Bleacher Report - Articles by Colin Linneweber

"Mister KO" Lucian Bute Will Again Defeat Librado Andrade by Unanimous Decision

Colin Linneweber — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:38:51 -0500

IBF Super Middleweight champion Lucian "Mister KO" Bute will again defend his title against Mexican boxer Librado Andrade Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.

Bute (24-0, 19 KOs) defeated Andrade (28-2, 21 KOs) in their initial matchup in October 2008 in a highly controversial fashion.

Bute, 29, a Romanian national who has long resided in Montreal, dominated Andrade, 31, for the majority of the fight by utilizing an effective jab that allowed him to amass a large advantage on the three judges' scorecards entering the 12th and final round.

However, Andrade demonstrated tremendous grit and determination throughout the contest, and his perseverance eventually began to tire Bute.

In the waning moments of the fight, Andrade blasted Bute with a powerful combination that forced the southpaw titlist to the canvas.

To most onlookers, there is little question that Bute would not have been able to make it to his feet in time to beat referee Marlon Wrong's count.

Unfortunately for Andrade, Wrong declared that the Mexican scrapper illegally vacated his assigned neutral corner while Bute was on the canvas, and he halted his count.

The delay enabled Bute to regain his footing, and he was literally saved by the bell.

Bute was ultimately awarded a unanimous decision victory over Andrade, and he retained his title.

"Bute was clearly out," Andrade complained at the conclusion of the contest. "It was outrageous! If this is the way to lose a fight, then this is the way I want to lose. I know I won the fight because I came with the intent to knock him out, and I did."

Andrade revealed that he will fight Bute with more urgency from the outset, and he is confident that he will score a knockout victory in their rematch tomorrow night.

"That's the plan, to start much faster this time," Andrade said. "But I know Bute will be prepared, and I have a feeling he will try to outbox me this time, that he may run and not stand with me. We are working very hard on how to deal with that if that's the case. I will break him down little by little, and this time I will not let the opportunity of getting a knockout go by."

Bute, who won a bronze medal at the World Amateur Championships in Houston in 1999, is overall a more skilled fighter than Andrade, and his southpaw stance should again fluster the Mexican pugilist.

It is imperative for Bute that he does not again prematurely expend all of his energy in their impending second encounter.

If Bute becomes exhausted, Andrade will inevitably capitalize on his fatigue, and it is evident that he has the power to smack "Mister KO" to queer street.

Still, expect Bute to be energized once more fighting in front of his supporters this weekend.

Bute will likely again outbox Andrade and better reserve his stamina for the later rounds on this occasion.

"Mister KO" will not knock out Andrade.

But Bute will emerge victorious and earn another decision victory over Andrade to maintain his unblemished record as a professional in the ring.

Boxing's three biggest turkeys of the last 25 years

Manny Pacquiao is on steroids?

Floyd Mayweather is a coward if he doesn't fight Manny Pacquiao

Mark Mangino Does Not Represent the Jayhawks "in a Class Way"

Colin Linneweber — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:52:32 -0500

The University of Kansas confirmed last week that they are investigating the obese head coach of their college football team, Mark Mangino, due to allegations that he has emotionally and verbally abused players during his tenure in Lawrence.

The investigation was deemed necessary by school officials after two former Jayhawks players publicly recounted some of Mangino’s alleged reprehensible behavior on the gridiron.

Former Jayhawks receiver Raymond Brown recalled how in 2007 he was comforted by his teammates after his brother was shot and wounded near his home in St. Louis.

A couple of days later, an irate Mangino, supposedly ordered Brown to the sidelines after he made a bone-headed gaffe during practice.

“He went off on me yelling, which is fine,” Brown told The Associated Press. “I kept saying, ‘Yes, sir, yes, sir,’ to everything he was saying. A teammate asked me what happened. Then he started on me again and I said, ‘Yes, sir,’ and he said, “Don’t you ‘yes sir’ me. I’ll send you back to St. Louis where you can get shot by your homies.’”

In addition to the above purported racist denigration made by Mangino, Brown and past receiver Dexton Fields remembered an occasion when an unnamed player was lagging through a routine practice.

Mangino became incensed at the anonymous player’s focus and effort. At that point he cruelly mocked that athlete’s boozy father.

“He wanted to be a lawyer,” Brown said. “He messed up, and Mangino said to his face, in front of everybody, ‘You want to be a lawyer? You’re going to be an alcoholic just like your dad.”

Fields stated that Mangino’s demeanor adversely affected the Jayhawks football performances.

“I’ve seen some instances where he said some pretty mean things to people,” Fields said. “Did that motivate guys to play hard? Yes and no. It got you mad. So when you went out onto the field you had to do whatever you needed to do to take your anger out. But I don’t think it makes you a better player. The negative outweighed the positive.”

This is not the first instance in which Mangino, 53, the 2007 AP National Coach of the Year, has been accused of mistreating his players.

Mangino once briefly and controversially served as the head coach of Lincoln High School in Ellwood City, PA.

Mangino, who never played a down of college football, recorded a pathetic 1-9 mark in his inaugural season as coach there.

At the conclusion of the disastrous campaign, a slew of parents demanded that Mangino be fired because of his “language, and harsh approach to people.”

The school board decided not to terminate Mangino.

However, the physical eye-sore left the school, in disgrace, shortly after the board made their poor decision to retain him.

Mangino, whose Kansas program was charged with committing major NCAA rules violations in 2006, defended the tactics and methods he has employed as a head coach.

“I have not done anything that’s inappropriate,” said Mangino, who has amassed an overall mark of 50-45 since he became the head coach at Kansas in 2002. “More than anything some guys might be a little bitter because we have structure and discipline, because I’ve asked them to represent the football program and the University in a class way.”

Associate athletic director for risk management Lori Williams has been designated by the university to inspect Mangino’s approach.

“Lori Williams will talk to whomever she feels she needs to talk to conduct this review,” associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said. “It will be thorough.”

In 2007, Mangino helped lead the perpetually ordinary Jayhawks to a 12-1 record and a victory over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

Nevertheless, despite starting this season 5-0 and being ranked as high as No. 16 in the AP Poll, the Jayhawks have been defeated in five consecutive games and they are again currently mired in mediocrity.

It has long been said that there are two sides to every story.

Yet, the damning charges that have surfaced against Mangino seem to have some merit.

Many football onlookers irrationally contend that coaches need to be gruff and mean individuals who instill fear in their players to succeed on the field.

Such pathetic thinking is archaic and simply wrong.

University of Southern California (USC) Head Coach Pete Carroll may not be the exact equivalent of Nedward Flanders.

Still, Carroll, who has captured two National Championships as the leader of the Trojans, is an affable man and he has been known to treat his players with respect and kindness.

Mark Mangino never was, and he never will be, a coach the caliber of Pete Caroll.

Mangino is seemingly just a portly, rotten excuse for a man.

Hopefully, Mangino doesn’t have any “homies” working in the athletic department to rescue him from his misdeeds and “harsh approach to people.”

If Lori Williams finds that these charges are valid, Mangino should be immediately canned.

Ultimately, Mangino’s negative likely “outweighed the positive” and he does not “represent the football program and university in a class way.”

Brady Quinn is too muscular to play QB in the NFL

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8795/brady-quinn-is-too-muscular-to-play.html

Boxing's three biggest turkeys of the last 25 years

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d21-Boxings-three-biggest-turkeys-of-the-last-25-years

Manny Pacquiao is on steroids?

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d20-Manny-Pacquiao-is-on-steroids

The "Son Of God" Defeats Mikkel Kessler To Win WBA Middleweight Crown

Colin Linneweber — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:16:39 -0500

Andre “Son of God” Ward captured the WBA Super Middleweight Championship from Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler in the Super Six World Boxing Classic when the fight was halted midway through the eleventh round by technical decision Saturday night at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.

The referee decided to stop the contest due to cuts on Kessler’s face that were caused by Ward’s seemingly inadvertent head butts.

When the matchup was ceased, Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) was handily ahead of Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs) on all of the judges’ scorecards.

“I’m not a dirty fighter, everybody knows that,” said Ward, 25, a Bay Area native who won a Gold medal as a light heavyweight at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Kessler, 30, a Danish professional boxer, mainly praised his opponent.

However, Kessler also expressed frustration with the roughhouse tactics that Ward employed in the ring.

“He was the better man tonight, but I would have liked the fight to go another minute,” said Kessler, whose only previous loss came by a unanimous decision to legendary pugilist Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KOs) in November 2007.

“I knew I could have continued. I was cut, but the cuts weren’t that bad. He threw a lot of elbows, and there were a lot of head butts, and he never got any warnings…I don’t want to sit here and complain all the time, but I wasn’t happy with the referee.”

Kessler’s promoter, Wilfried Sauerland, agreed with his fighter’s assessment that Jack Reiss, a California-based referee, provided Ward with far too much leeway.

“Without taking anything away from his win, the referee helped him from the first minute,” said Sauerland. “He (Ward) used his head, he used his elbow, and he didn’t even get a warning, he didn’t get a caution. That was a bit much.”

Ward, who lives and trains in Oakland, said he was thrilled to defeat a pugilist of Kessler’s caliber.

“I can’t compare this to winning the gold medal, because it’s going to take a while for it all to sink in,” said Ward, who was not lost a fight since early in his amateur career more than ten years ago.

“Everybody said we got a bad draw, but we just beat the toughest guy.”

Kessler was considered a favorite to win the inaugural Classic when the competitors were officially announced.

Nevertheless, Ward, who won over 90 matches as an amateur, said he was confident that he was the most skilled boxer of the six selected to compete, and he believes that he is on the fringe of becoming a dominant prizefighter.

“I felt like it was my time,” Ward said. “I was not intimidated by Kessler’s record. I was surprised that Kessler didn’t change up at all. He kept doing the same thing over and over.”

Ward’s next opponent remains unknown at this juncture.

On the flipside, Kessler has been prepared to next matchup against British WBC Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) for awhile now.

Kessler claimed that his loss to Ward will inevitably make the tournament more exciting, and he is apparently positive that he will trump Froch, 32, in due time.

“This will make the tournament more exciting,” Kessler said. “I don’t want to be the favorite.”

Primarily due to Ward’s fists and head, Kessler is no longer considered the favorite to emerge victorious in this unprecedented elimination event.

Andre Ward may have been officially unveiled as a terrific professional boxer this past weekend in Oaktown.

Ward has all of the tools to become one of the preeminent fighters in the sport of boxing for the next decade.

Henceforth, Ward can justifiably be recognized as the fighter to beat in the Six World Boxing Classic.

Still, Kessler is one of the “toughest guys,” and it would be unwise to discount his chances in the ring as well.

Perhaps Ward’s unintentional head butts will now only serve to make Kessler’s ultimate triumph “more exciting.”

Boxing's three biggest turkeys of the last 25 years

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d21-Boxings-three-biggest-turkeys-of-the-last-25-years

Manny Pacquiao is on steroids?

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d20-Manny-Pacquiao-is-on-steroids

Floyd Mayweather is a coward if he doesn't fight Manny Pacquiao

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d17-Floyd-Mayweather-is-a-coward-if-he-doesnt-fight-Manny-Pacquiao

Boxing's Three Biggest Turkeys of the Past 25 Years

Colin Linneweber — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:13:16 -0500

In recognition of the impending Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to nominate the three biggest turkey’s to grace the sport of boxing over the course of the past 25 years.

Without further adieu, here are my rankings:

1. Mitch “Blood” Green: Green (19-6-1, 12 KOs) won the New York Golden Gloves four times as an amateur. He was once ranked as high as #7 by the World Boxing Council.

Unfortunately for Blood, he donned a hairdo like Randy Watson in Coming to America and he was crazier than a outhouse rat.

In August 1985, Green suffered his first loss as a professional fighter to future WBC champion Trevor Berbick. The following spring, Green was again defeated when he lost a ten round decision to Mike Tyson. A couple of years later, Green went on a bizarre campaign to secure a rematch with Tyson.

The lunatic from Augusta, Georgia heard through the vines that Tyson was at a clothing store in Harlem one summer evening. Blood stalked Tyson and eventually encountered the powerful prizefighter. According to reports, Green swung at Tyson, and Tyson countered with a straight right to Blood’s beak.

Green, who required five stitches after the fracas, brought a criminal lawsuit against Tyson and he was eventually awarded $45,000 in damages. After the case was settled in court, Green rambled that “Michelle Cicely Tyson is a homo” while he smooched his gangly biceps.

2. Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga: Mayorga (29-7-1, 23 KOs) is a former WBA/WBC welterweight champion. Mayorga, who was known to arrive at post-fight press conferences smoking a cigarette and drinking a brew, fought with a reckless abandon and fearlessness that made him a somewhat popular boxer.

