Who is going to be the one with the bravery to go up against Goliath?

Another day, another NFL arrest...

Indianapolis' Joe Lefeged, gun possession in Washington DC.

The bullshit has to stop.

The bullshit has to stop NOW.

Or we're literally going to be unable to go one week to the next without not only a fine blotter, but an arrest one as well!

Who, of any meaningful import, is finally going to implement a real plan to clean up the NFL?

Because, as I said to Roger Goodell on his Twitter today, if this were any other organization than the Neanderthug Felon League, they'd be investigated under the RICO Act, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

*ensue laughing across the Internet*

Oh, you don't believe me!

An organization can be found guilty of racketeering if any two of the following crimes can be proven within a 10-year period (list from Wikipedia):

• Any violation of state statutes against gambling, murder, kidnapping, extortion, arson, robbery, bribery, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act);
• Any act of bribery, counterfeiting, theft, embezzlement, fraud, dealing in obscene matter, obstruction of justice, slavery, racketeering, gambling, money laundering, commission of murder-for-hire, and many other offenses covered under the Federal criminal code (Title 18);
• Embezzlement of union funds;
• Bankruptcy fraud or securities fraud;
• Drug trafficking; long-term and elaborate drug networks can also be prosecuted using the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute;
• Criminal copyright infringement;
• Money laundering and related offenses;
• Bringing in, aiding or assisting aliens in illegally entering the country (if the action was for financial gain);
• Acts of terrorism.

Does ANYONE want to try to think that I can't come up with a pattern of conduct (especially in the age of the NFL's fixers like Billy "White Shoes" Johnson) which encompasses many more than just two of these?

It's long past time to hold the NFL accountable for the environment it has, in some cases, created (and, in others, encouraged).

I will probably add more of this to the equation, but this is what I would do if I had the power to do so:

1) Roger Goodell has to go.  NOW.

He has clearly impeached himself as a liar, a fraud, a shill, and a scam artist -- all in the name of the promotion of his league as a National Religion of thuggery, violence, criminality, without regard to the consequences for anyone (least of all, his own players).

He clearly establishes himself as above the game, the laws, human (or any other) decency, etc.  He's slimy, corporate, and hopelessly corrupt.

2) For any real effort to go into place to clean up the National Football League, a Commissioner must be put in place with integrity and the willingness to fight probably a more powerful foe than the Mob itself.

Why do I say this?

The case of Dan Moldea.  The same one who wrote Interference also wrote a book on Ronald Reagan's victory, and it's ties to the Music Corporation of America and their ties (both Reagan's and the MCA's) to the Mob.

Dark Victory:  Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob didn't end his investigative career.

Interference did, as his father feared on his death-bed.

Anybody who wants to deal with this has to be strong, with integrity, and not afraid to get things messy.

Hmmm, sounds like maybe, a Bob Costas or a Bob Ley??

3) It's time to hold these fucking teams accountable where it counts.

I'm not talking fines, here.

I'm not talking suspensions.  Just throw a lot of these fuckers out of the league.

I'm talking remedies for full-out mismanagement, with a solution sometimes used in European soccer.

It takes something serious to do it (match-fixing, financial malfeasance, continued racism in the stands), but the second-to-ultimate penalty in European soccer (the ultimate penalty being disintegration of the team, ask Rangers of Glasgow, destroyed and having to restart as a new team from the bottom of Scottish soccer for levels of malfeasance unheard-of -- surprised this didn't kill the Scottish professional leagues in one season) for that kind of problems is a points deduction.

What I am proposing is the American equivalent:  A system, put in place, that matters like player conduct, team conduct, tampering, etc. where won-loss records can and will be altered if a significant pattern of disregard for league rules (by the team) or the law (by the players) can be ascertained.

Too many players get arrested and the like over a league year?  You start getting docked wins.

Bounty-Gate?  Probably get disqualified from the next year's playoffs!

It's the only real solution to force teams to hold accountability to their personnel and insist that the players brought in be able to act like human beings.

