Chris Henry dies

Former Bengals' wide receiver Chris Henry, 26, died this morning in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Reports say that Henry fell off of the back of a pick-up truck after what is being called a, "domestic despute."

He was found in the middle of a residential road in Charlotte and was immediately rushed to the hospital.

There were reports early this morning of Henry being on life support and died soon after.

"He was really on of my closest friends," a teary-eyed Bengals' wide receiver Chad Ochocinco said. "I just talked to him on Tuesday to see how he was doing."

Henry was away from the team after breaking his forearm against Baltimore Nov. 8 and having season-ending surgery.



Information from ESPN was used in this report.

Allan Iverson retires

Future hall of famer Allan Iverson announced his retirement today. It's sad that no team in the league wanted to pick him up, but it is also sad that he would not accept a lesser role.

He's had a couple of down years due to injury and if he really has anything left in the tank like he claims, he should accept what he is given and show that he can work his way up.

He does deserve the benefit of the doubt, but he shouldn't let his pride get in the way of his career and should work his way up again.

This should not be happening to a star of his caliber. Shame on both the league and Iverson for not being able to agree on some sort of deal.

I want to believe he'll be back, but every team has a young star whom they have a lot of money invested in and are expected to lead their respective teams. Iverson cannot expect to be the first option anymore.

Stafon Johnson speaks

USC running back Stafon Johnson, who had the freak injury when a bench bar fell on his throat, verbally spoke for the first time since the accident.

In a press conference he said, "God has a plan. Run Stafon, run."

He can now swallow and eat solid foods and he is expected to fully recover.

Manny vs. Cotto

Manny Pacquiao completely destroyed Miguel Cotto tonight.

Pac Man is a warrior with gloves of steel. He went up against a world class fighter and picked him apart.

From the time Cotto walked out to the ring he didn't have any swagger. He looked focussed but not confident.

Cotto's wife had to take her son out of the arena so he wouldn't see his father getting brutally mistreated.

Cotto was fighting blind. He couldn't see the punches coming. Cotto took the first round and it seemed this was going to be close, but it turned quickly.

Cotto might never be the fighter he was before fighting Antonio Margarito and it's sad because the old Cotto would have made tthis a much more interesting fight.

All that's left is Pacquiao vs. Mayweather.

Make it happen, promoters.

USC gets smashed again

This time by Stanford. Stanford is the only team since 2001 that has beaten USC at home, they've now done it twice as they ruined USC's BCS title bid in 2007.

The best and most ironic part is that Pete Carroll was upset over Stanford running up the score! He probably said it on purpose, but he knows they deserved every point against them.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has leukemia

NEW YORK -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is being treated for a rare form of leukemia, and the basketball great said his prognosis is encouraging.

The NBA's all-time leading scorer was diagnosed last December with chronic myeloid leukemia, he told The Associated Press on Monday.

The 62-year-old Abdul-Jabbar said his doctor didn't give any guarantees, but informed him: "You have a very good chance to live your life out and not have to make any drastic changes to your lifestyle."


Abdul-Jabbar is taking an oral medication for the disease. He is a paid spokesman for the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, which makes a drug that treats the illness.

"I've never been a person to share my private life. But I can help save lives," he said in a midtown Manhattan conference room. "It's incumbent on someone like me to talk about this."

Abdul-Jabbar became concerned last year after feeling odd sensations. He went for tests at UCLA, where he dominated college basketball in the late 1960s, winning three straight NCAA championships from 1967 to 1969.

"I was getting hot flashes and sweats on a regular basis," he said. "That's not normal, even for my age."

An exam showed his white blood cell count was "sky high" and a doctor quickly diagnosed his condition. At first, all Abdul-Jabbar heard was the word "leukemia."

"I was scared," he said. "I thought it was all the same. I thought it could mean I have a month to live."

"That was my first question," he said. "Was I going to make it?"

A longtime student in martial arts, Abdul-Jabbar said he took the approach of a samurai -- to face death without fear.

"I had my face on," he said.

Instead, doctors told him CML was treatable with proper medication and monitoring.

Abdul-Jabbar is a special assistant with the Lakers and said he hasn't had to cut back his level of activity of coaching, change his regimen or adjust his diet. "I'm able to sneak out for Thai food," he said.

"There is hope. This condition can be treated. You can still live a productive, full life," he said. "I'm living proof I can make it."

Abdul-Jabbar recently returned from an academic conference in Abu Dhabi and has several speaking engagements planned. Among the people he regularly talks to about his condition is his son, a third-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco.

The six-time NBA MVP intends to post updates to his Facebook and Twitter accounts and stay connected through www.CMLearth.com, a Web site for those afflicted by the disease.

About 5,000 cases of CML are expected to be diagnosed in the United States this year, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society said. More than 22,000 people are living in the U.S. with the disease.

