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In the latest chapter of the at-times sad saga of Dallas Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain, the linebacker's house burned down Monday, Dec. 22, according to al.com. According to al.com, the home in Lake Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was nearly 7,500 square feet and listed at an asking price of $1.5 million. McClain was drafted No. 8 overall in 2010 after an exceptional college career at the University of Alabama, where he won the Lambert Award, given to the nation's best linebacker. But McClain's career has been marred with tragedy, run-ins with the law and sudden, premature retirements. McClain retired for the second time in April, at the age of 24, according to espn.com. He returned to play for the Dallas Cowboys, where he has recorded 65 tackles and two interceptions in 16 games for the NFC East champions. Read More »
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are close to — temporarily, of course — fixing their quarterback issues. All they need to do is lose another game. What's one more loss? The Bucs already have the worst record in the league at 2-13 and play in the worst division, the NFC South. One more loss could clinch the No. 1 pick in next year's NFL Draft, according to CBS Sports. But who will the Bucs choose? The consensus seems to be Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota, who will lead Oregon against last year's Heisman winner Jameis Winston in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. Mariota had a historic junior season on his way to becoming the first Oregon Duck to win the Heisman, awarded to the nation's top player. Mariota won in a landslide after tossing 38 touchdowns against two interceptions and leading the Ducks to the No. 2 overall seed. But could Winston be an option also? The in-state product led Florida State to an undefeated run to the National Title last season, and the Seminoles are 13-0 again this year. Read More »
Smith was averaging 13.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists this season for the Pistons. But Detroit has struggled mightily, getting off to a 5-23 record to start the season. Releasing Smith was step one in starting their roster over. If Smith joins the Rockets, he'll compliment a roster that started the year 20-7 and sits in fourth place in the highly competitive Western Conference. The transaction would also serve as a counterpunch to the Dallas Mavericks, who traded for former Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo this week. The Mavericks sit two games behind Houston in the loss column. Read More »
In a scary moment Monday night, Dec. 22, San Diego State forward Dwayne Polee II collapsed during a game against UC Riverdale and stayed on the ground for more than 10 minutes before regaining consciousness and being taken to the hospital, according to "The Sporting News." The "News" reported that Polee appeared to suffer a seizure on the court and that his parents rushed from the crowd to tend to his side. Polee appeared to wave to the crowd while being taken off the floor. According to heavy.com, he was alert, allowing fans and spectators to breathe a sigh of relief. Read More »
Calling a football game a battle borders on the definition of hyperbole, but the Miami Beach Bowl, played Monday, Dec. 22, between BYU and Memphis, turned out to be exactly that. The teams fought for 60 minutes, then two overtimes and then actually fought themselves off the field thanks to a huge midfield brawl that broke out amid frustration and exhaustion. "It wasn't always pretty," Memphis coach Justin Fuente told ESPN. Call that the understatement of the bowl season. Reviews of the footage show wind-up, right-handed hammers; helmet throwing; stomping; and other awesome —um, ugly — cases of sportsmanship. The fight broke out after Memphis began celebrating its 55-48 win on the field. BYU was obviously upset they fell short in the two-overtime heartbreaker, and obviously didn't take lightly to Memphis rubbing it in their faces. There were times when the action on the field was just as exciting as the postgame antics. Read More »
Kansas falling gives the Big 12 its first truly embarrassing loss of the season. It still has a long way to go to catch up to the Big 10, which also proved the joke of the Power 5 football season. In hoops, the conference already has "nine lopsided losses at the hands of newly-minted Division I programs and directional schools," according to Sporting News. Read More »
San Francisco — and future Michigan? — head coach Jim Harbaugh, Boston Red Sox left fielder Hanley Ramírez, Detroit Tigers DH Víctor Martínez, former Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge and NASCAR driver Greg Biffle are all celebrating birthdays today, Dec. 23. You have to wonder how being born two days before Christmas affected these athletes's gift-getting childhoods. That said, all can afford quite nice holiday seasons now. Here's what you need to know about this special crop on their special day. Read More »
College coaches have been targeting James Jr. since before he even turned 10, according to Yahoo! Sports, and the youngster has made news before after sinking ridiculous trick shots. If anyone has the right dad to prepare him for young fame, it's Bronny. Lebron James was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 17-year old. The magazine called him The Chosen One, and he's lived up to the hype. Read More »
Smith was the only player who didn't publicly support Ryan, with others sugarcoating the coach's horrible performance the past few seasons. The Jets finished tied for second in the AFC East in 2013, third in 2012 and second in 2011. 2014 could go down as the worst season for the team since 1996, according to ESPN. Read More »
This is more than just a high point in Ronaldo's career. The forward recently won the Club World Cup last week with Real Madrid. SBNation reports Ronaldo is the only player to win all of soccer's major awards — Golden Boot, Ballon d'Or, Champions League cup, Club World Cup — with two teams. Ronaldo starred for Manchester United before joining Madrid. He became the highest earner in Spanish football after signing a new five-year contact worth €17 million per year in 2013, according to ESPN. So he's deserving of a statue. But that doesn't mean the statute can't be off-putting. Or funny. Or hilariously off-putting. Read More »
It came down to penalty shots, but Napoli defeated Juventus to win the Italian Super Cup Monday, Dec. 22, according to the Associated Press, via "Sports Illustrated." Napoli goaltender Rafael made the winning save on Juventus's Simone Padoin on the final shot after Kalidou Koulibaly converted for Napoli. The shoot-out decided a match that had been stalled at 2-2 after extra time. The tension of the match was matched only by the anticipation of it, as the Super Cup is usually played in August, according to Football Italia. But this year, fans had to wait months due to scheduling conflicts and international commitments to see the winner. They got their money's worth, but the largely Juventus-supporting crowd of 14,000 ultimately went home disappointed. Read More »
Manny Ramirez was known throughout his 19-year MLB career as one of the best all-around hitters of all time, as a hitter extremely difficult to strike out and as a hitter who rarely missed. But as it turns out, he can't hit a stationary golf ball. No matter how hard he tries. It's as funny as it sounds — the goofy, prank-happy Ramirez failing miserably while wearing pastel colors. His former teammate, Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, thought so, too. Ortiz trolled Ramirez on Twitter Monday, Dec. 22, posting a video of Ramirez swinging and missing at Ortiz's recent charity golf event. Ortiz took a video and ESPN placed Ramirez in the "Not Top 10." Ortiz wrote, "#RedSoxNation at least many is a better baseball player than he is a golfer jajaja." Ortiz also posted the video to Instagram. The jokester added the hashtag "#mannybeingmanny." Read More »
"Best of luck on their new teams to these 4 Allstars," Puig wrote on Instagram below a collage of dearly departed Kemp, Ramirez, Haren and Gordon. "We shared a lot of winning moments together and had fun doing it. I'm proud to have been your teammate in LA." Then Puig hilariously penned a tribute to former teammates Tim Federowicz and Drew Butera by making a collage of their pictures outlined on a FedEx package. Federowicz was traded to the San Diego Padres with Kemp, while Butera was shipped to the Angels, according to the LA Times. A FedEx package. Long live you, Yasiel. Read More »
