NFL Fine Blotter Week 12

(Source:  NFL.com)

Time to break out the rant.  This almost certainly breaks the record from Week Two.  If you don't think the suspension reversal from Ed Reed didn't have on-the-field ramifications, take a look at THIS Fine Blotter from Week 12!

• Detroit Lions:  Ndokamung Suh's fine for cleating Houston QB Matt Schaub in the balls was $30,000.
• And also from the Lions:  Stephan Logan, $7,875 for a face mask.
• Houston Texans:  JJ Watt:  $15,750 for striking Lions' QB Matthew Stafford in the head.  No penalty was called.  Had the penalty been called, the Lions might well have won the game, as that play was late in the 4th quarter and the penalty would've set the Lions up for a game-winning field goal.  Hmmmm...
• Another one for the Texans, the fourth from this game:  Brandon Harris:  $21,000 for hitting a defenseless punt returner illegally, the aforementioned and fined Stephan Logan.
• Chicago Bears got quite a number in their game against the Vikings:  Jay Cutler:  $10,000 for taunting.
• Bears:  Eric Weems:  $7,875 for a late hit.
• Bears:  Brian Urlacher:  $15,750 for a cheapie on Adrian Peterson
• Bears:  Henry Melton:  $7,875 for another cheapie on Peterson.
• And the Vikings got one too in this game:  Jared Allen:  $21,000 for a blindside block against Chicago's Lance Louis.  This makes Allen the 11th TWO-TIME LOSER this year in the NFL.
• Washington Redskins make it #12:  DeAngelo Hall is now a TWO-TIME LOSER -- two in the same game.  $20,000 for a horse-collar tackle, and another $15,750 for a late hit on Dallas' Dez Bryant.  $35,750 total.  Will someone please explain me why anyone committing two fouls of that level is not ejected from the contest?
• Dallas Cowboys:  Mike Jenkins:  $7,875 for a late elbow on Washington's Pierre Garcon.
• So the same week I laud the Raiders for cleaning up their act (somewhat), they have to get in a fight with the Cincinnati Bengals and get four players fined:  Desmond Bryant, Lamarr Houston, Tommy Kelly, and Matt Shaughnessy.  And these fines weren't small ones:  $26,250 apiece! Houston and Kelly were tossed for their roles.  And, shockingly, no suspension for Kelly, even though the referees ruled he left the bench to join the fight.  That's a 10-game suspension automatically in the NHL, the moment you step on the ice!
• And Cincinnati got one fine:  Andrew Whitworth:  $26,250 for same.  He was also tossed.
• Kansas City Chiefs:  Welcome to the NFL, Donald Stephenson.  Now give us $15,750 from your first game check for unnecessary roughness against the Broncos.
• Baltimore Ravens:  Anquan Boldin:  $7,875 for a late hit against the Chargers.
• New Orleans Saints:  Brodrick Bunkley:  $20,000 for kicking a downed San Francisco 49er in the helmet.  That's only worth 20K and not a suspension?  A multiple-game one??
• Green Bay Packers:  Jerron McMillan:  $21,000 for head contact with a defenseless New York Giant, Martellus Bennett.
• St. Louis Rams:  Chris Long:  $15,750 for roughing the passer in the head, Arizona backup Ryan Lindley.
• Carolina Panthers:  Mike Tolbert:  $21,000 for an illegal blindside block. 
• Seattle Seahags/Seahawks:  Earl Thomas, same penalty as Chris Long, this one to Ryan Tannehill of the Dolphins.

23 players from 15 teams.

FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS.

That's over $2.4 million, over $200,000 a week, for the 12 weeks.  $2,421,050 -- AT LEAST.

When are we going to get the idea that the league has no interest in player safety, nor misconduct on or off the field.

This is on you, Roger Goodell (and on your fans who swear fealty to this bullshit debacle! -- but this rant's on you for being forced to cave on the Ed Reed suspension).  This is almost certainly a snapback on the Ed Reed reversal, and, frankly, it's an indication that the thug-and-violence bread-and-circuses culture of the National Football League is alive and well.

To the grave detriment of everything around it...

And David $tern proves once again why he is the Mafia Don of the NBA

So what sanctions are you going to put out, Mr. $tern?

For those who didn't find out, Greg Popovich decided to be a basketball coach last night, in direct controvertion of TNT's and David $tern's wishes that Popovich whore out the older Spurs to lose to Miami in a nationally-televised game last night (which the Spurs reserves almost won anyway!!) will be met with "unprecedented sanctions"...

Popovich sent home four of his five starters to rest them from a game in Miami against the Heat, the fourth game in five nights on the annual "Rodeo Roadtrip", and the second straight back-to-back.

Oh, really, Mr. $tern??  Why not just admit that your "sport" is a scripted farce punctuated with the occasional street-fight (like what happened earlier this week in Boston), and eventually leading to Lakers (probably out of the 7 or 8 seed) vs. Heat to showcase the only relevant stars of the league -- your allowed super-teams?