Complete and Utter Proof: David Stern Knows What The Fuck He's Doing...

(ON EDIT:  And that I'm not.  Need to give you that 2013 Draft video...)

... and loves that all sane people hate him.

From Deadspin:

More hypocrisy by the Neanderthug Felon League...

So it was good enough to wait for the process to finish for Michael Vick...

But this Hernandez guy...  Anybody wants to sign him now, the league needs to see him first.  Basically, Aaron Hernandez has been Rae Carruth'd out of the National Football League.  Banned.

Of course, there is now the fact that he's now under investigation for two more murders, and that the murder he was just charged for might well have been the elimination of a witness to that.

This might be enough to toss the Patriots off the short list, and not even Tom Brady retiring might fix it.

When the fuck is the Neanderthal Felon League going to learn?

I have no arguments with anyone who does not wish this government actually get involved in doing so, but mornings like this one in the NFL scream for a Howard Cosell-level National Sports Commission to finally force these fucking leagues to start taking a real hard look at the franchises and the players they employ.

Not only, today, do we get the long-awaited arrest of (now former) Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez, but, on the heels of that, ANOTHER murder case (at least attempted) involving an (now former) NFL prospect...

Ausar Walcott has been charged with several felonies, including Attempted Murder 1, for an altercation at a strip club at 3 AM last Sunday.

Now why do I include this as another signal someone needs to start looking at the franchises and the players?

Deadspin provides the answer.  Two years ago, while at Virginia, Walcott was one of three men who were arrested after sending two others to the hospital.  His charges were dropped -- the other two pled guilty.

WHEN IS THE NEANDERTHAL FELON LEAGUE GOING TO LEARN?

David Stern Wins. Undisputably.

Sports Media Watch reports:

Game 7 Spurs-Heat:  15.3 rating, 26.3 million viewers.

Second highest rated NBA game of the post-Jordan era.

#1 was Game 7 Celtics-Lakers 2010 Finals:  15.6, 28.2 M

And to give an idea of what the Next Jordan is doing for the league:  2005 Game 7 involving the Spurs (vs. the Pistons):  11.9, 19 M

The NBA Grand Final even beat the Notre Dame-Alabama construction by two-tenths of a point.

(Interesting statistic SMW puts out to validate the Greatest Tragedy in Sports:  Game 7 of that farcical 2002 Western Conference Final stands, now, as the 4th-highest rated game of the post-Jordan era.)

NBA Post-Mortem: Collecting the posts and postscripting a huge Vegas story

Round 1.

Round 2.

Conference Finals.

NBA Finals.

There's all the posts with the betting lines and free throw margins.

Some thoughts on the second coronation of the New NBA Dynasty:

• David Stern is on to Brian and me!  Miami was out free-throwed in 6 of the 7 Finals games, and the first five games of the Eastern Conference Finals with Indiana!  Memphis had the same in the Western Conference Finals all four games of that sweep.
• Covers were 44-36 ATS.
• Over was 40-38-5 or 40-39-4, depending...
• An interesting couple of pictures posted to many media outlets (this one from the New York Daily News) of Lebron James' new shoes from the Shwoosh-stika.  Nike basically trumpeting James as a two-time NBA Champion, Tuesday about 3:30 PM -- BEFORE GAME SIX.  Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!
• And the post-mortem on what I consider the most telling, daming, and interesting story of Vegas in these NBA playoffs....

As readers of this blog know, there was a viral claim by Incarcerated Bob (a gambling expert) that Floyd Mayerweather laid almost $6,000,000 on the Heat, giving the points, in Game 7 against the Pacers.

Brian Tuohy picked up the story, I found out, and cashed in.

So, with tonight's game thought (by me) to be a foregone conclusion, I checked for any news by him.

Instead of anything, I found the misadventures of a blogger who attempted to get an interview with Incarcerated Bob.

Let his misadventures be a lesson -- there is far more going on in sports than anyone wishes to understand.

David Purdum, formerly of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, started a blog on big bets and the like to work his way through a change in scenery.

