Who's Right? Who's Wrong?*

I'm not much of a horn-tooter but sometimes it's nice to know I'm not so far-fetched in my opinions. So I'm taking particular solace in the fact that both Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser on PTI agreed with my take on Vince Young, saying that there might be something to this since his mother is making this public plea, and this isn't just "no big deal," and that he is probably having touble adjusting to the glare of the pro QB light. Kornheiser also suggested that he needs time, and that it's probably fortuitous that he's injured so he has some time to think. Or maybe because he's hurt, his condition was exacerbated. But it sounds like this was just the tipping point, so hopefully Young will use this time wisely.

Then, Randy Moss echoed my comments about Tom Brady's commitment despite his injury. Following reports that Brady tore both his ACL and MCL (meaning he'll have surgery and heal in time for training camp), Moss said:

"We saw Tom today," Moss said in a national conference call. "I am not sure how much longer we are going to see him, but he is here today and has been uplifting and keeping a positive attitude. I think that goes a long way with not only him but the team as well."

Moss said Brady was "upbeat" during his visit.

"He is still the same old Tom Brady," Moss said. "I think that is what a lot [of] people don't really understand. A lot of times when guys get hurt, you might not see him around the locker room for months at a time."

Nice to know that sometimes I kinda know what I'm talking about.

One story that has gotten way out of control is this mess about "Takum" Bell and the stolen Gucci bags. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, now the woman who returned the bags to the Lions is coming out to tell her side of the story and clear her name (although she didn't want to be identified, I guess someone knows who she is). A few days ago, the other released Lion, whom Bell alleged was the person who had asked him to pick up the bags, came out and basically called Bell a liar (love this interview format):

[Victor] DeGrate said he never asked Bell to pick up anything. He said he didn't
leave behind any backpack, did not know the woman to whom Bell took the bags and had told all of this to the Lions.

"I just know I had nothing to do with it," DeGrate said. "What he did is his business. Why he said what he said, I don't know. I can't do nothing for you or for him as far as that goes. ...

"The way I just figure, he got caught up in a jam and that was the best thing going at the time, was to say what he said. ...

"When I left there, I left. I had nothing to do with none of it."

DeGrate did not leave a backpack behind?

"I had nothing to do with none of it," DeGrate said.

When told Bell claimed he took the bags to DeGrate's friend, DeGrate laughed, paused, then said: "If it was my friend that he took them to, then I'm pretty sure I would have had something to do with it more than what I did, which is none."

DeGrate said he learned Bell had used his name when people started calling him about it. Asked how the Lions tracked down the woman, he said:

"Evidently she took the bags back up there."

Does DeGrate know her?

"No," DeGrate said.

Not at all?

"I have nothing to do with it, man," DeGrate
said. "That's what I'm telling you. You're not listening to me."

Has DeGrate talked to Bell?

"I didn't ask no questions," DeGrate said. "None of it. There's no need for me to do all that. I just know I had nothing to do with it."

DeGrate and Bell went to the same high school, in DeSoto, Texas. They went to the same college, at Oklahoma State. DeGrate, 23, lived with Bell, 27, in Detroit.

Isn't this weird?

"Yeah, but sometimes it takes stuff like that to happen for you to find out how people are," DeGrate said. "But you know, I ain't holding no grudges against him or nothing like that."

Fishy. And now from the woman who took the bag back:

[The woman, who wishes to not be identified] was an acquaintance of DeGrate's and knew Bell through him. The night of Sept. 1, Bell called her and said he had a bag that he had thought belonged to DeGrate but really belonged to Johnson. Bell asked her if she could return it to Lions headquarters in Allen Park and gave her the phone number of Cedric Saunders, the director of football operations. She asked him why he couldn't return it himself. He said he had to go to Houston to work out for the Texans and didn't have time. (He never worked out for them.) She said OK, and he came over to her house and put the bag in her car.

After work Sept. 2, she drove to Lions headquarters and called Saunders, who came outside and took the bag out of her car about 2:30 or 3 p.m. She headed home. On the way, she received a call from Saunders. Where was the stuff that was in Johnson's bag? The bag was a roller that had another bag inside, and that was missing along with the ID, credit cards, cash and underwear. She told Saunders she didn't know what he was talking about. She had never laid a finger on the bag. The woman declined to speak to the Free Press more than once after the incident, but she relented Tuesday because she said she wanted to clear up misinformation and distance herself from any wrongdoing.

"I hate a thief," she said. "This is too much drama."

I couldn't agree with her more. What in the world? It's like every single person is telling only a piece of the truth. And now Takum thinks he can't find a job because no one trusts him not to go trick-or-treating in the lockerroom. I can't say that I blame them. Troublemakers are only worth the trouble if they're - how do I say this - good. So even if Adam "Pacman" Jones is making it rain, at least his on-field performance is relatively consistent and his teammates know he's generous with his money instead of trying to trying to steal theirs.