Greg Popovich was trying to conserve his stars' energy because of the annual long "Rodeo Roadtrip", and we're real damn sorry that the last game of that roadtrip was in Miami for national TV. 

Wah.

Freaking wah.

Most people don't even consider the NBA to really have started until your Christmas Day television slate of games (which I now think number FIVE?) anyway!

But that's right -- this is NBA ENTERTAINMENT now, isn't it?

Maybe that proposed steel cage match between Vince McMahon and David $tern wouldn't be such a bad idea now.

EDIT TO ADD:  Minutes after I posted this article, the penalties were announced:  The Spurs franchise was fined a quarter-million dollars for the unmitigated gall of actually considering the health and safety of their players over the entertainment dollars the league makes from their nationally-televised matchup.

Fine Blotter Collation Through 11 Weeks

Been doing a bit of updating of past posts to include two-time losers, any appeals I found successful on the Net, etc. and so forth.

So here's what we have so far, through 11 weeks (nothing from the week just concluded has been added):

I have been able to locate 131 fines the NFL has given out in the 2012-13 season.  (This does not include pre-season fines, nor game checks lost from suspensions.

The NFL players (and several coaches, and a referee) have given up effectively TWO MILLION DOLLARS of their salaries in NFL fines.

The total is a staggering $1,992,875 -- we will go over $2,000,000 with the Suh fine this week.

Though there have been no three-or-more time losers, there are ten players who have already been fined twice by the league:

• Ed Reed of the Ravens
• Aaron Curry of the Raiders, all in his first game back and his third offense with the league in two years
• Jerod Mayo of the Patriots
• Jasper Brinkley of the Vikings
• Michael Griffin of the Titans
• Charles Godfrey of the Panthers
• Robert Quinn of the Rams
• Jason Babin of the Eagles
• Joe Mays of the Broncos
• and, technically, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie of the Eagles

There's two other things I look for at this point in the season:

The team fined the most times, and any team or teams that have not been fined at all by the league.

The rogue's gallery is led by two surprising teams:  The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots have been fined eight times each by the National Football League.  The Baltimore Ravens have been fined seven.

By contrast, the league's reputed dirtiest team for many years, the Oakland Raiders, have only drawn three fines from the NFL this year.

And every team in the National Football League has been fined at least once this year.

So THAT'S why I see all the Erectile Dysfunction ads around NFL games...

It all started with the embarrassed parents having to explain to their children exactly what erectile dysfunction is and what Cialis and Viagra and all the other drugs being advertised on NFL games (and other media) were all about.

Well, now, today, we apparently learn that players appear to be using at least one of these drugs as a performance-enhancer, possibly for that reason, but probably for another very big reason.

The Bears' Brandon Marshall claims that some players (a few) are actually taking Viagra to get the blood flowing more in their bodies.

And this article shows he may have a point.

Writes Jere Longman:

Viagra, or sildenafil citrate, was devised to treat pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in arteries of the lungs. The drug works by suppressing an enzyme that controls blood flow, allowing the vessels to relax and widen. The same mechanism facilitates blood flow into the penis of impotent men. In the case of athletes, increased cardiac output and more efficient transport of oxygenated fuel to the muscles can enhance endurance.
"Basically, it allows you to compete with a sea level, or near sea level, aerobic capacity at altitude," Kenneth Rundell, the director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Marywood, said of Viagra.

Two pieces of NFL absurdity -- and the BCS finishes the job on Notre Dame!

Three pieces of football absurdity.

• Ndakumong Suh will not be suspended for his kick in the family jewels from Thursday.

OK, someone has to explain to me, then, why I don't draw the immediate conclusion that the NFL will, at the very least privately, abandon it's Player Safety Initiative at some point when it's convenient for Goodell to do so.

• And a little note for my favorite Seahags bitch...  err, FAN, that's it.  The team that you basically throw everything else under the bus for just had BOTH it's starting cornerbacks suspended for performance-enhancing drugs.

Gee, on a Pete Carroll team no less.  Like to see you defend that...

Of course, the real question, as an ex-NFL fan friend of mine has been asking for some time, is when does it come out that there are labs providing these drugs (and masking agents) to the better part of the league.

• And from the NCAA, the BCS, and ESPN:  Notre Dame finished the job at USC, is going to the BCS National Championship Game with the win, and there's several questions I have about the fourth quarter of that game.

First off, what the Hell was that time out for on the second-to-last drive?   With about ten minutes to go in the fourth quarter and USC trailing 19-10, third and goal at the Notre Dame 4.

All of a sudden, it appears as if a time out has been called to ice the backup USC quarterback -- by USC!!  No one can figure out why.

Next play, incomplete pass, settle for the chip field goal, 19-13.

