To some extent, Tiger Woods has endured the worst part of his scandal. Most of the facts are out and it really can’t get any worse. But now, even more dirty details are trickling out.
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Giants DE Osi Umenyiora told WFAN yesterday that if he has to be a back-up player next year he will quit football. Gotta love that attitude. Needless to say, its very possible that Osi ends up with another team in 2010. (National Football Post)
The average price of a Super Bowl ticket is about $1,000. That is a 900% increase from the first Super Bowl, and triple the amount of just 10 years ago. (Journal-Sentinel)
So if you decided to spend the grand, or just wanted to check out Miami for all the pomp and circumstance, you could find yourself at a party hosted by Diddy with Erin Andrews! The party is open to the public, but to make things more interesting you should just sneak in by using our handy guide. (SportsbyBrooks)
The St. Louis Rams are apparently the “favorite” to land Michael Vick in a deal this offseason. (RotoWorld)
Chad Pennington would like to remain with the Dolphins next season despite having a 3rd shoulder surgery in the past 6 years. Could he win Comeback Player of the Year award for the third time? (Miami Herald)
John Legend’s hot girlfriend, Christine Teigen is set to appear in SI’s Swimsuit Edition. (Huffington Post)
The Yankees toured their World Series trophy around Asia last week. Next stop? Westchester. The trophy will be on display this Saturday from 11-2 at the Westchester County Center. (LoHud)
25 year-old, 2 time Cy Young award winner,Tim Lincecum is set to break the arbitration record this year. However, due to concerns over the A’s moving to San Jose, the Giants may try to keep that amount to a minimum. (Baseball Musings)
Tiger Woods will leave by the end of this week and head for a private vacation with his wife, Elin. Could there be a reconciliation in the works? Now that the media frenzy has subsided, does anyone truly care? (SportsbyBrooks)
David Lee may not have been selected to his first All-Star team, but he has been invited by Team USA chairman Jerry Colangelo to train with the team in July. (NYDN)
US Olympic hockey player/Toronto Maple Leaf, Mike Komisarek will miss the Olympics and the rest of the NHL season due to shoulder surgery. (Seattle Times)
Former LA Galaxy soccer player, DaMarcus Beasley’s $80,000 BMW was fire bombed and destroyed in Glasgow. (LA Times)
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If you have any links you’d like to share with BLS for Nuts & Bolts or even an original post email them to me at john@bigleaguescrew.com
Tags: chad pennington, michael vick, new york giants, Nuts & Bolts, osi umenyiora, super bowl, tiger woods
Mark Sanchez graces the cover of the most recent Sports Illustrated
David Letterman treated his viewers on Monday to the “Top 10 signs the New York Jets are getting cocky”. Number 10: “Offered to give the Colts a 14 point head start”. Hit the link for the rest. Really funny stuff. (NY Post)
The Post polled its web readers on their preference for Mark Sanchez’s facial hair. Do fans prefer his clean shaven look from early this season, or his bearded look for these playoffs? I’m guess not too many females participated in this poll, because the beard has surprisingly taken 60% of the votes at the time of this posting. (NY Post)
Former Jet and native New Yorker, Vinny Testaverde (aka the last QB to lead the Jets to the AFC Championship game) claims “They can absolutely beat the Colts, no question.” (NY Daily News)
Redskins owner Dan Snyder LOVES spending money. That being the case, the Skins plan on replacing their end-zone scoreboards with two massive 30 x 100 HD video screens. (DC Sports Bog)
Tim Tebow’s former girlfriend, Janell Wheeler, might be one the 24 finalists on American Idol. PS – she happens to be pretty hot. (TheBigLead)
Peter Gammons has some potentially devastating news for the Mets. Gammons reports that the Red Sox had a deal in place with Jason Bay during the 2009 season but a disagreement about the diagnosis of Bay’s knee issues prevented the contract from being signed. Don’t fret yet though, Mets fans, I happen to be a firm believer in the Red Sox/Boston media conspiracy. Every single free agent that has left Boston in the past decade has been endlessly bashed as they walked out the door, and this is just more of the same from a second rate city. (NESN)
Less than 24 hours after leaving the Broncos after just his first year as defensive coordinator, Mike Nolan has accepted the same position with the Miami Dolphins. (Yahoo!)
