August 31st update

Wednesday Spotlight: Michael Vick

• Arguably the most hated man in professional sports a year or two ago, Michael Vick has proven that Americans believe in second chances, signing a six-year, $100 million contract on Tuesday to make him the third highest paid player in the NFL.
• Vick, who missed two seasons while being imprisoned for supporting a dog fighting ring (as well as other animal cruelty charges) came back to football in 2009 but really returned to star status in with a bang last year. The former number one overall pick of the 2001 NFL draft looked uncomfortable and out of shape in 2009 as the Eagles' 3rd string quarterback but a trade an injury and a year of experience back on the field gave him the opportunity to shine again.
• A monster game, under the bright lights of Monday Night Football last year, sealed Vick's status as the comeback player of the year. Jail apparently did not have a lasting effect on his running ability, the facet that set him apart from more traditional pass-only quarterbacks.
• Vick’s comeback from jail has been both hailed and vilified. Many don’t believe he deserves a second chance after the pain he caused animals, while others point to him as an ideal example of what people can do with a second chance. Since being released from jail Vick has worked with PETA and prison organizations to help raise awareness against animal cruelty and try to prevent others from making the same mistakes he did.


Women’s favorites out already in Flushing Meadows

• The final tennis major of the year is underway as the US Open began Monday in New York. On the women’s side, 4th ranked Petra Kvitova (this year’s Wimbledon champion) and 6th ranked Li Na (this year’s French Open champion) have already bit the dust in the first round. Caroline Wozniaki, the number one ranked woman (and recently revealed girlfriend of Sportico favorite Rory McIlroy) cruised into the second round.
• On the mens side, no big names have lost yet although Rafael Nadal had a relatively difficult time for a first round matchup, needing one tiebreaker (and nearly a second) to defeat Andrey Golubev 6-3, 7-5, 7-6.
• Like so much of the country, the U.S. open was also feeling the affects of Hurricane Irene. While the city was relatively unscathed, many players canceled press conferences and practice sessions as tournament officials actually shut down the National Tennis Center


Tigers look to hold off pack in AL Central

*Note: This is part 3 of a 6 part series that will break down the division races in each of baseball's 6 divisions.

• The American League Central has been dominated this past decade by the Minnesota Twins, who have won it in 6 of the past 9 seasons. However, this has been a down year for the Twins who have had each of their big stars (Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau) miss significant time
• Heading into September, the Detroit Tigers are 5 games in front of the Chicago White Sox and 5 1/2 in front of the Cleveland Indians who started the season on fire but have faded of late. The Tigers have been fueled by the phenomenal hitting of Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander's fantastic season during which he's already won 20 games, threw a no-hitter, and almost threw a second.
• There's still a chance for the White Sox and Indians to make up ground though, as each have 14 games remaining against each other/the Tigers.

August 29th update

California wins LLWS in storybook ending

• The annual youth baseball tournament which pits 8 all-star teams made up of 11-13 year olds from different regions of the Unites States against 8 all-star teams from the rest of the world concluded on Sunday with the California representative defeating Japan's team.
• Nick Pratto, whose father coaches the team, singled in the game winning run with two outs in the bottom of the last inning (they only play 6 instead of 9 in Little League rules) to take home the title.
• A U.S. team has now won six out of the last seven World Series, with Japan's win last year the exception and California teams have won in 2 of the last 3 years.
• California now has the most titles for a U.S. state with 7 but are far behind the 17 titles won by Taiwan/Chinese Taipei.


AL West a two-team race

*Note: This is part 2 of a 6 part series that will break down the division races in each of baseball's 6 divisions.

• The American League West is the smallest division in baseball with only 4 teams (the NL Central has 6 and all others have 5) but they have two legit contenders. Those two teams are the Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim and Texas Rangers and after this weekend's series, the Rangers have a 3 game lead.
• Angels manager Mike Scioscia made headlines in the series by starting his two best pitchers (Jared Weaver and Ervin Santana) on 3 days rest instead of the typical 4+ days rest. Although the move is unusual, it was doubtlessly done to give the Angels a better chance to beat their close rivals in this crucial series. Although the Angels won on Saturday, Santana didn't pitch amazingly well, giving up 4 runs in 7 innings and only striking out 2.
• Things got worse on Sunday as Weaver had by his standards a terrible game giving up 7 runs in 6 innings and struggling all night with his usually pinpoint accuracy.
• Both teams have relatively easy schedules down the stretch including multiple games against the other teams in their division, the Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners. The two teams then meet for a 3 game series in LA from September 26-28 at the end of the season that could decide the division's winner.

