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Two Vols charged with crack possession

March 6, 2006 / Jamey Codding

This isn’t the kind of news Tennessee fans want to be reading about as the Vols head into the Tourney:

Tennessee basketball players Anthony Passley and Jordan Smith were charged with possession of crack cocaine and suspended indefinitely from the team.
Officers trying to clear traffic near a nightclub spotted a car on the sidewalk under a no-parking sign and approached to ask them to move, DeBusk said.
Officers found 15.2 grams of crack cocaine in the car and charged the pair with possession for resale, the police spokesman said. Passley was charged with simple possession of marijuana, DeBusk said.

Crack? Really? What is this, 1985?

Passley, a red-shirt freshman, transferred from Wisconsin-Milwaukee, while Smith, a walk-on, has played only four minutes this season. Something tells me that’s all he’s ever going to play for Tennessee.

College Basketball

Not sure why, but Pennington still a Jet

March 6, 2006 / John Paulsen

Even though he’s missed 22 games over the last three seasons due to various injuries, the New York Jets elected to rework QB Chad Pennington’s contract to ensure he will be with the team in 2006. Pennington was set to get $9 M in guaranteed compensation this season, but has agreed to drop that number to $3 M guaranteed along with $6 M in available incentives.

The Jets must be encouraged by his progress this offseason to invest even $3 M in the oft-injured QB. Pennington did manage to play 13 games in 2004 and was able to throw 16 touchdowns against nine interceptions for a QB rating of 91.0.

NFL

Packers re-sign Green

March 6, 2006 / John Paulsen

Coming off an injury-plagued season in 2005, Ahman Green’s future in Green Bay was in serious doubt. But he convinced new head coach Mike McCarthy that he was determined to be a Packer when he showed up early this offseason to train for 2006. The Packers signed him Sunday to a 1-year deal with a $3 M base salary and up to $2 M in available incentives.

As for Brett Favre’s pending retirement decision, this move would only serve to increase the chances of the quarterback’s return. If the Packers were in full rebuild mode, they would likely cut ties with Green and look for younger prospects at the position.

NFL

Alexander gets his pay day

March 6, 2006 / Jamey Codding

The NFL may have no idea when free agency is going to start (a weekend of labor talks and deadline extensions ended with yet another extension, this time until Thursday at 12:01 am), but when it does, Shaun Alexander won’t be available. The reigning league MVP agreed to an eight-year, $62 million deal with the Seahawks Sunday, a deal that should keep the six-year veteran in Seattle for the rest of his career.

Agent Jim Steiner said the deal is the richest for an NFL running back and will pay Alexander over $15.1 million in guaranteed cash, through signing and other bonuses and 2006 base salary.

This contract should make a lot of people happy. The Seahawks will again be one of the premier teams in the NFC now that their workhorse back is locked up long-term, and fantasy owners will continue to benefit from Alexander running behind one of the best offensive lines in football.

As for the ongoing labor negotiations, the Thursday extension was granted to reportedly give the owners time to vote on the Players Association’s latest offer. Hopefully all of this drama will end this week and we can turn our NFL focus back to free agency and the upcoming draft. Stay tuned.

Fantasy Football, NFL

Tar Heels victorious

March 5, 2006 / John Paulsen

North Carolina took control of the game in the second half, and survived a furious run by Duke to leave Durham victorious, 83-76. J.J. Redick had an awful night shooting the ball. After hitting his first three shots, he finished 5 of 21 from the field.

Despite losing his top seven scorers from the National Championship team a year ago, Roy Williams has North Carolina peaking at the right time. Duke on the other hand has lost its last two games and heads into the ACC tournament on a down note. Hopefully, the two teams will face each other in the finals next Sunday for the rubber match (Duke won the first meeting in Chapel Hill).