It took nine rounds for the world to recognize that Terence “Bud” Crawford is what his opponent’s nickname was, “The Truth.” In front of a sold-out crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Crawford knocked down Spence three times throughout the fight, bloodied and battered him, showing that he could outclass the bigger fighter with the legendary work rate.
Spence met the canvas first in Round 2 and then was stunned again twice in Round 7, sending him to the mat and Terence Crawford into the history books as a two-time undisputed world champion. Crawford accomplished something in his perfect career that even Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao couldn’t do: gain the IBF, WBA and WBC 147-pound titles to accompany his WBO belt.
“Like I said before, I only dreamed of being a world champion,” Crawford said in his ring interview. “I’m an overachiever. Nobody believed in me when I was coming up, but I made everybody a believer. And I want to thank Spence and his team, like I told him, because without him none of this would be possible for me.”
The 35-year-old Crawford finished the fight in Round 9, effectively countering Spence’s offense and catching him in spots he couldn’t readily see until referee Harvey Dock stopped the blitzkrieg at the 2 minutes and 32 seconds mark. Crawford is now the first undisputed 147-pound champion in the four-belt era.
“It means everything because of who I took the belts from,” Crawford said. “They tried to blackball me, they kept me out, they kept me out. They talked bad about me, they said I wasn’t good enough, that I couldn’t beat these top welterweights, and I just kept my head to the sky and I kept praying to God that I would get the opportunity to show the world who Terence Crawford is. And tonight, I believe I showed how great I am.”
Spence made no excuses but did say he would exercise the rematch clause but at the higher weight class of 154 pounds.
“He was the better man tonight,” Spence said in the post-fight interview. “He was using his jab, and my timing was a little bit off. He was catching me in between shots. He was just better tonight. I make no excuses.”
Terence Crawford has proven all he doubters wrong and cemented Omaha, Nebraska, on boxing’s map. Salute to the new king.
Security video footage was released on Wednesday evening showing the physical altercation between Miami Dolphins wide receiver, Tyreek Hill and a Marina employee during Father’s Day weekend. The new footage could shed some light and impact the NFL’s decision on whether the Miami Dolphins star receiver will face any discipline from the league.
Hill was accused of slapping the marina employee but on Wednesday, the Florida State Attorney’s Office said that Hill won’t face any criminal charges regarding the incident. However, Hill is not completely clear because he could face discipline from the NFL as they are still investigating the situation. The new video footage released from security cameras could help the league make a decision sooner than later.
Hill appeared to be exchanging words with the marina employee as he is walking from the dock toward him. He is being held by a male family member but extends his hand to slap the employee on the side of the head.
The video then shows Hill coming back to walk toward the marina employee but being held by several men and women who appear to be accompanying Hill.
The 29-year-old spoke with reporters at his second Dolphins training camp on Wednesday.
“I just can’t make boneheaded mistakes like that,” he told reporters Wednesday.
Then he was asked to address specific details regarding the video. Of course, the receiver didn’t get into the specific details of what happened and shrugged off the question.
“As far as the story, I’m not here to get into that,” Hill said. “I’m here to play ball. I understand your question totally, but the issue has been resolved, and I’m currently cooperating with the NFL, giving them all the details on what happened on that day.”
Hopefully, the NFL shows Hill some grace and doesn’t suspend him for any games and just slaps him with a fine so he could make good on his 2,000 yard season promise. The hit was not very hard and the speedster seems to be apologetic. This should all factor into the NFL’s decision.
Last year this time Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr., was a rookie participating in his first training camp. Robinson was reportedly turning heads and showing all the skills he did at Alabama that made him a third-round pick. Unfortunately for Robinson, his rookie year took a detour after he was shot in an attempted carjacking last August.
As the Commanders prepare for their first season under new ownership (Josh Harris Group), Robinson, their star tailback says he’s as healthy as he’s been since that incident. A very elated and grateful Robinson told reporters this as training got underway on Thursday.
“I’m very grateful,” he said. “It’s not a day that I wake up and I’m not thankful and appreciative for everybody that was in my corner from the time everything happened to this point. I make sure I let everybody know every chance I get how much I appreciate them and how much I appreciate being here.”
Amazingly, Robinson only missed the four games of the season, returning in Week 5, he provided a real spark for an otherwise dormant Commanders offense. The burly-but-nimble 225 pound power back rushed for nearly 800 yards as the team’s feature back from the moment he got healthy. He even scored the game-winning touchdown in just his second game back, an ugly 12-7 win over the lowly Bears.
But, even then Robinson says he still wasn’t quite himself, and with good reason.
As camp convened this year, he looks and sounds like he’s fully healed from that traumatic experience.
“It’s a night and day” difference, Robinson declared, and he says he’s feeling “like myself more and more every day.”
Robinson said he had a lingering knee injury caused by the gunshot wound that he played through despite the pain. And just his overall body was never fully healthy after that incident.
