Two former members of the University of KansasBasketball team, Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were both thrown out of the NBA’s Rookie Transition program for having marijuana and women in their rooms according to ESPN. Coming off a National Championship, each of the two were both expected to be high to mid-first round picks in the NBA Draft, and each of them slide, Arthur to #27 and Chalmers all the way into the second round. Maybe the NBA executives knew alittle bit more about these two then they Draft analysts did. Kansas coach Bill Self must love the example his two former players are setting in the NBA:
March Madness heroes Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were thrown out of the NBA’s rookie transition program on Wednesday morning after being caught in their hotel room with marijuana and women, according to several sources.
“The players were sent home for violating program rules,” NBA spokesman Tim Frank said. “They will be appropriately sanctioned and will have to repeat the program next year.”
Sources said Chalmers and Arthur, who starred on the Kansas Jayhawks’ 2008 NCAA championship team, were also fined $20,000 apiece and could start the regular season on the suspended list. But NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre would not confirm that.
Former ESPN sportscaster turned Political TV star, Keith Olbermann thinks rather highly of himself. Olbermann, sent to cover the DNC was a bit upset about where he had to do his show from according to Page Six. Apparently, Dan Patrick’s best friend thinks that someone might want to assassinate him. Is assassinate the right word ? I think in order to be assassinated you must be of some level of high importance, and Olbermann certainly isn’t that. Ok, somebody wants to off the MSNBC/Yankee lover:
MSNBC’s increasingly paranoid Keith Olbermann is threatening to quit unless his bosses beef up his security, sources say.
Olbermann - upset to be anchoring at the Democratic National Convention from an outdoor set near Denver’s train station - “announced that his bosses [had] better find a more secure location for him to broadcast from at the Republican National Convention [in St. Paul, Minn.] or he’s not going,” one insider said. “He thinks someone will assassinate him.” MSNBC had no comment
Even before he left New York, the biggest mouth at MSNBC was worried about his safety. When a car was late to take him to the airport, Olbermann threatened via e-mail to stay home, another insider told Page Six. The blowhard whined to producers, “I could have been attacked on the street.”
The nation’s leader in sports, ESPN scored a big victory in court on Friday according to the NY Daily News. Two of the networks prominent talent and I use that lightly, Woody Paige and Jay Crawford were both charged with sexual harassment charges, from Rita Ragone after she was fired from her stylist job in 2006. The case was thrown out for get this, Ragone supposedly signed a letter that said “sexual harassment claims to an arbitrator when she was hired by the show”. I guess, since the Harold Reynold and Sean Salisbury incidents, and not to mention Chris Berman, I guess sexual harassment is all to common at ESPN:
Two former stars of ESPN’s defunct morning show “Cold Pizza” won’t have to answer a makeup artist’s sexual harassment claims in Manhattan Federal Court.
Judge John Koeltl tossed out a lawsuit Friday filed by makeup artist Rita Ragone, who accused host Jay Crawford and sportswriter Woody Paige of groping and propositioning her.
Koeltl ruled Ragone had agreed to take any sexual harassment claims to an arbitrator when she was hired by the show in 2005.
Ragone maintained she never signed anything and that the signature on the agreement was forged. An ESPN handwriting expert disagreed.
Ragone, who calls herself the “Stylist to the Stars,” claimed she was canned in 2006 after complaining to ESPN execs about locker room talk on the set.
This is what ESPN big mouth Steven A. Smith thinks. He also goes as far as to get stats saying that 93% of all Fantasy Football Commissioners are white, how did they get that number? I don’t think that is a question they ask the commish when you start a league, Is it? Anyway, I think he is a shitbag for even bringing race into a game where friends play as GM’s and get a chance win some money and bragging rights, what a douche. If you do not like Fantasy Football don’t play it and don’t bring the race card in it either. Another ESPN loud mouth Skip Bayless hates Fantasy Football but he never said it was racist and didn’t throw out shit statistics to prove it either. Steven A. Smith should stick with basketball and his shit show Quite Frankly if its still on the air. What a Jack Ass, Steven A. stick to stuffing your face with Chettos and stop calling fantasy player racist, cause I bet your boss plays too.
Perhaps the most hated columnist in the country might be on his way to Boston. Former Chicago Sun- Times writer, and current panelist on ESPN’s ”Around The Horn“, Jay Mariotti may end up going from the Windy City to Beantown according to Phil Rosenthal:
One rumor on which Mariotti would not comment had him bound for Boston and an array of multimedia opportunities. How he would find flaws in a city with defending champs in basketball and baseball is anyone’s guess.
