Etan Thomas has heart – problems; Isiah must pay; C-Webb stays stateside; Whisenhunt’s quandary; Bad Newz dogs not so bad after all

----------------------

Etan Thomas’ irregular heartbeat

During a routine physical Washington Wizards center Etan Thomas was found to have an irregular heartbeat:

Veteran Washington Wizards center Etan Thomas did not participate when training camp opened Tuesday after a recent cardiac test revealed an irregularity that could potentially be career-threatening.

Thomas, who was slated to compete with Brendan Haywood for the starting center job, learned of the test results late last week following a routine physical, according to Ernie Grunfeld, the team's president. Thomas remained in Washington on Tuesday awaiting the results of further tests.

Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan indicated that he did not expect Thomas to return to the Wizards before training camp breaks.

Isiah must pay – for the moment

New York Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas was found guilty of sexual harassment by a jury and must pay $11.6 million in punitive damages:

A jury decided Tuesday that New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas sexually harassed a former top team executive, subjecting her to unwanted advances and a barrage of verbal insults, but also said he does not have to pay punitive damages.

After an ugly, three-week trial, the verdict gives Thomas a partial victory in the $10 million lawsuit filed by Anucha Browne Sanders.

The jury did find that Madison Square Garden committed harassment against the woman, and decided that she is entitled to punitive damages from MSG.

U.S. District Judge Gerard E. #### called it an “eminently reasonable” verdict and said the jury will be asked to return later Tuesday to hear brief arguments on punitive damages.

The Knicks and Thomas feel differently about the court outcome:

“I’m innocent, very innocent, and I did not do the things she has accused me in this courtroom of doing,” Thomas said. “I’m extremely disappointed that the jury did not see the facts in this case. I will appeal this, and I remain confident in the man that I am and what I stand for and the family that I have.”

Madison Square Garden also said it would appeal.

C-Webb chooses the States

Hoopsworld Toronto Raptors writer Ryan McNeill scooped me to this news tidbit Saturday. Then we discussed it during our NBA podcast. The news?

Chris Webber to Greece to play Euro League ball for Olympiakos and make $10-12 in the process.

Well C-Webb turned the dollars down:

“I’m not going to Greece,” Webber said. “It’s no disrespect to [Olympiakos], but I can’t do that. I’m an NBA guy. I don’t want to just chase money. I want to make sure I respect the game.

“To tell you the truth, it’s kind of stupid in a way to turn down stupid money, as my dad would call it, but I can’t just do it for the money. If I’m going to play, I’m only going to play as a Piston … unless something crazy happens.”

Hmmmm. During the podcast with Ry I felt that if any NBA player would take the, ‘this sets my family up for life’ dollars it would be Webber. I also felt that of anyone - outside of Kobe Bryant - in the NBA would be able to handle Europe emotionally it would be C-Webb. I felt that he might take his family with him and have a two-year sabbatical from U.S. life and enjoy Europe.

Webber has a history of making vain attempts to flip the system on its ear. He was the leader of the Fab Five - choosing Michigan with four other players rather than allow schools to recruit them - which was a conscious choice that signaled to the world, ‘there’s a new, more aware black athlete coming down the highway.’ So, I thought that Webber would set precedent for other players and help them to realize that, because they are the product that makes sports, they can control the system that is professional sports. I thought he’d”go global.” But no.

I forgot that, of all the Fab Five, Webber especially valued playing on television and taking money under the table more than making a statement by playing for an HBCU (Historically Black College and University). So, of course, when faced with a final choice that would define him as a person and an athlete, he chose to stay stateside.

Whisenhunt’s quandary

Though they’ve won consecutive games, the Arizona Cardinals might be headed for turmoil. In a move more suited to Bobby Bowden than to any NFL head coach, Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt is playing shuttling quarterbacks with Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner. Warner looked great against the Steelers – after Troy Polomalu left the game with a back injury. Yahoo Sports’ Michael Silver details Leinart’s feeling about the situation (oh, and notice how nicely Silver treats missing in action father, Leinart):

Having given way to backup Kurt Warner for much of the Cards’ 21-14 upset of the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, Leinart’s day had been filled with bitterness, frustration and prideful defiance. Now, as he finished his meal at City Hall steakhouse, there was only detached bewilderment.

“I just want them to ride or die with me,” Leinart said softly of 2-2 Arizona. “If I’m the franchise quarterback, play me and let me stumble, because I’ll fight through it, and that will help me and our team in the long run. I know coaches want to win now, and I guess they have their reasons. But I don’t understand it, and this switching back and forth is almost worse than getting benched.”

This is going to come to a head at some point this season. It might be used as the reason the Cardinals don’t make the playoffs - again - or, if ‘Zona stays in the playoff hunt, the players will demand that either Leinart or Warner lead them. Either way, Whisenhunt can’t play go and win this battle with the players, especially when you have the guy you used to coach floating around dropping bombs behind your back:

“The whole thing is weird,” says Roethlisberger, who admittedly is not a fan of Whisenhunt, his former offensive coordinator. “He sits Matt all that time, then puts him back in and has him throwing deep? It’s just weird. I don’t see how it can work. But that’s just me.”

(addendum: Silver, a longtime sports journalist, was called a “blogger” on “Jim Rome’s Rome is Burning” show yesterday.)

Bad Newz dogs not so bad, after all

All but one of the dogs that John Goodwin and the Humane Society (HSUS) wanted killed have been found to be - in time - fit to be placed with families:

All but one of the dogs seized in the Michael Vick dog fighting case will be placed with families or put in a “sanctuary,” where they will interact with people to overcome their fear and lack of socialization, according to court order filed Monday.

One of the 49 seized dogs “has a history biting humans” and will be euthanized, according to a motion filed in Virginia in U.S. District Court.

U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg said the dog — identified as number 2621 — “exhibited intense aggression to humans to the point where the evaluation could not safely be completed.”

The recommendation came more than a month after the court ordered the dogs evaluated by U.S. Department of Agriculture contractors.

How interesting. The public was led to believe that all of these dogs showed signs of dog fighting and were otherwise useless. Despite reporting on May 24 that the dogs were mostly in fine condition, I was told there was no truth to this; that all the dogs showed signs of dog fighting injuries. Now we find that the report was correct all the time.

What else is a lie?