The disease tends to initially be diagnosed in people in their mid- to late 60s, and usually affects men more than women.

"I want to spread the word," Abdul-Jabbar said.


Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

weekly sports rap-up: Nov. 2 - Nov. 8

This week in sports there seemed to be a lot of tension
The Yankees won the World Series through monetary intervention
Usain Bolt bought a cheetah, which he’ll probably train to race
And people were getting in trouble at a record setting pace
Fans don’t want Larry Johnson to break the rushing record for the Chiefs
Manu caught a bat in the arena and later got a lot of grief
NOW wants Tom Cable fired due to anger he can’t manage
Joe Girardi saved a woman from a car crash’s major damage
The Kings’ Andres Nocioni got a DUI
Tim Lincecum faced some charges cause he got caught getting high
We found out Lesnar has Mono and that’s why he won’t be fighting
Andre Agassi has a new book and poured his soul in writing
The McCourt divorce is lingering and getting very tiring
Iverson won’t play off the bench and is considering retiring
Elizabeth Lambert of New Mexico showed she’s a fighter not a talker
First time since the ’96 Olympics anyone’s cared about women’s soccer

Manny's coming back

Manny Ramirez is coming back to L.A. After a long and hard talk with his agent and realizing that no other team is stupid enough to pay $20 million to a steroid using clown who lost his confidence and right to juice.

I can't believe I fell into the Mannywood trap last season. Get him out of town. Let him DH for someone else. Those $20 million could have been spent on Matt Holiday or ANYONE!

He better get it together.

MMA figh- I mean, women's soccer player

I thought the games here at Mt. SAC were vicious. This girl tops it all!

Another slow sports day?

How do you spot a slow sports day? Go on espn.com and if you find this picture as a top story; you just know.

Top 5: Reasons to hate the Yankees

There are tons of reasons to hate the Yankees, but in honor of their 2009 World Series championship, here are my top 5.










5. Fans- Now that they won again, New Yorkers can get on their high horses for a whole year. (Like if New Yorkers really needed THIS to get on their high horses.)









4. Roiders- All is well in Yankeeland. A-Rod and Pettite are the heroes of the World Series! and everyone forgot that they're probably hopped up on the juice. (But who cares, right? They won.)









3. The overrated overdog- Everyone wanted and hoped the Phillies could beat the Yanks. Ryan Howard was swinging like a mad-man, Pedro seemed like a secret weapon, Cole Hammels was going to hit his stride again, and their bats looked better than the Yankees. WISHFUL THINKING! After Cliff Lee, the entire pitching staff was terrible and had been terrible. Pedro is old and had been getting lucky. Hammels was never going to hit his stride because he didn't want to, and their swagger didn't match their game. Yankees exposed them, outcoached them and this could have been avoided if a true underdog would have gotten in and embarrased the Yankees yet again.









2. Thier TV announcer.









1. They bought the championship- Great run. Great season, whatever. They spent a billion dollars to outbid every single team in the league and buy the best players that were available. I know economics is the name of the game, but save it for Monopoly. Any team that can buy whoever they want is a favorite to win and it's that much sweeter when it backfires. For 8 years it backfired for the Yanks; they finally paid enough.

Bolt adopts a baby cheetah

Usain Bolt adopted an abandoned cheetah in Kenya on Monday.

He named the 3-month-old cheetah "Lightning Bolt."

It is only appropriate that the fastest man in the world own the fastest cat in the animal kingdom.

Bolt paid 13,700 to formally adopt the cub and will pay about $3,000 a year for its care as it will raised at an animal orphanage in Nairobi.

This week in Twitter news: Ginobili gets batty

btw, I dont think I kill the poor thing. I felt it moving in my hand...
10:13 PM Oct 31st from TweetDeck

Why the heck was Manu Ginobili touching a filthy bat?

Better question-why are there even bats in the Spurs' arena?


He had to take a ton of different shots for rabies, gave some sort of apology on Facebook and said not to do it at home.

If there are bats in your home I would hope you're not trying to catch them with your hand. Get out of there and call an exterminator. Or the Joker.

Clipper Nation: A night at Staples

I got some free tickets to the Clippers game against the Minnesota Wolves tonight and it actaully wasn't a horrible game.

Got a glimpse of Minnesota's Johnny Flynn. That guy is quick. He must have crossed over the whole Clipper team and maybe even his own team.

No Blake Griffin of course, but saw a lot of Baron Davis ball-hogging. Eric Gordon is great-at least he was worth the $15 I didn't spend.

The crowd fooled me. MVP chants surfaced and I thought Kobe walked in to catch the game! Apparently the chants for Chris Kaman? He had a pretty good game so I couldn't tell if the Clipper faithful were being sarcastic or if they really think he's good.

