Read of the Day

Every so often when trolling the internet for sporting news you find an eye-opening story or “essay” that needs to be shared. So we here at the Creatures decided it would be a good idea to start “Read of the Day” where we share with you what we find to be pertinent and interesting stories that are out there on the interwebs. We do this because we know you have better things to do with your time while we simply don’t. Our first ROTD is currently the headliner on ESPN.com and will be featured in the next issue of ESPN the Magazine. ESPN staff writer Amy K. Nelson and ESPN Mag senior writer Peter Keating joined forces to investigate the potential sign stealing that is going on in Toronto. Really interesting stuff and definitely worth a read. Fuckin’ baseball players don’t know when to stop cheating. Check it out here.

Weekend Roundup

If you did what this guy did this past weekend then you missed a great weekend in the sporting world. From Yanks-Sawx to Stevie Williams’ loud mouth, here were the seven most notable storylines and happenings from the weekend that was in sports: Read more of this post

Push It to the Limit

Two notable athletes did some notable pushing and shoving last night, and it caused one of them to end up in jail. Let’s start in Washington Heights where last night Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley got into a heated altercation with a fan during a streetball game. Beasley was reppin’ for Team 914, a local Dyckman Park streetball squad who was facing off against Kevin Durant and his Team Nike. Naturally, the park was packed with a standing-room only crowd, with many fans climbing up fences and trees just to get a look at the action. Shit got real in the second half when Beasley started to chirp back at a group of fans who were heckling him. At one point, he was reported to have said “I get paid to do this!” Sick chirp, Mike. Anyways, Beasley decided to take his anger out on noted Dyckman frequenter Garland Quince, and approached Mr. Quince, placed a hand on his head, and shoved him. As Quince so eleqountly described it, “He just mushed me. He mushed me in my face.” Yo, G. Quince you just got mushed hard! The game was delayed for 10 minutes while security restrained a wild Beasley. Not everything went bad for the marijuana smokin’ Timberwolves forward as his team ended up beating KD’s squad 80-77. After the jump, check out what other athlete did some pushing to the wrong type of person and paid the price.  Read more of this post

Darren Rovell Should Stick to His Day Job

Generally speaking, I enjoy the work that Darren Rovell does. The former ESPN reporter turned CNBC sports biz guy gives you an interesting take on sports news and provides insight into a part of sports that often gets overlooked. But ever since Rovell got sucked into the Twitter world things have taken a turn for the, well let’s say, odd. His tweets consist of everything from the stupid, weird foods he is eating (what the fuck are General Tso’s nachos?) to pictures of the weird, creepy tattoos that his readers have. But his appearance to sing the National Anthem at this afternoon’s Blue Jays-Rays game has topped all of that other useless shit. Why the Rays would have a reporter sing the National Anthem in the first place is beyond me (apparently Rovell lobbied for himself to do it on Twitter and received offers from a few teams), but what transpired was anything but good. Now, Rovell is no Carl Lewis, it’s hard to top what Carl did, but his performance certainly can’t be described as anything but mediocre. In fact, in my humble opinion, he was better at singing the Canadian national anthem than the Star Spangled Banner. Fuckin communist! In the meantime, Rovell should stop accepting, and lobbying for, these stupid gimmicks and stick to what he does best: tweeting about the most useless shit possible.  Hey, maybe even this article will get an RT from the Sports Biz Guy himself. Check out the video of Rovell flexing his pipes here.

 

Quote of the Day…and some more

“I don’t feel optimistic about the players’ willingness to engage in a serious way…We have absolutely the opposite take [on the situation].”