Then this sequence on the next and final meaningful USC drive, down 22-13 after Marqise Lee, on back-to-back plays, took the kickoff about 40 yards and then hauled in a pass that went almost the rest of the way.  First and goal, at the Notre Dame 2.

1. False start on USC, first and goal at the 7.
2. McNeal for 3 yards to the 4, second and goal at the 4.
3. Pass interference on Notre Dame, first and goal at the 2.
4. ANOTHER pass interference on Notre Dame, first and goal at the 1.
5. QB sneak, nothing.  Second down.
6. QB sneak, nothing.  Third down.
7. After a USC timeout, rush into the line, NOTHING.  Fourth down.
8. Incomplete pass.  Turnover on downs.

I will need to find video, but this is getting awfully suspicious, with all of what was on the line here.  8 tries from the 2, effectively, and you get NOTHING?

Including two QB sneaks that everyone could see coming, and you couldn't just do the old Madden thing:  "Get in behind the center and guard, and keep pushing and pushing until they're putting six points on the board..."?

There might well be another article on this.

Fixed Event/Point Shaving/Scripted Event: That 138-point game was a sham, and the NCAA needs to end a program over it

I assume most of you have heard of the 138-point "performance" that a Division III player put on -- one so "incredible" that even the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant tipped their proverbial hats.

Now comes word the entire game was an utter and complete sham, and the NCAA needs to pull the plug on the basketball programs of the coach and school involved as a result.

This is point-shaving to the point that it was, according to Deadspin's Barry Petchesky, a completely scripted enterprise by Jack Taylor and the Grinnell College Pioneers, with the participation of their opponents, Faith Baptist Bible College.

Real Godly for that school to take part in such a scam, too, while we're at it.

And, according to Petchesky, this is not the first time that Grinnell College has concocted a sham sporting event to get media attention onto itself! 

"It is just the latest incarnation of Grinnell's decades-old strategy of seeking media attention for records achieved through a complete bastardization of basketball."

And it all starts with the current coach and his modus operandi for the Grinnell program:

"David Arseneault is the man behind the plan. Since becoming Grinnell coach in 1989, Arseneault has focused less on putting together a successful team and more on getting his players' names in the record books. And, not incidentally, selling books and videos touting his innovative "system." At least three separate times a Grinnell player has set the D-III single-game scoring record, and each one has gotten national attention. In 1998, Jeff Clement went for 77 points, and received a story in Sports Illustrated. Last season Griffin Lentsch scored 89 points, and got a feature on ESPN.com. Today, Taylor's 138-point game is everywhere."

(Links in the quote are the same links from the Deadspin article.)

Now, someone has to explain to me something:  This guy effectively has a PRODUCTION COMPANY?

A production company...  So he basically up and admits that NCAA contests under his purview are nothing but produced events for the consumption of the Worldwide Leader, should and when he elect to do so!

And this guy has been coach for 23 years now??  And no one has brought this idiot to task for what he has done to his college and the integrity of the sport of DIII college basketball?

This is the guy's philosophy of coaching, in one equation:

94S + 47 3's + 33%OR + 25SD + 32 TO's = W

First off, he wants his team to take at least 94 shots in a game.  A 40-minute game no less.

Half those from the 3-point line (47).

Of the ones that are missed, Arseneault expects the team to offensive rebound a third of them.

His team is expected, in each game, to take at least 25 more shots than their opponents (SD = Shot Differential).

And his team is expected to force 32 turnovers.

This is Loyola Marymount from the Bo Kimble/Hank Gathers days on steroids!!

Now the philosophy isn't exactly a problem if the games are kept legitimate.

The problem with Jack Taylor's "performance" comes as follows:

According to a former Grinnell player who took part in one of those record-setting games, the gameplan is designed from the outset to get a specific player the scoring mark, even at the expense of making a mockery of the game. The player told Deadspin:

"The strategy was to use a full court press after a made basket, with the caveat that [the player seeking the record] would not cross into the defensive side of the court. So, after our opponents broke our press, we were essentially playing four-on-five, which enabled the other team to take quicker shots and fall into our game plan.
"The rationale is to essentially trade off a quick two or more attempts at lower probability 3-point shots. Given the high pace required for the system, Grinnell shifts in five players every 30 to 45 seconds. Within each shift there is a primary shooter who will take the bulk of threes (or shots) during the shift."

And this is where I openly accuse of game-rigging and point-shaving -- although I guess "shaving" might not be the right term here.

The entire game plan is to take the game into such an insane tempo that no team could ever hope to keep up with it.  Basically, the team almost substitutes players like it were a hockey shift!  Essentially, the entire system is designed so that one player just breaks the records and the game gets national and ESPN attention and that's where Arseneault truly wins.

Taylor took 108 shots alone.  He took 71 shots from the three-point line.

