You may or may not have heard that there was actually some action at this year’s U.S. Open. We’ve been saying that this is a problem for years. People get so excited from all the hot tennis action that they go overboard and end up in fights.
And that’s what happened here. It looks like you some hardcore New York dude arguing with some woman and her dad/husband.
We don’t know what the argument was over, but she slapped him in the face. Not sure who was right or wrong, but that is assault. It’s also assault when the old dude goes over and starts a physical altercation with the dude. We have feeling was at fault from the beginning, but that doesn’t mean you can just go hit people.
Jason La Canfora of NFL Network that the suspension for Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has been reduced from six game to four. Apparently, Roger Goodell was sufficiently pleased by Ben’s progress as a human being and doesn’t think he’s going to rape anyone any time soon.
“Roethlisberger’s suspension is 4 games. He has left the NY area and is en route back to Pittsburgh. Full story ahead on NFL Network,” La Canfora tweets.
The Steelers look like they’ll have more than a few guys chipping in at starting QB this year. Byron Leftwich is most likely going to miss the first month or so after he suffered a torn MCL on Thursday night.
That means they’ll be relying on Dennis Dixon for a bit until either Leftwich or Big Ben comes back. Or just Big Ben, there is always the possibility that Dixon plays well enough that they won’t pull him for Byron.
The Cleveland Browns had high hopes for their second-round draft pick Montario Hardesty this year. But, those hopes will have to be shelved as Adam Schefter reports that the team fears that Hardesty has a torn ACL.
“Early diagnosis on Browns rookie RB Montario Hardesty: torn ACL. More exams today to confirm the news, but a blow to the Browns,” Schefter tweets.
Hardesty had microfracture surgery on his right knee in 2006, which is a pretty bad thing for a running back. And now for him to potentially have a torn ACL? Ouch. Not sure what they could expect from him moving forward.
Especially since he plays for the Browns, which means a staph infection is just right around the corner.
Dallas Cowboy Patrick Crayton, who can’t seem to find the time he wants due to better wide outs being ahead of him on the depth chart (and frankly he’s not as good as he thinks he is), wants to be released prior to Saturday’s deadline for final cuts.
PHOTO CAPTION: Crayton gets a 15-yard penalty for horse-collaring himself
“It seems he doesn’t figure in their plans so it’s not logical to be on the roster until Saturday,” his agent Fred Lyles spoke on behalf of the disgruntled receiver. “We don’t see the use in prolonging it.”
Most likely, it will happen. Crayton is owed $2 million this year and that seems a bit much for a 5th receiver’s salary. Patrick finds himself behind teammates Miles Austin, Roy Williams, Dez Bryant, and possibly even Kevin Ogletree.
If Crayton is cut, he will definitely find another team to play for. He will join that team with the thought of getting increased playing time and changing the world. In reality, he’ll be a part-time slot receiver catching less balls than he thinks he should be.
Let us preface this by saying that this seems to be one writer’s speculation. We kept looking for a quote or a source in this story and didn’t find one. But, Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports says that if the New York Jets don’t come to an agreement with all-world CB Darrelle Revis soon, the relationship could be over.
As in…for good.
“Here’s a little piece of information for Ryan and the rest of the New York Jets: If Revis doesn’t get a new contract soon, New York doesn’t have to worry about the star cornerback showing up,” Cole writes. “Ever.
“As the clock ticks to the beginning of the NFL season, the relationship between the Jets and Revis is ticking toward an end. A divorce, really. That might sound like hysteria to some but it’s reality.”
Cole notes that Revis’ asking price isn’t all that crazy considering that a guy like Peyton Manning is probably going to get $25 million per year when he gets his next contract. So, is Revis crazy for asking for $16 million a year?
Don’t forget, as Cole points out, that Revis’ uncle is Sean Gilbert. This is the guy that sat out a year looking for $4-$5 million a year from the Washington Redskins. He missed an entire year, and then got $7 million from the Carolina Panthers.
With that kind of advice in his ear, it’s not crazy to think that he’ll stick to his guns and possibly – we emphasize “possibly” – never play for the Jets again.
Anyone that has watched the Philadelphia Eagles this preseason will tell you that one of the team’s biggest problems is the interior of the offensive line (I could complain about Jason Peters too, but I won’t…for now).
