By now, you've probably heard about New York Giants wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, stupidly shooting himself in a New York nightclub this weekend. Not surprisingly, the Giants announced today that they're placing Plax on the reserve non-football injury list, which means he won't be back for the postseason, either.
This move comes a day after the wide receiver was charged with illegal weapons possession, for which he could receive between 3 and 1/2 to 15 years in prison if convicted. Burress is due back in court March 31, unless he reaches a plea agreement.
Burress shot himself in the right thigh in the VIP section of the nightclub about 1 a.m. Saturday, police said. He did not have a permit to carry a handgun in New York.
A witness reported hearing a popping sound before Burress' legs began to shake, according to a criminal complaint. It said the person saw a bloody pistol fall out of his pant leg and land on the floor before Burress said, "Take me to a hospital."
Police in Clifton, N.J., said Smith was robbed at gunpoint in the early hours of Nov. 25. The second-year receiver had returned to his townhouse in a chauffer-driven car when he was approached from behind by man who held a gun to his head, Clifton police Capt. Robert Rowan said. Smith turned over his jewelry and money and cell phone, the captai said, and the man is still being sought, he said.
Well...if Burress is out, I guess it's a good thing nothing happened to Steve Smith. Maybe if Smith had a gun, no one woulda messed with him, haaaa. Actually, I shouldn't joke about that. I don't want anything to screw up the tear the Giants are on right now.
And you should probably bet on the Jets, not due to the plague of injuries the Patriots have faced this season, but because Princess the camel says so.
Princess, from Lacey Township, NJ, has correctly identified winners in each of this year's NFL weeks, standing at an impressive 10-0 going into tonight's game. Geez, I should call Popcorn Park Zoo for my Survivor Pool pick this week, no?
The owner of the zoo, John Bergmann, chooses a game at random each week and writes each team's name on each of his hands. He puts a graham cracker in both hands and whichever hand Princess eats out of it is her "pick" for the week. This week? It's the J-E-T-S: Jets! Jets! Jets!
The 2,600-pound Bactrian camel had a winning percentage of .647 last year, correctly calling 11 out of 17 games. She also reportedly predicted the Giants would defeat the Patriots in last year's Super Bowl showdown. Smart camel.
I'm sure now that I'm writing about Princess and her accuracy, the Jets will get squashed, Brett Favre will break his leg and the stadium will somehow catch fire (because that's just how my luck has been going these days), but hey, who doesn't love a football-game-winner-picking camel?
I probably wouldn't be writing about some playmate and a football player, but Girl Next Door Kendra Wilkinson has become quite the local celebrity in my town lately now that she's been dating Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett. Apparently the two really enjoy hitting up the Redstone in my town.
The 23-year-old Wilkinson and the 26-year-old Baskett are now officially engaged, sources say. Not only am I happy for them, but this gives me a chance to post my pictures of Hank buying my friends and me shots last summer at McFadden's in Philly. My friends think it's funny that one of our female friends (who shall remain nameless) was repeatedly hit on by Hank that night, but she turned him down; they then deduced that that would make her more unattainable than a Playboy Playmate. Good for her!
Baskett reportedly proposed to Kendra --on one knee-- at the Space Needle in Seattle last weekend. The Eagles were away playing the Seahawks Sunday. Both families were on hand for the proposal.
Hugh Hefner, who was recently ditched by all three of his Girls Next Door, released a statement Saturday, saying that Kendra had found "someone she would like to spend the rest of her life with." He said that he would give her away in a special wedding ceremony at the Mansion in June.
Hef's other former-gf, Holly Madison, has been dating “Mindfreak” illusionist Criss Angel, but I don't think the 82-year-old minds too much: He's "dating" a pair of 19-year-old twins, Karissa and Kristina Shannon. Good for him!
I'm currently smack-dab in the middle of another NFL Sunday, and while I'm pretty pleased with the results of games and my fantasy players' stats so far, I haven't seen anything like this yet...
Morgan State's Edwin Baptiste made a ridiculous one-handed catch on a pass from quarterback Carlton Jackson during this weekend's game against Winston-Salem State. The Bears defeated the Rams 21-7.