Ozzie Guillen’s favorite sports reporter Jay Mariotti has decided to leave the Chicago Sun-Times after 17-years to go into writing for “websites”. Mariotti is Chicago’s version of Dan Shaughnessy, except Mariotti is even hated more than “Shank”. The former Sun-Times columnist has had his fair share of run-ins with the White Sox manager. Also, the ESPN panelist of “Around the Horn” has even asked for security when reporters from his own newspaper ask to talk to him. The Chicago Tribune writes:
Just back from Beijing, where he covered the Olympics, Mariotti said in a phone interview that he decided to quit after it became clear while in China that sports journalism had become “entirely a Web site business. There were not many newspapers there.” He added that most of the journalists covering the Games were “there writing for Web sites.”
Mariotti, whose public battles with fellow staffers, team owners, managers, coaches and rival columnists are legendary, didn’t disclose any specific plans except to say he will continue doing his regular stint on ESPN’s “Around the Horn.”
He said he “is talking with a lot of Web sites” and added that the future of his business “sadly is not in newspapers.”
The highly paid Mariotti quits after signing a well-publicized three-year contract extension in June. At the time, Cooke said Mariotti was a “focal point” of the Sun-Times sports section and praised his “pull no punches” approach.
College Football starts this Thursday with NC State at South Carolina on ESPN at 8:00.
Here is the AP top 25:
1
Georgia (22)
2
Ohio State (21)
3
USC (12)
4
Oklahoma (4)
5
Florida (6)
6
Missouri
7
LSU
8
West Virginia
9
Clemson
10
Auburn
11
Texas
12
Texas Tech
13
Wisconsin
14
Kansas
15
Arizona State
16
Brigham Young
17
Virginia Tech
18
Tennessee
19
South Florida
20
Illinois
21
Oregon
22
Penn State
23
Wake Forest
24
Alabama
25
Pittsburgh
The SEC is the best division college football with 4 teams in the top 10 and 6 teams in the top 25. The winner of the SEC title game will most likely win the National Title, I will go with Florida winning it all, too much talent and speed. I see Alabama being the black horse of the division with Saban and a good recruiting class it can only get better.
The Big 12 is the second best conference with Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri. Oklahoma should beat Missouri again in a rematch of the Big 12 Championship game, I also think Nebraska will be much improved with Bo Pellini bringing back the black shirts in Lincoln.
The Big Ten is the third best conference with, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Illinois much improved. I do not see any team really put up a fight against the Buckeyes, they should win the Big Ten rather handily. They have a good running game with Beanie Wells, a great defense and solid coaching, and top recruit in Pryor. Michigan is rebuilding and putting in a new offense, and Penn St. always flops some how.
The Pac 10 Is terrible but its better than the ACC because of USC. There is no real competition for the Trojans other than ASU. The only game the Trojans lose will be against the Buckeyes. I see the Trojans winning the Pac 10 and winnng the Rose Bowl.
The ACC is getting better with the Hokies solid defense and Clemson running attack of CJ Spiller and Anthony Davis, Florida State and Miami should get better. Wake Forest is becoming a solid contender for the ACC as well.
Then there is The Big East, well Rutgers, South Florida, and West Virginia.South Florida should win it because they didn’t lose much to the draft and have most of the starters coming back especially with QB Matt Grothje. West Virginia has the talent but a new coach they will be good but not good enough.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama, and his fierce allegiance to the Chicago White Sox may have possibly cost him the state of Illinois in the upcoming election. The President-elect hopeful, calls fans of the Cubs “fair weather fans” a certain no no in the Chicago area. Even though he is probably right. I’ll give to Obama, he certainly isn’t afraid too say things that may possibly harm his candidacy. Even though he is a White Sox fan, it can’t harm him that much. In fact in the eyes of this blogger it makes him even more likable. More of his interview with ESPN’s Stuart Scott can be seen at Awful Announcing.com:
Scott: “If the Cubs and the White Sox both make it to the World Series? Obama: “I would be going.” Scott: “Who would you root for? Obama: “Oh, that’s easy. White Sox. I’m not one of these fair weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren’t watching the game. It’s not serious. White Sox, that’s baseball. Southside.”
