NFL:A Patriotgate Timeline: February 2005: Patriots defeat Eagles in Super Bowl. Players on the Eagles now say they were amazed at the Patriots' ability to know which defensive calls were coming.
Bengals, Lions: Patriots Sabotaged Headsets: Both say that the headsets in their quarterbacks' helmets suspiciously malfunctioned at the worst possible times during games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Bill Belichick: We Have Never Used Sideline Video While the Game Was in Progress: I don't think Goodell can allow Belichick to simply say, "We have never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress" and let that be the end of it. The fans deserve to know what, exactly, the Patriots did with the film they took of the opposition's signals.
More Valuable: Stolen Signals or Ben Watson? The Patriots are the Super Bowl favorites, so let's say it's the 32nd pick that they end up losing. Is the loss of that pick substantial enough to adequately punish the Patriots?
Philly Wants Its Super Bowl Back! Reno Mahe, who is just damn giddy from being back on the Eagles, has a light hearted take on things, as he said with a smile, "I think they should forfeit, man. We won the Super Bowl. I think we should get it. I'm going to go trade my NFC championship ring for a Super Bowl ring."
Bill Belichick Would Feel Right at Home as China's Coach in Women's World Cup: The day before their match with China, Denmark team officials found two men with video cameras sitting behind a two-way mirror in the hotel conference room where the team was about to hold a strategy meeting.
PatriotGate: What About the Children? Take Geoff Gottbrecht, a center on the Boston College High School football team: "We used to be America's team," said Gottbrecht, as he stretched between plays at football practice yesterday. "Now, we're like the Yankees - we're the bad guys, and it seems like everyone out there hates us. That's the worst part about this."
Carson Palmer to Roger Goodell: Go As Hard on Bill Belichick as You Went on Chris Henry: That, of course, will never happen.
MLB:Another Marlins-Nationals Tragedy: Fan Gets Kicked Out of Game: The man was so loud, and the atmosphere so quiet, the fan could be heard saying "you don't make more than me" on the television broadcast as he was forced to leave. There were no more than about 400 fans in attendance at the game's peak.
Wade Boggs Hasn't Mellowed With Age: At the awards ceremony at the Westin Key West, when hearing the news, Boggs was quoted as saying, "I caught two fish and you caught one and you win?" He then grabbed the trophy and ran out of the room.
NASCAR:
Inmate: Gordon Tied Me To His Bumper: Riches accuses Gordon of a variety of crimes, ranging from "poisoning fans with chemical weapons to wrecking other drivers by dropping Tic -Tacs and oil on the track through a secret trap door under his race car."
NHL:
'NHL Live' Is Dead on Sirius ... Long Live 'Hockey Night in Canada Radio': That's the bad news; the incredibly good news for Sirius hockey fans is that it's picking up "CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Radio," launching on Oct. 1 and broadcasting Monday through Friday from 4-6 p.m. EST on Channel 122.
NCAA Football:
Horrifying Further Detail on the Whole Scrotum Tearing Thing: A simple "this is the worst thing that can happen to you" seems insufficient for seeing your testicles in the flesh, as it were. Allen Becket is not a nice man.
Wonderful Treetards Allowed to Remain in Precious, Irreplacable Old Forest: Several lawsuits brought forth by various interested parties, including the city of Berkeley itself (!!!) are scheduled to go to trial next month ... and probably drag on well into the spring, long enough for the Michigan job to come open and for the Wolverines to pounce on Tedford before his buyout doubles when Cal puts the renovation's first shovel in the ground.
Boxing:
Roy Jones Jr. Joined a Fraternity: What I wouldn't give to see Roy Jones Jr. going through hell weak taking crap from an initiated brother. How do you think Jones Jr. would do in the beer olympics?
NBA:Greg Oden: Sam Bowie All Over Again? If Oden never reaches his full potential (whatever that is), I don't think any GM, media person, fan, or casual observer should ever be allowed to say, "In the draft, you take the sure-thing big man." Here's the bottom line: Durant is the better player no matter which way you slice it; the guy most likely to go down as an all-time great, and now with the Oden injury, it's just more proof that NBA decision-makers have no balls whatsoever.
Now, Everybody Knows Oden Was Injury-Prone: You heard a little bit of this around the time of the draft, but it didn't seem like Portland or Seattle took it too seriously at the time. And still, Oden's upside and can't-miss status were--are--worth this gamble.
The Medical Side of Oden's Surgery: The patient is young, the problem isolated, and, with the proper recovery time, outlook positive. It's also worth noting that Oden is four years younger than Amare was, which makes the situation that much less dire.
Will the Trail Blazers Offer Refunds? I can understand why the Blazers might want to avoid the PR disaster that'd come with holding the fans hostage to watch a full slate of games missing the one player they paid to see, but simply giving back the money might set a bad precedent, not to mention send the wrong message to the team that their season is in fact over before it ever began.
NBA Age Limit Debate Revisited: By making kids go to college for a year would expose all there is to know about said kids' weaknesses, so as to ease the minds and pockets of the payroll department. Now that Greg Oden happened, is the age limit worth anything?
Be Glad It Wasn't Durant: Anyone who gives a darn about basketball is eager to see what he'll do as a pro, and how well he'll do it. Portland has a bright, young nucleus and a stable home; the Sonics has been gutted and may or may not stay in Seattle. If you compare the two you'll realize just how much we could stand to wait another year for Oden's career to start.
Watch Out For the 2008-09 Blazers: Think about it: The situation is lining up such that Kevin Pritchard could have the combined fortunes of Orlando 1992-94 (landing two #1 picks) and San Antonio 1997-98 (essentially inserting two MVP candidates onto the roster by way of David Robinson's return from injury and the fortuitous Tim Duncan draft). Portland added two top-six picks last summer (who happened to both end up on the first-team All-Rookie squad). Next summer, they will likely add a franchise center (Greg Oden, of course) and at least a top-10 pick. That's four cornerstones in two years, the oldest of which will be 25 years old.