Well, a big part of the problem is poor center play. Nick Cole is not a center. He’s not. He can’t make the calls. And Mike McGlynn was a little better, but he’s not really a center.
Good news for Eagles fans, starting center Jamaal Jackson said in a sideline interview on Thursday night that he’s “99.9%” sure that he’ll play in the opener against the Green Bay Packers.
He tore his ACL late in the season against Denver and one could argue that that was a big reason why the Eagles got knocked in the dirt twice in a row by the Dallas Cowboys. For him to be back in time for the opener would be huge. Then again, him saying he’s going to play and the doctors clearing him are two different things.
Now, of course he probably won’t be himself if he does play, but even 20% of Jackson is probably better than the crap they were getting from the other guys.
It’s going to sound like we are kissing up to the boss of GCobb.com (which I write for), but we do agree with G. in this video on Philly.com. He’s talking with Sheil Kapadia of Philly.com Sports and they are talking about who should play Thursday night.
We’re already into the game at this point, so it’s clear that the starters aren’t getting any work. No Kevin Kolb. No DeSean Jackson (we actually don’t think he should have been out there). But, also, no Stacy Andrews.
I’m sorry, but Stacy Andrews needs to be out there. He is a starter in name only. He either, A. Hasn’t recovered from his ACL injury two years ago, or B. Can’t play guard, or C. Both.
But, check out the video and listen to G. talk some Birds with Sheil…..now!
Jason La Canfora of NFL Network reports that the Seattle Seahawks are actively trying to move WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Have fun with that one.
“SEA trying to move TJ Houshmandzadeh, but unlikely anyone takes him on. WR due to make $7M-plus guaranteed in ’10. He’s available, though,” La Canfora tweets.
Yep, you read that right. A 33-year old WR who likes to pop off at the mouth is making $7 million guaranteed. What team wouldn’t want that?
Would the Vikings be interested? Probably not. Titans? Nope, every year we all talk about how needy they are for a wide receiver and they rarely address it. Browns? Can’t see it.
And what does this say about Housh? Seattle’s wide receivers are terrible, they certainly don’t have any room to be dropping somewhat-quality wideouts.
Ok, we can’t make this up. Miami Heat rookie and former West Virginia basketball player Da’Sean Butler decided that it was a good idea to write a children’s story and then tweet the whole thing 140 characters at a time.
Thanks to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for piecing the whole thing together. We don’t know who his intended audience is as there aren’t many young children following him on Twitter (we don’t think).
We mentioned last night that Washington Nationals centerfielder Nyjer Morgan won OTR’s Gentleman of the Week for September based on him throwing a baseball at a fan and starting a fight with the Florida Marlins.
Well, we found the video of this fight on Deadspin and it really paints Morgan in a positive light. Especially the way he WWF’s it on his way off the field.
We like how Volstad stands his ground. He knows he’s bigger than Morgan and we’d have to think that if there wasn’t a huge dog pile, that Volstad would have stomped him like a narc at a biker rally.
Friday is a big day for the Pittsburgh Steelers, their fans, and fantasy owners who selected Ben Roethlisberger in the 12th round of their fantasy drafts to back-up Brett Favre. Roethlisberger, his attorney David Cornwell, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and team president Arthur J. Rooney will be meeting in New York to determine how many games, if any, they will cut from Roethlisberger’s original six-game suspenion. Brett Favre was giving an informal invitation, but will not be attending.
Roethlisberger was suspended the six games under the “The Personal Conduct Policy” for being accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student in a Georgia nightclub in March. It was the second such allegation against Big Ben who has two Super Bowl victories underneath his belt. A belt that seems to come off a little too often when Jaeger Bombs and Miller Lite are mixed with college bars and young women.
ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reports that ‘most observers believe Goodell has had in his mind all along to reduce the suspension by two games to four’ if ‘Roethlisberger complied with a number of league-imposed conditions, including a comprehensive behavioral evaluation, and stayed clear of any other off-field problems.’ Fortunately for Big Ben, he hasn’t been accused of sexually assaulting any women lately (the longest stretch of his career), so he should be rewarded with a reduction in his suspension.