So what happened, really...  Tyler Burns watched the entire sham again on tape.  The thought process is obvious!

"There were a LOT of possessions where Taylor would chuck up a shot, miss, and his teammate would get the rebound wide open under the basket. Instead of putting it back up, he would look for Taylor again and pass it out so he could chuck another three. There were many possessions where this happened three times each. Six three-point attempts in two trips down the court.

Literally 75% of [Faith Baptist's] points were full court heaves to get it over Grinnell's press, then a wide open layup on the other end. Oh, and David Larsen's "impressive" 70-point effort? Hardly. They were 90% wide open layups. He maybe took a handful of jump shots."

Basically, no effort was made to play defense, once the ball crossed through the press.  They literally were rigging the game to go to such a ridiculous extreme that no team could hope to keep up.

And Taylor? ZERO assists.

This wasn't basketball.  This was, at best, Ballhog-ball, if not a straight-up rigged enterprise by a production company (not really a "basketball team") to get ESPN attention.

(David Larsen was the main beneficiary for Faith Baptist, nearly matching the pre-1998 record.)

And here's a real fun act of sportsmanship for you:

"The announcer actually said that Grinnell will look on their schedule for their weaker opponents and do everything they can to run up the score and break records. This is all within the game plan. One tactic the announcer mentioned was called "The Bomb Squad". If Grinnell's opponent gets into the double bonus, Grinnell will sub in five freshmen players, foul their opponent immediately once the ball is in play, send them to the line, then sub the freshmen players out to put their scorers back in on offense. This takes almost no time off the clock, giving their starters as many offensive possessions as possible."

This Arse-hole's "basketball program" is a sham and needs to be forcibly terminated.

Fine Blotter, Week 11, and a probable suspension for Week 12

I knew he couldn't last the season without getting in trouble again, and this one might cost him the season.

Ndamukong Suh appears like he's going to be suspended again for another Thanksgiving Day kick.  (Good Lord, send him to New York with the Rockettes and the high-school bands and college drill teams if he's that desperate to kick.  The Macy's Parade could use him!)

This time, he got Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub...  below the belt.

And the NFL has said they will consider his past history in coming up with punishment.

So why are the first reports I'm seeing saying he might get one game, when he got two last year for his indiscretion?

To me, if his history is going to be evident here, that's got to be at least what Albert Haynesworth got, and that ends Suh's 2012 campaign.

--

Well, we'll find out more next week.

Here's this week's roundup of money-losing, courtesy of NFL.com:

• New York Giants APPEAL SUCCESSFUL:  Wipe out Kenny Phillips' $30,000 fine from Week 2.
• Cleveland Browns:  T.J. Ward:  $25,000 for a helmet-to-helmet on Dallas's Kevin Ogletree.  Being appealed.  The hit eventually gave two players other than Ward concussions.  One might wonder if part of the fine is not that he forced Ogletree's helmet into somebody else's.
• Baltimore Ravens:  Ed Reed, TWO TIME LOSER:  $50,000 for hitting a defenseless player, appealed down from a one-game suspension.  Reed is still not happy.
• New England Patriots:  Kyle Arrington:  $21,000 for a cheapie on Andrew Luck.  Illegal hits on Luck alone have netted the league nearly $100,000 in fines.  If you don't believe SOMEBODY in this league is not trying to take Luck out, I'd like to have a word with you.
• Jacksonville Jaguars:  Dawan Landry:  $21,000 for a headshot against Garrett Graham of the Texans.  Memo to Roger Goodell:  That's the fifth TWO-TIME LOSER in two weeks, this one back-to-back weeks.
• New York Jets:  Garrett McIntyre:  $15,750 for a helmet-to-helmet on the Rams' Sam Bradford.
• Carolina Panthers:  Thomas Davis:  $21,000 for striking a Tampa Bay Buccaneer in the head and neck, a penalty which went a long way in tying the game and sending it to overtime.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  Ted Larsen, $7,875 for a late hit.
• Green Bay Packers:  Brad Jones:  $15,750 for roughing Matthew Stafford of the Lions.

$177,375 this week, but then net that minus $30,000.

NFL Scoring Update: After 11 Weeks

As you get to settle down to the Tryptophan Tripleheader today, here's the Score Update for Week 11

2012 Week 11 averaged 46.71 points per game, with the 59-24 New England rout of Indianapolis being the second-highest scoring game of the season and another game (Houston 43 - Jacksonville 37) the third-highest.

That, since 2001 is the highest Week 11 average, by over a point over 2010.

2012 still is on record-scoring pace, the average NFL game now going over 46 points a game at 46.05, effectively two full points over last year.

--

Last week, I said I would examine something Brian pointed out:  The number of games decided in the last two minutes and overtime.

Through Week 9, Brian noted that 31 out of the 132 games played to that point had the winning score during either the last two minutes of the 4th quarter or the game went to overtime and had a winner.

