Photo of the Day: Braylon Busted

27 year old Jets wide receiver, Braylon Edwards, was arrested yesterday morning at 5:15am for having illegally tinted windows. Once the police had pulled him over they smelled alcohol and Edwards failed the Breathalyzer blowing .16 Edwards was at a charity event Monday night hosted by his teammate Jerrico Cotchery.

Reports came out this morning that Edwards, expected the cops to give him a break and let him off. "We were coming from a party. How about I just leave the car and take a cab and go home?" Edwards told officers during the stop. He would go on to question the validity of the stop, "Why was I stopped for having tints if my driving didn't lead you to believe I was drunk?"

The Jets last night said Edwards will not be suspended. However, he will not be allowed to start Sunday night's game in Miami and will be fined $50,000 by the NFL.

Olympic Sized Reparations - China Stripped of 2000 Sydney Bronze Medal

Does anyone remember the Olympic controversy of 2008 where a whole crew of Chinese gymnast that looked a little too pint sized and sprightly to be 16 where questioned about their eligibility to compete? Well 10 years after the 2000 Olympics in Sydney the International Committee (IOC) has learned that Dong Fangxiao was only 14 years old when her team won the Bronze. The IOC has stripped the Chinese women's team of their Bronze and officially awarded it to US team. The IOC is continuing to investigate the eligibility of all of the Chinese gymnasts.

Friday Faceoff: Jay-Z vs. Ortiz

Hip Hop mogul Jay-Z is suing David Ortiz from the Boston Red Sox for stealing the name of his infamous nightclubs. Ortiz recently opened a club in Puerto Rico, named "Forty/Forty", which oddly resembles Jay-Z's nightclubs in New York, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City all named The "40/40" Club. Coincidence? Jay-Z and his team think otherwise. In the suit they are claiming that there is no way that Ortiz didn't know about the name or the existence of the Jay-Z clubs, because he has visited them on several occasions.

There may be some underline baseball beef at play in this name game. The 40-40 club is a term used by sportswriters to distinguish MLB players that accumulate 40 homeruns and 40 stolen bases in a single season. This is by far one of the most exclusive professional sports "clubs" to be a part of considering there are currently only 3 members. Now, Ortiz (also known as Big Papi) as the DH for the Red Sox has been known to put up some big numbers in the homerun column, but he is not known for his ability to steal bases. On the other hand Jay-Z is an avid New York Yankees fan both in and out of the stadium. In fact one of his closest personal friends is Yankees star, Alex Rodriguez, who actually IS a member of the exclusive 40-40 club with 42 home runs and 46 stolen bases in 1998.

Rumor Write Up: Tiger Now Tiki

After the Tiger Woods' scandal of the year, no celebrity or athlete golden boy seems as innocent as they used to be. Tiki Barber is the latest "good guy" athlete caught cheating on his wife. As the story has unfolded this week, it has become clear that Tiki was seeing his mistress Tracy Lynn Johnson before during and after his wife Ginny Barber was pregnant with their twins.

Tracy even posted a picture of her "boyfriend's whip" (Tiki's blue Maserati) on her Facebook page in September. Barber bought the car in 2003. At the time Maserati wrote "Tiki is considered a model athlete, not only for his athletics, but for his clean living lifestyle."

Now, I'll avoid a rant on athletes cheating and the morality behind it all. Fact is that it happens even to the athletes whom we assume are living "clean" lives. But there are some lessons that we have learned from Tiger and Tiki.

1. Don't leave voicemails EVER
2. You probably shouldn't let your mistress post pictures of your car on her Facebook. It is one thing when you drive a Honda Civic but a whole different story when you drive a blue Maserati that was profiled on the Maserati website.

Rumor Write Up: Vick to Panthers? And Tiger Woods Makes His Return to Swinging!

I decided through inspiration from Dan Patrick to participate in a little irresponsible journalism and present some slightly misleading headlines in this Rumor Write Up Wednesday but both are true.  Tiger Woods was recently spotting hitting on the course in Orlando and his PGA Tour colleague, Charles Howell, reports that he looks good. Perhaps we shall see a return by the world’s best golfer to the sport for the Masters even.