–A gem from the one and only David Stern. And this one deserves some commentary from yours truly. Read more of this post

TBC Breaking News: Randy Moss Retires

This just in off the wire: wide receiver Randy Moss (pictured at left) has decided to retire from professional football, according to the always reliable Adam Schefter (so if things turn out otherwise, you can go ahead and blame him). If this is actually the case, it marks the end of one of the most spectacular and drama-filled careers for a wide receiver in NFL history. Moss, 34, played 13 seasons in the NFL, caught 954 passes for 14,858 yards and 153 touchdowns. He holds the NFL single season touchdown reception record (23, set in 2007), and the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17, in 1998). And his personality and outspokenness were just as big as the numbers he put up, often to the detriment of his team. During the last game of the 2004 season, Moss walked off the field and into the locker room with two seconds remaining on the clock; he was widely criticized for quitting on his team, although he later stated that he felt as though the game was essentially over because he did not believe the Vikings would recover the onside kick. Then there was the infamous mooning incident at Lambeau Field in the 2004-2005 playoffs, for which he was fined $10,000 by the NFL. (In our view, the reaction by Joe Buck in the video clip was more of a disgrace than the actual incident itself.) Later that year, in an August 2005 interview with Bryant Gumbel, Moss admitted that he had smoked marijuana during his NFL career “every blue moon.” This comment drew widespread criticism from throughout the league, although Moss was not disciplined by the NFL. To say the least, Moss was one of the most entertaining receivers on and off the field throughout his NFL career. While it would not be at all surprising if he makes a comeback at some point during this season, for now, Randy Moss won’t be signing any more NFL contracts and will be instead paying his way through life with nothin’ but straight cash, homey.

TBC Breaking News: Hideki Irabu Dead at 42

Well the somber breaking news continues to steam into Creatures headquarters. We’ve just learned that former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu has been found dead at his California home. Irabu was 42. The police are investigating the cause of death, and at this time it is believed that Irabu hung himself (grisly shit). Irabu broke through into the MLB in 1997 when his contract was purchased by the San Diego Padres. After expressing his disinterest in playing with San Diego, the Padres organized a trade with the Yankees that sent Irabu to the Bronx. He earned World Series rings with the Yankees in both 1998 and 1999, but never lived up to the expectations of a demanding fan base and owner. In fact, George Steinbrenner famously dubbed him the “fat toad,” something that Yankees fans have laughed about ever since. The Yankees dealt him to the Expos following the 1999 season, where he spent two seasons, before finishing up his career in Texas. He retired from the MLB in 2002, and has lived a somewhat troubled life ever since. In 2008, Irabu was arrested in Japan for assaulting a bar manager after he reportedly consumed 20 beers and got angry. Then again, who doesn’t get a little riled up after 20 beers? Last year, he was arrested in Gardena, California for drunk driving. And today, it seems like the legend of Hideki Irabu came to a sad, grisly end. Rest in peace, Fat Toad…too soon?

UPDATE: The Yankees have confirmed Irabu’s death.

TBC Breaking News: Bye Bye Bradley

After a meeting today between U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati and U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, it was announced by Gulati that U.S. Men’s National Team Coach Bob Bradley has been relieved of his duties. Said Gulati in a statement:

“We want to thank Bob Bradley for his service and dedication to U.S. Soccer during the past five years. During his time as the head coach of our Men’s National Team he led the team to a number of accomplishments, but we felt now was the right time for us to make a change. It is always hard to make these decisions, especially when it involves someone we respect as much as Bob. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.” Read more of this post

2nd and 10

The NFL free agency/trade/roster adjustment frenzy continues. Adam Schefter still hasn’t slept. Manish Mehta is now being followed by every Jets fan on Twitter. And Andrew Brandt still hasn’t gone back into hibernation (we’re over you, Andrew). Best of all, though? Barney is back with 10 quick points to recap and prognosticate on all of Wednesday’s NFL action, and tell you why he couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming season for a certain New York football team. Read more of this post

1st and 10

After 132 days, the NFL lockout is finally over. Everyone who thought that Sunday was about to officially become the worst day of the week can exhale. And in related news, Adam Schefter is beginning his 96-hour bender to make sure everyone stays informed of everything that is happening in the NFL world.  Here at the Bleacher Creatures, we have better things to do then deprive ourselves of sleep and BBM all day with our “sources”, but we still want to make sure all our dedicated readers stay informed of what exactly is transpiring in regards to free agency, trades, players being cut, and the like. Barney is here to give you 10 quick updates about all of today’s NFL action.  Read more of this post

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