With the offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, a former running back himself, now calling plays, the expectancy around the nation’s capital is there will be a lot of running the ball. And, with second-year QB Sam Howell expected to get the nod under center, the team will look to protect their young signal-caller.
That means Robinson will eat in both the running and passing games. While his style is of the physical nature, he showed at Alabama and in a very small sample size last season that he also catch catch the football out of the backfield.
Commanders running backs coach Randy Jordan told reporters on Friday this about his bell cow back, Robinson:
“He’s everything what I thought he would be and probably more.”
The 2023 college football season is steadily approaching, and as teams roundup their conference media days, the next stop is fall camp in preparation of September’s season openers. One program that has gotten better each of the last few seasons is Maryland Terrapins under head coach Mike Locksley and quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa.
In fact, Tagovailoa has broken numerous records since his arrival in College Park in 2020, while posting a (16-13) record as a starter.
When you play as well as Tagovailoa has, the offseason will always bring suitors looking to convince him to transfer in this new era of the portal. During Big Ten media days, Tagovailoa mentioned how the suitors came offering some pretty big bags to get him to transfer, but he stayed true to the Terps.
Tagovailoa called the offer of $1.5M from an SEC program, “crazy money.” In most cases players would’ve jettisoned with that type of life-changing money on the table, but Lia didn’t, and he explained why he stayed.
“It can be eye-opening, but I think for my situation — if I was in a different situation where maybe I didn’t have a brother in the NFL, or maybe my parents, It’d be a different situation,” he said of walking away from the offer.”
Taulia’s older brother is Miami Dolphins starting quarterback and 2020 No. 5 overall pick Tua Tagovailoa.
Terps head coach Mike Locksley, who’s entering his fifth season in College Park told reporters at the media days that he was definitely afraid he’d lose his star QB.
“I knocked on wood before the spring game and many of y’all didn’t understand what I was saying,” Locksley said. “You hear the rumors, you know some of the things are going on out there behind the scenes.
“No, I was not comfortable until I saw him run out after the transfer portal window closed up. But even then, a guy that’s a graduate can still leave and go play somewhere. I haven’t had a lot of nights of great sleep.”
Locks had every right to be nervous about losing Taulia, who owns the school record in passing yards, touchdowns, completion percentage, passing efficiency, 300-yard passing games, and most completions.
That’s including last season’s, 3,008 yards passing, 18 touchdowns and 67 percent completion percentage.
The Terps are predicted to finish fourth in the supremely tough Big Ten East behind the usual suspects, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.
The NFL is rife with contradictions, like how one of the most visible and pivotal positions in the sport is facing a pay disparity. Running backs are not feeling the love from the league, and their voices of contention are being heard. However, one general manager sees the issue as one where the gunslinger must sacrifice to keep their weapons in the arsenal.
“You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure it out,” Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan told TribLive.com. “But when quarterbacks’ salaries start increasing at the rate that they’re increasing, at some point, it’s going to have a residual effect somewhere on the roster. Every franchise is going to handle things differently.
“It’s up to every franchise to decide how to build their roster, but eventually, that’s going to have an effect when the quarterback salaries are growing at a rate higher than what the cap is. I get it, There are ways to get around whatever the top cap number is, but it’s just going to have a natural effect.”
Running backs across the NFL make an average of $1,794,500 per year in salary, according to Spotrac. The amount is even less than kickers, with a reported average salary of $2,166,357.
However, in 2020, the NFL and NFLPA agreed on a collective bargaining agreement that doesn’t expire until 2030. Until then, players are restricted from modifying financial matters, including franchise tag tenders and rookie contracts. As a result, running backs like Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley are more often offered short-term deals by their teams.
Barkley signed a one-year deal with an adjusted franchise tag of $10.1 million with almost an additional $1 million in available incentives and a $2 million up-front signing bonus.
Steelers running back Najee Harris also spoke about needing to get the paydays he expected.
“They’re choosing when to devalue the running back,” Harris said to Sports Illustrated. “What I mean is there have been numerous times – I can speak on my behalf – they ask me alone that ‘The game is going to rely on you. You need to do this for the team. Hey, it’s time to close out the game. Hey, we need to lean on you right now.’ It happens in a lot of places.”
Steelers GM Khan kept it very real.
“You know what [front offices] are trying to do,” Khan said. “You’re trying to utilize as much of us as you can out of us for cheap. And then they’ll get another [younger] back and try to do the same thing again. That’s the trend that’s happening right now. …I have not talked to Najee specifically about that.”
Is the running back pay disparity a matter of the quarterback taking one for the betterment of the team financially? If so, the spotlight can shift to the gunslinger and how much the running back means to them.
LeBron James and his family received an outpouring of support from the world when his son Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest during USC basketball practice. However, others were focused on using it as proof not to take the COVID-19 vaccine, namely Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform “X,” formerly Twitter.
“We cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing,” Musk posted. “Myocarditis is a known side-effect” of the COVID-19 vaccine.
He didn’t post well-wishes to Bronny or his family during an extremely intense time.
