Admin: August 2008 Archives

BY MIKE CLARK Sports Pros(e) Wrestling Bureau

In case you missed it, the pro wrestling world is in mourning this weekend after the death of Walter "Killer" Kowalski.

"Killer" was long one of the sport's premier villains, a role he fell into after severing part of rival Yukon Eric's ear during a bout in Montreal in 1954.

Kowalski also was known for creating his signature move, a stomach cruncher known as the "Killer Clutch."

John McCain has selected Alaskan governor and giving-kid-interesting-names enthusiast Sarah Palin as his running mate. And evidently she enjoys the movie "Rudy" -- or at the very least, the "Rudy" theme music.

Don't get too excited about the big 16-10 win over the Cleveland Browns, Bears fans. First of all, it didn't count. Secondly, it didn't count at all. And lastly, it looks like the Bears will have to deal with Peyton Manning after all when the games start meaning something.

Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy says that the two-time NFL MVP should be -- like a Crunchwrap Supreme from Taco Bell -- good to go for the Sept. 7 season opener against Chicago.

In this file photo, Cuban Angel Matos kicks his competitor. He kicked a ref in Beijing on Saturday. (AP photo)

Angel Matos had just been disqualified for exceeding the allotted injury time in the bronze medal taekwando match. The Cuban disagreed with the referee's judgment so he decided to show his displeasure by doing the only sensible thing: kicking the official in the head.

"Matos was winning 3-2, with 1:02 in the second round, when he fell to the mat after being hit by his opponent, Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov. He was sitting there, awaiting medical attention, when he was disqualified for taking too much injury time. Fighters get one minute, and Matos was disqualified when his time ran out.

Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge, then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out."

Kicking? Spitting? Perhaps Matos should look into competitve tantrum throwing in 2012. Although he'd have some stiff competition.

BY MIKE CLARK Sports Pros(e) Contributor

Here at Sports Pros(e), we are looking to perform at the highest level every time we blog. That naturally requires getting in the proper frame of mind before we embark on each post.

While we are big fans of Okkervil River, especially after the band's stellar set at Lollapalooza, we are thinking that perhaps we should consider a change in our warmup music. After all, if Young Jeezy is good enough for the winningest Olympian of all time, he's good enough for us.

BY LINDSEY MILLER Sports Pros(e) Contributor

I have always thought of the Olympics as the wimpy sports. The sports that don't attract the stereotypical men sitting on their couches with a beer. The sports for kids and juice-the sports for non-sports fans. When I was younger, I would to settle into the soft family room couches with my family during the Olympics and we'd watch exclusively figure skating in the winter and gymnastics in the summer. Leaving, of course, whenever any other sport came on. There was even a time when I wanted to become a figure skater when I grew up-until I realized that ice sports are not entirely practical in California, where I grew up. Nor did I ever really like skating. I enrolled in gymnastics, but always enjoyed playing with the chalk and jumping in the foam pit at the end of class more than I liked flipping or balancing. Regardless of my own early failures, the Olympics contained the only two sports I actually enjoyed watching. They weren't like the occasional long weekend afternoons I would reluctantly spend with my dad watching baseball or football, never quite conscious of which team was up to bat or which line the football was supposed to get to. Forget about all those goal posts, nets and other sweaty summer sports and snowy winter sports. I had eyes only for Michelle Kwan and Shannon Miller and the Olympics.

Perhaps you remember Hideki Irabu. He was that much-ballyhooed Japanese import that was supposed come to the Yankees and dominate on the mound. After amassing a 34-35 career record in six major-league seasons, Irabu decided that maybe playing baseball in Japan was a better option. Good choice.

But today, the big right-hander apparently let the beer do the talking.

"Irabu, 39, became angered after his credit card was rejected. He allegedly pushed the bartender against the wall, pulled his hair and smashed at least nine liquor bottles. The bartender sustained no injuries."

Nine liquor bottles? I believe you call that a complete game.