August 26th update

Yankees Set Grand Record

• The New York Yankees set a record on Thursday night by hitting three grand slams in their victory over the Oakland Athletics.
• With the Yankees down 7-2 to the A's in the 5th inning, Robinson Cano, the Yankees second baseman, came up with the bases loaded against Athletics starting pitcher Rich Harden. He hit a ball into the right field stands to bring the Yankees to within one run, 7-6. In the 6th inning, Russell Martin, the Yankees catcher, hit his grand slam off of Athletics reliever Fautino De Los Santos to give the Yankees a 10-7 lead that would only continue to grow.
• Already up 17-8 Curtis Granderson, the Yankees center fielder and one of the breakout stars in the baseball this season, came up and hit his grand slam to put the Yankees up 21-8. Each side scored another run making the final score 22-9. As MLB nears the end of its 136th year the fact that this feat hasn’t happened yet was surprising to even those who were in the game. The 22 runs are the most the Athletics have given up since 1955.
*On a related note, Fernando Tatis of the St. Louis Cardinals hit two grand slams in one inning on April 23, 1999 but neither he nor any of his teammates hit another for the rest of the game.

Beasts of the American League Reside in the East

*Note: This is part 1 of a 6 part series that will break down the division races in each of baseball's 6 divisions over the next 2 weeks.

• Major League Baseball’s playoffs start in about a month at which point the winner of the three divisions per league and the remaining team with the best record (who gets in as a “wild card") play one another to determine who will face off in the World Series. This year’s wild card looks like it will go to whichever team does not win the second place team in the loaded AL East.
• The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are the cream of the AL East crop. At the time of posting, the Red Sox have a half game lead over the Yankees (half games are due to the fact that the Red Sox have played one more game to date). This lead is far from safe, and this race looks like it will come down to the end of the season as these two bitter rivals aim for a championship.
• Whichever team does not win has an 8-game lead in the wild-card race, a pretty safe margin at this point in the season.
• Both teams have benefited from an expected drop in production from the Tampa Bay Rays, who won the division in 2 of the past 3 years but due to cost-cutting reasons have fielded a less competitive team this year. As can be seen here, the Rays have a 2011 salary that is about 4 times less than the Red Sox and 5 times less than that of the Yankees.

August 24th update

Winningest NCAA Basketball Coach Diagnosed with Dementia

• University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt was diagnosed with early onset dementia early this summer. Summitt has a career record of 1071-199, making her the winningest head coach in NCAA history. She has been a trailblazer in women’s basketball coaching since 1974.
• Summitt, who has been known for her no nonsense style of coaching, has coached some of the greatest players in women’s basketball including Candace Parker, Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings. She led the Volunteers to 15 SEC Conference Championships and 8 National Championships.
• Summitt has pledged to continue to coaching through this dementia. She has claimed this year would not be a “pity party.” Her incoming recruiting class has been ranked number 1 in the nation by ESPN and Summitt is looking for her first championship since 2008 before Parker left UT. She will do it while fighting an even bigger battle, but with the same courage and determination that lead her to almost 1100 victories.

Wednesday spotlight: Novak Djokovic

• Novak Djokovic is having a pretty decent season. OK, that's a bit of understated sarcasm; Djokovic is having a historic season, perhaps the greatest ever. Despite having to forfeit and leave the finals of his most recent tournament with a minor injury, he's a mere 57-2 with his only other loss coming in the semifinals of the French Open to Roger Federer.

• With about a week to rest before the U.S. Open the question will be does the 24 year old Djokovic have enough energy to continue to play at this pace when the other top players in the game will be bringing their A game or is he too tired from a year of domination?

