It is that time of the week where you, Joe Six-Pack Fan, can call out those idiots, malcontents, ingrates, and general all around bad guys for their behavior that so pisses you off. Looking around the world of sports, there are PLENTY of sports figures that have earned the dubious distinction of being thrown Under The Bus this week. I have some sports personalities.

NASCAR

Juan Pablo Montoya: his tete-a-tete with Kyle Busch earned him a trip to NASCAR's equivalent of the principal's office, aka The Big Red Hauler. (Not to be confused with Big Red, one of JPM's sponsors) I will come correct on putting Kyle Busch in the Ugly category of an earlier blog, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I will make up for it by throwing JPM Under The Bus.

Tony Stewart's Pit Crew: why on earth did they change two tires when they knew that rain was coming on the horizon? Especially when gas only was working. The crew cost Smoke a possible win. And as a result, Zippy and Company get thrown Under The Bus.

Jamie McMurray: I hate to do this to such a good guy, but I must. It appeared he had plenty of room to go around Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as Junior was entering the pits for his final pit stop. J-Mac plowed into him, tearing up his own vehicle and as he slid to the bottom of the track, he clipped his teammate David Ragan. Ragan lost control and hit the wall, ending HIS day. For being inattentive at an inopportune time, J-Mac goes Under The Bus.

NBA

Shaq: he dissed Kobe Bryant in a freestyle rap at a recent outing at a nightclub in New York City. The Big Chicken#### did this after last week's Who Would You Throw Under The Bus? was posted. Shaq's not escaping. Shaq, where were you when the Finals were being played? WATCHING IT ON TV, like millions of other Americans. Where was Kobe? PLAYING in the Finals. Shaq, grow the hell up. You won a ring without Kobe; give it a rest already. As if Kobe doesn't need any more motivation, this will fuel his fire even more to win a title without you. Shaq, and in the meantime, you get thrown Under The Bus.

Memphis Grizzlies: yes, you got O.J. Mayo. But you paid a pretty steep price to get him. You gave up Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and another player. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves improved themselves by getting a fundamentally sound player in Love, a sharpshooter in Miller, and a couple of other serviceable bigs that will add depth to the Wolves' bench. When you allow Kevin McHale to fleece you, it will get you thrown Under The Bus every single time.

NFL

New York Giants: they got rid of the Hefty Lefty, Jared Lorenzen. They got rid of the WRONG QB. They should have got rid of Anthony Wright. For getting rid of the wrong QB, the G-men get thrown Under The Bus.

Houston Texans: it's going to take me a VERY long time to be able to root for this team again. They so screwed up David Carr while he was there he's shot mentally. They NEVER gave him a decent running game and a decent O-line while he was there. They allowed him to be a human pinata. Then AFTER they unceremoniously dump him in favor of Matt Schaub, they FINALLY work on building up a running game and an O-line. If the football gods are listening, the Texans won't win a Super Bowl while Robert McNair owns the team. In the meantime, the Texans get thrown Under The Bus.

MLB

Houston Astros: for allowing the Shawn Chacon/Ed Wade drama to reach new heights. This is one of the most dysfunctional teams in MLB. Drayton McLane needs to sell this team to a local group that WANTS to win. Chacon gets thrown Under The Bus for attacking Wade physically for refusing his orders/requests. Wade gets thrown Under The Bus for escalating the incident. Who's next?

TENNIS

Justin Gimelstob: he called Anna Kournikova a b***h and a #### and said some sexually charged remarks towards her involving his brother. Kournikova, to her credit, is taking the high road. Gimelstob, to his credit, took full responsibility for his remarks and apologized. However, you can't unring that bell. For his egregious lapse in judgment and for putting both feet in his mouth, Gimelstob gets thrown Under The Bus.

Ana Ivanovic: she lost early at Wimbledon. There goes LOTS of guys' reasons to watch Wimbledon in the first place. She's HOT. It wouldn't be so bad if she weren't the #1 seed. But she's the top seed and to lose in the second round IS reason to be thrown Under The Bus.

Those are my nominees for this week. Feel free to come on in with yours! 

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! They really do the Lord's work. That being said, here's this week's version of "Who Would You Throw Under The Bus?". Time to call out those sports figures that so p****d you off over the past week. And here we go!

NASCAR

Darrell Waltrip: you have to keep in mind he's a shill for Toyota. Yet his constant lovefest with Kyle Busch was downright disgusting and takes away from the broadcast. I like DW; he's entertaining and brings a former driver's perspective to the broadcast. But I have to call them as I see them. Hate to do this, but DW goes under the Bus.

NBA

The Officials: or more specifically, the officials that allowed a Pistons 3-pointer that should have NEVER counted. The clock froze at 4.8 seconds left in the third quarter of Game 2. Any official in the history of the world (except these officials) would have stopped play and awarded the Pistons the ball with 4.8 seconds left. Because the clock froze, the Pistons were given extra time to hit the three. And because of that, the officials get thrown under the Bus.

Los Angeles Lakers: or more specifically, their bench. They were totally outclassed by the Utah Jazz bench today. Going into the series, I'd have rated the two benches even. Did the Clippers hijack the Lakers' bench and play in this game? The Lakers bench gets thrown under the Bus.

MLB

Los Angeles Dodgers: they got swept by the weak-#### Houston Astros. At home, no less. It's one thing to lose to the Mets; they're a good team. No shame in losing to the Mets. Houston is only slightly better than Pittsburgh. And I have to throw Jonathan Broxton under as well. He's the reliever that the Astros took batting practice off of. (Word had it the Astros had a team brawl at the bat rack) He let a stellar outing by Hiroki Kuroda go to total waste. Kuroda no-hit the Astros for 6 2/3 innings. And he has NOTHING to show for it. The Dodgers and Broxton get thrown under the Bus.