“I come from a country where everything is war,” Mayorga, 36, once said. “Even the women are tough. In Nicaragua, women give birth wherever—in the middle of the street, in the countryside—with no medical attention. You see that and it puts a totally different perspective on things.”

El Matador once lured Oscar de la Hoya out of quasi-retirement by stating that Mexicans approved more of him than they did “The Golden Boy. Furthermore, Mayorga had the audacity to call de la Hoya’s wife every derogatory name that one can fathom. Predictably, de la Hoya returned to the ring, and he disposed of the over-matched Mayorga quickly by TKO in the sixth round.

In a December 2003 issue of Ring Magazine, Mayorga was featured on the cover titled, "The craziest man in the sport: Mayorga lights up boxing.”

Fans can drink and smoke to that.

3. Andrew Golota: Golota (41-8-1, 33 KOs) had a spectacular amateur career and he captured the bronze medal for Poland at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. As a professional, Golota, 41, showed tremendous promise in the ring and won the IBF North American Heavyweight championship.

In July 1996, Golota fought former champion Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe at Madison Square Garden. Despite dominating Bowe and nearing a resounding victory, Golota decided to make Bowe’s testicles his primary target. After being warned repeatedly by the referee to raise his punches, Golota was finally disqualified.

Upon the conclusion of the fight, a massive riot ensued in the crowd that primarily pitted Polacks against African-Americans. Ring Magazine simply named the incident the “Riot at the Garden.”

Golota had the necessary tools to become a legitimate heavyweight champion. Instead, he is sadly famed for creating violent debauchery in Gotham.

Honorable Mention : Oliver “The Atomic Bull” McCall: McCall (53-9, 37 KOs), a crackhead who has been arrested on a number of occasions for drug possession and other violations, won the WBC Heavyweight title in 1994 when he knocked out Lennox Lewis in the second round in Lewis’ hometown of London, England.

In their rematch, McCall refused to fight at the opening of the fourth round. McCall maintained his inexplicable experiment with pacifism and referee Mills Lane was eventually forced to halt the fight and award Lewis a victory.

“In the third round, he got in close, and then seemed frustrated, and then he just backed off and put his arms down,” said Lane in an interview after the pugilistic debacle.

“I thought he was playing possum but then I saw his lips started to quiver and I thought, ‘My God, is he losing it? I wanted to fix the fight for him, but he started crying, so I had to stop the fight.’”

Needless to say, this article is based off opinions, and I would love to hear the thoughts of my readers.

In the meantime, Happy “Turkey” Day!

Brady Quinn is Too Muscular To Play QB in the NFL

Colin Linneweber — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:50:05 -0500

Despite posting a pathetic 23.5 passer rating in Monday’s 16-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, beleaguered Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn has again been named the starter for this weekend’s game versus the Lions in Detroit.

Quinn, 25, who shattered a startling 36 records when he quarterbacked the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for four years in college, is currently projected to throw a porous two touchdown passes this season in comparison to an unsightly nine interceptions.

More troublesome for Browns fans is the fact that Quinn is presently completing a subpar 54.6 percent of his throws on the gridiron.

Quinn, who was selected by the Browns with the 22nd overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft, inked a five-year contract worth $20.2 million to play for the team he rooted for during his childhood.

Before Quinn was drafted by the Browns, he established the quarterback record for weightlifting at the NFL combine when he benched 225 pounds an astounding 24 times.

This past August, the native of Columbus was featured on the front cover of the magazine Muscle & Fitness.

In the article titled “The NFL’s Hardest Working Quarterback,” Quinn spoke about how he combines strength and agility exercises so that he does not become too bulky to perform under center.

Unfortunately for Quinn, his exhaustive workouts have simply become detrimental to his play and he needs to lessen the amount of time that he spends in the gym lifting heavy amounts of weight.

Over the past 25 years, the six most prolific passers in the NFL are generally considered to be Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.

All of the aforementioned signal-callers have ample strength and they have obviously flourished in the brutal sport of professional football.

However, not one of those six passers was ever excessively built to the degree that Quinn is.

Granted, the 1-8 Browns are a miserable franchise as a whole.

Cleveland Head Coach Eric Mangini is unquestionably one of the worst coaches currently employed in the NFL.

Furthermore, for various reasons, the Browns have been stripped of much of their firepower on offense.

Within one year, the Browns have lost Kellen Winslow II, Braylon Edwards and Donte Stallworth.

Nevertheless, one of the central reasons why Quinn is so anemic on the field is because his accuracy is atrocious.

In order for Quinn to improve his accuracy, he must lose a decent portion of his muscle mass.

In a recent advertisement, Quinn was quoted as saying, “I wasn’t done after benching 225 pounds more times than most linemen during the pre-draft workout.”

Sadly, Quinn will be “done” in the NFL soon if he continues trying to emulate Lou Ferrigno instead of some of the great professional quarterbacks in recent history.

Manny Pacquiao is on steroids?

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d20-Manny-Pacquiao-is-on-steroids

Floyd Mayweather is a coward if he doesn't fight Manny Pacquiao

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d17-Floyd-Mayweather-is-a-coward-if-he-doesnt-fight-Manny-Pacquiao

Jon Gruden Should Stay Off The Sidelines

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8787/jon-gruden-should-stay-off-the-sidelines.html

Is Manny Pacquiao On Steroids?

Colin Linneweber — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:41:52 -0500

Almost immediately after Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao brutalized Miguel Cotto to capture the WBO welterweight championship last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, fans began clamoring for a matchup between Pacquiao and undefeated former titlist “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) said about a potentially lucrative battle with the man www.espn.com ranked No. 48 on their 50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time list. “I am sure he doesn’t want the fight.”

Pacquiao, 30, who is also the current IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight champion, was asked to elaborate why he believes that Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) will again cower like the yellow clown pocket he has proven himself to be.

“Boxing for him is like a business,” said Pacquiao, the No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound boxer in the world by Ring Magazine. “Mayweather doesn’t care about the people watching. He doesn’t care if the fight is boring, as long as the fight is finished and he gets plenty of money. I want people to be happy. You have a big responsibility as a boxer.”

Industry sources have speculated that a marquee matchup pitting Pacquiao versus Mayweather could generate in excess of $80 million.

Unfortunately, Mayweather, 32, wrongly contends that he is the more glamorous boxer of the two, and he has already demanded a larger share of the proposed purse.

Justifiably, Pacquiao, the first fighter in history to win a belt in seven different weight classes, and his camp have been adamant that they are seeking an even 50-50 split.

“Both sides need to look at the big picture,” said HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg. “That’s a boatload of cash and a fight that America wants.”

Greenburg said he couldn’t fathom why either Pacquiao or Mayweather would opt out of a fight against each other.

“Boxing fans demand it and the sport needs it,” Greenburg said. “If you’re an athlete, do you say you don’t want to play in the Super Bowl?”

Floyd Mayweather, Sr., who has claimed to be “The Greatest Trainer of All Time,” attended last weekend’s highly-anticipated bout, and he predicted that his son would decimate Pacquiao.

Floyd’s “Pretty” son has long been criticized for avoiding the most challenging opponents, and the loony patriarch of the Mayweather clan already has said he would advise his offspring not to fight Pacquiao.

“I have my own personal reasons,” said Mayweather Sr., a flamboyant dresser who is known to don ridiculously colorful outfits likely designed for pimps. “I don’t think little Floyd should fight Pacquiao. I’ll just say that. I’ll let you figure it out.”

When pressed to identify his “own personal reasons,” Mayweather Sr. said that he is confident that Pacquiao’s ability to absorb Cotto’s powerful blows is proof that “Pac Man” is a juice-head.

“I know Floyd is the best,” said Mayweather Sr., a convicted cocaine smuggler and trafficker. “But when your opponent uses something illegal, even the best can get hurt.”

Keith Kizer is the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission and he said that there is no evidence whatsoever that Pacquiao has used steroids.

Pacquiao’s conditioning coach, Alexa Ariza, said that Pacquiao enriched his workouts with whey protein, liver-support supplements, and a diet that consisted of consuming 6,500-calories-per-day.

Baseball has been vilified as the sport that has most suffered from the steroids epidemic.

However, there is no question whatsoever that performance enhancing substances have hindered all fields of athletics.

Therefore, it is safe to presume that boxing has been grievously affected by steroids as well.

Nevertheless, for Mayweather to make such a slanderous allegation against Pacquiao with zero proof highlights that the Mayweather’s are a cowardly family who are mortified at the very thought of losing.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a truly great boxer who is diminishing his legacy because he is afraid to be contested by premier fighters.

Manny Pacquiao is a pugilistic icon who has fought all challengers without exception, and he has battered every man he has encountered in the ring.

“I’ve been around Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard,” said Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum. “Manny is the best fighter I’ve ever seen.”

Manny Pacquiao is not “the best fighter I’ve ever seen”.

Still, Pacquiao is a superior talent and, if the viewing public is not afforded the opportunity to see him battle “Pretty Boy,” every fight fan will lose.

If Mayweather is in possession of any stones, he will force his family to stop fabricating stories to the media about Pacquiao and he will scrap the “Fighting Pride of the Philippines.”

Unfortunately, knowing the Mayweather's, they won’t “think little Floyd should fight Pacquiao” and boxing fans will be robbed of excitement yet again.

Mikkel Kessler Will Defeat the "Son of God"

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d18-Mikkel-Kessler-Will-Defeat-the-Son-of-God

Floyd Mayweather is a coward if he doesn't fight Manny Pacquiao

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d17-Floyd-Mayweather-is-a-coward-if-he-doesnt-fight-Manny-Pacquiao

New Muhammad Ali DVD is "The Greatest" documentary ever

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d11-New-Muhammad-Ali-DVD-is-The-Greatest-documentary-ever

Jon Gruden Should Stay Away From Coaching

Colin Linneweber — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:57:25 -0500

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden announced this week that he intends to return to ESPN Monday Night Football as a color analyst next season and he will not seek any other job opportunities that would have him reappear on the sidelines in 2010.

“I love this game very much,” said Gruden, 46, who coached the Buccaneers to a 48-21 championship victory over the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. “This job gives me the opportunity to see the game at a different angle, and I’ll be honest—I just fell in love with it. I want to get good at it. I really like the team I’m on at ESPN. They’re really trying to help me be good.”

Gruden, who at 40 was once the youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl, attended Clay High School in South Bend and his father, Jim, served as an assistant to Dan Devine at the University of Notre Dame.

Gruden’s connections to the Irish made him a popular and seemingly viable candidate to replace embattled Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis at the conclusion of this season.

Additionally, Gruden was born in Ohio and he was raised as an enormous Cleveland Browns fan.

The Browns currently have a putrid record of 1-8 and their general, Eric Mangini, is one of the most loathed coaches today in professional sports.

Inevitably, many onlookers also predicted that Gruden would be an ideal fit to seize Mangini’s job once he is officially terminated.

“Look, I went into this with an open mind,” said Gruden, who was a backup quarterback in college at the University of Dayton.

“They’ve told me they want me to stay around, and it’s nice to be wanted. I was in Oakland for four years, then got traded away from there. I was in Tampa for seven years and got fired. That’s a little bit of an open wound, to be honest. So, it’s nice to be wanted. I’ve got a great crew. I love working with Ron Jaworski and Mike Tirico. They’re teaching me a lot about this business.”

Gruden acknowledged that he believes he will be a coach again someday.

“I’m 46 years old. I probably will coach again,” said Gruden. I miss the opportunity to coach players, to help them get better. I really miss the competition. But, I don’t miss the agony.”

Gruden likely also doesn’t miss being a workaholic who was essentially an absentee husband and father when he was employed in the NFL.

Gruden mentioned that he has been able to see every one of his son’s high school football games this year.

“This is going to give me a chance to get my act together in some other ways,” said Gruden. “My boys are at the age where they need a father to be around a little bit more.”

Jon Gruden was an excellent head coach in the NFL and he will be again in the future if he so desires.

Gruden’s tireless and exhaustive work ethic made him the success he became.

However, that same work ethic apparently sapped him of life’s true pleasures.

As the adage goes, “Work to live. But, don’t live to work.”

Gruden was a man who lived to work and that is not the way that any human being should go through their existence on this earth.

People need to do what they love.

Jon Gruden absolutely made the correct decision to stay in the booth and off of the sidelines.

Rex Ryan Cried and He is Still a Good NFL Coach

The Jets' Rex Ryan Cries, but He's Still a Good NFL Coach

Colin Linneweber — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:28:39 -0500

The New York Jets were defeated by the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-22 Sunday at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

The floundering Jets (4-5) have lost five of their last six games and the odds that Gang Green will now qualify for the playoffs are slimmer than Kate Moss.

