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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Scenes from the Los Angeles Lakers' championship parade!!!


On Monday, the Lakers and the city of Los Angeles celebrated their 2010 NBA title with a parade through their fine city. Thousands upon thousands of Angelenos showed up, cheering on their back-to-back champions as only Californians can. Let's enjoy some of the best pictures from Monday's festivities.

Ron Artest(notes) kept things pretty normal, all things considered. Yeah, he showed up just a little bit tipsy, smoking a cigar and wearing a feathered top hat his daughter made in art class, but that's normal for Ron Artest. At least he finally changed clothes.

Man, Kobe Bryant's(notes) index finger is a lot more injured than we were led to believe. He definitely needs surgery.

Seven people were arrested at the parade, including these two young ladies for "excessive blanketing." Kids these days and their crazy blankets. It still doesn't seem fair that they'd be thrown in jail for blankets, but I'm hardly an expert on the California penal code.

Unlike Ron Artest, Pau Gasol(notes) still hasn't showered since Thursday night. It's not really that big of a change for him though — Wednesday is his weekly shower day.

a) ZING!

b) Shaq is like, "What's that? I can't see your sign behind my enormous stacks of money and four championship rings. Have you heard this new Owl City song? It's really, really good."

c) But still, buuuuuurrrrrnnnnnn.

I'm not that surprised that Pharrell Williams would be a Lakers fan, but I'm kind of shocked he didn't get better seats.

As you can tell by Derek Fisher's(notes) supremely unimpressed face, anything more than four titles is a total bore. It's such a drag winning five championships in 11 years.

We should all be very happy that the gigantic Peja Stojakovic heads that have become so famous in New Orleans have finally spawned. Fun fact: Pau Gasol's is life-size.

It was pretty nice of the Lakers to let impartial commentator Earvin "Magic" Johnson ride in their parade. Journalists don't usually get that chance.

Yep, he's a champion.

Steve Smith broke his arm, but how?


Here's what we know about the injury to Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith: Over the weekend, as first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, Smith broke his left arm in a flag football game. It was the same arm that Smith broke last December, though not in the same place. Last time, it was his forearm.

Schefter's report, in which Smith's injury was disclosed by his agent, specified that Smith suffered the injury in a flag football game that took place during a camp he runs for kids. However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk now reports that from what he's heard, Smith actually broke his arm in the championship game of an adult flag tournament in which Smith has been a longtime participant.

The difference could be significant if Smith's contract has language prohibiting other specific kinds of athletic activities – it's not uncommon for big-ticket contracts to have language prohibiting player participation in risky athletic endeavors. If Smith had a waiver for his football camp, that might be a reason to float a different story out there. We're not saying that's what happened, but if it did, that would be a possibility.

In late April, Denver Broncos left tackle Ryan Clady tore his patellar tendon in a pickup basketball game and will miss an indeterminate amount of time as he recovers. That's just bad luck; one can only imagine the kinds of tantrums we'd see out of Denver coach Josh McDaniels had Clady been injured in a flag football game. The Carolina brass are more measured in its reactions, but it probably wouldn't be too happy if it went down this way. Stay tuned for more on that part of the story.

Initial reports have Smith undergoing surgery Sunday night and possibly being ready for the start of the regular season. If that's the case, the Panthers need to get a bead on who's going to catch passes from Matt Moore(notes) or Jimmy Clausen(notes) alongside Smith, so there are more opportunities for Dwayne Jarrett(notes), Armanti Edwards(notes) and Brandon LaFell(notes) (as well as the rest of Carolina's relatively anonymous receiver corps) to shine and gain playing time; Edwards is one to watch. The 31-year-old Smith, who led the team with 65 catches for 982 yards and seven touchdowns in 2009, has said that he wants to see another Panthers receiver step up and challenge him for reps and catches. Now, for better or worse, is the time for that to happen.


Yahoo

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Redskins trade for Jammal Brown; reinforce offensive line!!


In one offseason, the new Washington Redskins brain trust of Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen have done more for the team's offensive line than former VP/Football Operations Vinny Cerrato did over several years. First, Washington selected Oklahoma tackle Trent Williams(notes) with the fourth overall pick, and now Shanahan and Allen have engineered a trade with the New Orleans Saints. The ‘Skins get tackle Jammal Brown(notes), and the Saints get ... well, the compensation is pretty interesting.

The Redskins already owe the Philadelphia Eagles a mid-round conditional pick for Donovan McNabb(notes) (either third- or fourth-round, depending on certain escalators), and they now owe the Saints another conditional mid-rounder (same deal) - basically, the compensation to the Saints is dependent on the compensation to the Eagles. One team will get Washington's third-round pick in 2011, and another will get the team's fourth-rounder. There are other late-round picks involved - a possible 2011 fifth-, sixth-, or seventh-rounder back to Washington from New Orleans, and a 2012 sixth-rounder in the same direction. Again, these are all based on 2010 playing incentives, so we'll have to wait and see how it shakes out. What we do know is that Cerrato probably would have skipped the complicated stuff and just given the Saints Washington's entire 2011 draft for Brown, which is yet another reason it's good that Shanahan and Allen are in charge now.

Why such low compensation for a left tackle who went to the Pro Bowl in 2008 - a player who the Saints slapped with a first- and third-round tender this past offseason? Brown is a talented player, but a pretty serious injury risk - he missed the entire 2009 season after hip surgery, and he's never played a full 16-game season in his NFL career. Still, if Brown comes back from injury as he was, the Redskins made a great trade that reinforces a line that was overwhelmed in 2009 after years of neglect. The question about Brown is how much he's been helped by Drew Brees'(notes) quick release. While the Saints' lines have been highly regarded in overall pass-blocking numbers over the last few seasons, aficionados of offensive line play also note that Brees is virtually unparalleled when it comes to getting rid of the ball in time. Will Brown regress back to the mean with a quarterback who's not quite as quick-twitch?