Then came the chorus of other anti-vaccine media personalities with a large platform who attempted to divert attention to their assertions that the vaccine has adverse effects.
“Well, today, Elon Musk was pilloried for suggesting that the COVID shot might have had something to do with what happened to Bronny,” Fox host Laura Ingraham said during “The Ingraham Angle.”
“Now, he may be completely wrong. It’s speculation. But we do know that myocarditis is a side-effect of the vaccine and given everything the so-called experts got wrong during COVID, we shouldn’t condemn anyone who is asking questions as these cases seem to be accelerating.”
According to the Yale School of Medicine, myocarditis is heart muscle inflammation. It occurs most commonly after an infection but can also be triggered by other things. So what is the likelihood of developing myocarditis post-vaccination, and who is most at risk?
It is most common in younger males — adolescents or young adults. The highest risk group is males between 12 and 17 years of age; Bronny is currently 18. Although the lack of information can create speculation, adding educated information with opinion dispels the theory of Bronny’s incident.
Then sports and cultural analyst Jason Whitlock entered the chat to create another narrative focused on anything except a genuine concern for Bronny’s health.
“I don’t believe LeBron or his family took the vaccine. I believe most elite athletes faked taking the vaxx,” Whitlock tweeted. “No way men in prime physical health injected a rushed vaccine into their bodies. I refuse to believe that. That’s my conspiracy. I don’t know what happened to Bronny.”
The James family will potentially reveal what happened to Bronny in due time. Until then, their celebrity will remain fodder for those with a cause to push that require a resuscitation.
Steph and Ayesha Curry had the time of their lives recently at the Drake concert. The canadian rap star recently completed his Brooklyn stop for his “It’s All A Blur” tour at the Barclays Center. He was there from July 17-21 and the Currys decided to pull up on July 17.
Of course, Drake acknowledge the celebrity couple and weirdly expressed how much he loves Steph. He also brought up the fact that he and the Warriors superstar look alike, according to social media.
“They say we look alike,” Drake said, referring to Steph, who smiled and caressed his beard. “Make some noise for my brother Steph Curry.”
He then added, “And, of course, the lovely Ayesha Curry and mama bear [Sonya Curry] you know.”
Ayesha stood beside her husband and appeared to have a look of disgust as Drake serenaded her man. Social media took the bait and ran with it by accusing her of hating. Social media users have often attacked Ayesha in the past and accused her for always seeking attention and being a hypocrite.
In 2021, she was called out for doing a nude photo shoot after old tweets from 2015 resurfaced of her not being a fan of women exposing themselves.
“Everyone’s into barely wearing clothes these days huh? Not my style. I like to keep the good stuff covered up for the one who matters (laughing emojis),” wrote Ayesha in 2015.
Then, she followed that up with another tweet.
“Just looking at the latest fashion trends. I’ll take classy over trendy any day of the week #saturdaynihghtinsight,” she wrote.
Now, it seems she has had enough of the trolling that dates back several years.
Ayesha’s Response
Mrs. Curry took to Instagram to respond to the trolls who flooded her comments after the clip quickly spread over social media.
“He thinks y’all are weird TBH,” Ayesha wrote on Instagram, seemingly responding to the bizarre comments.
She also responded to social media users accusing her of not having a good time at the concert. She didn’t write a response though, the basketball superstar’s wife simply shared a video of her dancing the night away with the caption “We had a time!”
It seems that Ayesha has had enough and is standing up for herself.
Bronny James suffered cardiac arrest on Monday, July 24 while attending an informal workout with his USC teammates at their facilities. News regarding the 18-year-old shocked the sports world and garnered support from athletes such as Damar Hamlin, who experienced the same health crisis during a Monday night football game last season.
The four-star freshman was discharged from the hospital on yesterday and his superstar father sent out a tweet, thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers.
After the news broke on Monday, theories began to run wild on social media. Many people linked it to the vaccine, but the James family has yet to provide any details on what actually led to the cardiac arrest. Somehow, a doctor took to YouTube and gave chilling insight on the situation.
Brian Sutterer, a popular sports doctor, is not close to the situation, but shared his opinion from experiences he has had in the medical field. Sutterer has certifications in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Basic Life Support, with just a little over two years of experience.
“There are some causes of cardiac arrest that you find the exact cause, and it still isn’t necessarily safe to return to sports because the risk is so high of having another cardiac arrest and potentially dying,” Sutterer said in the video. “If they don’t find an exact cause and you don’t really know what happened, you have to have that discussion of what exactly are the risks of going back out there and playing. Extremely serious situation we’re dealing with, then legitimately something that affects the rest of his career depending on what we discover and depending on what they have to do about it.”
If the doctor is right, then this would certainly put a damper on LeBron James‘ ultimate plan of being the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA.
Bronny is expected to spend only one year with the Trojans, but his freshman year obviously has taken an unexpected turn. If he is able to make a full recovery and keep rapidly progressing like he has over the last four years, then his father will have nothing to worry about.