The Jets soared to a perfect 3-0 record through the first three games of the season mainly because their defense was performing at a truly dominating level.

Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan was deservedly credited for the prowess the Jets displayed on defense.

Ryan, 46, who played defensive end at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, devised chaotic blitz packages that flustered the opposition into mercy and his “Mad Scientist” nickname seemed to be appropriate.

Unfortunately for Ryan, although the Jets have continued to play solid defensively, his beloved unit has only executed sporadically during their recent swoon.

In the aftermath of this past weekend’s debacle in East Rutherford, Ryan fired his defensive-line coach, Kerry Locklin.

At first glance, skeptics would presume that Locklin was utilized as a scapegoat for the Jets recent crashes on the gridiron.

However, according to sources in the know, Locklin, who was an assistant coach with Ryan at Morehead State in the early-1990’s, had been badmouthing the “Mad Scientist” behind his back like a yellow weasel.

“There were some disagreements, let’s put it that way,” Ryan admitted. “There were some issues, some personal issues that are behind this.”

On Monday, Ryan’s recent trials and tribulations overwhelmed him and the beloved coach cried during an impassioned speech he gave to his squad.

Jets All-Pro safety Kerry Rhodes said it was “like seeing your dad cry. You never think you’ll see that. To know that he takes it that much to heart, us losing and us trying to be a winner, it makes you want to keep going.”

Jets wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery concurred with Rhodes.

“Everything he (Ryan) says, you feel it, you feel it inside. When you see those emotions pouring out, it becomes part of you. I was about to get emotional myself.”

Ryan’s father, legendary defensive mind Buddy, said that his son’s passion is what makes him a legitimate NFL coach.

“He’s always been an emotional guy. That’s why he’s a good coach,” said Buddy Ryan. “There have been some good ones that were like that. (Dick) Vermeil cried everyday and he was a good coach.”

On the flipside, many critics have bashed Ryan for weeping and they now view the Jets leader of men as something of a vulva for wailing like a woman watching Beaches .

Ryan conceded that he needs to improve as a coach and he acknowledged that he is an atypical football general.

“I understand that there are some things that I really need to look to improve,” said Ryan, with a box of tissues purposefully placed by his side for all the media to see. “If I don’t fit the stereotype of coach speak, so be it. I’m going to always be myself.”

Ryan even mentioned that he was considering calling renowned football coach and family friend Bill Parcells for advice to improve his work on the sidelines.

“It’s not like Bill Belichick’s gonna talk to me,” Ryan said sarcastically. “Parcells may. I may put a call out to him. I know a lot of guys in this business.”

The Jets face Belichick and the New England Patriots (6-3) Sunday afternoon in a pivotal AFC East matchup at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

The Patriots lost a heartbreaker to the Colts 35-34 last Sunday in Indianapolis and Belichick has been chastised for the gamble he made on fourth down in his own territory that essentially cost his team the game.

“If I would have made that decision and it wouldn’t have worked, I’d be hanging from the Empire State Building,” said Ryan.

The Jets and their playoff lives are currently in deep peril.

Still, if they can somehow manage to trump the Patriots in New England this weekend their season will be instantly revitalized.

“This is the same football team that we beat in Week 2, so we know we can beat them,” Ryan said in reference to the Jets 16-9 victory over the Patriots in September. “I know everybody said they’re going to be mad and they’re going to be ready to get after it, and they’re going to try to whip us and all that. Guess what? We’re going to try to whip them – again.”

The Jets have suffered excruciating losses this season and it is feasible that they are a far better team than their subpar record indicates.

New England is a solid team and they will in all probability make the playoffs.

Nevertheless, the Patriots are also flawed and they can be handled once more by the Jets.

“I believe I will be a champion here,” Ryan reiterated Wednesday to members of the Associated Press.

The Jets are not going to capture the Vince Lombardi Trophy this coming February.

Regardless, the Jets can still be a playoff team and Sunday is yet another chance for Ryan and his squad to validate their Big Apple-sized mouths.

Hopefully, Brock Lesnar is not the next Bo Jackson

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8781/hopefully-brock-lesnar-is-not-the.html

Randall Cunningham Should Fly Like An Eagle To Canton

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8754/randall-cunningham-should-fly-like.html

Floyd Mayweather is a Coward if he Doesn't Fight Manny Pacquiao

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8770/floyd-mayweather-is-a-coward-if-he.html

Mikkel Kessler Will Defeat The "Son Of God"

Colin Linneweber — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:15:54 -0500

WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler is scheduled to fight Andre “Son of God” Ward in the Super Six World Boxing Classic Saturday night at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

No matter what the outcome of this weekend’s matchup, Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs), a Danish pugilist, will matchup against WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch in the near future.

Ward (20-0, 13 KOs), who became the first American boxer in eight years to win a gold medal when he accomplished the feat as a light heavyweight at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, lives and trains in Oakland and he will inevitably have the hometown crowd in his corner over Kessler.

Ward, 25, is a tremendous talent and he exhibited some of his seldom seen power this past September when he defeated Shelby Pudwill by TKO in the third round.

Still, Ward remains largely untested as a professional and it will be difficult for him to overcome Kessler’s vast experience in the ring.

In November 2007, Kessler fought retired undefeated champion Joe Calzaghe in a super middleweight unification bout at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in Wales.

In front of over 50,000 rabid fans, Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KOs) soundly defeated Kessler and was awarded a unanimous decision victory that still haunts the “Viking Warrior” to this day.

“I’ve come all the way over here to Oakland and I’m 150 percent ready for the fight. I’ve had good preparation and I am in unbelievable shape,” said Kessler. “I had a loss against Joe Calzaghe and it still tears me up today, so I’m not thinking about losing anymore.”

Ward said he has been waiting for this fight since he was a child and he knew he would enter the contest as an underdog.

“I want that WBA belt really, really, really bad,” said Ward, who was born across the Bay from Oakland in San Francisco. “You know I always seem to be the underdog but I embrace that.”

Ward has all of the necessary tools to be a champion prizefighter.

Unfortunately for Ward, he is too inexperienced as a professional pugilist to trump a seasoned prizefighter like Kessler.

Ward will remain very competitive with Kessler and the fight will likely be determined by the score cards.

However, Kessler is “not thinking about losing anymore” and he won’t be defeated again in three days.

Floyd Mayweather is a coward if he doesn't fight Manny Pacquiao

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d17-Floyd-Mayweather-is-a-coward-if-he-doesnt-fight-Manny-Pacquiao

New Muhammad Ali DVD is "The Greatest" documentary ever

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d11-New-Muhammad-Ali-DVD-is-The-Greatest-documentary-ever

Boston boxing fans should watch Cotto beat Pacquiao at the Sports Depot

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d13-Boston-Boxing-Fans-Should-Watch-Cotto-Beat-Pacquiao-at-the-Sports-Depot

Brock Lesnnar Will Not Be The Next Bo Jackson, Hopefully

Colin Linneweber — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:51:38 -0500

UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar was released from a hospital in Bismark, ND, Tuesday and he is currently recovering at his home in Minnesota from Mononucleosis and a serious bacterial infection in his intestinal tract.

Last month, Lesnar (4-1), the 2000 NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion at the University of Minnesota, was forced to cancel his scheduled title defense at UFC 106 against Shane Carwin (11-0) due to a previously undisclosed illness.

The bout versus Carwin, 34, was almost immediately rescheduled for UFC 108 in early-2010.

However, Lesnar, 32, indefinitely postponed his slated match with Carwin last week because his illness had yet to subside.

“Brock’s very, very sick,” UFC President Dana White told TMZ. “He’s not well and he’s not going to be getting well anytime soon.”

White said that Lesnar’s condition would necessitate “major surgery.”

Last July in Las Vegas, Lesnar avenged his only defeat as a professional mixed martial artist when he pulverized past titlist Frank Mir (12-4) with strikes and won by TKO in the second round.

Lesnar, a former three-time WWE champion who was invited to try out for the Minnesota Vikings in 2004, is UFC’s glittering attraction and he seemed destined to dominate his division for the foreseeable future.

“There’s a possibility Lesnar will never fight again,” said White of the native of South Dakota.

If Lesnar is unable to return to UFC, it will be one of the most premature and unfortunate retirements in recent sports history.

In January 1991, spectacular Los Angeles Raiders running back Bo Jackson suffered a serious hip injury during a playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Jackson, a young 28-year-old at the time he was injured, was an all-time elite athlete who absolutely excelled on both the gridiron for the Raiders and on the baseball diamond for the Kansas City Royals.

The trauma Jackson suffered to his hip was so severe that he was obligated to instantly retire from the sport of football and he was relegated to simply being a designated hitter in 1993 for his new team, the Chicago White Sox.

Jackson, the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner, would have inevitably continued to dominate his two sports for many years had he not been so badly wounded.

Unfortunately, Jackson was never physically able to maximize his potential and his legacy is not nearly as accomplished as it should have been on the field.

If Lesnar never again enters the octagon, the sport of MMA will be deprived of watching a prime superstar in a similar manner to the way that football and baseball were when they lost Jackson nearly 20 years ago.

“This is who I am,” Lesnar once said. “I am a fighter.”

As Nike made clear, Bo Jackson “knew” sports and he thrived competing in them.

Brock Lesnar knows how to fight and that is one of the reasons he is nicknamed, “The Next Big Thing.”

Fans of mixed martial arts should hope that “The Next Big Thing” is not the second coming of Bo Jackson.

Floyd Mayweather is a coward if he doesn't fight Manny Pacquiao (Article )

New Muhammad Ali DVD is "The Greatest" documentary ever (Article )

Randall Cunningham Should Fly Like An Eagle To Canton (Article )

Zack Greinke Beats Hitters and Psychological Issues

Colin Linneweber — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:18:16 -0500

Kansas City Royals' ace pitcher Zack Greinke was deservedly awarded the 2009 American League Cy Young Award Tuesday afternoon.

Greinke, 26, who received 25 first-place votes and three seconds for 134 points, went 16-8 and he posted a 2.16 ERA for the putrid Royals (65-97).

Greinke’s sterling earned run average was the lowest mark in the American League since Pedro Martinez recorded a minuscule 1.74 ERA in 2000.

The Seattle Mariners' Felix Hernandez finished second in the balloting with 80 overall points.

The fact that Greinke won the most coveted pitching accolade in Major League Baseball is astounding when one considers the obstacles that the native of Orlando has had to overcome as a young adult.

Greinke, the Royals sixth overall pick in the 2002 amateur draft, led the AL in losses in 2005 when he went 5-17.

Furthermore, Greinke, who was named the Royals Minor League Pitcher of the Year and The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year in 2003, was forced to take a personal leave of absence from “The Boys in Blue” in February 2006 because he was suffering from social anxiety disorder and depression.

“Depression kind of runs in my family,” said Greinke, who agreed to a four year contract worth $38 million with the Royals last winter. “The medicine I take is an antidepressant. At the baseball field, I was unhappy.”

Greinke made plenty of fans at Kauffman Stadium very happy this past baseball season and he should be ecstatic at what he achieved on the hill.

At the tender age of 26, Greinke has a vast arsenal of pitches and he should be a powerhouse hurler for the next decade.

Missouri’s nickname is unofficially, “The Show-Me State.”

Greinke no longer needs to prove or “Show” himself to anybody.

Zack Greinke is an elite pitcher in the major leagues and he will continue to be one for the foreseeable future.

Yanks Need To Beat Sox Again and Sign Cuban Lefty Aroldis Chapman

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8755/yanks-need-to-beat-sox-again-and.html

Randall Cunningham Should Fly Like An Eagle To Canton

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8754/randall-cunningham-should-fly-like.html

Joe Girardi is a Yankees Legend

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8733/joe-girardi-is-a-yankees-legend.html

Floyd Mayweather Is a Coward If He Doesn't Agree To Fight Manny Pacquiao

Colin Linneweber — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:55:10 -0500

IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao badly bludgeoned Miguel Cotto to capture the WBO welterweight championship by TKO in the 12th round Saturday night at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) showed tremendous moxie and determination and he remained very competitive with Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) throughout the opening rounds.

Unfortunately for Cotto, Pacquiao ultimately proved to be too quick and strong for the native of Puerto Rico.

“He (Pacquiao) hit harder than we expected and he was a lot stronger than we expected,” Cotto’s trainer, Joe Santiago, said.

Cotto concurred with Santiago’s assessment and he admitted that Pacquiao’s quickness was extremely tough to overcome.

“I didn’t know from where the punches were coming,” said Cotto, 29, who refused to allow his corner to throw in the towel after the 11th round.

Pacquiao applauded Cotto’s valiant efforts and he acknowledged that he was cautious early of the former champion’s renowned power.

