random ramblings fred riecke gamblersdata
…I don’t know how this could happen, but according to reliable sources copies of Jerry Sandusky’s autobiography “Touched” were still available for purchase in The Penn State Bookstore as of mid-afternoon Friday.
…Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and ousted Vice President Gary Schultz will likely continue to be very well paid by the university. Sandusky was indicted last week on 40 counts of child sex abuse charges. Schultz was charged with perjury before the grand jury investigating the Sandusky case, which is also a felony, along with failing to report suspected child abuse. When he retired, Sandusky opted to take a lump-sum pension payment of $148,271 from the State Employees’ Retirement System. The rest of his pension is being paid out monthly and is $58,898 annually. Schultz could be far more richly paid. He elected to receive a $421,847 lump-sum payment at the time of his retirement in 2009, after nearly 39 years of service. He also receives a monthly pension payment of $27,558 — nearly the cost of tuition for two in-state freshmen at State College.
…I think I would be looking for a scholarship kicker if I was the Boise State coach.
…Scandal Bowl coming up this weekend when Ohio State goes against Penn State.
…The Big East doesn’t have a team ranked in the Top 25 but BCS rules mandate its champion receive a major BCS Bowl game bid. I guess Cincinnati or Rutgers will get the nod.
…Illinois linebacker Trulon Henry was shot in the hand at a large house party near campus and will be out for the rest of the season. Two others were wounded at the party attended by a handful of Ilinois players.
…The Albert Haynesworth experiment in New England lasted just a half-season. The defensive lineman was released by the Patriots on Tuesday, according to Ian Rapoportof the Boston Herald. Haynesworth was involved in a bit of a shouting match on the Patriots’ sideline Sunday with defensive line coach Pepper Johnson. Defensive captain Jerod Mayo also got involved, as did head coach Bill Belichick.
…Add Haynesworth – The 2008 Defensive Player of the Year with Tennessee, Haynesworth signed a seven-year, $100 million contract with the Redskins that offseason. He was a major disappointment in Washington, missing 12 games in two seasons and never coming close to the form he showed with the Titans. His eight-game tenure in New England wasn’t much better, with the 6-foot-6, 350-pound Haynesworth registering just three tackles and zero sacks in six games. He was inactive twice with a back injury.
…The Tampa Bay Bucs claimed Haynesworth on waivers the following day after the team lost Gerald McCOy for the season.
…A South Carolina judge has ordered the Floyd Mayweather Jr. to serve 40 hours of community service, per a report from ESPN and the AP. In a ruling released Monday, Judge Joseph Anderson instructed Mayweather to log his community service at the Las Vegas Habitat for Humanity Project by Jan. 31. Anderson wrote that videotape shows Mayweather at a pair of Atlanta nightclubs during a time in September when he told the court he couldn’t be deposed because he was resting after a boxing match. Mayweather is being sued by Anthony Dash, who says a beat for a song he created in 2005 was illegally used at a pair of appearances the boxer made at World Wrestling Entertainment events.
…Add Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Through his Twitter account, Mayweather offered to pay the funeral expenses for former Champion Joe Frazier who passed away last week. Mayweather did the same for a former opponent, Genaro Hernandez, who died from cancer.
…Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has been voted the NFL’s dirtiest player, according to The Sporting News’ mid-season player poll. Suh beat out Pittsburgh’s James Harrison for the coveted title.
…The Miami Dolphins suspended cornerback Vontae Davisafter arriving to practice hung over on Saturday. He also ended up getting into a confrontation with receiver Brandon Marshall on the same day. Davis didn’t play at all during Sunday’s win over the Chiefs.
…According to a Forbes poll, Michael Vick has been voted as the most hated player in the NFL by the fans. The poll showed that 60% of the people who responded to the poll either disliked, disliked somewhat, or dislike a lot the Eagles franchise quarterback. Of course, this should come as no surprise. Vick has people who will never forgive him, even in Philadelphia. He is also a well known name, meaning that a casual NFL fan would likely think of him first. If the Eagles don’t make the playoffs this year, and there’s plenty of reason to suspect they won’t, Vick’s unpopularity is sure to rise. Sunday’s latest defeat should cement Vick’s spot on top.
…Baltimore Orioles righthander Alfredo Simon has been acquitted of an involuntary manslaughter charge on Tuesday. Experts testified in the Dominican Republic that the fatal bullet did not come from Simon’s gun during a New Year Eve’s shooting of Michel Castillo Almonte, 25. No witnesses have claimed to have seen Simon fire the gun. He was facing up to two years in prison if convicted. The 30-year-old Simon made 23 appearances – 16 starts – for the Orioles this past season, posting a 4-9 record and 4.90 ERA.
……The Steelers-Ravens Sunday night thriller was a big money maker for the NFL. The Steelers Ryan Clark was fined a reported $40k for a hit on Ravens tight end Ed Dickson. Raven Ray Lewis was fined half of that, a mere 20k, for his helmet to helmet encounter with Steeler Hines Ward. The Steelers, by the way, are leading the league in total player fines with $182,500 in fines for 10 different incidents.
…Of the 1,000 registered voters surveyed in early November, more than three-quarters of the respondents stated they didn’t miss basketball at all. I have to agree, as long as we are talking NBA hoops. College basketball is underway and it should be a great season. Poll Position surveyed more than 1,000 registered voters in early November and asked whether they were longing for basketball to resume. The results? More than three quarters of the respondents said they did not miss basketball and only 12 percent said they missed games. The casual fan is sick of hearing the billionaire vs. millionaire squabble in the middle of a recession, even if they do not truly understand the issues at play. Those really do not matter. Both the league and the players have lost the battle of public perception as this poll clearly indicates.
