Chipper and Smoltz make up...hopefully we'll start winning

As many may have noticed, i haven't been posting too much as of late, sure me moving was a very big part, but even more so was the fact that it's been embarrassing to be a Braves fan right now. I mean it's not just the fact that they're losing, we're getting humiliated, shut out like every day. It's very disheartening. And when news broke a few days ago that my two favorite players, and our two leaders were fighting, well let's just say it was the icing on the cake.

Apparently Chipper Jones and John Smoltz were taking their frustrations out on each other, mostly caused by losing im sure, and well Smoltz talked to the media and kind of insinuated that he wished Chipper would play more and maybe his injuries were as bad as it seemed. Well Chipper, obviously didn't take this well and fired back at Smoltz through the media too. Words were exchanged for about two days but I highly doubt fisticuffs ensued.

But after the two days of going at each other through the media, Chipper, Smoltz and Bobby Cox sat down, face-to-face and worked out their problems. So all seems to be fine in Atlanta, well you know except for the whole shitting themselves every night thing.

"Total misunderstanding," said Smoltz, making a brief comment to the media and not taking questions. "It's over with. There won't be a problem the rest of the time we're teammates."

Jones was more verbose. He said he apologized to Smoltz for his reaction to what he thought was Smoltz singling him out for sitting out Friday's game.

"Obviously there was a misunderstanding and I apologized to him for my comments in [Saturday's] interviews," Jones said. "He assured me that he wasn't singling me out. And that was pretty much it."

More comments from the two after the jump to the AJC.

Kimbo Slice is still a beast!

Kimbo Slice, of internet fame for his brutal streetfights, all of which i've seen quite all the critics last night when he defeated a former olympic gold medalist in a mixed martial arts bout. Kimbo defeated Ray Mercer by way of submission when Kimbo chocked out the former heavyweight champion in the first round. It took him just a minute and a half to get his first career victory.

"Kimbo was the heavy crowd favorite, with fans erupting as he was announced in the ring. The fight was over pretty quick, Kimbo going for a takedown in the early going and took Mercer down. Mercer made it back up where Kimbo began to land knees and began to engage Mercer with punches until coming off with a double leg and placing him in a guillotine choke to make him tap for the submission win at 1:12 of the first round.

The exhibition paid both fighters $50,000, Kimbo received an additional $25,000 for winning and $10,000 for making Mercer tap. Mercer looked every bit his age in the ring."

Like I said before, i'm a big fan of Kimbo and his street fights, the guy is a tank, no question about and now that he's proven that he's not just a brawler, that he can actually compete against "real fighters", I think he's going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come, I just hope he gets into the UFC soon.

Here's the video from last night's fight.

Odell Thurman > Pac Man Jones and Chris Henry

The insanity just will not stop, With Leather is reporting that he got an email from a tipster that attended a house party with Bengal's troubled linebacker, Odell Thurman and he said Thurman kicked the shit out of some guy and later returned with an "entourage" equiped with guns. Matt Ufford put it so much better, here's what he said.

According to the tipster, Thurman attended a house party in his hometown of Monticello, Georgia Saturday night. At around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, he was grinding on another partygoer's girlfriend, which upset the partygoer in question. Said partygoer asked Thurman to stop, then returned his attention to a game of pool. The rest of the story, according to the email I received:

Big mistake. Thurman ran up to the guy, pushed him down, and kicked the shit out of his face knocking the guy out. He then left, and moments later came back with his entourage carrying guns. Some of the people there were able to calm him down, and get him to leave for good.

The Monticelloo Police Department couldn't provide me with any details, and I got voicemail when I called the county courthouse. But you can expect to see charges filed against Thurman by the end of the day, and Len Pasquarelli will probably have the full story sometime later this afternoon. You know, if this is all true.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with the host of the party. Although he was upstairs when the fight began, he corroborated the story above. And to be fair to Thurman, it appears that he returned with guns and friends with guns only after people at the party pulled guns on him.

SECOND UPDATE: A tipster sent along the picture below, which is supposedly of the victim's cut lip, courtesy Odell's foot. I've also received word that Thurman tried to buy his victim's silence. And just for fun: it was on Friday that Thurman got sentenced to six days in rehab with two years probation for his DUI conviction.