“Our plan was not to hurry, but to take our time,” said Pacquiao, 30, who is rated by Ring Magazine as the greatest pound-for-pound boxer in the world. “It was a hard fight tonight and I needed time to test his power.”

As soon as the fight concluded, the crowd began to chant, “We want Floyd! We want Floyd!”

Obviously, the audience was clamoring for a potential matchup that would pit Pacquiao versus former WBC welterweight champion “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, 32.

Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs), who was won six world boxing championships in five different weight classes, has been noncommittal at the notion of fighting Pacquiao.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Pacquiao said about a lucrative battle with the man www.espn.com ranked #48 on their “50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time” list. “I’m sure he doesn’t want the fight.”

The President of HBO Sports, Ross Greenburg, said he couldn’t fathom why either Pacquiao or Mayweather would opt out of a fight against each other.

“Boxing fans demand it and the sport needs it,” said Greenburg. “If you’re an athlete, do you say that you don’t want to play in the Super Bowl?”

Pacquiao, who became the first fighter in history to win a belt in seven weight classes this past weekend, explained why he believes that Mayweather will cower and avoid a fight against him in the future.

“Boxing for him is like a business,” Pacquiao said. “Mayweather doesn’t care about the people around him watching. He doesn’t care if the fight is boring, as long as the fight is finished and he gets plenty of money. I want people to be happy. You have a big responsibility as a boxer.”

“Pretty Boy’s” father, Floyd Sr., attended last Saturday’s highly-anticipated bout.

Although Mayweather Sr. predicted that his son would decimate Pacquiao, he said he would advise him not to fight Pacquiao.

“I have my own personal reasons,” Mayweather Sr. said like the yellow clown pocket he has shown himself to be.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is truly a legendary pugilist and his superb defensive skills would create significant issues for Pacquiao.

Mayweather is essentially the very personification of a boxer.

On the contrary, Pacquiao is much more of a rugged brawler than he is strictly a pure boxer.

If Pacquiao doesn’t eventually scrap Mayweather, boxing will yet again be attempting suicide.

However, if they do actually matchup against one another, Mayweather against Pacquiao would be an epic battle for the ages.

As noted, Mayweather is much more artful in the ring than Pacquiao is.

Nevertheless, Pacquiao is also a gifted tactician and his heart will never be questioned.

If Mayweather has any testicular fortitude whatsoever, he will box Pacquiao and he will ultimately be defeated for the first time in his professional career by the “Fighting Pride of the Philippines.”

Boston boxing fans should watch Cotto beat Pacquiao at the Sports Depot

New Muhammad Ali DVD is "The Greatest" documentary ever

David Haye slays Russia's Goliath

Miguel Cotto Will Defeat Manny Pacquiao

Colin Linneweber — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:38:35 -0500

IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight champion Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao will fight WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Cotto (34-1, 27 KO), whose only "loss" came at the illegal hand-wraps of a cheating Antonio Margarito in July 2008, is a gritty and powerful fighter and he will give Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) more than he can handle this weekend.

"I consider this one of the hardest fights in my boxing career," said Pacquiao, 30, who is rated by Ring Magazine as the greatest pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

Largely because of the manner in which Pacquiao brutalized Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KOs) and Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) in his two previous bouts, "Pac-Man" is a decided favorite to defeat Cotto, 29.

Pacquiao suffered his last defeat as a professional when he lost a unanimous decision to Erik Morales (48-6, 34 KOs) in March 2005.

Pacquiao emphatically avenged his loss to Morales, 33, on two separate occasions the following year.

In their initial rematch in January 2006, Pacquiao overwhelmed Morales and earned a decisive tenth round TKO victory.

Later that year in November 2006, Pacquiao utterly destroyed Morales and he knocked out the man ranked No. 49 on ESPN’s 50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time in the third round.

Many analysts contend that Cotto is a worn fighter who will never entirely recover from the brutal wars he recently waged with Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs) and Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs).

Cotto has firmly declared that he is healthy and readily prepared for his much-publicized match-up with Pacquiao.

Still, skeptics have expressed doubts that Cotto will be able to compete with Pacquiao’s renowned speed.

Cotto has scoffed at notions that Pacquiao’s speed is something that he will be unable to overcome.

“You’ll find out on the 14^th how I am going to deal with his (Pacquiao’s) speed,” said Cotto with complete assuredness. “It’s not going to be a factor even though everyone thinks it is.”

Cotto is a naturally bigger man than Pacquiao and he possesses ample speed himself.

However, Cotto is vastly stronger than Pacquiao and his significant advantage in power will prove to be very troublesome for the “Fighting Pride of the Philippines.”

“He is coming from a lower weight division and if he thinks he is going to have the same power as Miguel Cotto, his thinking is very wrong,” said Cotto.

The impending fight with Cotto will indeed be "one of the hardest fights" in Pacquiao's career as a professional prizefighter.

“I am here for any boxer that wants to fight Miguel Cotto,” Cotto added.

Pacquiao “wants to fight Miguel Cotto” and one can expect the “Pac Man” to endure his first defeat in nearly five-years tomorrow night in Sin City.

Cotto will “deal with” Pacquiao and his speed and he will emerge victorious with a ninth round TKO to defend his WBO welterweight title.

New Muhammad Ali DVD is "The Greatest" documentary ever

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d11-New-Muhammad-Ali-DVD-is-The-Greatest-documentary-ever

David Haye slays Russia's Goliath

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d9-David-Haye-slays-Russias-Goliath

Paul Williams will defeat the powerful Sergio Gabriel Martinez

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d8-Paul-Williams-will-defeat-the-powerful-Sergio-Gabriel-Martinez

Yanks Should Beat Sox Again and Sign Cuban Aroldis Chapman

Colin Linneweber — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:34:48 -0500

Lefty Cuban pitching sensation Aroldis Chapman defected from his national team in July and he is currently a coveted unsigned Major League Baseball free agent.

ESPN The Magazine reported in the summer that Chapman vacated his hotel room in the Netherlands, where Cuba was in the midst of participating in a baseball tournament, and never returned.

“I walked out easily, right through the hotel door, and I hopped into a car and left,” said Chapman, 21, whose fastball has been clocked as high as 102 MPH. “It was easy. Now the plan is to sign with a major league team.”

Chapman, who has often been lauded as one of the “three greatest pitchers in the world right now who are not in the majors,” should be the New York Yankees top-priority to sign this offseason.

“It’s safe to assume we would have interest in Chapman,” said Yankees senior vice president Mark Newman.

The Yankees have signed two high-profile Cuban defectors, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez and Jose Contreras, since the 1998 season began.

Hernandez, who won four World Series championships and was named the ALCS MVP in 1999, was a tremendous success in the Bronx and he is widely considered to be one of the greatest postseason performers on the hill in recent times.

Contreras, who inked a four-year contract worth $32 million with the Yankees in 2003, was viewed as a disappointment in pinstripes.

Nevertheless, Contreras has won 73 major league games to date and he was selected as an All-Star when he played for the Chicago White Sox in 2006.

“Without a doubt, he (Chapman) is the best player to defect since Contreras,” said Chapman’s agent, Jaime Torres.

According to records, Hernandez is a 40-year-old man and Contreras is 37.

In reality, nobody knows the actual ages of either Hernandez or Contreras.

It is certainly feasible that the combined ages of the two are approaching the dreaded century mark.

Fortunately, Chapman’s age is presumed to be accurate and he is a legitimate prospect who could have an immediate impact in the majors.

“This is shocking,” one international scouting director said about Chapman’s defection.

Another scout claimed that some evaluators believe Chapman is a left-handed version of Stephen Strasburg, who was the first overall selection in the MLB Draft last June.

“He’s pretty special,” added another official.

Chapman struggled mightily when he pitched for Cuba last spring in the World Baseball Classic (WBC).

In 6 1/3 innings, Chapman posted an unseemly 5.68 ERA.

Skeptics readily acknowledge the obvious and admit that Chapman owns an above average fastball.

However, many critics contend that his secondary pitches are subpar and that has created some concern about his overall abilities.

For those reasons, some scouts view Chapman as a raw project who would need to be seasoned in the minors before he made his debut in the majors.

“I think the fastball he showed at the Classic was good enough,” said Torres.

The Yankees and Red Sox seem destined to wrangle over Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher John Lackey (102-71, 3.81 ERA) and Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay (148-76, 3.43 ERA).

There is no dispute that both Lackey, 31, and Halladay, 32, are tremendous hurlers who are extremely established starting pitchers in the majors.

Nevertheless, considering the advanced ages of the two and what the Yankees would need to surrender in order acquire either of them, Chapman is a far more logical gamble than Lackey or Halladay is.

“I’m very happy,” said Chapman, who was forced to leave behind his father, mother, two sisters, girlfriend and newborn baby when he defected.

“This is the plan that I had and this is the decision I took. I wanted to test myself in the highest levels of baseball.”

The Yankees are the most successful team in the history of Major League Baseball and North American professional sports as a whole.

If the Bombers brass is wise, they will allow Chapman to “test” himself at “the highest levels” in the Bronx.

Randall Cunningham Should Fly Like An Eagle To Canton

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8754/randall-cunningham-should-fly-like.html

New Muhammad Ali DVD is "The Greatest" Documentary Ever

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8750/new-muhammad-ali-dvd-is-the-greatest.html

Joe Girardi is a Yankees Legend

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8733/joe-girardi-is-a-yankees-legend.html

Randall Cunningham Should Fly Like an Eagle to Canton

Colin Linneweber — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:59:34 -0500

Approximately 20 years ago, former Philadelphia Eagles superstar quarterback Randall Cunningham was featured on a cover of Sports Illustrated titled, “The Ultimate Weapon.”

Cunningham, 46, a four-time All-Pro selection who was awarded the PFWA NFL MVP in 1990, retired from the sport of football as an Eagle in 2002.

Since his unheralded departure from the gridiron, Cunningham has been relatively forgotten by the bulk of everyday football fans.

Although his play was periodically sporadic, Cunningham was a stellar signal-caller and he deserves to be considered a legitimate candidate for the Hall of Fame.

“I’m an impact player,” said Cunningham, who the Eagles selected with the 37^th overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft out of UNLV. “That is what separates guys like me, Michael (Jordan) Magic (Johnson) and (Wayne) Gretzky from the others. It’s a proud feeling.”

Cunningham, a four-time Pro Bowl selection who earned the game’s MVP award in 1988, was roundly criticized when he compared himself to the aforementioned legends.

Still, had serious leg injuries not derailed Cunningham’s spectacular career, he could have eventually ascended to a comparably iconic status.

Cunningham had a tremendous arm and he ultimately threw 207 touchdown passes, in comparison to a measly 134 interceptions, for 29, 979 yards.

However, what distanced Cunningham from other quarterbacks was his astonishing ability to scramble outside of the pocket.

The native of Santa Barbara, California, ran for 4,482 yards and he exited the NFL as the all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks.

In the first game of the 1991 season against the Green Bay Packers, Cunningham suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and he was lost for the remainder of that year.

The former Runnin’ Rebel miraculously returned the following season and was honored as the 1992 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Despite his successes on the field in 1992, Cunningham had clearly lost much of his speed and agility and he would never again be the same player that had utterly dominated the league.

Cunningham initially decided to walk away from football after the 1995 campaign.

Two years later, Cunningham unretired and signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 1997.

In 1998, Cunningham was revitalized and he enjoyed arguably his greatest season ever when he guided the Vikings to a sterling record of 15-1.

Cunningham reinvented himself as a pure pocket passer and he tossed 34 touchdowns and recorded an extraordinary 106.0 passer rating.

The Vikings, who scored a then-NFL record 556 points during the 1998 season, saw their Super Bowl aspirations shattered when they were upset at home in the NFC title game against the Atlanta Falcons 30-27 in overtime.

Despite the disappointing loss, Cunningham and the Vikings had a terrific season for the ages that will not be forgotten anytime soon.

As mentioned previously, Cunningham vacated the sport for good in 2002 as a member of the Eagles.

In 2004, Cunningham founded a church called Remnant Ministries in Las Vegas and he currently serves there as an ordained Protestant minister.

Cunningham had a moderately brief run as a truly elite quarterback in the NFL.

Nevertheless, he was categorically an elite player behind center during his time in the game.

Troy Aikman, who won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, was an amazing quarterback and he was deservedly inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

Jim Kelly helped lead the Buffalo Bills to four consecutive appearances in the Super Bowl in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 and he was granted entry to Canton in 2002.

Unfortunately, Cunningham never played in a Super Bowl game.

But, the failures that Cunningham’s squads encountered should not diminish the vast accomplishments that he achieved on the gridiron.