Straight out of the “Is this real?” department; a legitimate lunatic named Don Lewis is the commissioner of the All-American Basketball Alliance based out of Augusta, Georgia. His idea was to start an all-Caucasian basketball league designed “for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like.” Tell you what though, its going to be very difficult to play basketball in a hood. (NBC Sports)
In other racist news, a pack of Croatian thugs/soccer hooligans, armed with flares and flashing Nazi salutes, disrupted the Australian Open, menacing fans and even attacked a photographer for Melbourne’s Herald Sun. (NYDN)
Tiger Woods’ mistress Rachel Uchitel has canceled her “Celebrity Socialite” birthday party after the invitation leaked to the interwebs. (TMZ)
Anna Kournikova’s mother has been arrested for child neglect. Anna’s 5 year-old half brother, Allan, was injured when he jumped or fell from a second story window. (TMZ)
Brock Lesnar to discuss his fighting future on Wednesday’s SportsCenter. (FanHouse)
MMA fighter Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett was arrested Monday on suspicion of felony battery. (SherDog)
If you have any links you’d like to share with BLS for Nuts & Bolts or even an original post email them to me at john@bigleaguescrew.com
Tags: boston red sox, mark sanchez, new york jets, Nuts & Bolts, peter gammons, tiger woods, tim tebow, washington redskins
Talk about your all-time backfires. A Colorado man who attempted a “pop art” project on Gatorade bottles could be in hot water. Jason Kay was arrested on Wednesday for violating three federal codes that prohibit product tampering.
Kay’s project involved replacing Gatorade labels with the image of Tiger Woods and his wife. The “GATORADE” logo was replaced with “UNFAITHFUL” on the other side. Bottles with the replaced logos were found in Denver, Erie, Boulder, Broomfield, and Longmont.
The unemployed man had originally emailed PepsiCo, who makes Gatorade, and offered to execute the stunt. Kay apparently thought that it would be good advertising. I wonder if he can collect unemployment from jail.
Tags: colorado, denver, fake, gatorade, golf, jason kay, labels, pepsico, pop art, tampering, tiger woods, unfaithful
Rachel Uchitel hasn’t been in the news much lately. Probably because she’s already secured a few million dollars out of Tiger’s bank account. In any case, we felt the need to give a little love to the New York-based Tiger mistress.
Uchitel spent the holidays in Palm Beach and looked pretty damn good doing so. The celebrity VIP handler took her dog to the beach and caught some rays. Whether or not the brunette knew the was being photographed, she certainly had the right outfit. Uchitel wore a teenie weenie bikini that even had a chrome skull printed on the crotch. Did she retire the bikini bottoms with the money sign on it? Or is that just on her panties?
Below are a couple more shots from Uchitel’s day at the beach. Before you cry “pervert” over the crotch/ass shots, I’d like to remind you all that I don’t take the pictures… I just post them.
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Mike Lupica gets paid to write, but that doesn’t mean he gets paid to make sense. The senior sportswriter recently made a case for LeBron coming to New York in his Daily News column. Re-hashing nothing new, Lupica states that marketing dollars and “the chance to win it all” will deliver LBJ to New York.
Considering we’ve known about LeBron’s impending agency for years, there has been very little verified information to come out of the James Camp. So how does Lupica anchor his “new” argument? Using Tiger Woods, of course! Yes, seriously. Lupica seems to think that LBJ will land in New York to soften the blow to Nike’s marketing cachet according to one of his mogul-type friends. Huh? Even if that did make sense, casual observers have always been aware of Nike’s desire for LeBron to play in New York — Tiger Woods scandal or not.
