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Giants end Plaxico Burress’s season

December 2, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

The New York Giants effectively ended Plaxico Burress’s season by placing him on the non-football injury list.

The New York Giants fined and suspended Burress on Tuesday for four games — the rest of the regular season — after he accidentally shot himself in the right thigh over the weekend at a Manhattan nightclub. The team also placed him on the reserve non-football injury list, which means the wide receiver couldn’t come back for playoffs, either.
The team punished Burress a day after he was charged with illegal weapons possession, which carries a penalty of 3 1/2 to 15 years in prison. He is due back in court on March 31.
Burress arrived at Giants Stadium on Tuesday morning, and met individually with Giants president John Mara, general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Tom Coughlin. He left for a medical test and returned in the afternoon for another brief session with team officials.
“As we have said since Saturday morning, our concern is for Plaxico’s health and well-being,” Mara said. “This is an important time for him to take care of his body and heal up and also deal with the very serious legal consequences and other issues in his life. When I spoke with Plaxico he expressed great remorse for letting down his teammates.”

I applaud the Giants because they always think team-first. They realized that Burress would be a potential distraction for the remainder of the season and throughout the playoffs and they don’t need that in their quest for another title. At the same time, they’re a solid organization so I would be willing to bet that they support Burress as he goes through the legal process he’s about to face (his hearing is set for March).

The Giants are an organization that the Cincinnati Bengals should model themselves after.

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Plaxico Burress turns himself into authorities

Plaxico Burress accidentally shoots himself?

Fantasy Football, NFL

New York Giants Plaxico Burress Plaxico Burress shoots himself

Surprise, surprise… T-Mac is going to miss three weeks

December 2, 2008 / John Paulsen

This is why it’s hard to get excited about the Houston Rockets.

Over the past three seasons, Tracy McGrady has missed an average of 21 games due to injury. Now the AP is reporting that T-Mac is going to miss three weeks as he rehabs his sore left knee.

Here’s what I wrote in our season preview of the Rockets:

If T-Mac, Yao Ming and Ron Artest can all play 75+ games and are healthy for the playoffs, this team will be very competitive. But as history has shown us, that is a HUGE “if.” Yao hasn’t played more than 57 games in any of the last three seasons and McGrady is averaging 61 games played over the same span. So the Rockets can’t really hope that the duo will stay healthy, they just have to hope that whatever injuries T-Mac and Yao do sustain aren’t of the season-ending variety.

Hey, at least this isn’t a season-ending injury.

Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Finals

Houston Rockets Tracy McGrady injured Tracy McGrady knee

Dan Gilbert still has head stuck in the sand

December 2, 2008 / John Paulsen

Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert had this to say about all of the LeBron-to-the-Knicks talk in recent days.

“This is not LeBron James saying this stuff, this is just a media phenomenon here that will pass in time,” Gilbert said while appearing on “CNBC Reports.”
“We’re focused on this year and you know what, so is he, and he’s focused on this year and next year and hopefully a long career in Cleveland, Ohio. We believe that and we think we have a great situation here and we’re off to a great start.”

There’s nothing wrong with the second part, but if Gilbert doesn’t think that his star player is fueling a lot of this speculation, then he better open his eyes.

In fact, Charles Barkley thinks that LeBron is saying too much.

“If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up,” Barkley said in the Wednesday interview. “I’m a big LeBron fan. He’s a stud. You gotta give him his props. I’m getting so annoyed he’s talking about what he’s going to do in two years. I think it’s disrespectful to the game. I think it’s disrespectful to the Cavaliers.”

LeBron responded like any fifth-grader would…

“He’s stupid. That’s all I’ve got to say about that,” James said Friday night before the Cavaliers’ game against Golden State.

But back to Gilbert, who two months ago said that the media was to blame for the LeBron speculation, which was an insult to the city of Cleveland.

I asked this question before and I’ll ask it again…

Which is a bigger insult to Cleveland — speculating about a possible LeBron departure or pretending that it won’t happen?

If Gilbert wants this talk to go away, he needs to rein in LeBron, who has given several interviews on the topic, saying that July 1st, 2010 “is going to be a big day.” Gilbert needs to get LeBron to tell the press that he’s not going to comment on his future and that he won’t field any questions about the summer of 2010.

The so-called “bored sportswriters” are going to keep speculating, but at least LeBron won’t be adding fuel to the fire.

NBA, Rumors & Gossip

Cleveland Cavaliers Dan Gilbert LeBron James LeBron James leaving Cleveland

That sound you hear is Mark Cuban grinding his teeth…

December 2, 2008 / John Paulsen

Barring an unlikely Dallas run to the NBA Finals, the verdict on the Jason Kidd trade is in.

The Nets got the better end of the deal.

Devin Harris is blowing up right before our eyes. On the season, he is averaging 26.3 points (on 49% shooting) and 6.3 assists. On Sunday night, he posted 47 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in a win in Phoenix. The night before, he finished with 34 points, six assists and three steals in a road win over Utah.

Not only did the Nets get Harris, they also received a couple of first round picks as part of the trade.

I wouldn’t want to be in charge of Mark Cuban’s blood pressure right now.

Fantasy Basketball, NBA

Dallas Mavericks Devin Harris Jason Kidd Mark Cuban New Jersey Nets