Aikman and Kelly combined to be named to four All-Pro teams.

On his lonesome, Cunningham was honored as an All-Pro on four different occasions.

“When I don’t get it done, I feel worse than the person who boos,” Cunningham once said.

Even as an Eagle who played in front of degenerate Philadelphians, Cunningham was rarely booed because he was such an astounding talent.

Although it is unlikely to occur, Randall Cunningham merits a direct flight to Canton where he should be enshrined into the NFL Hall of Fame.

*This article is dedicated to Matthew Cadarette, “the world’s greatest Randall Cunningham fan.”

While vacationing in Las Vegas, Matthew was bitten by a Great Basin Rattlesnake and he is currently listed in critical condition at Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center.

Please pray for Matthew and his loved ones during these trying times.

New Muhammad Ali DVD is "The Greatest" Documentary Ever

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8750/new-muhammad-ali-dvd-is-the-greatest.html

Joe Girardi is a Yankees Legend

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8733/joe-girardi-is-a-yankees-legend.html

Tom Cable is a Scumbag and the Perfect Coach for the Oakland Raiders

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8697/tom-cable-is-a-scumbag-and-the-perfect.html

Muhammad Ali: New Documentary Is the Greatest Ever

Colin Linneweber — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:12:59 -0500

The documentary Champions Forever: Ali—The Lost Interviews was released on DVD to great acclaim and fanfare on October 20, 2009, through Image Entertainment.

The film, which features candid conversations with boxing legends Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, and Ken Norton, initially premiered in 1990.

However, 30 additional minutes of revealing and insightful interviews from 20 years ago that were not incorporated into the original film are now shown in this enhanced version.

“I’m claiming, though I couldn’t prove it, that this was Ali’s last interview. Or at least his last meaningful interview,” said Craig Glazer, who produced the film that now runs 142 minutes long. “I think it’s an important part of history.”

The story of how Glazer became a renowned documentary filmmaker is fascinating in itself.

As a freshman student from Kansas City attending Arizona State University, Glazer was robbed by petty drug dealers when he attempted to purchase reefer to smoke with his frat friends on campus.

The theft chapped Glazer’s ass and he was determined to avenge his loss and get even with the peddlers who had earlier swindled him.

Glazer decided to team with Don Woodbeck, a resourceful Vietnam War veteran, and the two posed as undercover drug agents executing fake sting operations.

Surprisingly, Glazer’s and Woodbeck’s nefarious plot worked and the duo ultimately managed to seize large amounts of money from drug kingpins across the nation for an entire decade.

Eventually, Woodbeck and Kansas City’s answer to Omar Little had their scam uncovered and they were pinched by the fuzz.

Glazer was sentenced for his crimes and he was shipped to a federal prison on Terminal Island in Los Angeles to serve four-and-a-half years behind bars.

Upon being freed from the pen, Glazer was relegated to a halfway house designed for ex-convicts when he was contacted by a former inmate he had met on the inside who had begun making a documentary about boxing.

“The producers were looking for help because they knew nothing about boxing,” said Glazer, who at the age of 20 actually became the youngest special agent in the country when he was officially hired by authorities who were impressed by the skills he had exhibited as a bogus narc.

“They didn’t know which fight was which, but I was a huge fan. So I’m two days in a halfway house in L.A. and a Rolls-Royce pulls up, and the next thing I know I’m on the lot at MGM with Ali and George Foreman.”

Approximately one year later, the intriguing documentary was completed and Glazer attended the film’s premier party at Century City in Los Angeles.

A notable sports personality had been chosen in advance to interview the quintet of boxing Hall of Famers.

Unbelievably, as fate would have it, the bigwig sportscaster was belated arriving to the premier and nobody was available to converse with the five iconic pugilists.

“All these celebrity athletes are standing there with nothing to do,” Glazer recalled. “I said, ‘Hey, I’m a movie producer now.’ So I jumped the rope, they turned on the camera and I began asking questions.”

Glazer’s impromptu interview allowed him to be credited as one of Champions' producers and the retired con artist became relatively established in Hollywood almost overnight.

“Suddenly Hollywood figured I knew how to do sports movies,” Glazer said.

Glazer viewed the initial 1990 presentation in its entirety and he realized that there was a significant amount of footage that remained unused.

“I’d edited the movie while the other producers were taking these athletes to lunch, and I knew there was lots of footage that wasn’t used—not to mention my interviews at the premier,” said Glazer. “I knew that one day it would be worth a lot of money.”

Glazer partnered with Ron Hamady and the two attempted to purchase the rights to Champions Forever from deceased litigator Ed Masry.

“They’d given it [the footage] to this lawyer, Ed Masry, and he’s the guy I negotiated with,” Glazer said. “He had this young assistant you might have heard of named Erin Brockovich.”

After much wrangling, Glazer and Hamady were finally granted rights to the footage and the revised film was finished three years ago.

Regrettably, despite the completion of the documentary, legalities prohibited the immediate unveiling of Champions to the public.

“It took that long to get approval to use the additional footage,” Glazer said. “We had to go through an army of lawyers. You don’t mess with the Ali tradition, and he’s got lots of people looking out for his interests. But we finally got the final OK, and I’m glad it’s out.”

To date, the film has mainly achieved rave reviews and USA Today recently gave Champions a sterling rating of three-and-a-half stars out of a possible four.

The 1960s and the 1970s featured some of the greatest heavyweight pugilists in the history of boxing.

Ali (56-5, 37 KOs), Norton (42-7-1, 33 KOs), Foreman (76-5, 68 KOs), Frazier (32-4-1, 27 KOs), and Holmes (69-6, 44 KOs) all had spectacular presences in the ring and each one of them would have dominated his sport had their eras not been intertwined.

Ali, 67, who Ring Magazine named as the greatest heavyweight ever in a 1998 ranking, outshone his opponents both inside and outside of the ring.

The winner of the gold medal in the light heavyweight division in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Ali was a charismatic figure whose cultural status and political views transcended boxing and revolutionized athletics as a whole.

“Before Ali, athletes made a point of being humble. He angered a lot of people. The thing is, Ali could back it up,” said Glazer. “You can credit him among other things with launching this whole ideology of the last 30 years of athletes telling you how handsome and great they were. It’s an attitude that’s common today in sports and hip-hop.”

Foreman, 60, who was knocked out by Ali in the eighth round of the famed “Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire in 1974, agreed that Ali was a trendsetter whose contributions to sports can’t be understated.

“Limiting Ali as a boxer is injustice,” said Foreman, a former two-time heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist. “He inspired people in basketball, football, politics; even actors would see him and move up a notch. This is one of the greatest men of all time.”

Shockingly, Ali stated in the film that he never claimed to be “The Greatest.”

“I never said I was the greatest,” said Ali, who alleged that the media coined that phrase instead.

Ali, a three-time heavyweight champion, made his professional debut in October 1960 with a victory over Tunny Hunsaker in Louisville, Kentucky.

Sadly, Ali retired tardily as a prizefighter after he suffered a pathetic loss to Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas in December 1981.

A year before the Berbick fiasco, a 38-year-old Ali, who may have already been impaired by Parkinson’s disease, was battered by a fit and trim Holmes in Las Vegas.

Footage of the overmatched Ali versus Holmes debacle is aired roughly 90 minutes into the documentary after the audience has come to recognize Ali as both a physical and mental marvel.

Of all the boxers in the film, Holmes and his career garnered the least amount of attention.

One can presume that Holmes was sparsely accentuated in the film because he gained prominence towards the end of the other legends' careers.

Not coincidentally, Champions opened with video of a diminished Holmes, at the age of 38, being decimated by a ferocious youngster named “Iron” Mike Tyson.

When asked about Tyson in the film, Ali said, “When I quit the game, the game died, didn’t it? Mike Tyson, he’s good, but he’s no Muhammad Ali.”

Champions expertly captures the existences of these five fighters for the ages.

“All five of these heavyweight champs haven’t been in the same room together since then and they never will be again in the future,” said Glazer.

During a conference call, Glazer recounted how he discussed with Ali his past life as a criminal once the production of the film was finalized.

Glazer remembered that Ali asked him rhetorically, “There’s not much difference between the hero and the villain, huh?”

Glazer may not be either a “hero” or a “villain.”

However, Craig Glazer is undoubtedly a skilled producer and he created an extraordinary work of art that every genuine fan of “The Sweet Science” should own.

Champions Forever: Ali—The Lost Interviews is simply an enjoyable and outstanding boxing documentary.

www.championsforeverdvd.com

David Haye slays Russia's Goliath

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d9-David-Haye-slays-Russias-Goliath

Paul Williams will defeat the powerful Sergio Gabriel Martinez

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d8-Paul-Williams-will-defeat-the-powerful-Sergio-Gabriel-Martinez

Paulie Malignaggi will make the "Baby Bull" look like an infant in their rematch

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d7-Paulie-Malignaggi-will-make-the-Baby-Bull-look-like-an-infant-in-their-rematch

David Haye Slays the Russian Goliath

Colin Linneweber — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:54:09 -0500

Former English cruiserweight champion David “The Hayemaker” Haye was awarded a majority decision victory over Nicolai “The Russian Bear” Valuev to capture the WBA heavyweight title Saturday night at the Nuremberg Arena in Germany.

Haye (23-1, 21 KOs) defeated the enormous Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs) despite the fact that he surrendered nearly a foot and 100 pounds to the tallest and heaviest champion in the annals of boxing history.

“Everybody thought I was crazy,” said Haye, 29, who vacated his cruiserweight titles to compete in the heavyweight division. “But I knew I could make him miss.”

The Englishman was able to win because he held a decided speed advantage over Valuev, 36.

“The key was my speed,” said Haye, a muscular pugilist who was born in London. “People don’t realize I am very fast. And I have a powerful punch. I’m athletic, and if I wasn’t a boxer I would be playing football or rugby.”

Valuev acknowledged that Haye’s speed and elusiveness was too much for him to overcome in the ring.

“It was like a marathon for me,” said Valuev, whose only other loss came at the hands of Ruslan Chagaev. “It was like a track event. I wasn’t ready to run that much.”

Haye, who nearly became the first fighter to ever knock Valuev to the canvas during the final round, said he injured his right hand in the second round when he belted the Ruskie upside his massive melon.

“It was like punching a brick wall,” Haye said of Valuev, who stands seven-feet tall and weighed 323 pounds for this weekend’s matchup.

Haye mercilessly and cruelly mocked Valuev prior to their fight and he showed no signs whatsoever that he was intimidated by “The Russian Bear.”

“He is the ugliest thing I have ever seen,” said Haye, who is next scheduled to battle former titlist John Ruiz. “I watched Lord of the Rings and films with strange looking people, but for a human being to look like he does is pretty shocking.”

Haye has stated that he would like to box the Klitschko brothers in the near future and ultimately emulate the success of Evander Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 KOs).

Holyfield, 47, the only boxer to ever win the heavyweight title on four separate occasions, began his professional career as a cruiserweight.

Haye is a very solid pugilist who combines great quickness and stamina with surprising power.

Both Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko are also massive fighters.

However, the two Ukrainian champions possess far more boxing skills than Valuev does.

In order to defeat either Klitschko brother, Haye would need to have a near-flawless performance.

Nevertheless, considering that Wladimir and Vitali have adamantly refused to scrap one another, Haye could be the only capable fighter in the current boxing landscape to compete with the Klitschko’s.

The Haye versus Valuev contest was billed as “David and Goliath.”

If the Englishman is able to land a “Hayemaker” and trump Wladimir or Vitali, it will truly be another upset of biblical proportions.

Paul Williams will defeat the powerful Sergio Gabriel Martinez

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d8-Paul-Williams-will-defeat-the-powerful-Sergio-Gabriel-Martinez

Paulie Malignaggi will make the "Baby Bull" look like an infant in their rematch

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d7-Paulie-Malignaggi-will-make-the-Baby-Bull-look-like-an-infant-in-their-rematch

Manny Pacquiao needs to focus on Miguel Cotto and not Floyd Mayweather

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d4-Manny-Pacquiao-needs-to-focus-on-Miguel-Cotto-and-not-Floyd-Mayweather

Joe Girardi Is a New York Yankees Legend

Colin Linneweber — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:37:23 -0500

Hours after New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi helped lead the Bombers to their elusive 27th World Series championship in team history Wednesday night, he stopped his car to help a female motorist who had crashed her vehicle into a wall on the Cross County Parkway in Eastchester.

“The guy wins the World Series, what does he do? He stops to help,” Westchester County police officer Kathleen Cristiano said of the 2006 National League Manager of the Year. “It was totally surreal.”

According to police reports, Marie Henry, 27, lost control of her SUV and slammed into a guardrail at approximately two in the morning.

