Page 2182 of 2957

Travis “The Baby Maker” Henry arrested

Not only has Travis Henry never heard of the phrase, “Don’t be a fool, wrap your tool,” but apparently he also likes to partake in cocaine sales as well.

Travis HenryFormer Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry has been arrested following an alleged cocaine deal, the Drug Enforcement Administration said Wednesday.

Henry and James Mack were arrested a day earlier after the two met to buy cocaine from a person who was cooperating with authorities, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The case has its roots in Montana, where a trooper and DEA agent stopped a car that was carrying six pounds of marijuana and about three kilograms of cocaine on Sept. 16, the affidavit said.

A passenger in the car, whose name was not disclosed in the affidavit, told authorities Mack and Henry had supplied him with the drugs, which he was supposed to deliver to customers in Billings. The man said he was supposed to be paid $5,000 for delivering the drugs and transporting about $63,600 in sales proceeds to Henry, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit indicated that separately, the passenger and another customer in Billings already owed Henry about $40,000 in drug proceeds. The passenger told authorities Henry had threatened him and his family over the debt.

The passenger agreed to cooperate with authorities and set up a drug deal Tuesday with Henry that led to the arrests of Mack and Henry, the affidavit said.

Here Henry is trying to make a honest living after being bounced from the NFL and he’s the one that gets arrested for supplying people with a product that they didn’t pay for.

What’s the world coming to when bad things are happening to good people like Travis Henry?

Forget the curse – the Cubs just played poorly

Nobody has written about it yet as far as I can tell, but I know it’s coming. I know somebody out there is ready to write about how the Chicago Cubs are still cursed following their 7-2 loss to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS on Wednesday night.

But a curse had nothing to do with it – the Cubs just didn’t play well.

A curse didn’t affect Ryan Dempster’s control (he walked seven batters), the Cubs’ offense outside of a two-run dinger by Mark DeRosa, or aid James Loney in hitting a grand slam. (Or for that matter, aid Manny Ramirez in hitting a solo shot despite him completely being out on his front foot and the pitch being located at his shoelaces. I’m still shocked that he hit that one out.)

Forget the Billy Goat and Steve Bartman. If the “Cubbies” can’t figure out a way to carry their regular season success into the postseason, they’ll once again be watching the Fall Classic from their living rooms. There’s no need to hit the panic button yet, but obviously Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs’ offense need to dramatically step up in Game 2 Thursday night.

Cole Hamels saves Phillies in Game 1 of NLDS

As Philadelphia Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann noted in his piece about the Phillies’ 3-1 victory over the Brewers in Game 1 of the NLDS, ace Cole Hamels saved Philly’s poor bats with an exceptional pitching performance.

Cole HamelsBecause the truth is, the Phillies did not hit a bunch in their 3-1 win over the Brewers. They had only four hits on a rainy, dreary afternoon. All three runs were unearned, thanks to some sloppy third-inning defense by the Brewers. The Phillies’ great fear after hitting .172 in last year’s playoff series against Colorado was upon them again. They worked some counts against Milwaukee starter Yovani Gallardo and got him out of the game quickly, but they really did not hit. It was a concern last year and it is a concern this year, especially with CC Sabathia pitching Game 2 for the Brewers.

But Hamels saved them. Cool, calm, collected and with a killer change-up, Hamels had the Brewers off-stride all day. Masterful is not too strong a word. Through eight dominant innings, he allowed only two singles, one in the fifth inning and one in the sixth, and struck out nine. Only one Milwaukee runner reached second base with Hamels on the mound. Again, masterful.

What that does for a team is hard to explain. What it does for a team that didn’t hit last year in the playoffs, and sometimes struggled to score runs this year, and didn’t really hit all that much during the game, is impossible to understate.

He calmed them. He bolstered them. He was as soothing as Brad Lidge was nerve-wracking in the ninth.

With how much firepower Milwaukee has in their lineup, there has to be some concern among the Philly faithful about the lack of offense the Phillies showed today, because obviously the team won’t get a Hamels-type pitching effort every game. But the fans and team can certainly enjoy this win, which was the club’s first postseason victory since Game 5 of the 1993 World Series when the Phils beat the Toronto Blue Jays.

Manny Ramirez tells Boston media to get a life

Gerry Callahan of the Boston Herald writes that the Red Sox must prove they don’t need OF Manny Ramirez to win. But what Manny wants everyone to know is that not only does he find things easier in L.A., but also that the media members in Boston need to get a life because the Red Sox winning isn’t the end all, be all.

Manny Ramirez“Baseball in Boston is like a Sunday football game, but played every day,” Ramirez said. “We lose in LA, I go to breakfast and people say, ‘Well, you’ll get them tomorrow.’ In Boston, it’s ‘Hey, what’s going on, the Yankees are coming.’

“It’s just a different atmosphere. The fans in Boston got your back no matter what, but I’m talking about the people who write all this bull because it means so much to them. If your happiness depends on (the Red Sox) winning, you have to get a life.”

Being told to get a life by Ramirez is like being told to have some shame by Barney Frank. The first time I interviewed Ramirez, he didn’t know what year he came to the United States or when he moved to New York. When asked his age, he said he was 25. He was almost 27. When he got his cellphone wet, he put it in the microwave to dry. The only surprising thing was that he didn’t try to eat it when it was done.

You always have to appreciate when an athlete takes a dump on the team that put up with his antics and paid him well for most of his career. Manny is probably right that some (most?) Boston fans live and die by how successful the Red Sox are, but then again that’s the way it is in most cities. You don’t think people in Green Bay want to call in sick on Monday when the Packers lose? Or physically do harm to somebody in the parking lot when the Eagles fall? It’s why they’re called “fanatics.”

The Battle of Los Angeles

As both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels enter the postseason, Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke fantasizes about a potential freeway series.

Angels World Series
This fall is only the second time in those 48 seasons that both of our teams have made the postseason in the same year.

Yet this fall is the first time that our dreams have a real chance.

Beginning the postseason today as respective division champions, the Dodgers and Angels have baseball’s two best managers, two of its most dangerous sluggers, two of its best pressure starting pitchers, and two of its best bullpens.

The Dodgers will be fighting against the vagaries of youth. The Angels will be fighting against the perils of rust.

But if there was ever a moment in their history that they could both turn this fall into a true Southern California classic, it is now.

Here are 30.92 reasons it could happen, one for every mile:

* Mile 1: The Dodgers open against a Chicago Cubs team that hasn’t won a World Series in 100 years and will mess it up again. You know it, I know it, and, most important, they know it.

* Mile 2: The Angels open against a Boston Red Sox team that they have beaten six straight times.

* Mile 3: After the first round, the Dodgers would play either the Philadelphia Phillies or Milwaukee Brewers, two teams against which they had a combined winning record.

The Angels finished the season with the best record in baseball. The Dodgers narrowly won their division. However, they did it with their most talented team in the past twenty years. The city of Los Angeles has always been a baseball town first, despite the many great years Magic and Kobe have given with the Lakers. As Plaschke states, the Dodgers and Angeles have never met in the World Series, whereas the Cubs have played the White Sox (1906), the Yankees and the Mets (2000), and even the Athletics and the Giants (1989). For veterans like Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, and Vladimir Guererro, a World Series ring would be the icing on the cake of their exceptional careers.

« Older posts Newer posts »