A guy I know from sports, a mogul-type, one who knows the NBA and knows the business side of sports even better, was talking the other day about the possibility of LeBron coming to the Knicks. He is not a New Yorker, by the way, and is not a Knicks fan. He just thinks the whole thing makes sense, and not just for the Knicks and for the league.
“I am hearing,” the guy said, “that Nike wants LeBron in New York even more than ever, because of Tiger.”
He was referring to Tiger Woods. Maybe you’ve heard about him.
So Nike wants to pass Tiger’s torch to LeBron but needs him in New York to do so? Whatever you say, Anonymous Sports Business Mogul Associated With Mike Lupica. Tiger was (is?) clearly one of sports’ biggest stars. However, it doesn’t make sense to lump LeBron and Tiger into the same category simply because they’re Nike frontmen. Sure, they both have international fame and are top individuals in their sports. But there’s a reason why LeBron endorses Sprite and Bubblicious while Tiger promoted Accenture and Tag Heuer. The potential to net over a billion dollars in their careers doesn’t make them the same guy.
This is not a case of black and white even though Lupica would like to frame it as such. Unfortunately for him, the reasons AGAINST LeBron returning to Cleveland are not necessarily reasons TO sign with the Knicks (see the LeBron to the Bulls and LeBron to the Lakers theories). LBJ may have a shot at more endorsement dollars in New York, but the same is true about a number of different markets. That being said, the other half of Lupica’s argument about winning is laughable. Does he really have a better shot to win with the scraps currently inhabiting the Knicks’ roster than with Cleveland?
A month ago, I thought Donnie Walsh had no shot at LeBron, none, forget about it. But lately the Knicks have become a team their best and most diehard fans want to watch. In the short run, as you try to imagine LeBron in New York, you can see him actually wanting to be able to kick the ball out to the Italian kid, Danilo Gallinari, because you can see how the Italian kid might end up being the best shooter in the gym one of these days.
Or there is David Lee, who plays like a champion every night, no matter what the score. If there is a way to keep Lee. There is Wilson Chandler. In November there seemed to be no hope for this season. The year ends differently.
Michael Jordan had Chicago, Kobe has L.A., why not New York for LeBron? He clearly does have a fascination with the big bad city, and with the Yankees. Maybe that “27″ on the sneakers after the Yankees won the Series really was more than an instant message.
LeBron is smart, which means he understands that as big as he has gotten, and as fast as he has gotten there, the only way he becomes as big as he wants to be is by winning it all. And maybe coming here and having at least one big player come with him is the best way.
To say that LeBron James might stake his future on Danilo Gallinari and David Lee is absurd hyperbole. While we’re fans of both players, they’re only marginally better than teammates LeBron has had in Cleveland. Unless James knows a way to wipe Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries’ contracts from the books, Lupica’s point about winning with the Knicks is shaky at best. Even LeBron will need more than a couple of decent supporting players to win a championship — this isn’t NBA Jam.
It’s also outlandish that Lupica claims to think that LeBron would take a pay cut so the Knicks can sign another talent. If James is going to (literally) bet the house on a team, it’s hard to believe that LeBron will choose the Knicks. The team has only finished above .500 once in the past decade. LeBron’s only experience with a losing season was his rookie year and his major wager could end with a similar result.
But let’s be serious. Is it even possible for LeBron James to become a BIGGER star? The answer is yes and no. First, it’s doubtful there are that many people planning on jumping ship to become LeBron fans simply because he wears blue and orange. Second, LeBron Fatigue is already developing across the nation. The guy said he wanted to be a billion dollar athlete. He’s exhibited poor sportsmanship. He had a video of him getting dunked on confiscated. He’s also featured in the now-annoying Nike puppet commercials. James is a hair away from being considered pompous and over-exposed. Expecting to arrive in New York for His coronation might be the last straw for a lot of non-Knicks fans.