So the Incarcerated Bob story (especially when it went berserk (Yahoo picked it up -- I was reading about it two days later in Vegas betting papers!) interested him and he sought an interview.

What resulted was a nice look into the Vegas betting underworld.  Read Purdum's blog post I linked to -- I'll give Cliff's Notes here.

Keep in mind what Incarcerated Bob and Pregame_Steam noted at 12:34 PM PDT that day:

"Floyd Mayweather's 5.9Million bet #Confirmed spread out over 9 books and underground bookies in Vegas @ http://ibnsportswrap.com/index.php

You see, this is what most of the stories forget on this situation:  Most of the laid money was illegal!  Vegas tried to use their legal take on the game to deny the betting took place, but anyone who knows their salt on this subject knows most betting on sports is illegal money!

Keep that in mind as we go along.

Purdum has covered sportsbooks for five years, as he reports, and it's no secret that much of it is dirty, slimy, and illegal.

Incarcerated Bob is not new to the bookie/betting game.  He was a longtime caller to a WFAN call-in show in New York, and he called in picks.  Purdum was able to figure out either who this guy really was (real name, place of residence, other websites and handles, etc. and so forth!) or close associates.

This did not please Incarcerated Bob one bit!

Especially when Purdum (probably triggered by one of the purported persons' Internet circle revealing that person's address in Elmhurst, NY -- either he's in or near Riker's Island Correctional Institution, located in East Elmhurst!!) started seeking criminal background checks on the parties he was locating.

That got one Eastern associate/sock puppet (no one is sure just which!) to post Purdum's address publicly and threaten to out the arrest records of all of Purdum's family -- all in public on Twitter!

The associate's threats spurred Purdum even further!  A phone call from a "recreational sports bettor" (given the pseudonym "Steve" by Purdum) pretty much clinched it.

"Steve" was a lot more than a recreational bettor.  He was posting his picks on his Twitter, and he was rolling.  As a result, he got followers, followers Incarcerated Bob wanted to buy by buying the account, trying to convince "Steve" that "Steve" would only have such value for a short time!

Incarcerated Bob gave "Steve" the same phone number Purdum had tied to a real name and application for being a handicapper or such.

"Steve" declined to sell the account, and was Twitter-attacked with a spoof account and flame wars on "Steve"'s real Twitter.

So why is this important?  Purdum backs up to the Game 7 Indiana story.

Pregame_Steam, Purdum reports, also reported a $50,000 bet at the MGM sportsbook on the Heat giving 7 ("normal people" had to give 7.5!), inferring someone "knew something"...

(The only thing they could've "known" was that the game was fixed for a big Heat win.)

And now the stories were changing (especially after the MGM Grand denied the report) -- the bets were now being taken from offshore (hence, illegal to Americans) books.  (This would be consistent to the Mayerweather story.)

With the probability this was all a steaming pile of bullshit rising by the moment, the Mayerweather story goes viral.  Brian picks it up.  I pick it up.  Yahoo picks it up.  The Chicago Tribune mis-attributes it to a more legitimate site.

Then Purdum basically lays the hammer:  All Incarcerated Bob is doing is using this publicity to sucker people to his handicappers, at least so Purdum claims.

It is claimed 3/4 of IBN's followers are fake.

Purdum has matched hashtags to effectively confirm to him that the associate who was threatening him was an IBN sock puppet.

So after all this, Purdum decides to press on and give Incarcerated Bob his side of the story.

Then it got really ugly in e-mails Purdum received:  Unannounced skimming of winning weeks was charged, many of the bets were losers (including the next 1 or 2 free ones I saw from his site), and an attempt to phish information from Purdum for IBN's use.

The interview was declined.

---

So why did I just Cliff's Notes a very fascinating story anyone should get from Purdum himself?

1) This is the Vegas culture, and the dark corners thereof.