In the immortal words of Ron Burgandy: "That squirrel can water ski." (Courtesy)

BY MIKE CLARK Sports Pros(e) Contributor

Perhaps you have had your fill of watching Michael Phelps stockpile more gold than Fort Knox. You've already given up on the Bears and their less-than-effective offensive line.

And you can't really get excited about the pennant races on the north and south sides of town till September.

Yet you are a sports fan and you need your daily fix. What to do?

We at Sports Pros(e) understand your dilemma and offer the perfect solution. Head out to Michigan City, Indiana, Thursday through Sunday to check out the greatest aquatic marvel this side of the Water Cube.

Ladies and gentlemen, we present the amazing, incomparable, death-defying Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel.

And the best part: Twiggy performs live, not on NBC time.

Carl Lewis stops by a Beijing McDonald's to pick up a few all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce and cheese for the US track & field athletes. (Courtesy)

BY TONY ARGENAS Sports Pros(e) Correspondent

I wanted to write a bit about some of the things I have been witnessing on TV lately. Namely, the commercials pertaining to the Olympic games.  Now, I'm all for showcasing the world's most gifted physical specimens in some of the weirdest competitions known to man (don't believe me, watch table tennis), but the excitement dissipated after the first commercial ran during "America's Got Talent."

In this particular commercial, the company, McDonald's (perhaps you're familiar), has obtained several of the more popular American athletes to hock their latest grease-filled creation. Now I'm not an Olympic trainer by any stretch of the imagination, but I can't in any capacity see Michael Phelps' trainer saying "Michael, when you're finished with that last lap I want you to hit the showers and then grab a couple chicken biscuit breakfast sandwiches."  This guy has been consuming nothing but whey protein and wheat germ since he was nine, yet I'm to believe he loads up on McGriddles before a big swim. My mom wouldn't even let me eat a cracker and play in that mud-filled bacteria basin we called a kiddie pool in our front yard, and this guy's housin' big macs.

How stupid does Madison Ave. think the American public is?

BY MIKE CLARK

We at Sports Pros(e) don't believe in stereotyping, but it's a historical fact that the Swedes are a peaceable lot. They haven't been involved in a war since Napoleon's day, when pretty much all of Europe was up in arms.

So the whole brouhaha Thursday at the Chinese Agricultural University Gym (apparently the Chinese aren't pioneers in the field of naming rights) caught us a bit off guard.

In case you didn't hear, Sweden's Ara Abrahamian was none too pleased when his dream of a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling ended when he lost to Italy's Andrea Minguzzi in the semifinals. Abrahamian had to be held back by teammates from going after the officials, to whom he still gave what for.

Those teammates persuaded Abrahamian to wrestle for the bronze medal, which he won. But he made clear his opinion of the third-place finish (or as we like to call it, "second place for losers") by taking the medal off and dropping it on the mat after leaving the podium.

And there was more: Abrahamian also announced his retirement, saying, "This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure."

So do fans of real fireworks and live singing, among other things.

Meanwhile, we hear the Minnesota Vikings, having failed to land one formerly retired star, have inquired into Abrahamian's availability.

Brett Favre's tired arm will be discussed thoroughly in New York tonight. (AP photo)

BY MIKE CLARK

Apparently there's a purpose to all those offseason workouts Donald Driver and other NFL players endure every summer while the rest of us are going to Lollapalooza and watching the Olympics.

They are designed, we suppose, to prevent you from getting all tuckered out while your teammates have hardly worked up a sweat in training camp.

Saying his apparently not-so-bionic right arm was "kind of dragging a little bit" after the Jets' morning practice on Wednesday, NFL senior citizen Brett Favre told reporters he would ask coach Eric Mangini if he could limit his throws in the afternoon workout.

We here at Sports Pros(e) sympathize with the future Hall of Famer. We plan to ask the boss if we can limit the number of words we type in each post because our fingers are "kind of dragging a little bit."

At what point of this whole Brett Favre mess is Roman Polanski going to jump out from behind the bushes and yell, "Cut!"? The latest: Favre admits this just isn't going to happen between him and the Packers.