You should probably watch this more than once. And get another look at it on ESPN's E:60 this Tuesday at 6 p.m. Pretty sick.
[UPDATE] Big ups to New Jersey - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have been announced as the main halftime performance at the 2009 Super Bowl. The game will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday, Feb. 1 and air on NBC. The news came during halftime of tonight's Eagles/Bears game on NBC.
Good thing tonight's half-hour of "The Hills" coincided with halftime of the Cowboys/Eagles game, or else I would have been mad I missed an exciting football game for a pretty pathetic episode.
As the promos promised, Holly spends some time with her sister's sworn enemy after Heidi and (of course) Spencer express some dissatisfaction with the whole situation. Lauren's skeptical about spending more time with Holly because she doesn't want to cause more problems like she did while hanging out with Spencer's sister.
Back in the Hills' house, things are suddenly rainbows and sunshine with Lauren, Lo and Audrina - I'm sure all that prior drama wasn't scripted at all. The girls head out to Audrina's work function, which -- um, Audrina works? I guess they needed to switch up the scenery a bit; splicing subtitles over dark nightclub scenes probably got a bit old for the production crew.
Justin Bobby bails. Audrina complains about how he doesn't show her he cares. This all is soooo last season. Moving on...
Heidi has lunch with her co-worker and we get a glipse of creative editing at its finest: While Heidi is reminiscing about her friendship with Lauren, LC is simultaneously admitting to Stephanie that she misses being with Heidi because, well, predictably, "You always miss a best friend."
Tonight's ep was a yawn-fest in my opinion, but it seems like stuff's gonna hit the fan next week when Lauren travels to Italy, leaving Stephanie the opportunity to move in on Doug. I guess when the Cheshire Cat's away, the former drug addicts will play.
The next round of my 'Hills' drinking game:
Every time you hear, "three musketeers" or "best friend."
After every mention of an artist you've never heard of and their new music you don't care about.
During any mention of nipple piercings.
Whenever Holly is bland (pace yourself).
Whenever you almost wish Spencer was in the episode more because these broads are putting you to sleep.
I had a good laugh at work today: There are four of us reporters that sit together--Anthony and I are often talking about the latest in sports, while Stef and Geoff like to scoff at our pitching matchup discussions and fantasy football gripes.
Amidst today's weekend wrapup discussion, Stef (who had never been to a professional sporting event until two weeks ago) says, "The only thing I care about in football is Tom Brady... because he's hot."
Well, I hate to break it to ya, Stef -- and New England fans -- but your golden boy's season is dunzo.
The team announced today that Brady, who suffered a left knee injury in the first quarter of yesterday's opener, will need surgery. The exact injury hasn't been disclosed yet, but all signs point to a torn ACL.
"It will all be OK. I’m excited to see what our team is made of … I still like our chances." - Tom Brady, in an e-mail to NBCSports.com.
Matt Cassel stepped in Sunday and guided the team to victory, and he will start Sunday versus New York Jets. A friend of mine last week told me he was stoked about the upcoming Favre v. Brady matchup he had tickets to, mmm...not so much.
Brady brought the team to three NFL titles since 2001 and led them to a perfect 18-0 record in the regular season last year before one GIANT loss in the greatest Super Bowl to ever have been played (I'm a bit biased).
The Patriots should take a page out of Ocho Cinco's English-to-Spanish book and say adios to the Bowl de Super.
If you're like me, you've spent your entire day watching the first Sunday of the NFL season... and that means you've probably seen the commercial for FOX's new game show, "Hole in the Wall."
But if you haven't, you need to watch the clip below. Ignore the urge to condescend simplistic and slapstick humor -- people being smacked by a moving wall in an attempt to win money is funny.
FOX may not be leading its fall lineup with the best programming, but it's certainly got my attention!
Contestants contort their bodies to fit through holes in a moving wall. If they are unsuccessful, as it appears many of them will be, they get knocked into a pool. The winning team receives $25,000 and gets to take on the Blind Wall (seemingly even more impossible than the regulation round) for a chance at an additional $100,000. The show, which will air a sneek peak at 8 p.m. tonight, is taken from a popular Japanese television show, if that's any indication of what hilarity will ensue.