• One person who certainly hopes Novak will not be up to par is Rafael Nadal, the man who Novak replaced as the world's #1 player. Djokovic has defeated Nadal is 5 consecutive matches (all in finals) including a 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3 victory in the Wimbledon finale.

August 22nd update

Durantula Leads DC Team Over West Coast Squad

• Saturday night, tiny Trinity College was home to some of the finest players the NBA has to offer. The exhibition game matched up All-Stars from the Washington Area Goodman League against the LA based Drew League. Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder (who is close to signing a movie deal) led all scorers with 44 as Goodman won 135-134.
• The teams were made up pretty evenly of NBA Stars and area street ball legends. Joining Durant representing the Goodman League were John Wall of the Washington Wizards, Ty Lawson of the Denver Nuggets, Gary Neal of the San Antonio Spurs and Demarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings. The Drew League team was fueled by Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings. He was joined by JaVale McGee of the Wizards, James Harden of the Thunder, DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors, and Marcus Banks formerly of the New Orleans Hornets.
• This game was part of an attempt by NBA players to prove they can generate income while they are being locked out by their owners (a topic we've touched on previously). Many people believe owners are trying to bleed the players dry financially. If the players can prove they are not dependent on their next NBA paycheck to survive, this lockout could go on much longer.
• On a related note, more than 30 players have already signed deals to play overseas if there is no 2011-12 NBA season and about 100 more have expressed interest in playing overseas.


Larry Fitzgerald and Jared Weaver get well-deserved paydays

• This weekend saw two of the best athletes on the West Coast, (Arizona counts as West Coast, right?) Larry Fitzgerald and Jared Weaver, sign major contract extensions to remain as the face of their respective franchises for quite some time.
• Fitzgerald's deal was for a staggering 8 years and $120 million. It makes him the 5th highest paid player in the NFL (tied with Richard Seymour) and the only players he is behind are quarterbacks. However, the most amazing part of the deal is that he now makes about 50% more than the next highest paid WR!
• The No. 3 overall pick of the 2004 draft, Fitzgerald has topped 90 catches and 1,000 receiving yards in five of his seven NFL seasons, including the last four. For his career, he has 613 catches, the most in franchise history, for 8,204 yards and 65 touchdowns. Fitzgerald needs just 294 yards and two touchdowns to surpass Roy Green's franchise records in those categories.
• Weaver, a pitcher for the LA Angels of Anaheim, leads the MLB in ERA and has been among the league leaders in wins all season and strikeouts for a few years. His deal was for a mere 5 years and $85 million which is a tad south of the $90 million Torii Hunter got in 2008 but bigger than any other contract the Angels have ever given out.
• Weaver, in his sixth big league season, has a 78-45 record with a 3.30 ERA and 937 strikeouts in nearly 1100 innings. He led the major leagues with 233 strikeouts in 2010.

August 19th Update

Shapiro (Left) and former Hurricane Willis McGahee

Hurricane of Trouble in Miami

• Sportico has recently touched on various universities being investigated by the NCAA for different types of violations and misconduct. We were hoping the string of programs to come under fire was done, but unfortunately for the University of Miami, it has not. The results of a 5-month investigation has been released and it does not look good for Hurricane fans.
• Miami fan Nevin Shapiro was recently sentenced to prison for running a $900 million Ponzi Scheme. He started telling stories of benefits he gave University of Miami athletes (mostly football players), both former and current. This includes paying bounties to players for hurting opponents, providing them with drugs, prostitutes and on at least one occasion, paying for an abortion for a child one of the players would have been a father to. These claims were all well documented by Shapiro; the NCAA has yet to determine what punishment the team will face.
• Miami recently replaced their head football coach with Al Golden taking over for Randy Shannon. It is not yet known if Golden was aware of the investigation when he took the job. Many have called for the “death penalty,” or for the NCAA to not allow Miami to play football for a full year. This has only happened once in the history of NCAA football and is unlikely as many people think that penalty will never be enacted again, although heavy punishment is likely to result from this.
  