LeBron is 38 years old now and is entering his 21st NBA season. Time is not on his side, but he won’t need it if Bronny is able to hold up his end of the bargain. LeBron signed a two-year extension last summer to remain with the Lakers through the 2023-24 season and have a player option for the 2024-25 season. It gives him the flexibility to opt out and sign with whatever team that drafts Bronny if the freshman decides to forego the rest of his college eligibility.
As for the impact of his health on his future, nobody knows what is going on with Bronny except for the ones close to the situation. Many are hoping this was a one-time incident and that he’ll be able to continue his basketball career, with it being best to leave the speculation alone until more details are provided.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming off a very successful first-year under head coach Doug Pederson. One which saw them win their division and a playoff game. They did this with a very good receiving corps of Christian Kirk who earned every bit of that $18 million salary that he signed for last offseason. His sidekick in Zay Jones was great, as were veteran Marvin Jones Jr. and a rejuvenated and locked-in Evan Engram.
While all of that sounds great, just imagine if they’d had former Alabama and Atlanta Falcons star Calvin Ridley. Yup, that’s right, Ridley, a former first-round pick who was coming of his first 1000-yard season in 2020, took a mental break in 2021, and then was suspended for all of 2022 for gambling while still a Falcon. Ridley was traded to Duval County in November 2022 while still on suspension. Now he gets to shine for the fast-rising Jaguars, and his arrival gives star QB Trevor Lawrence a bona fide No. 1 receiver.
Ridley Ready To Redeem Himself, Shredding Defense At Camp
Ridley missed 640 days from the game over the past two seasons, and the dynamic pass catcher is looking to make up for lost time. In an interview with Jeff Howe of The Athletic on Wednesday, the Florida native had a lot to say.
“I want to get back to doing what I do, because I love football. … That’s what I’m here to do,” Ridley said.
After stepping away from football following Week 6 of the 2021 season for health concerns both mental and physical, Ridley began placing bets on NFL games. That’s a no-no, and Ridley admitted he was in a “dark place,” when he did that. He told Howe this in the interview:
“Everything is better, and I’m back to everything.”
“Like everyone says, I haven’t played football in two years,” Ridley said. “But even when I did play, I know I was a very dominant and explosive player. Right now, I’m more motivated than ever and ready to get back whatever I lost. I’m around a bunch of great teammates, great coaches, a great facility. I feel the energy. I just want to continue to build, build, and build. I love football, man. I’m not here for the money and all that. I’m here because I love football.”
Jags Offense Is Absolutely Loaded
Coming into the 2023 season the Jags have one of the best group of skilled position players in the entire NFL. Starting with the aforementioned Lawrence, who’s coming off a season of 25 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. He’s flanked in the backfield by do-it-all halfback Travis Etienne, who totaled over 1,400 total yards last season. The aforementioned Kirk, Jones and Engram combined for 239 receptions and over 2,600 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Adding a player of Ridley’s caliber to this unit is gonna be trouble for opposing teams in the AFC South and AFC as a whole.
Boston, Massachusetts, is known for its sports rivalries, New England accents, and large Irish-American population. It is not known for having a Black economic epicenter similar to Black Wall Street in the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown believes he can change that now that he received the richest contract in NBA history.
Brown has agreed to a five-year, $304 million supermax extension with the Boston Celticsper reports. The deal is fully guaranteed.
“I want to launch a project to bring Black Wall Street here in Boston. I want to attack the wealth disparity here. I think there’s analytics that supports that stimulating the wealth gap could actually be something that could be better meant for the entire economy,” Brown announced at a news conference held at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“With the biggest financial deal in NBA history, it makes sense to talk about one-year investment in the community, but the wealth disparity here that nobody wants to talk about is top five in the US (and) is something that we can all improve on it. It’s unsettling.”
Boston has Black neighborhood pockets like Roxbury, where the R&B group New Edition grew up, Mattapan, and Dorchester. But these are just that, smaller blighted pockets.
Given the history of Boston, which was even cruel to one of his prevailing stars, Bill Russell, while he lived there and delivered championships to the city, Brown’s revelation might not be welcome. Also, when other athletes like LeBron James and Kyrie Irving decided to shift the narrative from athlete to activist, many who only wanted to be entertained by them did not receive it well.
“I think through my platform, through influential partners, through selected leaders, government officials, a lot who are in this room, that we can come together and create new jobs, new resources, new businesses, new ideas that could highlight minorities but also stimulate the economy and the wealth gap at the same time,” Brown continued.
“Boston could be a fully integrated self-sufficient hub. I think Boston could be the pilot, not just for wealth disparity here in the US, but also for around the world.”
The news conference occurred at his “7uice Foundation’s Bridge” program, not a team facility.
“This is the day it fell on and I knew I was going to be here spending most of my time, so I thought it was fitting. For it to be here, I think was just divine timing and now as we are putting the pen to paper, we got a lot of work to do. I think we’re all in that same journey to make this place, this community that we all live in, better and we all have that responsibility.”
