Mixed signals , smoke signals and all other type of idiotic signals … name it and you will genuinely find it in the world of sports

Mixed signals , smoke signals and all other type of idiotic signals … name it and you will genuinely find it in the world of sports

Tophatal

With just the Superbowl itself remaining to culminate the schedule , it has to be said that the NFL season could not have been more underscored , than with the utter failure of the league hierarchy to get done a piece of legislation that the NFL itself, stated would be in place . Roger Goodell has been , and remains the laughing-stock of the sport’s world with his lack of intelligence , intransigence and complete lack in fully understanding, the rule of law . What might be more apparent ,is his unwillingness to admit failure or to own up when he has purposefully sought to mislead the fans of the NFL .

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Having agreed in principle to mandatory testing for HGH (human growth hormone) , both the league hierarchy and union , have placed this issue once again on the back-burner . In doing so , this simply suggests that the NFL does not care one iota about the widespread use of human growth hormones within football. Goodell tends to and for the vast majority of the time , he will indeed speak out of both sides of his mouth , and if his ass could speak , he would also have that orifice uttering words . I have never been , a great admirer of the NFL Commissioner ! Three year, s in the making and now countless promises broken , not that the dumb assholes who reside on the congressional Oversight & Government Reform Committee . And those morons have in essence become a sounding block for any half assed idea that has been placed within their midst .

One of the more annoying things about the NFL postseason , has been this constant belief that the NFL Pro Bowl game , has any merit to be on the schedule, in whatever form it might take . The games, are no longer noteworthy or competitive for that matter . And the fact that players merely see this as a chance of a paid excursion without having to really work at their craft , albeit that they will be financially rewarded for a meaningless event , only adds insult to injury for the fans , simply stupid enough to attend the event in Honolulu , Hawaii . Sunday’s event once again, was an absolute eyesore for those in attendance , and for the “ countless millions” watching the televised event at home . Suffice to say , what once was a privilege for the players has now become an unadulterated sham , perpetrated on the hard-working devotees of the NFL !

Far be it for me to suggest , but if the intent by the NFL hierarchy , was for Gregg Williams to be banished from football , after he and Saints’ head coach Sean Payton devised the now “ infamous” New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal . Then how is it, that the disgraced former defensive coordinator is now on the verge of making a tumultuous return. to the league , as the head coach’s assistant to Tennessee Titans’ head coach , Mike Munchak ? And Munchak for his part along with GM Ruston Webster, seem intent to bring in the defensive coordinator to bolster a defensive corps , that was amongst the worst performing units in the AFC as well as the entire NFL , as a whole .

The Titans’ woes this season , were well chronicled , and I seriously doubt that Williams’ acquisition alongside any decision made by the front office will have an advantageous effect on the morale of this staff ! The NFL has become a “paper tiger” during Roger Goodell’s tenure , wherein the league’s bark has to viewed as far more comedic as than its presumed bite . I am not about to suggest that Gregg Williams would seek to bring the Titans’ franchise into disrepute , but to my mind , what was meant to be a banishment from the NFL , has turned out to be nothing “ more than a slap on the wrist” for an individual who willfully sought to endanger an opponent for financial and competitive gain, while not eschewing sportsmanship .

Things , I feel could not get any worse for the Boston Celtics after the departure of Ray Allen to join the reigning world champions , the Miami Heat. Allen’s abrupt move , was seen as an act of betrayal by Celtics’ captain , Kevin Garnett , with the animus between the two future Hall of Famers , having now reached a boiling point . In a highly entertaining game played at the TD Banknorth Gardens , in Boston Massachusetts , Garnett , and his teammates came away with an impressive two-point victory over the star laden , and now some might say inconsistent Heat , who were led by their “Big Three” of LeBron James , Dywane Wade , Chris Bosh , and a coterie of bench-warmers and seasoned veterans .