Fortunately, Henry suffered only minor cuts in the accident.

“As bad as the car looked, I was really concerned,” said Girardi, 45, who won three championships with the Yankees in the late-1990’s when he played catcher for the team.

Girardi dialed 911 and remained with Henry until emergency workers arrived on the scene.

“The guy wins the World Series and what does he do?” Officer Cristiano asked the Journal News. “He stops to help.”

Girardi, who signed a three-year contract worth $7.5 million to manage the Yankees in October 2007, was highly scrutinized throughout this postseason for many of the pitching decisions he made.

In particular, Girardi was criticized for utilizing a three-man rotation throughout the playoffs.

Ultimately, Girardi’s decisions panned-out and the Yankees were able to become the first team since the 1991 Minnesota Twins to win a title by employing only three starters in October.

“It was the middle of the night; my cell phone battery was dying,” Henry said. “Most people could have just kept driving. But he stopped. He’s got a good heart…I’m a Yankees fan for life.”

Upon being signed in the autumn of 2007, Girardi decided to wear the No. 27 to signify that his lone goal as a skipper was to bring another championship back to the Bronx.

After Girardi and the Yankees captured their record 27th World Series crown, Girardi announced that next year he would don the No. 28 to emphasize his team’s newest goal.

New York is a “what have you done for me lately” type of city.

Currently, Girardi is a beloved Yankees playoff hero.

However, when the Yankees inevitably endure a difficult period next season, he could easily be labeled “Clueless Joe II.”

Life is a day-to-day venture and there is no guarantee what tomorrow will bring.

Nevertheless, today Girardi is a championship-winning manager and he has already made at least one person “a Yankees fan for life.”

The Yankees, Not the Red Sox, Were the Team of this Decade

Tom Cable is a Scumbag and the Perfect Coach for the Oakland Raiders

Andy Pettitte is a Hall of Fame Pitcher

Why Paul Williams Will Defeat Sergio Gabriel Martinez

Colin Linneweber — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:09:16 -0500

After a two-week search for a new opponent, former two-time welterweight champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams has agreed to fight WBC Super Welterweight champion Sergio Gabriel Martinez in a nontitle middleweight bout December 5 at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom in Atlantic City, N.J.

Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) was originally scheduled to fight Kelly Pavlik on the identical date.

However, the matchup was canceled because Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) has not healed from two surgeries he was forced to undergo to treat a stubborn staph infection in his left hand.

Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs), a physical specimen who is widely considered one of the top junior middleweights in the world, will prove to be a very difficult opponent for Williams, 28.

Williams’ promoter, Dan Goosen, told ESPN.com that he fully understands that Martinez, 34, will be a very worthy adversary for his fighter.

“It’s a tough fight against what many would consider an unknown champion, but Martinez can’t be underestimated,” Goosen said of the Argentinean southpaw. “He’s hungry and he’s been looking for his opportunity to fight a name fighter. This is it. Martinez has everything to gain from this fight.”

Goosen acknowledged that it will be a difficult task for Williams to prepare for a fighter of Martinez’s caliber on such brief notice.

“These are the types of fights that are the tough ones, a fight made off the cuff because of the circumstances we were faced with Pavlik pulling out on short notice,” said Goosen. “Normally, you’d rather have a much bigger window to prepare for a tricky lefthander like Martinez.”

Despite the fact that Martinez is a junior middleweight titlist, the two sides agreed to fight over the 154-pound division limit.

“Paul was training to be a middleweight, not a junior middleweight,” Goosen said. “It would not be in the best interest to come down to 154 now on short notice. So I think it’s reasonable to keep him in the division he was looking to fight in.”

Martinez is a powerful man and his southpaw stance will counterbalance the advantages that Williams has historically experienced himself as a lefty in the ring.

Nevertheless, Williams is a cagey fighter and he is a true master at the craft of pugilism.

Williams has long been referred to as the most “avoided fighter in the world” primarily because he is lanky and, at 6’2”, he is extremely tall for a welterweight.

Martinez will not avoid Williams and he will come prepared to wage war with the native of South Carolina.

Still, expect Williams to emerge with a narrow majority decision victory over Martinez next month in the Garden State.

Paulie Malignaggi Will Make The Baby Bull Look Like An Infant

Colin Linneweber — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:55:16 -0500

Former unified world lightweight champion Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz has agreed to a rematch with past IBF junior welterweight titlist Paulie “the Magic Man” Malignaggi for December 12 at the UIC Pavilion the University of Illinois at Chicago campus.

In their bloody initial encounter in August, Malignaggi (26-3, 5KOs) lost a very controversial decision to Diaz (35-2, 17 KOs) in the Baby Bull’s hometown of Houston.

“Boxing is full of s---,” Malignaggi, 28, said to Max Kellerman during the post-fight interview.

Malignaggi, a native of Brooklyn who began boxing at the age of 16 at the legendary Gleason's Gym, also stated that he is disgusted with the fight game and the only reason that he will continue to box is to earn an income.

“The public demanded this rematch and I am looking forward to fighting Diaz for the second time,” said Malignaggi, who is known to employ the “Hitman” stance that was utilized by the great Thomas Hearns. “This time I am going to get the win on my record.”

Diaz, 26, is a Mexican-American who made his professional boxing debut at the tender age of 16. He is confident that he will again emerge victorious in their upcoming bout.

“I enjoyed beating Malignaggi the first time and I am more than willing to do it again,” said Diaz. “This time though, I’m looking for the knockout so I don’t have to hear his mouth anymore.”

Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya claimed that Diaz indeed won the first matchup and he is convinced that his fighter will defeat Malignaggi once more in a month.

“Diaz and Malignaggi are two talented young fighters at the top of their games,” said De La Hoya. “There is no doubt that Juan won the first fight and he will beat Paulie again.”

One should obviously be skeptical of De La Hoya’s biased prediction.

Malignaggi likely was robbed of a victory versus Diaz in the summer and he will not be swindled this time fighting in the neutral grounds of the windy city.

Expect Malignaggi to outclass Diaz in their rematch and win a unanimous decision.

Malignaggi is a superior pugilist than the talented Diaz. "The Magic Man” will make the Baby Bull appear like an infant in the ring when their second battle finally commences.

Check out these other boxing articles:

Manny Pacquiao needs to focus on Miguel Cotto and not Floyd Mayweather.

Hatton should say no to Couture and avoid the UFC.

Halloween special: The Three Scariest Boxers Ever

Yankees, Not Red Sox, Were MLB's Team of the Decade

Colin Linneweber — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:15:45 -0500

The New York Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 Wednesday night in the Bronx to win their record 27th World Series championship.

The Yankees, who went 103-59 to establish 2009's best mark in Major League Baseball, simply outclassed the Phillies over the course of six games.

“I really believe in this club,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who was widely scrutinized for his decision to utilize a three-man rotation throughout the playoffs. “I’ve always believed in this organization, the job the Steinbrenner family has done, Cashman and his staff and it’s where we wanted to be and the guys did it.”

Despite New York’s exorbitant payroll that exceeded $208 million, Girardi stressed that the Yankees chemistry and perseverance is what ultimately brought another crown to the Bronx.

“It’s unbelievable how this team came together in spring training,” he said. Girardi decided when he was hired by the Yankees in October 2007 that the number on his jersey would be 27, to emphasize that his sole mission in pinstripes was to win another championship. “They just kept fighting and fighting and fighting.”

Hideki Matsui, twice an All-Star since he made his Bronx debut in 2003, was named the World Series Most Valuable Player after batting .615 with three home runs and eight RBI.

The Yankees are an extremely deep and talented squad and Matsui, whose contract has now expired, expressed immediate interest in returning to the Bronx to help defend their title.

“I hope it works out that way,” said Matsui, 35, through an interpreter. “I love New York. I love the Yankees and I love the fans here.”

Provided that the Bombers brass makes sound decisions this offseason, the Yankees should be a considerable force again next year.

The Yankees are the most successful organization in North American professional sports.

However, despite the fact that New York averaged an astounding 97 wins this decade, they were deemed a failure by many onlookers because they had not won a championship since they beat the New York Mets in the 2000 Subway Series.

“All of them were great,” said legendary closer Mariano Rivera of the five championships he has amassed with the Yankees. “But this one is special. It was a drought for nine years and we finally got one.”

Largely because of the significant economic advantages that are afforded to the Yankees, nine years without winning a championship is viewed as an eternity in the Bronx.

Still, nine-year drought or not, the Yankees were absolutely the team of this decade.

It has long been touted that, since there was no year zero, the new millennium commenced on Jan. 1, 2001.

Under that rationale, the Yankees 2000 championship would not be considered part of this decade.

In actuality, anyone with even a granule of sensibility understands that when the calendar flipped over to 2000, the 1990s concluded.

Therefore, the New York Yankees captured two championships in this decade and they were baseball’s elite franchise once more.

The Boston Red Sox are the Yankees' central competition in the argument over who dominated the diamond in the 2000s.

The Red Sox finally exorcised the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 and won their first title in 86 seasons.

Boston supplemented their landmark victory in with another championship in 2007.

Hence, the Yankees and the Red Sox combined for four World Series championships in this decade alone.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the Yankees trounced Boston in every other significant category over the course of the past 10 years.

The Yankees accumulated four American League Pennants and eight A.L. East divisional titles since the 2000 campaign.

Furthermore, the Yankees tallied the most victories this decade and failed to make the playoffs on only one occasion.

In comparison, the Red Sox accrued two American League Pennants and earned one measly A.L. East divisional crown in 2007.

Additionally, Boston didn't qualify for the postseason four times.

It is indisputable that the Yankees are the most successful team in the history of baseball and it is equally inarguable that they were the best organization in this era.

Rivera, 39, a 10-time All-Star selection and the owner of numerous MLB records on the hill, was asked what it feels like to earn another championship alongside longstanding teammates Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. He answered, “It is beautiful.”

“I’ve been blessed because I have been able to play for 15 years and we have done almost everything together. It feels wonderful. I am so grateful for them. We have been through so much together, bad times, good times, and we finally got number five together.”

The Yankees have experienced many more “good times” than they have “bad times.”

Considering their lofty standards, the Bombers did struggle a tad this decade.

Nevertheless, in the end, fans of the Bombers should be “so grateful for them.”

Regardless of all the adversity the Yankees faced since the 2000 World Series, they were still the most accomplished team in all of Major League Baseball this decade.

Andy Pettitte is a Hall of Fame Pitcher

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8648/andy-pettitte-is-a-hall-of-fame-pitcher.html

CC Sabathia's The Greatest Free-Agent Pitcher The Yanks Have Ever Signed

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8632/cc-sabathias-the-greatest-free-agent.html

Manny Needs To Focus On Miguel Cotto and Not Mayweather

Colin Linneweber — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:22:35 -0500

IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao is scheduled to fight WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Cotto (34-1, 27 KO), whose only “loss” came at the illegal hand-wraps of a cheating Antonio Margarito in July 2008, is a gritty and powerful fighter and he will give Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) more than he can handle in two weeks time.

“I consider this one of the hardest fights in my boxing career,” said Pacquiao, 30, who is rated by Ring Magazine as the greatest pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

Largely because of the manner in which Pacquiao brutalized Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KOs) and Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) in his two previous bouts, “Pac-Man” is a decided favorite to defeat Cotto, 29.

Nevertheless, Cotto is a naturally bigger man than Pacquiao and his ample speed and superior strength should prove to be very troublesome for the diminutive Filipino.

Despite Cotto’s noted advantages, last week Pacquiao curiously offered his premature opinion in regard to a potential matchup with undefeated former WBC welterweight champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. (40-0, 25 KOs).

Pacquiao is a spectacular talent and his blinding speed could actually neutralize Mayweather’s elusiveness in the ring.

“Boxing for him is like a business,” Pacquiao said. “(Mayweather) doesn’t care about the people around him watching. He doesn’t care if the fight is boring, as long as the fight is finished and he gets plenty of money. I want people to be happy. You have a big responsibility as a boxer.”

Pacquiao is everything that is right with the floundering sport of pugilism and there is zero dispute that he takes his “responsibility as a boxer” with the utmost seriousness.

Still, no matter what ultimately becomes of the proposed Pacquiao versus Mayweather matchup, it is unwise for “Pac Man” to overlook his fight with Cotto for even an instant.

Pacquiao’s “people” will “be happy” because their fighter is a determined and valiant warrior.

However, for Cotto, boxing is not entirely “like a business.”

From Cotto’s vantage, boxing is essentially a fight and the native of Puerto Rico certainly has shown to date that he loves to scrap.

Therefore, Pacquiao’s only “responsibility as a boxer” should be to focus all of his energy toward Cotto and not on anybody else.

