JaVale Mcgee aka the Space Cadet does it again

After watching this video you’re going to laugh. The Space Cadet is here for us to laugh. My condolences to all the Washington Wizards fans out there.

J.R. Smith fined 25k for tweet of a half naked woman who had the “the biggest ass ever,” wearing a thong in his bed

J.R. Smith celebrates dunk against Cleveland Cavs (Newsday)

In something that can only be described as J.R. Smith being J.R. Smith, Smith was fined 25k by the NBA for tweeting a picture of @TheRealTahiry wearing a thong in his bed.

The photo that J.R. Smith Tweeted.

J.R. Smith is prone to lapses in judgement, so this should be no surprise to anyone. However, you hope at some point he’ll get it and mature into an adult who thinks before he tweets. At least this time Smith said that he made a poor decision in tweeting the picture.

When will J.R. Smith troubles outweigh his talent?

Related articles

• J.R. Smith Fined For Inappropriate Twitter Photo (tracking.si.com)
• NBA Fines Knicks’ J.R. Smith $25K For Twitter Photo (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• J.R. Smith Lives Up to His Reputation with Idiotic Twitpic (bleacherreport.com)
• J.R. Smith Tweeted A Photo Of “The Girl With The Biggest Ass Ever” Wearing A Thong In His Hotel Room Bed [J.R. Smith] (deadspin.com)
• Get A J.R. Smith’s-Eye View Of Tahiry From The Bedroom [PHOTOS] (hiphopwired.com)

Sources: Syracuse basketball program repeatedly violated internal drug policy

Via: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ys-syracuse_basketball_investigation_drug_violation_030512

By Charles Robinson and Pat Forde, Yahoo! Sports

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – During a decade in which Syracuse basketball reached the pinnacle of national prominence, the program was awash in positive drug tests and, in many cases, failed to adhere to its internal drug policy while playing ineligible players, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

Over the course of a three-month investigation, four sources with intimate knowledge of the Syracuse men’s basketball program told Yahoo! Sports at least 10 players since 2001 have tested positive for a banned recreational substance or substances. The sources said all 10 of those players were allowed to practice and play at times when they should have been suspended by the athletic department, including instances when some players may not have known of their own ineligibility. The four sources said Syracuse violated its drug policy in at least two areas: failing to properly count positive tests; and playing ineligible players after they should have been subject to suspension.

A fifth source, a former Syracuse basketball player, told Yahoo! Sports he was questioned by the NCAA regarding the school’s drug testing policy. Syracuse officials released a statement Monday evening about two hours after Y! Sports’ report was published, saying the university has self-reported potential violations to the NCAA and the inquiry doesn’t involve current players. However, four sources said the breadth of potential violations could apply to Syracuse seasons as far back as 2001 and include the 2002-03 national championship season.

“We self-reported issues with drug testing to the NCAA, and there is currently an ongoing inquiry,” Syracuse said in the statement. “The inquiry does not involve any current SU student-athletes. To ensure the integrity of the ongoing process, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

The NCAA declined immediate comment when reached by Yahoo! Sports Monday. Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, who has guided the current Syracuse team to a 30-1 record and No. 2 national record, had earlier declined to comment when contacted by Y! Sports.

“I don’t know anything about it,” Boeheim said. “I would not comment on anything like that. Good luck with your story.”

Asked if he had any knowledge of an NCAA investigation, Boeheim again declined comment.

“Obviously, I’m not going to talk about anything at all,” he said.

If Syracuse knowingly violated its own drug policies, it could trigger the NCAA’s “Willful Violators” clause, which allows the association to bypass its four-year statute of limitations in favor of levying sanctions as far back as the first in a series of continued infractions. A willful violation is considered one that occurs during a pattern of deliberate or intentional rule-breaking.

Beyond statute-of-limitations issues, Syracuse could also be charged with lack of institutional control for failing to adhere to its own drug policy, similar to sanctions recently levied against Baylor University. A wide-ranging NCAA inquiry into the Bears’ basketball program in 2005 revealed the athletic department failed to follow its established guidelines by concealing positive marijuana tests for three players. A report released by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions after the Baylor investigation stated: “The failure of the university to follow its own [drug testing] procedures demonstrated a lack of institutional control.”

Jim Boeheim has led Syracuse to 28 NCAA tournament appearances. (Getty)

Yahoo! Sports reviewed Syracuse’s student-athlete drug policies dating to the 2000-01 school year. They detailed the athletic department’s protocol for handling positive tests, including a penalty structure for a player’s first, second and third offense.

Each penalty called for the head coach to be notified and, in turn, alert a player’s parents or guardians. After the first offense, an athlete was required to attend drug counseling and rehabilitation sessions. In addition, the policy called for the offending athlete to be tested on a regular basis for the remainder of his or her eligibility.

Penalties for a second positive test included automatic suspension from practice and playing, plus mandatory drug counseling, and a player could not return to the team without being cleared by a counselor as being drug free. For a third positive test, a player was subject to termination of eligibility and expulsion from school, barring special intervention by the athletic director.

