Dmitri Young wanted to trip Barry Bonds

Former MLB player Dmitri Young was always opinionated. When he was interviewed by C. Trent Rosecrans of CBSSports.com  about selling his baseball card collection for the Dmitri Young Foundation, Young told Rosecrans which was his favorite card and why he wanted to trip Barry Bonds.

Q: Is there a favorite card?


A: It’s the Hank Aaron. The Home Run King — there’s another guy that has the record, but the Home Run King is Hank Aaron. I was there for the game when 756 was hit, I was playing first. Deep down inside, when (Barry) Bonds hit it, I wanted to stick my foot out and trip him.

Q: So, I’m guessing you have a hardline stance against the steroid users?

A: It’s not the steroid issue, it’s the [jerk] issue. To each their own, but when you’re on an All-Star team with a guy and your son goes up to him and says he appreciates what you’ve done and he ignores him and walks off — I take that personal. Very personal. Of course, even if it came up, he’d deny it. But why would an 11-year-old kid lie? I was a big fan of Barry Bonds before that. I used to defend him and everything. But being persecuted, then to sit there and [be a jerk] to my son. … Yeah. I enjoyed watching him play, but the way he treated people — I’m not about treating people like crap, regardless of who you are, what you do for a living, I’m not about that.

That would’ve been a classless move but hilarious since Bonds would’ve been the victim.

Detroit Lions sign Boise St. QB Kellen Moore

The Detroit Lions went into the NFL draft with no immediate need for a quarterback, but with no third stringer on the roster they could afford to take a late round flyer or sign an undrafted free agent. The Lions took the latter route and signed Boise State signal caller Kellen Moore.

While Moore was disappointed, but not surprised that he wasn’t drafted he is excited for the opportunity to get a shot with the Lions.

 “I’m excited, I’m getting my chance in the NFL and that is all that matters,” Moore told NFLDraftScout.com after his agent, David Dunn, reached an agreement with the Lions. 


“We had a lot of contact, a lot of teams, I really don’t even know how many teams, but a lot,” Moore said. “I like our decision. I am eager to get back there.” 


I guess that’s all you can ask for is a chance. In a league where size and arm strength define potential NFL quarterbacks no one looks at the fact that Moore is a winner. He went 50-3 at Boise State and was one of the most efficient quarterbacks in NCAA history (His pass efficiency rating of 168.98 ranks third in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history).

I’m not saying he’s going to be a stud but Moore could be a good developmental quarterback backing up Matthew Stafford and Shaun Hill.

Vikings RB Caleb King arrested for suspicion of assault

Minnesota Vikings running back Caleb King apparently can’t take a joke. King was arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of committing a serious assault at a birthday party in the Anoka County city of Oak Grove.

The alleged victim of the assault, a 22-year-old man from Coon Rapids, is hospitalized with a skull fracture, facial fractures and injuries that required more than 50 stitches to close and may also have a serious brain injury, according to the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office.


He was in serious condition Saturday night at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids.


King and the injured man were guests at a birthday party Friday night. When the man made a joke about King having a resemblance to a celebrity King took offense to it and apparently the victim paid the price.

When the man went to wait outside in a car King followed him out and hit him in the face.

 King allegedly followed him, confronted him outside the car and struck him in the face. The victim reported getting into the car, locking the passenger door and calling 911 on his cellphone. King allegedly opened the driver’s side door and pulled the man outside, struck him multiple times in the head and face with his fists, then threw him head first to the ground, according to the Sheriff’s Office.


King, who was arrested at the site of the party, denied assaulting the man and said he fell to the ground when King was talking to him.


King was booked on suspicion of assault in the third degree but has not been formally charged. That decision will be made by the Anoka County attorney’s office next week, according to the Sheriff’s Office. King remains in custody at the Anoka County jail. 

King is a reserve running back for the Vikings and was on the practice squad for most of last season. If King is charged for this crime he can probably kiss his roster spot goodbye.

Jeremy Guthrie has a freak bike accident

Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeremy Guthrie can add his name to the list of players that have had a freak injury.

Guthrie rides his bike to and from the stadium and hasn’t went against his routine. He might change his mind after suffering a sprained shoulder after taking a hard fall from his bike.

The odd injury occurred when his chain broke, slamming him to the ground near the ballpark. He might just miss two starts given the back date on the DL and the off day approaching.