And if that's not enough to whet your viewing appetite, maybe the 300-pound woman attempting to fit through a figure skater-sized hole will.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Johnson is the second most popular surname (Smith is the first, FYI). And oddly enough, there is not one other person in the world with the Ocho Cinco moniker.
[UPDATE] CNBC's Darren Rovell is reporting that Chad is being forced to buy out the stock of the 100,000 remaining "C. Johnson" jerseys before making the switch to "Ocho Cinco" because the switch took place so close to the beginning of the season. If Reebok asked Ocho Cinco to pay for the cost of making the unsold jerseys, the total could reach upwards of $4 million.
The name -- Spanish for "eight five" -- refers to the star's jersey number 85. He directed media to refer to him as Ocho Cinco two years ago in a very memorable lockerroom interview. Gotta love the Chad...
Michael Phelps may be going for eight gold medals in Beijing this year, but that's not the Ocho I'm talking about...
On ESPN's Pardon the Interruption last night, Cincinnati Bengal's wide receiver Chad Johnson gave Wilbon and Kornheiser "five good minutes," which included an outright challenge to the seemingly untouchable Phelps. Check it out below (about 4 minutes in). Apparently we had no idea that Olympic talent is swimming rampant in the inner-cities.
Overall, Chad --otherwise known as Ocho Cinco by way of my favorite interview ever-- seemed pretty subdued during the interview, even during the awkward and heartwarming threat against quarterback Carson Palmer, who was standing behind him. On this morning's Sportscenter, a clip of him at training camp showed that he was being threatened with fines from management to talk to the media.
And while we're on the topic of Chad... Word on the street is that the wide receiver has taken the first steps to officially changing his last name from 'Johnson' to 'Ocho Cinco' to avoid getting improper jersey fines when he wears the incorrect Spanish translation of his number 85 on his back. He's a headcase, but I love him.
Breaking news: Brett Favre has finally found a home. The Green Bay Packers officially traded the record-setting, retired-unretired quarterback to the New York Jets in an overnight deal.
The trade is extremely conditional, i.e. if Brett takes 50 percent of snaps this season, the Packers get a fourth-round draft pick. The conditions grow increasingly favorable for the Packers the better Brett does: If Brett takes 80 percent of snaps and the Jets make it to the Super Bowl, the pick becomes a first-round pick.
New York Jets # 4 Brett Favre jerseys are already available.
I'd like to think that now that this trade has gone down, all of the FAVRE lines on the bottom of ESPN will go away, but we all know that's not going to happen.
Despite Hamilton's record-breaking performance, the title went to Twins' first baseman Justin Morneau. In total, Hamilton hit 35 homers, while Morneau hit 22 - which begs a re-examination of the way this shindig is run. Regardless, Hamilton's story of breaking records after breaking a drug addiction is the one fans will remember when looking back at the first--and last-- Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. (Betcha didn't hear them say that 17,000 times during the telecast!)
***
Hand-in-hand with the derby is last night's All Star Game, which admittedly I watched about three minutes of. The game apparently didn't get exciting until the end (15th inning), which was 4 hours and 5 minutes into the game (or 1:37 a.m. for those of you on the east coast).
Michael Young hit a game-ending sacrifice fly to give the American League a 4-3 victory over the National League (Justin Morneau pictured (left) sliding in to score the winning run). It was the longest All Star Game in major league history (time-wise; it tied the most innings played) and it was the 12th game in a row the American League remained unbeaten (11-0-1).
(Justin Morneau pictured (left) sliding in to score the winning run)
JD Drew was named the MVP after he hit a two-run home run in the seventh to tie the game 2-2. Both teams exhausted their lot of pitchers (11 for the NL and 12 for AL), bringing in aces to pitch innings they should not have been eligible to pitch. There's Uggla's multiple errors at second base; or Nate McLouth's one-hop throw to the plate in the 11th to keep the marathon alive; and AL manager Terry Francona's quote before the game, "Something will happen in this game that people will probably talk about for a long time," and him chugging Red Bulls in the dugout as the game moved into Wednesday morning.
A memorable game indeed --definitely worthy of being played in the House that Ruth Built-- but I think I'm okay with taking Sportscenter's condensed highlights of the game over a 2 a.m. bedtime.
