Ever wonder what happened to Marquise Walker? He was the first draft pick of the McKay/Gruden era, a wide receiver from Michigan who the Bucs traded to Arizona for Thomas Jones after the 2002 season because he really sucked. Then Cincinnati gave him a shot for about a week. These days he chews stuff as a human guinea pig for medical research. And that doesn’t pay as well as you’d think, so he’s hawking the one thing that every NFL player works his entire career for: his Super Bowl XXXVII ring.
He’s selling the ring on eBay for $50,000… or whatever you want to pay. That’s the beauty of the “Best Offer” method of selling stuff on eBay. You can make an offer right now and gauge his desperation for yourself by timing how long it takes for him to respond back to it. At least he found something to motivate him. Clicking the reload button every 30 seconds is the most work he’s put into anything football-related since college.
Seriously, you can probably have that ring for under five figures. You might as well. You did as much to earn it as he did.
Are you ready for Wrestlemania 23?
I am, but to be honest I’m really not sure why.
Wrestlemania has always been one of the highlights of the year for me, going all the way back to the very first event at Madison Square Garden in March 1985. I can still picture the events surrounding the main event, where Hulk Hogan and Mr. T squared off to take on Rowdy Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorf. Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka was the third man in the corner for Hogan and “T”, while Cowboy Bob Orton backed up Piper and Orndorf.
Back then I guess it wasn’t so hard to take the mixing of entertainment personalities and wrestlers, probably because the storylines that went along with the mixing were more believable. Besides that, someone like Mr. T was quite capable of handling himself inside the squared circle.
But in reality, the matches at past Wrestlemania were some of the best. They featured feuds fans had been waiting for months to see resolved. The outcome of those matches generally determined the futures of some of the guys (and gals) we had cheered or jeered.
I guess that’s what so different about Wrestlemia today. The excitement is still there, but I’m just not feeling it with the same anticipation as with past Wrestlemanias. Donald Trump and Vince McMahon in a hair versus hair match? Come one, guys. Give me something better than that, please!
Besides, who really cares is Trump goes bald? Or McMahon for that matter? The match between Bobby Lashley and Umaga should be a good one. But because we’ve seen what Lashley is capable of doing the outcome is almost predictable. I’m really more interested in seeing whether or not the returning “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who will served as special referee, will truly call the match straight down the line. I’m guessing he won’t.
I’m also guessing Ashley won’t defeat Melina for the women’s title; that the Undertaker will send Batista packing and add another win to his current 14-0 Wrestlemania record; and that John Cena will somehow manage to survive Shawn Michaels’ patented “superkick” and hang on to the WWE championship. But stand by, because if Michaels looses the battle at Wrestlemania he certainly won’t lose the war.
As for the rest of the show, I’m not expecting much. But then, we all know Vince usually has something up his sleeve that at some point could transform us all into Joey Styles clones and have us screaming, “Oh, my God!”
I guess that’s why I’m looking forward to watching Wrestlemania 23. You just never know what’s going to happen.
But in the meanwhile, please excuse me while I get back to watching Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat whip up on the “Macho Man” Randy Savage at Wrestlemania III and take the Intercontinental title.
Former Virginia coach Pete Gillen wants to be the next coach at the University of South Florida. But does USF athletic director Doug Woolard want Gillen to be the next coach?
Woolard obviously thinks enough of Gillen that he granted him an interview. So does that mean Gillen is the leader in the clubhouse to be USF’s next coach? I don’t think so.
While Gillen certainly has the experience – a 20-year head coaching career at Virginia, Providence and Xavier, including nine NCAA berths – ultimately I don’t think USF wants a 59-year old coach in charge of rebuilding its program.
ESPN’s Dick Vitale has been Gillen’s biggest proponent to get the USF job and hasn’t been shy in letting Woolard know this. So I think Woolard may have spoken to Gillen out of courtesy to Vitale.
Woolard also requested permission to speak with UConn associate coach Tom Moore, who’s been with the Huskies the past 12 seasons. However, I think Moore, 41, is being looked at as more of an insurance policy in case Woolard can’t get the head coach he’s seeking.
And as far as Woolard’s task of getting a current head coach? Well a tough job just got tougher Saturday night when Michigan fired Tommy Amaker.
A number of mid-major head coaches, who may have jumped at the opportunity to come to USF, likely may now wait to see who gets the Michigan job to see if another job opens up that may be more attractive. This domino effect certainly will not make Woolard’s job any easier.
The NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 includes all four No. 1 seeds, three No. 2 seeds and three No. 3 seeds, so this event has really run to form.