The halftime show was better than the game. Some girl was doing flips in the air and landing on a bouncy strip that was being held up by two dudes.

Weekly sports rap-up Oct. 26-Nov.1

This week the World Series started and now it's almost over
the Phillies won game one, then the Yankees just took over.
The Lakers got their rings as they start their quest for "back-to-back."
The Cavs started 0-2 now everyone is questioning Shaq.
Kansas City's Larry Johnson called his coach a "fag" on Twitter
While Brett Favre went back to Green Bay and saw all the fans were bitter.
Braylon Edwards finally got charged for assaulting Lebron's friend,
It got him out of Cleveland; bet you he'd do it again.
Dodger Owner Frank McCourt accused his wife of cheating
while USC went up to Oregon and took a Ducking beating.
Little Manny Pacquiao called out "Money" May
Floyd's usually the one talking but this time had nothing to say.
Jamie McMurry won the Talladega race
and we learned Raider's coach Tom Cable hit his ex-wife in the face.
The Titans winless streak is over now that they finally played Vince Young.
Next week's a big one for the Phillies as they fight down 3-to-1.

Top 5: Names for L.A. football team

Even though it seems that a team is going to be transferred to L.A. once the stadium is built in City of Industry, there's probably going to have to be a name change. You can't really root for a team named the L.A. Vikings or L.A. Jaguars so here are a few suggestions that fit the L.A. mold.





5. The L.A. Beach Bums
This name fits perfectly with the L.A. lifestyle. It's always sunny and people are always hitting the beaches and we love letting people know about it. What better way of letting people in the Midwest know their weather sucks than having our team head over there and with a surfboard as a logo.




4. The L.A. Plastic Surgeons
Again, this is a major part of L.A. culture. It's pure Hollywood style and our slogan could be, "We'll rearrange your face!"




3. The L.A. Immigrants
Our country was founded on immigrants and L.A. takes pride in statistics that show how high our immigration rate is. How great would it be to travel to racist cities with this name? (Oops. I mean; racism doesn't exist anymore.)




2. The L.A. Debt
We love spending what we don't have here in L.A. and while this stadium might actually help jumpstart our economy, we'll probably find a way to screw it up again in about 10 years. We're known for our billion dollar debts and there are even commercials all over the place about credit card debt in California becuase it's the norm. "The L.A. Debt: We'll put a hole in your wallet and your helmet!"




1. The L.A. Unoriginals
In the land where remakes make millions and everyone thinks they're original, we're not. And whatever the team is named will most likely be taken from something else and people will criticize it. Might as well call them the Unoriginals, it's the most original name we could use.

Pacquiao calls out Mayweather

Someday


"I don't think it's going to happen. I'm sure he doesn't want to fight."

Them's fightin' words! Fighting words from the pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao. Now will Mayweather strike back with fighting words or bail like he always does by saying he only fights where there's money. There comes a point when he'll be forced to fight the best and not wait for them to get old.

Mayweather showed a lot in his last fight when he overpowered Marquez, but that's not the fight everyone wants to see.

Everyone wants to see him fight Pacquiao or Sugar Shane Mosley.

The saddest thing about Pacquiao's quote is that it's probably true.

Pacquiao is fighting top-of-the-line boxers and everyone has been drooling at the thought of seeing him face-off against Mayweather. Pacquiao knows his responsibility as an entertainer. Mayweather is much bigger and it's very likely he'll overpower Pacquiao as well and Pacquiao knows that, but he also knows what the people want to see. As an entertainer he wants to provide an amazing fight, not just dodge punches for 12 rounds, take his money and go home.

Mosley called out Mayweather in his own match. Heent right up to his face and made him look like a punk. Now Pacquiao's calling him out. It's Mayweather's move. He has to fight one of them.

Mayweather is going to have to step up eventually and really earn a pound-for-pound title. It's your move "Money."

Lenore Moreno is motivated by long-distance success

Her success in running has not been by accident. Through support around her, motivation and mental toughness, Lenore Moreno, a kinesiology major, found the formula to shoot herself to the top of her craft.

The second-year cross country athlete competes in a sport where there is always someone either in front or behind her, but regardless of her position she knows exactly what to do to push herself to the limit.

Moreno runs for both the Mt. SAC cross country and track-and-field teams, two physically demanding sports where every second counts and even when pain sets in, slowing down can be costly.

“The biggest challenge is to be able to push yourself even when you’re hurting,” women’s cross country head coach Doug Todd said. “I think you have to go into it ready to say, ‘ok I’m going to hurt for a while. I’m going to be uncomfortable for a while, but I have to keep running and I have to push anyway.’”

Moreno has learned just that and has assumed the role of team-leader for the Mounties cross country team this semester. She has consistently finished in the top 5 in her races this season and that very consistency is a key that Todd said has helped lead to her success.

