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The fluke goal took all the air out of Liverpool. From AP-
Maybe a lifeguard should have run on the field and declared no goal.
A beach ball from the stands floated on the field in the opening minutes of Saturday’s Sunderland-Liverpool game in the Premier League. It might as well have been a set piece for Sunderland.
Sunderland’s Darren Bent took a shot that Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina appeared to have covered. But Bent’s ball hit a large red beach ball, deflecting past Reina and into the net.
The goal, coming in the fifth minute at the Stadium of Light, stood. No referee – or lifeguard – waved it off.
The video can be found here. It can not be embedded.
He 4th overall pick of the 2007 NFL has been a disappointment so far in NFL career. From Bucs Beat-
The Bucs have traded DE Gaines Adams to the Bears for a 2010 second round, the team has confirmed.
Adams has been under immense pressure to step up his performance after two disappointing seasons. He has one sack this season and hasn’t been the force coaches hoped he would be.
His destination isn’t a total surprise. The Bears employ defensive line coach Rod Marinelli who, as head coach of the Lions, was enamored with Adams and strongly considered drafting him. The Lions wound up picking WR Calvin Johnson second overall.
Adams was the fourth overall pick that year, 2007, out of Clemson. Now, the team recovers what could be a late second-rounder for him. With the NFL’s trade deadline looming, the Bucs apparently decided to cut their losses with Adams and continue acquiring picks that coach Raheem Morris and GM Mark Dominik can use to continue the rebuilding process.
The Bucs envisioned Adams filling the shoes of former pass rush specialist Simeon Rice, but Adams’ development proved slow. He had 6 sacks as a rookie and 6.5 last season. Entering this season, Morris said publicly Adams would not be viewed as a success in 2009 unless he had a double-digit sack season.
The Buccaneers are rebuilding, so the trade makes sense in my opinion. A second round pick for a player unlikely to ever live up to his high draft selection.
Call it South Florida’s newest raffle. From the Miami Herald-
In an attempt to get students to come out and support their football team during home games, Florida International University is offering some creative incentives.
Here’s the pitch:
During each of the next four home games — starting with Saturday’s contest — three students will be chosen at random in the fourth quarter to receive a $500 scholarship for college expenses.
Another four students will win coveted parking upgrades. The sweet deal would allow the winners to park in faculty parking spots for a month.
“We are doing this because we want to create a fan experience and build an affinity for FIU,” said Sandy Gonzalez-Levy, senior vice president of external affairs.
Admission is free to students at the 18,000-seat FIU stadium at its main West Miami-Dade campus, yet the last home game attracted only about 8,000 fans. The school has 35,000 students and tens of thousands of alumni.
And those who come to the games, usually leave early.
“We’re offering some of the gifts in the fourth quarter to persuade them to stay for the whole game,” Gonzalez-Levy said.
It sounds like a good deal to me but will it work? It may draw more spectators on a short-term basis but long term I am pessimistic. You can’t make people interested in a sport who aren’t inclined to watch it to start with it.
That FIU hasn’t had a football program for long and haven’t been very successful either, aren’t likely to help the school bring fans to its games.
He scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XIV and was instrumental in causing the NFL to make a major policy change. RIP.
LOS ANGELES — Cullen Bryant, who spent 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, was a running back on their 1980 Super Bowl team and fought the NFL’s trading rules to remain in town, has died. He was 58.
Unknown to his family, Bryant had been under a doctor’s care when he died Tuesday at his home in Colorado Springs, Colo., said his sister-in-law, Wanda E. Bryant. She did not supply other details.
Bryant was the Rams’ second-round draft pick in 1973. He played with the team until 1982, was with the Seattle Seahawks in 1983 and 1984 and returned to the Rams for his last pro season in 1987.
In 13 NFL seasons, Bryant scored 23 rushing and receiving touchdowns and ran back kickoffs for three others. He ran for 3,264 yards in 849 carries, and caught 148 passes for 1,176 yards.
He ran for a 1-yard touchdown in the 1980 Super Bowl, which the Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-19.
At 6-foot-1 and 234 pounds, he was the biggest player of the time to regularly return kickoffs.
“When Cullen hits those holes, nobody wants to stick their nose in there,” teammate Jack Youngblood told the Los Angeles Times in 1979. “Those little 180-pound (defensive backs) just jump on his back when he runs by.”
“He was an outstanding person with great character traits,” said Chuck Knox, Bryant’s coach with both the Rams and Seahawks. “When we asked him to do certain things, he’d do them. He never complained about anything. When he got that big body moving, it was something else, and he had muscles on top of muscles.”
Born William Cullen Bryant on May 20, 1951, in Fort Sill, Okla., Bryant attended high school in Colorado Springs and played football at Colorado University, where he received consensus All-American recognition.
In 1975, only two years after going to the Rams, Bryant went to federal court to challenge the right of then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle to order him off the team. The Rams had signed former Detroit Lions receiver Ron Jessie. Under the “Rozelle Rule” on free agents, the team signing a free agent had to compensate the team that lost the player. If the teams couldn’t agree on compensation, the commissioner had the power to award either draft choices or players. He decided Bryant should go to Detroit.
At the behest of Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom, Bryant went to court in Los Angeles. A judge was unsympathetic to the NFL’s position during a hearing, and the league backed off several days later before a ruling could be made.
The Rozelle Rule eventually was modified.
Are the NHL’s two worst teams now residing in the Sunshine State? From AP-
Milan Michalek made Ottawa Senators fans forget about high-scoring Dany Heatley — at least for one night.
