September 2010 Archives

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Kassim Osgood is used to dodging defenders on the gridiron. The 30 year-old NFL pro is tall, fast and comes in at a muscular 220 pounds. But what he didn't expect was to have to dodge a pistol-whipping. Osgood was allegedly attacked by Julian Armond Bartletto, the ex-boyfriend of Mackenzie Rae Putnal, a 19 year-old Jaguars cheerleader who Osgood was visiting. Putnal already had a restraining order against Bartletto.

Osgood made good use of his athletic abilities in his escape. He jumped out a second floor window and took off. It was a good thing he did. According to The Florida Times-Union, Bartletto traded fire with the cheerleader after putting a gun to her head, saying, "What did that football player say to his girlfriend, 'It's a good day to die.'" For good measure he also allegedly pulled Putnal across the room by her hair, hit her with his gun and hands and kicked her dog several times. (He sounds like a keeper.)

The Dwyane Wade custody battle is getting ugly. The NBA star and his ex-wife Siohvaughn Wade reached a divorce settlement in early June, but the child custody issues are far from over. The high school sweethearts have two children together, Zaire, 8, and Zion, 2.

According to Black Voices, Wade is not only seeking full custody of his two sons, but also petitioned the court to force Siovaughn to undergo a full psychological evaluation. Wade claims that Siohvaughn has been "turning the boys against him" and also taking steps to ensure that he does not see his sons. For her part, Siohvaughn claims that Wade is not only a bad father but also accuses the basketball star of adultery, and giving her an STD during their marriage. Siohvaughn is currently on her tenth divorce attorney.

The Cliffs at High Carolina can get back to the business of creating Tiger Wood's first US golf course. The developers of Tiger Wood's golf course have agreed to reduce the environmental impact that the course would have on local trout streams after complaints were raised by environmental groups. The Southern Environmental Law Center, Western North Carolina Alliance and Trout Unlimited all opposed the original design and challenged the permits issued to the developers by the North Carolina's Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

In the end, the developers agreed to reduce the planned impact in the golf course dispute by nearly 50%. The Associated Press couldn't help but take a swipe at Woods, who has had a tumultuous year, writing: "Chalk up one victory for Tiger Woods this year." I suppose you could actually call it a backhanded compliment. 

New York Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards is back in the headlines, though not for the reasons that one would hope for. First his coach blasted him for getting what he called a "selfish" play, when he taunted an opponent after scoring a touchdown. Then, Tuesday, Edwards was pulled over at 5:15 a.m. with four people in his car, in Manhattan for having excessively tinted windows on his SUV. Police officers smelled alcohol and suspected that Edwards was drunk, according to Paul Browne of the NYPD.

Edwards took a breath test from the officer and then took another at a police station. His blood alcohol came back at twice the legal limit, which got Braylon Edwards arrested.

Dwight Howard is suing the mother of his child for the Dr. Evil like amount of $500 million. Why? Because he claims that she won't stop yapping about him in the media.

TMZ reports that Royce Reed, star of VH1's Basketball Wives and Dwight Howard, an Orlando Magic NBA star, entered into a court settlement whereby they agreed not to trash each other in the media. Howard apparently claims that Reed leaked information about him a minimum of 11 times. Reed counters that the supposedly leaked information came from legal documents which are immune to any agreement made by the parties.

According to TMZ, if Royce Reed leaked information to the press, it would be a violation of a 2009 gag order. However, I suspect that TMZ may actually mean a confidentiality agreement or settlement agreement instead. Let's briefly look at the difference between the two:

For Denver Broncos All-Pro tight end is famous for a his football prowess. He's also famous for his mouth, offering a plethora of brash quotes such as: "I've got a better chance of winning the Kentucky Derby on the back of a donkey than they have of winning the Super Bowl with Kyle Boller." Sharpe was an eight time Pro Bowler and won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1998 and 1999, before winning a third super bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001.

Despite the fact that one would be hard pressed to call Sharpe a gifted public speaker, he managed to land a recurring role on CBS Sports 'The NFL Today' in May 2004, appearing on their weekly pre and post-game NFL programs. However, that job is now being placed on hold after Sharpe allegedly sexually assaulted Michele Bundy.

Florida Gator receiver Chris Rainey may be a star on the field, but the 21 year-old junior is a potential stalker off. According to Bleacher Report, Rainey has been arrested for felony stalking an on- again off-again girlfriend with threatening text messages, and showing up at her apartment.

Stalking is defined as a clear pattern of conduct in which the offender follows, harasses, or threatens another person. More than just a singular incident, stalking can take the form of any physical or cyber medium to make a victim feel unsafe. Here is how Chris Rainey falls into this definition: in addition to sending his ex-girlfriend expletive-laced text messages threatening violence, he also showed up at her house claiming that he would "bust open a window" if she did not let him in.

Unsportsman like conduct carries a yardage penalty in professional football. When the ungentelmanly behavior is against a popular Mexican sports reporter, the NFL investigates the claim, and there may more than a yellow flag being tossed into the mix. Ines Sainz, a Jets reporter for Mexico's TV Azteca may have been the target of harassment on a recent visit to a New York Jets practice.

According to the Huffington Post, Sainz was attending a Jets practice to interview team quarterback and standout, Mark Sanchez. During the practice, the Mexican beauty got a little too much attention from both the coaching staff, and the players on the team. In addition to having footballs thrown her way while the team was running drills, Sainz was also greeted with "hoots and hollers" when she went into the team locker room.

