March 9th update

More Controversy Springs up at Auburn

• The FBI is currently investigating an Auburn basketball player for potential point shaving. Point shaving is when a player purposely plays poorly in order to influence the gambling outcome of the game. Many times players get paid by bookies or other gambling agents to help them make money.
• Auburn Point Guard Varaz Ward has been suspended since February 25th. The investigation centers around losses the Tigers suffered on January 25th and February 7th. Guard Chris Denson was also suspended for a game but was later cleared of involvement.
• Ward has not commented on these allegations yet, and this story is continuing to develop. Last year Auburn QB Cam Newton was accused of being paid to play at Auburn, although no evidence was ever found to confirm the reports. Also, a crazed Alabama fan poisoned the trees at Auburn that serve as a symbol of the university.


Small Schools going dancing

• This coming Sunday is “Selection Sunday” where the NCAA’s selection committee will choose the field for this year’s NCAA basketball tournament. While 41 of the 68 slots will go to “At-Large” teams, the remainder go to “Automatic Qualifiers” these are the champions of the 27 conferences recognized by the NCAA. For many of these conferences, their champion will be their only representative to the tournament.
• Harvard (fresh of the success of their most famous basketball alumni Jeremy Lin) made the tournament for the first time in almost 70 years by winning the Ivy League. Virginia Commonwealth University upset the Colonial Athletic Conference by winning the tournament and setting up a potential run to the final four as they did two years ago.
• Davidson is going to the tournament for the first time since Stephen Curry lead the Wildcats to Elite Eight in 2008. Saint Mary’s won the West Coast Conference, and are probably the most likely of the small conference teams to go far in the tournament, unless you include Murray State, who has only lost one game all season and is likely to garner a top 4 seed, into that group.

February 20th update

ESPN's racist headline dampers incredible NBA weekend

• The Jeremy Lin train finally hit a bit of a bump for reasons both on and off the court. On Friday night the Knicks finally lost under the purview of their superstar rookie, surprisingly to the lowly Charlotte Hornets. While nobody thought the Knicks would never lose again, the Hornets have been downright awful and its possible the Knicks overlooked them as they prepared for the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
• This is when ESPN’s mobile division got into some hot water. The Mobile site of ESPN had the headline “Chink in the armor” with a picture of Lin above it (Chink being a very derogatory term for Asian people). Lin had said that he was called that while playing at Harvard as a way to get under his skin. ESPN has apologized and fired the employee as well as suspending another for 30 days.
• Lin obviously was not adversely affected by the issue, going off for an incredible 28 points, 14 assists and 5 steals in a win Sunday vs. the Mavs. He's the only player ever to put up those totals against a reigning NBA champion.
• In other NBA games, the Oklahoma City's young core had a monstrous game against the Denver Nuggets. Kevin Durant scored a career 51 and Russell Westbrook did his best to keep up, scoring 40. Serge Ibaka only scored 14, but also had 15 rebounds and 11 blocked shots, giving him the first triple double in the Thunder's team history. Durant and Westbrook's 91 combined points were more than 6 teams scored on Sunday, including the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics and L.A. Lakers.
• Rising stars Kevin Love of the Timberwolves and Kyrie Irving of the Cavaliers each made two free throws with less than a half-second remaining to win their respective games by 1 point.
• Speaking of the Lakers, Kobe Bryant scored 32 but was forced into 10 turnovers, 1 off his career worst in an ugly loss to the Phoenix Suns.


American taking the bobsledding world by storm

• Steve Holcomb is not a household name. He doesn’t have a big Nike endorsement, he hasn’t been hit on by Kim Kardashian and he probably wont be visiting the White House anytime soon. That doesn’t mean he’s not one of the most dominant Americans in his sport.
• Two years ago in Vancouver he lead the American 4-man bobsledding team to their first gold medal since 1948. The year before that he lead the American 4-man team to their first gold medal in the Bobsled World Championships.
• This past weekend Holcomb did the unthinkable (you know, in the bobsledding world) and captured the gold medal in the 2-man competition, despite being known more competing with a team twice as large. A strong second day surge pushed Holcomb and his partner Steve Langton past the Canadian team that had been holding the record.
• While we at Sportico realize this is not a Summer Olympic game, as we approach that season we will be doing a full preview, blow-by-blow and recap of this year’s events in London and will be featuring more and more Olympic athletes as we get ready for the 2012 games.


