Larry Brown Sports

Back in October, Ole Miss decided on the Rebel Black Bear as their new mascot, replacing Colonel Reb. Colonel Reb was so historically outdated it was about time they replaced him. Only if we knew they were going with the Rebel Black Bear as a replacement, we would have suggested they take more time figuring out something better. They’re already getting ridiculed for a picture of the mascot’s head that found its way onto the net Monday evening:

The folks at Tiger Droppings, where I first saw the picture, keep likening Rebel Black Bear to Smokey the Bear. The same is true for the people who commented on facebook where Sports by Brooks added the pic. Personally, I think Rebel Black Bear has a meaner streak than the friendly Smokey, so I’m not so sure the comparison is valid. What are they trying to say, all black bears look alike? Why is it that everything comes down to a racial issue?

And so it begins. While Cam Newton has been spending his time saying all the wrong things amidst the media blitz at the NFL combine, reporters and radio hosts have been spending theirs trying to dig up dirt on the former Auburn superstar.  Scott Moore, a radio host from Alabama, claims to have hit the jackpot.

As told by SB Nation, Moore appeared on a Mobile radio station Friday morning and told listeners that two former Mississippi State players, John Bond and Bill Bell, have in their possession tapes that can prove Newton was fully aware of the pay-for-play scheme his father was running.  The most telling tape is one that allegedly has Cecil Newton asking for money from Mississippi State while Cam is sitting in the room.

Moore also claims the NCAA has a copy of some of the tapes and encouraged Cam to sit out the Auburn-Georgia game earlier this year.  If you remember, we warned Auburn fans shortly before the BCS National Title game that their championship could be short-lived in the event that someone should prove Newton knew about the pay-for-play scandal.  If Moore’s accusations are worthwhile, Auburn will have to vacate the win.

The strange thing about Moore’s story is the fact that the NCAA supposedly has the tapes and has done nothing.  Maybe the fact that they are audio tapes made it impossible to prove anything?  Perhaps this is just a case of sour grapes from Moore, who is an Alabama guy?  Maybe the allegations are true, and Newton’s legacy is about to take an epic hit.  Time will tell.

UPDATE: Much like the Tiger Woods sex tape, this one appears to be a fake.

At least when LeBron James disrespectfully bumped into Erik Spoelstra he was somewhat subtle about it.  The same can’t be said for Kobe Bryant.  The Lakers had a tough time beating the Thunder on Sunday afternoon, and Lamar Odom’s poor free throw shooting at the end of the game made things tougher than they had to be.  After he missed back-to-back free throws that could have iced the game and put the Lakers up five, you would think his teammates would give him a smack on the butt and say something like “don’t worry, we’ll pick you up.”  Instead, L.A.’s leader threw a towel in his face.  Check out the video of Kobe Bryant throwing a towel in Lamar Odom’s face, courtesy of Black Sports Online via SI Hot Clicks:

The Lakers were able to hang on and win the game anyway, but unless that was some sort of inside joke from Kobe to Lamar there’s no need for it.  It’s one thing to get on a teammate about mental mistakes or losing his cool and costing the team.  Odom obviously wanted to hit the free throws.  Props to him for not smacking Kobe in front of a national audience.

Blake Griffin is without question the NBA’s best dunker. He throws down dunks like this one and this one on a nightly basis, and we have become so accustomed to seeing it that we tend to under-appreciate what the beast is capable of. The NBA, however, has plenty of respect for the Clippers star.

Remember how we (or, I) told you we thought the NBA had predetermined that Griffin was going to be the winner of the 2011 Dunk Contest at any cost? Thanks to Ben Maller, we now have that in writing. Have a look at this NBA press release, paying particular attention to the 1:20 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. time slot under “HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE.”

Griffin was indeed the winner of the contest after jumping over a car, but the issue lies in the timing of the press release.  It was sent out via email at 5:28 p.m. EST on Saturday Feb. 19. The competition began over an hour later.

The NBA sent out a corrected version of the press release later that evening, but the error has to leave fans wondering if calling Griffin the “winner” was a type-o or Freudian slip.  Those of us who weren’t impressed by the car dunk are going with the latter.

Word has it Aaron Rodgers spoke with Tom Brady recently, and Tom told him there’s much more to winning a Super Bowl MVP than some jewelry and hardware.  Okay, maybe they didn’t talk, but Rodgers certainly seems to be figuring that out on his own.  The Packers quarterback is already reportedly dating Jessica Szohr, but Jessica hasn’t exactly been able to keep the hotties off of No. 12.  Word has it he was a popular commodity at the Circa Hollywood Dominos Oscar party last Thursday.  Here are some pictures of Aaron Rodgers with Stacy Keibler from Keibler’s twitter:

Now that we know the recent star of the Ellen Show and Keibler were acting like 15-year-old girls updating their Myspace account, we should also note that the NY Post reported Rodgers was “flirting” with Mila Kunis at the same party and both seemed to be very into each other. 

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Previewing the 2011 MLB season, we’ve already named the Phillies, Yankees, and Red Sox the top World Series favorites. We’ve already looked at the NL Central, and this week we’ll take look at the NL East. Since the Phillies have already been named a World Series favorite, we’ll start with the Atlanta Braves; Tuesday: Florida Marlins.

Off-Season Moves: The Braves lost their top two first basemen, Troy Glaus and Derrek Lee, to free agency. They acquired second baseman Dan Uggla from the Marlins in a trade that sent young lefty Michael Dunn and super utility man Omar Infante to Florida. Atlanta also released last year’s primary left fielder Melky Cabrera.