Syracuse's drug policy calls for players to be automatically suspended from practice or playing after testing positive a second time. (Getty)

The policy stated that after a third failed test, the athletic director had the option of extending a “one-time conditional grace period” in which the athlete was subject to specific terms and conditions for corrective action during a predetermined period of time.

Two sources told Yahoo! Sports that of the 10 players, at least one player continued to play after failing four tests and another player played after failing three.

NCAA member schools are not required to have their own drug-testing policy, though most choose to do so because of potential legal and disciplinary ramifications. The NCAA itself tests at championship events, and will be conducting random testing in the NCAA basketball tournament that begins next week, but otherwise schools are left to police themselves for drugs on their own terms.

However, the NCAA alerts member schools that when setting internal testing procedures, the ability of the school to follow its own guidelines is subject to NCAA oversight and sanctioning. This is the regulation which puts Syracuse at risk for potentially failing to follow its own policies.

There is no uniform national drug policy, nor do most conferences have a set testing protocol or penalty structure for their member schools. In fact, Big East associate commissioner for compliance Joseph D’Antonio told Yahoo! Sports last week that he doesn’t even know what the drug policies are from school to school within the league. Syracuse is a member of the Big East.

Should Syracuse come under NCAA scrutiny for drug-testing failures, it would be the latest in a sometimes tumultuous decade for Boeheim’s program. Multiple players have had legal or disciplinary issues over that span, including Billy Edelin, Eric Devendorf, Jonny Flynn, Rick Jackson, Josh Wright, Dayshawn Wright, Scoop Jardine and Fab Melo. A previous Yahoo! Sports report also found that a sports agency secured a $50,000 loan for the uncle of then-guard Donté Greene, in hopes of signing Greene once he departed for the NBA.

Most recently, Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine was accused of sexual molestation by a former Orange ball boy and his brother. While charges were not filed against Fine, he was ultimately fired from his coaching position.

Take a look at rivals.com

Magic Fans Sing a Song Professing Their Love of Dwight Howard

A few Orlando Magic Fans created a song titled “Let’s Fight for Dwight.” With Dwight Howard‘s impending free agency, the fans felt the need to create the song.

I doubt this song will have an impact on Dwight staying, but it’s interesting to see nonetheless. Take a look at the video.

Jeremy Lin and Race

I was listening to ESPN First Take on the radio the other day and I found this discussion very interesting and informative looking at how others view racial sensitivity. This discussion can to play after the questionable ESPN headline referring to Jeremy Lin stating “Is There a Chink in the Armor;” “Chink in the Armor” was also used by an ESPN anchor during an interview.

Related articles

• ESPN employees punished for Jeremy Lin phrase (abclocal.go.com)
• What if Jeremy Lin Wasn’t an Asian? (sports-central.org)
• Morning Mail: ESPN editor who was fired for Jeremy Lin headline speaks out on Twitter (offthebench.nbcsports.com)
• Jeremy Lin: Linsanity Will Die Down, Lin’s Impact Will Not (bleacherreport.com)

Jeremy Lin: His Impact On Changing The Perception Of The Asian American Male

Article via ThePostgame (click the link)

Jeremy Lin: His Impact On Changing The Perception Of The Asian American Male.

Jeremy Lin is on the Sports Illustrated Cover AGAIN!

Here’s the cover.

Jeremy Lin on the cover (Sports Illustrated)

I really hope the media slows down with this Linsanity because I for one am beginning to tire of it. Of late, sports media has shown an incredible ability to beat a story to death with  the prime example being ESPN’s coverage of Tim Tebow.

I am starting to feel bad for Jeremy Lin, let the kid breathe! His family is now being stalked in Taiwan for crying out loud.

[Jeremy Lin asks that Taiwan media respect his family’s privacy]

 

Yikes! Minnesota’s Martell Webster Doesn’t Realize A Dunk Is Worth Only 2 Points

Here’s the team’s explanation to Wolves beat writer Jerry Zgoda, working with the Minnesota Star Tribune, following the game:

“We talked about we needed a three,” Adelman said. “I think he caught the ball, stole it and maybe emotions got the best of him.”

Webster afterward said he was well aware of the time and situation. He said he hoped to either create a foul and 3-point play or score with enough time to foul the Nuggets yet again.

“I don’t know, I don’t know if it was a mental thing, like I shot [a three] before that and didn’t knock it down,” said Webster, who missed a three with the score tied with 53 seconds left. “I just wanted to be aggressive, get to the rim, possibly get a foul. But I didn’t.

“Most people probably would have pulled up for the 3-point shot. Yeah, I can see why they would. If I had to do it over again, I’d probably pull up for a three. Why not?”