Brown is now officially the face of the team based on the financial commitment that eclipses Denver’s Nikola Jokić contract of $276 million signed in 2022.
Black Wall Street in Boston is a very ambitious move, and announcing it is risky given that most of the fan base residing in Massachusetts does not reflect the population he seeks to serve. However, using a platform unselfishly to shine a light on philanthropic, cultural, and community-based efforts is admirable. Brown is letting it known he is not just here to shut up and dribble.
LeBron James addressed the world for the outpouring of love and well wishes he and his family received after his son Bronny James’ cardiac arrest sent him to the ICU.
“I want to thank the countless people sending my family love and prayers,” James posted Thursday on Twitter. “We feel you, and I’m so grateful. Everyone is doing great. We have our family together, safe and healthy, and we feel your love. Will have more to say when we’re ready, but I wanted to tell everyone how much your support has meant to all of us!”
Bronny James, the star firstborn son of LeBron James, suffered a cardiac arrest during practice at USC. Bronny is reportedly now in stable condition and no longer in the hospital. Sudden cardiac arrest is the sudden loss of all heart activity due to an irregular heart rhythm, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The 18-year-old is one of the newest players on the USC Trojan roster and one of the hottest prospects of the NIL era. Bronny was also a McDonald’s All-American during his senior year in high school.
Reaction from sports personalities was immediate, and the support flowed.
“Prayers to Bronny & The James family as well,” Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin tweeted, “here for you guys just like you have been for me my entire process.”
In January, the 25-year-old Bills safety suffered a cardiac arrest on the field during Monday Night Football during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2., leading to a nine-day hospital stay in Buffalo. In April, he revealed that a blow to the chest caused his heart to stop; the condition is known as commotio cordis.
Hamlin collapsed on the field and subsequently spent time in critical condition in the intensive care unit at the hospital. The world showed intense support for Hamlin during that time, placing him at the forefront of being more conscious of player safety.
For Bronny, the news hit the world suddenly and hard.
“Yesterday while practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest. Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU,” a James family spokesperson said to TMZ.
“We ask for respect and privacy for the James family, and we will update media when there is more information.”
“LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes,” the spokesman continued.
There are still no details on what happened to Bronny during the practice, but as the world watches the promising basketball star, more attention will be placed on his health, not just his athletic value.
The Milwaukee Bucks surprisingly fired head coach Mike Budenholzer this offseason after they were upset in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat. In his place, the Bucks hired former NBA player and longtime NBA assistant coach Adrian Griffin.
The move was reportedly blessed by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who wanted a former player as the team’s new coach. The joy involved with Griffin getting his head coaching gig was short-lived.
As Griffin prepares to take the lead role for the championship-contending Bucks, tragedy has struck his family. Over the weekend Griffin’s 2-year-old grandson passed away after being found unresponsive by his dad in the family’s home in Urbana, Illinois.
Champaign County coroner Duane Northrop released a statement in wake of the tragedy.
“At this time, the death of Jayce Griffin appears to be from natural causes pending additional testing and and final autopsy results.”
Northrop also added that the death is still very much under investigation, and until the investigation comes to a completion no further information will be released on the matter.
Griffin Pens Heartfelt Message To Grandson
Griffin, who’s waited 15 years as an assistant to get his chance to lead his own team, released a statement about his grandson on Tuesday.
“My grandson Jayce was very special to me and my family, and his passing is an agonizing tragedy that will be felt forever,” Griffin said in a statement released by the Bucks. “I appreciate your respecting our family’s grief and privacy at this time.”
Griffin Tasked With Leading Bucks To Championship
Griffin was hired by a team that has championed aspirations after winning it all just two seasons ago. With the aforementioned Antetokounmpo as the focal point, and the rest of the core not getting any younger, the folks in “Cream City,” want to experience again what they felt in 2021 for the first time in 50 years.
Griffin brings championship-level pedigree, basketball acumen, high character, and an ability to connect with today’s players that drew the Bucks brass to him. He won an NBA title in 2019 as the Toronto Raptors lead assistant.
This week during Big Ten media day, former Colorado Buffaloes head coach Mel Tucker, who’s the current head coach at Michigan State, took some time to talk about the arrival of Deion Sanders in Boulder.
Tucker’s 10-year/$95 million deal in 2021 made him the highest-paid Black coach in American sports. The ace recruiter, who has since been surpassed by Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams ($13M per year), spoke pretty candidly about what he believes Deion Sanders will do at Tucker’s former stomping grounds.
When asked about the way Coach Prime has gone about building his team, Tucker’s response piggybacked the recent comments made by USC head coach Lincoln Riley.
Tucker Commends Coach Prime
After Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables both questioned and criticized Coach Prime’s use of the portal, Riley and Tucker are singing a different tune.
“Prime has done a great job so far, I’m pulling for him and the Buffs to get that thing going again,” Tucker said. “He’s got his own process that he’s following, obviously. And I think he’s going to be wildly successful there.”