… In a midseason poll of 111 NFL players, the Denver Broncos QB was selected as the most overrated player in the league (22 votes), barely edging out Cowboys QB Tony Romo by one vote (21). New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez, checks in at No. 3 on the most overrated list.
…Al Golden is a former Penn State player and currently the coach at Miami. With the Canes in trouble with the NCAA, could he go to Penn State if Joe Paterno is done after the year? Or will Penn State decide to hire a big name and pay big bucks to try to resurrect a program that may be wiped out completely.
…The man accused of posoning the historic oak trees at Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner is set for a march trial in Alabama. Judge jacob Elker III has scheduled Harvey A.Updyke Jr.’s trial for March 5. Updyke was indicted in May of two coounts of criminal mischief, two counts of desecrating a venerable object and two counts of a state law making it unlawful to damage, vandalize, or steal any property on or from an animal or crop facility.
…Georgia will have their full complement of tailbacks for the weekend against Auburn. Star freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell will be back with two others who were suspended for a game against a horrible New Mexico State team. The suspensions were for failed drug tests. Even without the tailback trio, Georgia managed to sneak by New Mex State 63-16. It was not the first time that Crowell had broken team rules, but remember he is Georgia’s leading rusher so the meaningless suspension was a timely manuever. Georgia pulverized Auburn 45-7.
…Miami Hurricanes basketball player DeQuan Jones will sit out the season while the NCAA investigates allegations he was recruited with the help of $10,000 cash from a booster.
…Central Florida Athletic Director Keith Tribble resigned last week amid allegations of recruiting violations in the school’s football and basketball programs. Assistant coach David Kelly, also the school’s top recruiter, resigned as well.
…Miami safety Ray-Ray Armstrong didn’t play Saturday against Florida State while the school was deciding if he broker NCAA rules by ahving dinner with someone who owns a public relations firm that works with professional athletes. Armstrong already served a four game suspension this year after an investigation ruled he broke NCAA rules by accepting gifts from a booster.
…Professional baseball player Wilson Ramos of the Washngton Nationals was kidnapped from his home in Venezuela last week. Ramos was abducted at gunpoint by four amrmed men in Santa Ines where he has a home. Over the weekend, authorities sent in a strike team and Ramos was rescued and some kidnappers were nabbed.
…The bizarre behavior of golfer John Daly continued last week when he walked off the course at the Australian Open after hitting 5 or 6 balls into the water on the 11th hole. Daly was apparantly angry after being penalized two strokes on the 10th hole.
…If the Penn State incident doesn’t meet the NCAA criteria for the deadly “lack of institutional control” I don’t know what does.
…The Florida Miami Marlins were making a big push in free agency this winter and that will continue as the fish are scheduled to be the first team to meet with St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols. Pujols and his agent Dan Lozano will meet with the Marlins within the next few days.
…We mentioned a while back that disgraced former major league slugger Manny Ramirez was interested in playing again. According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark…the 2004 World Series MVP had a workout in Florida a couple weeks ago for Japan’s Fukuoka Softbank Hawks…but the workout “didn’t go well.” This, from Rotoworld.com: “The Japanese don’t like ‘baggage’ in a player,” the source told Stark, “no matter how talented he might be.” We’re not sure why the Hawks didn’t know about Manny’s baggage before the workout, but, regardless, it appears that heading overseas might not be an option for the 39-year-old. Ramirez wants to return to baseball next season, but if it’s with a major league team, he’ll have to serve a 100-game suspension for a second positive PED test.
…Where will we see Jorge Posada next year if we see him at all? Jorge Posada still hasn’t decided whether or not he’s going to retire or find another team to play for next season, but one thing that he has realized, if he is going to play it won’t be for the Yankees. “I don’t think there’s even a percentage of a chance that I can come back,” Posada told reporters yesterday. “… It’s not going to happen.”
…In another no brainer, some are seeing the fact that Los Angeles Dodger season tickets sales are flying off the table as a result of Frank McCourt being essentially gone. Not so sure that is the case. Season ticket sales are up 30% from this time last year. The fact is that ticket prices were slashed, in some cases more than 50%, and that is the reason they are selling.
…Playing in the Australian Open, Tiger Woods resembled the old Tiger Woods for the first two rounds with a one stroke lead. Then the new Tiger Woods took over. Woods bogeyed the first three holes on Saturday and would up with a 75, 6 shots off the pace.
…Dana White and his UFC have done just about everything right in their short life span. They may have had a hiccup Saturday night though when their highly touted major television debut lasted only one minute and 4 seconds. They took a calculated risk when they decided to show only the main event, a heavyweight matchup between champion Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior Dos Santos. With a two hour build up on Fuel TV, where incidentally no other bouts were shown, and then giving the viewers a mere 1 minute and 4 seconds of action, I’d have to call this a bad move on the part of White and his cohorts. I doubt that all that build up for 64 seconds attracts that many new fans.
…The Pacquaio – Mayweather fight is a cinch now. Floyd obviously has the blueprint he needs to insure a win against Pac Man. I do believe Manny won the fight, but not impressively. In fact, had Marquez trainer Nacho Berenstein not insisted that his fighter was ahead through most of the fight, who knows what would have happened. Marquez was not robbed. He backed up for most of the fight, not unusual for a counter puncher, but Pacquaio threw more punches and landed more punches. A challenger has to take the title from the champ. That being said, Floyd Jr. will beat Pacman in May.