After the game Martell Webster Tweeted:

(Twitter)

A Take on ESPN’s Deleted Headline Regarding Jeremy Lin

By: Kelly Dwyer (From: Ball Don’t Lie)

In these early stages, we can’t tell you if ESPN copy editors using “chink in the armor” as a way to describe Asian-American Jeremy Lin and his New York Knicks losing their first game in 13 days on Friday night is on par with what Jason Whitlock pulled off a week before. Whitlock obviously, and admittedly, made an awful (and worse, to me, unfunny) joke at Lin’s heritage’s expense. The copy editors that OK’d this headline:

ESPN.com and ESPN mobile snapshot of the headline (Gothamist)

… and the on-air copy whose work you’ll hear on video after the jump could have just been making a pair of mortifying, awful mistakes. Endless amounts of writers from all fields still use that phrase, and for those of us that only think about Lin’s ethnic background about once-in-whenever someone does something stupid, we have to go easy until we find out just who put the mistakes together. Knowing ESPN, though, we’ll never know, we’ll never find out their real intentions, and this will “go away” quicker than rumors of a potential human relations violation regarding the preparation of the gruel in 1930s Siberia.

[Related: Reality: No Linsanity if he didn’t play in New York City]

Here’s the video, from ESPNNews on Wednesday. And while we can’t excuse this sort of phrase going through, think of the endless times you’ve heard it used on either 24-hour radio or 24-cable shows like these to describe a mitigating factor. Again, no excuse for someone on the floor not to raise a hackle and ask the anchor to switch his copy, but it could be an innocent, mortifying mistake:

As a writer, I’m not picking my poison in trying to be safe in failing to deliver some third-hand slamming of what happened in Bristol on Friday night. If the editor in question pulled this as a joke, then he or she should be fired in an instant; and this is coming from someone that wasn’t at all in favor of Jason Whitlock’s firing (though I did get one FOX News joke out of it on Twitter).

Whitlock’s was an unfortunate attempt at humor. This play on words was more of a play on an ethnic slur, if it was intended to reference “chink” as “Asian,” even if it was a smarmy joke from someone who is too dumb to know better.

It’s an ugly word that happens to double as a type of fissure that would serve as an Achilles heel of sorts in a knight’s suit of armor. I’m not being overly cautious when I tell you without looking that, honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if I used that phrase in my breakdown of New York’s acquisition of J.R. Smith from Friday, or any other post that or any other day. It’s a go-to sports cliché. If it was meant as a joke, by someone who doesn’t think the word is “that bad,” then this is a fireable offense. If this was meant with malice, then this is a fireable offense.

If this really was someone using yet another sports cliché that he or she has to fit into about 20 characters or less? Than that’s different. A terrible, awful, oversight. A learning experience, no doubt, and a nice reminder that — holy crap, this Asian-American kid is amazing at pro basketball, and we happily have a whole new set of double-entendres that we have to watch out for as writers.

To have that oversight — using a phrase that would go unnoticed most other nights regarding just about any other NBA storyline that details a potential weakness to be exploited regarding a sports team — possibly paired in a post that mentions Jeremy Lin? That would be mortifying.

To serve as a headline directly below a picture of the most noted Asian-American basketball player in NBA history? I can see why you’re either up in arms at your angriest, or dubious at your most patient. You’re well within your rights to be both. If you want to be angry and assume the worst, believe me, you have more than enough reason to, and my own blessing. There’s a very good chance this was deliberate, and that’s astonishing in its insensitivity and tactlessness. Especially in describing someone who never wanted to identify himself with anything more than as “Jeremy Lin, NBA point guard.”

Until we find out more, which is doubtful considering ESPN’s history, I’m going to ease off a bit. Uneasy with the knowledge that it, honestly, could happen to anyone (especially on an understaffed Friday night) with nobody looking over their shoulder, with no malice intended. That’s just my take until I’m proven wrong or the creator, personally, apologizes. Even ESPN’s quick statement of apology, issued on Saturday morning, feels unsatisfying:

“The headline was removed [35 minutes after it appeared]. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake.”

You, sick of this, are more than welcome to demand a swifter, and more transparent and public reaction from ESPN.

Note: This article was retrieved from Yahoo! Sports. I didn’t write this article, however I found it interesting so I decided to post it.

Related articles

• ESPN Apologizes For Tasteless Jeremy Lin Headline (sbnation.com)
• Jason Whitlock Apologizes For Small Penis Joke Made at Jeremy Lin (inquisitr.com)
• Linsanity: Asian-Americans rejoice as Jeremy Lin breaks stereotypes (haleybehre.wordpress.com)
• Asian-Americans rejoice as Lin smashes stereotypes (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• ESPN Apologizes After Describing Jeremy Lin With Racial Slur (chicago.cbslocal.com)

LeBron Back to the Cavs?

In an interview yesterday LeBron James responded to reporters asking him whether he’d consider returning to Cleveland Cavs. Of course after his response the sports media ran with this and made it a bigger story it should be. Granted LeBron should have just shut up, but he did talk.

I’d like to hear your opinions on the matter.

Related articles

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• You: LeBron James: Cavaliers Fans Shouldn’t Fall for His Antics Again (bleacherreport.com)
• LeBron James is a nut case! (sportsblogmovement.wordpress.com)