In fact, it’s the first time since 1995 that the tournament has NOT had a double-digit seeded team in the Sweet 16. No. 7 UNLV is the lowest-seeded team remaining.
Never has there been a Final Four with all four No. 1 seeds making it through, so you can expect some surprises.
Here is our Sweet 16 outlook (keeping in mind that my Final Four of Florida, UCLA, Georgetown and Texas A&M remains alive):
Thursday
South Region (San Antonio, Texas)
* No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Tennessee – The Buckeyes are lucky to be here, especially after Greg Oden’s hard foul was not called an intentional, possibly preventing Xavier from wrapping up their second-round game in regulation. I think Ohio State’s run ends here, though, against a red-hot Tennessee team that played the Buckeyes to a two-point game during the regular season in Columbus. THE PICK: Tennessee.
* No. 2 Memphis vs. No. 3 Texas A&M – Texas A&M is essentially playing a home game at the Alamodome. Memphis now has 32 wins, but the Aggies, one of the great comeback stories ever in college basketball (winless in the Big 12 just three seasons ago) have the look of a Final Four team. THE PICK: Texas A&M.
West Region (San Jose, Calif.)
* No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 4 Southern Illinois – Kansas isn’t going to lose this game, despite Southern Illinois’ status as a consistent power out of the Missouri Valley Conference. THE PICK: Kansas.
* No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 Pittsburgh – It’s UCLA coach Ben Howland against his old program and assistant, Jamie Dixon, who now coaches Pittsburgh. The Bruins have too much quickness and leadership in the backcourt with Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison. The Bruins could get to the Final Four without leaving California. THE PICK: UCLA.
Friday
East Region (East Rutherford, N.J.)
* No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 5 USC – The tournament began with seven ACC teams. Now there is just one – ACC Tournament champion North Carolina. Who expected a Sweet 16 run from USC after its dismal Pac-10 Tournament title game performance against Oregon? Just goes to show you the past rarely equals the future in this event. But the Tar Heels have too much depth to go down here. THE PICK: North Carolina.
* No. 2 Georgetown vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt – Look for the Hoyas’ defense to shut down Vandy’s perimeter game. Meanwhile, how are the Commodores going to deal with 7-foot-2 Georgetown center Roy Hibbert? THE PICK: Georgetown.
Midwest Region (St. Louis)
* No. 1 Florida vs. No. 5 Butler – Classic basketball matchup between one team (Florida) that likes to get up and down and another (Butler) that wants to dictate a slower pace. Butler might be able to hold down the score – for a while – but it’s hard to imagine the Bulldogs finding a way to neutralize Florida’s extremely athletic frontcourt. THE PICK: Florida.
* No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 7 UNLV – Oregon’s Aaron Brooks is a compelling force, but look for Lon Kruger’s Runnin’ Rebels to continue their big-time roll. Kruger has now taken three teams (Kansas State, Florida, UNLV) to the Sweet 16. THE PICK: UNLV.
As I eagerly anticipate tomorrow, the lone off day of the spring, here are some upcoming pitchers for those of you planning to come out for games later this week:
Tuesday vs. Indians
Gary Glover vs. Jake Westbrook
Wednesday at Astros
James Shields vs. Woody Williams
Thursday vs. Twins
Casey Fossum vs. Boof Bonser
Friday vs. Reds
Scott Kazmir vs. Aaron Harang
NEW ORLEANS — I guess all you Florida fans just assumed the Gators would cruise to the Sweet 16, because you sure as heck didn’t show up to support your team. At the 15:06 mark of the first half of the Florida-Purdue game, New Orleans Arena is about a third full. Maybe a third of the people here are Florida fans.
Let’s get one thing out of the way. Saturday’s signing of Cato June was the best move so far this offseason for the Bucs. He’s a special player who can be successful in multiple positions.
June has spent the last few years in Indianapolis playing weakside linebacker… the same position as Derrick Brooks. Since I haven’t heard any retirement notices or rumors about Brooks changing positions, I have to assume that he will start at WLB again in 2007, if for no other reason than reputation and respect for a Hall of Famer. And the Bucs aren’t paying June $12 million to compete with Jamie Winborn for a backup role. So, what do the Bucs have in mind?
To play the middle linebacker position is specifically why Barrett Ruud was drafted in 2005. If Shelton Quarles can’t play this year, that will be Ruud’s spot. Currently, the strongside linebacker position is being manned competantly, if not exceptionally, by Ryan Nece. But the position is ready for an upgrade. But June, at 227 pounds, doesn’t have the ideal size for that position in the Cover 2. Oh sure, he’d be good, but why bring him on if you’re not going to get the most out of him? No, the way to go is to put June at strong safety.