The Boston Celtics have announced that their All Star , point guard , Rajon Rondo has been lost to the franchise for the remainder of the season. Rondo is amongst the most productive point guards in the league , and has been so over the past three seasons . Now one could roll off the names of players such as Chris Paul , Tony Parker, Deron Williams and Steve Nash , but to my mind none of the aforementioned players have been as productive , or who can simply change the momentum of a game , in the way that we have seen exhibited by the Celtics’ point guard. The player suffered a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) , an injury not too dissimilar , to the knee injury suffered by Minnesota Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson. And as we know , the Peterson was able to make a successful return, after an eight month layoff , leading all rushers in the NFL in 2012, falling short by a mere eight yards , of breaking the single season rushing record held by Eric Dickerson .

It is imperative that GM Danny Ainge , having been in consultation with head coach Doc Rivers and team owner , managing partner Wyc Grousbeck , come to a swift decision , as to whether or not they seek to obtain a free agent point guard , who can best meet the team’s needs . The options for the Rivers are somewhat thin , as beyond seasoned veteran, Jason Terry , there is just Leandro Barbosa , Avery Bradley and Courtney Lee, albeit that Kevin Garnett , could be used as a stop-gap mainstay , but that could prove to be counter-productive for the team.

Doc Rivers for the moment will now have to go with a point guard by commission , until a decision is made by Ainge , as to whether or not the trigger will be made on a potential trade . At 21-23 , the Boston Celtics currently sit in third place within the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference . Yet is the team’s standing within the conference , that would very well predicate, how their season is determined . Lying in the eighth and final spot , they find themselves 2 ½ games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers (18-25) and 3 ½ games behind the Milwaukee Bucks (23-19) who currently sit in the seventh position within the Eastern Conference. Next up for the team , will be a game against the laboring Sacramento Kings on Wednesday , 30th January , 2013. The Kings currently lead the season series 1-0, having won the first game of their season series’ meetings 118-96 , when the two teams met in late December , 2012 . In the franchises’ head to head meetings , the Celtics lead the Kings 175-113 in regular season match-ups, with the two teams having only met seventeen times during the playoffs , again with the Boston Celtics holding a slight 11-6 lead over their Western Conference rivals . So for the moment , we can only wait to see what will now materialize for Doc Rivers’ players , as they seek to make some sense of their season .

I don’t know that there is much more else that needs to be said at this juncture as it relates to the news that Alex Rodriguez , could quite possibly be lost to the New York Yankees , for the entire 2013 regular season . Certainly, we know that with the player having to undergo , some much-needed surgery to his right hip, he will miss the team’s entire Spring Training schedule . Recuperation and rehabilitation , from such a medical procedure , normally takes anywhere between eight to fourteen months from the outset , dependent upon the level of the surgical procedure to be undertaken . That being said , who amongst you is at all surprised that Rodriguez’s body is now breaking down on him , after all these years of wanton use of steroids ? The veracity of the player’s claims cannot be entirely believed , when one bears in mind , his statement , that he only used PED’s ( performance enhancing drugs) as nothing more than a minor experiment , for a period of eighteen months , prior to and after joining the Yankees , that saw him being traded from the Texas Rangers to the Bronx Bombers in February of 2004 .

Alex Rodriguez’s subsequent admission of guilt in a thoroughly orchestrated mess engineered by the Yankees’ organization , has clearly indicated that baseball’s hierarchy and team owners do not yet have a handle on the widespread use of illicit substances , that were and are still being used by the game’s big league players , as well as the near widespread use in the minors (MILB). Rodriguez’s web of deceit and deceit , essentially started off with his spiel to former CBS news’ anchor Katie Couric , in an interview that had as much dramatic depth and journalistic integrity to it , than an interview being conducted between Pinocchio and Torquemada of the Spanish Inquisition . Gut wrenching and completely unbelievable , as the player, was far from convincing with his web of deceit and lies, which were further enhanced by many of the rather idiotic questions asked by Katie Couric , herself . And there were idiots who sought to suggest that Lance Armstrong showed contrition with his admission of guilt on a staged environment sought to elicit emotions ? Are these fools, that naïve ? I guess that they are ! Ah , well , it’s in-bred apathy ! It should be noted that in light of Rodriguez’s admission , his name would once again come up in the subsequent indictment and trial of now incarcerated Orlando medical professional , Dr Anthony Galea . Now in another turn of events the player’s name has once again been linked to another BALCO like “scandal” , that could have some serious reverberations around the league as well as damaging the Yankees’ alleged ” pristine image ” .