Acquired at the start of training camp in the deal that sent Heatley to San Jose, Michalek had his first three-goal game in the NHL, scoring twice short-handed and once on a power play in Ottawa’s 7-1 victory over Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
“To see all the people standing and clapping for me was an awesome feeling,” said Michalek said. “Hopefully, there’s many goals to come.”
Michalek shoveled a rebound past goalie Mike Smith with Tampa Bay on the power play in the first period. The big Czech winger then beat Smith again on a short-handed breakaway early in the second, helping the Senators to their fourth win in five games.
“Two short-handed goals, it’s embarrassing,” Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said. “We gave one up against Florida [in a win Monday night]. I know it’s only Game 6, but when you give up three short-handed goals in two games, there’s going to be some video, there’s going to be some talking and there might be some changes.”
Tampa was outshot 35-17, making it appear they are still inadequate at the position of defenseman. That was the team’s biggest weakness during the 2008-09 NHL season.
Tampa is 2-2-2 so far this year. The Florida Panthers are 1-4. Most hockey prognosticators, plus myself, would have had these teams reversed in their predictions for this far into the season. I’m not giving up on the Panthers yet. After a 4-3 start last year they went through a dozen game stretch where little went right. The Panthers then rallied to almost make the playoffs. Hopefully tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers will spark a turnaround for my favorite NHL team.
Anything it takes to make people come watch a horse race at the track approximately every twenty minutes. From Harnessracing.com-
Starting with the Friday evening, Oct. 16, program at 7:05 p.m., the Isle Pompano Park is offering free programs for its own live cards to all on-track patrons and horsepeople.
“We’ve studied it and just finalized our plan late in the noon hour on Wednesday to move forward with this initiative as quickly as possible,†says the Isle Pompano Park’s director of racing operations, John Yinger. “There is a cost to doing it but we feel it can only drive on-track attendance and handle in the the right direction. Already the feedback is overwhelmingly positive from horsepeople and the fans here on Wednesday night that we informally mentioned it to.â€
He adds the South Florida track is going into a hurry up offense to get the word out.
No mention of this in the local media but that isn’t surprising. Harness racing has never gotten the coverage the thoroughbreds do.
Pardon the pun, but I’m betting tip sheets won’t be free.
File this story under Silence isn’t golden.
The NBA is making Gilbert Arenas — and the Washington Wizards — pay for his silence.
Arenas and his team were fined $25,000 apiece Tuesday by the league because he has not been talking to the media during the preseason, including before and after exhibition games.
The three-time All-Star point guard became one of the NBA’s most popular players thanks in part to his engaging personality and a willingness to speak his mind, including via a wide-ranging blog.
But he stopped producing the blog and steadfastly has been refusing to do interviews since the Wizards held their official media day on Sept. 28. Asked by a reporter last week when he’d begin speaking again, Arenas said it would happen only after the NBA tells him he has to talk.
It was at that media day that Arenas signaled his intention to keep quiet, declaring, “I’m not the entertainer anymore.”
Since when is an athlete required to talk to the media. Sports has a long history of stars who have avoided the media. Is there some NBA rule I don’t know about?
This move became necessary after current Colt placekicker Adam Venitieri underwent knee surgery. From ESPN-
The Indianapolis Colts have signed ex-Ravens kicker Matt Stover to replace Adam Vinatieri, who is out for four to eight weeks following knee surgery.
The team said Vinatieri underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right [kicking] knee to remove a piece of cartilage.
Vinatieri, in his 14th season, has 35 points on six field goals and 17 point-after conversions this season.
Stover was a more than solid NFL placekicker for 19 years. Most of which were spent with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. I think the Colts chose the right person to fill in for Vinatieri.
He won’t be on the sideline for the Lobos game against UNLV.
New Mexico coach Mike Locksley won’t be on the sidelines when his team plays UNLV later this month, part of a 10-day suspension issued Tuesday as punishment for his role in a fight with an assistant coach.
“I’m the leader of the team and my staff,” Locksley said. “I should have used better judgment. I showed poor leadership and I won’t let it happen again. I’ve learned some harsh lessons, lessons that I feel will make me a better leader.”
Locksley initially had been reprimanded. Athletic director Paul Krebs said during a news conference the coach won’t be allowed to have any contact with the team until Oct. 25, one day after UNLV visits Albuquerque. The Lobos have a bye this week.
Locksley also will be required to attend conflict resolution training.
Defensive backs coach George Barlow will serve as an interim coach.
The UNLV game could amount to a tryout for Barlow. The Lobos are 0-6 under Locksley in addition to bringing scandal to the school’s athletic program. That is not a good combination at all for job security.
One bit of good news for Locksley. The sexual harassment complaint filed against him and the University has been resolved.
He has a partially torn right rotator cuff. From ESPN-
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith has been placed on injured reserve and is out for the season, the team said Wednesday.
Smith has a partial tear of the right rotator cuff, a source told ESPN.com’s John Clayton on Tuesday. He was said to be deciding whether to have shoulder surgery and was expected to meet with doctors on Wednesday to weigh his options.
Smith has been with the Steelers (3-2) longer than any current player except wide receiver Hines Ward and defensive back Deshea Townsend. He is one of the keys to their 3-4 alignment and is often cited by teammates as being the most underrated player on what was the NFL’s top defense the last two seasons.
Smith has 13 tackles and two sacks in five games and blocked a field goal attempt during the Steelers’ 13-10 victory over Tennessee on Sept. 10. He also is one of the Steelers’ primary run stoppers.
The loss of Smith is definitely a blow to Pittsburgh. I still think they will make the playoffs this year.
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