***
And quickly...There may be evidence to prove that Roger Clemens lied under oath about knowingly taking steroids. Convicted steroid distributor Kirk Radomski handed over shipping receipts to federal investigators for a package of human growth hormone that he claims he sent to Roger Clemens' home in Texas in 2002 or 2003, according to The Daily News.
That's right. Brett "Still One of the Best Ass's in Spandex" Favre has announced he is retiring from the NFL after breaking a number of records, including most career TD passes.
"I know I can still play, but it's like I told my wife, I'm just tired mentally. I'm just tired."--Brett Favre.
It's a shame that interception versus the Giants in OT will haunt him for the rest of his life, haaaa.
Brett retires with 5,377 career completions in 8,758 attempts for 61,655 yards, 442 touchdowns and 288 interceptions.
Is he definitely, 100% gone for good? I guess we'll see when the season gets closer. And if he is, thoughts about the Hall of Fame? If nothing else, people will forever cite the following play as Brett Favre's ability, even as he approached age 40. (Sorry the quality is poor.)
The Giants may have stunned the world by beating the Patriots in this year's Super Bowl, but the children of Nicaragua don't care, because we all win when one team loses.
*Note: This is the first of two posts regarding the Super Bowl. This is just about the game. More about commercials, segments and specials to come tomorrow. Stay tuned!
"Offense wins games; defense wins championships," and the New York defense held the New England "dynasty" to just one touchdown until the last three minutes of the game. They also sacked, hurried and hit Tom Brady all game, forcing a less-than-perfect showing for the 'untouchable' quarterback and leaving the door open for Eli Manning to step up and lead his team to victory.
"That's a position you want to be in. You can't write a better script." - Eli Manning, Super Bowl XLII MVP
The first three quarters--close as the score was--paled in comparison to the last 15 minutes of the game. I'll do the play-by-play no justice, so check out this write-up, but when biggest Super Bowl upsets are discussed in years to come, no doubt you'll see the Eli "Houdini" Manning escape/insane off-the-helmet combo that came in the middle of a 12-play, 83-yard drive. Or the two consecutive long bombs Tom Brady let loose to Randy Moss that looked like they would be completely devastating to Giants fans (and Pats haters) everywhere. [when videos of the game are posted, I will most definitely be linking to them.]
The fate of the Patriots' perfect season on their shoulders. The pressure on Eli to live up to big bro Peyton and show some emotion. The 11-game on-the-road winning streak. Tom Coughlin's job on the line. The need to prove that the more you underestimate a team, the sweeter the win will be.
My emotions are getting the best of me here as I'm writing about this--almost as much as the teary-eyed Plaxico Burress in his post-game interview. But he doesn't deserve the same ridicule T.O. got a few weeks ago because Burress' presence in the end zone during the last minute of the game sealed the deal tonight.
There is an incredible amount to say about this game. And while it might have made for great bragging rights to say that the Giants blew the Pats out of the water 56-3 tonight, I wouldn't have changed a gut-wrenching, edge-of-my-seat, hands shaking, knot in my stomach moment for all the money in the world.
In the words of my brother, "This one's for Tiki."
The player would need to do the "flapping part" of the dance for at least three seconds. (And the $260,000 is what it would cost for three seconds of advertising time during the Super Bowl, with the going rate for a 30-second segment at $2.67 mill.)
But leave it to the NFL to not have a sense of humor. Spokesman Brian McCarthy said that players can celebrate as they normally would during the Super Bowl, but if anyone busts out that chicken dance, they will be subjected to fines.
He made some obscure American Idol reference to try to be funny, but really, don't you think they're getting just slightly bent out of shape over this? I mean come on, it's for charity. They're letting freaking Paula Abdul perform during half-time - they must be fans of charity.
Even though a Green Bay television station decided to have a little fun at Eli Manning's expense this weekend, I'm pretty sure he won't be crying like a baby...unlike some other football players we know.
Somebody should be the Jerk Store's best seller...
This is a feeble attempt to 'disrupt the player's comfort level'. If Manning doesn't do well today, it's not because he couldn't watch the episode where George gets sexually aroused by fruit--it's because it's freaking 3 degrees in Green Bay right now...and that's without the wind chill.
