LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GOING TO SEE A SHORTENED NFL SEASON, MENDENHALL SETS OF A FIRESTORM & J.J. GETS STOOD UP BY DEZ
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis has agreed to an expedited hearing on the NFL's appeal of Judge Susan Nelson's decision to overturn the lockout. Unfortunately, the court's definition of "expedited" differs my own. The league was granted a hearing June 3rd. Each side will be given 30-minutes to put forth their arguments. Then the judges will take anywhere from 3 to 45 days to render a decision. If the players lose, look for another appeal, if the owners lose, they'd better just lick their wounds, get back to the bargaining table & strike a deal before more damage occurs. At any rate, it looks to me training camp will be delayed, which could delay the start of the regular season. That in turn could shorten the season. I'm sure that makes everybody happy.
The NCAA is currently reviewing a number of infractions within the Boise State football program. Everyone of them is considered a secondary infraction, meaning the school had nothing to do with them. The secondary infractions are related to current players buying cokes for recruits or allowing them to sleep on a player's sofa or given a ride to somewhere on campus. These violations ranged in price from $2.37 to just over $400. Really? Two-dollars & thirty-seven cents? Really? I find it absolutely friggin' amazing the NCAA, in all their righteous wisdom, can receive & adjudicate 63 different alleged violations by Boise State in almost record time, but Ohio State won't even have their NCAA hearing until fall & a final decision on the future of Buckeye coach Jim Tressell won't be made by the sanctioning body until late January. I'm just sayin'.
Two great quotes from the NFL Draft:
Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said after the Cardinals drafted Texas OLB/DE Sam Acho "We are petitioning the NFL to let Sam wear #5 so he can be Sam Acho Cinco." Very clever Ken.
Charger GM A.J. Smith said when he was bombarded by questions about the viability of their 2nd round pick, Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton "I'm told I can't find one person who thought our linebacker Jonas Mouton we took in the 2nd round wasn't a 5th or 6th round guy. Well I found one, me." For the record I said Mouton was a 3-4 round reach in my draft recap Sunday.
ESPN's Sal Palantonio sent Mike & Mike an email early Monday morning as I was watching the show, I thought it was brilliant.
"Now that bin Laden is dead, the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 is going to be a day of somber reflection. The NFL better make sure there is football that day. It will be an unsettling example of greed & selfishness if there are no games." Absolutely right on Sal!
Steeler running back Rashard Mendenhall took to Twitter last night, yes the scourge of the social networks, & has created enough of a firestorm Art Rooney II, team president, had to issue a statement in response. Mendenhall said yesterday in a pair of Tweets "It's sad to celebrate the death of another person, how do we know what they're saying about bin Laden is true, how can you hate someone you've never heard speak." His second Tweet was "We're only hearing one side of the story & I still don't understand how a plane can bring down a big skyscraper demolition style." Once again we're dealing with a freedom of speech issue, agree or disagree with Mendenhall. But when you're celebrity or an athlete in the spotlight, be prepared for the backlash when you make statements like this. You fall into the Charlie Sheen, Rosie O'Donnell category of social relevance. Rooney issued a statement praising "our courageous military, president & all the first responders on 9/11." Mendenhall deleted the Tweets tonight. Rooney also said "I cannot understand or comprehend Rashard's comments." If Mendenhall hasn't figured out by today just how unpopular those remarks are, I'm sure Mr. Rooney will make it clear to him, whenever the time comes they're allowed to speak to each other.
The UFL had their draft last night, composed totally of players not lucky enough to be drafted last week. There were 52 players selected in all. The #39 selection, Kentucky running back Derrick Locke tweeted his thoughts on being a UFL draftee, "I ain't going to that sh*t." Concise & to the point, I'm guessing Locke is more interested in being signed by an NFL team after the lockout is lifted.
The players & owners had a two-day window after the lockout was lifted & before it was back on, minutes after the draft concluded. in that brief period of about 30 hours, a few of the drafted players were issued playbooks, met with coaches & toured the facilities. others weren't so lucky. One current NFL player, Cowboy wideout Dez Bryant, was supposed to meet team owner Jerry Jones for an extended lunch on Friday so that Jones could discuss Bryant's current legal & financial issues. Bryant just settled a lawsuit brought by a custom jeweler for $247,000 & he has two others on the docket, one for over $450,000, also with a jeweler & one for $27,000, brought by a former landlord who claimed Bryant never paid a dime of rent. Dez did something he could really regret, he stiffed the boss, stood him up, no call, no show. The part of this that chaps my ass is Jones made excuses for Bryant, without ever having talking to him. Bad precedent Mr. Jones.
