Month: August 2010 (Page 39 of 59)

Thiago Alves not doing himself any favors at Welterweight

LAS VEGAS - JULY 11:  (L-R) Georges St. Pierre battles Thiago Alves during their welterweight title bout during UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Nate Lawson of HeavyMMA.com details the issues Thiago Alves has had with his weight class.

Thiago Alves has had a rough go as of late.

His fight with Jon Fitch had been pushed back several times due to injury and a career-threatening diagnosis earlier this year.

And when he finally had the opportunity to fight Fitch this past weekend at UFC 117, the oversized welterweight failed to make weight and elected to take the 20% cash penalty off of his guaranteed money to avoid cutting the final half-pound necessary to avoid consequences.

Alves was adamant leading up to the fight about how he would have no problem making weight. Members of his team were stating that he would be fine and Alves himself posted a picture on Twitter with a comment suggesting that the weight cut was not going to be a problem.

However, it was still hardly a shocker when Alves hit the scales overweight, electing to take the fine as opposed to attempt and lose the measly half-pound.

Read the entire article here.

Isiah Thomas won’t serve as consultant for the Knicks

NEW YORK - MARCH 08:  Head coach Isiah Thomas of the New York Knicks watches from the sideline against the Portland Trail Blazers at Madison Square Garden March 8, 2008 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.  (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Knicks fans can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now. Apparently, Zeke’s consulting deal breaks all sorts of NBA conflict-of-interest rules.

Isiah Thomas is not taking the consultant’s job with the New York Knicks, sources close to the NBA told ESPN 1050 New York.

Thomas was in communication with commissioner David Stern’s office and then rescinded his acceptance because of the conflict-of-interest by-laws of the NBA. Knicks owner and Madison Square Garden president Jim Dolan is expected to release a statement shortly.

I don’t think Thomas’s relationship with the Knicks is even close to over. Dolan seems to have one hell of a man crush on Zeke and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets his old job back once Donnie Walsh is eventually let go.

This might be a case of the NBA saving Dolan from himself. Thomas may have helped in landing Amare Stoudemire, but I don’t think Carmelo Anthony would want to sign on knowing that Thomas is the one calling the shots. The guy was good at evaluating talent in the draft, but he made a series of horrible trades that put the Knicks in the position they are today.

Steve Kerr on LeBron, Kobe, the Knicks and why he didn’t trade Amare

Steve Kerr appeared on the B.S. Report with Bill Simmons and had some interesting things to say. Feel free to head over to ESPN and spend an hour with Bill and Steve or read the highlights below:

On Ron Artest’s game-winning put-back in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals…

I wake up at night still thinking about that rebound — I mean, why didn’t it just hit the rim, and taken a normal bounce. I’ve thought about the game constantly, but as far as how that would have impacted my job, I haven’t looked at it that way.

On Ron Artest…

He was fantastic in the last couple of games of the Finals. I just think that Artest is one of the strangest players in the league because in a normal environment, in a normal game, sometimes he doesn’t look that great. He doesn’t make shots, he takes bad shots, he makes weird decisions, but when the game becomes kind of a street fight, especially like Game 7 of the Finals, there’s nobody you’d rather have. He’s just so strong and physical. And like that play he made against us in Game 6 — or Game 5 I guess it was — he just seems to have a knack for coming up with the loose ball, the rebound, whatever it is. He’s a crafty player, he really is.

On whether or not Amare Stoudemire is worth $100 million…

I was on the same page with Robert [Sarver, the owner of the Suns], with our management. We talked about it all year long. We really wanted him back, but if the price was too much though, then it didn’t make sense. And the main reason was because of the injuries. He’s had four knee surgeries, including a microfracture. You’ve seen what’s happened over the last few years with guys like Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O’Neal — the guys who come out of high school and play huge minutes right away. Their clock ticks a lot faster and they get to 29, 30, and they really start to slow down. I think you’ve even seen it a little bit with KG and Kobe last year although both guys really turned it on in the playoffs. But because of that, with Amare, I think he’s got a few really good years left in him. You know, years four, five and six though, if he can’t go and can’t produce, now you’re really tied up and locked down with a bad contract and that can be a major problem.

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Ryan has right approach with Revis – settle holdout face to face

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 14:  Head coach of the New York Jets Rex Ryan during warms up against the St. Louis Rams during their preseason game at Giants Stadium on August 14, 2009  in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

While they’re both highly convenient, text messages and e-mails are often aggravating. Too many times the message or intent gets lost in the translation and sometimes people can walk away offended.

That’s why Rex Ryan’s proposal today in regards to Darrelle Revis’ holdout makes a lot of sense.

From ESPN.com:

“This is what I would like to have happen,” said Ryan, whose proposed plan was scripted. “Everybody put their cards on the table. Have Darrelle come here with anybody he wants. We’ll have Mr. Johnson here … We’ll call off practice. We’ll have our whole team there to meet.

“That way, there’s no he-said, she-said. Let’s work it that way. Maybe that’s how we’ll get a solution. Everybody wants a solution. Let’s figure out a way to do it. Maybe this is the way.”

In other words: Let’s cut through the crap.

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Mark Chmura calls Jermichael Finley a moron. In other news, pot calls the kettle black.

Former Green Bay tight end Mark Chmura has beef with current Packers’ tight end Jermichael Finley about something. What that something is I don’t know, but Chmura’s recent comments about Finley on his radio show on ESPN 540 Milwaukee were nothing short of laughable.

From Total Packers.com:

“He is a great player, but he is a moron.” Chmura said Sunday during his gig as a host on ESPN Radio 540. A silly post-game quote sparked the derision, but this isn’t the first time Chmura has questioned Finley’s intelligence.

“Is Jermichael Finley stupid, arrogant and/or both?” Chmura asked beat writer Jason Wilde back in May.

Wilde eventually offered up that he doesn’t think Finley is “a terribly bright person . . . what’s the saying? All the tools and no toolbox?”

Chmura said at the time he “smelled a pending disaster” brewing when it comes to Finley and continued to ask if he was a moron.

“First thing I’d do, I’d say Shut your mouth. Shut up. Shut up! You’re dumb,” Chmura said. “You’re a heck of a player but . . . be quiet!”

Finley missed a couple of team meetings during the 2009 season and reportedly stayed out later than he was supposed to the night before the Packers’ playoff game in Arizona last year. I don’t know if that’s why Chmura called him a moron, but if so, I would argue that Finley was more irresponsible than unintelligent.

Besides, Chmura is the same clown that was accused of having sex in 2000 with the then 17-year-old babysitter of his children following a post-prom party. Granted, he was found not guilty of the charges but he was also a married man who decided that getting into a hot tub drunk with a bunch of teenage girls was a good idea, too.

The only moron here is Chmura. And the only person who should shut his mouth is Chmura.

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