Strengths: Offensively, the Braves are about average in most categories except for on-base percentage. Atlanta finished last season third in the majors with a .339 team OBP. This year’s team should be able to come close to replicating that, losing some good OBP guys in Lee (.347), Glaus (.344) and Infante (.359), but gaining Uggla’s .369. Last season’s team leader (min. 400 at bats), Jason Heyward (.393, pictured above), will have to avoid a sophomore slump to set the pace again. Rookie first baseman, Freddie Freeman, struggled in just 20 major league games last season, but had a .378 OBP in 124 AAA games last year.

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Charlie Sheen has been on full tilt lately and providing the public with an abundance of hilarious entertainment — not the Two and a Half Men type, either.  Unfortunately very little of it has had anything to do with sports, so we haven’t had an opportunity to share it with you.  Last week, Sheen told a radio interviewer that the only thing he’s addicted to is winning.  While hilarious, not all “winning” references are sports blog worthy.  However, 15 seconds of his interview with the Today Show Monday morning opened the window for us to bring you some Charlie.  Check out the video of Charlie Sheen’s Allen Iverson reference:

Is this guy in touch with reality or what?  Addicted to winning and clearly knows his sports history.  All you LBS nuts should embrace the Sheen.

UPDATE: Bryant’s lawyer is pulling the race card. “This case is about the fact that racism still exists in America, and Howard Bryant is a victim of it,” said attorney Buz Eisenberg.  His wife, Veronique Bryant, is not pressing charges against Howard and seems to agree that he was a victim of racism.

“It wasn’t an assault or a battery,” said Veronique Bryant. “I was not scared. He was not touching me. We had a discussion. The police reacted in a totally inappropriate way.”

So does that mean the five witnesses who dimed him out are racist, too?  Sounds like one of his articles.

You people have no idea how satisfying it is for me to roll out of bed and read that ESPN’s Howard Bryant is in trouble with the law. According to Mass Live, Bryant was arrested Sunday night outside a pizza shop in Buckland, Mass. after he allegedly assaulted his wife — with whom he is currently separated — and resisted arrest.  Five witnesses say they saw Bryant arguing with a woman before choking her and pushing her into a car.  It took officers at least three minutes to subdue him when they arrived.

He has to be innocent, right?  Mr. All-American Stand Up Against Steroids Everyone Does Everything Wrong But I Am Perfect The Fans Are the Problem You Suck I’m Awesome?  It can’t be.  There has to be another side to this story.  The five witnesses must have been seeing things.

Can you tell I’m a a big Howard Bryant fan?  I’ll admit, I’ve had it out for the guy since he tried to completely discredit everything the Red Sox had done since 2004 when Manny Ramirez was caught using steroids.  Cheating is cheating, but if you wanted to pinpoint all the things teams have done in every sport that are against the rules we would be left with few “legitimate” champions.

Bryant has made attempts to blame everyone from Bud Selig to the fans for the steroid era in baseball.  While his countless pieces about steroid use and cheating raise many valid points, he can’t help but give off the impression that he thinks he’s above everyone — his readers included.  Say what you will about me, but I’m celebrating the arrest of Howard Bryant and hoping he gets canned.

In one of the biggest ironies you could conceive, Clippers owner and notorious alleged racist Donald Sterling was pictured along with Blake Griffin in an ad celebrating Black History Month in the Sunday edition of the LA Times:

This is quite the clever marketing for a few reasons. First off, adults must accompany the children receiving the free tickets, so they have to purchase tickets themselves. Plus, you know children love food at the concessions, so this isn’t exactly a huge financial burden to the organization. The other big and more important reason why this is good marketing by the Clippers is because it portrays Sterling as a benevolent donor to the African-American community.

Sterling, as you well know, has taken a public beating regarding his alleged racism towards African Americans. He’s heckled his own players including Baron Davis, has been accused of many racial actions by former GM Elgin Baylor including having a “plantation mentality,” and he’s been alleged to bring women into the locker room and make comments such as “look at those beautiful black bodies.”

What better way to change his public image than by giving away 1,000 tickets to a game to underprivileged children in the name of Black History Month? If the real goal were to treat children to a game, then why wouldn’t he quietly donate the tickets to local elementary schools or Boys and Girls Clubs? How many underpriviliged children do you know who read the Sunday LA Times sports section and ask their parent to take them to the game? Make no mistake about it — this was a P.R. move every bit as much as it was a charitable action, so don’t get confused when you hear otherwise.

Louisville was able to pull of an upset on Sunday when they defeated Pittsburgh 62-59 in overtime in Louisville. We use the term “upset” because the Panthers are the higher ranked team, but when you take into account the fact that the game was played in Louisville and the Cardinals are one of the best teams in the Big East the outcome isn’t that surprising — unless you’re Ashton Gibbs. Gibbs immediately took to his Twitter account after the game and called Rick Pitino and company bums.

He followed that statement with a graceful, “F*** it. On to the next.”

Damage control began almost immediately, with three consecutive tweets that read, “I apologize if my tweet offended any players, coaches, friends, or family members of the Louisville basketball program. I consider myself a competitor and we were outplayed tonight in a heated battle between two top Big East teams. I wish them the best on the rest of their season and we look forward to redeeming ourselves next game. Let’s go Pitt.”

Sounds like he wrote it, huh? Definitely had nothing to do with Pitt’s PR department. Gibbs’ comments wrapped up an interesting afternoon, one that the Pitt Panthers and the Louisville cheerleader who got a technical foul will certainly want to forget.