In Week 10, we had a game go to overtime with no winner (49ers-Rams).

As for games which would qualify, out of the other 13: 

Bills-Patriots did not, though the Bills had the ball for most of the final 2 minutes, down 37-31.

The only game to qualify that week was the other overtime game of the week, the Monday nighter between Pittsburgh and Kansas City.  So through 146 games, 32 were won in the final two minutes or overtime, with one game going overtime to no decision.

Week 11: 

Green Bay-Detroit qualifies.  The winning touchdown started before the 2:00 warning, but the play ended after the clock went under 2:00 (Rodgers to Cobb)

Carolina-Tampa Bay and Cleveland-Dallas both went to overtime to decisions, so they count.

Houston and Jacksonville went to overtime, and, with the new rules, may well have set a record in the NFL with the maximum THREE overtime scores before Houston was finally able to win 43-37.  Matt Schaub nearly broke the NFL record for passing yards in a game.  (A field-goal by the team winning the toss no longer wins the game automatically then and there.  A touchdown still does.)

So, of the 14 games in week 11, 3 went to overtime to winners and a fourth had it's game-winning score in the last two minutes of regulation.

Hence, through 160 games, 36 were won in the final two minutes and overtime, and a 37th went to overtime and went to no winner.

And it's up: New article on Brian's site:

Luck o' the Fighting Irish

I am fully aware of one immediate edit that is probably a reversal of a Brian-edit.  The Stanford team name is singular Cardinal.  I think I had it right in my draft, but, however it went down, it'll get changed.  He's got a couple more cleanups and a link to this site to add to the post.

I really want people to take a look at this situation.  If you really want to believe that sports are legitimate, you really have to tell me how so many things can go one team's way over the course of a season and not have it be a given agenda.

Videos of all the plays are embedded on Brian's page, and, as usual, he's done a very good job of doing so.

Watch and judge for yourself, especially on a numbering penalty which should've been called and you can clearly see the foul on the NBC telecast on the missed field goal which would've had Pittsburgh defeat Notre Dame.

Thank you, once again, to Brian, for allowing me on his site to do this project, while Brian has other non-sports projects on his plate before his 2013 release of his second book on this subject, Larceny Games.

Suspension Blotter (Reed's Lifted Nov. 20), and a BCS Article Announcement

EDITED with new information 11/20.

Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens was suspended for one game for his third violation of hitting defenseless receivers.

My take:  I can understand people thinking it's harsh, but it's his second this season and third in two years for this same act.  League has to take action to be taken seriously (HAR HAR HAR) on the subject.  We'll see what the arbitrators rule -- the appeal will be heard by two arbitrators, one paid by the league, one by the players' union, and will be heard to make his eligibility for the next game clear (Sunday vs. San Diego).

His appeal was successful, and Reed will play Sunday -- however, he becomes a TWO TIME LOSER with a $50,000 fine for his second offense.

*

I have several articles I've been a bit behind on, but blame some of my other writing (and not just on other blogs -- I'm a Nanowrimo participant as well), Real Life, and screwed-up November for that.

But an article which will probably be my second on Brian Tuohy's website goes to the front of the line.

I'm going to be taking a look at the new #1 BCS team, and three calls which might well have allowed the BCS and ESPN to "Cheer, Cheer For Old Notre Dame" right to the bank -- and to a classic matchup of two classic powers for the BCS National Championship...

... a matchup between two teams who have not played each other for 25 years now.

Catching up again... Score Report Week 10

As Week 11 wraps up, here's the Score Report for Week 10:

48.57 was the average for Week 10 2012.

2010 was almost 52 a game, but no other year since 2001 was higher than this year's Week 10.

10 week average:  45.993 -- the average NFL game this year averages almost 46 points a game, end of last week.

That's nearly two full points ahead of last year, and a point and a half ahead of any year through 10 weeks 2001 and since.

--

And a little additional point from Brian Tuohy's season page:

As of the end of Week 9:  31 out of the 132 games played had the game-winning score in the final two minutes or in overtime.

I'll check Week 10 myself if I can, but that should tell you the other part of all this...