Another big story involving Tiger is the creation of a new iPhone application that is actually cheater-friendly. It’s called TigerMail and it actually allows the user to send text messages that will “dissolve” from the receiver’s screen within 30 seconds of receiving and viewing it. Almost like the self destructing note in the old Inspector Gadget cartoons. The program designer guarantees that any text sent through the app cannot be saved or printed. So for all the smarmy people out there looking for a way to efficiently carry on with their smarmy activities in these dangerous times, now you know that there is someone looking out for your interests.

And Michael Vick on Gangsta Grillz radio, Hot 107.9 FM, said that if he had the choice he would play for the Panthers “If I could play for any team in the league, it would probably be two teams. But if I had to be one, it would probably be the Carolina Panthers” He said that he liked the Panthers for three reasons: it’s close to home, he would get to play against Atlanta, his former team, twice a year, and he likes the uniforms. Not usually the most conventional reasons, but hey they do need a QB. More than likely though, Vick will either stay with the Eagles or get traded by the Eagles to fill other needs.

Finally can somebody check the lost and found at the Olympics in Vancouver as Sidney Crosby’s game winning stick and gloves from the gold medal game have strangely gone missing... For some reason I don’t think they’re getting that back…

The Trade Deadline Edition of the Rumor Write Up

Sorry for delay in your fix of the Rumor Write Up, the great snow deluge on the Eastern part of the United States basically shut everything down for a week but now we are back! This special SUPER edition will focus on some of the trade rumors that may or may not go down before the NBA trade deadline next week.

1. Amare Stoudemire

Well Amare aka STAT (Standing Tall and Talented) is rumored as going to just about every team as Phoenix is looking for cap relief (with Amare able to opt in for 17 million next year) as well as a chance to rebuild their team. The problem with STAT is that while he is an excellent offensive talent, his defensive skills are really lacking (like to the point that he might as well be standing still). In spite of this fact, many teams on the cusp of a title run or looking to beg a star player with reasons to stay around *cough*Lebron and D. Wade*cough*.

Possible trade destinations:

Cavs - the Cavs seem to just need one more piece to be a lock for the Finals and for the King's first NBA championship. Though the Cavs are on a strong run right now, you can't help but think that the addition of an All-Star player like Stoudemire puts them over the top. Plus getting some help around James might help him stay in town. Unfortunately the Cavs are lacking in pieces to trade with the most likely offer being prospect J.J. Hickson (7th best player on the team) and Ilgauskas going to the Suns for Amare.

Heat - The Heat have offered up Jermaine O'Neal or Michael Beasley for the chance to essentially lure D. Wade into forgoing his increasing interest in going to his "adopted home": Chicago. This season's hopes are not that bright so this would be a move for a nucleus to build a future championship team around.

Warriors - This deal was rumored before the draft last year so it is not surprising to see these talks come back again. The Warriors are trying to rebuild their core by trading away some of their many prospects for a proven star in Amare. The most recent rumor has names like Raja Bell, Stephen Curry, Anthony Randolph and Morrow and even Speedy Claxton being thrown around as Golden State's offer.

Sixers - this offer involves one of the other most talked about names on the trading block in Andre Iguodala. Philadelphia is apparently in desperation mode to get rid of some of the horrible contracts on their books (Dalembert and Brand) and they also have young prospects to use as trade pieces. The goal for Philly in this deal would probably be for the cap relief and unfortunately with Amare and his player option that is not guaranteed

2. Ray Allen

Due to the recent struggles of the Boston Celtics there has been a good amount of talk about the Celtics' need to bring in some fresh blood if they want to have a realistic chance at bring home the title again or even making it out of the second round. The trade rumors have been centered around Ray Allen as his expiring contract and specialty skills make him an attractive option for teams looking for a short term fix that will lead to cap space for the upcoming offseason. The teams rumored to be involved in talks are the Bulls (offering Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons), the Heat, and the Knicks.

3. Tracy McGrady (and his expiring contract)

The Rockets have proven this year and last that they don't need the consistently fragile and injured Tracy McGrady to have success in the playoffs and are ready to part ways with the former superstar. The most popular rumor calls for a Iguodala-McGrady swap allowing the Rockets to add a superstar level piece to make a run in the West and the Sixers to get much needed cap relief from McGrady's 23 million dollar expiring contract.

