Weekly Roundup & Random Chatter

Isn’t Friday the best day of the week? I’m going to touch on several topics today because there is just TOO much good stuff going around in sports right now. I feel like my seats are getting closer and closer to every game lately…what a wonderful life.


Terrell Owens didn’t participate in the Philadelphia Eagles’ mini-camp and says he might hold out for more money. Something tells me that T.O. needs to check himself and also reference Andy Reid and the Eagles past on player holdouts. Reid has used all 300+ pounds of his belly to not budge an inch in the past and I’d be VERY surprised if he gives in to T.O. this time too. Let me say it – T.O. is an incredible player – one of the best in football, but his contract isn’t terrible. Almost $49 million…and he’s on a great team.

"If he's here, he's here. If he's not, he's not," Reid said. "We have an understanding here that if you're not here, we move on without you. We have been very successful doing that, so we don't waste a lot of time worrying about those things."

What’s more interesting is that the Eagles are raving about second round draft pick Reggie Brown. They say this kid is going to be one of the best rookie wide receivers in the league this year…doesn’t Big Andy always do it? He seems to draft the right guys and in the correct positions every year. I bet the Redskins would love to have his brains, huh?


“The-aaaaaaaa Yankeeeeeees Win!” Not much lately and I couldn’t be happier. 11-18 to start the season and they are lucky enough to face the stellar pitching staff of the Athletics this weekend to boot. This isn’t Joe Torre’s fault like some people in the media are suggesting. I’d point my fingers at two guys…The Boss and his little sidekick. Steinbrenner and Cashman don’t realize that they’ve set the Yanks up for about four or five years of mediocrity. When you’re stupid enough to give big contracts to career losing pitcher Carl Pavano (had a career year last season) and Jaret Wright you deserve what you get. Not to mention that this team is getting very old very fast. Sheff, Randy J, Bernie, Tino, Tony Womack, Mariano and several other guys are past their prime – yet all still making lots of money. They’re stuck with Giambi’s sub par hitting and his ridiculous contract until they can some how find a way to void it because of the steroids.

They have very little pitching – starting or relief and their minor league system is about as dry as the Mohave Desert. I would think that Jeter, A-Rod and Matsui will lift them to a winning record this season, but they’re not going to make the playoff unless Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing and Allie Reynolds all come back from the dead and Whitey Ford gets his almost 77-year old left arm loose really fast.


The first round of the NBA playoffs has been great so far…and has predictably weeded out the few teams that really didn’t have a shot on Earth to win a championship. I’m talking about three teams: New Jersey, Philadelphia and Denver. The Nets must have just looked at their match-up with the Miami Heat and said, “Well, at least we made the playoffs.” They had no shot at even winning more than one game. Shaq and D-Wade were just too much and the Nets fell like a tree in the forest - without much noise.

Denver had a good chance to make their series with San Antonio a good one until Kenyon Martin shot off his big mouth. They win game one and he thinks he’s so good and wants to talk-talk-talk. Good move buddy. Four losses in a row and none of them were really contested.


HaHa. The 76ers. Wow. A few of my good friends are Sixer fans…I’ve even got a friend that works for the Sixers. This team is a joke. I would much rather have seen LeBron, Z-Man and Gooden battle in the playoffs than Allen Iverson and the ‘Dumb Bunch’. I feel bad for AI because this is one of the best players in the world and Philly can’t ever get a good second man for him. He hasn’t even ever played with a good point guard or center. Iverson has to do it all and it’s ashame because he won’t be able to keep up this incredible play for many more years. 4-1 and I’m honestly shocked that a few of the games were close…Detroit must’ve been sleep walking at times.


Don’t be a fool – stay in school! Illinois junior guard Dee Brown decided that he will declare for the NBA draft but not sign with an agent. Good idea Dee. I know the kid is very good and was the Big Ten player of the year and The Sporting News' national player of the year but he’ll be a late first round pick and some reports say maybe even a second round pick. I really think this kid has much more to gain by staying for his senior year – and he’ll get the bulk of the shots with Luther Head and Deron Williams both gone. Get your degree and then go pro…history doesn’t show too much for 6 foot off guards.

Again folks, I apologize for the lack of columns this week…the real world was grabbing too much of my time – HaHa.

Once a Promising Career - Now Finished?

First things first…I apologize to my faithful readers about being away from a computer the last several days. I’ve been flying back and forth from Washington, D.C. to Houston in one day and attending ALL DAY conferences for the last two days. I promise to keep the Monday – Thursday column going…and since I feel so bad about not having a column the last three days – you’ll get one today and tomorrow (Friday). Much love to you all.

Ok, now to today’s column…

Let me get this straight – for myself. Should professional athletes ride motorcycles? No. What in God’s name was Kellen Winslow II doing on a street bike? There is a good chance that this once promising star’s career in the NFL is over after just two games, 5 catches and a grand total of fifty yards receiving. The $40 million dollar contract that he signed was the richest payday for a tight end in league history – maybe he should’ve bought himself a chauffeur?

The former number six pick of the 2004 NFL draft is staring down the same motorcycle doomed path that former Duke Basketball All-American Jay Williams has. It’s been said that Williams knows he’ll never be able to play the game again that made him the number two pick in the NBA draft in 2002. He has admitted that buying a motorcycle was a big mistake. But you might be able to give a pass to a guy like him because he was the fist ‘big-name’ player to do it in a long while. I feel like Williams should’ve been the billboard advertisement to athletes to stay away from motorcycles.

I remember feeling a bit upset when I found out that Atlanta Braves Outfielder Ron Gant broke his leg in several places when he wrecked his motorcycle before the 1994 MLB season. Gant was a rare case of speed and power (30-30 guy) and to me seemed like a really good guy. But I remember thinking – ‘how stupid’. And he was never the same after the accident.

Of course their have been others, Jeff Kent missed a lot of time after breaking his hand and wrist falling off of his motorcycle. At first he swore up and down to the San Francisco Giants that he slipped while washing his truck…but thankfully for him his career has been fine.

The worst thing of this whole situation is that Winslow crashed his bike in a parking lot…not jumping 40 cars like Evel Knievel or racing friends or doing some crazy, yet cool bike tricks. He flew over his handle bars and jeopardized his football career in a parking lot. Is the NFL not enough of an adrenaline rush?

I hope that he recuperates and that he can resume his career. I for one, was really hoping to see if this kid really was going to be an NFL ‘soulja’ like he said he was when he played at U of Miami.

Maybe walking on his own should be his first goal…I feel bad for this kid – but only because he’s stupid.