2) I do believe that Floyd Mayerweather is slimy, dirty, and protected enough to have carried out exactly what Incarcerated Bob reported.  It would be right up IBN's alley, and Mayerweather would fit right in if this characterization were true.  Hell, would it be out of the question that Mayerweather and his Money Team were in league with IBN?

3) I do still believe the story -- just that the vast majority of the money was illegal.

4) This is another arm of the, as Brian puts it, "Showbiz Manipulations".  Once you involve Vegas (and anybody with a clue understands Vegas is involved), this is the dark side of that force, as it were.

5) And it happens ALL THE DAMNED TIME.  

6) Perhaps these are more people that the leagues are in contact with to enforce their realities?  Take that chilling thought home with you.

Why the growing Hernandez murder story is another example of ESPN propaganda...

(Hat-tip to an anonymous friend, who tipped me on this one...)

It sounds as if the NFL has it's latest murder case.

It's the fourth-year tight-end Aaron Hernandez, soon to be an ex-New England Patriot (at least for a time).

SI.com reports that sources indicate he will be arrested for the murder of a Boston man near his home.

Why am I (and my anonymous friend before me) now saying this is another example of ESPN pro-football propaganda?

ESPN and ABC simply are reporting that Hernandez has not been ruled out as a suspect.

That would be almost like the concept of a third-trimester mother-to-be being considered "a little pregnant".

Why do I say it that way?  This Hernandez punk appears to be a real piece of work.

According to the SI.com article:

• A video surveillance system in Hernandez' home has been smashed intentionally.
• In "complying" with a subpoena/warrant for his cell phone, Hernandez gave it to police, in about a million pieces...
• A cleaning crew was caught leaving the home Monday, before police would be allowed to search it.
• SI.com has now found at least two additional gun incidents linked to Hernandez, on top of the one which everyone knows about when Hernandez was sued by a guy who, after arguing with Hernandez, lost his eye to a gunshot!
• May 18, 2013:  Hernandez gets into an (all-too-predictable) altercation with a Jets fan.  A gun is later found discarded under a vehicle nearby, but "no one can tell whether it was Hernandez or the man who taunted him".  (Not an exact quote.  More, it's put in quotes to see how much the situation was "fixed" in Hernandez' favor, basically.)
• 2007:  While at the University of Florida, Hernandez was questioned about a shooting that took place after they lost to Auburn.  Though Hernandez was confirmed to be at a nearby nightclub, no further action was taken.

To continue the thought process of pro-football propaganda and why the thought of Hernandez simply not being ruled out as a suspect is ludicrous, you must consider how this idiot was allowed to walk free and into the NFL in the first place.

SI.com article:

"But the pattern of Hernandez showing up in court filings and on police reports hints at a life lived in the margins and surrounded by questionable people. Hernandez also admitted to NFL teams that he failed numerous drug tests prior to the 2010 NFL Draft. That disclosure combined with multiple NFL personnel sources telling SI.com that some teams had concerns that Hernandez was associated with some people with gang ties, reveals why so many teams passed on Hernandez in that draft. He had emerged as the most dominant tight end in college football that year, but his off-field issues led him to slip all the way to the fourth round."

And where was this guy living with all these associates?

BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT

Would it be of any difficulty at all for me to charge that there is a possibility that the underworld in which Hernandez lived had associates with the Worldwide Leader in Snorts, perhaps people we know of???

Just a thought.  Where there's smoke, there's fire.

For anybody who wishes to even remotely question the NBA's agendas:

The other of the two controversial calls, Ginobli took about three steps (and a fourth while he may have been fouled!), so that's a travel.

This one, though, no doubt about it at all.  NONE.

Studying the NBA Finals

MIAMI HEAT -- BACK-TO-BACK NBA CHAMPIONS

(Just as David $tern ordered.)

Game 1 (June 6):  San Antonio 92 - Miami 88

MIA: -5 - -5.5 (UPSET)
O/U:  189 - 190 (PUSH or slight under)

FTA were 18-17 to the Spurs.