Details on the behavioral evaluation:
Roethlisberger will be shown pictures of young women, booze, teammates, and football and he has to respond “good” or “bad.” He must score 75% or higher to pass and has 30 minutes to complete. Pictures of young women wearing Pittsburgh Steelers jerseys will be mixed in to try to trick him. These are called ‘roadblocks.’
Roethlisberger will be given a taste test. Unmarked plastic cups will be filled with Vodka-Redbull, Budweiser, Gatorade, and water and he has to respond “good” or “bad.” He must score 75% or higher to pass and has 30 minutes to complete. A young woman will be giving him the taste test, so if at any time he tries to sexually assault her, Roethlisberger automatically fails the test and the behavioral evaluation.
Roethlisberger must score 75% or higher on both evaluations to pass.
Paolantonio is also reporting that ‘Roethlisberger’s representatives plan to ask the commissioner to reduce the suspension by at least three games. Therefore, he will miss the Atlanta, Tennessee, and Tampa Bay games and return Week Four to play the rival Baltimore Ravens at home. If Roethlisberger only gets a two game reduction, he will miss the Ravens game and then have two weeks to prepare (Bye Week) and return to play the Cleveland Browns (Week Six) at home.
In his absence at the start of the season, Byron Leftwich is supposed to start with Dennis Dixon backing him up.
This past Saturday, a golfer at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine, California (Will Ferrell’s hometown) started a fire when his golf club (most likely an iron) struck a rock, causing a spark that lit up the rough like it was Michael Jackson’s hair.
The spark eventually turned into a rolling blaze, attracting 150 firefighters. It burned through the dry rough, into vegetation adjacent to the course and over two dry, brushy hills. The fire covered 12 acres of Southern California land.
No charges were filed against the golfer, whose name was withheld, but OTR is getting information saying it could have been Paul Blazinger.
Fire officials are still trying to determine if the foursome was engaged in stroke play or match play. If it was the latter, further investigations may be launched.
This is a new award for us, but we created it mainly with Washington Nationals centerfielder Nyjer Morgan in mind. Already appealing a seven-game suspension for throwing a ball at a fan in the stands, Morgan started a benches-clearing brawl today against the Florida Marlins.
And for that, Morgan wins OTR’s Gentleman of the Week for the month of September!
Marlins starter Chris Volstad hit Morgan with a retaliatory pitch in the early innings of a blowout. So, Morgan stole second and third just to piss them off. It worked.
In the sixth inning, Volstad threw behind Morgan and then it was on. Morgan charged the mound and threw a punch at Volstad. Then Volstad got tackled by Nationals coach.
Job well done, Nyjer! We have a feeling that more than one person has some suspension time coming. Good thing both teams can afford to lose some guys. This is the most excitement either of these teams has seen in a while.
But, let’s not let this distract Morgan from his big day. He’s won September’s OTR Gentleman of the Week!
Could this be one of those moves for Penn St. that shows that Joe Paterno has lost his marbles? Or maybe it’s just a move that says “I’m old and I really don’t give a rat’s ass if he’s a freshman.”
No. 19 Penn State will open this season with true freshman Robert Bolden as their starter against Youngstown St. It’s the first time Penn St. will open the season with a true freshman at quarterback, and the first time since 1992 that a true freshman has started a game at all (Wally Richardson).
“Based on what we have seen to this point, Bolden has a slight edge right now, but we are confident all three quarterbacks are ready to go and hope to give them an opportunity to play until we settle on the one that gives us the best chance to win,” Paterno said.
So it’s not like Bolden is set in stone as the starter for the year. But he’s getting the nod on opening day and that’s pretty impressive.
The Arizona Cardinals and DE/DT Darnell Dockett have agreed to a contract extension. According to Mike Jurecki of Xtra 910, it’s a four-year deal for $47-$50 million with $31 million guaranteed.
“Dockett deal is worth 47 to 50 million w/ 31 GTD… he got PD!,” he tweets.
Yes he did get paid. And he deserves it. He’s been phenomenal for the Cardinals, especially in his smooth transition to the 3-4 scheme. How many guys have we seen fail when a switch is made? Happens all the time.
Good for him. We have a feeling the Cardinals are going to clear up some cap space soon (ie, kick Leinart to the curb). The bad news for Dockett, though, is that he will now be in Arizona through 2015. At least the weather is nice.
