MACLIN RETURNS TO EAGLES, U OF MIAMI FALLOUT CONTINUES & MIZZOU SHUFFLES THEIR O-LINE AGAIN
I am so happy to report Jeremy Maclin has been declared cancer-free after numerous tests. According to Philadelphia Eagles trainer Rick Burkholder, the doctors, including Maclin's father, still don't know what type of virus he contracted, but he's been given a clean bill of health. He will be allowed to run & lift weights, but he cannot return to contact drills for another 7-10 days. He needs to gain back about 12 pounds as well. Considering the awful rumors flying around this terrific young man, I'm very happy those rumors were complete B.S. The Eagles hope he can return in time for their season opener in St. Louis. That's his hometown, I think he'll make it. Welcome back Jeremy.
Aaron Maybin, cut by the Bills this week & signed by the Jets made a strange comment on Wednesday. When asked what it would mean to play against Buffalo twice this season, Maybin said "it's a nice little added piece to the puzzle." So will the 11th overall player selected in the 2009 draft be extra motivated to play the team that paid him more than $10 million for 15 total tackles & zero sacks in two full seasons? Is that what he's saying? Maybin should worry less about the Bills & more about making the Jets 53-man roster.
More Jet news, Plaxico Burress returned to practice on Wednesday. His tender ankle allowed the recently signed wide receiver to participate in full drills. Coach Rex Ryan immediately began raving about his receiving corps. "With him(Burress), (Derrick) Mason & Santonio out there it looks scary" Ryan said. What would scare me as a Jet fan was the horrific pass blocking this team showed on Monday night when the Houston Texans sacked 2 Jet QB's 7 times & hit them another 16. Sixteen plus seven equals "scary" IMO.
ESPN did a good thing for their loyal viewers. They canned Matt Millen from the Monday Night pregame show. He will be relegated to college football color man only for 2011. Last year Millen did college football games for ESPN, Thursday night games for the NFL Network & the Monday Night pregame. Two down, one to go.
Fantasy footballers take note, Texans' running back Arian Foster returned to practice on Wednesday after sitting out most of camp with a pulled hamstring. He's basically day-to-day, coach Gary Kubiak doesn't want his 2010 NFL rushing leader to relapse by going full speed. "He knows what it will take, he'll take it very slow" Kubiak said. He might not play in a preseason game at all. Timing might be an issue if his first carries aren't until opening day.
The Pittsburgh Steelers cut their 2nd round draft pick from the 2008 draft on Wednesday. Limas Sweed was released, he just never fit in with the Steelers. He dropped way too many balls in his first two seasons & then suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon before the start of the 2010 season. Like so many other disappointing high draft picks, someone will sign him to a one-year deal to see if they can get this kid turned around, but I have my doubts, I thought he was vastly overrated when he came out of Texas.
The truly ugly fallout continues in Miami. As the story unfolds, it looks as tho the Hurricane program will get the most severe penalty in college football since SMU's death penalty in 1987. The "death penalty" as it is referred to, is exactly that. The NCAA forces the offending program to suspend all operations for one full season. SMU kept their football team in mothballs for the 1988 season as well since every player transferred out of the program. It took the Mustangs 20-years to get their program back to a competitive level. We might see the same thing at the "U". I don't want to spend all night listing all of the charges against Miami, six of it's coaches, 12 current players & 67 former players, but I will list a few of the lowlights detailed by Nevin Shapiro to NCAA investigators. Shapiro is currently doing 20-years for securities fraud(a $900 million Ponzi scheme) & money laundering. He spent millions keeping 'Cane players happy. Whatever they needed, Shapiro provided, regardless of cost. But when he got busted, the Hurricanes turned their back on him, so he decided to take them all down with him.
1. Paid a stripper to spend the weekend with an unnamed player. Two months later she came to Shapiro to tell him she was pregnant from the player. Shapiro took her to an abortion clinic & paid her tab. He did so without ever telling the father of this aborted fetus that it was his child, "I didn't want this kid going all noble, he might want to keep it." Nice he can make that choice for others isn't it?
2. Allowed Kellen Winslow Jr. to take his yacht out numerous times to go deep sea fishing. Winslow also wrecked one of his personal watercraft, destroying it.
3. Allowed players to spend the weekend at his mansion, bringing in strippers & prostitutes for orgies.
4. Paid bounties for hard hits & "knockout shots", primarily on opposing quarterbacks.
5. Paid a basketball recruit $10,000 & got the kid a hooker for the weekend on a campus visit. Shapiro claimed current Mizzou coach Frank Haith knew all about it but looked the other way because he signed the recruit.
6. Since 2001, Shapiro claims to have spent over $3 million on Hurricane players & recruits. In a school of less than 10,000 undergraduate students, you have to believe a lot of people knew this was going on. University president Donna Shalala, recently said in a Time magazine interview "this would have never happened under my watch." Uh, it did, you were just were clueless enough to allow it to happen. Shapiro said FB coach Larry Coker(2001-2006) had no idea what was happening & I tend to believe that assumption, Coker seemed to be in a cloud much of the time. As for his successor, Randy Shannon, Shapiro didn't elaborate on any involvement.