Game 2 (June 9):  Miami 103 - San Antonio 84

MIA: -6 - -6.5 (COVER)
O/U:  190 (started at about 187 - 187.5 and went up, for some reason -- UNDER)

FTA dead even at 14-14.

You really didn't think they were going to let the Heat go down 2-0, did you???

Game 3 (June 11):  San Antonio 113 - Miami 77

(OUCH!)

SA:  -2 (BIG BIG COVER)
O/U:   187.5 - 188.5  (JUST GOT OVER)

Whistles stayed in pockets tonight!  FTA were only 19-10 to the Spurs.

Game 4 (June 13):  Miami 109 - San Antonio 93

MIA:  -0.5 - -2  (BIG COVER - yes, Miami was the favorite, based on their record off a loss)
O/U:  186.5 - 187 (BIG OVER)

FTA:  San Antonio 31 - Miami 17 
FTM:  San Antonio 23 - Miami 15

Game 5 (June 16):  San Antonio 114 - Miami 104

If the game had a favorite at all, some books had MIA -1 (which would be an UPSET), but others had it a straight pick game.
O/U:  188.5 - 189 (with a 187.5 at my favorite, the MGM/Mirage -- ALL WENT OVER BIG)

FTA only 26-23 Spurs.

Game 6 (June 18)  Miami 103 - San Antonio 100 (Overtime)

And with a 3 with 5.2 left to save the Heat.  So now Stern is mixing a little Goodell in with his stuff.  WOW.

MIA:  -7 (with a -6.5 and a -6 mixed in.  NONE OF THEM COVERED)
O/U:  191.5 - 192 (Obviously OVER with the OT.  Regulation was 95-95, so they needed the OT to go over.)

FTA:  San Antonio 28 - Miami 21
FTM:  San Antonio 21 - Miami 16

Game 7 (June 20)  Miami 95 - San Antonio 88

MIA:  -5 - -5.5 (COVER, and money was coming in on the Spurs to get it from -6)
O/U:  188 - 188.5 (OVER)

Covers were 4-2 (4-3 if you had the Miami -1), over was 5-1-1 or 5-2 depending on where you got Game 1.

San Antonio had more FTA in 6 of the 7 games, and the 7th was even.

The Worldwide Leader, Another Step Toward Creating Their Own Brand of Reality...

No, not a new reality show.

They just fired the centerpiece of one of their old game shows, though that is only ancillary to the point I am trying to make here.

Deadspin reports today that ESPN, in probably another of their Disney-financial profit-over-all moves, has fired Howie Schwab.

(Also, Roger Jackson of ESPN The Magazine, who held the same post as Schwab (basically, information czar), has also been released by the network!)

For those of you asking "Who the Hell is Howie Schwab?":

Howie Schwab was no less than the Walking Encyclopedia of ESPN.

If you needed a fact for SportsCenter, Howie Schwab was The Man.

If you needed a stat for the sporting telecast you were heading up and needed to sound competent, he either had it in head or could get it for you.

He was so good, they made a game show around him.  While Stuart Scott is a surprisingly-competent game-show host, Howie Schwab MADE "Stump the Schwab".  Because not only did he believe the information was important, but he had a personality to go with it.

Dick Vitale, it was said, would ask Schwab to catch him up on games he'd fallen asleep during.

Why is this another low-water day in the continuing history of Bristol becoming the home of "Embrace Propaganda and Loud-Mouthed Foolishness"?

Well, look first at when the actual facts were important at ESPN, as Deadspin notes Mike Freeman writing about in his uncensored history of ESPN:

"[Then-incoming ESPN head John] Walsh also boosted the research department, which had consisted of one man, the tireless Howie Schwab, who suddenly had a dozen companions. Walsh hired additional producers and reporters, increasing the number of reporters on the scene instead of just picking up feeds and bolstering ESPN's stable of specific sport experts, almost all of them print reporters. … He felt fans could not get enough statistics and inside information about the major sports, so he proposed creating extensive separate shows for each of the sports."

So what went wrong, especially since Schwab had become the recognizable face of information and truth at ESPN?

