Former Hawaii star quarterback Colt Brennan was found unconscious at a rehabilitation center days before he died.
Brennan’s father, Terry Brennan, confirmed to Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Star Advertiser that his son died on Monday. The elder Brennan said Colt was found unconscious at a rehab facility days before he died at a hospital in Newport, Calif.
Terry said Colt, 37, was in the fifth month of an inpatient program. He said Colt had been doing great before the incident, which ultimately took his life.
“He was doing so well, the spark was back in his eyes, and he was healthy and doing great, and it happened,” Terry Brennan said. “He had been doing really (well). These guys were no-nonsense guys. It just got away from him. I don’t know how else to explain it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to explain it better.”
Terry said his son was surrounded by family at the time of his death and “went peacefully.”
Brennan, who was originally from Laguna Beach, Calif., was the starting quarterback at Hawaii from 2005 to 2007. He lit up the stat sheet during his three seasons with the program, completing 70.4 percent of his passes for 14,193 yards, 131 touchdowns and 42 interceptions. The 131 touchdown passes rank fourth all time in NCAA Division I FBS history.
Brennan was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2007, when he led Hawaii to an undefeated regular season. The Rainbow Warriors lost to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl that year.
After his huge season in 2007, Brennan was drafted in the sixth round by Washington. He spent two seasons there before signing with the then-Oakland Raiders for a brief time. Brennan then went on to play in several other pro football leagues when his NFL career fizzled out.
Colt Brennan, one of the most popular players in Hawaii football history, has died.
Hawaii News Now learned on Tuesday that Brennan has died at age 37. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Brennan, who was originally from Laguna Beach, Calif., was the starting quarterback at Hawaii from 2005 to 2007. He lit up the stat sheet during his three seasons with the program, completing 70.4 percent of his passes for 14,193 yards, 131 touchdowns and 42 interceptions. The 131 touchdown passes rank fourth all time in NCAA Division I FBS history.
Brennan was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2007, when he led Hawaii to an undefeated regular season. The Rainbow Warriors lost to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl that year.
After his huge season in 2007, Brennan was drafted in the sixth round by Washington. He spent two seasons there before signing with the then-Oakland Raiders for a brief time. Brennan then went on to play in several other pro football leagues when his NFL career fizzled out.
The loss of Brennan is a huge one for the University of Hawaii.
Former MLB slugger Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez announced less than a month ago that they have ended their engagement. J-Lo appears to already be dating somebody else, and it’s fair to wonder if that flame was rekindled when her and A-Rod were still together.
Several gossip outlets reported this week that Lopez and Ben Affleck, another one of her exes, are once again romantically involved. They apparently took a week-long vacation together recently and appear to have picked up where they left off nearly two decades ago. According to TMZ, Affleck began regularly sending emails to J-Lo back in February.
Sources told TMZ that the tone of the emails was “more loving and longing for Jen” rather than Affleck simply reaching out to a friend. In one email, Affleck supposedly told J-Lo how beautiful she looked and that he wished he could be with her after he saw some photos of her from when she was shooting the upcoming film “Shotgun Wedding” in the Dominican Republic.
Lopez is said to have reciprocated and told Affleck in one email that he has the ability to “own her heart” with his writing.
A-Rod and J-Lo announced in April that they have mutually decided to part ways. However, it should be noted that there were rumors as far back as March that they were in the process of splitting. It’s possible that they had already decided to end their engagement before J-Lo and Affleck reconnected.
In any event, Rodriguez seemed pretty bummed out with the breakup video he posted around the time he and J-Lo announced the split.
J-Lo and Affleck dated nearly two decades ago and were engaged in 2002. They postponed their wedding in 2003 and ended their relationship months later.
There has been no indication that Rodriguez has a new girlfriend yet, but Jose Canseco made yet another huge prediction about what will happen next for A-Rod.
Bob Baffert had vehemently denied that his horse Medina Spirit was given any illegal substance prior to winning the Kentucky Derby over a week ago, but the trainer has suddenly changed his tune.
Baffert issued a statement on Tuesday saying he has learned that Medina Spirit was treated with an anti-fungal ointment that contained betamethasone leading up to the Kentucky Derby. The ointment was used once a day up until the race to treat dermatitis.
