Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 839 of 1503)

Reds’ Votto has ear infection

It appears that the dizziness that Reds first baseman Joey Votto has been dealing with is related to an ear infection.

The team said Thursday that Joey Votto has been diagnosed with an inner ear infection, secondary to the flu he had last week.

The team said all other test results were normal and he is expected to return to the field in the next few days.

Votto has missed 8 starts with the flu or dizziness and twice more left games early.

The Reds (as well as fantasy baseball owners everywhere) need this guy back in their lineup. Votto is quickly emerging as one of baseball’s best young hitters and hopefully he makes a quick recovery.

Stallworth to avoid manslaughter charges?

In a stunning development, Yahoo! Sports writes that Browns’ receiver Donte Stallworth could avoid a DUI manslaughter conviction stemming from the accident he had in mid-March in which he killed a pedestrian.

According to Florida’s DUI manslaughter law, there are exceptions under what is called “causation” of an accident. In short, someone who is driving drunk and causes an accident is not necessarily responsible if the other party did something to contribute to the accident. Florida statute 316.119 was changed in the 1980s to reflect that after a state Supreme Court judge ruled that the state’s previous strict liability standard on drunken drivers was essentially unfair.

The exception is based on the idea that if a drunken driver stopped at an intersection was hit by another car and the driver of the other car died, the drunken driver should not be held responsible.

In this case, Reyes allegedly was jaywalking at the time he was hit and killed by Stallworth. If Reyes was jaywalking, it could be argued he contributed to the accident. In addition, Stallworth claimed to have flashed his lights and honked his horn at Reyes, which is being interpreted by Stallworth’s side as a way of warning Reyes to get out of the way.

The article also states that Stallworth’s jail time could be reduced to as little as two or three months, which is just flabbergasting considering that he killed a man while driving drunk. This reeks of Leonard Little’s 1998 manslaughter case, in which he only received 90 days in jail, four years probation and 1,000 hours of community service after driving under the influence of alcohol and killing a woman driver.

I feel horrible for the family of the man Stallworth hit. Not only did they lose a member of their family, but now they also have to endure the pain of having Stallworth and his defense team try and prove that he was partly at fault because he jaywalked. Hey, if Stallworth wasn’t being an idiot and driving drunk, maybe this entire situation could have been avoided in the first place. What a tragedy.

New Bang! Cartoon: Offseason TV Guide

If you’ve never seen Al Davis rap, you’re going to want to check out the latest ‘toon by the guys at Bang! Cartoon because it might be their best to date. Aside from handing Al the mic, Bang! also checks in with the Bengals as they prepare for HBO’s latest edition of “Hard Knocks” and have an update on Brett Favre and “Retirement III.”

Padres’ Peavy could be traded to White Sox

According to a report by the San Diego Union Tribune, a trade between the Padres and White Sox involving ace Jake Peavy could be imminent. The roadblocks appear to be whether or not Peavy would waive his no-trade clause and whether or not he wants to play for manager Ozzie Guillen, which apparently he has reservations about.

The question becomes: whom would the Sox have to give up in order to acquire Peavy? The Padres need middle infielders, so Chris Getz and Brent Lillibridge could be involved in the talks, but hopefully for White Sox fans, top shortstop prospect Gordon Beckham isn’t.

If San Diego has its sights set on pitching (which is certainly a possibility given the division and park it plays in), Chicago might be willing to part with Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard, although more mid-to-low-level prospects would likely have to be included as well.

If they were able to swing a deal, the Chi-Sox rotation would look incredibly strong with Peavy, Mark Buerhle, Gavin Floyd and John Danks leading the way. And considering they’re only 5.5 games back in the AL Central and we haven’t even reached the All-Star Break yet, a trade like this could sling them right back into contention.

Another thing to keep an eye on is whether or not this wakes up the other team in Chicago. The Cubs are in win-now mode, but thanks to injuries and inconsistent play, they find themselves currently three games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. Ace Carlos Zambrano is currently on the DL and how long before Rich Harden pays his old friend a visit, too? If Peavy doesn’t waive his no-trade clause to join the White Sox, maybe the Cubs will re-enter trade talks with the Padres.

Update: The two teams have agreed on a deal, but Peavy has to sign off on it because of his no-trade clause.

Falcons owner says Vick won’t return to team

Not surprisingly, Michael Vick isn’t welcomed to stop by Atlanta Falcons headquarters anytime soon. With Vick’s release from federal prison on Wednesday, Atlanta owner Arthur Blank made it clear that his former franchise player will never play for the Falcons again.

“The Falcons maintain Michael’s contractual rights for now, but he will not be playing for us in the future. In the event NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decides to reinstate Michael to the NFL, we feel his best opportunity to re-engage his football career would be at another club.

“From a personal standpoint, I will continue to be supportive of Michael in any way that would be positive, constructive and helpful.”

Blank made plenty of mistakes during Vick’s playing time in Atlanta. For starters, he and the Falcons coddled Vick too much and turned a blind eye when the quarterback started to make off-field headlines for the wrong reasons. They didn’t want to upset their star player and even went as far to protect him at all costs, which wound up hurting them in the end. I always thought the time Blank pushed Vick onto the field in Dallas in a wheelchair after he broke his leg was way overblown, but the situation did show that Blank got too close to his star.

That said, Vick flat out lied to Blank several times and abused his relationship with the owner. Blank gave Vick a mile and Vick took another 74 more miles. While it’s true Vick made Blank a ton of money, he also cost him millions more after the dog fighting scandal reached its pinnacle. Blank never deserved the humiliation that Vick put him through and I think it’s a testament to who he is as a person that he continues to support his former quarterback on a personal level.

But as the man said – no way will Vick ever be welcomed back by the Falcons. That franchise was put through hell by Vick and Bobby Petrino and now have a great thing building with Thomas Dimitroff, Mike Smith and of course, Matt Ryan. In the end, karma paid Blank a visit and made things even.

Let’s just hope that Blank doesn’t make the same mistakes with Ryan as he did with Vick, because no player should ever be put above the team.

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