The Good
One of the most popular New England Patriot players of all-time has re-upped for another year. Troy Brown, who never met a position he couldn't play, has signed a one-year contract, his 15th with the Patriots, the only pro team he's ever played for since being drafted in 1993 from ("we are") Marshall. Other candidates include Seve Ballesteros, the great Euro-golfer and winner of five major championships is calling it quits at the age of 50 and Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge who just received a three-year contract extension with his team vying for the AL Central championship. I'm giving the nod to Troy Brown whose principal position is receiver for surviving despite a glut of good receivers on this year's Pats. The 'Good Award of the Week' winner: Troy Brown...
The Bad
Former NBA and Maryland Terp player Lonny Baxter is pleading guilty to shipping guns out of state, a crime punishable by up to 5 years and a $250,000 fine...The Oklahoma Sooners erase all their wins (they went 8-4 and won the Holiday Bowl) from 2005 and lose two scholarships for having 2 players (QB Rhett Bomar and OL J.D. Quinn) kicked off the team for being paid for work they had not performed for a car dealer...Detroit catcher Ivan Rodriguez was suspended for one game and fined for actions in a game against Seattle...Rams CB Fakhir Brown was suspended for the 1st 4 games of the NFL season for a substance abuse bust...KC DE Jared Allen was suspended by the NFL for two games following 2 DUI arrests...Dolphins receiver Chris Chambers was arrested on a DUI over the weekend...The Florida Marlins suspended lefthander Scott Olsen for 2 games without pay for insubordination and conduct detrimental to the team. As always there were far too many 'Bad' boys this week but shipping guns can only lead to devastating results. For that act, Lonny Baxter is this week's 'Bad Award Winner of the Week'...
The Ugly
The other shoe drops on Atlanta QB Michael Vick, indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on charges of sponsoring a dogfighting operation so ugly the losers either died in the pit or sometimes were electrocuted, drowned, hanged or shot. If convicted, Vick and two others named, could face up to 6 years in prison, $350,000 in fines and restitution. Vick should be immediately suspended by the NFL. You can only hope it happens quickly. Other candidates include Rutgers assistant head FB coach Chris Demarest, charged with assaulting a woman at a nightclub over the weekend, U of Minnesota CB Dominic Jones, charged with criminal sexual conduct with a woman who was "physically helpless", U of Miami FB player Jermaine McKenzie, 18, was ticketed after telling troopers he fell asleep while driving. Alcohol was not a factor and finally that poor fan (Paul Robinson) who broke his neck watching a Yankee game at YS when an unidentified man fell from several rows of seats above him and landed on him, squashing him like a grape and breaking his neck at the point where his spine supports his head. The fan was believed to be drunk. What a shock! For being a helpless victim, visiting New York from Kirkland (WA) and merely watching a ballgame only to have the sky fall on him, the allegedly drunk and nameless fan who committed this ugly event is the 'Ugly Award Winner of the Week'...
TGTBTU Update
'Bad' poster children, NBA players Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson are both suspended without pay for the 1st 7 NBA games for their most recent legal problems. So what else is new? Houston Astros reliever Chad Qualls lost his appeal of a 3-game suspension for throwing a baseball into the stands...Former NBA star Vin Baker pleaded not guilty to a DUI although failing a sobriety test...Adam "Pacman" Jones is hoping his suspension doesn't keep him out of training camp (and I'm hoping that the next megaball jackpot has my numbers on it). According to league sources, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did agree to consider allowing Jones to take part in camp but not in exhibitions. Here's my question - Why??? Toss this bum out and don't let him back in for anything. He's facing more charges than my cellphone...most disturbing of all, comes this report that before wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife, child and then took his own life, he had steroids in him and they had sedatives found in their systems. This is merely horrible if true...
10 Timeline Memories:
- 1927] #1 on the Hit Parade: Ty Cobb playing with the Philadelphia A's collects his 4,000th hit against his former team, the Tigers. Cobb would hold the record for most hits until Pete Rose broke it. Rose wound up with: 4,256 to Cobb's 4,189...
- 1936] Wouldn't you like to be a wiener too?: The 1st Oscar Meyer Wienermobile rolls out in Chicago. More on that after a word from our sponsor: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tF37vBu4g34&mode=related&search= ...
- 1969] Teddy puts Chappaquiddick on the map: This was the day that Mary Jo Kopechne died when Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy lost control of the car he was driving. Mary Jo was just 28...
- 1969] The 'For Sale' sign goes up: Joe Namath agrees to sell his interest in Bachelor's 3 to stay in the NFL...
- 1985] Like father, like son: Jack Nicklaus II, makes his pro debut on the golf circuit at the age of 23...
- 1987] Ty Mattingly: The Yankees' Don Mattingly homers in his 8th consecutive game to tie the major league record set by Dale Long in 1956. Ken Griffey Jr. also tied the mark in 1993...
- 1992] Wedding Bells: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown wig-out walking down the aisle in a wedding that featured organic food, loaded with herbs...
- 1999] Perfecto: Yankee pitcher David Cone pitches a perfect game at YS against the Montreal Expos...
- 2003] "Happy Trails": Barry White dies of renal failure at 58. In a scene from "Ally McBeal", the cast dances to one of Barry's biggest hits: http://youtube.com/watch?v=lFxbuxOcFL8&mode=related&search= ...2005] Retired General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. troops in Vietnam, dies of natural causes at 91...
- 2003] Guilty as charged unless your name is Kobe: Kobe Bryant is charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year old woman at a Colorado Spa. The charge is later dropped because the woman didn't want to go to trial and because the accused was named Kobe Bryant...
Music Memories:
- 1960] The original version: Hank Ballard & the Midnighters release "The Twist". Chubby Checker's version wouldn't become a hit until later in the year. Here's the original version: http://youtube.com/watch?v=qb-qLIKlS7A ...
- 1977] #1 on this date: "Looks Like We Made It" - Barry Manilow...1980] "Glass Houses" LP - Billy Joel...
Commentary...
Frank Kingston Smith a.k.a. Bobby Mitchell (WRKO) shares this great story on the Apollo-Soyuz linkup I mentioned yesterday: "Why do you jar my memory like that? I was doing afternoons at WHDH and we all had passes to sit anywhere there was a seat at Fenway Park. So there is Bill "Spaceman" Lee, #37, on the mound around 9 p.m., when he wanders out past second base and stares at the starry sky. The second base umpire wanders out next to him and looks at the sky too. "What are you doing?" he inquires. Lee says "Apollo-Soyuz" is supposed to be passing overhead and I wanted to see it"...That's why they called him the "Spaceman". What a character!!!
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Martha Reeves (66), Lonnie Mack (66), James Brolin (67), Joe Torre (67), Dion DiMucci (68) who's running around with 'Sue': http://youtube.com/watch?v=VMHGzaLkUP0 , Dick Button (78), John Glenn (86) and Nelson Mandella (89)...
Timeline Countdown: 9 days until the BB HOF induction, 12 days until all NFL training camps are open and 17 days until the NFL HOF induction...
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