The city of sin is also the site of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s recent arrest on charges of larceny and domestic violence. The boxing superstar has been arrested by Las Vegas police, and is currently being held on $3,000 bail.

According to celebrity news outlet TMZ, Mayweather and his ex-girlfriend Josie Harris got into a physical altercation in which the boxer supposedly attacked and threatened to kill Harris at her Las Vegas home. The larceny charges are related to various items Harris claims Mayweather took from her house during the incident. Harris is the mother of three of Mayweather's children.

Sure, Ron Artest is a good basketball player for a top team, but the Lakers forward makes just as many (or more) headlines off the court than he does on it. The latest Ron Artest news is no exception. Artest was recently pulled over for driving a small race car through the busy streets of Los Angeles, according the CBS Sports.

The cherry red ride is an Eagle Roadster -- a two seat car designed to look and drive like an Indy car. The roadster can reach speeds of 152 miles per hour, and certainly stands out on a city street. But then again, so does Artest. Although Artest was wearing his helmet, he did forget one important requirement for keeping within the traffic code of conduct: renewing the car's registration. That's correct, although zooming through the streets in a flashy race car, Artest was actually cited for driving with an expired registration.

The NHL is breathing a sigh of relief as their standoff over contracts and the collective bargaining agreement is finally over. The NHL agreed to a revised contract of Llya Kovalchuk, who plays for the New Jersey Devils.

The dispute between the NHL player's union and the league involved long-term contracts. The league had been questioning several long-term deals of players including Marian Hossa, Roberto Luongo, Chrop Pronger and Marc Savard. The contracts were designed to avoid salary cap hits in early years.

The NHL denied the Devils' contract offer to Kovalchuk because it violated the league's salary cap. An arbiter agreed. For example, the NHL originally denied Kovalchuk a 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils. Under that deal, Kovalchuk would have earned only $550,000 in his last five years, ESPN reports.

The league has now approved a 15-year $100 million contact. As part of the new collective bargaining agreement, the league will stop challenging long term deals that have already been executed.

The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the top college football player in any given year. The bronzed man signifies the best of the best and the award not only comes with prestige for the athlete and his alma mater, it also helps boost a player's draft number when turning professional. Heisman Trophy winner and University of Southern California standout Reggie Bush was no exception. Winning the award by a huge margin, Bush was a first round draft pick for the New Orleans Saints.

According to FoxNews, Bush will now become the first recipient in NCAA history to be stripped of the Heisman trophy, stemming from NCAA violations alleged against the player and his school during the 2005 football season. NCAA is the governing body for all college athletics. As part of the harsh punishment, USC will also return their copy of the trophy to the Heisman Trophy Trust. In another controversial move, Vince Young, runner-up for the honor the year Bush won, will not receive the trophy.

"Suck it up."

A sports announcer harshly called out a young Major League Baseball pitcher for not being tough enough after complaining of arm pain. It turned out that the pitcher had torn major ligaments in his arm and the announcer wound up getting fired in the fallout.

Rob Dibble was highly critical of Washington Nationals star pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who was the first overall choice in the 2009 draft. On his XM radio show, the announcer made the infamous above quote along with other gems including:

The National Football League is currently investigating New England Patriots rookie star Brandon Spikes and a potential contract violation for his role in a sexually explicit video. The video in question was found on the online video chatting site Chatroulette and shows Spikes and a female companion engaging in acts of oral sex, according to CBS News.

NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello is quoted, "We are looking into it. The league's personal policy states that those associated with the league must avoid conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League." And therein lies the potential contract violation on the part of Spikes, his role in the video is not good for the integrity of professional football. In addition to being in a contract with the Patriots, Spike is also under contract with the organization as a whole. The internet sex tape would likely amount to a violation of his contract with the NFL regarding acceptable personal conduct of a player.

Popular Washington Post sports writer Mike Wise has been suspended for a Ben Roethlisberger tweet gone awry. The tweet was supposed to be an experiment in how quickly a phony story would be picked up. Now Wise will have an experiment in a one-month suspension from the newspaper.

The Washington Post quotes its newly suspended employee, "As part of a bit on my show today, I tried to test the accuracy of social media reporting. Probably not the best way to go about the experiment. But in the end, it proved two things: 1. I was right about nobody checking facts or sourcing and 2. I'm an idiot. Apologies to all involved. My bosses at the Post feel I need a month to think about the severity of my actions." Wise also tweeted an apology.

When it rains it pours and when it pours you know it's raining.

University of Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel might want to get a poncho because another member of the football team has been arrested. The arrest comes amid an offseason with three DWI arrests in August, which Gary Pinkel said "were his responsibility."

On Monday, starting tailback and team captain Derrick Washington was charged with deviate sexual assault, a felony. After being charged, Washington surrendered to Missouri police and released on $4,500 bond. Washington will plead not guilty according to Bogdan Susan, the attorney representing Washington.

Roger Clemens said only four words in court today, "Not guilty, your honor." Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner has publicly denied allegations that he used anabolic steroids and human growth hormone. He is charged with six counts federal counts for allegedly lying to Congress in sworn testimony about doping in 2008.The charges are: three counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.

"I am just making it as possibly clear as I can," Clemens said at the deposition on Feb. 5, 2008, The Los Angeles Times reports. "I haven't done steroids or human growth hormone."

Clemens was indicted after his former trainer, Brian McNamee told investigators that Clemens used steroids. McNamee received immunity from prosecution in exchange for his cooperation.