Week 10 Fine Blotter: And the (Dirty) Hits Just Keep On Coming

• Houston Texans:  Tim Dobbins:  $30,000 for putting Jay Cutler of the Bears on the shelf with a concussion for a helmet-to-helmet hit.  (Cutler is out for Chicago vs. San Francisco)
• Oakland Raiders:  Aaron Curry is a MULTIPLE-TIME LOSER this week, a total of $23,625 for multiple actions against the Baltimore Ravens.  It's his third run-in with the league office in 13 months, and came in the first game Curry played this season.
• Denver Broncos:  Von Miller:  $21,000 for trying to take out Cam Newton of the Panthers below the knees.
• Denver Broncos:  Kevin Vickerson:  $15,000 for horse-collaring the same player.  Someone was trying to eliminate Cam Newton for a few weeks.
• San Francisco 49ers:  Ray McDonald:  $21,000 for a shot to the head in the tie against the Rams.
• Indianapolis Colts:  Jerry Hughes:  $21,000 for a late hit against Jacksonville.
• New England Patriots:  Brandon Spikes:  $25,000 for roughing the passer during a sack against Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick.  TWO TIME LOSER for Spikes as well.
• New England Patriots:  Alfonso Dennard:  $7,875 for a late hit against Fitzpatrick.  Someone was trying to take him out too.
• New England Patriots with a third:  Jerod Mayo, $10,000 for a late hit against C.J. Spiller of the Bills.  The third TWO-TIME LOSER of the week.
• Miami Dolphins:  In a fine that should surprise nobody, the second-dirtiest player in the league, Richie Incognito:  $10,000 for a late hit against Tennessee.
• Cincinnati Bengals:  Ray Maualuga:  $15,750 for unnecessary roughness against the Giants.
• Jacksonville Jaguars:  Dawan Landry:  $10,000 for a late hit in the Indianapolis game.
• Jacksonville Jaguars:  Terrance Knighton:  $25,000 for a late hit against the Colts.
• Minnesota Vikings:  Jasper Brinkley:  $21,000 for a shot to the head against the Lions.  That's a total of four TWO-TIME LOSERs this week.
• And a referee even!!  Tony Corrente lost his game check (about $9,000) for swearing into an open mic.

Footballsfuture.com forums the source.  (ESPN on the ref one.)

14 players (and 1 referee), about $265,250.

So far.

And you guys really want me to buy the "player safety is important" initiative...  REALLY...

Hey, $elig, you jackass! $teroid$ still pay well, apparently!

Someone explain how this goes down without him being on the gas, and for what appears to be much longer than with the Giants?

Melky Cabrera is gone.  Various reports have him signing with...  The Toronto Blue Jays.

Gee, the Blue Jays are getting involved in their share of smarmy stuff.

But here's the thing, Mr. I'm Cracking Down on Steroids Bud $elig:

How does this guy get 2 years and $16,000,000 unless he was on the gas last year to "win" (before the rules were thankfully changed) the National League batting title?

I mean, don't get me wrong:  Anyone who knew anything knew Melky was done with the Giants.

But how does this guy get $8,000,000/year off a 50-game drug suspension, and NO ONE bats an eyelash at how he got that batting average?

Collusion, Bribery, and Extortion: The Latest MLB Fraud

Meet Jeffrey Loria, the owner of the Florida/Miami Marlins AAAA "major league" baseball team.

Meet one of the biggest assholes in baseball.

The guy just oozes "asshole", and he's already been responsible for the literal death of baseball in one of the two Canadian markets Major League Baseball has penetrated, Montreal.

He was the owner that basically fire-saled a team which could've been relevant in the beginnings of the Steroid Era (it had the best record in the majors before the strike in 1994! -- 3 1/2 games better than the mighty Yankees), leading to the eventual farce that was the Puerto Rico Expos for a period of time (leading to an absurd, though beautiful for the park, traditional doubleheader for the Giants that was necessitated because they could not reschedule one of the Expos' Puerto Rico games which was rained out!) and, eventually, the team fleeing to Washington.

It is clear that Jeffrey Loria has no regard for the fans, other players, or anyone but his smarmy fuck of an art collector self.

And this shithead got a World Series ring with the Marlins, and then promptly firesaled that!

Then he screams for a new stadium, extorts it out of the taxpayers, and says he'll make the team competitive again if and only if he gets the new stadium.

That lasted...  about a third of a season.

The final straw has apparently fallen on the relevance of the Miami Marlins.  This "trade" with the Toronto Blue Jays:  Basically all their remaining star players (and most of the salary) for a cup of coffee, a malcontent, and some prospects.

A friend of mine who's a baseball historian has actually heard estimates that Jeffrey Loria is actually going to try to trot out a team with a payroll of about $35 million next year, if Loria can unload any salaries he finds too expensive and too constrictive to the creation of the new Jeffrey Loria Art Museum or somesuch folly.

I mean, it's so bad, and anyone watching ESPN that first home game could've seen it.  His idea of a "first pitch" was to bring out Muhammad Ali.

Now, God bless Ali and he's still The Motherfucking Greatest and will be For All Time.

But the Parkinson's and the like is advancing at a frightening rate, and what was supposed to be a wonderful feel-good moment (and Ali certainly deserves that, and none of what I say is to be taken one iota of fault of his!) turned into a pathetic display of a physical shadow of a man.  The fans were so saddened to see how he was doing that they couldn't even rouse a cheer, and the PA announcer was left to try to force an "Ali!  Ali!  Ali!" chant out of the crowd.

On the Opening Night of the stadium...