“I don’t think a lot of athletes realize how important it is to show up every day for good things to happen, and she shows up every day,” Todd said. “Unless the bone’s stickin’ through the skin, she’s coming to practice.”

Todd said Moreno has a tremendous work ethic and the progress she makes every day will add up and helps make her stronger. He called it a “long constant fight” every day that she strives to try to get better. She shows up every day to work hard and it is a concept that sounds simple, but not everyone can do it, he said.

"
"They can’t help but emulate her work ethic, Todd said. “Everybody out here wants to be good-wants to get better. Then they see a talented athlete like her and they see her working hard every single day. I think that’s got to rub off.”

Moreno said she finds motivation within her team and does not want to let them down. She said that while running, she thinks about how her teammates are running as well and are feeling the same pain she feels and she has to stay strong for them.
“If anyone ever needs something she’ll be there for you,” teammate Pamela Hernandez, sociology major said. “By her pushing herself, it makes everyone want to push themselves too.”

She also thinks of people who inspire her like former Los Angeles Angels player David Eckstein and legendary runner Steve Prefontaine.

She said Eckstein inspires her because he did not let his size hold him back and also the fact that he has been able to accomplish so much. She said Prefontaine’s life has been such an inspiration that she watches his life story before every meet.

She thinks of all these things during races because having a good frame of mind is important to keep going, she said. Her mentality has helped her in life whether it is in running or in school and knows it will help her in life in the future.
“Without being mentally strong, you can’t really do anything,” she said. “You’re always going to be down on yourself and you’re not going to want to get up and do something.”

Although Moreno finds ways to use everything around her as motivation, the main key to her success can be tracked back to the support she has received from home.

Her influence in sports came from her two older brothers who played baseball and ran, respectively.
She played softball from the time she was four years old up until high school where she decided she loved running more passionately than softball. She said that watching her brothers work hard drove her to work hard as well.

Moreno said her love for running started in middle school after watching her brother compete in meets at the high school level.
“I just liked how it takes a lot of effort to go out there and do all of that,” Moreno said. “I’m usually up for challenges and I was like, ‘I want to try it.’”

Her parents have been the cores of support for her as she said they have always been supportive of her and her brothers’ activity in sports. Coach Todd said he has seen Lenore’s parents at every single meet, home and away no matter how far the meet has been.

“They always cheer for me,” Moreno said. “It’s really good to have that when you run because it pushes you. Makes you go faster.”

Moreno added that her father now runs as well and has gone as far as to read up on books to help coach her.
Moreno is still looking into different schools and has looked into Cal State San Marcos where she hopes to run for U.S. track-and-field Hall of Famer Steve Scott who is the head coach there. She plans to focus on her kinesiology career as she plans to be a physical therapist.

Moreno has already shown that she can keep up with university level runners as in the first race of the season. She placed 34th overall in the Fullerton Invitational where she competed against 212 other competitors from not only community colleges, but a majority of the runners from the university level.

Even as she follows her goal to be a physical therapist, she says she will always be running because she loves it and it will always take stress away.

“I’ll be like one of those old people running on the street,” Moreno said laughing.

Brock Lesnar backs out

UFC just got rid of the Machida vs. Rua commercials and put out the Lesnar vs. Carwin commercials for UFC 106, but president Dana White came out to say that Lesnar will not be able to fight next month due to illness.

Apparently Lesnar has been sick for the last three weeks and hasn't been able to train.

White said that Lesnar told him he has never been as sick as he is now.

Shane Carwin expressed his disappointment through Twitter of course and said he feels Lesnar's pain as he had to battle the H1N1 virus himself. However, Lesnar has not been linked to H1N1 and the illness has yet to be reported.

The event was scheduled for Nov. 21 in Las Vegas and according to Carwin the fight will be postponed until Jan. 2

Hopefully we can kick off the new year right; watching two giant men beat each other to a bloody pulp.

This week in Twitter news: Larry Johnson disses coach Haley

According to ESPN, Larry Johnson tailback of the Kansas City Chiefs made some hateful comments on Twitter directed toward head coach Todd Haley. Can't get ahold of his tweets at the moment but reports say that he threw some F bombs. Not the type of F bombs that your middle school teacher gives you detention for, but F bombs that get GLAAD chasing after you.

What do you know, they are after him. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance want the NFL to punish Johnson for his comments.

Reports say that he used the word "fag" in the tweet and then uttered it again when speaking to reporters allegedly saying, “Get your faggot asses out of here.”

It's a good thing he doesn't play in Cleveland or else Lebron James would have him traded like he did with Braylon Edwards, but something is going to be done for sure. I'll keep you guys posted on whatever happens to Johnson.