The next step for Brown, as it still is for McNabb, is to come to terms on a longer deal. Brown is a restricted free agent once he signs his tender, and McNabb is under contract through the end of the 2010 season, as well. For the first time since George Allen (Bruce's dad) created the "Over the Hill Gang" in the 1970s, the Redskins seem to have some real sense behind their trading of draft picks. Initial word has Williams playing left tackle though he played just one college season on the left side; this will be sorted out in a Redskins offseason that just gets more and more interesting every day.

Source: Yahoo

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Tiger Woods' Mistress -- He's the Daddy

Tiger Woods' Mistress -- He's the Daddy

Jubilant Celebration Over Lakers' Win Turns Rowdy!!



A jubilant celebration over the Los Angeles Lakers' dramatic win in the NBA championship game turned rowdy in scattered sections of the city, with raucous revelers hurling rocks and bottles at police, setting fires and jumping on vehicles.

Police spokesman Cleon Joseph said Friday 38 people had been arrested, most for public intoxication and others for vandalism and inciting a riot.

Television news footage showed one man being beaten and a car set on fire. Broken glass and burnt debris lined the streets.

Several people were seen jumping on a taxi as it attempted to leave the area near the arena after the Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 83-79.

Someone opened a rear door of the vehicle while others rocked it back and forth. The taxi eventually made its way through the crowd and out of the area.

Some men ran shirtless in the streets, while other people revved car engines and honked their horns in celebration. Some people set off fireworks.

Hundreds of officers massed around Staples Center before Game 7 of the NBA finals Thursday night, aiming to prevent a repeat of the violence after the Lakers' championship win last year.

Despite the massive deployment, pockets of violence erupted in neighborhoods near the arena, and there were reports of windows being broken at businesses.

No major problems were reported in the rest of the city.

Jazmine Rodriguez, 24, lives in an apartment building not far from Staples Center. She said every car on her street had its windows smashed.

"When we came down here, only one window was smashed. The cops told us to go back inside, and (revelers) smashed the other one," Rodriguez said.

Delmi Ramos tried to salvage what she could from her car, which was filled with shards of broken glass.

"It's these young people who don't know how to behave," she said. "They cause damage to people, to the community, because they don't know how to celebrate in a healthy way."

Los Angeles firefighters responded to 37 incidents within a half-mile of the arena in three hours, spokesman Brian Humphrey said. There were 15 rubbish fires, three vehicle fires, one vegetation fire and 18 medical aid requests.

Eight people were transported to hospitals. Humphrey didn't know the nature or extent of the injuries, but said some were serious.

One police officer suffered a broken nose after someone threw an object at him, Police Chief Charlie Beck said.

Police were bracing for another crowd-control challenge Monday, when the Lakers will hold a victory parade from Staples Center to the edge of the University of Southern California campus. A team statement estimated 500,000 to 2 million people might line the two-mile route.

The event appeared to be significantly downsized from past years, when championships were celebrated by kickoff rallies at City Hall, parades through downtown and huge rallies at Staples Center.

Last year's parade was heavily criticized for its costs to the financially strapped city. It skipped the downtown core and instead began at Staples Center and ended at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where 95,000 people jammed the stands for a rally.

———

Associated Press Writers Raquel Maria Dillon, Bob Jablon, Denise Petski and Nardine Saad contributed to this report.

Ron Artest -- The Ultimate Vodka Shower

Ron Artest -- The Ultimate Vodka Shower

Fan bursts into England dressing room, confronts Beckham!!!


Buying flights to South Africa, finding a hotel and picking up match tickets represents a considerable investment in both time and money, so fans at Green Point Stadium were understandably frustrated by the woeful display England put on against Algeria last night. While most chose to convey their disappointment via the medium of the "boo", one supporter took things a little further. Shortly after the game, reports on BBC Radio 5 Live suggested an angry fan had breached security and made his way to the England dressing room, and said reports have been confirmed by the press this morning. From The Telegraph:

The supporter managed to get past security at the Green Point stadium in Cape Town following England's lacklustre goalless draw against Algeria in order to berate the players.

It is understood he gained access to the team dressing room after the players had left the pitch.

The disgruntled fan is understood to have confronted former England captain David Beckham over the team's poor performance.

The man, who was dressed in an England shirt, was able to breach several levels of security in order to reach the team.

Of all the people that angry fan could have confronted, he went for Beckham. The guy whose sole purpose at this tournament is to stand on the touchline and look fabulously handsome in the official England suit. He could have shouted at Fabio Capello for the rigid and inflexible tactics that resulted in Wayne Rooney playing on the left of midfield, or captain Steven Gerrard, whose lack of ideas after the game almost matched his lack of ideas during it. But no, he went for the guy with the least culpability in the room.

[Photos: See more of soccer legend David Beckham]

After exposing a worrying hole in stadium security, Reuters this morning say that the fan is still at large, as the England security forces who ejected him allowed him to "slip away into the crowd" like a villain in 24, rather than handing him over to the police.

UPDATE: Beckham has now played down the event, claiming the fan was not aggressive and there was no scuffle. Becks says the invader simply said "hello" and walked out. Looks like it may have all been blown out of proportion. Also, like true leaders, Princes William and Harry have stepped up and taken the blame for the breach: "Harry and I left the door open, that's why it happened, it was our fault."