Following the Chris Webber blockbuster, last-minute NBA trades Thursday included Gary Payton, Antoine Walker and Baron Davis.
Antoine Walker back in Boston.
Sixers get Webber.
Warriors get Baron Davis from Hornets.
Sixers give away Robinson for Mashburn & Rodgers.
Mavs get Van Horn.
Rockets get Mike James.
Cavs get Welsch.
Thats why I said a while back that I would never buy a sports jersey again… shits become obsolete in no time!
So towards the end of the game Im yelling at the TV saying hurry the fuck up and run another play. Meanwhile, McNabb is running the offense like its the first quarter.
What were they thinking while running this type of offense. What was the plan? If they had scored that last TD and left 3 minutes on the clock it would have been a different game. McNabb was throwing alot of crazy passes but Im not going to say it was all on him. The Patriots D was making him move around so much he couldnt really get confortable in the pocket. The Pats made all of the offenses they faced look kinda bad this season. McNabb had a good game in terms of the numbers also.
Hats off to Terrell Owens… buddy came in and did his thing. Congrats to McNabb and the Eagles for a great season.
AFC reigns supreme AGAIN.
The Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming, helped by the ability of fans to cast votes on the NBA’s multi-lingual website, received a record total of 2.56 million votes for the 54th All-Star Game.
Yao’s selection as the Western Conference centre sets up a showdown with Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal, who had the most votes in the East at 2.49 million.
Yao and O’Neal were announced Thursday as starters for the midseason meeting February 20 in Denver, which will feature plenty of familiar faces, one new one and another making a welcome return after a long absence.
China’s Yao was voted a starter for the third time in as many NBA seasons despite modest statistics this season of 18.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
O’Neal makes his return as starter for the first time since 2002.
Traded in the offseason, O’Neal has averaged 23.0 points and 10.6 rebounds and has the Heat atop the East.
This will be the 12th All-Star Game for O’Neal, the MVP of last year’s contest.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb smiles as he closes his video camea after arriving at Cecil Field on Jan. 30, 2005 in Jacksonville, Fla. The Eagles take on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX on Sunday, Feb. 6
Maurice Clarett stiff-armed another commitment, reinforcing doubts about his reliability and fitness with the NFL scouting combine three weeks away.
The elusive, reclusive former Ohio State running back had been scheduled to participate in the college football all-star challenge, an eight-player skills event taped Monday by Fox TV at Dolphins Stadium for broadcast Saturday.
But he recently hired a new agent, Steve Feldman, who told organizers late last week that Clarett was pulling out.
“It was completely my decision,” Feldman said. “He wanted to be there, but from a safety standpoint, it doesn’t seem logical to take a chance that he might tweak something or pull something or damage something that would prevent him from showing off his stuff at the combine.”
At the combine a year ago, Clarett showed up overweight and declined to work out. He’ll be eligible for the draft in April after his legal bid to enter the NFL last year was overturned by an appeals court. He hasn’t played since being suspended by Ohio State following the 2002 season.
Feldman said Clarett is healthy and working with a private trainer but declined to say where.
“This guy will blow people’s minds at the combine,” Feldman said. “He is in fantastic shape. That’s why it seems ludicrous to jeopardize it at this point.”
Following the combine in Indianapolis, which begins Feb. 23, Clarett will likely take part in two or three private workouts, Feldman said.
Organizers of the all-star challenge said Clarett had accepted an invitation to the event earlier in January before hiring Feldman.
“Unfortunately Maurice is carrying forward his tradition of not honoring commitments and being very unpredictable,” said Dan Jones, vice president of Intersport, the company producing the show. “We were excited about giving him an opportunity to change the public perception, and unfortunately he has done the exact opposite and reinforced it.”
Players participating included Aaron Rodgers, Jason White, Carnell Williams and Braylon Edwards, who shrugged off Clarett’s absence.
“To be invited to something like this, I thought it would be something good for him,” Edwards said. “Clarett’s Clarett.”
“I would be curious to just meet him and see where his head’s at,” Williams said.
Organizers disputed Feldman’s contention that Clarett would have risked injury by participating. The event measures agility, speed and strength, and Jones said model Marisa Miller — who will appear on the show — tested the course without incident.
“If a supermodel can run through the course in high heels and not get injured, I’m pretty sure Maurice Clarett can do it without getting injured,” Jones said.
But with the combine approaching, Feldman said Clarett can’t risk even a minor injury, unlike other NFL prospects.
“The other guys have film. They’ve played the last two years. They can afford a tweak or pull,” Feldman said. “He can’t. He’s got to be ready.”
Feldman’s clients include New England Patriots Corey Dillon and Rodney Harrison. Clarett has also retained as an attorney David Kenner, who has represented Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight.
