Sports Thread

[flea dip]

2005 World Series.

Good luck to the Astros! :clap:

2005 World Series News

~ EDIT ~

Update: the Sox won

Sox Celebrate

Oct 28, 2005

CHICAGO -- This incredible journey taken by the White Sox during the 2005 season began a couple of days after Valentine's Day, at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz. Pitchers, catchers and coaches were pretty much the only ones on hand, joined by six or seven media members.

It ended Friday afternoon, a little more than eight months later, at LaSalle Street and Wacker Drive in Chicago.

.... Oh, yes. The trophy given to the Major League team winning the World Series also was present at Friday's victory parade.

[flea dip]

I watched a few moments of a kick boxing match the other night. That has to be the dumbest sport I've ever seen.

I've mentioned this before, but I wish the sports channels would stop airing poker games. Poker is about as much a sport as Monopoly, Hungry Hungry Hippos, or Clue.

The Tour De France has been going on.

Done? Hardly. Landis is back

July 21, 2006

MORZINE, France - In a stunning turnaround a day after he was all but written off, American rider Floyd Landis moved back into contention at the Tour de France on Thursday, winning the final Alpine stage in a solo finish to jump from 11th to third.

Barry Bonds is in trouble.

Bonds escapes indictment

By DAVID KRAVETS and PAUL ELIAS

SAN FRANCISCO Jul 21, 2006 (AP)— Barry Bonds' camp had two reasons to celebrate: his 722nd home run and federal prosecutors' decision not to indict the slugger for now on perjury and tax-evasion charges.

.... Meanwhile, Bonds' attorney seemed to back away slightly from the slugger's earlier statements that he didn't know substances given to him by his personal trainer were steroids.

[flea dip]

I heard on TV that this Owens guy is 'controversial', 'weird,' and 'narcissistic.' Instantly I was reminded of another celebrity!

Owens denies suicide attempt

Cowboys' Owens denies he tried to kill himself

A plea for help, or more attention?

Interview from 2001 provides insights into what troubles Owens

A chronology of Terrell Owens

Another bizarre chapter in the Terrell Owens Saga

Sep. 28, 2006 / By Gary Myers / New York Daily News

NEW YORK - Terrell Owens says it was an allergic reaction to pain killers and natural supplements, the police report claimed it was an attempted suicide, and Bill Parcells, in his only sign of compassion, claimed the latest event of Life With T.O. was not a distraction to his team.

"Well, I don't think something of this nature is what I would term a distraction," Parcells said Wednesday. "This is apparently an unfortunate set of circumstances."

Parcells, who spoke about one hour before Owens met with the media, said at that point he had not had a chance to speak to his receiver. He was typically evasive, pleading "ignorance on the subject."

He was asked if the team researched Owens' background before signing him to a three-year $25 million contract and had concerns about any psychological or behavioral issues.

"You're going into places I'm not going," Parcells snapped.

.... While Parcells didn't want to comment on Owens' situation, Cowboys linebacker Bradie James said, "Anytime you hear suicide, then you know it's going to be serious. When somebody says it's T.O., I was like come on. He embraces himself too much to do anything to harm himself."

[maddyhater]

Owens is such a waste of media time and attention, I do think he's got some kind of mental illness, doesn't he realize he's jeopardizing his football career pulling stunts like he does? What a freakin moron...



