SPORTSbyBROOKS.com (via Intentional Foul) shared a video of several high school cheerleaders absolutely pummeling one of their teammates.
This hasn’t been confirmed yet, but surely the young lady that was beaten must have swapped notes with one of the cheerleader’s boyfriends in option period. I mean, why else gang up on a girl, beat on her and videotape it for YouTube purposes?
As expected, Indiana freshman phenom Eric Gordon declared for the draft yesterday.
Gordon, a third-team All-American, is the second member of the heralded 2008 freshman class to declare for the draft, joining Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless. Those who have not yet announced whether they will turn pro include centers Michael Beasley of Kansas State and Kevin Love of UCLA, both first-team All-Americans; Memphis guard Derrick Rose, a third-team All-American; and guard O.J. Mayo of Southern Cal, who was an honorable mention choice on the All-American list.
Gordon led the Big Ten in scoring (20.9 points), set school and Big Ten freshman scoring records with 669 points, and made the third most free throws by a Hoosier in a single season (231). He also tied Mike Woodson’s school record for most 30-point games by a freshman (three) and won the conference’s freshman player of the year award.
Gordon is one of the top shooting guard prospects, and NBADraft.net projects him to go #7 this summer, assuming all the aforementioned players decide to leave early.
Arizona’s Chase Budinger also declared himself eligible. His stock was probably a little higher at the end of last season, but he’s still projected to be a mid-first round pick.
ESPN’s Scoop Jackson wrote a fine piece detailing why Kobe Bryant will not win the MVP award this season.
Truth is Kobe Bryant will never win the MVP of the league. He is hated too much. Hated by those who cast votes. Hated too much by those he plays against. And the two All-Star Game MVPs he’s won, well, they don’t count in this scenario. Voting Kobe as the best basketball player in the world for a day is one thing, honoring him with that same title for an entire season … in the infamous words of Bobby Brown’s ex-wife: “Oh, hell to the No!”
Writers won’t honor Kobe like that, not even when in good consciousness they want to or would like to. As one writer said to me when the subject was brought up in conversation, very apropos for an election year, “Kobe’s electability quotient is zero.” In other words, he’s Ralph Nader.
Bryant had two terrific back-to-back seasons (in ’05-’06 and ’06-’07) but wasn’t a strong MVP candidate because the Lakers didn’t win enough games. (The last player to win the MVP on a team with fewer than 50 wins was Moses Malone in the 1981-82 season.) This season, his Lakers have their 50 wins – 53 and counting, to be exact – but Jackson argues that the amount of hatred that Kobe generates from those that vote (the media) ensures that he will not be winning the award this season.
In truth, Kobe is probably the most talented player in the NBA. But this doesn’t make him the MVP. I have a buddy who is a diehard Laker fan and we debate this endlessly. But I always come back to the same point – to be the best you can’t pull the kind of stuff Kobe pulls off the court. You have to be a good teammate, and by most accounts, Kobe is not. So, to me, being the most talented and being the best are two different things.
This is why Chris Paul will be the NBA MVP. No one saw the Hornets’ amazing season coming and Paul is the main reason why New Orleans is so good. The Hornets currently have the best record in the West and Paul’s numbers – 21.5 ppg, 11.5 apg, 4.0 rpg, 2.7 apg – are better than the numbers Steve Nash posted in the ’04-’05 and the ’05-’06 seasons. Moreover, Paul is universally considered a good guy, and the media likes him. (Kevin Garnett is the darkhorse, but his stats – 18.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.3 bpg – aren’t eye-popping.) If Paul’s assist numbers weren’t so gaudy or if the Hornets were in the fifth spot in the West instead of first, Kobe would have a better shot, but given Kobe’s reputation (and offseason temper tantrum), I don’t see the media awarding him with the MVP.
Is this fair? Not entirely, but Kobe made his bed and now he has to lie in it.
Blogger Mike Florio wrote a recent column for SportingNews.com about 10 NFL players that should retire.
6. Jonathan Ogden, OT, Ravens: Ogden is another guy who should quit talking about retirement and just do it. For the future Hall of Famer, however, it’s not about whether he loves the game. It’s about whether he can continue to use a constantly injured toe to push off his 345-pound frame. (Then again, it’s likely the toe is constantly injured from all those years of doing just that.)
8. Chad Johnson, WR, Bengals: In a misguided effort to get out of town, the Bengals’ No. 1 wideout has been threatening to retire. Coach Marvin Lewis has called his bluff. Johnson should call Marvin’s bluff and pack it in. Not because it’s in Johnson’s best long-term interests to do so, but because the football-following world is sick of listening to his routine. The only problem is someone would likely hire Johnson to talk about football on television. So maybe it’s better if he doesn’t retire. Ever.
I realize is this is supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek column and Florio is trying to be somewhat comical, but I’ve always been of the mind that no member of the media should ever tell a professional athlete when to hang it up. If athletes took retirement advice from the media, Brett Favre would have quit four years ago and football fans wouldn’t have been able to enjoy Favre and the Packers’ great run last year.
Ryan Wilson of AOL’s FanHouse writes that former Bengals wide receiver and public menace (too over the top?) Chris Henry is seeking the advice of former Cowboys wide out Michael Irvin.
And now recently unemployed Chris Henry wants to do the same. Via the Cowboys Blog:
On his show on ESPN Radio Dallas moments ago, Cowboys icon Michael Irvin revealed that he recently took a phone call from embattled ex-Bengal Chris Henry. Henry, it seems, wants to make a cleaning-up-my-act appearance on Irvin’s program, the same way Pacman Jones did weeks ago.
Irvin and co-host Kevin Kiley discussed the merits of providing Henry with such a stage. There was some reluctance on their part in becoming known as the “Boystown” of sports radio.
God help us all.
© 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