I do hope that you find a job, though, Tatum. I don't know why, but I kind of feel like you might be telling the truth here.

*An accidental ode to Janet Jackson's song What Have You Done For Me Lately?, the first thing that popped in my head.

But Sometimes He Does Get the Carry

More and more frequently these days, I find myself reading a story that makes me say "what the **** is wrong with people?" Today, of course was no exception.

No, I'm not talking about the message of hope spread during the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. This is a sports blog, after all.*

Recently released Detroit Lions (who for the last, oh, 20 years have provided more heartbreak than happiness to their "fans") running back Tatum Bell had seemed so welcoming to the man who he knew was replacing him - Rudi Johnson. The Lions didn't bring Johnson in just for kicks (no pun intended), so Bell knew his time was up. He helped Johnson get settled, gave him tips for living in (I know some of you might have said "surviving") Detroit, and generally didn't seem to harbor any ill will.

Now for those of you who did not have the misfortune of having Bell on your fantasy team last year, at this point, you should be saying "Ok, he sounds like a good guy." Not to say he's not (I don't know him but he seemsed nice enough) but he left something to be desired last season . . . namely, points. I think I dumped him midway through the season but not before he'd already cost me a few key wins after Maurice Jones-Drew went down. I'll leave it at Mr. Bell didn't have his best season. Hence, it surprised few that when Johnson, a former RB for the Cincinnati Bengals who has had his share of injuries but is still solid (and definitely much probably better than Bell) became available, the Lions jumped at the chance to pick him up.

Enter jealousy. I've always thought that if you are up to no good, the least you can do is scope the scene for cameras. We had a kid get suspended from school for doing something quite untoward on camera (I'll let you use your imagination but, trust me, it's way worse than you think) and to this day, I'll never understand why he didn't look up. The cameras weren't half spheres like they are now, they were giant camcorders on a tripod hanging from the ceiling. But I digress.

With the wide-spread use of cameras, people just can't lie like they used to (unless you hire the best attorneys in the country to help you lie . . . no offense to my people). Apparently Bell didn't consider this possibility when he hoisted Johnson's belongings away - apparently around the same time he was cut from the team - like a thief in the night from the Lions headquarters. Bell claims he thought that he was picking up bags for another (now former) teammate, and a woman did later return the bags (Gucci bags!), minus its contents . . . contents like Johnson's "draws" and socks, and some money and credit cards, too. For his part, Bell had this to say in his defense:

They said they got me on film taking the bags. I said, 'If you look on film, I wasn't in no hurry or nothing.' I was just going about my day," he said.

Bell said he delivered the bags to a female friend of [former teammate Victor] DeGrate's without opening them. Bell told the Free Press that he did not have anything of Johnson's and wanted to clear his name.

"I ain't no thief," Bell told the Free Press. "I ain't never been one, and I ain't never going to be one."

Note to Bell: the "Cool Hand Luke" defense is not your best move. Not surprisingly, Johnson's not buying his explanation, and was not welcoming when Bell tried to reach out to him:

"I didn't want to talk to him, but I let him know where I stand," he said.
"He knows how I feel about it, and it isn't anything positive."

Nothing nice. When I was in middle school, I temporarily carried away the school bag of my crush at the time, preventing him from doing his homework for the evening. He was mad but he got over it, and we dated afterward so it worked out for me. For Bell? Thankfully for him, Johnson decided not to snitch so this probably means "Takum" will avoid any legal troubles. It's unclear how this will affect his chances of getting picked up by another team (unlikely) or of his teammates asking him to grab their bags (yes).

I don't even know what to say about this one. It's funny and really sad at the same time. I laughed for about 10 minutes in my office when I read it but then I thought man, some (ok, a lot) of these guys just really don't grow up. These folks comments on ESPN.com didn't help. From one of those heartbroken ones I mentioned before:

Sadly, Bell now has more picks in the pre-season than our entire secondary.

And from another:

At first nobody believe it was Tatum on the surveillance footage because he
didn't get knocked down 1 yard into his escape. But then the bags slipped out of
his hands.

Quite creative. Clearly, there's some maturity issue here, and as I have said in the past (way, way, past), it's not all the player's fault. Somewhere along the line, someone let him get away with this type of behavior, and now you have a grown man seemingly acting like a child. If we don't start putting our proverbial feet down when people start acting up, this is the result. I do hope it really was a misunderstanding . . . but more than that, I want to see the tape!