“Following the Santa Anita Derby, Medina Spirit developed dermatitis on his hind end,” Baffert said, via Jason Frakes of the Louisville Courier Journal. “I had him checked out by my veterinarian who recommended the use of an anti-fungal ointment called Otomax. The veterinary recommendation was to apply this ointment daily to give the horse relief, help heal the dermatitis and prevent it from spreading.
“My barn followed this recommendation and Medina Spirit was treated with Otomax once a day up until the day before the Kentucky Derby. (Monday), I was informed that one of the substances in Otomax is betamethasone. While we do not know definitively that this was the source of the alleged 21 picograms found in Medina Spirit’s post-race blood sample, and our investigation is continuing, I have been told by equine pharmacology experts that this could explain the test results. As such, I wanted to be forthright about this fact as soon as I learned of this information.”
Betamethasone is anti-inflammatory drug that is legal to use on horses but illegal when found in the blood on race day. Medina Spirit has not yet been disqualified from the Kentucky Derby, as a second positive test known as a “split sample” is required before the initial result is confirmed. Based on Baffert’s new admission, it seems likely that the horse will be disqualified.
The corticosteroid found in Medina Spirit is the same one another Baffert horse, Gamine, tested positive for after winning the Kentucky Oaks last year. Other Baffert horses have also had issues with failed drug tests. Justify reportedly failed a drug test before winning the Triple Crown in 2018, but the inquiry was quietly dropped under the guise that the horse could have eaten contaminated food. Two other Baffert horses tested positive for lidocaine last year and Baffert complained about confidentiality.
Baffert was widely mocked on Monday for what he said about the Medina Spirit situation in a TV interview.
Alex Rodriguez and tech entrepreneur Marc Lore reached an agreement earlier this year to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves, but they appear to have hit an obstacle while working to close the deal.
Rodriguez’s investment group had a 30-day exclusive window to negotiate a deal with current T-Wolves owner Glen Taylor. That time period has expired without a formal agreement in place, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports.
That does not mean the deal is dead, however. Windhorst was told the two sides are still negotiating in good faith and the window could be extended, though it has not been yet.
The purchase price of the team was reportedly expected to be in the $1.5 billion range, with Rodriguez and Lore becoming limited partners and buying larger shares of the team in the coming years. Windhorst reports that part of the negotiations included a guarantee that Taylor would transfer controlling ownership by a certain date.
While it does not sound like the deal is anywhere close to dead, it’s worth noting that Taylor has entered into other exclusive negotiating windows with parties that were interested in buying the Timberwolves in the past. Most recently, he negotiated with former Memphis Grizzlies minority owner Daniel Straus last year before the talks ended without a deal.
One T-Wolves rookie hilariously had no idea who A-Rod was as of last month (video here). If the deal falls apart, he may never have to know.
Justin Fields had an outstanding season with Ohio State last year, but it was far from perfect. There were two games in particular that raised concern for many NFL scouts and team officials, but Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy doesn’t seem overly concerned about them.
Fields threw just six interceptions in eight games last season, including the College Football Playoff. Five of those six picks came in home games against Northwestern and Indiana. Fields completed 18-of-30 passes for 300 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions when Ohio State barely snuck by Indiana with a 42-35 win on Nov. 21. Roughly a month later, he completed just 12-of-27 passes for 114 yards, no touchdowns and two picks in a 22-10 win over Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game.
During an appearance on “The Ross Tucker Football Podcast” this week, Nagy said he was more concerned with how Fields handled the tough games than the stat lines themselves.
“That’s gonna happen,” Nagy said. “I talked to (Ohio State coach) Ryan Day about this — how does he handle those situations when that goes on? What is he like on the bench in between series? What is he like talking to you coming off the field after a bad play or a sack. How was he after the game when you won but it didn’t go real well offensively. Those are, to me, what’s important.”
It’s worth noting that Northwestern finished the season ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll and Indiana finished No. 12. Both teams had outstanding years, so it’s not as if Fields disappeared in two cupcake games.
Fields is still viewed as a raw prospect by most. That is why he slipped down the draft board, though we know of at least one team other than the Bears that was hoping to land him. The Bears like Fields for his potential, and two lousy games last season doesn’t change that.
