November 2012 Archives

There are no guarantees in life. That is, unless you're a Phoenix Suns basketball fan.

Next Thursday, the Phoenix Suns will become the first team in NBA history to guarantee that its fans have fun, or they'll get their money back, reports ESPN.

The timing of the Suns' promotion is interesting, as it comes on the heels of the San Antonio Spurs benching all of their best players so that they could get some rest in the highly anticipated (and sold out) game against the Miami Heat.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is being sued by the parents of two young women who blame Kraft for their drunken driving deaths.

In 2008, three friends -- 20-year-old Debra Davis, 19-year-old Alexa Latteo, and 20-year-old Nina Houlihan -- took part in tailgating festivities outside the New England Country Music Festival held at Gillette Stadium.

The tailgating event was allegedly well-known to be a haven for underage drinking and partying, and the three underage women got hammered as they partied, Boston's WBUR radio reports. When they left the party, Latteo got behind the wheel of a car and crashed into a tree, killing herself and Davis. Houlihan suffered serious injuries, but survived.

Kevin Durant is being sued by a 1980s rocker over the nickname "Durantula." The NBA superstar is finally fighting back by asking a court to dismiss the lawsuit. He claims fans gave him the nickname, and he never uses it himself.

Mark Durante, a guitarist who once played with Public Enemy, says that he trademarked "Durantula" years ago, according to Examiner.com. Durante says that he trademarked the name for his stage persona and to sell his music and other wares.

With several decades having passed since the heyday of Durante's Durantula, the rocker was miffed that a younger generation began associating Kevin Durant with the name Durantula. So Durante sued, demanding that Durant stop using the name.

Thanksgiving traditions range from simply carving a turkey to driving halfway across the country to visit relatives you barely know. However, there may be no tradition that leads to more Thanksgiving injuries than the annual family football game.

This may be the only holiday in which grown-ups and children get together to play what's arguably a young man's game. It's this combustible mix that leads to a spike in ER visits.

Here are five things to remember to avoid a Thanksgiving football injury this year:

Former Houston Texans punter Brett Hartmann is suing over a potentially career-ending knee injury that he blames on owners and managers of Reliant Stadium.

Last December, Hartmann caught his foot between two pallets of grass on the field and tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) as a result. He also fractured a bone and has been trying to recover ever since, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Hartmann still faces multiple surgeries and may never play professional football again. Right now he's placing the blame on the field's maintenance, and he has some evidence to back that up.

Former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist Chamique Holdsclaw was arrested after being accused of assaulting her ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lacy.

Holdsclaw, one of the greatest female basketball players of all time, allegedly shot a gun into Lacy's car and used a baseball bat to break her car windows, reports Fox News.

Lacy currently plays for the WNBA's Tulsa Shock. She and Holdsclaw both played for the Atlanta Dream in 2009.

Former NFL tight end Jerramy Stevens was arrested, then released without charges, after allegedly striking Team USA soccer goalie Hope Solo on the eve of their wedding.

The two had been dating for only two months, and were set to wed Tuesday. But instead of a wedding, Solo had to appear in court as her groom-to-be faced domestic assault charges, reports USA Today.

Stevens and Solo reportedly started to argue over where they wanted to live -- Florida or Washington.

Jeff Gordon apparently intentionally crashed his car into Clint Bowyer during the Sunday Phoenix NASCAR race.

With seven laps remaining, Bowyer reportedly clipped Gordon, causing Gordon to slide hard into the wall, reports Yahoo! Gordon was black-flagged by NASCAR which meant that he was ordered to take his car off the track and into pit row.

But Gordon ignored NASCAR's warning and waited for Bowyer to circle back. As Bowyer approached, Gordon reportedly rammed his car into Bowyer taking him out as well as an innocent Joey Logano.

Federal authorities have decided to drop their criminal investigation into the Bernie Fine sex abuse case.

In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, several men claimed that Fine, Syracuse University's former assistant basketball coach, similarly molested them when they were children, reports CBS News.

However, after a nearly year-long investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office found that there was not enough evidence to support the claims, and so they dropped the case.

More colleges are tackling student athletes' tweets through the use of social media policies.

Most college athletes are between the ages of 18 and 22. If you remember the things you probably said when you were that age, you probably wish that you could take a lot of it back.

Unfortunately for college athletes on Twitter, they often post, shall we say, poorly thought-out statements to thousands of their followers. And because of the nature of the Internet, what they say can stick around forever, get retweeted, and then get picked up by mainstream sports media.

The New York City marathon that was to be held this past Sunday was cancelled due to Superstorm Sandy. Some disappointed runners may now be contemplating bringing a lawsuit against the marathon organizers.

Runners from around the world flew into New York City to take part in the race. Along with paying for the cost of travel and lodging, these contestants also paid marathon fees and other expenses.

But the organizers of the race, New York Road Runners (NYRR), are sticking to their no-refund policy, the Associated Press reports. That means these racers may not get a penny back, despite there not even being an event for them to participate in.

Bryant McKinnie is a huge man with an allegedly huge appetite for strippers. The Baltimore Ravens left tackle is being sued for $375,000 for unpaid tabs at various Miami strip clubs.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Charles "Pop" Young, the father of rapper Trick Daddy, reports The Baltimore Sun.

Young claims that McKinnie borrowed the money and agreed to pay it back after the NFL season began and the game checks started rolling in. Young even has a promissory note that he says was signed by McKinnie to repay the debt.

Former Penn State President Graham Spanier has been criminally charged for his alleged involvement in covering up the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal.

Spanier has been charged for the first time and joins fellow former Penn State officials -- ex-Athletic Director Tim Curley and ex-Vice President Gary Schultz -- as defendants in the cover-up, reports CNN.

Each of the three men face the same charges of obstruction of justice, perjury, conspiracy, endangering the welfare of children, and failure to report allegations of child abuse. Pennsylvania's Attorney General said that these men "used their positions to conceal and cover up for years the activities of a known child predator."