Courtesy of Yahoo Sports

Alex Rodriguez the biggest name in a new PED report that could grow into BALCO-like scandal

By Jeff Passan , Yahoo Sports

A man in south Florida supplied performance-enhancing drugs to more than half a dozen major league players, including Alex Rodriguez, according to a Miami New Times report that officials at Major League Baseball believe will grow into a doping scandal that could rival the BALCO case that tarnished Barry Bonds.

Alex Rodriguez is once again at the center of a possible PED scandal. The newspaper reported Tuesday morning that Anthony Bosch, a self-styled biochemist seen frequently in Latin American baseball circles, distributed large amounts of human growth hormone, synthetic testosterone and other cocktails of PEDs to players who previously had not been linked, such as Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz.

Some of the players could be subject to a 50-game suspension for a violation of the league’s PED policy, a league official told Yahoo! Sports. Three of Bosch’s alleged clients – outfielder Melky Cabrera, pitcher Bartolo Colon and catcher Yasmani Grandal – already have been caught and suspended by the league.

Following a relatively quiet period, PED busts spiked in baseball last season. From Ryan Braun’s positive test for testosterone – which got overturned because of alleged mishandling of evidence – to the suspensions of Cabrera, Colon, Grandal, Freddy Galvis, Marlon Byrd, Guillermo Mota and Carlos Ruiz, baseball is facing a renaissance of use, one it believes centered in south Florida.

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Rodriguez’s production in 2012 was somewhat anemic for the third baseman , and his postseason foray spoke volumes as to why the team failed so miserably in the MLB playoffs . Anemic play all round and very fact that, Joe Girardi and his staff were simply out-managed , spelled doom and gloom for the New York Yankees. The franchise’s problems in the postseason did not simply start and finish with the team’s woefully inept offense but team’s pitching during the regular and postseason left a great deal to be desired .

The Yankees have sought to bolster their roster and the during off-season , as they made some moves , seeking to prepare themselves for the upcoming season . I firmly believe that first two months of the New York Yankees’ schedule will tell us a great deal about this team and how they might possibly fare ! Undoubtedly, Derek Jeter will seek to lead by example , as he has often done throughout the course of his illustrious career.

Well the College Basketball season has started off with a bang and it has only gotten better over the ensuing weeks , and it has certainly live up to the hyperbole . The rankings have been turned upside down and on its ear , with a new number one ranked team , with Michigan (Wolverines) 19-1 , now succeeding Duke (Blue Devils) 17-2 atop of the polls, with the Blue Devils now dropping to number five in the polls. As an avid Duke Blue Devils’ fan to see the team go through two rather indifferent losses , both of which came at the hands of ACC rivals , North Carolina State and the Miami Hurricanes . Mike Krzyzewski , may not be overly concerned with his team’s plight at present , but I am sure his most pressing issue will be to get his players ready for the 2012-13 NCAA Tournament . Now while many may well seek the answers to numerous questions , as the reasons behind these two defeats to lesser opponents within the ACC . A succinct answer would be “ better to be subject of those losses , at this point of the season , rather than losing the games at a later date , as teams prepare themselves for March Madness” .

Duke’s next game will be against Wake Forest this Wednesday when the two teams meet . Mason Plumlee and Seth Curry are the two leading scorers on the Blue Devils’ roster. And it will be incumbent upon the duo to lead by example over the remainder of the team’s schedule.