MH

[flea dip]

~~~ EDIT below ~~~

I watched the interview Roger Clemens gave to 60 Minutes. He was pretty defensive.

I don't know after listening to him and reading articles about it if he used HGH or steorids or not.

Clemens seemed sincere in his denials, but there's some factual stuff that doesn't work in his favor.

We listened, but Clemens doesn't have the goods

by MIKE VACCARO, New York Post
Jan 8, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - Working with Roger Clemens was the most important thing that ever happened to Brian McNamee. It opened doors for him. It exposed him to a lifestyle, and a life, that most of us only dream about. If he never got rich himself, he was able to taste an ever-so-fleeting sample of what it's like.

He walked with kings. He worked out with princes. None of that would have been his if he'd stayed a cop, or an anonymous professor at St. John's, or if he got $30 an hour working out grandmothers at the neighborhood Bally's.

Remember that as you listen to the frail, terrified voice on that 17-minute tape Roger Clemens played for us yesterday. Factor that into the equation.

Clemens and his lawyer want you to believe that is the voice of a liar, of a guilty man, of a rat who was willing to sell out a friend for his freedom.

What I heard was the voice of a man who was given the keys to the kind of exclusive palace available only to the very rich and the very famous, who was actually allowed to call Roger Clemens "friend,'' and has now had that all taken away from him.

Maybe it's the voice of a man with a sick child and a ruined career, too, who at the very least dabbled in some highly illicit behavior and who now listens daily to his former friend lash out at him with venom in his voice and menace in his eyes.

Think of that as you listen to the pathetic sound bytes of a broken man, talking to the star he once idolized, who also happened to be one of the most intimidating athletes who ever walked onto a playing field. Think about how daunting it was to be Barry Bonds or Mike Piazza or Derek Jeter staring down Clemens. Now think of what it's like to be Brian McNamee.

"I'm with you, I'm in your corner, I'd also like not to go to jail, too," McNamee pleaded.

"All I did was what I thought was right,'' McNamee whispered.

"Just let me know what you want me to do,'' McNamee murmured.

"Everything I have to this day I have because of you,'' McNamee sighed.

"I learned from you how to raise my kids.''

That's a very different McNamee than the one who spoke to Sports Illustrated in November 2006, the one who said, almost defiantly, "I've been to his lake house with the jet skis, it's nonstop moving. He's got more energy than anybody I've ever seen. It's a genetic thing. It's analogous to the beautiful woman who stays beautiful throughout her life without cosmetic surgery.''

He sounds like a schoolgirl with a serious case of puppy love there; now he sounds like Carrie on prom night. Clemens was his meal ticket, his chance to be a Somebody. Now he's been reduced to a pawn, the focus of Clemens' desperate plan to rescue his reputation.

It would have been helpful for Clemens' case if a smoking gun had surfaced in those 17 minutes of tape, a confession from McNamee. If you're going to stoop to the slimy depths of recording a telephone conversation and then offer it up to the world as an audio version of the Zapruder film, it would be wise to have the goods first.

There are no goods here. There is a sad, scared man whimpering and whining, the regular-guy equivalent to getting buzzed under the chin with 97 mph gas. There is Clemens, ever the bully, trying to get McNamee to cleanse himself before he voids himself, and failing.

Brian McNamee is no hero. And he has done nothing heroic. Remember that, too. But neither has he been exposed as a liar. That makes him as dangerous to Clemens now as he was before this silly little charade of a press conference.

Clemens? Before he left the stage yesterday he bared his teeth and cursed on live TV and tried to treat the rest of America the way he treated Brian McNamee. And if McNamee didn't break, even if he sounded as if he were about to break down, what chance did Clemens have against the rest of us?

We're the ones with the clear consciences.

McNamee's lawyers demand release of recorded interview

Clemens is doing everything Bonds wouldn’t

Roger Clemens finally goes on attack

EDITED TO ADD:

St. Petersburg police records: Clemens' ex-trainer lied during 2001 rape case

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Detectives believed the former Toronto Blue Jays trainer who says he injected Roger Clemens with steroids lied to them during the 2001 investigation of a possible rape, according to documents released Tuesday by police.

Police said Brian McNamee denied having sex with a possibly drugged woman in a hotel pool, even though security guards and other witnesses said they saw him.

McNamee hired a New York lawyer, who called detectives to arrange an interview.

"I explained to him that his client did talk with me once, and he lied to me," St. Petersburg Police Detective Donald Crotty wrote in a report.

The state attorney's office, however, decided not to press charges.

Clemens cited the incident as an example of McNamee's dishonesty in a defamation lawsuit filed Sunday in Texas.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner says his former personal trainer lied to baseball investigator George Mitchell to avoid prosecution when he said he injected Clemens at least 16 times with steroids and human growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Clemens acknowledged receiving injections from McNamee but said they were vitamin B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine.

"The significant thing is, when this guy's rear end is in trouble, does he lie?" said Rusty Hardin, Clemens' lawyer.

