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TOP STORIES - APRIL 9, 2009 2009 PRE-SEASON RANKINGS ARE OUT!!! Top 40 drivers ranked for NASCAR 2009... IT'S HERE - 2009 KAC FANTASY BASEBALL (OVER 500 PLAYERS PROFILED!!!): CATCHERS | FIRST BASEMEN | SECOND BASEMEN | THIRD BASE | SHORTSTOPS | OUTFIELD (AL) | OUTFIELD (NL) | STARTING PITCHERS (AL) | STARTING PITCHERS (NL) | RELIEF PITCHERS ANGELS ROOKIE NICK ADENHART KILLED IN CAR CRASH: Pitcher and two other people were killed early Thursday when a minivan ran a red light and struck their sports car which ended up going into a light pole, a fourth person who was in the sports car is in critical condition. The minivan driver attempted to flee the scene but was caught a short time later and is expected to be charged with felony hit-and-run. The 22-year old Adenhart had made his fourth career major league start against Oakland earlier in the evening, pitching six scoreless innings. Adenhart becomes the third fatality of an active MLB player during the season in recent years, joining Darryl Kile (heart condition, 2002) and Josh Hancock (car accident, 2007). The Angels are supposed to play the final game of their four-game series v. Oakland tonight, no word as of yet whether that game will be rescheduled.  FROM 4/8 GAME RECAP: From MLB.COM - 'What Adenhart accomplished shouldn't have been cast in the background (the Angels later lost the game), for it was a brilliant effort by a 22-year-old right-hander making his fourth Major League start. It was more than premium stuff - mid-90s fastball, big curve, darting changeup - from Adenhart. He showed his resolve, intelligence and adaptability in his season debut, repeatedly pitching out of jams across six scoreless innings.' The strong season debut came on the heels of a very strong spring training where it was said that Adenhart had improved tremendously. FORMER NBA CENTER FOUND DEAD IN BATHTUB: Marvin Webster dead at age 56 after being found in the bathtub in a downtown Tulsa hotel in which he was staying. Employees at the hotel had become concerned after not seeing the 7'1" former basketball player for several days. Webster played in 333 consecutive games before his NBA career was derailed by a case of hepatitis. Foul play is not suspected, and a spokesman says Webster's death was likely linked to coronary artery disease.MAN DIES AFTER FIGHT AT ANGEL STADIUM: Let's just say Opening Night didn't go so well in Major League Baseball as far as fan behavior is concerned. Besides the events in Toronto which led to an alcohol ban now comes word that a fan has died after a post-game fight following the Angels Opening Night game in Anaheim. According to witnesses the 27 year-old was engaged in a confrontation when a third person suckered punched from behind, with the victim falling and hitting his head on a concrete stairwell. It's about time to again ask the question on whether attending North American sporting events is still safe MORE ABOUT CONCRETE AND ANGEL STADIUM: 20 fans relocated to a dugout suite after a five-inch piece of concrete falls from an upper deck. Although Angel Stadium is 45 years old, the ballpark went through a major facelift during the late 1990's - the teams calls the event isolated and I don't know if I would confuse the venue with Wrigley Field - yet.SHATTERED BATS STILL SAFETY ISSUE IN MLB: Guarantee you Passan will be writing an article on this any day now, as early indications are that this problem may not have been alleviated much. Catcher Mike Redmond caught a broken bat shard in his shoulder (near his neck) during the Twins' opening game this week, and it's said another bat shattered in violent fashion in that same game. MLB cracked down on the dangerous maple bats in the off-season, reducing the number of manufacturers, who also had to take out much more insurance, and making the maple bats an easily identifiable two-tone color with markings and a different trademark location on the grain. Led by Barry Bonds during his record-breaking 73-home run season in 2001, hundreds of MLB players in recent years have gone with the maples bats simply because the ball flies farther off it, sort of like a corked or aluminum bat (let's call it what it is already). Washington's Ryan Zimmermann is among the players who have gone back to the more traditonal ash bat during the off-season, saying he doesn't want to be the one whose bat causes a very serious or even fatal injury to another player, umpire, or fan. OU DOESN'T PLAN ON SHAKING DOWN PARIS: Pretty much what I explained in my blog yesterday, Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione says that Courtney Paris need not knock herself out in her vow that she would pay back her tuition if the Sooners did not win the women's national basketball championship. Castiglione did say that down the road any monetary contribution made by Paris towards the university would be welcome, just as it would be for any other student-athlete.  