Gary Carter dies

• Former Montreal Expos and New York Mets star catcher Gary Carter passed away late Thursday night from complications from brain cancer. He was 57.
• Carter played 19 seasons and was part of the 1986 “Amazin’” Mets team that defeated the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. His 9th inning single in game 6 sparked one of the most famous comebacks in sports history (aided by a defensive laps by Red Sox 1st baseman Bill Buckner). Carter was known for his infectious smile and his durability. Playing a position that usually wears a player down quickly, Carter was unflappable playing the second most games all-time at the Catcher position.
• Carter later went on to become a baseball coach and mentor. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

February 17th update

Wakefield calls it a career

• Starting pitcher Tim Wakefield, one of the only pitchers to prominently feature a knuckleball left in the majors, is retiring after 17 seasons and 184 wins with the Boston Red Sox (He spent a couple years with the Pittsburgh Pirates before he signed with Boston). The 184 wins are only 6 short of the all-time Red Sox record, shared by Roger Clemens and Cy Young (for whom the award is named), but Wakefield decided not to pursue that record by playing in 2012.
• Wakefield's 17 years of service with the franchise is exceeded by only three players: Carl Yastrzemski (23), Ted Williams (19) and Dwight Evans (19), and the amazing thing is that when he was drafted, it was as a position player not a pitcher. But when he learned that he probably would not have much of a future as a position player, he developed the quirky knuckleball and spent the better part of 3 decades befuddling hitters.
• He was a vital part of the Red Sox World Series teams in 2004 and 2007, winning 17 games in 2007 (he won 17 in 1998 also) and even serving as the team's close from time to time. But this past year, while Boston was collapsing in one of the biggest debacles of the modern era, Wakefield tried, and failed, to stop the bleeding.
• His teammates felt that even though he still gave it his all and didn't seem to be burned out, it was a good time to hang up the cleats so he could be with his family. He won his 200th game last year, an impressive mark for anyone, much less someone who was never supposed to pitch.


Last big NBA free agents sign

• Power Forward Kenyon Martin and Shooting Guard J.R. Smith, teammates for the last few years with the Denver Nuggets and two of the biggest players to sign guaranteed contracts to play in China this year (they did so when it was still questionable whether or not the NBA would play their season due to the lockout) finally signed over the past week, Smith with the New York Knicks and Martin with the L.A. Clippers where they will play with arguably the two most exciting players in the NBA right now, Jeremy Lin and Blake Griffin respectively.
• The Clippers, who also feature Chris Paul are the second best team in the West and the Knicks are barely in the top 8, but since Lin has started playing, they are 7-0. Martin, who is a former #1 overall pick but will be starting his 12th season, is mostly known as a defensive player now after seeing his offensive stats slip over the past few years. Smith, on the other hand, is still trending upwards and will possibly be the starting SG, making a starting 5 of Lin, Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler, all of whom are veterans with impressive NBA resumes (except Lin, but you already know about him)!

February 15th update

Wednesday Spotlight: Randy Moss

• One of the most talented, but frustrating players in NFL history, wide receiver Randy Moss, announced his unretirement on Monday (his 35th birthday). Moss has played for 4 teams throughout his 12-year career (including 2 stints with the Minnesota Vikings). Considered the prototypical physical specimen for a pass catcher (6’ 4” 210 lbs, running a 4.25 second 40-yard dash) in the NFL, Moss’ skills are only matched by his mercurial behavior.
• Moss was drafted in the first round by the Vikings, dropping dropping in the draft due to a number of off-the-field concerns during his college years. After a freshman year at Florida State in which he was arrested for smoking marijuana, Moss transferred to Marshall University in West Virginia. At Marshall, Moss along with future NFL quarterback Chad Pennington, combined to form a feared combination that took a Mid American Conference title.
• Moss played for the Vikings from 1998 until 2005 when he was traded to the Oakland Raiders. As a rookie Moss trained with Vikings superstar Cris Carter, who took Moss under his wing and together, helped form one of the most feared offenses in NFL history. After the 2006 season the Raiders traded Moss to the Patriots and in 2007 Moss combined with WR Wes Welker and QB Tom Brady to once again create one of the highest powered offenses in the history of the NFL.
• After the 2007 season Moss’ production began to slip. During the 2010 season the Patriots traded Moss back to the Vikings. After only 4 games the Vikings cut Moss who finished the season with the Tennessee Titans. At the end of the season, with no takers for his services, Moss retired. Although he is back now there's no promise he will be signed, as the closest player to him, Terrell Owens, went unsigned in 2010 despite having a very respectable 2009 season. Moss will be fondly remembered for his one liners, including saying "Straight Cash, homie" when asked how he would pay a $10'000 fine, and this one that was turned into a fantastic remixed video.