Yes, LeBron can still be the King of New York. Though that wouldn’t really elevate his stature much. As previously mentioned, he already has international appeal and maybe Lupica forgot that people love to hate it when New York wins. Coming to New York City might just make LeBron “East Coast Kobe” rather than the innocuous Midwest wunderkind he is now. At the same time, it could make it look like King James thinks he’s bigger than the game. And that’s almost certainly the case if LeBron is willing to risk colossal failure for an incremental increase in his “legend” and bottom line.
Mike Lupica could be right and LeBron may end up in the Big Apple. However, he also parallels LeBron’s budding career with those of Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. And when did those guys ever play in New York or take a pay cut to win? Let’s hope this is the last time that Lupica regurgitates the logic of his anonymous mogul buddies.
Tags: 2010, basketball, cleveland cavaliers, danilo gallinari, David Lee, free agents, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, michael jordan, mike lupica, NBA, new york city, new york knicks, tiger woods
You know we're entrenched in the holiday season when cheerleaders dress in Santa outfits. Which reminds me, I just figured out what I want for Christmas.
Crazy story of Jon Robinson, former stadium announcer for the Carolina Panthers. Battling drug addiction, a past that includes child molestation (he was the molestee) and other personal demons, Robinson said he wanted to set the record straight, here’s a snippet (via SportsbyBrooks):
“I was lying the whole time and the crazy thing is people loved me for it. What I really wanted to say is, ‘I shot heroin last night and smoked crack and watched eight hours of pornos.’
“I’m a fraud. … I’m skid row.“
I wish I could take credit for this headline about Raiders DT Tommy Kelly from yesterday’s game: “Laughably Overpaid DT Loses Pants, Shamefuly Overpaid QB Wins Game” (KissingSuzyKolber)
Chad Ochocinco and Brandon Marshall both paid tribute to the late Chris Henry during yesterday’s action. (The Sporting Blog)
After yesterday’s horrendous loss to the Falcons, Rex Ryan says the Jets won’t make the playoffs. They may not be mathematically eliminated yet, but Rex is a realist. (NY Daily News)
Bart Scott is proud to be an expert trash talker, and he learned from the best. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Trash talk is great and all, but after yesterday’s fiasco the Jets may need lessons from Bret Hart about “the excellence of execution.” (NYT)
Yanks measuring interest in Wang around the league, and may match offers. Length could be an issue though. Too easy. (LoHud)
Reggie Corona could be the Yankees veteran answer at the utility position of Ramiro Pena struggles. (LoHud)
How did the Red Sox not know Lowell needed thumb surgery? My guess: they did. (Boston Globe)
Still interested in Tiger Woods? You probably shouldn’t be, but if you are, he’s on a yacht headed down South America way. (SportsbyBrooks)
Still not enough for you? Well photos have finally surfaced of Tiger getting the royal treatment at an Aruban Hooters. (SportsbyBrooks)
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If you have any links you’d like to share with BLS for Nuts & Bolts or even an original post email them to me at john@bigleaguescrew.com
Tags: Bart Scott, chad ochocinco, chris henry, new york yankees, NFL, nuts, Nuts & Bolts, tiger woods
The site of the new Jets/Giants stadium courtesy of thejetsblog.com
Check out a whole bunch of pics of the new Meadowlands stadium. Someone must have posed as a potential season-ticker buyer. These pics are pretty good, so maybe I’ll cancel my trip there this weekend. (thejetsblog)
Jets QB Mark Sanchez is practicing/preparing as if he’ll start this week, but as of this morning there is still no official announcement on who the starter will be. (Jets Stream)
Charles Barkley pictured here on camera with one of Tiger’s ladies. Hmm. Sensing a trend here. (Bossip)
Hey, how about some good news for Tiger Woods. He was named the AP athlete of the decade. Most of the ballots were cast prior to Tiger’s recent scandal. (LA Times)
Former Dolphins cheerleader Jamie Edmondson is now Playboy magazine’s Miss January. (SportsbyBrooks)
Nats President Stan Kasten hosts Sports Talk, challenges Adam Dunn during interview. (TheSportingBlog)
A Japanese female knuckleballer, Eri Yoshida will pitch in Arizona this January. Tim Wakefield, you are officially on notice. (Baseball Musings)
The Yankees may bring back Nick Johnson to fill Matsui’s DH role. (LoHud)
Landon Donovan elects not to test the European market and signs a 4 year extension to stay with the LA Galaxy. (TheBigLead)
The Penguins and Flyers game last night got a little wild had 3 fights take place. Check out this video of the best of the three. (WithLeather)
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If you have any links you’d like to share with BLS for Nuts & Bolts or even an original post email them to me at john@bigleaguescrew.com
Tags: mark sanchez, new york jets, Nuts & Bolts, tiger woods
Who among us could turn down advice from this man?
