Eternal Rundown of the Youthful Mind(ed)

This is getting to be a pattern, but I'm running on fumes:

1. Why, Travis, why? Former Denver Broncos' running back Travis Henry was arrested yesterday for allegedly taking part in a cocaine deal. Henry was cut from the Broncos in June following a host of other problems. He was lucky he even got to play last season. The NFL had banned him for the season after failing a drug test, but he successfully had that decision overturned. Of course we don't have all of the facts yet, but it doesn't look like there will be any overcoming this. I hate to see this, but these are the consequences when you let talent cover up personality flaws. Hopefully, it's not too late for him to get his life together, because he has nine (confirmed) children who call him "father" and it's kind of hard to support them when you're unemployed, or in prison.

2. The WNBA Finals between the Detroit Shock and San Antonio Silver Stars started Wednesday night. I made it home in time to catch mention of it on Sports Center, where I was told that there were 6 seconds left in the game. In the 30 seconds it took me to try to figure out what channel ESPN2 is on my TV, the game ended. When I finally found it, I saw Shock coach Bill Laimbeer shaking hands with the Silver Stars. Great game! I tried to find a re-broadcast somewhere but no luck. The day this league gets publicity will be the day . . . the league gets publicity. Too bad. I actually got an e-mail about it earlier today, but that was the extent of it. I did DVR the rest of the games so I'll have more to say. Oh, and Game 1 went to the Shock.

3. Maybe Joey ("my benchmark") Harrington is a master baby bootie knitter. How else do you explain the fact that while Wall Street bankers and other NFL players (like Daunte Culpepper) can't find a job, Harrington has had several since the season started? The only plausible explanation is that he knits a mean bootie for his teammates' children. Just last week, Harrington got canned by the New Orleans Saints on the same day that Matt Millen lost his job. But Wednesday, the Saints picked him back up (Millen, as far as I know, is still out of work). Harrington was the third overall pick in the NFL draft (by the Detroit Lions, but still, third is third), but he's tops on my list of current QB's who are out of their league. I kind of feel bad for the guy because he takes a lot of flak for his poor play. Maybe it's the teams' fault for putting him in the position to be a bust. But either way, the fact that he continues to be gainfully employed is nothing short of amazing. Or crazy.

4. Terrell Owens seldom fails to cause chatter about himself. In defending his statements made the other day about not getting the ball, T.O. says he said it out of anger at the loss and not because of any particular problems with the Dallas Cowboys offense (or to be more specific, Tony Romo. He ended with a promise to us all that this will not be the last time he talks about wanting the ball. He also addressed his "haters" - without saying anything, during the entire interview, he continually refers to ESPN commentator and former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson as "Sheshawn." (The back drop is that the Cowboys signed T.O. when they dropped Johnson.) Following Owens' remarks, Johnson and others had said on-air that Owens needs a good talk to address his behavior. Owns shot back: "He is the ultimate underachiever on that panel," Owens said of Johnson. "I am the reason he is in the booth. Everybody is aware when I was brought to Dallas he was the one they let go to get me here." No one has ever denied that T.O. speaks the truth, but his delivery really leaves a lot to be desired . . . as an avid reader so aptly put it, "speaking something that may be true doesn't always mean you're right." I couldn't have said it better myself.

5. Normally, I do not write about myself on here, and probably never have in a run-down, but this was sports (if not news) worthy so it's rounding out my top five. I consider myself to be in pretty decent shape, and actually, have been working out a lot harder than I have in my post-college athlete days. Although I'm far removed from those days, I like to trick my body into believing that I'm not. Only my body is much smarter than I am, and it, like the house, always wins. I can't tell you how many of my friends who are former athletes have broken and torn things in the last year due to having a youthful mind but a body that hasn't quite adjusted. Wednesday, I came out of retirement for the first time in a very long time with my "youthful mind" in tow. I played fairly well, felt good. All was going well . . . until I lay (is that right, dad?) down on the couch. Just now, after getting through the first four stories, I tried to stand up. And it hurts, so I may not try that again until tomorrow . . .

