- Joey Barton will remain with Queens Park Rangers, but not as it's captain. One more breach will end his tenure there. His offenses against Man City will cost him a half-a-million pounds (555,000, to be exact -- six weeks wages (480;000 pounds) from the club and 75,000 to the FA). He's already suspended a third of next season, and word is that the manager is NOT planning to name him to the squad for the Premier League. (So when's the bloke getting paid next -- circa January? Suspension runs through a match on November 17th, and then six weeks from that, plus effectively a seventh for the FA fine... Yep, next paycheck for the bloke -- if he stays straight -- is in January, 2013!!)
- Ray Allen to the Heat... If there's any doubt that they are constructing a 70-ish-win Super Team in Miami to minimum repeat-for-as-many-years-as-LeBron-and-Wade-can-coexist, that should be the nail in the coffin right there.
- Hope Solo failed a drug test for Canrerone earlier, the US Anti-Doping Agency has reported. So why does she get off with only a warning? It's not as nefarious as you think. They did a full research and realized that a doctor-prescribed medication Solo was legally taking had the substance (which is why the substance is a "Specified Substance" under WADA/USADA rules), and publicly warned her (probably to change relevant medications), but that no further action was required, and she remains on the US Olympic Soccer Team. In a related matter, the chief of WADA has openly urged all drug cheats to withdraw from what he calls the most tested Olympic Games in history. (Part on Solo is valid, part on the WADA chief... Hardy har har har)
- Speaking of drugs, at least IMODO, a local Southern California swimmer has thrown Michael Phelps under the bus, saying that Phelps does not share his example or ethic for hard work. (Why not just come out and say that he believes Phelps is dirty? I will go on record to state that I believe Michael Phelps used steroids four years ago in Beijing, and the musculature he showed in one of the famous celebration photos is not standard for a swimmer.)
- And another black mark for the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Only a "stiff warning" for Anderson Silva for his deliberate shoulder at the face of Chael Sonnen before their middleweight UFC 148 title bout last Saturday - he could've been fined or stripped of his license, the latter would've cancelled the fight. So why is this another bad day for the NSAC? Easy. The fight was allowed to take place only because it was the largest MMA gate (ticket money) in the history of the state of Nevada! (Money talks, bullshit walks. Right Mr. Kizer?)
Speaking of the NFL, a commentary: The whole thing with the Saints is going to be a cloud over this entire season for the NFL. The entire Player Safety Initiative and probably the very future of football (especially the NFL with the lawsuits) may depend on how this plays out.
One interesting thing which I believe may (though no one else has played this angle on it) be a side effect of this: Goodell, a week or two ago, sent a letter to the teams basically outlining how any 2013 Los Angeles move would be able to be pulled off. What if no NFC team comes up willing to move? Could the NFL, knowing that Saints owner Tom Benson cooperated with the investigation, give Benson a golden parachute on the current (decreased) value of his franchise to take the franchise under temporary NFL ownership and move them to Los Angeles, where we all know Goodell openly wants both an NFC and an AFC franchise in "Farmer's Field", which could be downtown right next to the Staples Center!
Something to think about.
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