Posterized

This isn’t the kind of poster a basketball player dreams of having when he grows up.

As of now Javaris Crittenton says he will turn himself in and says he’s innocent. 

Crittenton will be on a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta and should arrive in his hometown “very early [Tuesday] morning,” said attorney Brian Steel, retained by family members earlier Monday.



Mr. Crittenton wants to clear his name,” Steel told the AJC. “He’s innocent of the charges.”


I’d rather be on the poster getting dunked on with nuts in the face, than an FBI poster. Really though, no one knows if he’s innocent or guilty. We’ll have to let the justice system run it’s course.

 

Pistons Likely To Get Rid Of Hamilton After The Lockout

There is a lot of uncertainty regarding the NBA lockout and the future of some players. What isn’t too surprising is that when or if the lockout ends the Detroit Pistons will resume shopping Richard Hamilton.

This news isn’t a surprise to anyone. Hamilton hasn’t been the same player ever since Chauncey Billups was shipped to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. His production has tailed off, but I attribite that to the Pistons’ decline. Clashing with former coaches Michael Curry and John Kuester didn’t help either. The latter feud landed him an extended role on the bench. Call me what you want but I still feel Hamilton got a raw deal on that one. Of course many of us don’t know what happened behind the scenes. At that point and time I probably would’ve traded Rip for a bobsled.

Some of it is perfromance related, but as I stated before you can tie his lack of production (14.1 points) last season to the team’s all around bad performance. Hamilton did act like a spoiled child who figured since he has one championship under his belt that he should be given more respect. Hamilton lost a lot of respect with Piston fans over the last year.

The reason why he hasn’t been dealt was because of the ridiculous contract extension Hamilton signed right before Billups was shipped out of town. The contract was a deal breaker but according to a report by Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press it might not be as troublesome as it once seemed.

He’s owed roughly $21 million over the next two seasons, as the second year is only partially guaranteed. And remember president of basketball operations Joe Dumars has almost traded Hamilton several times when the financial burden was greater.

We’ll have to see what happens when the season resumes and see are the Pistons willing to let go of the remnants of the 2004 championship team.

Quote Of The Week: Stan Van Gundy

In light of the Miami Hurricanes scandal, Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy had some disparaging remarks about the NCAA.

“The system is set up for everybody but the kids while pretending to be about the kids,” Van Gundy said. “Athletics and education should be separate. Colleges shouldn’t be farm systems. It doesn’t make any logical sense. But the schools don’t want to be blatantly in the situation of being professional sports even though they already are professional sports. They just want to disguise it, so they hide behind education. But, really, all you want is enough of your athletes to graduate so it looks like that’s what you care about. Anyone around sports knows it is all a bunch of bull [expletive].

I think if you let kids take inducements it would widen the gap between the haves and have nots in college athletics. On the other hand the rules are so archaic and they need to be revised.

One Angry Bear

After not seeing the field against the Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears running back Chester Taylor’s days appear to be numbered.

Matt Forte is the unquestioned starter and Taylor was the backup…last year. The Bears went out and signed Marion Barber to give them some more quality depth at the position. What Taylor didn’t count on was Khalil Bell coming out of nowhere to steal his preseason carries.

Of course Taylor isn’t too excited about it.

“My running backs coach (Tim Spencer) told me after I came out for pregame that I wasn’t playing,” Taylor said. “He didn’t give me no reason or no excuse or nothing. It can’t be from the competition because it’s hard to get three carries in a preseason game and the other players are getting 13, 14 carries. That’s not comparing anything. It’s not from production and play.”

“Yeah, I’m disappointed,” he said. “I’m practicing all week thinking I’m going to play. Just for them to come out of the blue and say that, yeah, I’m disappointed.”

Some might say that Taylor has talked his way out of town. I think it has more to do with production and his contract. Keep in mind that Taylor signed a four-year, $12.5 million deal last year and produced 112 carries for 267 yards. A mere 2.4 yards per carry. That kind of production will keep you on the sidelines and make the team look for cheaper options.

If the Bears cut Taylor, I believe he could still land on his feet somewhere. Possibly their division rival Detroit Lions, who are still sorting out their options for another backup to Jahvid Best.