There are other teams involved in talks to acquire the lucrative contract in order to gain some cap for the epic 2010 free agent class including the Knicks, Wizards, Heat and Bulls.

4. Andre Iguodala (with a handcuff of one of Philly's horrible contracts)

See Amare Stoudemire and Tracy McGrady above. The Celtics and the Cavaliers have also been rumored to make inquires as to the availability of Iguodala. The only problem with any deal for Iggy is that the Sixers will probably require the receiving team to take on one of the Sixers overpaid big men and many teams are wary in doing that.

5. Pretty much any Wizards player

The possible Mavericks deal in the works notwithstanding (Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and Deshawn Stevenson for Josh Howard and Drew Gooden), the Wizards are in fire sale mode and still probably want to move Antwan Jamison and if any team would be stupid enough to take him, Gilbert Arenas. Since the Agent Zero trade will never happen, Jamison is one of the hottest commodities on the market since he is only one of two elite big men with excellent shooting range on the market (Troy Murphy of the Pacers being the other).

The Cavs are the vehement suitors for Jamison as a power forward who could stretch the floor would really spread out the defense and allow for even more room for the King to roam. If the Cavs are able to acquire him from the Wizards look for the Cavs to be the team to beat for the NBA title.

Wednesday Rumor Write Up

There's alot of buzz in the NBA locker rooms regarding who's going to stay and who's going to go as the trade deadline approaches (more on that in the next week or two). But one of the biggest stories affecting a potential championship is coming from the Celtics camp. Seems as if there is trouble in ParadiseBoston...

Rajon Rondo has been making comments to reporters lately suggesting that all might not be right amongst the Celtics. The Boston Herald quotes Rondo as saying,

"In the locker room, you can feel it," Rondo told the paper. "You don't feel like it's the same continuity and camaraderie in the locker room as it was the first year. The first year, it was a crazy spirit in the locker room. But now it doesn't feel the same. It's not the same right now. We've got to find a way to get that back somehow, some way."

That doesn't sound like talk from our next NBA champions and if the Celtics want to move past what is shaping up to be a impending playoff war in the Eastern Conference between the top four teams (Cavs, Hawks, Magic included) then they might want to find a way to right the ship sooner rather than later.

From the Football (NFL) world, we have some whispers about some running backs that may be finding new locations next year:

There are reports that the Superbowl-bound New Orleans Saints will not be willing to keep the contract of USC star Reggie Bush in this coming season. Rumor has it that they will be looking for trade offers in the off-season when Bush's current contract goes from 2.5 to an estimated 8 million dollars.

Also on the chopping block is Charger's running back Ladainian Tomlinson as the starting running back has refused to settle for any sort of pay cut even though it is obvious that his skills have diminished to the point that he creates a liability to the thriving San Diego offense. In the off-season the Chargers may hope to part ways with their star rusher especially with his replacement, the speedy Darren Sproles (a much better fit for the offense at this point) waiting in the wing.

Oh and P.S. Dwyane Wade is opting out of his contract... We may be one step closer to a Wade-Bosh or a Wade-James connection. Why not all three?? (rumored secret pact)

The First Installment of the Rumor Write-Up

So with this first Rumor Write-Up post, I'm gonna give out a two-for-one deal on two rumors making their way across the sports world.

1st up: Apparently there may be very good reason for Gilbert Arenas's erratic behavior as of late... There are reports that Shaquille O' Neal may have been having an affair with Gilbert's fiancee, Laura Govan. That might have explained Shaq's "injury" the last time that Cleveland traveled to Washington back in November. It's hard to think of Shaq aka Superman 1 being afraid of Agent Zero..but maybe that's what those guns were for?

2nd: A much bigger story in the large scheme of things and probably the most significant sports story you won't hear about. John Terry, Chelsea footballer extraordinaire and England's national captain, cheated on his wife with the girlfriend of one of his national teammate, Wayne Bridge. The affair has not only put Terry's status as captain in jeopardy but with the World Cup not far away, the amount of stress it puts on England's team must be epic. After a recent away game in which Terry scored the winning goal, a newspaper ran the headline "Terry Scores Away from Home, Again."

Oh and he got her pregnant...