Ain't Nobody Jumpin' Around . . . Ok. So I am.

Besides losing to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football, the man sometimes known as Kim Kardasshian's better half had an excellent night. New Orleans' Saints running back Reggie Bush scored on two punt returns, becoming just the 12th man to ever do so.

After watching this game, I have a better appreciation for the fine line between a nice hit and a terrible one. The helmet-to-helmet rule is kind of tough to decipher because slo-mo doesn't always tell the real story. I think the only real difference is whether the "hittee" walks off the field.

The Vikings' own Speedy Gonzalez, Adrian "A.P." Peterson, was pretty quiet tonight, and somewhere, some grown man lost the weekly pool because of it. But the Vikings pulled it out, and that's all that matters. Is it just me or did it look like Reggie Bush was about to cry? They did show a vignette in which Bush said he was trying to focus on football only (read: the real reason Kim decided to do Dancing with the Stars) and stay out of the limelight. I felt for him when he said that he had expected to be one of the top running backs in the league, and decided to get serious. So I'm sure it was particularly frustrating to lose despite his good game. But it was a close one, and the Vikings needed this one to avoid "basement" synonyms. If Bush continues to stay focused (read: makes Kim do another reality show) then I think he has a good shot of achieving his goals.

I only posted the above pic because I want to remind him of pictures we should never, ever see again. Ever. I would, however, like to see him attain those other goals of his. . .

In other news:

How bad do you have to act up to get arrested at a wedding as a member of the wedding party? It would seem to me that if you're in the wedding, you might make an extra effort not to ruin the wedding of your good friend or family member. I'm going to assume alcohol was intimately involved, but there is drinking at a lot of weddings, and these people aren't in their early-20's.

That's the situation facing Houston Astros' pitcher Brandon Backe, who is 30 years old. Cops say they punched him in the face twice before they were able to arrest him after he allegedly refused to back away from a fight. Now, I'm not one to blindly side with the po-po, but I have to assume Backe was out of line. My favorite part of this story is the description of the other people who were involved in the fracas: the bride's father, 19-year old brother, and a FEMA director. I am cracking myself wondering what the FEMA connection could possibly be . . . being inept has never gotten George Bush jumped, so I don't get it . . .


More athletes with legal troubles: Lawrence Phillips once had a job in the NFL as a running back, but now he's looking at ten years behind bars for deliberately running down a group of teenagers after they beat him in a game of pickup football. He also alleged they stole some of his belongings. This wasn't Phillips first sign of trouble. He had previously picked up a domestic abuse charge for striking a woman he was dating at a hotel. During his brief stints in the NFL, he was dismissed once by each of the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers for insubordination and missing a practice, respectively. . . and then they just turned him loose without any guidance. He played at the University of Nebraska, football country, so he likely had some of his previous indiscretions overlooked for the sake of his talent at a big program. How many more times do we have to watch guys go down like this before we start nipping this stuff early? Sad.



Dancing with the Stars contestant and gold medal volleyball player Misty May-Treanor's dancing days are officially over after the tore her Achilles during dance rehearsals last Friday. I don't even know how you tear an Achilles while you're dancing, especially when you spring out of the sand barefoot all day. I guess that's the epitome of dancing too aggressively, for which the Dancing with the Stars judges had often criticized her. What a terrible feeling to be a professional athlete and ruining your career on a dalliance like dancing. Hopefully, this won't permanently sidetrack her career. I'd also consider sticking to barefoot dancing from here on out if I were her.

This is just such a random "sport."



Kimbo Slice lost his first mixed martial arts (MMA) fight. Now, I swear just a few days ago, they were saying this guy doesn't know anything about MMA, but you couldn't tell by these commentators, calling the fight "the most incredible victory in the history of mixed martial arts."

Another gem: "If you have a dream . . . if you're willing to step into a cage and fight for your life, you . . . can be anything you want!" I may have to start using this as my personal quote.

I don't know much about MMA, but this looks about as real as "rasslin'." (That's "wrestling" for all you northern types). Kimbo lost to a last second replacement - really. The guy he was supposed to fight had to pull out with a cut over his eye just hours before it was scheduled to go down. So Kimbo ended up fighting a guy who probably knows him well but about whom Kimbo knew nothing, not even his name. Still, no excuse for losing in 14 seconds. Although, I wonder if he decided to just throw it instead of getting seriously injured by someone he didn't know. He probably still got paid the same amount, it just wasn't worth the risk. And it wasn't really a competition, so he can do a re-match, kill this guy (not literally, MMA fans, geez), and then re-gain his status. Smart man. (And if this was not the plan, I expect some kind of remuneration for my strategy.)