Clarett rushed for 1,237 yards and 16 touchdowns as a freshman in 2002, leading Ohio State to the national championship. He was then suspended for lying to investigators during an NCAA investigation of allegations he received improper benefits from a family friend.
“He’s going to convince people he has learned a great deal in the last year and a half,” Feldman said.
The London tabloid the Sunday Mirror quoted Lewis as saying, “I’m making a comeback later this year. The money is up to 21 million pounds ($39.3 million) right now and I simply can’t turn that much cash down.
“I need the money just like everyone else and it’s just too good to turn down.”
But later Sunday, Lewis released a statement saying he was not making a comeback.
“I want to reiterate what I said when I retired in February 2004 that I was fortunate to leave the sport on my own terms and that I will be one of the few heavyweight champions in history to retire on top and stay retired,” he said.
Lewis, 39, retired Feb. 6 with a 41-2-1 record. Klitschko assumed the title April 24 when he beat Corrie Sanders.
Lewis and Klitschko last fought in June 2003. Lewis was behind on points when the fight was stopped in the sixth round because Klitschko was cut.
That was Lewis’ last fight and he was booed out of the ring after a poor performance. The WBC mandated a rematch, but Lewis retired instead.
Tracy McGrady ignored the boos and the angry crowd. He just played hard — and won.
Playing in Orlando for the first time since a bitter parting last summer, McGrady scored 27 points to lead a balanced offense and the Houston Rockets beat the Magic 108-99 on Thursday night.
“I was so focused,” said McGrady, winner of two scoring titles in four seasons with Orlando. “I knew the reception I was going to get, but while I was out on the basketball court I was just trying to find ways to get myself going and make my team better.”
Unlike his time in Orlando, when McGrady was often the Magic’s first, last and only scoring option, his Rockets teammates can help — and he is willing to lean on them.
Yao Ming added 20 points, and Bob Sura had 19 points, a season-high 11 rebounds and nine assists. David Wesley scored 18, and Juwan Howard 13.
“I didn’t want to come out and make it a Tracy McGrady show, jacking up shots and playing outside the offense,” said McGrady, who shot 8-of-21, including 1-for-7 on 3-pointers, but made 10 of 12 free throws.
Randy Moss has been told he will be fined $10,000 for his end-zone celebration, a Vikings source told ESPN’s Chris Mortenson on Thursday.
NFL officials would not confirm or deny the report.
Moss caught a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the Vikings’ 31-17 win over the Packers on Sunday and headed toward the goalpost. He then turned his back to the Lambeau Field crowd, bent over and pantomimed pulling down his pants.
Moss didn’t practice with the Vikings on Wednesday because of a sprained right ankle, but he’s listed as probable for Sunday’s playoff game at Philadelphia.
Sunday night, an NFL spokesman told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen: “Randy Moss can expect to be hearing from us.”
When asked by The Associated Press whether the oft-fined Moss would be penalized again, a league spokesman recited NFL rules mandating discipline for “obscene gestures or other actions construed as being in poor taste.”
A fine for the first offense under those guidelines is $5,000. Moss has not previously been fined for such action, but paid a $25,000 penalty in 1999 for squirting an official with a water bottle.
Moss, making $5 million this season, declined comment Monday.
Last month, Denver quarterback Jake Plummer was fined $5,000 for an obscene gesture.
Moss had four receptions for 70 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s game.
Randy Moss is almost sure to be fined for pretending to moon fans in Green Bay during a playoff win, according to NFL rules.
The league is looking into the star receiver’s antics in Minnesota’s 31-17 win over the Packers on Sunday and will announce its ruling later this week.
When asked whether the oft-fined Moss would be penalized again, a league spokesman recited NFL rules mandating discipline for “obscene gestures or other actions construed as being in poor taste.”
A fine for the first offense under those guidelines is $5,000. Moss has not previously been fined for such action, but paid a $25,000 penalty in 1999 for squirting an official with a water bottle.
Wide receiver Roscoe Parrish will skip his senior season and enter this year’s NFL draft, according to his new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who said Parrish will hold a news conference Thursday to announce the decision formally. Parrish was Miami’s top receiver this season, catching 43 passes for 693 yards. He also averaged 16.2 yards per punt return, running two back for touchdowns. One was in the Hurricanes’ 27-10 Peach Bowl victory over Florida on Dec. 31. He was named the co-MVP of that game. The 5-foot-9, 172-pound Miami native was the first player offered a scholarship by Larry Coker after Coker’s promotion to head coach four years ago. Parrish is the fourth Miami player to declare early for the draft in the past two seasons. Sean Taylor, Kellen Winslow and Vince Wilfork were first-round picks in 2004.