He also included a picture of the guy who was supposedly kicked in the face by Thurman and well, he looks pretty bad. I fully expect, if it's true, this guy to press charges on Thurman, who would then go to jail and subsequently be released from the Bengals. Which sucks because he had a hell of a rookie season back in 2005 when he made 106 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 5 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. But has since then been suspended multiple times including a one-year ban from the league last season. But even with all that the Bengal's were willing to give him another chance at resuming his career in Cincinnati but with this latest news, i'd be surprised if he remains on the roster.

Johnnie Morton might want to consider a career change...again

Johnnie Morton's debut in mixed martial arts didn't quite go as expected, as he was knocked the hell out in just 38 seconds of the first round. He was put to sleep by a comedian of all people, named Bernard Ackah, Ackah connected with a devastating right hand to Morton's temple knocking him unconcisence. Morton stayed on the mat for a few moments before getting fitted with a neck brace and taken off on a stretcher.

Morton was awake and talking with paramedics after he was strapped onto the stretcher, he was also moving his head and arms, he was later taken to California Hospital as a precautionary measure. But he was suspended indefinitely by the California State Athletic Commission for refusing to take a post-fight banned substance test.



The former USC Trojan star displayed skill that suggested he'd have trouble defeating a Bozo the Clown bop bag. He ran at Ackah throwing wild punches, all of which missed or did little to no damage, and he showed the defensive skill of Jeff Kent. He looked to be in great shape, but he had no right in being in the ring.

Also see this story on Larry Brown Sports, With Leather and Deadspin.

Breaking News: Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett throw fisticuffs

During the fifth inning of the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs game, Carlos Zambrano imploded and allowed five runs on five hits and he walked two batters. And the inning may have come to a close if it wasn't for Michael Barrett, the Cub's catcher, who first let a ball get passed him then allowed Scott Thorman to score on his throwing error. Obviously Zambrano wasn't very happy with his peformance and it seemed as though the events of Barrett set him off because after the inning Barrett and Zambrano started jawing in the dugout and then fisticuffs insued. A couple of shots by Zambrano, who is 6'5" 255, must've landed because Koyie Hill had to replace Barrett at catcher.

Expect an update when a video is available.

Side Note: I take every advantage to mention "fisticuffs".

UPDATE: Ok, so it looks like no solid punches landed, just shoves....oh well.

UPDATE #2: According MLB.com, Cubs manager Lou Piniella and hitting coach Gerald Perry had to separate the two a second time, this time in the team's clubhouse.

Piniella's interview isn't up yet, but Ububba from the Braves Journal posted this...

Piniella said the fight continued into the clubhouse after the dugout scrap. He says he sent both players home & “both will be disciplined, believe me.”

“This just shouldn’t happen,” he said, “Go fight the other team, if you have to.”

“When I was with the Yankees, this seemed like it happened a lot, but it still shouldn’t.”

He said he sent Zambrano to the showers & Barrett followed him. “Barrett’s lip is cut up pretty good.”

Then, he really got rolling. “I’ve only got so many players I can send out there and it’s about time they started playing like Major Leaguers!”

UPDATE #3: Here's the video of the Zambrano and Barrett fight...at last.

I don't think the Royals want your damn champagne!!!

Just days after is was reported that Torri Hunter's act of generosity by shipping 4 bottles of champagne to the Kansas Royals making good on a promise he made after the Royals swept Detroit last September, which helped the Twins capture their division could mean a significant ban from baseball(a minimum of 3 years). The Royals decided to return the favor and send him an act of generosity of their own, three stitches.

Torri Hunter was struck in the mouth by a pitch from Royal's shy pitcher, Zack Greinke in the second inning of the game tonight and knocked him out of the rest of the game. Hunter's first move was to charge the mound, but after taking two steps, he changed his mind and falling to his knees in pain. Hunter is fine and said he plans to play Friday against the Detroit Tigers. Greinke apologized after the game and Hunter accepted the apology.

"You don't want to do that ever," Greinke said about the Hunter beaning. "I just felt bad about it. He's a good guy. Everybody knows that."