*Did anyone else catch the New York Republican delegate at the RNC? In an attempt to extol the virtues of NY, he rattled off the "World Champion" Yankees (really? still?), the "soon to be" champion Mets, and forgot - until reminded by someone nearby - that the Giants *are* actual champions. ". . . and oh yeah, the Giants . . . and can't forget the Jets! We love our Jets!" Poor Eli and his Giants just can't shake that chopped liver status, even at the RNC.

WTH Hall of Shame

In honor of what Tatum Bell allegedly did or did not do (see above post), I started to think about some of the truly nuts things I've seen athletes so. Here's my very short list (with admittedly very little time to consider it) - I may add to it later. If you have your own to add, feel free to comment!

My top 3*, in descending order:

3. Carl Lewis singing the national anthem. This still makes me cry every time I see it, mainly because I can't imagine how anyone would seriously hire him to sing, sight CLEARLY unseen. "Uh oh . . . I'm gonna make up for it now." But he never does. Classic.

2. Takum Bell's alleged theft. I know it just happened but stealing the stuff of a guy who just took your place is just a little too much.

1. Chad Ocho Cinco. Even worse than the fact that Chad Johnson legally changed his last name to Ocho Cinco is the explanation he gave for doing so.

* This story wouldn't make my top 3 but it's worth adding as the list gets longer. Come on, boys, you're not there yet! Raise your level!

NFL Roundup: A Post Involving Football That's Not About Vick

So here's the wrap up from Day 1.5 of the NFL season. If you are friends with an Atlanta Falcons fan, be nice to them at work because they are in for a looooong season without Michael Vick. Joey Harrington is not only not Michael Vick, he's not even the quarterback the Lions hoped (foolishly, perhaps) that they were getting. Unfortunately, I doubt that the Falcons will be offering any refunds so just be glad it's one of the shortest professional sports seasons. Remember, there's always next year.

But I do need to thank the Falcons for giving my ("my" because I own them - in the fantasy world) Minnesota Vikings defense the most fantasy points I've had so far - even more than LT. See, there's a positive side of every story.

But around the rest of the league, a lot of players saw their season end today. While most were not too serious (i.e., career-ending), Buffalo Bills' reserve tight end Kevin Everett underwent emergency spinal cord surgery after a helmet-to-helmet hit when he tackled a Denver Broncos player. It says that he didn't show any signs of movement, which is not a good sign at all. I know there's no way to prevent these things but it's crazy that he might be a quadriplegic from playing football. And he's only 25. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

In better news, old man (by NFL standards, because he's only 30) Randy Moss (pictured at the top), whom even you non-football fans should have at least heard of, proved that he still has it in him. In his debut with his new team, the New England Patriots, wide receiver Moss caught all nine passes thrown to him from QB Tom Brady (Carson Palmer, I hope you're watching), for 183 yards and one touchdown. Non-fans, that's a great day for a wide receiver at any age.

Moss is coming off of a two-year stint with the Oakland Raiders, who lost to the Detroit Lions, one of the worst teams in the NFL for way too long. Check out this site honoring the Lions' GM, Matt Millen: www.firemillen.com. The Lions actually lost a 17-0 lead but managed to pull off the win, 36-21. Apparently the Raiders aren't so hot themselves, as one writer compared the victory to winning "a beauty contest among lepers." Ouch. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be receiving passes from Tom Brady than whoever the Raiders decided to start at QB, so good move, Randy. (I want you all to know that I struggled mightily to phrase that in as non-suggestive a way as possible, but when they use terms like wide receiver, tight end . . . sacks, etc., it makes it hard difficult. Geesh.)

In a footnote to this game, I think my reserve Lions' running back Tatum Bell had a fire lit under his bum after finding out that the Raiders named a fumble-recovery drill after him. The privilege was bestowed upon dear Tatum because, while playing with the Denver Broncos last season, he fumbled the ball five times, failing to recover a single one of them. Today, he had no fumbles and he scored a touchdown to help seal the game for the Lions. Nothing better than a good butt-kicking to shut up your critics.

P.S. I know this is not sports related, but I just caught the MTV Video Music Awards, and I have to say that it was easy to write this and watch that because it was BORING. The stars seemed to be enjoying themselves in Vegas, though. Britney, I saw your performance, and I tried to root for you, I really did, but in the immortal words of Justin Timberlake "You got me saying damn girl . . . ." There were rumors that Justin was going to be performing with her, but I can see why he backed out. I don't know if she was nervous or hadn't practiced but woo! If you "missed" it, MTV will be showing it another thousand times this week.

And while we're talking about Justin, what is going on with the Emmy Awards that his skit on and song that he performed with Saturday Night Live's Andy Sandberg, D*ck in a Box, was not only nominated but actually won an Emmy?? And they're thinking of having them perform the song at the Emmys. Not buying it. This is a ploy to get us to watch the Emmys, and it's not going to work . . . but this skit is hilarious, though!