Arkansas-Pine Bluff has gotten off to a brutal start to the season, and first-year head coach Solomon Bozeman made it clear on Tuesday night that he is not going to tolerate the poor play.
With more than 18 minutes remaining in the second half of an eventual loss to Iowa State, Bozeman called a timeout to discipline his players. He made them run sprints the full length of the court as if they were in practice. Check it out:
That has to be a first. The moment was made even more embarrassing by the fact that Arkansas-Pine Bluff was playing on the road.
Bozeman hasn’t quite reached Bob Knight status, but we’d hate to see what he might come up with if Arkansas-Pine Bluff continues to lose. That 1-8 record had better turn quickly.
H/T Barstool Sports
An Iowa high school basketball player who sucker-punched an opponent following a game this week has been arrested and charged with a felony.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, police reviewed the Tuesday night incident involving 17-year-old Carlisle High School student Carter Prenosil and an opponent from Nevada High School. Police said Prenosil threw “unwarranted” punches at his opponent, leaving the victim with a concussion and a cut to his mouth that required four stitches. Prenosil was arrested on Wednesday and charged him with willful injury, which is a felony.
The maximum penalty Prenosil is facing is up to 10 years in prison. He has a court hearing scheduled for Dec. 13.
Prenosil attacked his opponent seemingly without warning in the handshake line following Carlisle’s 72-47 loss to Nevada. A video of the incident showed Prenosil punching the other player in the stomach and then the face. You can see the clip here.
Adrian Martinez was unable to play in Nebraska’s season finale last weekend due to a shoulder injury, and it turns out that was his last game with the team.
Martinez announced on Thursday that he has entered the transfer portal. He issued a statement thanking Nebraska head coach Scott Frost and the rest of the Cornhuskers staff.
Martinez started for Nebraska for four seasons. He broke the school’s all-time offensive yardage record in his final start against Wisconsin, passing Tommy Armstrong Jr. and finishing with 10,792 yards. The junior finished with 80 total touchdowns in Lincoln.
Nebraska finished 3-9 this season and is entering a pivotal fifth year under Frost. There had been speculation that Martinez might leave the program, and he hinted that he would when he took part in Senior Day festivities last week.
There are already several top QBs for schools to recruit this offseason via the transfer portal. Nebraska has freshmen Logan Smothers and Heinrich Haarberg on the roster. Frost could look to the transfer portal to replace Martinez.
Photo: Nov 20, 2021; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Adrian Martinez (2) throws a pass during warmups prior to the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Most people felt that Tom Brady had nothing left to prove about three or four championships ago, but the star quarterback continues to find ways to stay motivated. Had the 2007 New England Patriots completed their perfect season, that might not have been the case.
Episode 4 of the ESPN+ documentary “Man in the Arena,” which will air next week but was previewed by NESN’s Zack Cox, covers the 2007 Patriots. In the episode, Brady makes a surprising revelation about how New England’s loss in Super Bowl XLII shaped his career. Had the Patriots won and completed their 19-0 season, Brady says he may have retired a lot sooner.
“Had we won that game — I don’t know, I’m not a big hypothetical guy — but maybe the desire is a little bit different, if you’re looking at a silver lining,” Brady said. “Maybe the desire to reach that point, maybe I would have been fulfilled — not to stop playing at that time, but I don’t know. Maybe I’d play another seven or eight years, and maybe I’m fulfilled. Maybe not.”
Brady has won seven Super Bowls. His legacy is secure. Even if he wins an eighth, his career will still be viewed the same. He doesn’t need an undefeated season to be considered the greatest quarterback of all time, but it obviously bothers him that he came so close and fell four points short of completing it.
We tend to think Brady would have found other ways to stay driven and kept playing regardless of what happened in 2007. That said, Brady made a comment earlier this year that proved how much the loss in Super Bowl XLII stung him. No matter how many games or championships he wins, he clearly will never get over that one shortcoming.
Photo: Aug 28, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) jogs off the field after a game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Jon Gruden recently filed a lawsuit against the NFL over his leaked email scandal, and one legendary broadcaster seems to think the former Las Vegas Raiders coach had a strong case.
Brent Musburger, the former voice of college football who now does radio calls for the Raiders, shared some strong thoughts on the Gruden situation this week. He told J.T. The Brick of the Las Vegas Sports Network that he believes Gruden was the target of a “paid assassin.”