But at least Eli had the man himself - Jerry Seinfeld - in his corner. The comedian caught wind of the situation and offered Thursday to send Manning an entire Seinfeld DVD set and a partial set of Hogan's Heroes for inspiration.
Viewers voted for the programming to air instead of Seinfeld: Of about 3,700 votes cast, some 60 percent were for a 30-minute special about former Packers coach Vince Lombardi called "God, Family and the Green Bay Packers," according to the Associated Press.
The game is on at 6:30 tonight. "The loser gets fired. The winner gets a Water Pik." Go Giants!
For my friend Dave, I'll say, "And they thought Philadelphia fans were bad..."
A story has emerged out of a Portage, Wisc. in which a boy who refused to wear a Green Bay Packers jersey during Saturday's playoff game had the shirt taped to his body by his father. According to police, Mathew Kowald, 36, held his 7-year-old son down for an hour to make him wear that jersey.
Kowald was taken to county jail after being cited for disorderly conduct and released yesterday after paying a $186 fine.
When contacted by a local paper, the man said the incident started as a joke. He said his son challenged him, saying he wouldn't root for the Packers. Kowald claimed that when he restrained his son and started taping him, the boy was laughing and taking it as a joke...until the boy felt like he couldn't get out and got scared.
The man's wife was the one who called authorities during the incident and took pictures with her cell phone as evidence. She filed a restraining order against Kowald and he will no longer be allowed to have contact with his family. Sounds a little fishy to me...
Unfortunately, the Patriots remained perfect, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars and advancing to next weekend's conference championship game.
But in better news... How 'bout them Giants?? Eli Manning, whom I thought was totally due for a catastrophic week after two impressive showings, somehow pulled it together and led the G-men to victory versus the favored Dallas Cowboys, 21-17.
The most buzzworthy news, however, came after the game when everyone's favorite a-hole wide receiver Terrell Owens cried like a baby over the inevitable media slaughtering of Tony Romo, saying with black glasses hiding his tear-filled eyes: "He's my teammate. He's my quarterback." Whaa, whaa. This is the same guy who blasted Eagles' quarterback Donovan Mcnabb every Sunday when he was in Philadelphia, fighting with Hugh Douglas in the locker room and doing sit-ups on his lawn? Suddenly, he's found God and decides to back his headcase of a QB?
Oh well, not like we'll be seeing him again this season, haaaahaaaaa. And for another good laugh, check out the clip.
So it's Giants v. Packers, Patriots v. San Diego (who upset the Colts 28-24 yesterday).\
Other than the winning record, tonight marked a number of other records for the team: Brady beat Peyton Manning's mark of 49 touchdown passes by throwing two to Moss, landing him at 50 for the season. Moss broke Jerry Rice's record of 22 TD receptions, and the Pats finished with 589 points for the season, a single-season record.
Good job, Pats. I'm sure your cheating ways had nothing to do with your perfect season.
Seeing a potentially perfect season for the New England Patriots from weeks away, football fans without the NFL Network were getting antsy this week thinking they would miss history in the making.
"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans. What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever." - Roger Goodell
The league had previously been criticized by football fans without the network--about 60 percent of viewers--especially after an exciting Green Bay/Dallas game last month.
Last week, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. wrote a letter to Goodell threatening to reconsider the league's antitrust exemption, and commended the commissioner on his actions.
This will be the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of any kind of an NFL game since the first Super Bowl in 1967, when CBS and NBC both televised the event.
Now of course, being able to watch history happen Saturday night won't matter because the Giants are so totally going to beat up on New England (no hate messages, it's just wishful thinking...), but it's nice to see some higher ups looking out for us common folk who love us some foozball.
By now, you've probably heard about New York Giants wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, stupidly shooting himself in a New York nightclub this weekend. Not surprisingly, the Giants announced today that they're placing Plax on the reserve non-football injury list, which means he won't be back for the postseason, either.
A witness reported hearing a popping sound before Burress' legs began to shake, according to a criminal complaint. It said the person saw a bloody pistol fall out of his pant leg and land on the floor before Burress said, "Take me to a hospital."
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