It would have been interesting to see Greinke's reaction had Hunter charged him, seeing as how Greinke was put on the 60-day DL last year after suffering from social anxiety disorder and was having trouble working out in front of others. And by "working out" they probably meant showering in front of the other guys. Come on, everybody remembers those dumb sex ed videos back in day with little Johnny getting embarrassed because he's not as big as the other guys, "down there". Let me stop right now, I can only imagine the random searches i'm going to get over this post.

And just for the hell of it, here's a old fashioned baseball fight. Well, kind of.



Oh and don't mess with "Steve", nobody fucks with Steve!

UPDATE:

The Twins won the game by the way, on a game-winning RBI single by Mike Redmond that scored last year's runner-up MVP, Justin Morneau in the 11th inning.

I love a good hockey Brawl!!!

This video is a few months old, but this may be the greatest hockey fight of all time! It's between a pee-wee hockey team, both sporting New York Islander's jerseys and straight throwing bows. Anyway, this is great, I mean the one kid(Chris Simon Jr?)took out like three kids and then capped it off by running away at the end. And of course, kinda like a white women in a horror movie, he fell down. Seriously I have never seen penguins fight, but if I do, this is exactly how I would imagine things would go down. Now Canada can't say i've never done anything for them, now that I have posted something on hockey. Enjoy.


Pee Wee Hockey Brawl - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

Personally I prefer to throw down at the craps tables, buy hey, that's just me.

Late Sunday night at the Palms casino and resort in Las Vegas, newly signed Miami Dolphins outside linebacker, Joey Porter, got into a bit of a scuffle with Cincinnati Bengal's offensive tackle, Levi Jones.

"A fist fight between two NFL players broke out in the Palms casino on Sunday night, sources said. Joey Porter, an All-Pro linebacker who recently left the Pittsburgh Steelers to join the Miami Dolphins, brawled with Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Levi Jones, at about 6 p.m. at a blackjack table in the casino.

Jones, who suffered scratches, told Las Vegas police he would be filing charges against Porter. Sources said there has been bad blood between the two."

First of all, what kind of fight ends with just scratches? And second of all, a Cincinnati Bengal was in a fight, police were called and charges are being filed AND it's not against a Bengal? Wow.

Oh and I read this gem over at the NFL Fanhouse,

"According to a Vegas TV station, you don't get cited in Vegas for a fight unless a police officer actually sees it. So let that be a lesson: If you're going to get into a fight at a casino, look around to make sure no cops are watching."

So not only did they throw fisticuffs in a crowded casino with hundreds of cameras watching their every move, they did it in front of a cop. That is almost as dumb as blowing chunks out of the window when a cop is pulling you over for a suspected DWI, like that would ever happen. So all in all, what have we learned today? Well first apparently Joey Porter fights like catwoman, then, don't fight in front of the police(apparently they're not to keen on that) and finally we learned that I have horrible photoshopping skills.

Duke and North Carolina, Blue blood? I think not.

I think it's safe to say no matter how much you love your team and no matter how high a player's loyalty is to their team, they don't actually "bleed" their team's colors. Hate to break it to you, but I don't believe Sandy Koufax bled "Dodger Blue" and I certainly don't bleed Atlanta Brave red...well technically I do bleed red...but you know what I mean. Anyways if we learned anything from Sunday's Duke-Carolina game it is Tyler Hansbrough doesn't bleed Carolina Blue.

Tyler Hansbrough received a bloody nose at the hands of Duke guard, Gerald Henderson. With just 14 seconds left of a North Carolina, 86-72 win, when Bobby Frasor missed a free-throw, Tyler Hansbrough went up to retrieve the rebound and when he came down, Gerald Henderson's forearm landed right on the bridge of Hansbrough's nose splitting it open. Hansbrough landed hard onto the ground and covered his face, when he stood up blood was pouring from the gash and Hansbrough was fuming. He was desperately trying to fight his way to Henderson but he was held back buy a couple of teammates. After reviewing the tape, officials rejected Henderson and because of the NCAA rule, he will miss the next Blue Devil's game which happens to be the start of the ACC Championship next Thursday against North Carolina State.