DRY TUESDAY, ROGERS CENTRE ALCOHOL SALES SUSPENDED: One day after an opening-night incident where debris was hurled at Detroit outfielder Josh Anderson, the Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission orders a ban on alcohol for two Toronto Blue Jay games as well as a CFL game scheduled later this summer. The commission governs violations at the stadium just as it would at any other bar or restaurant. The first baseball game of the ban was set for tonight with the second being on April 21, in part because both dates offer $4 upper deck tickets. The action by the commission wasn't entirely for the events of last night, but for incidents that occurred during Skydome events dating back to 2007, including a CFL Grey Cup Championship game as well as pot and narcotics being smuggled into a AC/DC concert. The ban during Blue Jays games not only includes selling alcohol to fans in the stands, concession areas, or stadium restaurants, but the home and visiting clubhouses as well - many MLB teams have already banned beer in the clubhouse in recent years. When asked if the ban was justified, Josh Anderson responded 'That's good', adding 'These people can't handle it...' Besides the trash being hurled in the outfield, there were also a handful of fights reported in the stands during the game, and there were similar incidents in the upper deck during a cheap-ticket promotion last year.LANCE ARMSTRONG STILL BEING DOGGED BY DRUG-TESTERS: Cycling icon defending himself against suggestions he misbehaved during a recent drug test during training by French officials who showed up at Armstrong's house, with Armstrong saying that he did not try to evade a test in which, blood, urine AND hair samples were collected and later found to be negative. At question is a 20-minute delay where Armstrong says the tester agreed to let him shower while his assistants checked the tester's credentials. Although he has submitted to numerous tests over the years by sports doping authorities, Lance says he was unaware the French government and labs could also conduct tests on their own, and adds that he is sorry 'that they are disappointed that all the tests were negative. LANCE'S BIKE STOLEN!?!? Sacramento police have arrested two men on charges related to the theft of a bicycle belonging to Armstrong. Officers say that they have arrested a 39-year-old man on suspicion of stealing Armstrong’s Trek Livestrong 1274 and two other bikes from members of Team Astana. Another man was arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen property. It's said the bicycles from stolen from the back of a rental truck while Team Astana was in Sacramento during the winter for the Tour of California, and that Armstrong's time-trial bike was sold to the second suspect, who later turned it in to police.LINCE-DONE!!! Short day for reigning Cy Young winner, three innings, 78 pitches, only 44 for strikes...  IRL SEASON OFFICIALLY BEGINS - DANICA WRECKS: Of course it was the rook's fault, not hers - banging on the other driver's helmet as they walk away from the crash. And of course the Danica leaving IRL rumors are back in bloom - but to where, Formula 1 (chuckle), trying to stay in the top-35 in NASCAR (chuckle, chuckle). It's said that Versus re-airs the race Monday night at 10 PM Eastern.ANOTHER MICHELLE WIE DISASTER: There was high drama in the final round of the LPGA first major of the year at the old Dinah Shore Invitational as 23-year old Brittney 'Bam-Bam' Lincecome wins in dramatic fashion by scoring an eagle on the final hole after sticking her 210-yard approach shot (19 degree hybrid) to within a few feet, outlasting Kristie McPherson and Christie Kerr. And where was Michelle Wie in all of this??? Why she finished 25 shots back after shooting back-to-bak 81's. HAUNTING OF CONNECTICUT - IS JIM CALHOUN DONE??? In a testy post-game presser after the UConn Huskies were bounced out of the Final Four by Michigan State, Calhoun says he may get out of coaching because of 'some things thrown around for the last couple of weeks'. CALHOUN AND WOMEN'S COACH DON'T GET ALONG??? What's worse for Calhoun about not winning the title as well as the integrity of his program being questioned??? It's women's coach Geno Auriemma on the verge of his sixth national title as well as an undefeated season. Calhoun once referred to UConn's women's program as the world's 'largest nursing home'. UFC BOSS GOES ON EXPLETIVE-LADEN TIRADE!!! I thought this was merely one of the fighters in the promotion, but this turns out to be the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship who went off in this video blog (WARNING - NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!!). Apparently upset over what he considered an inaccurate column about credentials given in the sport - Dana White drops 35 F-bombs in about three minutes (they tell me par for the course for him) while also offending the mentally handicapped, women, and homosexuals. White first referred to the column as 'retarded' then went off on an anonymous quote in the writers column before finally referring to the female writer as a 'bitch'. White finally closes the piece comparing the anonymous source to someone who has his face blanked out and voice altered on TV before finally flipping the bird while delivering one final F-U towards the writer You think even Bud Selig would ever go anywhere close to there??? Congrats on angering a portion of your potential fan base and most importantly potential sponsors.TRADE WIND - CUTLER BLOWS INTO CHICAGO: After all of