BASKETBALL
In the NBA, a follow-up to the Kevin Garnett/Charlie Villanueva feud. The other night, Villanueva claimed via Twitter that Kevin Garnett called him a ‘cancer patient’. Villanueva is unable to grow hair, which makes him even more sensitive to the comment. Garnett publicly denied this, saying he never called Villanueva a cancer to his team and the league. That, in turn, sounded a bit too articulate. Well, Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge has jumped in saying that Villanueva’s comments were absurd. Ainge defended his star power forward, pointing out that Garnett would never be so insensitive because he’s battling with cancer in his own family. This issue will surely blow over soon, but it has been the talk of the sports talk radio circuit lately. Most are siding with Villanueva, believing that Garnett did indeed say that because trash talk is fair play on the basketball court.
FOOTBALL
In college football, some controversy surrounding leading Heisman candidate Cam Newton. Supposedly, Newton may have taken cash to play at Auburn. But, to make things more interesting, there may have been a bidding war to get Newton out of junior college. A rep for Newton was reportedly asking for $200,000 to get Newton to play for any school, with the exception of Mississippi State, which Newton was willing to take less. Of course, these are just early allegations and should be treated, potentially, with a grain of salt. But if this continues to unfold in a negative light, this could be big trouble for Cam Newton and Auburn football.
Finally, in the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison was fined again by the NFL for a late hit on Drew Brees on Sunday Night’s game. Harrison has been very vocal on his feelings about the league’s enforcement of dangerous tackling. Harrison said he only knows one way how to play the game, and he doesn’t know how to tackle lightly. Yesterday, Harrison met with commissioner Roger Goodell to share his side of the story.  Harrison called the meeting ‘semi-productive’, which is a bit of a political bad move. Now he’s really on Goodell’s bad side. In Harrison’s defense, Troy Polamalu has come out saying that there is way too much paranoia at play, that they’re overreacting, and it’s only up to the decision of a few bigwigs in the NFL — that they’re not talking to the players about what’s really happening on field. Seems there is some backlash against the suits.
Finally, in the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison was fined again by the NFL for a late hit on Drew Brees on Sunday Night’s game. Harrison has been very vocal on his feelings about the league’s enforcement of dangerous tackling. Harrison said he only knows one way how to play the game, and he doesn’t know how to tackle lightly. Yesterday, Harrison met with commissioner Roger Goodell to share his side of the story.  Harrison called the meeting ‘semi-productive’, which is a bit of a political bad move. Now he’s really on Goodell’s bad side. In Harrison’s defense, Troy Polamalu has come out saying that there is way too much paranoia at play, that they’re overreacting, and it’s only up to the decision of a few bigwigs in the NFL — that they’re not talking to the players about what’s really happening on field. Seems there is some backlash against the suits.