The results are in from the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy on the brain of Dave Duerson. I'll give you the results of their findings, some frightening statistics & my overall thoughts on this vitally important subject tomorrow.
The NCAA is currently reviewing a number of infractions within the Boise State football program. Everyone of them is considered a secondary infraction, meaning the school had nothing to do with them. The secondary infractions are related to current players buying cokes for recruits or allowing them to sleep on a player's sofa or given a ride to somewhere on campus. These violations ranged in price from $2.37 to just over $400. Really? Two-dollars & thirty-seven cents? Really? I find it absolutely friggin' amazing the NCAA, in all their righteous wisdom, can receive & adjudicate 63 different alleged violations by Boise State in almost record time, but Ohio State won't even have their NCAA hearing until fall & a final decision on the future of Buckeye coach Jim Tressell won't be made by the sanctioning body until late January. I'm just sayin'.
Two great quotes from the NFL Draft:
Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said after the Cardinals drafted Texas OLB/DE Sam Acho "We are petitioning the NFL to let Sam wear #5 so he can be Sam Acho Cinco." Very clever Ken.
Charger GM A.J. Smith said when he was bombarded by questions about the viability of their 2nd round pick, Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton "I'm told I can't find one person who thought our linebacker Jonas Mouton we took in the 2nd round wasn't a 5th or 6th round guy. Well I found one, me." For the record I said Mouton was a 3-4 round reach in my draft recap Sunday.
ESPN's Sal Palantonio sent Mike & Mike an email early Monday morning as I was watching the show, I thought it was brilliant.
"Now that bin Laden is dead, the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 is going to be a day of somber reflection. The NFL better make sure there is football that day. It will be an unsettling example of greed & selfishness if there are no games." Absolutely right on Sal!
Steeler running back Rashard Mendenhall took to Twitter last night, yes the scourge of the social networks, & has created enough of a firestorm Art Rooney II, team president, had to issue a statement in response. Mendenhall said yesterday in a pair of Tweets "It's sad to celebrate the death of another person, how do we know what they're saying about bin Laden is true, how can you hate someone you've never heard speak." His second Tweet was "We're only hearing one side of the story & I still don't understand how a plane can bring down a big skyscraper demolition style." Once again we're dealing with a freedom of speech issue, agree or disagree with Mendenhall. But when you're celebrity or an athlete in the spotlight, be prepared for the backlash when you make statements like this. You fall into the Charlie Sheen, Rosie O'Donnell category of social relevance. Rooney issued a statement praising "our courageous military, president & all the first responders on 9/11." Mendenhall deleted the Tweets tonight. Rooney also said "I cannot understand or comprehend Rashard's comments." If Mendenhall hasn't figured out by today just how unpopular those remarks are, I'm sure Mr. Rooney will make it clear to him, whenever the time comes they're allowed to speak to each other.
The UFL had their draft last night, composed totally of players not lucky enough to be drafted last week. There were 52 players selected in all. The #39 selection, Kentucky running back Derrick Locke tweeted his thoughts on being a UFL draftee, "I ain't going to that sh*t." Concise & to the point, I'm guessing Locke is more interested in being signed by an NFL team after the lockout is lifted.
The players & owners had a two-day window after the lockout was lifted & before it was back on, minutes after the draft concluded. in that brief period of about 30 hours, a few of the drafted players were issued playbooks, met with coaches & toured the facilities. others weren't so lucky. One current NFL player, Cowboy wideout Dez Bryant, was supposed to meet team owner Jerry Jones for an extended lunch on Friday so that Jones could discuss Bryant's current legal & financial issues. Bryant just settled a lawsuit brought by a custom jeweler for $247,000 & he has two others on the docket, one for over $450,000, also with a jeweler & one for $27,000, brought by a former landlord who claimed Bryant never paid a dime of rent. Dez did something he could really regret, he stiffed the boss, stood him up, no call, no show. The part of this that chaps my ass is Jones made excuses for Bryant, without ever having talking to him. Bad precedent Mr. Jones.
The results are in from the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy on the brain of Dave Duerson. I'll give you the results of their findings, some frightening statistics & my overall thoughts on this vitally important subject tomorrow.
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