“The portal has been a benefit for us,” he added. “We’ve used it to help upgrade our roster. We can fill some needs immediately. Some of the downside is that we all know there’s hundreds if not thousands of players that have entered the portal, haven’t found a home. And that’s disturbing. But for us, the portal is here, and we’re going to use it to benefit our program anyway that we can.”
Pretty straightforward comments from Tucker who’s one of college football’s top recruiters, yearly. Tucker purged his entire roster when he took the Michigan State job. He also hopes that portal dabbling will enable his Spartans to continue to build quickly into a powerhouse that can eventually overtake a very tough Big Ten East that features archrival Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State.
Coach Prime Ignores Naysayers
While it’s good to hear coaches like Tucker and Riley credit Sanders for doing what he feels is best for his program, everything he’s done is well within the guidelines.
But as the Pro Football Hall of Famer has reiterated on numerous occasions, he’s not listening to the noise. Turning around a 1-11 program is a big enough task in itself. Responding to competition, jealousy or even justified criticism will only distract Colorado who has some huge challenges ahead, against a tough Pac-12 schedule.
The 2023 season is loading in Boulder and East Lansing for two of the better leaders of young men in the college game. Both tasked with taking middle-of-the-road programs
Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson has taken a beating in the media for how badly he performed in his first season under center at Empower Field at Mile High.
While Wilson shares plenty of the blame, new head coach Sean Payton wants everyone to know, the former Seattle Seahawks legend isn’t the only one at fault for the Broncos ugly 5-11 2022 season.
In an interview with USA Today, Payton the one-time Super Bowl-winning coach with the New Orleans Saints, said that former head coach Nathaniel Hackett and staff didn’t do Russ and the team as a whole any favors from a coaching standpoint.
In fact, Payton said Hackett and staff executed “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”
He also said there were “20 dirty hands” around Russ, who threw a career-low 16 touchdowns but was sacked a league-leading 55 times.
Payton Says His Staff Is Doing The Opposite Of 2022
A pretty brash Payton, as he known-to-be, told the outlet this.
“Everything I heard about last season, we’re doing the opposite.”
Payton is probably speaking of last year’s setup where Hackett pretty much said Wilson was designing the offense. That won’t happen with Payton in control. While he’ll respect Wilson’s input, the base of the offense will be his and the final input will come from Payton.
Wilson will be asked to run the offense with precision and quick decision-making, Payton won’t want him pulling the Houdini act he often pulled in Seattle. He also ruled out Wilson having his personal QB coach and his other players‘ personal staff employees in the team’s facility, something he had last year.
Payton Takes Shot At Jets And Hackett
While talking about how the Broncos handled things last offseason, Payton referenced what the Jets have done this offseason.
“It doesn’t happen often where an NFL team or organization gets embarrassed,” Payton told USA Today. “And that happened here. Part of it was their own fault, relative to spending so much [expletive] time trying to win the offseason — the PR, the pomp and circumstance, marching people around and all this stuff.
“We’re not doing any of that, the Jets did that this year,” Payton continued. “You watch. ‘Hard Knocks,’ all of it. I can see it coming. Remember when former Washington owner Daniel Snyder put that Dream Team together in 2000? I was at the Giants in 2000, I was a young coach. I thought how are we gonna compete with them? Deion Sanders is there now. That team won eight games or whatever. So, listen … just put the work in.”
Shots fired at Hackett and the Jets, who’s head coach Robert Saleh who says “haters gon’ hate,” and he and his Jets team will see Payton and the Broncos on Oct. 8.
We’ve seen this movie before with Deshaun Watson, but now the trainer is the accused and not the victim. Two current and one former women’s soccer players filed lawsuits against Butler accusing the ex-trainer of sexual assault. The latest saga with Northwestern football team seems to have opened a Pandora’s box to unleash all the wrongdoings that are happening on college campuses.
According to the lawsuits, the assaults took place during massage sessions that lasted multiple hours. The accused is Michael Howell, who worked at Butler from 2012 to 2022. He worked with women’s soccer, baseball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s tennis and the cheerleading teams during his tenure.
One complaint from one of the female victims, who want to remain anonymous, said “Howell began massaging her neck, but he quickly moved down to Ms. Doe’s hips and groin, massaged her under her shorts, touched her pubic hair, and rubbed her so forcefully that her groin was bruised and painful the next day.
“Multiple versions of this and other gross misconduct were perpetrated upon Ms. Doe, causing her substantial emotional, physical, and other injuries and damages. Unfortunately, Howell perpetrated similar misconduct on other athletes.’’
The victims also alleged that some of these massages took place at away games in the trainer’s private hotel room, according to the lawsuits. They are suing negligence, gross negligence, battery, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuits name the university, Ralph Reiff, and Howell. Reiff serves as Butler’s senior associate athletic director for student-athlete health, performance and well-being.