Ron Artest is a very interesting dude. Surprisingly, his advice for Tiger Woods is possibly the most sensible thing I have read about this whole frenzy since it began Thanksgiving weekend. His main point is, “I can tell you are a stand-up guy. Please remember only Jesus is perfect.” I can’t necessarily vouch for Ron Artest’s judgment of character, but his point is that Tiger is human, and made a mistake that unfortunately a lot of people make. And Ron Artest knows a thing or two (or three) about mistakes. (LA Daily News)
Johnny Damon is ready to explore other options in free agency. He states that once Jason Bay is signed, it’ll open up a door for him. Could the Mets be interested in him as a fall back? (NY Post)
Jose Reyes claims that he will be ready for spring training after hamstring surgery this winter. I’ll believe it when I see it. (NY Post)
Hey, speaking of Jose Reyes. Dr. Anthony Galea, the doctor under investigation for treating Tiger Woods and other prominent athletes also treated Reyes. Uh-oh? (NYT)
John Harper of the Daily News speculates that the Mets conservative “wait-and-see” approach this winter may be related to the absence of the fired Tony Bernazard. (NY Daily News)
Broncos players Chris Simms and Javon Walker have also been linked to Dr. Galea. (Denver Post)
CBS has formally agreed to air its second “Strikeforce” MMA event in April. Could be a ratings monster. (Sherdog)
European soccer’s governing body has suspended top referee, Anton Genov, while it investigates him for allegedly helping to fix an international match in a betting coup. Ladies and gentlemen, we finally have the Tim Donaghy of Europe. (Washington Post)
Do something nice for the needy (and yourself) this holiday season. The Yankees are offering two grandstand tickets to anyone who donates 30 lbs of non-perishable food at their annual food drive on Thursday. (NY Daily News)
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If you have any links you’d like to share with BLS for Nuts & Bolts or even an original post email them to me at john@bigleaguescrew.com
Tags: new york mets, new york yankees, Nuts & Bolts, ron artest, tiger woods
Rachel Uchitel AKA Tiger’s #1 Mistress has been all over the news lately. First, it broke that she was “seeing” Tiger Woods and had been in Australia at the same time. Then, she went on a campaign to clear her name claiming she’d never hooked up with the world’s best golfer.
Fast forward a week and now she’s eating up the exposure. You may have seen her exclusive interview with the New York Post where she said the woman who sold the story to the Enquirer was a prostitute. Classy. Now, she even has paparazzi tailing her in New York City.
Looking at the pictures, I almost assume that there’s just one photographer and he probably arranges meetings to take these photos. Hell, Uchitel might even be getting a piece of that action. Because if you haven’t noticed, she’s always in tights and done up for the camera. I also like the picture where she’s jogging with a paper in her hand. Chance of being staged: 90%.