The charges continue to be slowly substantiated & some of the former Hurricanes now playing in the NFL admit enough to let you know they're guilty. "It is what it is" said Houston Texans all-pro wide receiver Andre Johnson. He is accused of receiving gifts from Shapiro, most of them paid bar tabs in the V.I.P. room of upscale South Beach nightclubs. Other players refuse to talk, mostly because if they took cash & many of them did, unless the statute of limitations has run out, they owe income taxes. Their time will come if IRS agents feel they can make a case. As far as the NCAA, NFL players are not obligated to speak to them. In fact, what do they have to gain from getting straight with investigators? I think most of them will stonewall any question regarding this mess. There's nothing in it for them & that's what this 9-year exercise in debauchery & deceit shows us, it's all about entitlement, selfishness & total lack of accountability.
The Chiefs have 2 players from Miami, running back Tervarris Johnson & defensive end Allen Bailey, a rookie. As the names come out, will theirs be called? I'm sure there are plenty of former 'Canes sweating this story, the offenders know exactly what they did. But did Shapiro remember to tell the NCAA about it?
The Missouri Tigers continue shifting their offensive line because of injuries. They lost left tackle Elvis Fisher for the season with a knee injury on Monday. Center Travis Ruth sprained his foot on Tuesday. Former backup at left guard, Justin Britt, was moved out to Fisher's spot at left tackle & then he strained his knee on Wednesday. Now this line, which was supposed to be 4 seniors with 2 or more letters apiece, is a shambles. The next scrimmage is this morning. The starting O-line will be:
LT--Anthony Gatti
LG--Jack Meiners
C---Jayson Palmgren(formerly the starting LG-3 letters)
RG--Austin Wuebbels(2 letters)
RT--Dan Hoch(3 letters & preseason All-Big 12)
A third stringer, 2nd stringer & a guy playing out of position is a far cry from what Gary Pinkel envisioned. We'll see now just how well he's recruited.
Got some night owls reading this blog. Received 4 emails & one comment after 2AM from the "Owls" regarding the story posted below this one. Thanks you all for your thoughts, I sincerely appreciate your loyalty. Unfortunately, my bandwidth provider, GoDaddy.com, is having a number of issues & it's affecting this site, many of my pictures have vanished & I have no idea if they are to return. So if you see captions floating in the middle of a story, there used to be a picture there. Let's hope they get this fixed & my nearly 400 images returned to my site.
Aaron Maybin, cut by the Bills this week & signed by the Jets made a strange comment on Wednesday. When asked what it would mean to play against Buffalo twice this season, Maybin said "it's a nice little added piece to the puzzle." So will the 11th overall player selected in the 2009 draft be extra motivated to play the team that paid him more than $10 million for 15 total tackles & zero sacks in two full seasons? Is that what he's saying? Maybin should worry less about the Bills & more about making the Jets 53-man roster.
More Jet news, Plaxico Burress returned to practice on Wednesday. His tender ankle allowed the recently signed wide receiver to participate in full drills. Coach Rex Ryan immediately began raving about his receiving corps. "With him(Burress), (Derrick) Mason & Santonio out there it looks scary" Ryan said. What would scare me as a Jet fan was the horrific pass blocking this team showed on Monday night when the Houston Texans sacked 2 Jet QB's 7 times & hit them another 16. Sixteen plus seven equals "scary" IMO.
ESPN did a good thing for their loyal viewers. They canned Matt Millen from the Monday Night pregame show. He will be relegated to college football color man only for 2011. Last year Millen did college football games for ESPN, Thursday night games for the NFL Network & the Monday Night pregame. Two down, one to go.
Fantasy footballers take note, Texans' running back Arian Foster returned to practice on Wednesday after sitting out most of camp with a pulled hamstring. He's basically day-to-day, coach Gary Kubiak doesn't want his 2010 NFL rushing leader to relapse by going full speed. "He knows what it will take, he'll take it very slow" Kubiak said. He might not play in a preseason game at all. Timing might be an issue if his first carries aren't until opening day.
The Pittsburgh Steelers cut their 2nd round draft pick from the 2008 draft on Wednesday. Limas Sweed was released, he just never fit in with the Steelers. He dropped way too many balls in his first two seasons & then suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon before the start of the 2010 season. Like so many other disappointing high draft picks, someone will sign him to a one-year deal to see if they can get this kid turned around, but I have my doubts, I thought he was vastly overrated when he came out of Texas.