Basically, the mindset at ESPN.  Another sourced-story to Deadspin, as Schwab would not talk to them:

"This happened in 2002. Mark Shapiro was ESPN's senior vice president for programming at the time, and Schwab was handling the BottomLine, ESPN's news ticker, another product of the network's fat mid-1990s. On this particular day, Schwab was watching TV at home and saw a mention of the Australian Open final run across the BottomLine—16th-seeded Thomas Johansson vs. ninth-seeded Marat Safin—only someone had removed the seeds from next to the names.

It turned out that a directive had come down from Mark Shapiro's office, on the belief that a 16-vs.-9 final wasn't exactly appointment television; why mention the seeds at all? Schwab complained, according to our source, and eventually he and Shapiro had it out.

Schwab thought it was inaccurate. Information is sacred, after all.

Shapiro supposedly hung up on him. Information is a commodity, too."

So the facts become omittable, right, Mr. Shapiro?

At that point, when do they become malleable??  As in, changed to suit your/ESPN's/the leagues' agendas?

On Monday, Howie was at the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame banquet to aid in inducting Dick Vitale.  With him, at the table, were two men about to fire him.

Two days later, Schwab wrote this on his Facebook:

"After 26 years at ESPN, I am extremely disappointed to say farewell. I have been proud of my association and my work during my tenure. I was a loyal employee, displayed respect for others, worked with numerous charities, represented the company well. I always did everything asked of me and more. What did I get in return today … word that I should get lost. The only thing that mattered was my salary, which in my view was the lone reason I lost my job."

Exactly, Howie.  Because no longer is your thirst for information needed at a network which would rather delve into the likes of Jerry Springer-ism and Morton Downey Jr.-ism than the news discussions which may have preceded them (or even the likes of Springer, when you'd get him outside his circus schtick in Chicago -- which see his time on Air America Radio).

This is the network which insists that Michael Jeffrey Jordan, the foolish and wretched ballhog whom, between him and David Stern, was the double-barreled shotgun which destroyed the sport of basketball in the United States, was the greatest athlete of the 20th century.

So what happens now when information becomes not as important as profit?

Never mind that LeBron James basically threw his home region into the NBA toilet to be the "next Jordan".

Forget that Venus Williams basically threatened the life of a US Open lineswoman to lose a US Open semifinal match -- she's US tennis, right now!!

Forget the hundreds and thousands of concussion lawsuits against the NFL, where more and more intelligent people believe the sport of football may not survive the current breed (and/or illegal enhancement) of athletes in this country!

(By the way, my first thought on hearing about Schwab's dismissal?  Bob Ley, you're next!)

Forget the increasing evidence against the likes of Pete Carroll that he's taken his USC indiscretions to the next level with the Seattle Seahawks!

And so forth...

and so on...

In fact, the way you watch sports may be no more than what ESPN and the leagues and the sponsors in Bristol want it to be.

No matter that that schlub over there just made that basket -- give the points to Mega-Corp Star over here.  He needs them for his scoring average!

(Think that's far-fetched?  Check out some of the tackle-crediting decisions in the NFL over the course of the last number of years!)

So, I guess this heavy-hearted statistician at heart is only left to end this rant like Stuart Scott would announce the scores during the game of "Stump the Schwab", on most days...

ESPN, "The Schwab is better than you!"

A Third Such Window, and Three Former Atlanta Jackasses Who Need Their Jackasses Kicked

And if they've got a problem with me saying that, I am by no means hard to find.

Why do I say this with such conviction?

Meet Steve Gleason.

Gleason used to play for the New Orleans Saints.

Gleason now has ALS.  When he "speaks", his voice is not unlike Stephen Hawking.

Well, that was good enough for three shitheads in Atlanta to make fun of him.

I won't dignify the garbage by even posting a link to it.  It's in the Deadspin article, if you ABSOLUTELY MUST.

They were fairly quickly fired.

I really want to know what, in the football culture, gives people the right to do this bullshit.

Please, SOMEONE tell me...  I need to know.