“It was a kind of a freak accident. Most of the contact was on my elbow and it kind of jammed my shoulder. I just have some pain, and when that goes away. I would assume yes I will be healthy in 15 days,” Guthrie said after Friday’s game. “It wasn’t like wheel slipped out. I was just riding and the next thing I know I was on the ground.”


Guthrie will miss his turn in the rotation and is due to come off the disabled list on May 8. With an ERA of 5.92 over four starts the Rockies might want to leave him on there.

For the right price you can have Tyreke Evans

Tyreke Evans was once thought to be the a major cornerstone of the Sacramento Kings’ rebuilding efforts. He was the rookie of the year and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him. His star has now dimmed and now is rumored to be on the trading block.

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee touches upon why Evans could be had for the right price.

Kings executives will entertain trade offers for Tyreke Evans this summer, and they should.
Evans remains a major asset. His team remains in a major funk. When a franchise finishes near the conference cellar for six consecutive seasons, the general manager needs to make significant personnel changes, or the franchise needs to change its general manager.


But that’s an organizational decision.


Evans, who has a year remaining on his contract, has his own decision to make. He has to figure out what he wants and how badly he wants it. He has to determine what kind of player he wants to be and proceed accordingly, essentially controlling what he can control.

Evans has one year left on his rookie contract and is at a crossroads in his young career. There’s no doubt that he’s talented but which position do you play him at? He had a good rookie year as the point guard although he was miscast in that role. But when you look at him in college Memphis’ season didn’t take off until John Calipari put the ball in Evans’ hands and let him go.  

I’m not saying that’s what the Kings must do, but Evans operates best when he dominates the ball. Kings consultant Pete Carril says Evans needs to learn how to play without the ball.

“I don’t think it’s any big secret,” Princeton legend and longtime Kings consultant Pete Carril said the other night. “Tyreke’s got to learn to play without the ball. It’s all there. I see some games, and he looks very good. Other games … he just has to work harder. I’d love to see him develop a mid-range game.” 

If I were in the Kings’ front office I’d wait to pull the trigger on an Evans trade. They need to watch film and see what works best for him. On the flip side Evans also needs to watch film, get in the gym and develop a jump shot and work more on his game. Evans should be a natural at shooting guard, but right now he looks like a man without a position.

North Carolina wanted to cut down the nets at Duke

The Duke-North Carolina rivalry is the best rivalry in college basketball. No doubt about it. I’m not crazy about either one but you can’t deny that fact.

In the 2011-2012 season Duke beat the Tar Heels in a thriller in Chapel Hill. Carolina went down to Durham and returned the favor. After the game in Durham the rivalry nearly went into another stratosphere. Tar Heel players wanted to cut down the nets at Cameron Indoor Stadium. And coach Roy Williams nearly allowed it.

During the Tar Heel Tour, which is a Carolina media blitz, Williams answered questions and brought up the issue of cutting down the nets.

Williams called this past season “hard”. Despite the 32-6 record, Williams said the team never “had the chance to celebrate” aside from the victory over Duke to end the season.


However, the team thought about cutting down the nets in Cameron Indoor Stadium, but Williams thought it “might cause a scene.”

Cause a scene? It would’ve caused a riot. Although I probably would’ve taken great joy in seeing that happen. That would’ve been worse than the Ohio State football players tearing down the “Go Blue” banner before the Michigan game in 1973.

Evan Turner says Bulls are a better matchup for the Sixers

The NBA playoffs are right around the corner and we’ve already had our first brush with controversy. Philadelphia 76ers guard Evan Turner basically admitted that the Sixers are trying to dodge the Miami Heat so that they’ll get a first round matchup with the Chicago Bulls because Turner says Miami is the tougher team. Turner feels that if they get Chicago in the first round they have a better chance of winning.

In a story that appeared in the Delaware County Daily Times, Chicago native and Sixers’ guard Evan Turner thinks the Sixers would rather play the Bulls because, “It means we’re dodging the tougher team. That’s what I think.” The better team, of course, being the Heat?


“We will be able to compete well against Chicago and have an opportunity to win the series,” he said.


“We probably match up better against them even though they are, by far, the best team in the East,” Turner said. “We match up better with them with our personnel, so you never know.”


The Bulls didn’t seem to bite at the comments but Kyle Korver did call the comments “flammatory”.

“Well, all right,” he said. “I’m not going to get into a war of words with Evan Turner.


“Come play us. Our goal’s to win a championship. We don’t care who we play—first round, second round, third round—we want to go through everybody. That’s our mindset. We don’t want to go around anybody. We’ve got the one seed and we’re ready for whoever’s eighth.”


