Trevor Bayne Not Getting A Push From His Daytona Win

When someone wins the biggest event in a sport, normally there comes a buzz or push with winning. You know, Wheaties, Disneyworld, McDonald’s, and numerous sponsors come your way when you win.

Trevor Bayne hasn’t felt the love from sponsors after winning the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR. I don’t know why since corporate entities love to be associated with a winner. He received calls from President Obama an vice president Joe Biden and has made the TV rounds. Yet nothing from sponsors. Maybe the sponsors will come knocking in due time. Maybe they’re waiting to see if Bayne is the real deal.

“Maybe these first seven races we can get some momentum and some companies will want to come on board,” Bayne said from Phoenix International Raceway on Friday. “Our goal would be to run the full season. That would be awesome if we could do that with the Wood Brothers and for Roush Fenway. You’ll see this weekend, our car is solid white and that’s not because we think it looks cool. We need some people to come on board.

For Bayne’s sake maybe he can get a few more wins under his belt and get some sponsors so he can run a full schedule and keep a pit crew.

Why Is This Man Laughing

The Detroit Pistons have a mutiny on their hands. About half the team decided not to show up for the shootaround in protest of head coach John Kuester.

Kuester’s emotions boiled over late in the second quarter in tonight’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He received two technical fouls for complaining loudly and say words not suitable for television. Kuester was upset about a non call on an Elton Brand pushoff. Well, one of the shootaround offenders, Tracy McGrady, thought the spectacle was pretty funny.

Maybe it’s the fact that Kuester will soon be canned and McGrady will still have an NBA career. Joe Dumars, stp down from that ivory tower and take your turn on the sidelines in this joke of a season.  

Chuck Long Facing Foreclosure

In these tough economic times you really don’t like to harp on anyone’s misfortune, but sometimes you can’t avoid it. I guess former San Diego St. football coach and ex-Iowa Hawkeye great Chuck Long struggles with mortgage payments like the average citizen.

The house he bought while he was coaching San Diego State is scheduled to be auctioned off in foreclosure on March 23. Now it’s not like Long is hurting for money or job security so why he defaulted on his payments is beyond me. 

Long bought the house in Poway, California in 2007 for $1.38 million. It was recently assessed for $893,000. Much less for what he bought it for.

Long was paid $700,000 from 2006-2009 so it’s not like he couldnt’ve made the payments. Records show Long defaulted on his payments last August. He’s now the offensive coordinator at Kansas.

Apparently Long knew nothing about the defaults or foreclosure, because in an e-mail he stated that it was “news to him” and that he’s in escrow with a potential buyer. How do you not know when your house is going under. Ask any homeowner, they’ll tell you that they’re in the loop about their finances regarding their home. Let’s see if Chuck can work this out to a better ending and learn from this mistake.

Shawn Kemp Not Impressed With Blake Griffin’s Dunk

Shawn Kemp was one of the hardest dunkers in the NBA before he went on a see-food diet and ate himself out of the league. His behavior didn’t help, but his weight was a big issue. Hell, he was the most gifted fatman I’ve ever seen play (John “Hot Plate” Williams was up there as well).

Well the “Reignman” wasn’t all that impressed with Blake Griffin’s winning dunk at the slam dunk contest.

Kemp classified the dunk as weak and feels he could do better, even at age 41.

“I’m a big Blake Griffin fan, but that dunk at the contest might’ve been the weakest dunk in the dunk contest that I’ve seen in a long time. I love the choir and all that stuff was great, but you at least gotta jump over the car though right? He swung over the car and landed on the hood of the car. I think he should at least be able to jump over the front of the car. I’m 41 years old and right now I could do it. Two Smart Cars.”

Ok he’s right, but saying he could do it over two Smart cars. Seeing is believing. And until we see Kemp do it, it’s all talk and wishful thinking. Good luck in training for that feat Shawn.

Walsh Is Being Undermined In New York

I’m late to the party on the Carmelo Anthony trade, but I still have a little something to say about it.

For starters, I think the Knicks gave up entirely too much in this deal. Don’t get me wrong it’s a tremendous trade, but it doesn’t make New York an instant contender and they up some quality depth to get him. Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari aren’t in the same class as Anthony, but they were rounding into solid players. I mentioned in another post that I would’ve called everyone’s bluff and waited it out an got Anthony as a free agent since he was pushing so hard to get to New York. I wasn’t sold that he would resign with New Jersey or anywhere else. If Denver traded him anywhere except New York and he didn’t resign, then oh well. Play your chips in the free agent market and use the remaining players to fill another hole. I firmly believe the Knicks could’ve had him for nothing.

The primary reason why the Knicks felt like the had to have Anthony now is because of owner James Dolan. I believe GM Donnie Walsh didn’t want to make the trade because he didn’t want to gut the team in the process of making the trade. But Dolan undermined Walsh in the decision making process. And now Isiah Thomas comes out and takes partial credit for the trade. Call me nuts, but Thomas may be right. I don’t believe Thomas seduced Anthony to New York, but Thomas still has Dolan’s ear and Dolan listened. How in the world do you fire a guy and want to hire him back, albeit a consultant. The Knicks have a man in Walsh who knows what he’s doing and are undermining his efforts to build the team. If I’m Walsh I bail out after the season so Dolan can have his lovefest with Thomas, because if Dolan doesn’t listen to him now he never will. I almost feel sorry for him since he was brought there to put the Knicks back together, but now no one will listen to him.