The impending fight with Cotto will be “one of the hardest fights” in Pacquiao’s career as a professional prizefighter.

Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto are slated to wage war in ten days.

Hatton should say "No" to Couture and avoid the UFC

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d3-Hatton-should-say-No-to-Couture-and-avoid-the-UFC

Halloween Special--The Three Scariest Boxers Ever

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d29-Halloween-SpecialThe-Three-Scariest-Boxers-Ever

If they ever fight, Kelly Pavlik will punish "The Punisher"

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d28-If-they-ever-fight-Kelly-Pavlik-will-punish-The-Punisher

Ricky Hatton Should Say "No" to Randy Couture and Avoid the UFC

Colin Linneweber — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:35:11 -0500

Former three-time UFC heavyweight champion and two-time light-heavyweight titlist Randy “The Natural” Couture expressed interest this week in converting British professional boxer Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton into the world of mixed martial arts.

Couture (16-10), the only five-time champion in UFC history, is confident that Hatton (45-2, 32KOs) would benefit from his immense punching power and thrive in the octagon if he learned how to fight on the ground under his tutelage.

“He is a tremendous fighter and he has a lot of heart,” said Couture, 46, one of only two UFC fighters to have held a championship in two different divisions. “There is no doubt he could make a tremendous impact with his heart and determination in the ring.”

Hatton, 31, a two-time IBF and IBO light welterweight champion, admitted he is intrigued by the prospect of fighting in MMA and he said his background in kickboxing would make the transition from the ring into the cage easier than some skeptics may predict.

“UFC would be right up my street,” said Hatton, who suffered a brutal second-round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao last May. “I used to kickbox, so maybe I would be all right.”

Hatton, who is scheduled to host Monday Night Raw next week, added that UFC has recently seemed to garner more public interest than boxing has.

“It is all action, proper fighting,” Hatton said of MMA. “There is a concern in boxing that the UFC is taking its place. People seem to get more value for money.”

Hatton was a stellar pugilist who still energizes his fellow countrymen every time that he is slated to fight.

However, he was badly outclassed by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in December 2007 and, as mentioned previously, he was pulverized by Pacquiao last spring.

Randy Couture is a superior grappler and “The Natural” would be the ideal man to train Hatton if he ever decided to make his foray into the octagon.

Still, at the delicate age of 31 and after the way he was violently beaten by the diminutive Pacquiao, it would be wise for Hatton to return to his native land and retire from any form of hand-to-hand combat.

Hatton’s fans are known to taunt his opponents throughout his matches with the derisive and sustained chant, “Who are ya?”

If Hatton does attempt mixed martial arts at this stage in his career, he could get badly injured.

After one savage loss in the octagon, “The Hitman” may have to permanently ask members of his friends and family, “who are ya?”

Halloween Special—The Three Scariest Boxers Ever

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d29-Halloween-SpecialThe-Three-Scariest-Boxers-Ever

If they ever fight, Kelly Pavlik will punish "The Punisher"

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d28-If-they-ever-fight-Kelly-Pavlik-will-punish-The-Punisher

Andrew Golota is a bum and a sorry “wasted talent”

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d27-Andrew-Golota-is-a-bum-and-a-sorry-wasted-talent

Tyson, Liston, Foreman: Boxing's Three All-Time Scariest Fighters

Colin Linneweber — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:56:40 -0400

The Halloween weekend is finally upon us.

As a tribute to the annual “Fright Night” holiday, I decided to rank the three scariest fighters in the annals of boxing.

Please note that the list below is comprised of the “scariest” and most menacing pugilists to ever enter the ring.

Hence, this is NOT a tabulation of the three most skilled or accomplished fighters in the history of “The Sweet Science.”

Without further adieu, my rankings:

1. “Iron” Mike Tyson

Tyson (50-6, 44 KOS) became at the age of 20 the youngest man to ever win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles.

In November 1986, Tyson savagely defeated Trevor Berbick by a TKO in the second round to capture the WBC title.

After he slaughtered Berbick, Tyson expressed disappointment with the way he emerged victorious.

Tyson said he had wanted to catch Berbick “right on the tip of the nose, because I try to punch the bone into the brain.”

“Iron Mike,” who had been arrested 38 times by the age of 13, was a physical marvel in the ring.

Tyson possessed a rare combination of quickness, coordination and power that was unlike anything the heavyweight division had ever seen before.

“The Baddest Man on the Planet” steamrolled the competition for years before his personal demons derailed his seemingly inevitable path to boxing immortality.

In 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape and sexual assault and he spent in excess of three years in an Indiana prison.

After he was paroled from the pen, Tyson embarked on a comeback in the ring.

Initially, he revived his career and was able to regain portions of the heavyweight title.

Unfortunately, both Tyson’s livelihood and behavior again spiraled downward.

In a colossal upset, Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield defeated Tyson in the 11th round by TKO in November 1996.

The epic battle between Holyfield and Tyson had fans clamoring for a rematch. The two sides agreed to fight again in June 1997.

After Holyfield controlled the fight's opening rounds, Tyson went insane and twice brutally chomped off pieces of his opponent's ears.

Tyson was temporarily banned from the sport of boxing and never was able to recapture any semblance of the fighter he once was.

“Iron Mike” can be considered something of a Shakespearean tragedy.

Before Tyson receded into a cannibal and convicted rapist, he was one of the most skilled prizefighters the sport of boxing had ever seen.

Tyson was once quoted as saying, “I feel like sometimes that I was not meant for this society.”

Perhaps “The Baddest Man on the Planet” is more thoughtful than he is given credit for.

2. Charles L. “Sonny” Liston

Liston (50-4, 39 KOs) was an individual most would want to avoid encountering in a dark alley.

Liston, whose actual date of birth is unknown, was born in Arkansas to a sharecropper and was often beaten as a child.

At the age of 13, Liston escaped from his violent patriarch and reunited with his mother and cousins in St. Louis.

During his adolescence, Liston partook in a gas-station robbery, was arrested and subsequently imprisoned for his crime.

While incarcerated, Liston’s boxing skills were discovered.

Boxing served as an outlet for “The Big Bear” and, after he won several amateur tournaments, he decided to go pro.

Liston, who had a disproportionately long reach, was one of the greatest jabbers and punchers of all-time.

His mean nature and burly frame often intimidated his opponents to the point that they were scared to even enter the ring to face him.

One person who Liston particularly threatened was a fighter by the name of Cassius Clay.

Clay, who eventually changed his name to Muhammad Ali, admitted that he was mortified by Liston.

He entered the ring against Liston in Miami in 1964 as an 8-to-1 underdog.

However, Clay’s quickness infuriated Liston and “The Big Bear” quit in his corner before the start of the seventh round.

Liston claimed he had hurt his shoulder in the fight and was not physically able to continue.

Skeptics voiced their opinions that Liston, who had alleged ties to organized crime, fixed the match and purposefully lost.

Liston and Ali fought a rematch in May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine and the contest again ended in controversy.

Ali landed a seemingly feathery punch on Liston’s chin and “The Big Bear” went down like the Titanic.

It was never confirmed whether or not Liston intentionally threw the two Ali matches.

Nevertheless, there was never any doubt that Liston, a purported enforcer for the Mafia, was a chilling human being not meant to be trifled with.

He was found dead of an apparent heroin overdose in Las Vegas in 1971.

To this day, there is a wide belief that Liston was actually murdered by some of his contacts in the underworld.

Liston was once quoted as saying, “A boxing match is like a cowboy movie. There’s got to be good guys and there’s got to be bad guys. And that’s what people pay for—to see the bad guys get beat.”

Liston only lost four times in his professional career.

Unfortunately, the “good guys” suffered 50 defeats at the hands of “The Big Bear.”

3. “Big” George Foreman

Before he become a lovable, grandfatherly figure renowned for his Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine, Foreman (76-5, 68 KOs) wore a permanent scowl on his face as a youngster.

Patterning himself after Liston, Foreman was aloof and antisocial while he bullied everyone he encountered inside and outside of the ring.

“Big” George had extraordinarily powerful fists and was one of the greatest punchers to ever grace the ring.

In January 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica, Foreman was a huge underdog as he readied to fight heavyweight champion “Smokin’” Joe Frazier.

In HBO Boxing’s first broadcast, Foreman absolutely pulverized Frazier in what is considered one of pugilisms biggest upsets ever.

Foreman, who knocked Frazier down six times, landed a vicious uppercut that lifted Frazier’s feet off of the canvas.

Frazier was unable to rise and Foreman was declared the heavyweight championship of the world.

Once asked how he transformed his persona from that of a sneering tormenter into that of an affable giant, Foreman remarked, “George Foreman. A miracle. A mystery to myself. Who am I? The mirror says back, ‘The George you was always meant to be.’ Wasn’t always like that. Used to look in the mirror and cried a river.”

Even as he aged, Foreman’s opponents still “cried a river” when they fought the entrepreneurial grill salesman.

But at least the common public learned to no longer be intimidated by “Big” George.

“Wasn’t always like that.”

* Needless to say, this is an article based on opinion.

I look forward to the thoughts of my readers.

Dallas Cowboys' Money Receiver Miles Austin and Daddy Warbucks

Colin Linneweber — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:26:40 -0400

Wide receiver Miles Austin helped lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 37-21 victory over the Atlanta Falcons Sunday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Austin, 25, an undrafted free-agent from Monmouth University in New Jersey, had eight receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns as the Cowboys improved their record to 4-2.

The previous week, Miles established the Cowboys franchise record for receiving yards in a game with 250 in a 26-20 overtime win versus the Chiefs in Kansas City and he now has caught 21 passes for 502 yards and five touchdowns to date in this 2009 season.

Austin was a standout athlete at Garfield High School in the Garden State, where he lettered in football, basketball, and track and field.

Despite being honored as a high school senior on the gridiron with All-Bergen County and All-State honors, Austin did not garner much interest from major college football programs.

So, Austin decided to stay close to his hometown and play for the Hawks in nearby West Long Branch.

Monmouth University is a relatively small school that has impressively sent four squads to the NCAA Men's Division I basketball tournament since 1996.

Beyond their prowess on the hardwood, Monmouth is also known because an academic building located in the center of their pristine campus, Woodrow Wilson Hall, was utilized as "Daddy Warbucks'" mansion in the famed film Annie .

Austin and Miami Dolphins tight end John Nalbone are the only two players who attended Monmouth and eventually ascended to the NFL.

“He’s definitely a big part of this offense,” Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said of Austin. “I’m glad to see all of his hard work and effort are paying off.”

Austin has clearly supplanted the expensive Roy Williams as Romo’s primary receiving threat.

The unheralded Jersey superstar is currently projected to conclude this season with 56 receptions for a staggering 1,339 yards and 13 touchdowns.

During a scene in the 1982 musical film, Annie says to Daddy Warbucks, “You’re the greatest thing since sliced bread.”

Warbucks responded to Annie by asking, “I beg your pardon?”

Annie reiterated her comment and said, “I know it’s none of my business, but you never notice anything.”

Romo and Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones have noticed Austin and his stellar abilities on the field.

If Austin is able to continue performing at this elite level, soon the entire Lone Star State will think the New Jersey native actually is “the greatest thing since sliced bread.”

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8663/cowboys-receiver-miles-austin-and.html

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8658/with-shonn-greene-and-danny-woodhead.html

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8630/the-irish-should-axe-charlie-weis.html

If They Ever Fight, Kelly Pavlik Will Punish "The Punisher"

Colin Linneweber — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:25:35 -0400

WBC and WBO middleweight champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik canceled his scheduled bout with Paul “The Punisher” Williams yet again last week because his left hand still has not healed from the effects of a stubborn staph infection he developed earlier in the year.

The staph infection reportedly surfaced after Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) defeated Marco Antonio Rubio (43-5-1, 37 KOs) last February in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio.

Pavlik, 27, was prescribed antibiotics to ward off the infection and he was eventually forced to undergo two surgeries on his hand as a last resort after the medicine he took proved to be ineffective.

Pavlik and Williams (37-1, 27 KOs), who had initially planned to fight on Oct. 3, had rescheduled their matchup for Dec. 5 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Pavlik said he felt obligated to fight Williams, 28, because he had already once postponed the fight and many medical professionals told him that he would be fully recovered by the time the matchup was intended to occur.

“Since I started training, it was in my mind the whole time,” Pavlik said. “It feels stiff, I ain’t able to hit anything. There was just no way to do it.”

Todd DuBoef, Pavlik’s promoter and President of Top Rank, said his fighter’s recovery has “not progressed as projected by Dr. Peter Evans at the Cleveland Clinic. Once Pavlik is cleared medically by Dr. Evans, we will pursue all avenues with regards to a future bout.”