“As I told Coach, whoever took you out, Jon, that was a paid assassin,” Musburger said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “That was one of the best hit jobs that I’ve ever been around. They didn’t go to their media goombahs. They didn’t leak this to Adam Schefter or one of those guys that breaks stories. They first went to the Wall Street Journal. And when Gruden was still coaching after that, then they dumped the rest of it on the New York Times. That was a professional hit job.”
Gruden stepped down as head coach of the Raiders several weeks ago after two rounds of his offensive personal emails leaked. He filed a lawsuit against the NFL that accuses the league of intentionally releasing the emails at a time that would inflict maximum damage. Gruden also says the NFL threatened to release the second batch of emails if the first leak didn’t cost him his job.
Musburger isn’t convinced that the leak came from the NFL, as he mentioned that the Washington Football Team also had access to the emails. However, he said it would be shameful if the NFL were responsible.
“So I think the hardest part for Gruden’s lawyers to prove is that somebody from the National Football League actually leaked that,” Musburger added. “Because if it is somebody from the NFL, shame on them. Because (Raiders owner) Mark Davis should have been told in the summer, when he had something to do about it.”
The emails Gruden sent came from the 2011-2018 time period. They were uncovered during the NFL’s investigation into the Washington Football Team regarding the franchise’s workplace environment. More than 650,000 emails were reviewed as part of the investigation, but the NFL has reportedly claimed Gruden’s were the only damaging ones.
Someone who spoke with Gruden last month said the former coach believes the “truth” will eventually come out.
Photo: Sep 19, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden takes the field before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Rams have made some huge moves over the past two years to load their roster with superstar players, but they have lost three games in a row after their hot start to the season. Troy Aikman does not think that is a coincidence.
Aikman recently expressed skepticism that Odell Beckham Jr. would help the Rams, and he reiterated that during a Tuesday appearance on 1310 “The Ticket” in Dallas. He said he has never seen a so-called superteam contend for a Super Bowl.
“We’ve talked about it — the all-star team just — I’ve never seen it work in the NFL,” Aikman said, as transcribed by Skyler Carlin of Rams Wire. “I know Washington tried it back in, I think, ‘99. I’ve just never seen a team that goes out and tries to put together this all-star team that can win a Super Bowl, much less success,” Aikman said. “It usually unravels, and right now, that’s kind of what’s happening to the Rams. They’ve just not been very consistent.”
The Rams acquired Matthew Stafford in a trade during the offseason, which was universally viewed as an upgrade. Stafford has struggled as of late, however, likely due to a number of injuries he has been battling. L.A. has also given up quite a bit to acquire players like Jalen Ramsey, Von Miller and Beckham. They are clearly not placing a huge emphasis on the draft, which Aikman does not see as the best approach for winning.
Aikman pointed to the poor game the Rams played two weeks ago in their 31-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
“I feel it throughout the entire organization,” he said. “I just don’t know that they’re going — I don’t think they’re done. I think they’re going to have some moments where they climb back into it, but I don’t know if they’re going to have enough to get over the hump.”
Many were surprised to hear how quickly Aikman criticized Beckham. Stafford’s injuries are probably the biggest reason the Rams are struggling. That said, there’s no question they have sacrificed a lot of draft capital in an attempt to win now. If they can’t do that, they may be in rough shape a few years from now.
Photo: Nov 21, 2019; Houston, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys former quarterback Troy Aikman attends the NFL game between the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Colin Cowherd has been Baker Mayfield’s biggest critic dating back to the quarterback’s days as a star at Oklahoma, but apparently that criticism is officially a thing of the past.
Cowherd and Mayfield have been trading barbs for years. Even as Mayfield was putting together a Heisman Trophy season back in 2017, Cowherd was all over him for partying too much and playing in an easy conference. Now, Cowherd may be tired of talking about the quarterback.
In a video he posted on Twitter this week, Cowherd said he is “no longer captivated by Baker Mayfield topics.” He cited Mayfield’s career 28-28 record as evidence that he was right all along about Mayfield not being a good NFL quarterback. He then conducted a Twitter poll to let his fans decided if he should talk about Mayfield anymore.
As you can see, there were more than 11,000 votes. Nearly 60 percent of the respondents said Cowherd should stop talking about Mayfield.