The defamation suit states: "McNamee's explanation was totally at odds with the conclusions of the police officers conducting the official investigation in St. Petersburg."

Earl Ward, one of McNamee's lawyers, denied the St. Petersburg incident had any bearing on his client's credibility. He said McNamee's statement about Clemens was found credible by the staff of former Senate majority leader Mitchell and federal law enforcement officials investigating steroid use in professional sports.

"The bottom line is that allegation in Florida was investigated, and it went nowhere," Ward said.

"It's just an attempt to further damage his character," he said. "It has no relevance."

The records released Tuesday by the St. Petersburg police show McNamee was suspected of raping a woman he had met at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in October 2001. The Yankees were in town to close out the regular season against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and many players and support staff were staying at the upscale resort.

McNamee was having sex with the woman in the resort's pool and didn't stop when confronted by security, the documents say. Police were notified. When they arrived, they found McNamee had helped the woman out of the pool and get dressed, according to the documents. Groggy and incoherent, she was taken to the hospital, where the documents said she was found to have GHB, the "date-rape drug," in her system.

The woman told detectives she could not remember details of the encounter in the pool. She said she did not give McNamee permission to have sex with her, and witnesses told detectives they had heard her saying "no" during the encounter, according to the documents.

Detectives later recovered some of her jewelry, an empty beer can and a water bottle containing GHB at the side of the pool.

Police interviewed McNamee hours later, according to the documents, and he denied having sex with the woman or knowing Yankees batting practice pitcher, Charles Wonsowicz, who was also in the pool. McNamee refused to submit a saliva sample for DNA analysis, the documents said.

Although the state attorney's office decided not to press charges, the accusations ended McNamee's career with the Yankees.

The Yankees did not give a specific reason for terminating McNamee.

Clemens then hired McNamee as his personal trainer. According to the pitcher's lawsuit, McNamee told him that his actions were "actually a life-saving attempt."

[flea dip]

2008 Olympic stories.

Why Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories per day

Excerpt:

He told NBC that an average day might have the following menu:

Breakfast: 3 fried egg sandwiches, 2 cups coffee, 5-egg omlette, bowl of grits, 3 pieces of french toast, 3 chocolate chip pancakes

Lunch: 1 pound pasta, 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, energy drink (1,000 calorie)

Dinner: 1 pound pasta, 1 large pizza, energy drink (1,000 calorie)

Angry Swede Throws Down Medal, Quits Olympics

By Douglas Hamilton

BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian threw down his greco-roman bronze medal in protest on Thursday after his bid for Olympic gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as “politics.”

Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the wrestling mat then walked off.

“I don’t care about this medal. I wanted gold,” he said.

A bitter Abrahamian, silver medalist at Athens 2004 who had high hopes of top honors in the 84kg competition in Beijing, announced he was quitting the sport.

“This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure,” he said.

The Swedish wrestler had to be restrained by teammates earlier when a row erupted with judges over the decision in a semifinal bout at the Chinese Agricultural University Gym with Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, who went on the take gold.

Abrahamian shouted at the referee and judges then went over to their seats to speak to them up close. He angrily threw off the restraining arm of a team official then turned and left.

Swedish fans booed loudly as the judges filed out of the arena. Abrahamian said nothing to waiting reporters but whacked an aluminium barricade with his fist as he left the hall.

Abrahamian later said he believed his loss to the eventual gold medalist Minguzzi was “totally unjustified.” The wrestler said his friends “called me just 20 minutes before the (bronze) competition, begging me to compete.”

“I decided that I had come this far and didn’t want to let them down, so I wrestled,” he said.

Swedish coach Leo Myllari said: “It’s all politics.”

Myllari did not say if he intended to lodge a formal protest over the decision by referee Jean-Marc Petoud of Switzerland, judge Lee Ronald Mackay of Canada, and mat chairman Guillermo Orestes Molina of Cuba.

[flea dip]

Jamaica’s Bolt breaks 200 mark, gets sprint double

BEIJING (AP)—Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the world record by winning the 200 meters in 19.30 seconds Wednesday night, becoming the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the 100 and 200 gold medals at an Olympics.

Bolt is the first man ever to break the world marks in both sprints at an Olympics. Not even Lewis or Jesse Owens managed that.

Showing what he can do when he runs at full speed all the way through the finish—something he hadn’t done yet in the Beijing Games—Bolt eclipsed the old record of 19.32 seconds set by Michael Johnson in Atlanta in 1996.

[flea dip]

Super Bowl Sunday: Steelers prevail in Super thriller

Excerpt:

By John Clayton, ESPN.com
TAMPA, Fla. -- Super Bowl XLIII featured -- in my opinion -- the greatest play in Super Bowl history, but it also might have been the greatest game.

The Steelers' 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals had it all. James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown on the last play of the first half was the greatest play in 43 Super Bowls because it caused a 14-point swing at a critical point in the game.