NFL

Marvin Harrison: the Colts' WR has carefully cultivated an image of being a quiet, unassuming player that goes out and does his job. That image is being called into question. He was involved in a shooting in a seedy part of Philadelphia at a bar he owns. The gun involved was found in a bucket at a nearby car wash he also owns. Details are sketchy, because no one's talking. Sorry Marvin, gotta throw you under the Bus for being involved with seedy ####.

Cincinnati Bengals: because they have become the league's halfway house for bad seeds, ingrates, and general all around bad guys. And it's a shame for classy players like Carson Palmer and T.J. Houshmanzadeh that they have to be lumped in with their malcontent teammates. The Bengals (except Carson and T.J.) get thrown under the bus.

NCAA

Ryan Perriloux: this guy had the opportunity of his young lifetime to be THE MAN at LSU. Starting QB for a national championship contender. So what does he do? He gets kicked off the team for allegedly failing a drug test. He was allegedly found with chronic in his system. He apparently didn't attend Common Sense 101 in the school of life. Is getting your bong on so important to you that you #### away the opportunity that just about every young man your age would rip his arm off for? For sheer stupidity, you get thrown under a FLEET of buses!

Those are my nominations! Feel free to come in with yours! 

The NFL is nearing its end for another season. Pitchers and catchers are less than a month away from reporting. Speedweeks will start in a couple of weeks, leading to the Daytona 500. There are many nominees in the world of sports that so draw the ire of fans that you want to throw them Under The Bus (Jerome Bettis Limited Edition, 850 hp). I have a few nominees.

MLB

Houston Astros: all they had to do is wait ONE MORE DAY and then they wouldn't have given away the farm to acquire Miguel Tejada. The Astros made the trade with the Baltimore Orioles the day before the Mitchell Report came out. Good luck trying to stay out of the NL Central cellar. Bet you would LOVE to have that one back! For being so feckless, the Astros' "brain" trust gets thrown Under The Bus.

MLB Owners: for extending Bud Selig's contract another three years.

NBA

Laker haters: ALL of you Laker haters that were salivating with glee that the Lakers were going down when Andrew Bynum got injured are to be thrown Under The Bus. And FREAKING Andrew Bynum is the FREAKING DRIVER. I don't mind that you hate on the Lakers; just don't be gleeful when one of their best players is injured and out for a couple of months. As a Lakers fan, would I be gleeful if KG, Ray Allen, or Paul Pierce missed significant playoff time? No. I'd say it'll be tougher for the Celtics. Just you FREAKING wait when Bynum comes back!! You'll get yours when the Lakers are hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy as NBA Champions. That goes for you too, Suns fans! QUIT crowing that you're one of the elite NBA teams, because YOU'RE NOT. You have a small center, an aging point guard, and too many players that do the same role. When you feed on bottom feeders for most of the season, you're NOT an elite team.

Miami Heat: enjoy that championship you won in 2006. That'll be the last you'll win for a VERY long time. Your losing streak is at 13 and counting. Who knows, I lost track after 5 in a row. That's how dull your team is, Heat fan. The Heat, and Shaq the Myopian are to be thrown under the Bus (with Andrew Bynum as the driver of said bus).

Anyway, those are my nominations. Come in with yours.

ABOVE: Henry Winkler as Fonzie on "Happy Days" jumps over a shark while water skiing.

Every fall, TV show commentators comment on which new shows will break out and become great, which shows won't last, and of the returning shows, which shows will stay strong and which shows have "jumped the shark." I'm going to add a sports twist to this.

In the sports twist, the term, "jump the shark" means that a team has reached its peak and is beginning its downhill slide. Or it can refer to an individual athlete whose performance begins to decline, eventually leading to his retirement.

Here are some of my teams that I think have "jumped the shark":

NFL

Seattle Seahawks: while this team is still formidable, they clearly are not the powerhouse team of a few years ago. They lost twice to the San Francisco 49ers last season and tomorrow face a better Niners team than a year ago. Shaun Alexander is approaching the wrong side of 30, which is OLD for a RB.

Carolina Panthers: this is still a decent team, but its door to win a Super Bowl is slamming shut. The defense is getting old, John Kasay's not getting any younger, and Jake Delhomme is injured.

Cincinnati Bengals: had they focused on building a quality defense a few years ago, I wouldn't include them in this blog.

Baltimore Ravens:  the window of opportunity to win a Super Bowl is shutting rapidly. Steve McNair will probably retire after this season due to all the injuries he has accumulated. Had the Ravens had the McNair of eight years ago, they would be one of the favorites for a Super Bowl title. Ray Lewis, the heart and soul of that stout defense, is slowing down. See you in Canton, Ray. You'll take your place among the all-time greats at LB.

MLB

St. Louis Cardinals: this team is one year removed from winning the World Series. Usually a team that wins the World Series one season automatically jumps the shark the next season.

New York Yankees: they have had vast success from 1996 to the present, winning four World Series in a five year span, including three straight from 1998-2000. Since 1995, they have made the playoffs EVERY SEASON. In an era where a three to five year run is considered excellent, it is a 13 year run and counting. However, their window of opportunity is closing. Their young studs at the beginning of the run are older, aging veterans now.

Chicago White Sox: went from world champs to world chumps in two seasons.

Houston Astros: see above.

NBA

Miami Heat: Shaq is getting old, the cast of characters are constantly changing, with the exception of D-Wade.

Dallas Mavericks: with the emergence of younger, hungrier teams, the window is closing FAST. They may have one, maybe two, years left.

These are a few examples of teams from each league that I think have "jumped the shark." For further references to this term, go to www.jumptheshark.com.

Which teams do you think have "jumped the shark?"