As if to further solidify, how goddamn damn out of touch Bud Selig and the MLB hierarchy tends to be , on all things as it relates to the economy of baseball . Having successfully come out of bankruptcy proceedings , the Los Angeles Dodgers under the new ownership group led by Mark Walter , Todd S Boehly , NBA great , Magic Johnson and Hollywood mogul , Peter Guber . Under the astute financial leadership of Mark Walter and Boehly , whose company Guggenheim Partners LLC , a world-renowned venture capital firm , with over $125 billion , in assets and a further $700 million under management. The financial aptitude that will be brought to the franchise , will no longer make it a bastion of ridicule and self-indulgence that it had become under the stewardship of former owner Frank McCourt , while the hierarchy and baseball team owners around baseball simply stood back , and literally allowed McCourt bring the ball-club to financial ruin. And yet fans , and these lame assed MLB tv pundits feel that the game is safe hands , while Selig and idiots such as Fred Wilpon , Saul Katz , Bob Nutting and David Glass remains within its midst. Either these idiots are self-medicating or they’re completely happy , in smelling the bullshit that baseball continues to sell the fans by way of Bud Selig’s edicts .

Courtesy of Yahoo Sports & Associated Press

Dodgers secure $7B TV rights deal with TW Cable

By RYAN NAKASHIMA and RONALD BLUM (Associated Press)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers formally announced a deal with Time Warner Cable on Monday to create a new TV channel that people familiar with the situation say assures the team more than $7 billion over 25 years. That is double what Major League Baseball thought the local TV rights were worth when the team was sold out of bankruptcy just last year.

The gap will be the subject of discussions going forward as the league attempts to haggle over how much of that extra money will go into a revenue-sharing pool to help out baseball’s lower-revenue franchises.

MLB calculates that 34 percent of a team’s local revenue, after subtracting costs, is available for redistribution throughout the league. When the Dodgers were mired in bankruptcy last year, the league agreed to value the potential TV rights of any future deal at $84 million the first year, rising 4 percent every year thereafter. Over 25 years, that estimated TV rights revenue of $3.5 billion.

The actual TV rights contract represents a huge mark-up from that initial forecast. It could be a boon to the league, depending on how much of that revenue its internal rules committee says is subject to sharing. The contract is also a big win for the owners, including Guggenheim Partners and Magic Johnson, who bought the team out of bankruptcy last year for $2 billion from Frank McCourt.

The broad strokes of the deal terms were confirmed by three people who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about them publicly.

MLB spokesman Pat Courtney wouldn’t comment on the deal, but said the league would need to approve it. ”We are still awaiting further information,” he said.

If approved, fans in the Los Angeles area and Hawaii would have to switch from watching Dodgers games on Fox Sports’ regional sports channel Prime Ticket after the 2013 season.

The high price tag also means monthly TV bills are likely headed upward – in the Los Angeles market and elsewhere.

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Walter , Boehly and team President Stan Kasten have been able to negotiate what is now a record broadcast rights’ deal between a professional sports’ franchise and a broadcast outlet. In what was believed to be at the time, a television deal , that was initially worth $4 billion has now ballooned to a reputed $7 billion deal over two decades , that will net the Dodgers $350 million annually , more than enough, to meet their now ballooning payroll , with a surplus no doubt , that will allow GM Ned Colletti to pursue desired players , almost at will. However, after the league hierarchy partakes of disbursing monies to the other teams within the league , the Dodgers as the recipients of the deal have allowed the rights to their regular season games and postseason schedule in part to Time Warner Cable Incorporated , parent company of cable broadcast outlets TBS and TNT . And though the deal will need league approval , there is no denying who the greatest beneficiary of this all will be the Los Angeles Dodgers, who win out in such a magnanimous way , but small market teams will be merely offered breadcrumbs by way of this deal as it relates to the tax sharing revenue scheme .

