Asafa Powell has won the gold in the Olympics and many other World Championships, while once competing with disgraced American former sprinter Justin Gatlin for fastest man in the world. That seems like ages ago even though it was only 3 years ago. Tyson Gay set the American record for 100M with 9.71 in the same race Bolt dominated on Sunday. Until that day, Gay had the fastest time of the year at 9.77 seconds. Gay was over half a second faster on Sunday and was over a second slower than Usain Bolt. That is amazing. I missed the 100M finals because I was out (happy birthday aunt Vanessa) but you better believe I will not be missing the 200M finals. Besides, its only 20 seconds. Its the length of a commercial. Do yourself a favor and tune in.
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