Bad International Relations

• College basketball teams are allowed to take one international trip every four years to play club teams. These trips are meant to build team cohesion, to give athletes an international experience, and to let them play against players they probably will never see in the United States. These idealistic thoughts lead John Thompson III to take his Georgetown Hoyas to China.
• The Georgetown Hoyas were playing the Bayi Rockets in Shanghai. A hard fought game was ended prematurely when Thompson pulled his team off the court in the fourth quarter, with the score tied at 64, after a brawl broke out. One of the Georgetown players was hit by a chair, and a Hoyas fan was knocked down after being hit with a bottle.
• We at Sportico are not entirely sure what caused the ruckus, but there are reports that the Rockets were playing dirty and the referees were not calling the game evenly (as recorded by a 57 to 15 free throw advantage for the Rockets)
• The Hoyas and Rockets are scheduled to play again on Sunday, which will also be when Vice President Joe Biden is in the country to visit his counterpart. This trip (along with a similar trip by the Duke Blue Devils) was hailed by the State Department as an example of Sports Diplomacy but it looks like that didn’t work out as well as Hillary Clinton's department would have hoped.

August 17th update

Jim Thome Joins Elite Group

• Jim Thome of the Minnesota Twins, became the 8th player in Major League Baseball history to hit 600 home runs on Monday night. He joins an elite group of power hitters in the lore of baseball history (Aaron, Bonds, Ruth, Mays, Griffey, Sosa and Rodriguez... the list isn't long).
• For most of the history of baseball the 600 home run club has been almost mythical, but with the explosion of steroids in the 90's the feat has been somewhat cheapened. From 1876 to 2002 only 3 players reached that plateau. Thome becomes the 5th player since then to hit his 600th. Of those 5 players, only Thome and Ken Griffey Jr. have never had any rumors of steroid use which makes his accomplishment even more extraordinary.
• Thome will make it into the MLB Hall of Fame soon after he retires. On the field, he will be remembered as one of the all-time great mashers, but off the field his enduring legacy is as one of the nicest players in baseball, a true class act. The outpouring of affection for Thome from friends and former teammates has been incomparable and he has been visibly touched.
• Thome has returned the favor, speaking favorably about many who helped him reach his milestone, including current Phillies manager Charlie Manuel who actually managed Thome twice; once in Philadelphia and once when they were both in the Cleveland Indians' minor league system about 20 years ago.


Wednesday spotlight: Chris Johnson

• Although he was barely recruited coming out of high school and only drafted at the end of the first round because of a record-breaking 40 yard dash time, Chris Johnson seems set to become the highest paid RB in the NFL.
• The Tennessee Titans intended to use Johnson as the speed half of their "Smash and Dash" duo with LenDale White providing the yin to Johnson's yang when they drafted him out of East Carolina in 2008. However, White struggled with conditioning and Johnson immediately played too well to split time. With Incredible Flash caliber speed being his primary weapon, Johnson became only the sixth player to rush for 2000 yards finishing with 2006 rush yards in 2009 as well as a record setting 2509 yards from scrimmage (rushing + receiving yards).
• Last year he finished with a "modest" 11 TD and 1364 rushing yards, which placed him only 7 yards from 3rd place in the NFL. This brings us to his contract situation, where his attitude is probably worded best by Cuba Gooding Jr's character in Jerry Maguire (and rightfully so).
• Despite being one of the best young players in the NFL, Johnson's base salary is only $800'000 for 2011, which is dwarfed by other RB's salaries, such as Adrian Peterson will be making $10.2 million this year.
• The Titans have offered him a deal that would make him the highest paid RB ever, but that's not enough apparently as Johnson wants to be paid in the $13 million range according to multiple sources. Will the Titans pay? It's worth noting that they cut ties with former "franchise" player Vince Young after he got on the owner's bad side, although our guess is that Tennessee and Johnson will come to an agreement in the coming days.

August 15th update

Keegan Bradley victorious at PGA Championship

• Move over Rory McIlroy, there's a new young golfer looking to take over Tiger Woods' vacated mantle as the face of the PGA. OK, it was only one tournament, and it took an epic collapse by Jason Dufner to even open the door. But once that door was opened, Bradley, who was down by 5 strokes with only 3 holes to go after a triple bogey on the 15th hole, jumped through it took down the major title.
• Dufner, whose collapse may have been assisted by the fact that he was hitting behind Bradley and watching him gain momentum, was self-aware enough to realize that he couldn't fully grasp the gravity of what he had let pass. "I'm so new at this situation, I don't know if I appreciate it as much as I will soon," Dufner said. "I might look back in 10 or 15 years and be disappointed if I never get another chance."
• Bradley won the tournament on his first attempt. He's only the third player in the last 100 years to win a major on his first try and will have many people watching him very closely from now on.