It was a nice deal but it has Dolan’s and Thomas’s fingerprints all over it.

Brian Wilson Has A New Party Buddy

Brian Wilson of the San Francisco Giants was invited to a private screening of “Major League” by none other than Mr. Wild Thing himself, Charlie Sheen this past weekend. Wilson was at Sheen’s house along with former major leaguers Kenny Lofton, Lenny Dykstra, Todd Zeile, and Eddie Murray. It seems Wilson has found some new party buddies. Pete Rose reportedly was invited but didn’t attend.

Wilson was flown to Arizona by Sheen to Los Angeles for the party. Wilson and the others had the privilige to try on Babe Ruth’s 1927 World Series ring which he purchased at an auction some time ago.

Sheen, who is a big baseball fan said that he is “married…to baseball”. He also called his little party the “ultimate VIP baseball excursion”.

I’m sure there are many that have a differing opinion but consider the source.    

Tuberville’s Raise Ruffles Some Feathers At Texas Tech

Teaxas Tech head football coach Tommy Tuberville is getting a $500,000 raise from $1.5 million to $2 million. All fine and dandy except that faculty members at Tech aren’t too happy about it. With state funding being cut there was a pay freeze for Texas Tech faculty members. So when Tuberville got his pay bump, they were pretty vocal about it.

“If that was me, I would have turned it down. I would have been embarrassed,” said Julian Spallholz, a human sciences professor and Tech faculty senator. 

Well Mr. Spallholz, there was a promise made to Tuberville to get a raise since he was hired for what Tech calls “less than market value”. So don’t count on Tuberville giving any of that money back anytime soon. This may seem slanted but no one spends big money to come see you teach a class. So if you have a problem bring it up to school president Guy Bailey or athletic director Gerald Myers and I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to tell you where you stand in the pecking order.

I know it seems priorities are in the wrong place when it comes to athletics vs. academics, but when these school presidents mingle with others they like to brag about how athletically competitive their school is, not how academically prestigious they are. I hate to say it but they better get used to it.

If Mike Leach was still coaching there they might have a full blown riot, considering he was racking up lots of wins and made the football team nationally relevant. His salary would’ve been astronomical and I’m sure that would’ve made the faculty even more upset than they are now.

Dolphins Add Bryan Cox To The Coaching Staff

Bryan Cox was once known as one of the toughest, angriest guys in the NFL. Now he gets to come back to where his career started. Cox was hired as the pass rush coach for the Miami Dolphins. Cox, a former linebacker, spent his first five years in Miami.

He’s been the defensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns the past two years and held the same post for the New York Jets from 2006 to 2008.

I’m not part of the NFL fraternity so I never knew that a pass rush coach ever existed. I mean, is there a kick block coach, or a punt return coach, or even a handoff coach. Don’t get me wrong because I’m not trying to make fun of Cox. I just never knew the there was such a thing as a pass rush coach.

Former And1 Streetball Star Troy Jackson Found Dead

I found out from a co-worker that Troy Jackson, better known as Escalade on the And1 streetball circuit was found dead in his hotel room. It was something that caught me totally off-guard. A fact I never knew was that he was Mark Jackson’s brother. Yes, that Mark Jackson.

Jackson was found unresponsive in his hotel room Sunday morning and there is no known cause of death. The results of an autopsy are pending.

Jackson was a former player at the University of Louisville where his nephew Mark Jackson Jr. now plays.

“We lost a great man of God, my Uncle,” Mark Jackson Jr. posted on his Twitter account. It “consoles my heart to know he’s in a better place WE WILL ALL MISS YOU!”

  

Warren Moon Now Cam Newton’s Advisor

It seems when you retire from the sports world, if you play your cards right you can land any job you want. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate them for it, but it always seems that they can parlay any crack in the door into opportunity.

Warren Moon, the former Houston Oiler and Minnesota Viking quarterback is now an advisor to supertalented Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton. I don’t know Warren personally, but he couldnt’ve picked a better guy to advise him. If you think Cam Newton went through a lot in his college days, that wasn’t nothing compared to being a black quarterback when Moon was coming up. I’ll give Newton credit he blocked a lot out to succeed and lead his team to a national championship.

Moon says that Newton must “confess to his off-field sins” during his college days at Florida and Auburn. He has been accused of theft and academic fraud at Florida, and his father allegedly shopped his services to multiple schools.

“That was when he was 18, but those are the things he’s going to have to face up to and hold up to,” Moon told The News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash. “He has the rare ability to block things out that are going on around him. He had all those things going on last year, but every Saturday he found a way to block that out and play at the highest level possible. Everybody wondered when the kid would crumble, but he never did. He’s a young kid who can deal with adversity.”

“I see a kid who trains to be great; that’s what he’s all about, all he talks about, being great,” Moon told The News Tribune. “His work ethic is so unbelievable that, if anything, you have to try to slow him down and keep him from doing too much. You see how much he wants to work at getting better, not just on the field, but in the classroom, studying film.”

I do believe if Newton is as hard a worker as Moon says he is, he won’t wear a bust label in the NFL. He’s been getting some quality advice from Bill Cosby and now Moon. If he stays humble he won’t be another JaMarcus Russell.