The truly ugly fallout continues in Miami. As the story unfolds, it looks as tho the Hurricane program will get the most severe penalty in college football since SMU's death penalty in 1987. The "death penalty" as it is referred to, is exactly that. The NCAA forces the offending program to suspend all operations for one full season. SMU kept their football team in mothballs for the 1988 season as well since every player transferred out of the program. It took the Mustangs 20-years to get their program back to a competitive level. We might see the same thing at the "U". I don't want to spend all night listing all of the charges against Miami, six of it's coaches, 12 current players & 67 former players, but I will list a few of the lowlights detailed by Nevin Shapiro to NCAA investigators. Shapiro is currently doing 20-years for securities fraud(a $900 million Ponzi scheme) & money laundering. He spent millions keeping 'Cane players happy. Whatever they needed, Shapiro provided, regardless of cost. But when he got busted, the Hurricanes turned their back on him, so he decided to take them all down with him.
1. Paid a stripper to spend the weekend with an unnamed player. Two months later she came to Shapiro to tell him she was pregnant from the player. Shapiro took her to an abortion clinic & paid her tab. He did so without ever telling the father of this aborted fetus that it was his child, "I didn't want this kid going all noble, he might want to keep it." Nice he can make that choice for others isn't it?
2. Allowed Kellen Winslow Jr. to take his yacht out numerous times to go deep sea fishing. Winslow also wrecked one of his personal watercraft, destroying it.
3. Allowed players to spend the weekend at his mansion, bringing in strippers & prostitutes for orgies.
4. Paid bounties for hard hits & "knockout shots", primarily on opposing quarterbacks.
5. Paid a basketball recruit $10,000 & got the kid a hooker for the weekend on a campus visit. Shapiro claimed current Mizzou coach Frank Haith knew all about it but looked the other way because he signed the recruit.
6. Since 2001, Shapiro claims to have spent over $3 million on Hurricane players & recruits. In a school of less than 10,000 undergraduate students, you have to believe a lot of people knew this was going on. University president Donna Shalala, recently said in a Time magazine interview "this would have never happened under my watch." Uh, it did, you were just were clueless enough to allow it to happen. Shapiro said FB coach Larry Coker(2001-2006) had no idea what was happening & I tend to believe that assumption, Coker seemed to be in a cloud much of the time. As for his successor, Randy Shannon, Shapiro didn't elaborate on any involvement.
The charges continue to be slowly substantiated & some of the former Hurricanes now playing in the NFL admit enough to let you know they're guilty. "It is what it is" said Houston Texans all-pro wide receiver Andre Johnson. He is accused of receiving gifts from Shapiro, most of them paid bar tabs in the V.I.P. room of upscale South Beach nightclubs. Other players refuse to talk, mostly because if they took cash & many of them did, unless the statute of limitations has run out, they owe income taxes. Their time will come if IRS agents feel they can make a case. As far as the NCAA, NFL players are not obligated to speak to them. In fact, what do they have to gain from getting straight with investigators? I think most of them will stonewall any question regarding this mess. There's nothing in it for them & that's what this 9-year exercise in debauchery & deceit shows us, it's all about entitlement, selfishness & total lack of accountability.
The Chiefs have 2 players from Miami, running back Tervarris Johnson & defensive end Allen Bailey, a rookie. As the names come out, will theirs be called? I'm sure there are plenty of former 'Canes sweating this story, the offenders know exactly what they did. But did Shapiro remember to tell the NCAA about it?
The Missouri Tigers continue shifting their offensive line because of injuries. They lost left tackle Elvis Fisher for the season with a knee injury on Monday. Center Travis Ruth sprained his foot on Tuesday. Former backup at left guard, Justin Britt, was moved out to Fisher's spot at left tackle & then he strained his knee on Wednesday. Now this line, which was supposed to be 4 seniors with 2 or more letters apiece, is a shambles. The next scrimmage is this morning. The starting O-line will be:
LT--Anthony Gatti
LG--Jack Meiners
C---Jayson Palmgren(formerly the starting LG-3 letters)
RG--Austin Wuebbels(2 letters)
RT--Dan Hoch(3 letters & preseason All-Big 12)
A third stringer, 2nd stringer & a guy playing out of position is a far cry from what Gary Pinkel envisioned. We'll see now just how well he's recruited.
Got some night owls reading this blog. Received 4 emails & one comment after 2AM from the "Owls" regarding the story posted below this one. Thanks you all for your thoughts, I sincerely appreciate your loyalty. Unfortunately, my bandwidth provider, GoDaddy.com, is having a number of issues & it's affecting this site, many of my pictures have vanished & I have no idea if they are to return. So if you see captions floating in the middle of a story, there used to be a picture there. Let's hope they get this fixed & my nearly 400 images returned to my site.
Maclins the best glad he's back but wish he was with the Rams instead. Him & Sam B. R U kidding me?
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Rich,
The Miami story is very disturbing, especially the part about this jock-sniffer paying for the girl's abortion and then not telling the father because it might hurt his play on the FB field. Seeing Winslow Jr. in this story was disappointing too.
Glad this creep is in prison, I hope his fellow inmates show him some love.
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