The university said it notified law enforcement as soon as they were made aware of the allegations. They also removed him from campus and suspended him from his job duties in September 2021. The university then terminated Howell in the summer of 2022 following an investigation and hearing in which they determined the trainer was found responsible for violating university policies.
The investigation took place after the anonymous victim and five other women informed the school of Howell’s misconduct, which included him secretly videotaping and photographing athletes.
“The health, safety, and well-being of our campus community is always our top priority,” Butler said in a statement provided to USA Today Sports. “Butler looks forward to the opportunity to show the high integrity and responsiveness of the coaches and senior personnel. Because the complaints do not name the plaintiffs and they have not waived federal student privacy protections, Butler is limited from further comment outside of the legal process.”
The man once labeled as the fastest player in the NFL is officially hanging up his cleats. The Kansas City Chiefs placed wide receiver John Ross reserve/retired list on Wednesday. Ross clocked the fastest time ever in combine history in 2017 but had a rough time staying over his six-year career.
Ross could possibly be the biggest bust over the last 20 years outside of Jamarcus Russell and Trent Richardson. He clocked a 4.22 in the 40-yard dash at the 2017 NFL combine, which broke Chris Johnson’s 4.24 time in 2008. The 5-foot-11 product from the University of Washington was selected ninth overall by the Cincinnati Bengals. He spent four seasons with the Bengals but only appeared in 27 games. He appeared in three games as a rookie and had no receptions.
The speedster appeared in his most games (13) in 2018, but had his best season in 2019. He had 28 receptions, 506 receiving yards, and three touchdowns. Ross also recorded back-to-back games of 100 receiving yards or more in weeks 1 and 2 of the 2019 season. Both were the best two games of his career.
In 2021, Ross seemed to be putting things together to be a more consistent NFL player. He played in 10 games for the Giants and record the second-most receiving yards for a season in his career with 224 yards and averaged 20.4 yards per catch. He showed flashes of the speed that had NFL teams drooling over him ahead of the draft in 2017.
After sitting out all last season, he signed a futures/reserve contract with the Chiefs in January. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid figured if he paired Ross with Patrick Mahomes then he could possibly revitalize his career and be a deep threat in their offense like we’ve seen with Tyreek Hill and Kadarius Toney.
The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup begins Aug. 25 and will be hosted by the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. Team USA is the betting favorite at -110, but the championship is no sure thing for this group.
Given the youth of Team USA and their lack of international experience, anything is possible, assuming they advance out of their group.
While nobody can match the depth of Team USA, other nations have chemistry and cohesion, for which there is no substitute. Also, this is not the NBA. The games will be played under FIBA rules, and this isn’t a best-of-seven playoff series.
Here are a couple of teams to look out for:
The Boomers are the third ranked team in the world and boast a roster with plenty of NBA experience, including: Xavier Cooks, Dyson Daniels, Dante Exum, Josh Giddey, Josh Green, Joe Ingles, Jock Landale, Patty Mills, Matisse Thybulle, and Jack White.
Everyone on this team knows their role and has played in the Australian system for quite some time. There will be a level of familiarity that the U.S. players won’t have.
Our neighbors to the north are seen as an agreeable docile nation, but their hoopers are anything but. Their roster includes: Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell, Oshae Brissett, Cory Joseph.
A Murray-SGA backcourt is going to be a nightmare for any team in this tournament. Add the defense of Barrett, Brooks and Dort and you’re cooking with gas. A lineup with those four plus Olynyk or Powell will be tough to out-execute in crunch time.
Allez les bleus! The fifth-ranked team in the world was the runner-up at last summer’s EuroBasket. They will be without teenage phenom Victor Wembanyama, but this squad knows how to compete and has beaten Team USA before.
The French roster includes: Frank Ntilikina, Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, and Rudy Gobert. After their seasons, don’t you think Fournier and Gobert might have a little something extra to prove?
No disrespect to Vlatko Cancar, but the seventh-ranked team is here because of the greatness of Luka Dončić. We’ve seen Dončić carry a suspect squad to the conference finals in the NBA, and that’s best of seven.
Once you advance past the group stage into the second round and final phase, an elite player like Dončić who can control every aspect of the game is dangerous. He can slow a game down to the tempo he wants, and if he’s on a heater from deep, good night. His teammates will know how to play off him and space the floor. Don’t sleep on Slovenia.
Aaron Hernandez’s brother was arrested on charges of attempting to plan school shootings at two separate colleges, the latest disturbing link to violence connected with the family.
Dennis John Hernandez, brother of deceased former New England Patriot tight end Aaron Hernandez, was arrested on July 19 in Connecticut and charged with threatening and breach of peace, per the Bristol Police Department arrest log.
Hernandez, 37, is being held in a Connecticut jail on a $250,000 bond because he allegedly made plans to commit shootings at both Brown University and UConn. According to The Associated Press’ citation of the incident report, two women were extremely concerned about Hernandez’s “very erratic behavior”, also stating that he was “extremely sick and that his mental health is continuing to deteriorate.”