Streak Snapped and a career (possibly) ends in Chi-Town

• One of the most famed feats in sports is Joe DiMaggio's streak of getting a base hit in 56-straight games. This streak has not come close to being broken as the second longest streak is Pete Rose's 44 game binge.
• Dan Uggla, the hard hitting second baseman of the Atlanta Braves, ran a consecutive game hit streak to 33, only two short of the longest ever by a second baseman. That came to a halt this weekend against the Chicago Cubs. After almost 5 weeks of consistent production Uggla went hitless in 4 at bats.
• Uggla’s streak was the longest in the past 5 years, which was unusual not only because Uggla was known as a power hitter, but also because he was having a miserable season. Even after the hitting streak, he still only has a batting average of .233. Perhaps the craziest stat of all is that the second to last pitcher he got a hit against during the streak, Carlos Zambrano, had a batting average of .333 at the time, 100 points higher than Uggla's.
• On a side note Zambrano, who got hit hard by the Braves hitting during that game, was ejected for throwing at Braves hitters, then cleaned out his locker and announced that he was retiring immediately. While it is unclear as to whether or not he will stick by that decision, such a bizarre move will probably end his career with the Cubs, if not his mercurial baseball career.

Cam Newton Shows Flashes in his First NFL Action

• The first overall pick of the NFL draft played in his first NFL game on Saturday night against the New York Giants. Although there's definitely room for improvement, he showed some flashes of the brilliance that helped him to lead Auburn to the 2010 NCAA Title and become the #1 pick of the 2011 NFL Draft.
• Newton did not start the game (that honor went to Jimmy Clausen) but came in at the beginning of the second quarter and played the second and third quarters. He completed 8 of 19 pass attempts. He did not throw a touchdown, but also did not throw an interception. Newton came in after Clausen threw an interception early in the game and was booed loudly by Panther fans who are none too enamored with Clausen after a brutal 2010 season.
• Newton may not have had the best numbers after his first game, but he did not look overwhelmed which is an improvement to Panthers fans and made at least one jaw dropping throw that will have Panthers fans excited for the future.

August 12th update

PGA Championships Tee off in Atlanta

• After a big golf news weekend last weekend, the pros take to Atlanta’s Athletic Club for the PGA Championship, the fourth and final of Golf’s Grand Slams.
• All eyes are on Tiger Woods again, and he came out with a really hot start but faded quickly after to finish the first round at 7 over par, tied for 129th place. Tiger is looking to win his first tournament in over two years, and will struggle to make the cut at this point (cut being the point, half way through the tournament, when the field is trimmed in half).
• The leader after day one is Steve Stricker at 7 under par (14 strokes ahead of Tiger). Stricker is looking for his first win in a Major tournament. Sportico favorite Rory McIlroy is 7 strokes behind Stricker at even par.


(Kind of) Real Football Begins!

• The NFL’s preseason kicked off last night with a slate of 5 games. The preseason continues this weekend with 5 more games tonight and 5 Saturday, and a Monday night game.
• While these games tell us very little about the teams as a whole (the starters usually only play a handful of plays before turning the rest of the game over to the backups) it sure is nice to be able to see actual professional football being played after a contentious labor situation this off season..
• The biggest winner of the night was probably Tim Tebow who is embroiled in a quarterbacking controversy. Tebow played well completing 6 of the 7 passes he attempted for 91 yards.While he did not score a touchdown, Tebow also added 15 yards on 2 rushing plays. The Broncos lost the game to the Cowboys on a gamble that paid off in the end. Still, Tebow's play is encouraging both to his his career's future and the short term future of the Broncos, who were one of the worst teams in the NFL last season.