Running from for Office*

Late night at the office, so as much as I wanted to avoid it, sometimes you just can't help having to. . . run. It. Down. Here goes:

1) 31-year old Daunte Culpepper, once a celebrated QB, now says he can't get a callback (much less a quarter back - ba dum bum!). He claims it's because he stands up for what he believes in and represents himself, which the league and teams don't like. On PTI (can't stop gushing about my love for DVR these days!), they basically said his personality must suck, and I tend to agree. There are plenty of team with - excuse my language - piss-poor QB's that Culpepper could play ahead of or behind. My benchmark here is none other than Joey Harrington. Joey had a job until he got a cut a few days ago, and if he can get a job . . . I'll stop here, but suffice it to say that Harrington's record speaks for itself, and if he's getting looks ahead of Culpepper, Daunte must really be in the inferno. Here's hoping he lands something in this tough economy.

2) It turns out that Chad Ocho Psycho** Cinco is not alone in his interesting name change. SI.com did a flip through Vault piece on this, including 13 different athlete name changes. If I had to pick one to take the cake, I'd have to go with the athlete formerly known as J.R. Henderson. After a stint at UCLA, Henderson wasn't able to find basketball success here, so he went to Japan and became a star. But it seems that he was too black to be put on Japan's national team. Not to fear, Henderson had a plan. He would change his last name to Sakuragi, get a Japanese passport, and then all would be well. "Well" meaning he could earn double his salary because he wasn't a foreigner, but not "well" for the national team, which failed to make it to Beijing for the Olympics this summer (and hasn't done so since 1976). That's dedication.

3) LeBron James got his "highness" handed to him by a warehouse worker in a game of H-O-R-S-E. I can't say that I'm really that surprised, since special skills aren't really Bron Bron's forte. Had he lost in an ego-strength competition, then I might have worried. But seriously - and don't tell anyone I said this - kudos to King James for even agreeing to participate. He just made this guy's life, which means if you know him (and even worse, if you play pickup ball with him) you're probably in for a real treat from here on out. (". . . and I kicked LeBron's ***, what have you done?")

4) Redeeming himself after the slight at the Republican National Convention last night (see asterisk at bottom of that post), Eli Manning and (Plaxi) Co. opened up the year like they ended it - with a win, this time over the Washington Redskins. I was at work and didn't watch the game, so that's all I've got for you, except that, as noted during the RNC, the Giants still don't get any respect. And they probably won't unless they win another one. One day, Eli. One day.

5) Another event I couldn't watch today but would have liked to: the U.S. Open. Someday, when I get to that U.S. Open round-up, perhaps I'll talk about the #3 male player in the world, Novak Djokovic, and his struggle to win over the fans. He got some positive attention when he did impressions of Raphael Nadal and Maria Sharapova, but since then, the crowd just hasn't been on his side. When I was in attendance for one of his matches the other night, I did notice that a lot of people were cheering for his opponent but I thought it was because they wanted to see more tennis (even though it was 1 a.m. and I was quite ready to go home). Maybe they just really don't like him. He can certainly make the occasional incendiary remark, as he did tonight following his win over "America's son," Andy Roddick.

Literally, I think sometimes his delivery just doesn't translate into English very well. Although he has a tendency to get "over-amped" and have a short temper, I really don't think he's a bad guy. It takes a big man to apologize for his remarks this evening - which he did - and he has seemed in the past to be truly hurt by the lack of support he receives from the American crowd. Maybe he just needs an advisor on American culture. The women do it (what, you thought Sharapova was a natural?), and if he wants to get anywhere near the endorsement money that the two men ranked above him get (assuming he continues to perform well), he really ought to look into that. I should add that I'm available, Novak, if you can see this.

Have a great weekend!


* This refers me to me running from my office, and Senator Obama running for his. And, yes, it should belong to him.

** Thanks, Tiger!