Williams’ brash trainer, George Peterson, questioned Pavlik’s injury and his genuine desire to box his fighter.

“If he had a staph infection for this long, he would have been poisoned to death,” said Peterson, who never earned a medical degree. “It’s not the hand that needs to be corrected. His heart is what needs to be corrected. They keep treating the wrong thing. We are not waiting on this guy anymore.”

Pavlik’s father said that his son was ill when he suffered his first loss as a professional to 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs) last October and they learned a valuable lesson from that contest.

“We learned our lesson once already when he went into a fight not feeling well,” Mike Pavlik said. “And we vowed we wouldn’t do it again.”

The unorthodox and extremely lanky Williams has long been referred to as the most “avoided fighter in the world.”

Despite Peterson’s unfounded and ignorant claims, Pavlik does have a tremendous heart and he is absolutely not avoiding Williams.

“I want to fight, and people question because I’ve been inactive, but there’s goals I want to accomplish,” Pavlik said. “It does feel like wasted time, where I could be out accomplishing a lot. And one big fight could sum up that big accomplishment.”

Perhaps Williams and his handlers will cease “waiting on this guy (Pavlik) anymore.”

However, if Williams is actually determined to defeat Pavlik, they will battle each other at some point in the future.

Pavlik would have violently dismantled Williams without any extra motivation.

Now, thanks to Williams’ mouthy trainer, Pavlik has an extra incentive to punish the man hailed as “The Punisher.”

Paul Williams will simply become a “ghost” if Kelly Pavlik is ever able to get his hands on him.

The Jets Ground Game Will Fly With Shonn Greene & Danny Woodhead

Colin Linneweber — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:22:48 -0400

The New York Jets destroyed the putrid Oakland Raiders 38-0 Sunday afternoon at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Unfortunately for New York (4-3), their dominating triumph came at a great expense.

One week after the Jets lost defensive standout Kris Jenkins for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, offensive sparkplug Leon Washington fractured his right fibula on his first carry of the game.

Washington, 27, a 2008 Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection, had his lower leg snapped when he was tackled by Raiders defenders and the broken bone grotesquely pierced his skin.

“I could see blood spurting out,” said one player of Washington’s compound fracture. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Running back Thomas Jones, who had shared carries with Washington in the backfield to date, said the Jets as a team are demoralized by the loss.

“The team is devastated; I know I’m devastated,” said Jones, 31, who rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown in the victory. “Honestly, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan stated that he believes Washington will fully recover from the injury and be ready to play by the start of the 2010 season.

“It’s a pretty severe injury,” Ryan conceded. “We expect a good outcome. Hopefully, he’ll rejoin us sooner than later.”

The Jets will likely be a different and far less explosive team without their best playmaker on the offensive side of the ball.

On the positive side of an otherwise glum trip out west, Jets rookie running backs Shonn Greene and Danny Woodhead showed flashes of pleasant brilliance on the gridiron.

Greene, 24, the winner of both the Doak Walker Award and Jim Brown Trophy in 2008 when he played for the University of Iowa, ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders anemic defense.

“Shonn Greene’s an outstanding player,” Ryan said of the back the Jets traded up twelve spots to select in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. “That’s what we’ve been trying to say since we drafted him in the third round and traded up to get him. There is a reason we had him rated as a first-round talent.”

Greene has a chance to be a very forceful and productive player in the NFL.

However, he is not considered a viable option to catch passes out of the backfield.

“He’s more of a bulldozer type…great vision, great feet,” said Ryan of Greene. “Where Leon is kind of a homerun hitter…catch the ball…you name it.”

In an effort to compensate for the loss of Washington and boost the short-yardage passing game, Ryan said that he intends to utilize Woodhead, 24, in the role of a flanker.

Woodhead, who was awarded the Harlon Trophy Award for the best player in NCAA Division II football at Chadron State College in Nebraska in 2006 and 2007, was signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent running back in 2008.

Woodhead, who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds at his pro day workout, was the all-time NCAA leading rusher until his mark was broken last winter.

Sunday, Woodhead exhibited his quickness and he rushed the ball three times for 24 yards.

Greene and Woodhead could very well develop into a formidable trio in the backfield with Jones.

However, Ryan quickly squashed any talk that Washington’s injury could be a blessing in disguise for the Jets.

“Maybe three or four guys have to replace him,” Ryan said of the former Florida State University star.

“He’s so versatile. He’s a Pro Bowl returner. Then you’ve got a back than can run the ball inside and outside. He’s not just a change-of-pace type back, he can do it all. He’s great out of the backfield, he can protect the quarterback. He can run the Seminole package and you can flex him out as a receiver. Really, he is a great versatile player and there is no way one person can replace him.”

Jets Pro-Bowl center Nick Mangold claimed that Greene says “about five words” every day.

Still, Greene did make it clear that he’s “not going to fill Leon’s shoes.”

Nevertheless, Greene is confident that the Jets ground game will continue to fly despite the loss of Washington.

“I think we’re running on all cylinders now,” said Greene. “It’s going to be scary.”

If Jones, Greene and Woodhead prove to be an effective trio, the Jets are “going to be scary” for all of their opponents henceforth.

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8592/the-jets-will-only-fly-if-their-offensiv.html

Andrew Golota Is a Bum and a Sorry "Wasted Talent"

Colin Linneweber — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:03:30 -0400

In a battle between famed Polish fighters, Tomasz “Granite Chin” Adamek defeated Andrew Golota by TKO in the fifth round to capture the IBF International Heavyweight Title Saturday night at the Arena Lodz in Poland.

Adamek (39-1, 27 KOs) utilized his vastly superior speed to absolutely dominate Golota (41-8-1, 33 KOs) until American referee Bill Clancy rescued the beaten pugilist from absorbing any further punishment.

Golota, 41, had a celebrated amateur career that saw him emerge victorious 111 times and he earned the bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

At his best, Golota displayed tremendous power in the ring and he was a legitimate heavyweight prospect in the mid-1990’s.

Unfortunately for Golota, the owner of a lengthy criminal rap sheet, he is an incredibly unintelligent man and he is a worthless coward who has squandered all of his ample talents.

Adamek, 32, who weighed a measly 214 pounds in comparison to Golota who tipped the scales at 256 pounds, is the complete antithesis of his Polish counterpart.

Adamek is essentially a ballooned cruiserweight and he fights with true passion and determination.

Some boxing analysts have speculated that Adamek may be interested in fighting either Wladimir (53-3, 47 KOs) or Vitali Klitschko (38-2, 37 KOs) for one of the heavyweight belts that they respectively hold.

A matchup pitting Adamek against either Klitschko brother would be a huge attraction in Europe or in a culturally diverse city like New York.

Adamek would ultimately lack the physicality to seriously damage or compete with Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko.

Still, there is no question that Adamek would indeed compete with every morsel in his body.

On the flipside, if Golota was even remotely bright and if he ever fought with genuine grit, he could have beaten any fighter in the world during the prime of his career.

Instead of becoming a respected champion, Golota is known as a cheap-shot artist and a carnival act that incited violent riots and who is viewed with almost universal scorn outside of his native country.

It has long been said that, “the saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”

Tomasz Adamek has gotten the most out of his abilities as a prizefighter.

Andrew Golota is a bum and a sorry “wasted talent.”

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d23-If-Joe-Calzaghe-returns-he-will-not-retire-an-undefeated-champion

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d22-Vitali-Klitschko-will-give-Kevin-Johsnon-a-Ukrainian-Version-of-Greetings-From-Asbury-Park

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d20-John-The-Quiet-Man-Ruiz-lets-his-kind-actions-speak-volumes

Andy Pettitte Is A Hall Of Fame Pitcher

Colin Linneweber — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:19:28 -0400

Lefthander Andy Pettitte and the New York Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5-2 Sunday night in the Bronx to capture their 40^th American League Pennant.

Pettitte, 37, a two-time All-Star selection who has accumulated the most victories of any MLB pitcher since 1995, allowed only seven hits and one earned run in 6 1/3 innings.

“He did what he has done his whole career,” said Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter of the 2001 ALCS MVP.

The native of Texas is set to make his eighth appearance in the World Series when the Yankees host the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday evening.

Many onlookers have long considered Pettitte to be a serviceable pitcher who is not among baseball’s elite hurlers.

Those skeptics are simply incorrect.

Andy Pettitte, who has a career record of 229-135 and owns a .629 winning percentage, is a spectacular talent and he should garner serious Hall of Fame consideration when he eventually retires.

With his victory Sunday, Pettitte passed John Smoltz for the most postseason wins in history and he also established the record for the most series-clinching victories with five.

Additionally, Pettitte, a four-time World Series champion, has twice been a 20-game winner and he has never endured a losing season in his entire professional career.

Last September, Pettitte started the last game for the Yankees at the old Yankee Stadium.

Don’t be surprised if Pettitte is the pitcher that leads New York to their first World Series championship at the New Yankee Stadium.

Pettitte was once quoted as saying, “Whatever I do, I love to win. I don’t care if it’s tennis or ping pong. I’ll kill myself to win it.”

Thankfully for Pettitte, he wins much more than he loses.

http://www.newyorkyankeesnews.com/colin815/weblog/8632/cc-sabathias-the-greatest-free-agent.html

If Joe Calzaghe Returns, He Will Not Retire An Undefeated Champion

Colin Linneweber — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:56:43 -0400

The much-hyped Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament began last Saturday night in two separate European states with “King” Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch winning their respective bouts to commence the unique event.

The tournament was primarily established to anoint a new champion in the super middleweight division after its longtime titlist, Joe Calzaghe, relinquished his crowns in 2007 and ultimately retired in February 2009.

The finals of the World Boxing Classic tournament are expected to occur sometime in May or June 2011.

Many fans of the Sweet Science are already clamoring for a matchup that would pit the former champion Calzaghe against the winner of this unprecedented tournament.

Unfortunately, Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KOs) has made it emphatically clear that he would rather become infected with herpes than return to the ring to face the winner of the Super Six World Boxing Classic.

“I’m enjoying retirement,” said Calzaghe, 37, a Welshmen who is only the third European boxer ever to retire as an undefeated world champion.

“I don’t want to fight. My kids don’t want me to fight. Not too many fighters retire at the right time. That means more to me than money. Honestly, there is no desire in me. Nothing in me at all wants to fight again.”

Many boxing observers and analysts predict that either Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) or Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) will emerge victorious next year.

Calzaghe is readily aware that boxing promoters and network executives will attempt to entice him out of retirement with lucrative deals to scrap the Classic’s eventual winner.

Still, Calzaghe maintains that he will rebuff any offer that is proposed to him no matter how exorbitant the purse may become.

“I’ll tell them what I told you,” said Calzaghe, a southpaw who Ring magazine once rated as pound-for-pound one of the top 10 boxers in the world, “no.”

“The Pride of Wales” claims that he wishes a Super Six tourney had existed when he was still an active fighter.

“Of course I wish they had this when I was boxing,” said Calzaghe. “This (168-pound) division is close to my heart. My time was a frustrating time. I couldn’t get the great fights. It was not a very illustrious division. This is a great tournament that is great for boxing. There are too many champions out there. This should settle that.”

Calzaghe’s must notable victories came at the expenses of Super Six competitor Mikkel Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs), former IBF super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy (25-3, 17 KOs), and geriatric pugilists Bernard Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs) and Roy Jones, Jr. (54-5, 40 KOs).

If Calzaghe had battled either Hopkins, 44, or Jones, 40, in the primes of their careers, he would have been utterly massacred by either of those two legendary boxers.

Calzaghe possessed great pugilistic skills and he is an enormously accomplished fighter.

But, “The Pride of Wales” was never able to secure a signature victory that would have definitively cemented his legacy as an all-time great.

Calzaghe stated that he still occasionally spars and has maintained his conditioning.

Additionally, Calzaghe said he hasn’t “let himself get fat” and he is very confident that he would still prevail today over any fighter in his weight class.

“I’d be a fool to come back,” said Calzaghe. “I have too much good going on in my life.”

As noted previously, Calzaghe was quoted as saying, “Not too many fighters retire at the right time.”

If Calzaghe upholds his stance and he does not fight again, he will be a boxing novelty in the sense that he escaped from the sport with his health entirely intact and his finances secure.

In this particular instance, fans should believe Calzaghe and allow him to prepare for the next stage in his life.

However, if Calzaghe relents and returns to the ring like most boxers do, he will not retire an undefeated champion.

Calzaghe will turn 38 in March and age has never been kind to prizefighters.

As Calzaghe himself said, he would simply “be a fool to come back.”

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23631-Boston-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m10d23-If-Joe-Calzaghe-returns-he-will-not-retire-an-undefeated-champion