August 10th update

Wednesday spotlight: Joe Paterno

• Anyone who knows longtime Penn State coach Joe Paterno was very concerned when a player collided with the coach during practice this week. It would be uncomfortable for anyone, but Paterno, or JoePa as he is affectionately called, is 84 years old. But just as people around him would be concerned, they would also be completely unsurprised when he refused to talk about himself, turning the attention to Penn State Nittany Lions football team, saying, "It's time for everyone to turn the attention to the team. We have a lot of hard work ahead in order to be as good as we think we can be."
• Paterno is one of two extremely long tenured coaches of power programs in recent memory, having coached at Penn State since 1966. The other, Bobby Bowden, has since retired but coached Florida State from 1976 to 2009.
• Paterno holds the record for the most victories by a football coach in Division I (now called the FBS), he has coached more bowl game wins than any other coach in college football history and is the first FBS coach to reach 400 victories. Additionally, he led five undefeated teams to wins in major bowl games including the 1986 team which won what many consider to be the first "true" national championship game over Miami.

*On a personal note, my grandfather loved Penn State and JoePa more than any other public figure as far as I can remember so he'll always a warm spot in my heart.


Fight for Denver QB job gets interesting

• Last year the Denver Broncos drafted Tim Tebow the reknowned college quarterback from the University of Florida. Tebow was expected to take a year or two to develop behind established, if maligned, starter Kyle Orton and then take the reins of the Broncos' (we never shy away from a good pun) offense.
• The issue with starting Tebow is that Orton developed into a pretty decent quarterback, throwing the ball over the field and helping make Brandon Lloyd one of the best receivers in the NFL last season. Additionally, Tebow’s development has been slower than originally planned. The cherry on the top of all this is the Broncos had a very poor 2010 season and fired their head coach, Josh McDaniels.
• Many fans expected Tebow to come into this season as the starter, but he has not shown the progression expected (heavily affected by the lockout which didn’t allow him contact with the Broncos). Orton, meanwhile, has performed very well through initial practices and has solidified himself as the starter in Denver.
• Controversy has ensued as Orton was almost traded, and has been booed by fans at training camp. Orton has said he doesn’t care if the fans like him, and he will continue to work hard to help the Broncos win.

August 8th update

Rockies pitcher suffers neck injury in-game

• In a scary scene at Coors Field on Friday night, Rockies pitcher Juan Nicasio suffered a fracture to his C1 vertebrae after being struck by a line drive off the bat of the Washington Nationals' Ian Desmond.
• He has since had surgery and as of Monday morning, the only person who has seen him was teammate Esmil Rogers, the other player from Nicasio's home country of the Dominican Republic.
• Nicasio's family, still in the Dominican Republic, are trying to obtain visas so they can come visit him as well.
• We've decided that showing images or videos of the accident, but if you want to see for yourself, just Google Juan Nicasio. I wouldn't suggest it.


Adam Scott Takes Crown in Tiger’s Return

• Australian Adam Scott won the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday in a tournament that was heralded as the return of Tiger Woods to professional golf. Woods has taken the past 4 months off while trying to recuperate injured knees.
• Scott was caddied (assisted) by Steve Williams. Williams became arguably golf's most famous caddy as he often acted as the voice for the more silent Tiger during most of Woods' career. Scott joked that he has been asked more about Williams and Woods than about himself this week.
• Woods finished tied for 37th. He is trying to get back into his old dominant form after having almost two years of sub-standard play.

August 5th update

Oklahoma Sooners: Best in NCAA Football?

• Sportico has spent many a update discussing the NFL. However, today it's time to start paying some attention to the younger players as the NCAA is preparing for their season. USA Today has released its first preseason top-25 ranking, picking the Oklahoma Sooners as the team to beat.
• Oklahoma, lead by Junior Quarterback Landry Jones (pictured), won the Fiesta Bowl last year and return a large crop of starters from that team. Alabama, the 2009 National Champions, ranked second, while last years runner-up Oregon ranked third.
• This ranking has no actual impact on who ends the season playing for the championships, but is a good directional indicator of who will be ranked highly in the all-important Bowl Championship Series rankings that are released for the first time in the middle of October.


