A response to Pacman case waiting on Vegas charges

PacMan "alledgedly" spent this past Monday evening (July 2nd) in another local Atlanta strip club. He was seen and not heard, playing the background, while other ballers commenced to "make it rain."

WAYNE "BETZKY", JANET JONES-BETZKY and Rick Tocchet to join the cast of the Sopranos in Season 12

With the latest allegations that Wayne Gretzky was fully aware of the alledged multi-million dollar gambling operation run by his friend Rick Tocchet, this could lead to the ultimate demise of the NHL, which is still trying to recover from last year's strike.

With Wayne initially stating that he did not have any knowledge of the alleged gambling ring, only adds su####ion that he has a deeper involvement in the whole matter.

At this point, there have been several person's implicated, including Gretzky's wife, his close friend Rick Tocchet, a state trooper, and a New Jersey mob boss. 

This is the classic example of life imitating art. It has all the ingredients of a classic Sopranos episode, except the show writer's could never have come up with a plot this thick!

And you couldn't ask for a more realistic cast to play the roles. Take a look at Wayne and Janet Jones. A look made for late night cable!

Janet asking for some more cash to bet on the game?!

Now honestly, could ANY man say no to this?

Then there is the main character of the alleged gambling ring (Rick Tocchet). He wouldn't even need to go to make-up before shooting his scenes. A natural to play the alleged "Gangsta" role.

  Give this man an Emmy!

Of course, all of this is only alleged at this point. However, it does not look good for the NHL. But look on the bright side. Maybe HBO can parlay this into a drama about the NHL like ESPN did with the hit series "Playmakers", which was cancelled due to pressure by the NFL commissioner.

With today's date being Friday the 13th, I am inspired to once again bring up the subject of the "Heisman Curse".

This subject drew much more attention than originally intended with my blog on Should the Heisman be awarded AFTER the championship game? In the closing of that blog I made the statement, "Maybe it is time to re-evaluate the Heisman process. Because at the current pace, the Heisman is turning out to be more of a 'curse' than a 'blessing'". Apparently, some people were offended by my prediction that former Heisman trophy winner, Carson Palmer, would not make the Hall of Fame. Several people argued that Carson Palmer was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career, with the successful season that he had this year. My rebuttal was, "Carson has yet to win ONE playoff game...much less earned any HOF talk.

Then low and behold, in the Bengals first playoff appearance in 15 years, the "Heisman Curse" strikes... Carson goes down!

**WARNING**

Due to the Graphic Nature of the photo that follows, Some people may want to turn their heads:

OUCH!!!

When asked to grade the severity of the injury, the orthopedic surgeon replied, "On a scale of 1 to 3, it was a 4. It was off the chart. It was pretty badly damaged - shredded is the better term." They have gone as far as to say that it was more than an ACL tear, "It can and has ended careers."

My prayers go out to Carson for a full and speedy recovery. However, with the type of injury that he has suffered, it is against all odds that he will be able to return AND have a Hall of Fame career. So the "Heisman Curse" appears to be alive and well. We will keep our eyes on Leinart and Bush, but they are definitely up against the odds!

Now that everyone has had a chance to wake up from the dream game that we were all blessed to witness (thank you Vince), it is time to ask the question...should the Heisman be awarded AFTER the final game of the season?

I am not raising this argument to say that the MVP of the championship game always deserves the coveted trophy. However, shouldn't the candidates performance for an "entire season" be taken into consideration? Of course, had this been the case this year, Vince Young would have taken the Heisman.            

For sake of argument, let's just take a look at the NFL careers of past Heisman winners. They can be looked at as mediocre at best (and a majority have been bust). No Heisman winner has had a "Hall of Fame" career since Barry Sanders ('88). That is almost 20 years of mediocrity! I know some might say, "give some time to those that have earned the award since '88." However, there is no need to wait. The only Heisman winners that the verdict is still out on, are Reggie Bush ('05) and Matt Leinart ('04) (And that 's only because they have not played a down in the NFL yet)!

 Maybe it is time to re-evaluate the Heisman process. Because at the current pace, the Heisman is turning out to be more of a "curse" than a "blessing". Now that's what's up!