JaMarcus Russell Is Paying Off His Debt

When the Oakland Raiders drafted JaMarcus Russell with the number one pick in 2007, neither Al Davis or Russell figured that he’d be out of football, desperate for a tryout. Russell held out to get $60 million guaranteed from the Raiders and then proceeded to go hoodlum and produce three of the worse seasons by any quarterback in NFL history.

Even though Russell is out of football and sitting on scores of hard earned cash (I’m not serious), he is paying off some of his debts.

TMZ reported tha Russell recently paid back a $223,180.05 property tax lien from the State of California. He still is on the hook for the $2.4 million mansion in Oakland that’s scheduled to be auctioned off next month. I figure he should have enough to keep the house from going by the wayside, but considering he has no reason to be there he’ll probably let it go.

I guess you could call that a silver lining in this black cloud of a football career. Hey JaMarcus, there’s still Canada or the UFL.

What Is He Thinking?

Recently Appalachian State has been in the news about the football team making a move up the food chain. Now here’s more Appy State news.

Michigan has scheduled them for their 2014 opener for a rematch. Personally this is something the Wolverines should stay away from. We all know what happened last time these two teams met in 2007. 34-32, ball game, thanks for coming.

U-M will pay ASU $850,000 if it’s still an FCS program at the time of the game, or $1 million if it’s in the FBS, an Appalachian State spokesman said. It is a one-game contract.

“We look forward to facing Appalachian State again,” U-M athletic director Dave Brandon said in a released statement.

Really? What will happen if the Mountaineers come back to Ann Arbor and stun the Wolverines again? There might be a suicide watch group on campus.

Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore welcomes the challenge of trying to knock off one of the titans in college football.

“To have the University of Michigan invite us back is the ultimate compliment for us as a program and a University,” ASU coach Jerry Moore said in a released statement. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to have a new generation of players experience a game day at the Big House and to test themselves against college football’s all-time winningest program.”

I’m going to be a homer and hope that the Wolverines fare better than the last time they faced this group of Mountaineers.

 

  

Reggie Wayne Is Skeptical About Kerry Collins

Peyton Manning’s status for the season opener is in question right now due to his neck problem. He could possibly miss even more games if the Indianapolis Colts decide to be extra careful with him. The Colts signed the recently retired Kerry Collins off the scrap heap to have an experienced backup on hand just in case Manning’s condition gets worse.

I thought it was a pretty good signing, considering the state of quarterbacking in the NFL.Face it, some of it is flat out brutal. I know Collins isn’t the end all be all of quarterbacking, but if the Colts are to remain among the elite, Collins’ signing was a must.

Now if you ask Colts receiver Reggie Wayne, he would differ with me. He’s not exactly in Collins’ corner, but he didn’t exactly call him a piece of crap either.

“We don’t even know him, we ain’t vanilla, man, we ain’t no simple offense. […] So for him to come in here and be the starter, I don’t see it. I think that’s a step back.



“Who says Kerry’s going to be the starter? Just because we bring him in doesn’t mean he’s the starter. He’s got to learn too, right? Unless they gave him a playbook months ago, he’s got to learn too. […] He’s going to have some studying to do. I’m not sure how he is with the books, not sure about Penn State’s education, but he’ll have to do some studying. […]


“I don’t care who you are, I mean I’m not going to let anyone just come in here and just push someone aside like you’re that dog now, you know what I mean?”

“I don’t want to make it seem like I’m not welcoming or having open arms to anybody that comes to our organization,” Wayne said to the local media. “If they open the doors for Kerry Collins to come, then that’s fine. I can’t do (anything) about that anyways. But I’ll be damned if we’re going to open the doors for someone else, and just drop our heads on who we already have. The Colts are big on protecting their own, so I’m (going to) help protect our own.”

Not exactly a vote of confidence for Collins. And I guess some encouraging words for Curtis Painter. Everyone knows Collins is no Manning, but to rip on his education, damn. I guess Reggie forgot where he went to. The U. I’m not knocking their alumni, but their football players aren’t exactly known for their academic achievements.  

Luke Walton To Be An Assistant Coach At The University Of Memphis

During this NBA lockout some players are going overseas, some are playing in glorified pick up games to keep their skills sharp, and some (Delonte West) have considered jobs at Home Depot.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton has gone into coaching. According to a report by Jason Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Walton will be named the third assistant under head coach Josh Pastner. Walton played at Arizona while Pastner was an assistant in Tucson. The Walton hiring will make him the third member of the Arizona connection, along with assistants Jack Murphy and Damon Stoudamire.