NFL Hall-of-Fame Inductions this Weekend

• This year’s class is highlighted by a couple of razzle-dazzle players. “Primetime” Deion Sanders, and Marshall Faulk changed the way the game was played during the 90s. Joining them are Shannon Sharpe, Richard Dent, Chris Hanburger, Les Richter and Ed Sabol
• Sanders won Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, in the mid-90s and also played for the Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens in the NFL and Florida State in college. While playing in Atlanta the versatile Sanders also played baseball for the Atlanta Braves. He remains the only player to ever hit a home run and score a touchdown in the same week, also the only player to win both a Super Bowl and World Series. Sanders was known as a ladies man and cad during his playing days, but has since turned to the church and began mentoring young men helping them avoid the same mistakes he made.
• Ed Sabol enters the Hall of Fame as a “contributor to the game.” Sabol and his son Steve founded NFL Films. This repository of films of NFL games has become a great bridge between the younger generation and the great players of the past. Sabol (94) has been hospitalized for various reasons recently and his son lead a big push to get him into the Hall of Fame before he passed away.
• Faulk and Sharpe were both among the greatest players ever at their position as Faulk set the single season TD record and Sharpe set almost every receiving record for Tight Ends (although they have since been broken by Tony Gonzalez).

August 3rd update

Randy Moss calls it a career

• Possibly the most unguardable pass receiver in the history of the NFL has called it quits, and now it's time for people to decide whether his unbelievable athleticism, remarkable catches or his mercurial personality and bizarre antics will be what his ongoing legacy will be.
• When Moss was at his best he was unstoppable as is evidenced by his record 23 TD catches in 2007 and his rookie record of 17 TD catches in 1998, but he famously took plays off and had the attitude of "I play when I want to play." He played for the two highest scoring teams in NFL history and made defenses change their entire personnel just to stop him, but he also sulked, threw teammates under the bus and seemed to disappear for plays and games at a time.
• From the time he played football and basketball in high school with former Sacramento Kings PG Jason Williams, Moss was an athletic freak who was probably this generation's best example of an athlete who was his own worst enemy. The stats don't lie, he's one of the greatest ever as he has:

• 10 1,000+ yard receiving seasons – 2nd all-time
• 64 career 100 yard games – 2nd all-time
• 153 touchdown receptions – 2nd all-time
• 73.6 receiving yards per game – 7th all-time
• 154 total touchdowns scored – 4th all-time
• 14,858 receiving yards – 6th all-time
• 954 career receptions – 10th all-time
• 4-time All-Pro selection
  

...But he also bumped a traffic cop with his vehicle, berated a caterer (saying he wouldn't feed the man's food to his dogs), pretended to moon fans in Green Bay after a touchdown, and was jettisoned from Oakland, New England and Minnesota (the second time) as teams realized that the good wasn't worth the bad. He'll be a Hall-of Famer, but which facet of Moss's career will be remembered more? Only time will tell.


Ballers Killin' Time

• With the NBA (aka No Basketball Anywhere) currently locking out its players, NBA news not relating to the lockout is sparse. Unless you're one of the 17 people who tunes in weekly to Khloe and Lamar you won't see much of your favorite NBA players so we've decided to keep you updated on what some of the league’s biggest stars are doing with their lives. We've already discussed Deron Williams' decision to play basketball in Turkey.
• Kevin Durant lit up Rucker Park on Monday. Durant visited the Mecca of "street" basketball (aka the playground for grownups) in Harlem as part of a Entertainers Basketball Classic. Durant's team, the DC Power, played the Sean Bell All-Stars which has an NBA player of their own. While its not altogether surprising that Durant (the NBA’s leading scorer last year) could score against some lesser competition, the large total is still impressive. The environment was much more interactive and fans repeatedly mobbed Durant the higher his totals got and Durant obviously had a blast. Afterwards, via his Twitter he said: "No lie, jus had one of the best times of my life at Rucker park..wow!"
• What do you do when you were born in Santa Monica California, you're really tall, and don’t have basketball to play? Play beach volleyball of course! Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star forward Kevin Love is taking his respite from basketball and turning to a different ball. Love, who’s uncle Mike was a member of the Beach Boys, grew up in Southern California and we can safely assume has played his share of beach volleyball. He will be participating in a tournament held at Times Square from August 26th-28th and hopes to supplement his income with the NBA's season uncertain.
• And then we have Steve Nash, whose competitive drive is so intense that he's been reduced to stealing parking spots from old ladies. This man was meant to play basketball, let's get this lockout lifted, NBA powers-that-be!