Center Joakim Noah didn’t put much stock in Turner’s comments.

“That’s cool,” Joakim Noah told reporters in Indianapolis.


“Why doesn’t it bother me? At the end of the day you’ve got to go out there and play the game, so we’re only worried about us right now and we’ll worry about Evan Turner when we need to worry about Evan Turner, if … God willing.”

The way the Sixers played after their quick start (20-8), they shouldn’t be worrying about seeing who they match up with better. They should concentrate on playing better basketball to be in a position to beat the Bulls. 

Padres thinking of moving the fences in

The San Diego Padres’ home field, Petco Park is known as a pitchers park. But when you look at the current dimensions, it’s a bit extreme. The Padres offense had been punchless the past few years and management feels that it’s almost a competitive disadvantage to play there.

So management has tinkered with the thought of moving the fences in.

“We’re open-minded and we’re seriously considering it,” Padres interim CEO Tom Garfinkel said Tuesday.


“I do believe it is too extreme right now. It will still be a pitcher’s ballpark. But a hitter should be rewarded if he crushes it. And if a team is down 4-0, they should feel there is some hope. It’s just too extreme.”


Translation: It shouldn’t be so difficult to come from behind since we don’t have to much going for us offensively.

The decision has to be made by the end of the season and the team’s plans have to be submitted to MLB.

“We’d have to submit plans by the end of the season,” said Garfinkel, who said the Padres have not decided on the distance that the fences would be shortened.


“I don’t think a final decision needs to be made until October,” said Garfinkel.


Garfinkel knows that shorter fences would mean more excitement, more ticket sales, and higher television ratings, even though what he says speaks to the welfare of both teams.


“We have to get it right. We are studying everything. There are still going to be some nights when the conditions would still be such that it’s going to be hard to hit a homer no matter what the distance is to the fences.


“But a solidly hit ball should be rewarded. Baseball is a match between the pitcher and the hitter. We’ve seen a number of times here where the hitter wins that battle and gets nothing to show for it.


“It should play fair. Four runs should not be an impossible deficit to overcome.”    

Garfinkel is probably tired of seeing long fly balls by the home team come up short. I look for the Padres to go ahead and move the fences in but I don’t know how much it’s going to help their team.

Vontaze Burfict has options

With news of a failed drug test and his draft stock near rock bottom, former Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfict is already looking at other options in case the NFL doesn’t work out.

Here’s a quick rundown of Burfict. He once was thought of as first round material, but his weight ballooned to an unmanageable 259 pounds. His production slipped and Burfict became a walking personal foul, many that cost his team. Since then he’s slipped off teams’ draft boards due to a poor combine and character concerns.

Burfict figures that if he doesn’t get drafted or make it on an NFL roster that he’ll play in the Arena league or go back to school.

“I’m truly blessed just to be in the position that I’m in right now,” he said. “If I don’t get drafted then I will have to go back to school, but I love football so much that I won’t give up on football. But I will go back to school and finish up my schooling and stuff like that and probably go somewhere else like Arena football or something but hopefully I make it to the NFL.” 


I’ll say this much, at least he has a backup plan. Not much I can say for others.


If I were a GM I’d take a late round flyer on the guy. If he’s disciplined enough he could be the steal of the draft. If you get the human personal foul, he could get you fired.

Panthers’ Smith says Saints player admitted trying to hurt him

In another episode of “The Bounty”, Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith said that a Saints player admitted to targeting him. With everything that has came out recently it hardly registers as shocking.

Smith was on NFL.com’s “Dave Dameshek Football Program,” and told him he’s “always known” that Gregg Williams’ defenses try to hurt you. he then rehashed an altercation with a Saints player who shall remain nameless about a cheap shot he tried to give Smith.

“I actually had an altercation with a guy who told me firsthand,” Smith said Tuesday on NFL.com’s “Dave Dameshek Football Program,” although he didn’t name the Saints player. “I was going out of bounds, and the guy went for my ankle. I said, ‘Hey, man, cut that out.’ He’s like, ‘Well, we get fined if we don’t go after your legs when you go out of bounds.’ … And actually this past year, this last game when we played them, I had a little conversation with Gregg Williams. … He took responsibility, he was saying it wasn’t right, but that’s who he was.”

If you remember back in week 5 the Saints-Panthers game got a little chippy and there was some pushing and shoving from both sides.

Right now any story about the Saints hardly surprises me.