Jermaine Phillips showed improvement as the year progressed, but not enough to secure his job. June, who played safety in college, would be an immediate upgrade and provide a level of pass coverage that the position hasn’t seen since 2003. If Phillips wanted to challenge Will Allen for the free safety spot, I’m sure the competition would do both of them good. And while we’re switching people around, put Jamie Winborn against Ryan Nece for starting SLB again. I still don’t know how Winborn lost that battle last year, but I’m still convinced he is the better athlete. All these moves are improvements over last year and are all made possible by June’s flexibility.
June’s acqusition also changes around draft priorities a little. If the Bucs do use him at safety, it makes drafting Eric Weddle less of a necessity. My mock draft #2 where the Bucs take John Wendling at free safety in the fourth round becomes a better scenario. That leaves the first of two second round picks to fill a need not adequately addressed in free agency.
NEW ORLEANS — Florida point guard Taurean Green pointed Saturday to a corner of the locker room where center Al Horford and forward Corey Brewer sat.
“The guys are going to have to make a decision, definitely,” Green said, referring to the fact that Horford, Brewer and forward Joakim Noah will have to decide after this season whether they want to skip their senior seasons and enter the NBA draft.
So someone asked the next logical question. Is Green one of “the guys” who must make a decision?
“I don’t know yet,” Green said.
Green said that after the season, Gators coach Billy Donovan will contact his NBA pals and see whether Green needs to consider leaving early. At this point, Green doesn’t know. He doesn’t intend to worry about it, either.
“I haven’t thought about that,” Green said. “All I can do is focus on the task at hand.”
Decent start for Tampa Bay, spending time in Washington’s zone.
Holmqvist with a big save on Ovechkin, who came out of the corner right to the front of the net for a golden chance. Biggest difference between Ovechkin this year and last year, with that much space in front of the net, he scores.... not this year
(goal update) Dan Boyle can not lose the puck along the wall like that with nobody behind him like that. They have to take care of the puck better than that. And really, Holmqvist has to come up with that save, too. He had the angle on Tomas Fleischman and let the puck go through him..... it’s a tough spot for a goaltender, but he has to make that stop.
9:30 to go - Tampa Bay has a power play after Steve Eminger took down Ryan Craig behind the net. The Lightning need to get some momentum back. After getting the first three shots on goal, Washington has since outshot Tampa Bay 10-2. Tampa’s power play has been in a bit of a rut and they need to get it going again after goting 0-for-5 Friday.
4:25 to go - Well, not only did the Lightning not build any momentum with their power play, generating two shots and neither of them dangerous chances, Washington came back and scored again, and again it was Tomas Fleischman doing the damage. On a play that really shouldn’t have amounted to anything, Fleischman fired a slap shot from the center slot, shooting through a lane Doug Janik and Filip Kuba allowed.
3:21 to go - In a curious move, Holmqvist was pulled, not after the goal was scored, but more than a minute later as Marc Denis is now in net. I was surprised first that Holmqvist started (his stats are awful against the Caps this year) and that Tortorella would pull him at this point and not after the goal was scored. I’ll admit that HOlmqvist did not look comfortable at all, but it was a curious time to pull him....
END OF PERIOD - Not a good period as Washington outshot Tampa Bay 15-9. The Lightning better do a better job with the puck in the second period as the Caps will no doubt try and slow the game down by trapping as much as possible.
1:14 into the second - There it goes folks, you can all but forget about the division title and a No. 3 seed. This team needs to find a way to stay in the top eight right now. Are you kidding me, 37 seconds into the period, already down 2-0, Eric Perrin takes a silly holding penalty on Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin makes them pay with a wicked slap shot from the top of the left circle to make it 3-0 caps.
6:45 into the second - It’s getting very ugly. Dan Boyle gets caught up the ice trying to do too much, giving the Caps a odd-man break up the ice. Semin then undresses Doug Janik and slips a backhand past Denis into the net. Maybe now it’s time to just concentrate on getting out of the game healthy.
8:18 into the second - And the hits (or hats) just keep on coming as Semin picks up the hat trick. Is it possible to have a fadeaway shot in hockey? Because Semin just put a wrist shot over Denis’ as he was on his back foot going backwards. It was also the end of the night for Denis, who let in three goals on three shots in the period… UGLY, UGLY, UGLY.....