While I do not begrudge the Dodgers their new-found wealth , what I do find somewhat asinine is the continued excuses being made by fans and team owners alike, who state they can ill afford to go out and spend money . First off , how about having a business plan, that sees a franchise with set goals ? It has been these sort of excuses that have been continually used by the likes of the Pittsburgh Pirates , whose mismanagement continues to this day under present owner , Bob Nutting . Likewise , this remains true of David Glass of the Kansas City Royals , and here within the Tampa Bay area , with lead managing partner , Stuart Sternberg and the Tampa Bay Rays . Sternberg, for his part has seen limited success in recent years with the franchise . And with the paring down of the team’s salary from last season ($64 million) to an approximate figure of $55 million for 2013 . In the midst of this all , has been the ownership group’s wish for a new venue , rather than continuing to play in what has become an archaic , and now broken down structure , known as Tropicana Field , in St Petersburg , Florida .

Bud Selig , for his part, has provided the Rays with about as much assistance in their endeavors for a new venue , as one could imagine a religious Islamic zealot offering the hand of friendship to a Jew . It would not be repulsive to suggest, that the commissioner would rather piss on the dying embers of the Rays , rather than witness the franchise continue to be an embarrassment within the game from his own opinion. Somehow , during Selig’s tenure, we have seen his and the hierarchy’s continued incompetence be ongoing and showing no signs of abatement . The contempt that he bears for the Rays’ organization and that of the local and state politicians in Florida , is in fact limitless . Yet somehow he has presided over the construction of three multimillion dollar facilities (Citi-Field, Yankees Stadium & Marlins’ Ballpark) in the last five years , two of which barely has an attendance level worth mentioning . Simply put , why spend tens of millions to build an edifice , when you can find a gullible politician willing to oblige, while they’re getting nothing of any real intrinsic value in return ?

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Picture gallery .

What signals, do you believe that have sent out within sports of as of late , are to your mind , either misleading or simply asinine ? Simply leave a comment as you see fit, on this , and anything else you think pertinent to the subject matter .

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Picture and slideshow details below .

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(1) San Francisco 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman (53) speaks during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game , Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orleans. AP Photo/Pat Semansky ….

(2) Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice , left, stands with offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell during NFL football practice at the team’s training facility in Owings Mills, Md., Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The Ravens are scheduled to face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans on Sunday, Feb. 3. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky …

(3) In a Sunday Sept. 26, 2010 photo Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams stands on the sidelines during an NFL football game at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, La. The Titans have talked with suspended defensive coordinator Williams and are interested in hiring him, said a person familiar with the situation Sunday Jan. 27, 2013. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert …

(4) Seen here , are Titans’ general manager Ruston Webster , seated left, alongside the team’s head coach Mike Munchak at the 2012 NFL Draft . The organization’s draft was not an outright success as mirrored in their standings this past NFL season. It is now being widely reported that Webster has agreed in principle to hire Gregg Williams , former defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. Williams , after his acknowledged involvement and initiating the Saints’ bounty scandal. The former coordinator , had been suspended indefinitely by the NFL hierarchy , but would now appear that with his imminent reinstatement , he will be allowed to make a return to the NFL and continue in his duties as a coach within the league . If his interview is proved to be a success , which appears to be a formality at this juncture , Gregg Williams would become the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach , for a franchise that struggled greatly in terms of their defensive prowess in 2012. AP Photo/ Mark Walsh …

(5) Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo (9) knocks Chicago Bulls guard Nate Robinson , left, out-of-the-way as he drives to the basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Boston on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. AP Photo/Charles Krupa …

(6) FILE – In this Oct. 18, 2012 file photo, New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez prepares to hit in the sixth inning during Game 4 of the American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park , in Detroit. Major League Baseball says it is “extremely disappointed” about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. AP Photo/Matt Slocum ….

(7) Duke’s Seth Curry (30) drives to the basket against Maryland’s Shaquille Cleare (44) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. AP Photo/Gerry Mahoney …

(8) Robert L. Patton, Jr ., Stan Kasten, Mark Walter, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Peter Guber and Todd Boehly (l-r) make up The Guggenheim Baseball Management Team who now own the Dodgers. The group held a press conference Wednesday at Dodger Stadium . Andy Holzman/Daily News Staff Photographer ….

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Contact : tophatalsblog@gmail.com

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Kendrick Lamarr ” Drank” (Swimming Pools)
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Alexis Amore`