Arch Manning is arguably the most exciting recruit for 2023 and one of the top young quarterbacks in the country. He still has two more years of high school football remaining, but the junior is ready to start visiting some campuses.
As Steve Wiltfong of 247 Sports notes, Manning has visits lined up with Clemson, SMU, Texas, Alabama and Georgia. The visits will all take place in June.
Manning’s father, Cooper Manning, said it is important for his son to still be as much a part of spring practices with his high school team as possible. Cooper mentioned several other top programs in which Arch has interest.
“Arch has been talking to Stanford, he’s especially interested in doing a Stanford, USC swing and also a Notre Dame, Ohio State swing,” Cooper said. “It might be hard to get it all done in June but he’s been enjoying talking to those guys as well.”
The younger Manning has already visited LSU and Ole Miss, according to his father. He also wants to take a look at North Carolina and Virginia, where his older sister will be going to college.
Ole Miss, of course, is where Arch’s uncle Eli and grandfather Archie played college ball. Cooper went there as well. Arch will also visit Tennessee at some point, which is where his uncle Peyton became a star.
Arch may have given a hint last month about which programs are highest on his list when he mentioned the coaches he has spoken with. That said, it doesn’t sound like he is anywhere close to narrowing his decision.
Arch will be a junior in the fall at the Isidore Newman School in the New Orleans area. Despite the family’s history, Arch has actually been getting pressure to join another SEC school.
Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Luis Oviedo and Cincinnati Reds catcher Alex Blandino had a funny moment prior to Monday’s game between their teams.
Both players lined up along with the rest of their teammates for the national anthem prior to the game. Well after the anthem was completed, the two players remained on the field and engaged in a standoff.
Umpire Chris Conroy had to finally call things off so they could get the game started. Oviedo finally blinked first and took his hand off his heart. He began to retreat, giving the victory to Blandino.
Blandino also kept a straight face longer than Oviedo too, giving him the all-around victory.
The best part was how pumped the Reds were after Blandino won the standoff. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they went on to win the game 14-1, with Oviedo getting hit around hard in the loss.
Tip via Big Daddy
Russell Westbrook made history on Monday when he broke Oscar Robertson’s record for triple-doubles.
Westbrook snagged a rebound in the fourth quarter of his Wizards’ 125-124 loss to the Atlanta Hawks to give him his 182nd triple-double. He topped Robertson’s previous record of 181 career triple-doubles.
Westbrook had 28 points, 13 rebounds and 21 assists. Here are some highlights:
Westbrook is averaging a triple-double for the fourth time in a season. He is now the triple-double king and was congratulated by many for the feat. Here is a roundup of many of the congratulatory tweets he received.
Wizards teammate Bradley Beal:
Magic Johnson:
Allen Iverson:
Jamal Crawford:
Westbrook’s UCLA teammate, Kevin Love.
From Oklahoma City’s mayor:
And these messages were from Westbrook’s family members:
Being the competitor he is, Westbrook is probably upset that the record came in a loss.
Bradley Beal went off on Kent Bazemore over Twitter on Monday night after learning of the Golden State Warriors swingman’s comments about him.
Bazemore threw some shade at Beal on Monday by suggesting the Washington Wizards star guard was faking a hamstring injury. Beal is competing with Bazemore’s teammate, Steph Curry, for the NBA scoring title.
Beal began by asking his Twitter followers whether he should go off or not.
Beal opted for the latter.
“You don’t know me or s— about me bruh!!!” Beal wrote on Twitter (edited by LBS for profanity). “You don’t know why I go out there and play and it damn sure ain’t for another man’s approval!!! You a straight LAME!!! But it don’t surprise me coming from you, thats (sic) what’s yo (sic) type do!!”
Beal continued.
“It’s funny you say that because ya (sic – your) mans admittedly checked my numbers before the game, but IM CHASING!!! Shut yo a– up!” Beal wrote, with profanity also edited by LBS.
Beal then called Bazemore a clown.
Beal did not hold back at all. Wow.
The 27-year-old entered Monday trailing Curry for the NBA scoring lead by 0.5 points. Sitting out games due to a hamstring injury probably won’t help Beal’s efforts in catching Curry. Curry has already admitted to keeping his eye on what Beal is doing. Beal is probably doing the same. He at least knows what’s being said about him.