Cowherd insists he will honor the poll to the point where it might get awkward. He said fans “can’t have it both ways” and that he’s not going to talk about Mayfield even if he starts winning or makes a deep playoff run.
Mayfield has tried to feed off of Cowherd’s negativity in the past and even sold funny shirts promoting the feud. He might be disappointed in the latest development.
Beginning in 1986, Al Michaels spent 20 seasons serving as the lead play-by-play announcer for ABC’s “Monday Night Football.” In 2006, Michaels moved from ABC to NBC, while Monday Night Football moved from ABC to ESPN.
Currently, Michaels works “Sunday Night Football” for NBC but that will change next season. The network plans to replace Michaels with Mike Tirico as the full-time SNF play-by-play announcer. Michaels is expected to take over on Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” broadcast.
But there is an off-chance scenario in which Michaels moves on from NBC and their Amazon deal.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post notes that Michaels’ current contract expires following Super Bowl LVI in February. What are his plans after that? They’re uncertain, and could include a shift to ESPN and a return to Monday Night Football.
Marchand says Michaels has no plans to retire. Marchand also says “the only other possibility that could emerge is if ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’ were to change its main booth again.”
In other words, Marchand suggests that Michaels might be interested in returning to MNF if ESPN is interested.
As things sit, Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick handle the call on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. The Manning brothers, Peyton and Eli, also host the alternate viewing “ManningCast” on select Monday nights.
In order for Michaels to sneak back in, ESPN would have to scrap their announce team yet again. And while it’s not outside the realm of possibility, it remains unlikely.
It would be nostalgic for many to have Michaels return to Monday Night Football, but an overwhelming number of pieces would have to fall into place for that to occur.
Image: Aug 26, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; Network television commentator Al Michaels before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports.
MLB officially announced that the owners were locking out the players as soon as the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement expired at midnight on Dec. 2, 2021.
MLB.com’s website and all its affiliated team websites were well prepared as soon as the clock struck midnight.
As soon as the lockout occurred, MLB’s website stripped out all news stories about player signings. Instead, historical content was posted on the site. The same was true of team sites, which also removed photos of players on the 40-man rosters due to name, image and likeness rights the league no longer possesses due to the expiration of the contract.
https://twitter.com/JMackeyPG/status/1466281447828901893
Photos of coaches remain though, since they’re not part of the players’ union.
Ticket promos no longer have names of players attached to them.
Team websites went to evergreen content, such as articles on the best players and seasons in team history.
MLB.com’s homepage showed content about 1995.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred accused the MLBPA of taking an attitude of “confrontation” with the league regarding Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations.
As of midnight on Thursday, Dec. 2, the league’s owners locked out the players when the previous CBA expired. This marked the first labor stoppage in MLB since the strike that last from 1994-1995.
The two sides are at odds over numerous issues. Manfred addressed a letter to baseball fans that was published after the lockout was imposed. He said in the letter that locking out the players now is necessary to communicate the urgency to the players to strike a deal by early March so that no games are missed in 2022.
There was one part of the letter that was problematic, and it involved Manfred accusing the players of taking an extreme and confrontational approach.
“Regrettably, it appears the Players Association came to the bargaining table with a strategy of confrontation over compromise,” Manfred wrote. “They never wavered from collectively the most extreme set of proposals in their history, including significant cuts to the revenue-sharing system, a weakening of the competitive balance tax, and shortening the period of time that players play for their teams. All of these changes would make our game less competitive, not more.”
The players are hoping for less revenue sharing; the ability for players to begin salary arbitration and free agency sooner; and younger players to make more earlier in their careers. They want their concerns about tanking and service time manipulation to be addressed.
The owners seem intent on an expanded postseason. They also are resistant to measures that would allow players to leave teams sooner, because they believe that would hurt competition.
The worst thing that could happen is for the sides to let the lockout continue past March and affect the season. It took years for MLB to rebuild after the 1994-1995 strike. The league’s popularity has decreased over time and they can’t afford to go backwards.
The average fan doesn’t care about this sort of thing. Whether a player is making $750,000 or $1,000,000 in his first year, or whether the luxury tax is at $215 million or $230 million matters little to them. They just want to see games played and to watch their favorite team.
The more business-like the league becomes, the less appealing it is for fans. MLB and MLB players need to be careful to protect the long term health of the game. Neither side being too greedy is key.
Photo: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