this, Cutler is still going to wear navy and orange - just that it won't be with Denver but at least all Jay has to do with his helmet now is change the decals. And for all of you that were worried about Brett Favre winding up in the NFC North, well Bus Cook (possibly with BF cheerleading in the background) has potentially pulled off something worse - as the disgruntled Cutler is traded to Chicago to the surprise of many observers who assumed other teams were in greater need and with the Washington Redskins reportedly eager to pull the trigger in the last 24 hours. The cost for the Bears is tremendously steep however, Kyle Orton heads to Denver - along with this years #1 pick (#18 overall), along with a third round pick AND next year's #1. Meanwhile reporters catch up to Cutler at a UFC card in Nashville (what, he stayed away from U.S. soccer's World Cup qualifier??), where he reportedly said that he NEVER WANTED OUT OF DENVER. This after putting all his properties on the markets and turning off his phones. At least Josh McDaniels and his GM save their hides for the moment with Orton and the bounty of draft picks. However, it is not a stretch to say that the Bears have just landed perhaps the best quarterback that franchise has seen in most fans' lifetimes. (Bobby Wade, Jack Concannon, Bobby Douglass, Vince Evans, Jim McMahon, Steve Fuller, Jim Harbaugh, Doug Flutie, Kordell Stewart, Orton, Rex Grossman, Brian Griese, Bob Avellini, Mike Phipps, P.T. Willis, Jim Miller, Cade McNown, Craig Krenzel - I'm sure I've left others out...) OTTAWA SENATORS STILL ALIVE: Talk about clinging to life. Going into April 2 action, Ottawa could still make the playoffs if they (a) win all of their games, (b) Montreal loses all of it's games in regulation, (c) Florida earns no more than one point in it's remaining games, and best of all (d) Buffalo has go this exact combination, two wins, three losses, and two overtime losses. If all of that happens, Ottawa would then win a three-team tie-breaker based on competition between the three teams over the course of the season. And the odds of all of this happening, a cool 50 million to two - you will win Powerball before this occurs. And I have breaking news, Montreal has an early 2-0 lead in their game - make it 500 million to two. Trust me, I think they're just signing the papers to get the organs harvested now. MEXICO AXES SOCCER COACH: I thought this was a done deal after getting waxed by the U.S. back in February, but it takes a 3-1 loss at Honduras for coach Sven-Goran Eriksson to get his walking papers. Mexico currently sits fourth in it's six team division in the final round of World Cup qualifying, but the teams chances are still very salvagable, the top three teams qualify, with the fourth-place squad qualifying for a play-in game against South America's fifth-place finisher (someone along the lines of Uruguay or Columbia). The former coach of Team England had won only one of it's last seven games with Mexico and had come under fire from the nation's fan base for using four naturalized citizens on his squad. Eriksson was Mexico's first foreign coach in 11 years.  REPORT - LONGTIME PA ANNOUNCER RETIRING FOR GOOD??? Reports out of New York say that legendary PA announcer Bob Sheppard (seen here in 2000) will not be resuming duties at the new Yankee Stadium this year, and that he has decided to retire for good - a report that was denied by his son. In the past, Sheppard has vehemently denied reports of his possible retirement. The 98-year old Sheppard was out of the press box all of last year while dealing with health problems, but did record the starting lineups for the old Stadium's last game. While Sheppard not returning may have been expected, what is surprising is that long-time backup Jim Hall (who is said to sound similar to Sheppard) will not be the permanent new PA announcer. It is said that Paul Olden will be in the press box for the Yankees two exhibition games this weekend and for the home opener - with no word on who the successor may be after that. Olden is best known for asking Tommy LaSorda a question during a 1970's post-game presser which led to an infamous blowup by the Dodgers manager. Jim Hall finally replaced Sheppard as the New York Giants PA announcer following the 2005 NFL season.NASCAR DRIVER JOINS RANKS OF THOSE INVOLVED IN STANFORD MESS: Jamie McMurray said to have five accounts connected to Stanford Financial frozen while the multi-billion dollar fraud investigation continues. Some of the funds in the accounts are said to be used to pay his employees and race team, according to a filing in federal court. According to the filing McMurray will likely have to file an extension on this year's income taxes because he does not have enough cash available otherwise. NASCAR NOT HAPPY WITH APRIL FOOL'S JOKE: What makes a great April Fool's joke is that it is actually believable and readers actually fall for it. A website on Wednesday reported that President Obama had ordered Chevrolet and Dodge to pull their funding out of NASCAR following the 2009 season. The website later pulled the gag story, but representatives from the manufacturers were not amused. But why did the joke create a buzz in the first place?? Because considering how Obama