Run Out of Town

Packing (or should be) for another weekend of adventure. And so we run:

1. I watched my second college football game this season, coincidentally involving the USC Trojans again, this time against the Oregon State University Beavers. Ok, not so coincidentally, because USC is the #1 team in the country, but, still coincidentally because I hadn't planned to watch it. Oregon State has USC's number, huh? Wow. I was looking around at some other sports blogs during the game and saw that most had pretty much dismissed Oregon State, despite last year's defeat of the Trojans. OSU (the other one) had this tiny tailback, Jacquizz (?) Rodgers who they say is 5'6" but looked to be about six inches less than that on the field. And I've seen some 5'8" guys in the NFL and this guy was nowhere near that. I'm guessing he's closer to a Prince-ly 5'4" (Rogers, ironically, is Prince's middle name). What's with short stars at Oregon schools? University of Oregon basketball player Tajuan Porter, one of the better players in the PAC-10, is also reportedly 5'6", but I think this is just an acceptable cutoff height. In any case, Rodgers, the self-proclaimed "little dude," lit up USC for 186 yards on 37 carries. Most yards on USC since . . . Vince Young in the BCS national championship game back in 2006 - another college football game I watched. His older brother and OSU wide receiver, James (why'd they do that to the younger one?), had two scores of his own. That's quite a story to tell to their kids . . . just like Al Bundy, but real. USC tried to come back in the second half, but the Beavers held off the Trojans (um . . .) for the win. Just another example of why they still play the game.

2. Kimbo Slice on PTI.

I don't know too much about his "sport" - mixed martial arts (coincidentally, I mentioned it on the blog the other day for the first time in the WNBA post) - but I am somewhat familiar with his story: homeless streetfighter on YouTube to superstardom as an ultimate fighter. What I didn't know is that he went to the University of Miami on an academic scholarship, even though he was a talented football player in high school. After watching this interview, I'm not surprised. My dad actually sent me a text last night asking me to post on Kimbo (I just can't call him Slice), but when I saw him on PTI, I realized daddy-o was right. His "five good minutes" Thursday is one of the better interviews I've seen in a while. "I'm just a little squirrel in this big world and I'm still trying to get my nut." Very regular person doing extraordinary things. Love it.

3. I'm calling this one "Knicks betta have my money!" Continuing with the video theme, Stephon Marbury and his chest decided to come out of hiding on Thursday. Starbury sat down with a local NBC affiliate to discuss all the rumors about what he will be doing (or where he will be sitting) when the Knicks season starts. He says he's not taking a penny less than the Knicks owe him (which he shouldn't, they're the ones who agreed to pick up his hefty contract when he came from the Phoenix Suns). He also says he's mentally, spiritually, and physically right . . . I'll stop my cynicism here because, say what you want about Marbury, I really do think he's a good person. He could maybe use some work on his delivery. It's a fairly long interview, but certainly one worth watching (although the difference in volume between Marbury (low) and the reporter (high "deaf") may get annoying).

4. The NFL has ruled that the Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee was not intentionally gouged in the eye during the Ravens win over the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. The Ravens submitted film to the league for a determination on whether the alleged "gougings" (two times in two separate incidents) were intentional. Apparently, the films showed the opposing Browns' players reaching under the visor to poke McGahee in the eye. Now McGahee may not play due to the injury to his eyes. Eye gouging? Is this 2008 B.C. or A.D.? You don't hear that term too often these days, probably with good reason. The last time eye gouging got my attention was in fifth grade when they showed us The Birds for Halloween. I won't spoil it for you in case you haven't seen it yet - even though you've had 45 years - but all I know is I have never liked birds ever since. Hmm. Ravens = birds. Creepy.

5. Monta Ellis, the over well-paid guard for the Golden State Warriors, claimed that he got scraped up and ripped up his ankle playing basketball. Surprise! Since exactly no one has ever been injured in basketball that way, it turns out Ellis was fibbing, and he really got hurt while riding a moped. At a slow speed. Of course. If you're going to lie (which I don't condone) then at least make it make sense. He had to have known the truth would come to light at some point, so now not only did he lie, but he told a really bad lie. Of course, on the flip side, he had everything to lose. Literally. That $66 million they're paying him for the next 6 years could have gone up in smoke. Under the terms of the standard NBA contract, Ellis violated the provision covering (pardon my French) "******** up your career doing some dumb ****." Really, I quoted that verbatim. They ought to add "poor lying" to the terms, too, which should be worth at least a few extra paychecks. He's just lucky that they need him now that Baron "I make sand castles with Jessica" Davis has defected for the Sacramento Kings. Hopefully he has learned his lesson.

And I've learned mine. I need more time and sleep! Enjoy the presidential debates (if they happen) and the weekend (pretty likely to happen)!