August 1st update

Yo Adrian, I did it!!!

• It was a pretty good weekend to be a Philadelphia Sports fan. Over the weekend, the Phillies picked up the best hitter on the market, outfielder Hunter Pence. Pence will immediately make an offense that had underperformed a bit this season much better. This comes as the latest of a string of trades and Free Agent signings over the past 2 years that include pitchers Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt.
• Then we get to the Philadelphia Eagles. Where to start? Well they signed last week's Sportico spotlight player, Nnamdi Asomogha which came as a shock to some because they'd already traded for Arizona Cardinals Domnique Rodgers-Cromartie and had superstar Asante Samuel at the same position. They also signed monster DT Cullen Jenkins who was last seen stuffing opposing runners for the world-champion Packers. They picked up Jason Babin, a player who used to play for them, went to Tennessee and had more sacks than almost anyone in the NFL. They also signed the second best rushing QB in the NFL, Vince Young. But before you mock them for getting the #2 guy, it merits mentioning that he will be backing up the #1 guy on that list, recent PETA enthusiast Michael Vick.


Wild Couple of Days in the NFL

• Between Wednesday morning (when the lockout ended) and Saturday afternoon the NFL processed over 600 transactions. We will not bore you with the details of all of them, but here are the highlights of players who have changed teams. If you're from the Always Sunny city of Philadelphia then take a hike... we've already covered your shopping spree.
• Reggie Bush is taking his talents to South Beach as the elusive RB left the Saints for the Dolphins. Former star WR and recently released felon Plaxico Burress was the first major free agent to sign with the New York Jets. One of the best tacklers in the game, inside LB Stephen Tulloch left the Tennessee Titans for the Detroit Lions. Don't look now but the Lions are much improved on paper this offseason, especially on run defense.
• The Atlanta Falcons signed possibly the best DE on the market in Ray Edwards and the Baltimore Ravens picked up arguably the best FB in the game, Vonta Leach. This may be one of the sneaky best deals of the offseason. Leach is one of the only players in the NFL who is big, a hard hitter and also fast enough to block in front of a quick RB. He blocked for NFL Rushing leader Arian Foster in Houston last year and his movement should signal bigger numbers for Ravens RB Ray Rice and a decrease in productivity for Foster.
• A few big names remain without a jersey to wear. All-pro tight end Zach Miller has made moves to leave Oakland, and Aubrayo Franklin, the best defensive tackle on the market seems ready to leave San Francisco.


MLB Trade Deadline Passes with Flurry

• Major League Baseball’s trade deadline passed at 4PM on Sunday with a number of big moves being made in addition to Hunter Pence and the Phillies. The action started early in the week when the San Francisco Giants dealt for former Mets OF Carlos Beltran, a much needed hitting boost for the defending World Champions.
• On Wednesday, the St Louis Cardinals sent starting outfielder Colby Rasmus to the Blue Jays for pitcher Edwin Jackson. The Cardinals were not done, they later sent a top minor league player to the LA Dodgers for shortstop Rafael Furcal in an effort to bolster their defense.
• The next two biggest movers were the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers: Atlanta picked up speed demon and leadoff hitter Michael Bourn from the Houston Astros for a large package of yawn-inducing prospects in a move widely praised by experts because Atlanta did not have to give up any of their elite young players to get Bourn, a proven talent. Texas was able to bolster the weakness of their team, the bullpen (or relief pitchers). They received Koji Uehara, a hard throwing right hander, from the Baltimore Orioles and Mike Adams, one of the best relievers in baseball, from the San Diego Padres.
• And last but not least, the Cleveland Indians made a couple of high risk moves that could pay off big, picking up SP Ubaldo Jimenez who has struggled this year but was phenomenal last year and is still very young, as well as former Cubs OF Kosuke Fukudome.