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“Wild Thing” golfer John Daly has lost 115 pounds. He told the press that in the movie about his life, he’d like Kevin James to play his fat self, and Matt Damon to play his new slimmed down self. I’ll tell you this much, John Daly never ceases to entertain the hell out of me. (Huffington Post)
Daly has also spoken out against the media and other golfers for their comments surrounding Woods. “He will get through it. I’m not too happy with what some of the players have said about him. Theoretically if you think about it, it’s because of Tiger that we’re playing for so much money…” (Press Association)
Elin Nordegren’s mother is in stable condition after being hospitalized early Tuesday morning. (Extra)
Tiger certainly has a type. Porn star Joslyn James has been named at mistress #11 for Tiger. It just dawned on me that maybe Tiger is trying to have as many mistresses as major championships. (FoxNews)
Bryant Gumbel is being treated for a malignant tumor in his lung. Maybe he can bore it to death. (People)
The Houston Rockets’ starting center, 6′6″ Chuck Hayes is the smallest center in NBA history. (FanHouse)
Peter Gammons has left ESPN for the MLB Network and NESN. At last, he can now openly root for the Sox. (Boston Herald)
Ownership changes in the Texas Rangers organization could lead to Team President Nolan Ryan stepping down. (Star-Telegram)
Jerry Jones will meet with promoters today in Dallas to discuss hosting the March 13 Mayweather-Pacquiao megafight at the Cowboys new billion dollar facility. (Philly.com)
Jessica Simpson truly has a strange taste in men. It is reported that she is now officially dating Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan and is “smitten”. (E!)
The KC Chiefs need to sell 3,500 tickets before Sunday’s game to avoid the first TV blackout in over 20 years. (KC Star)
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If you have any links you’d like to share with BLS for Nuts & Bolts or even an original post email them to me at john@bigleaguescrew.com
Tags: floyd mayweather, jerry jones, jessica simpson, john daly, manny pacquiao, Nuts & Bolts, tiger woods
Tiger Woods is contemplating an Oprah Winfrey show couch confession. Should it go down, I bet says Oprah “wears him out”. (SportsbyBrooks)
The BCS fails to give the fans what they deserve and sends TCU to a Fiesta Bowl match-up against Boise State. A repeat of last year’s Poinsetta Bowl. Going undefeated rules! (Dr. Saturday)
Andy Pettitte has turned down the Yankees 1 -year $10 million offer. Sides are expected to eventually agree to a deal though. (NY Post)
The Red Sox are looking to lock up Victor Martinez to a long-term deal at some point this offseason. (Providence Journal)
The Rays and Cubs are discussing a potential swap of Milton Bradley and Pat Burrell, but money is an issue. (St. Petersburg Times)
Kansas City Royals sign Cuban free agent Noel Arguelles to a $7 million contract. He projects as a “good Francisco Liriano”. I wonder what that means. (Baseball America)
So I was actually at the Knicks game yesterday afternoon. The crowd chanted “We want Nate” at two different times. I know I was one of the VERY few chanting back “no we don’t!” but George Willis from the Post points out that the Knicks are 0-9 when Robinson plays over 19 minutes, and are 6-6 when he plays fewer or not at all. All I can say to that is, “hmmmmm…”. (NY Post)
Raptors Guard Jarrett Jack has unintentionally embarrassed the hell out of the Chicago Bulls. With the clock running, Jack stopped, picked up the ball and proceeded to tie his untied shoelace. Meanwhile, the 5 Bulls on the floor never even considered to knock the ball away. Way to go, fellas. Not even the Nets have accomplished that. (Ball Don’t Lie)
Disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy based his bets on other ref’s biases. Seriously, when is the mob going to kill this guy? (ESPN)
Former NFL player Freddie “Fred-Ex” Mitchell has been arrested for failing to pay child support. (PFT)
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If you have any links you’d like to share with BLS for Nuts & Bolts or even an original post email them to me at john@bigleaguescrew.com
Tags: bcs, ncaa football, new york knicks, Nuts & Bolts, oprah, tiger woods