On ESPN...

And this motherfucker basically extorts what could be hundreds of millions out of the taxpayers to pay for a minor-league baseball stadium, because this shithead is going to pocket the revenue-sharing and profit from this sham of a team.

Speaking of "credible sanctioning bodies" as I have before, where the fuck is Bud $elig on this one?  This is in the Best Interests of Baseball to literally watch a man repeatedly gut a team to the point that no one wants to come and watch, even when they ARE good?

If I were $elig, he either fields a competitive team, or, since he has no interest in doing so, either must sell the team or it dies, under BIoB.

Fuck Jeffrey Loria.  Fuck his smarmy ass.  And if that's not good enough for him, he can basically take his minor-league traveling show elsewhere, as far as I am concerned.

If you ever need another indication of how NA$CAR is run, I submit to you the end of this past weekend's race...

Sometimes, the farce just becomes so obvious that who won and who lost become basically irrelevant.

Take last weekend's NASCAR race in Phoenix.

What most YouTube clips won't show is an incident with about four laps to go in which Clint Bowyer rubs Jeff Gordon into the outside wall, popping his tire and ending what very easily could've been a good run.

This was, apparently, the last fucking straw in a season full of this shit for Gordon, who, though black-flagged because he could not be up to speed, elected to stay on the track and TAKE OUT BOWYER.  (right at the start of the clip)

Then Gordon saunters to the pit road, where he is immediately summoned to the race officials' truck.

All Hell breaks loose before he gets there.

You see, in wrecking Bowyer intentionally, Jeff Gordon eliminated Clint Bowyer from the season-long championship.  Brad Keselowski is about to win his first such championship, barring a blown engine or something like that in the last race in Homestead, FL.

But no one is going to care!

The first controversy that should've been handled (but, again, no one cared about) is that had race leader Kevin Harvick (who _did_ eventually win) taken the white flag, the race ends there.  Since they "withdrew" the white flag before he got it, apparently, for Gordon taking out Bowyer (and Joey Logano and a third car), we got one of those Green-White-Checkered finishes.

But, again, no one cared because of what happened the moment Jeff Gordon made it to the infield.

The moment Gordon gets out of the car at about 1:26, Bowyer's crew is waiting for him, and a mass brawl erupts!

At 2:18 of the clip, Clint Bowyer gets out of his car, and enacts at least a 300-yard sprint for blood.  He has to be held back by several NASCAR officials as the melee continues to be cleaned up in the garage and the race (purportedly for the material on the track, but I think, more, for the melee) was stopped!

So, basically, the brawl goes on, everybody is summoned inside, and these are the penalties:

• Instead of being thrown out of the final race at Homestead for deliberately wrecking someone out of the championship, Jeff Gordon was simply fined $100,000, docked 25 points, and is on NASCAR's "probation" for the Homestead race.  (Technically through December 31)
• Rick Hendrick, for being the owner, docked 25 owner points.
• The crew chief, Alan Gustafson, is now on probation until December 31 for failing to control Gordon.
• Brian Pattie, Bowyer's crew chief, fined $25,000 for getting into the fight and probation until December 31st.
• And Brad Keselowski fined $25,000 for carrying a cell phone (illegal under rules basically covering computers and the like), but nothing for a profane press conference slamming the media for his apparent actions in Texas while all this garbage is going on.

I have been one of the biggest critics of NASCAR's "Boys, have at it!" philosophy.

This is why.  This incident pretty much did in the 2012 championship, barring something with Keselowski this week.

But here's the doubling of the problem:   You have a deliberate take-out, a mass brawl, and NO ONE GETS THROWN OUT FOR NEXT WEEK...

If there were ever a case that it's simply 43 billboards running around the track and that the sponsors run this sport, there it is.

And now everyone is going to expect Round2 either at Homestead or 2013 Daytona...

Week 9 Fine Blotter: A couple interesting ones here...

• Pittsburgh Steelers:  The team was fined $35,000 and Emanuel Sanders $15,000 for faking an injury to gain an extra time-out in their game against the Bengals.

If this is verifiable, how Sanders was not suspended and the Steelers docked far more (and 15 yards) is beyond me.