Had the Cardinals scored a TD from the Steelers' 1-yard line, they would have led 14-10. Instead, Harrison's amazing return gave the Steelers a 17-7 lead.

[flea dip]

A British tabloid published a photo of Olympic swimmer Phelps smoking marijuana or what not.

Phelps Could Face Charges in Marijuana Photo Scandal

Michael Phelps facing criminal charge for 'bong shot'

[flea dip]

Here are editorials by people trying to defend Phelps' drug usage:

Swimmer Phelps' punishment way out of proportion

So what if Phelps smoked pot he's in good company

Alex Rodriguez news:

A-Rod admits to ESPN he used performance-enhancing drugs

'I was stupid': A-Rod admits steroid use

By Bob Raissman
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Monday, February 9th 2009, 3:33 PM

Alex Rodriguez admits to using performance-enhancing drugs in an ESPN Monday night interview with veteran baseball reporter Peter Gammons, but says he did not know exactly what substance he was taking.

In the first interview he has given since he was outed for steroids use by Sports Illustrated on Saturday, A-Rod apologizes for using the substances in what he described as a "loose era" for drug use in baseball.

"I felt an enormous amount of pressure," said an emotional Rodriguez of the impetus to perform after inking a 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers in the winter of 2000. "I was young. I was stupid."

[flea dip]

Yao’s absence looms as giant loss for league

Excerpt:

By Adrian Wojnarowski

As soon as he bought the cash-strapped Shanghai Sharks, Yao Ming(notes) was pressured into a most defensive declaration: This wasn’t done as a retirement toy, but born of obligation to his hometown team.

That’s how it goes for him now. That’s the reality of his every move.

All across the world, the fears that Yao never plays basketball again are real and justified.

The Houston Rockets are counting on an innovative and complicated surgical procedure to repair the hairline fracture in his left foot. They hope it’ll ultimately create a base for his body that’ll withstand the unprecedented pounding delivered beneath his 7-foot, 6-inch frame.

Nevertheless, Yao will miss next season and Houston officials operate with private doubts he’ll ever be a sturdy player again.

They won’t say this, because it does no good for Yao’s rehabilitation and the psyche of the Rockets faithful. Whatever happens, this has turned into one of the sport’s saddest stories.

Yes, it’s reminiscent of Bill Walton’s saga, but Yao is a far bigger, far more important figure in basketball history. Yes, Walton could’ve been one of the most accomplished centers in history, but Yao’s powers have been truly transformative.

He changed everything for the NBA and David Stern, for China and the Far East. Together, they all conspired to use him, wear him out and ultimately toss him aside. For years, the Rockets played him too many minutes, and China played him too many summers for the national team.

As the global game goes, he’s basketball’s most important player since Michael Jordan. He’s the reason the world’s most populated country grew smitten with the NBA. He’s the reason that the NBA makes hundreds of millions of dollars out of the Far East, why its American players were treated like rock stars in the Beijing Olympics.

A lot of NBA players and commentators treated Yao with disdain upon his arrival, an overhyped stiff they promised to embarrass. Truth be told, there was a racial element to the criticism.

Perhaps they didn’t want to believe an Asian could become an NBA star.

Perhaps they feared an impending wave of Chinese 7-footers to gobble up jobs. Whatever the genesis, the criticisms of Yao pushed beyond legitimate basketball doubts and were nasty and needlessly personal.

[flea dip]

Woman Charged With Prostitution in World Series Sex-for-Seats Case Gets Tickets to Game

Diehard [Baseball] Fan 'Offered Sex To Watch Match'

Fan held over 'sex for tickets' ad

Woman charged with offering sex for baseball tickets so she and her husband could attend World Series game

Lawyer: Woman in sex-for-tix case has 'Phillies fever'

The lawyer for a Philadelphia woman charged with offering sex for World Series tickets says she is "a nice lady overcome with Phillies fever."

The woman, Susan Finkelstein, tells Inside Edition that she was only flirting, not engaging in prostitution, before being arrested in a Bensalem, Pa., bar by an undercover cop.

"I was really looking for a way to get reduced World Series tickets … If I can flirt with someone and maybe get cheap tickets, more power to me," she tells Inside Edition.

Her lawyer, William Brennan, says Finkelstein -- a self-described "buxom blonde" -- might have dropped double entendres in her Craigslist ad but never explicitly offered sex, the Associated Press reports.

Bensalem safety director Fred Harran alleges that Finkelstein "said she would trade sexual favors for Phillies tickets," The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

"She wanted the tickets at any cost and was willing to go the extra mile," he says.

Or as Finkelstein's ad in Craigslist put it: "I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!"

[flea dip]

The Yankees won the '09 world series. I actually watched the first few games.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Has CML Form of Leukemia

Nov. 10, 2009 -- Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar today announced that he has suffered from leukemia for nearly a year.

Abdul-Jabbar, 62, has chronic myelogenous leukemia or CML. Once a fatal disease, oral medications now keep CML under control for 80% to 90% of patients, says leukemia expert Michael Deininger, MD, PhD, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.