Here I am usurping again after gulping down the first of what I’m sure will be three or four LaSpada’s cheesesteaks:
Catcher Dioner Navarro said in Clearwater that his sore left hamstring is feeling much better, but he’s not so sure that he’ll return to the lineup Tuesday. In fact, if he had to guess, Navarro said he’s more likely to come back later in the week.
Navarro re-emphasized that the right hamstring injury that knocked him out at the start of 2006 with the Dodgers was much more severe than this one. He was on crutches for a week after that one, and he’s been walking on his own since suffering this one on March 8.
He said there are still a few more “game situation” tests that need to be performed before he’s given the all clear.
Good morning from our nation’s capital...... Love these afternoon starts, makes life a lot easier on the deadlines. All games should start before 5 p.m. (but that’s purely for selfish reasons) 
Haven’t been around the team since Tuesday in Toronto and they did not practice Saturday, so I’m not sure of the line combos, though I would venture to guess they would be the same as Friday against Buffalo (at least to start the game)
Vinny Prospal-Vinny Lecavalier-Marty St. Louis
Eric Perrin-Brad Richards-Jason Ward
Ryan Craig-Andreas Karlsson-Ruslan Fedotenko
Andre Roy-Tim Taylor-Nick Tarnasky
But those are just a guess.....
Johan Holmqvist will get the start despite his 4.10 goals against average and .823 save percentage against the Capitals this season.... doesn’t exactly instill confidence, does it!!!!!!
Tampa Bay can’t afford to lose this game, even in overtime. A three-game losing streak could be devastating at this time of the season with the No. 9, 10 and 11 teams just four points behind them in the standings. As much as the sights are set on winning the division, and they should be, it is more important to keep the teams behind well behind. Separate from the pack needs to be the main point of concentration right now and let the division fall where it may. Atlanta is four points ahead and now controls its own destiny, Tampa can only control what they do.
Check back during the game, with some extra time on my hands due to the early start, I’ll try to post some thoughts during the game.
Greetings from Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, the first spring training venue I ever visited and still my sentimental favorite. Here are the lineups for this half of the Rays’ final split-squad day of the year:
Rays
Rocco Baldelli CF
Brendan Harris 2B
Greg Norton DH
Joel Guzman 3B
Delmon Young RF
Jonny Gomes LF
Carlos Pena 1B
Shawn Riggans C
Jorge Velandia SS
J.P. Howell P
Tigers
Omar Infante SS
Placido Polanco 2B
Gary Sheffield DH
Craig Monroe LF
Marcus Thames RF
Chris Shelton 1B
Brandon Inge 3B
Vance Wilson C
Brent Clevlen CF
Nate Robertson P
Marc’s probably on his way to Lakeland right now, giving me the opportunity to usurp his space for a moment.
Quick aside: Bright House Networks Field is spec-freaking-tacular. I’ve been here lots, of course, but it’s been a while and I’m struck anew by how pretty this place is.
Quicker aside: I’m picking the Phillies to win the NL East.
Today’s split-squad lineups (Clearwater version):
Rays
B.J. Upton, CF
Carl Crawford, LF
Ty Wigginton, 1B
Jorge Cantu, 2B
Akinori Iwamura, 3B
Dustan Mohr, RF
Josh Paul, C
Ben Zobrist, SS
Scott Kazmir, P
Phillies
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Aaron Rowand, CF
Chase Utley, 2B
Ryan Howard, 1B
Pat Burrell, LF
Brennan King, 3B
Greg Dobbs, RF
Rod Barajas, C
Brett Myers, P
By MARK PINSON
mpinson@highlandstoday.com
SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY—The No. 2 Audi TDI R10 rolled to victory in the 55th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday.
In perfect weather for racing, the No. 2 Audi driven by Emanuele Pirro, Marco Werner and Frank Biela cruised to victory, which was the eighth consecutive win at Sebring for the German manufacturer.
NEW ORLEANS — It takes a secure, confident man to wear fuzzy slippers in public. Using that logic, Purdue guard David Teague might be the latter-day John Shaft.
Teague wore a pair of fuzzy, high top-shaped Purdue slippers to Saturday’s press conference, and he only smiled when asked if he worried that his teammates might question his manhood because of his footwear.
“They like them. I thought they were going to give me some flak because they’re so bulky,” Teague said. “But they’re comfortable. They look like basketball shoes, too.”
Teague said that when he saw teammate Chris Lutz sporting a pair of the slippers, he had to have a pair. He eventually tracked them down at an apparel store in West Lafayette, Ind.
“I wear them everywhere,” Teague said.
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