NBA Western conference review

• So here I am, writing about the Western conference but all I want to do is talk about Jeremy Lin. I can't though. So I won't mention that he scored 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, made a game winning 3 last night against the Raptors, that he was named NBA player of the week, that he has at least 20 points, 7 assists and a steal in all 6 games he's played substantial minutes in (all Knicks wins) or that even Lin's high school coach never thought he'd be a good college player, much less an NBA star. Nope, won't mention that stuff. Stop the Lin-Sanity! The Western Conference awaits!
• The West has been the better conference for what seems like decades now, and the reason for the is the depth of good teams on that side. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the revamped Clippers are the class of the conference, although losing Chauncey Billups for the season will hurt the Clips.
• The Spurs, Mavs and Lakers are hovering a but behind, but until those veteran teams lose to the young inexperienced squads led by Durant and Westbrook (Thunder) or Paul and Griffin (Clips) in the playoffs, they have not proven anything.
• Steve Nash's Phoenix Suns would be in the thick of the playoff hunt in the East but are the 3rd worst team in the West at 12-17. Kevin Love's T-Wolves are much improved and really any team other than the miserable Hornets or the slightly less miserable Kings could realistically fight into one of the last two playoff spots.

February 10th update

Lin taking Big Apple by storm

• Of all the big stars to make a splash in New York, absolutely nobody was predicting that Jeremy Lin would add himself to that list. If you haven't followed the NBA for the past week, you'd be completed justified in asking, "Who is Jeremy Lin? I've never heard of him."
• Lin, a end-of-the bench backup for the New York Knicks before this week started who played in the Developmental League and was released by the Houston Rockets, was inserted early into the Knicks-Nets game on Saturday because they've had inconsistent play at the guard spots and immediately made an impact. He's started 2 games since then and made a few highlight reel plays already, had the MSG crowd chant 'MVP' for him and has scored at least 23 points and dished out 7 assists in all 3 games the Knicks have played, stringing back to Saturday. He's the only player to do that in his first 2 starts other than Lebron James in the past 9 years.
• Lin is probably the least likely NBA star possible, a short Chinese-American who was born in Palo Alto, California (where Stanford is) and going to Harvard for college, you would think he'd be an academic not an athlete. But here he is, making a giant splash in a city where anything less is unacceptable. He has a long way to go to equal the likes of Derek Jeter or Eli Manning for the heart of New York but he's already gone a long ways toward passing the disappointing Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire in terms of being the most loved Knick. Let's wait to see if he can keep it up.


Supermodel Splitting a Team

• As we reported on Monday the New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl on Sunday when a last minute drive fell just short. In the last couple of drives, two of their receivers (Wes Welker and Deion Branch) dropped very catchable balls that Tom Brady threw. Had these players caught the passes, as they have done for most of this season, the outcome could have been very different.
• To make matters even worse for New England, Tom Brady’s wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, was taped calling out Welker and Branch. Even though she was supposedly provoked by Giants fans who were trash talking Brady, Bundchen’s comments could possibly cause a rift amidst the Patriots a la Yoko Ono (who she has been compared to by more than one analyst).
• The Bundchen controversy is just one that is effecting the Patriots after the Super Bowl. Injured Tight End Rob Gronkowski was taped dancing (if you can call it dancing) at a team sponsored after party on an injured ankle. Given his performance in the Super Bowl in which he hobbled around, some fans wondered how he was able to jump around with seemingly no pain, and others wonder why he was dancing in the first place, as athletes who lose their title game are unofficially expected to briefly "mourn" for lack of a better term after losing the championship game.


Former Pitcher claims use of cocaine while playing

• Former Boston Red Sox Pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd claimed that he was high on cocaine for approximately two thirds of the games he pitched. Boyd pitched for 10 seasons from 1982 to 1991.
• He claimed that he used cocaine all over the nation in clubhouses. He also said that all of his teammates knew of his addiction, and a few even made a few attempts to get him help. Boyd claimed that he was able to get away with it because he was never drug tested throughout his career.
• Boyd, whose nickname makes it seem as though he played in the 1880's, not the 1980's (the nickname comes from a slang term for a beer can from his native Mississippi) was known for his use of illicit substances. Boyd is not the only pitcher to claim pitching under the influence of illegal substances. Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis claimed to have pitched a no-hitter on LSD.