According to a woman who had been dating the former UConn Huskies wide receiver, she had let him borrow her car in order to make a court case that he had set for July 7. But instead of attending that court date, Hernandez went to UConn and Brown and went inside multiple classrooms and buildings according to multiple sources.
Hernandez, who has already had legal troubles after he was alleged to have thrown a brick at ESPN’s headquarters, is now facing even more trouble. Others have also claimed that he has gone to schools in order to map out his alleged shootings and claimed to have “a bullet for everyone,” according to sources.
All of this left the police to deem Hernandez as “gravely disabled and a danger to society” and sent officers to his home.
Once Hernandez’s house was surrounded he spoke to police on the phone and eventually came outside yelling at police to shoot him before he was subsequently tased and subdued. Once at the hospital, Hernandez was allegedly saying that he was still planning to kill and also kill anyone who was profiting off of his brother Aaron.
After being booked at Bristol Police Department authorities reportedly were sent a message that Dennis sent to another family member.
“UConn program is going to pay unless I have a package deal and I get my estate and every single thing I have worked for,” Hernandez allegedly wrote. He also issued a warning, according to the report, to stay “away from there because when I go I’m taking down everything And don’t give a [redacted] who gets caught in the crossfire.” Hernandez wrote.
His brother, Aaron Hernandez was convicted of murder in 2015 before he committed suicide in prison in 2017.
Cam Newton recently went viral for his clapback at a youth while at a summer football camp. The former NFL MVP is now suing his ex-girlfriend to demand a Bentley back that he gifted her while the two were together.
Newton dated Kia Proctor from 2013 to 2019 but reportedly ended after he had a baby with model La Reina Shaw. Proctor and Newton share three sons and a daughter together.
According to court documents obtained by Radar Online, the former Carolina Panthers quarterback filed a lawsuit against Proctor over a 2017 Bentley Bentayga he purchased in May 2018.
He claimed he only allowed Proctor to use the vehicle “while they were in a romantic relationship.”
“In 2019, the relationship ended, and [Proctor] moved out of [Newton’s] residence,” the lawsuit said. “As part of the moveout process, [Newton] allowed [Proctor] to use the Car to move her things out of Plaintiff’s residence with the understanding that the Car would be promptly returned. [Proctor] never returned the vehicle to [Newton] after she moved out of [Newton’s] residence.”
Newton claimed he has asked for the car back on numerous occasions but still hasn’t received it, which forced him to take it to court.
Earlier this year, Proctor sued Newton for $20,000 in unpaid utility bills. The two also had a custody battle going on at the same time over their four children, Despite the custody battle, Newton reportedly agreed to pay her utility bills.
“The former NFL baller currently pays her $14,268 per month in alimony. Records from September 2020 to July 2022 reveal her cable bill to total $5,500 and $6,600 for internet. An additional $4,725 total her power charges and $4,532 for gas. All together, the charges run up to $21,357. That is not including the $2,000 in her legal fees she would like Newton to foot as well,” stated the lawsuit obtained by Radar Online.
It appears that Newton’s lawsuit is a petty response to Proctor’s initial lawsuit.
LeBron James has had a basketball career devoid of any scandals. However, the same cannot be said of one of his employees.
Erin Harris, chief marketing officer for Lobos 1707, James’ tequila brand, was caught on a now-viral video brawling with OnlyFans model Danielle Pertusiello, who apparently was having an affair with her husband.
The 24-year-old Pertusiello and her friend Amanda Costello, 29, were reportedly “hit from behind by closed fists in the back of the head,” which triggered the brawl. Eventually, Pertusiello’s short skirt gets hiked up in the melee, exposing her thong for the fight on the Encore casino floor at Wynn Las Vegas.
Security footage showed the police what happened: Harris and a friend she was with tapped Pertusiello and Costello on the shoulders when they walked into the casino; then “all four females start throwing punches at each other.”
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported that the altercation was based on tension building for months from Harris confronting Pertusiello over the phone four months before the fight.
“Danielle turned and immediately recognized her attack[er],” read the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department report per FOX News.
However, Pertusiello admitted to police that she “has been dating/sleeping with a married man” and that Harris had caught her husband “cheating on her with Danielle.”
Pertusiello and her friend were issued disorderly conduct citations, but the model told the world on Twitter that she was the about that fight life.
“In case anyone wanted to know I’m the first girl. Link in bio,” she posted about the fight, now a content creation moment.
Erin Harris has more than 20 years of experience in spirits and consumer goods and is the co-founder of Pronghorn, a business dedicated to cultivating the next generation of Black founders, executive leaders, and entrepreneurs in the Spirits industry.
Most recently, she was the SVP and general manager of Blue Flame Agency. She devoted over ten years to Combs Enterprises, for Sean Combs, working across the company’s portfolio for brands including CÎROC DeLeón Tequila and Sean John.
It is never good when scandals rock the personal lives of professionals, but when it goes viral and your boss is LeBron James it’s not as easy to fix as saying blame it on the alcohol.