Walton will be charged with coaching the Tigers’ post players. Pastner said Walton will also be involved in recruiting for as long as he’s with the Tigers. Walton will remain with Memphis until the lockout is over.

Considering his diminshed role with the Lakers he might just stay there. Pastner does know there is a risk involved since the lockout could end at any time, but he seems very excited about the prospect of having an active NBA player on his staff.

“We’re really excited about it,” Pastner said. “You’re talking about a guy who’s played with the Lakers for eight years, has been a part of four NBA Finals, (has) two (championship) rings and has been in the huddle with Phil Jackson, who’s arguably one of the greatest coaches in all of sports.”

“It is a risk in the sense that the lockout could end at any time, but I felt the reward outweighs the risk,” Pastner said. “(Walton) wants to coach. He wants to make a difference. He’s really excited about this. He’s going to be able to come in and help with the bigs. It’s going to be great.”

This could pay off big for Memphis in the recruiting department as the Walton name has some credibility in basketball circles. Walton will be in Memphis this week to help with the Tigers’ individual workouts. Let’s hope he’s not a know it all like his father.

  

Tigers Bring Back Brandon Inge

At the conclusion of Detroit’s 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Friday night the club announced that they have purchased the contract of third baseman Brandon Inge and have sent outfielder Andy Dirks back down.

As expected, Tigers manager Jim Leyland indicated that Brandon Inge will come in and play primarily against lefties and be a late inning defensive replacement while Wilson Betemit will get the call against right-handed pitchers despite being a switch hitter. No word yet on tomorrow’s lineup but given what Leyland said you can make the assumption that Inge will start at third since the Indians will turn to left-hander David Huff.

I don’t agree with this one bit. Inge has been struggling all season and now that he’s feasted on some minor league pitching and he’s ready to go. The Tigers need to let go of 2006,  move forward.and stop trying to keep the band together.

They just traded for Delmon Young and elected to keep Magglio Ordonez on the roster. And now they trade for Betemit, platoon him with Don Kelly and Ryan Raburn, bring back Inge and send down a functional Andy Dirks. Just to keep Ordonez and Inge on the roster. At some point this team has to get younger, it might as well be now.

Former Miami Hurricane Highsmith Plans To Sue The NCAA

Alonzo Highsmith was one of the greatest Miami Hurricanes and one of the cornerstones of what made the University of Miami football team what it was in recent memory. His son A.J. is now on the team and that team might get hit with the hardest NCAA penalty since the SMU scandal that resulted in the death penalty.

The elder Highsmith is now threatning a lawsuit if the Hurricanes get hit with NCAA penalties coming from the Nevin Shapiro booster scandal. Highsmith’s beef in this matter is that the current players shouldn’t be penalized for sins of the past or the current 12 players that received extra benefits. I know a lot of former Hurricane greats are taking this hard but this might be borderline ridiculous.

“This lawsuit will be on behalf of all the kids who have done nothing wrong and would be being deprived of what they came to college for,” Highsmith said. “Look at the Reggie Bush situation. Look at what he did to the USC program. All those kids that went to USC for all the right reasons had to suffer the consequences.



“This has been going on for years and years. If someone at General Motors does something wrong, they don’t shut down the company. Nobody ever challenges the NCAA on this. Why? Why?”


“If you have a family and one child does something wrong then he can’t go to Disney World. But you don’t make all of the rest of the kids stay home too.”

“There are at least 70 kids on that team that have absolutely nothing to do with Nevin Shapiro, and you are going to tarnish their image over the actions of a few?



“You want to punish those kids that did something wrong, fine, I understand. But it’s a total travesty to punish the other kids who made good decisions. I’m going to sue if they try to ruin these kids’ college experience. I’m going to sue somebody.”

Well Alonzo, I understand what your getting at here, but if the NCAA let schools get away with illegal booster activity, this kind of stuff would be running rampant. School presidents and athletic directors would have a reason to turn a blind eye to players receiving gifts, money, cars, etc.

Of course Highsmith does have a dog in this fight with A.J. being a member on the team, so it’s natural for him to want to see Miami get off light or receive no penalty at all. Sorry Alonzo, but the Canes are going down and they’re going down hard.