Now that the Atlanta Falcons have once again failed to successfully complete back to back  winning seasons, one must  ask the question: Is Michael Vick's skill set a blessing or a curse.

Exhibit 1: Vick has such an outstanding skill set (strong arm & amazing quickness). that one has to argue if it would ever make sense for him to just become a "pocket passer. This season, he stayed in the pocket more than any previous season, and their 8-8 record was the end result.

Exhibit 2: Because Vick rarely throws the long ball consistently, receivers are unknowingly put in a "Receiver Purgatory" when they sign with the Falcons. The Falcons have had several decent receiver's whose numbers have suffered considerably as a result of Vick's passing consistency. Peerless Price had a bright future ahead of him before he signed with the Atlanta. Price is now on the verge of being out of the league.  In comes Michael Jenkins, who was supposed to be the new long ball target. Jenkins is now feeling the heat. If he is smart, he will get out before his numbers suffer any further. Now there is the "aspiring" rookie Roddy White. White will likely suffer two more years of mediocre numbers, before his contract is up for renewal. If he is lucky, another team will realize his unused talent and take a chance on him at that time.

Exhibit 3: Coaches are being hung out to dry because they can't seem to find the perfect offense that will showcase ALL of Vick's talents. The first victim was Dan Reeves. Now the Atlanta local sports talk shows are calling for the head of Jim Mora. Mora introduced the Run and Shoot offense to compliment Vick's skills. However, this just resulted in a worse record than last year. I don't know if there is a coach or offensive coordinator out there that could design an offense to accentuate Vick's skill set at the QB position.

So ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have to ask you to decide if the defendant (Michael Vick) is a blessing or curse. Should he be found to be a blessing, the Falcons will continue to muddle in mediocrity while Vick continues to stun us as the "Human Highlight Film" of the NFL. Should you find him to be a curse, he will be stripped of his starting position as a QB and lined up at wideout and halfback. This will allow him to totally confuse opposing defenses and allow the Falcons to possibly make it to the big game one day (Super Bowl).

If the QB position does not fit, then Michael Vick must sit!

I consider myself one of the purest fight fans left on the planet. I sometimes find myself surfing the cable channels looking for any matchup, on any given day of the week.  When I first heard about the Roy Jones Jr. v. Bernard Hopkins fight, I asked myself the same question millions of Americans asked: WHY??? And then I heard that it was going to be a Pay-Per-View event, and I fell out in the floor laughing! Who in their right mind would pay $55 to see this? O.J. Simpson won't even be tuning into this one, since he has been found guilty of stealing cable (The cable plug fit, so they couldn't acquit). I have since removed the illegal cable box from my home, so I won' t be tempted to tune in to this fight in March. To fulfill my temptation to view this fight, I decided set up this match on the playstation. Because my wife no longer allows my friends to visit the house (something to do with her finding that video tape of my bachelor party), I convinced her to participate in this boxing exhibition. Because I wanted to see Roy Jones get "knocked the #### out", I convinced her to fight as Roy and I was B-Hop. Because she has only played the game twice (under duress), I figured that Bernard would make easy work of Roy in the first round..."Lets get ready to ruuummmble!" In the first round, I immediately went in for the kill. However, it seemed that I could not land a solid shot. Although I took the first round on points, I was upset that B-Hop couldn't take care of business. My wife, apparently sensing my frustration, decided to make Roy Jones come out in the second round with the same aggression that I had tried in the 1st round. Surprisingly, she was able to utilize Roy Jones' "playstation" speed to it's fullest, and actually caused noticeable damage to B-Hop's face.

She actually took round 2. At this point, I was p!ssed. She began to talk smack, telling me that she was going to hurry up and knock me out in this round, so she could go and watch America's Top Model. This was an insult to my manhood. So I had to figure out a way to come back, just to save face. So as the 3rd round began, I had B-Hop work the body for the first half of the round. At the one minute mark of the 3rd round, I had started to see some progress, so I went in for the knockout. B-Hop had Roy on the ropes and it looked like I might be able to pull off a K.O. in the last seconds of the round. Then the most incredible, unimaginable playstation fluke occurred. Roy Jones slipped one of my uppercuts and caught B-Hop with an overhand left.