• San Diego Chargers:  Team fined $20,000 for failure to comply with a game official.  It was believed that illegal stick-em was on some of the towels that the team had used, and the officials wanted them confiscated.  It was determined that the charge had no merit.
• Baltimore Ravens:  Dannell Ellerbee fined $10,000 for striking a defenseless Cleveland Brown (Trent Richardson) in the head.
• Philadelphia Eagles:  Michael Vick (yes, THAT Michael Vick) was fined $7,875 for a low block on a pick-six end-to-end return of one of his interceptions in the loss to the Saints.
• Tennessee Titans:  Michael Griffin:  $20,000 for a horse-collar vs. the Bears.  That makes him a TWO-TIME LOSER.
• Tennessee Titans:  Matt Hasselbeck:  $15,750 for another horse-collar.  According to the NFL.com article sourced at the Vick fine link, he's appealing.
• Carolina Panthers got two as well:  Haruki Nakamara, $21,000 for striking a defenseless player in the head and neck.
• and Greg Hardy, $15,750 for roughing the passer, Robert Griffin III of the Redskins.
• Oakland Raiders:  Tyron Branch, $15,750 for another horse-collar against the Buccaneers.
• Green Bay Packers:  Ryan Taylor, $21,000 for a blind-side illegal block.
• Arizona Cardinals:  Same game, Quentin Groves, $15,750 for, you guessed it, a horse-collar tackle!
• Indianapolis Colts:  Cassius Vaughn, $7,875 for a late hit on Miami's Reggie Bush.

Four horse-collars, several defenseless player fouls, that's $220,750 down the tubes.

And another no-shit moment for the NFL...

A couple weeks ago, SI released a poll which indicated that Tim Tebow was the most overrated player in the NFL, and his starter, Mark Sanchez, was second.

Well, during my trip to Las Vegas, we found out that Rex Ryan has completed the trifecta.

A second survey, this one done by The Sporting News, of 103 players, has found Mr. Animal House to be the most overrated coach in the NFL, and by a similar wide margin to the overrated-players survey.

One surprise:  Bill Belichick was rated second on the most overrated coaches poll.

And getting the scoring caught up: Week 8 and Week 9

Finally getting the rest of this caught up:

Scoring Update:

Week 8's 14 games averaged 41 1/2 points exactly.

Since 2001, only 2001, 2003, and 2007 had fewer points on average for Week 8.

Week 9's 14 games averaged exactly five points more than Week 8:  46.5 exactly.

Since 2001, 2007 was higher by a small fraction, 2009 lower by a similar small fraction, and only 2004 was sunstantially higher.

For the 9 weeks, the average NFL game scored 45.72 points.

This is about 1 1/3 points higher than last year's record.

OK, been a bit lax... The last two weeks' Fine Blotters...

Was in Vegas this weekend.  Had great time until the little shit on the Greyhound trip home (and the bus breaking down on the way over and the fire which caused a 25-mile traffic jam (2 hour delays each way!) on the way back...).

Will have an article about that in a bit.

But some stuff I have to catch up on.

Week 7:

• Chicago Bears with two uniform violations for $10,500 each for orange cleats:  Brandon Marshall and Earl Bennett.
• Arizona Cardinals:  Rashad Johnson, $21,000 for an illegal blindside block against the Vikings.
• St. Louis Rams:  Cortland Finnegan:  $7,875 for a facemask on Jordy Nelson of the Packers.
• Baltimore Ravens:  Bernard Pollard:  same fine, same penalty, against the Texans.
• Detroit Lions:  Alphonso Smith:  $15,750 for a horse-collar of Chicago's aforementioned Brandon Marshall.
• Ndokamung Suh was NOT fined for his hit on Jay Cutler.  (Nor, IMODO, even with Suh's reputation, should he have been.)
• Carolina Panthers:  Charles Godfrey:  $7,875 for a chop-block against the Cowboys.  This makes Godfrey a TWO-TIME LOSER.
• Washington Redskins:  Tyler Polumbus:  $7,875 for a leg-whip against the Giants.
• San Francisco 49ers:  Dashon Goldson:  $7,875 for taunting the Seahags.

A couple I had to add from NFL.com...

Week 8:

• Earlier in the season, it was announced that week that the Rams were fined $20,000 for not disclosing Stephen Jackson's injury against the Redskins.  (Gee, after a weekend in Vegas, I wonder why???)
• New York Giants:  Chris Canty:  $15,750 for roughing the passer (Tony Romo of the Cowboys).
• Oakland Raiders:  Richard Seymour:  $15,750 for roughing the passer (Matt Cassel of the Chiefs).
• Chicago Bears:  Chris Conte:  $21,000 for a hit to the head on Carolina's Brandon LaFell.
• New York Jets:  Marcus Dowtin:  $15,750 for roughing the passer (Matt Moore of the Dolphins).
• Tennessee Titans:  Mike Martin:  $15,750 for...  you guessed it!!!  Roughing the Passer!  (Andrew Luck of the Colts).
• Miami Dolphins:  Jonathan Martin:  $10,000 for excessive chipping and clipping against the Jets.
• Minnesota Vikings:  Jared Allen:  $7,875 for fighting...
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  Donald Penn, who got the same fine.
• Pittsburgh Steelers:  Antonio Brown:  $10,000 for taunting, as he ran the last 25 yards (last fine of the list has an animated GIF of it, and, again, that forum is the source for these lists, Footballsfuture.com NFL News Forums) of a touchdown punt return backwards.  The return was nullified with another penalty.