The only real question that is left is, was the the foul intentional. In my opinion it most certainly was. Henderson along with the rest of the Duke team was obviously upset with their embarrassing 14-point loss and rightfully so, but what Henderson did was probably unnecessarily. But of course, Henderson thought differently.

"I was not intentionally trying to hurt anybody," Henderson said. "Obviously, it was a foul. I was not trying to hurt or hit the kid."

And not surprisingly, Duke Head Coach, Mike Krzyzewski didn't agree with the punishment. He said that he would like for the ACC office to take another look at the play and they should be expecting a call from people over at Duke. Of course he is just saying this because Henderson is one of his best players and that's what coaches do, right? They neglect the obvious that Henderson intended to hurt Hansbrough and when he succeeded he has to act shocked and probably come up with some bullshit on how Henderson just tapped into some childhood memory where he was beaten up at the playground for being different.

"We'll take all responsibility, but if there's any way Gerald Henderson did that intentionally, that's crazy," Krzyzewski said. "That's not the way he plays and not the way we play. ... I feel badly for Tyler and what happened, but there was no intent."

"The game was over before that," he said. "I mean the outcome of the game, let's put it that way. That's unfortunate, too, that those people were in the game in that play. Maybe this wouldn't have happened."

Now where have I heard that excuse from, oh yeah, it's the same damn thing Isiah Thomas said in defense of his player that started the Brawl at Madison Square Garden. And if Hansbrough hadn't been held back it's likely that we would've seen a similar situation. In response to Coach K's quote, Carolina's coach, Roy Williams wasn't happy with what took place on the court and Coach K's reasoning for his player's action.

"I don't understand that," Williams responded, when told of Krzyzewski's barb.

Playing starters at garbage time, he was told.

"Gerald was in," Williams said, although Henderson did not start. "I mean, both teams had 'em in. Anybody else got any questions?"

So with all that said, North Carolina won their 4th game against Duke out of the last five and regained the top spot upon the ACC rankings and a first round bye something the Dukies don't have the luxury of.

Ethan Thomas doesn't take gabarge from anyone.

History does repeat it self, in the case of Ethan Thomas and Brendan Haywood hating each other. Now there have been many cases of teammates disliking each other, but i'm quite sure that Kobe and Shaq never threw fisticuffs, Bill Romanowski and every single player that he played with threw down. Ok, excuse that last one, good ole' Billy had a habit of destroying careers one uppercut at a time.

Any who, Thomas and Haywood have an extensive history of throwing punches that has resulted in Haywood being suspended last season for 1 game and now this latest incident has Thomas being suspended for 2 games for "conduct detrimental to the team".

During practice yesterday, the two centers were tangled under the rim, when Haywood threw an elbow, Thomas felt it was intentional and then threw a punch at Haywood. The two traded blows until teammates were able to separate them.

Wizard's head coach Eddie Jordan and Brendan Haywood were both not available for comment, but Ethan Thomas was more than happy to give reporters his side of the story.

"I am trying to find my rhythm after missing a month with this ankle injury, trying to put together some decent games, feeling good to be a part of everything that the team is accomplishing, and this cat decides to hit me with a cheap shot during practice and I reacted. I could have turned the other cheek. I guess I didn't," Thomas told the Post.

"Why on earth would he throw an elbow at his own teammate? Save that for Tyson Chandler or Eddy Curry. Kwame Brown would be more than happy to trade blows with him," Thomas told the Times. "I know the difference between an accident and a cheap shot."

Ethan Thomas also said that Haywood wasn't happy with only playing 21 minutes of their loss to the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday.

"San Antonio just beat us by what seemed like a hundred but I guess all that matters to him is he didn't get the minutes he thinks he deserves, so he's mad, which results in a displacement of anger," Thomas told the Post. "What does he think, that throwing a cheap shot at me is going to keep him on the floor? Bottom line, I'm not putting up with any garbage from Brendan Todd Haywood, but at the same time, I do feel bad and upset with myself for allowing him to bait me."

Even though their is bad blood between the two, Thomas did mention that he hopes they can put this incident behind them.