I mean, for people to think this shit is entertaining, much less funny, is a reason that some people just need to have the shit kicked out of them!

--

By the way, Gleason was given the spot on Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback to talk about his struggles with Lou Gehrig's Disease and the search for a cure. 

THAT I will gladly link to!

Two Windows on the True State of American Football

First:  Lem Barney.

A name you probably never heard of.

He is a Pro Football Hall of Famer, 11 years with the Detroit Lions, 1967-1977.

He also has openly predicted that football will be extinct in 10-20 years, said at a football-safety camp.

And the reason he gives is the same as I've heard a number of ex-football fans, sick of the fact that they literally are watching people die.

"The game is becoming more deadly today," the Pro Football Hall of Famer said Friday. "It's a great game."

But, as Denver defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson put it:

"They're trying to make the game safer, but it's a gladiators' sport and there's only so much safety you can bring to it," Vickerson said.

The problem is simple:  The players are now too big, too fast, and too powerful for their own good.  Whether it's steroids, HGH, or whatever is going on, the hits are now too violent, and not just the dirty ones I chronicle most weeks in the Fine Blotter.

It comes down to Newton's Second Law:   Force = Mass X Acceleration.

I saw, a number of years back, as I was at an anime convention, a high-school lineman for one of the Southern Californian high-school football factories...

He was something like 6-6, 320 pounds or some idiocy like that.

My first thought IS, obviously, that it's enhanced.  Even if it isn't, though, it's too much.

Too big.

Too fast.

Too powerful.

Hence, as the ESPN article puts it:

"Bigger, stronger and faster football players are going to kill the sport.  

At least that's what Lem Barney believes."

Second:  And then you get to the situation in Seattle with Corrupt Pete Carroll, and why we needed a National Sports Commission years ago with the overreaching power to put shitheads like this motherfucker out of sports and into prison.

Three days ago, Carroll's current chief rival, Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers, said the following:

"Is it a concern? I've definitely noticed it," Harbaugh said of the Seahawks. "You don't know what it is. Even when people say what it is, you don't know that that's what it is. I've heard this thrown out or that, but that's usually the agents or the players themselves saying it's, for example, Adderall. But the NFL doesn't release what it actually is, so you have no idea. You're taking somebody at their word that I don't know if you can take them at their word, understanding the circumstances."

In the last two seasons, five Seahag players (including one who will sit the first four games of this season) have been suspended for drugs, with a sixth having his suspension reversed.

Anyone who doesn't think this is indicative of a criminal/illegal pattern of behavior which goes up to Carroll is out of their minds.

And if you think Harbaugh's not serious, here's what he has to say about the PEDs in general:

""It has no place in an athlete's body. Play by the rules," Harbaugh said. "You always want to be above reproach, especially when you're good, because you don't want people to come back and say, 'They're winning because they're cheating.' That's always going to be a knee-jerk reaction in my experience, ever since I was a little kid. We want to be above reproach in everything and do everything by the rules. Because if you don't, if you cheat to win, then you've already lost, according to Bo Schembechler. And (the late Michigan coach) Bo Schembechler is about next to the word of God as you can get in my mind. It's not the word of God, but it's close.""

Not that any of this impresses one of the already-suspended Seahags, Brandon Browner.

Indicative of the attitude in Seattle and of the 12th Man (especially after The Call *cough!*), Browner said this:

Browner, who spoke to Sports Radio KJR, said he would “put his hands around” Harbaugh’s neck if Harbaugh was a player in the league.

“I don’t have anything for it,” Browner said. “At the end of the day we gotta win football games. He’s a coach. He’s never gonna be out there lined up against me. I wish he would; I’d put my hands around his neck. At the end of the day, I’m about winning football games.”

Fuck you, Brandon.

So this is the attitude people give their fealty and ignore life and death for, isn't that right, you pig?

This is why friends of mine hope Lem Barney is correct.

What is it about me, my Vegas trips, and the truth coming out?