"Down goes Hopkins, down goes Hopkins." 1, 2, 3, 4...get up B-Hop...5, 6, 7....get your #### up Hopkins...8. Hopkins finally makes it to his feet. The referee asks if he is alright. Hopkins still has a dazed look on his face. The ref puts up his arm and stops the fight! NOOOOOOOO!!!! How did this happen?!! My wife scores a knockout with Roy Jones Jr. in the 3rd round!!! She is jumping up and down screaming in sheer delight. You can't imagine the humilty of losing to a woman in a sporting event.

To make a long story short, I have since sold that defective playstation on ebay. Now that's what's up!

  It is time for Brett Favre to hang up his six shooter, and ride off into the sunset.I must admit that initially, I was not a Favre fan. Only within the last few years, has his heart, toughness and proven skill level ,made me jump on the Favre bandwagon. And with Brett's best interest in mind, I must conclude that it is time for him to go to the house. As for those that might argue that he has a lot left in the tank and he could contribute to another team for a few more years, I have the following reply. Yes, he could definitely contribute to a contending team. He could improve that team's record by 3 or 4 wins, easily. However, this would not lead to a Super Bowl ring. And as far as Super Bowl rings go, Brett has "been there and done that."

He needs to preserve his legacy and walk into the Hall of Fame with his head up. Anyone that argues otherwise, is just being selfish and only thinking of their team's potential fortune, should they win the "Favre Free Agent Lottery".

Brett, please don't tarnish your image any further. Let us remember you in your Super Bowl form. Now that's what's up! 

Dante Culpepper should not re-sign with the Vikings. He should just take whatever offer is put on the table by another team and move on. He was never really appreciated in Minnesota, and now that he has the "Love Boat" fiasco hanging over his head, he should get out while the getting is good. Right now he is posted up in Orlando rehabbing his knee. However, the Minnesota fans are pissed off because he is not in Minnesota with the team. Now why would he want to be in that "god foresaken land" in the winter time? And how could that Siberian Winter help with anyone's mere existence...much less a knee rehab? Dante should put his home in Minnesota up for sale and never return. It would be the best thing for both sides. Now that's what's up!

The trade of Johnny Damon is further evidence of the BoSox forever being cursed as the Yankee's Byotch. It all began with the trade of Pedro Martinez. This was followed by the loss of brain child Theo Epstein. Then there are several in management that have left the organization in the last several months (assistant general manager Josh Byrnes, special assistant to the general manager Peter Woodfork, director of international scouting Tom Moore and scout Victor Cruz).

Let me clarify that I am in NO way a fan of the Evil Empire (NY Yankees). I just feel that the Red Sox owner's actions prove that they don't have a clue. They seem satisfied with the one World Series win. As much as I hate to say it, they will always be the "Yankee's B'yotch" because of the stumblin, fumblin, bumblin of BoSox upper management! Good luck making the playoffs next year. Now that's what's up!

I know that the NFL commissioner's office is looking at the most popular players to keep the fan's excited about the game. But the game can stand on it's on, without making selections based on popularity instead of substance. I know that the NFL is a business and they must market what sells. But I have a problem with Mike Vick being named as a Pro Bowl QB selection for the NFC.

First of all, let me clarify that I am an Atlanta resident and a die hard Falcons fan (dating back to the Dirty Birds). But could someone tell me how in the hell did Atlanta's Mike Vick make it to the Pro Bowl with the numbers he has put up this year? One more touchdown than interceptions,(13/12). One of the lowest OB passer ratings of all starting QBs (71.8). And there are only two QB's with a worse passing percentage. I know that he is "the most exciting player in the league" but there are several QBs out of the NFC that deserved the selection (anybody heard of Drew Bledsoe?). And before any of you throw out the race card, let me tell you that I am an African American, educated at one of our country's finest historically black colleges (so that card won't play on this table). I could go on for days, arguing about how Mike Vick is NOT a QB, and how his true talent is not being utilized with him lining up behind center...but I digress (for now). Now that's what's up!