- First and foremost, all condolences to the family of wrestler Chris Candido. Formerly "Skip" of the BodyDonnas, Candido at one time was one of the best mat wrestlers in the world. He was a natural in the ring, and it was good that he got rid of some of the demons that had been plaguing him before he died.
Candido died Thursday of a freak condition; a blood clot after having surgery on his leg which had been broken in a match last Sunday. Even after he broke it he showed up at TNA Impact in a wheelchair, which shows how much he loved just being around the guys even when he couldn't work. I hope Sonny Siaki isn't taking this too hard (he came down wrong on Candido's leg, which caused the break), and he's able to continue his career as well.
- In boxing last night, James Toney captured one of the alphabet heavyweight titles with a unaminous decision over John Ruiz. Toney is not only the fourth oldest person to ever win a heavyweight title, but the third to win it after winning the middleweight title. He won that title 14 years and 73 pounds ago.
I would say he's one of the flabbiest champions ever, but I'm sure someone can find one that was in worse shape than he was. Nevertheless, James Toney is 36 years old, overweight (he weighed in at 233; he probably weighed more when he actually got into the ring), and he is a smoker. Not only did he outpoint a "heavyweight champion" (Ruiz has always been a joke), but he won the last six rounds of the fight.
Makes you feel good about the future of the sport, doesn't it? And people call MMA (mixed martial arts) fighters barbaric and undisciplined? Not even in the early 1980's did it ever get this bad.
- In the first episode of the Eagles soap opera, we found out T.O. didn't show up for mini-camp, which means he's officially holding out for another contract. Donovan also took the time to check T.O. for some comments he made about him a few weeks back.
Well, T.O. got slapped in the mouth again, this time by the Eagles front office. They said he is in breech of contract for not showing up to minicamp, which means he could forfeit $1.8 million of his signing bonus.
Ha. If T.O. keeps on, he'll be lucky to get a new pair of cleats. Although the Eagles haven't decided if they are going to collect or not, the longer he holds out, the more likely he'll have to come out of pocket. Talk about irony.
- Also in this episode, Andy Reid told the press that he told Mitchell not to show up. I don't think we need any more of a guarantee that he will be waived or part of a trade deal.
- I'm sure none of you pay attention to college baseball, and well...I can't blame ya. Hell; it's hard enough to stay interested in Major League Baseball.
However, here's something that might get your attention. Here's what Oklahoma baseball coach, Larry Cochell, said as a compliment about one of his players to ESPN off camera on Tuesday:
How nice. I'm sure Dunigan felt great after hearing those comments.
As for Oklahoma officials? They didn't suspend him, but he isn't in the dugout and has been replaced by one of the coaches. Oklahoma is conducting their own investigation into what happened, although the coach admitted to the comments and apologized.
It reminds me of the Robert Byrd incident on Fox News a few years back. I was actually watching that live at the time that went down. I wonder if Cochell will get off the hook like Byrd did? Cochell better hope he's a registered Democrat; he'll be fine then.
- In MLB, suspensions have been levied against players as well as the managers of both the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the defending world champion Boston Red Sox.
I support the decision, particularly when a manager orders a pitcher or a pitcher takes it upon himself to throw a beanball in retaliation. Yeah; it's an old unwritten rule, but it's a stupid rule. Baseball should fine and suspend any pitcher that throws one.
- Speaking of suspensions, Bud Selig went to his own nuclear option after criticism of his new steroid policy. Implementing a "three strikes and you're out" rule, the first offense is 50 games, the second offense is 100 games, and the third bans you from the league completely.
I'm not sure about this. I understand MLB wants to show they will be tough after being trashed Congress and later the sports media during the steroid hearings, but going from one extreme to another isn't going to help.
It all depends on what level of testocerone will the drug test detect? If it's a sensitive test that can trace a change from over-the-counter drugs, then I think it's too heavy handed. But if it's like the NFL policy, where you have to look like Captain Caveman (you had to have six times the normal level to be caught) in order for it to catch you, then I might be inclined to agree.
That's all I have. Watch Miami/New Jersey today on ABC. I will. I think Miami will close this one out.