feels about those being helped out financially spending what could be argued as being unnecessary funds and guessing that Barack likes NASCAR about as much as bowling, Obama doing something like this for real is possible - although the backlash would be enormous.COP WHO THREATENED RYAN MOATS RESIGNS: The officer who pulled a gun on NFL player Ryan Moats and his wife during a traffic stop, threatening to 'screw' the couple while trying to get to the hospital where Mrs. Moats mother was dying, has resigned. The 25-year old officer's career-ending line while pulling a gun on Moats in the hospital parking lot was 'I can screw you over'. By the time the officer finally let the couple go on their way, 45-year old Jonetta Collinsworth has succumbed to breast cancer. DUSTIN JOHNSON FACES DUI RAP: After winning his second Tour event earlier this year at Pebble Beach, I noted the rocky high school years of rising PGA Tour star Dustin Johnson - where he was involved with a group that committed a burgarly where a gun was taken, with the group's leader eventually 'bullying' Dustin to by ammunition for the weapon which was later used in a murder. It was only recently that Johnson received a pardon from the State of South Carolina for his connection to the crimes, and after winning at Pebble Beach Johnson proclaimed that he now could not possibly see where he was back in 2001. Not so fast. Now comes word that Johnson was booked into a detention center after being suspected on DUI after his black SUV was pulled over. Now suddenly 2001 does not seem so long ago. Is Johnson on track to becoming the PGA's new 'bad boy'??? GILLESPIE RUNS OUT OF KENTUCKY RAIN: As expected, Billy Gillespie pink-slipped after team's exit from the NIT and losing 27 games in two years, which is nothing short than unacceptable in the Commonwealth. Problem for UK if you actually believe all the coachspeak is that all the 'usual suspects' (Billy Donovan, John Calipari) claim to have no interest in the job opening - right. Feel free to send your resume then. As Dick Vitale demonstrated on TV by throwing a couple of wadded up bills into the air, anyone can be had for a price. I think Calipari would be a great hire, if nothing else he spends 45 minutes on the treadmill every day, so he can easily outrun the media out of town if he gets axed after two years. If their two best players don't turn pro (don't hold your breath on it), Kentucky could return to contending status next year. ARE THESE LIONS NEW THREADS??? This is a supposed leak, complete with new script and modernized logo. Team colors remain the same with black still involved.  MCDANIELS SAYS HE'S STILL COMMITTED TO JAY CUTLER: At first glance this looks like a Raiders road jersey that Josh McDaniels in holding, or perhaps a Browns practice jersey. No, the NFL held a function yesterday with representatives from the eight original AFL teams revealing their throwback wardrobe choices for the upcoming season, and McDaniels apparently used the occasion by showing a Broncos 1960 throwback as if to indicate that everything will be smoothed out with Cutler by the time the season starts. McDaniels still vows that Cutler is still their quarterback, but he's not ruling out any options. All of this of course is going on while Cutler is busy trying to sell all his properties in the Denver area. Who wins this poker match??KYLE BUSCH STILL TAKING SHOTS AT DALE JR: Kyle has apparently taken the Fred Goldman tact of blasting someone without mentioning his name, as he has certainly not forgotten being taken out of the Daytona 500 by a crash that Earnhardt triggered. Says Kyle, 'I haven't really paid attention a whole lot to the souvenir sales. I really don't care about that stuff. I'm not out there to be #1 (in popularity). We all know who No. 1 is and forever will be. I go out there to win races to be #1 on the racetrack. I don't think I would enjoy having the most fans. I actually like the way I am, the role I portray. There's probably too much pressure on one guy's shoulders who doesn't seem to win very often.' The story also notes Kyle snickering over his car radio after the #88 got the Lucky Dog pass twice during the Bristol race, I'm guessing that Junior has gotten the Lucky Dog (or the not quite good enough to stay on the lead lap) pass more than anyone in NASCAR. UCONN BASKETBALL BUSTED IN REPORT??? Yahoo loves to time these blockbuster stories just right - right on the eve of the Sweet Sixteen and coach Jim Calhoun battling health problems. This potential firestorm involves the recruitment of a talented but troubled recruit named Nate Miles - with the report saying that Miles got excessive perks, and was represented by an agent who also had connections with the UConn program. The report has coach Jim Calhoun and his assistants making upwards to 1,500 phone calls/text messages during the courtship. Miles eventually signed with UConn, but was soon kicked out of school and is currently attending a junior college in Idaho. There may or may not be anything coming of this, and actually I'm still waiting for the NCAA to come down on USC for the dirt Yahoo supposedly uncovered on Reggie Bush a few years back - as Calhoun himself would say 'COME BACK TO ME WHEN YOU GET SOME FACTS!!!' |