Last time around, it was the Rutgers situation, which is still brewing because it's obvious that someone the level of Chris Christie is going to have to step in and fire basically everybody involved in the athletic program, it seems.

Now we not only get Floyd Mayerweather creating a buzz around the Eastern Conference Finals and the Biogenesis situation exploding (which could involve 20 or more players!), AND Mr. Gee from Ohio State being forced out because he badmouthed the SEC and Notre Dame (rather than the "lesser persons" of college football like TCU, et al), but this little ditty from the SEC...

Varez Ward, formerly of Auburn, has been indicted for sports bribery - the crime of players actively attempting to shave points rather than letting the league do it for them.

On January 25, 2012, Ward is charged with attempting to throw the Auburn-Arkansas game.  He is charged with being in cahoots to ensure that Arkansas won the game, even though Arkansas was favored by 9 1/2 points.

Anyone, honestly, believe this doesn't go on far more often than anyone cares to admit?

And you can add two more to this...

Andros Townsend of Tottenham has been banned from all football activities for a month (with three more automatically to be added upon another offense) for breaking the Football Association's betting rules.  No one knows exactly HOW, but he was found afoul of betting on a game (even if not his own) in which athletes are not allowed to do.

And then there's the curious case of the soccer friendly between the USA and Germany on Sunday, celebrating 100 years of official National Team play in the United States.

The USA won against a clearly-B-level German squad four goals to three, and this was one of the four goals they scored.

You may draw your own conclusions.

Biogenesis suspensions about to come down

Breaking News on my final night for this Vegas trip:

Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez will be suspended for their role with Biogenesis.  Just a question, now, of how long...

Money (and "Money") talks, Bullshit Walks.

99-76 Heat.  Everybody on the Heat covered.

Game went under.

LeBron got 32.

FTA 38-20 for Miami.  FTM 33-14.

If you don't think that was a five-star rig-job, know this.  I just bet (and made!) more money on this game than any other sporting event I've ever bet.  (Not that that's a lot of money in the final analysis! (The bet was $25.))

Anybody who didn't see this coming was a FOOL.  Period, plain and simple.

And as much as I think Floyd Mayerweather is a fucking piece of scum, he is the most powerful sports (and sports-betting) figure in Las Vegas, NV.  When he talks to the tune of $6M or so, that says something.

If you, like me, were in Vegas today, that wasn't betting.  That was an investment.

Anyone who still thinks Indiana has a real shot tonight better do so very advisedly...

I just got some information here in Vegas through Twitter a couple of levels.

According to Incarcerated Bob's sports blog, 2 points:

1) The referees tonight, in the last 29 Miami Heat games they have done, the Heat are 26-3.

2) Here's the big one, since I never really believed the result (Heat win) to be in much doubt...

Floyd Mayerweather has gone huge on this game, according to Incarcerated Bob's sources.

How big?

Try almost SIX MILLION DOLLARS.

**ALERT** Good source from my #HeavyHitters Vegas crew alerted me that Floyd Mayweather has laid over $5,900,000 on Heat -7 tonight in Vegas

Mayerweather is the most powerful sports figure in Las Vegas.  (It's one of the reasons he's so protected here.)

Time for me to go back to the MGM Grand.

Now I may have to lay a fiver on Miami to cover on Monday...

Roy Hibbert has just sealed Indiana's fate.

Hibbert ended a response to a question about his defense on LeBron James with "no homo." Hibbert had drawn a key charge on James in Indiana's 91-77 victory against Miami on Saturday and lamented not providing enough help to teammate Paul George on James in Game 3.

Hibbert was later asked why he finished so low in voting for Defensive Player of the Year.
"Y'all m------------- don't watch us play throughout the year to tell you the truth," Hibbert said. "So that's fine. I'm going to be real with you, and I don't care if I get fined. We play and we're not on TV all of the time and reporters are the ones that are voting and it is what it is. And I don't make it, that's fine. I'm still going to do what I have to do."

Goodbye, Indiana.  You are about to be taught a hard lesson on the realities of the NBA under David Stern.