SB Nation User Blog: Option27

Golden State Suspends Monta Ellis 30 Games

Option27 — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:33:35 -0000

Golden State Suspends Monta Ellis 30 Games

The Golden State Warriors have suspended guard Monta Ellis for 30 games for violating Paragraph 12 of the Uniform Player Contract, it was announced today by President Robert Rowell. The suspension will take effect immediately and will extend through the team’s December 17th contest against the Indiana Pacers.

"The cooperation that we received from Jeff Fried (Monta’s representative) enabled us to be very diligent in collecting all of the facts surrounding the incident," Rowell said. "This 30-game suspension is a result of that. From this point forward, it is the complete focus of everyone involved to provide Monta with all the support he needs to have a successful rehabilitation, and to get him back on the court as an integral part of this team."

Remember all the talk from last June about bringing Derrick Rose along slowly and not burdening a...

Option27 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:30:32 -0000

Remember all the talk from last June about bringing Derrick Rose along slowly and not burdening a rookie owning one season of college experience with too many expectations?

Well, forget about all that.

In conversations with several people who have witnessed or participated in Bulls practices, the praise for Rose is glowing and unanimous. Two people—one with ties to the Bulls' organization, one without—said Rose is having the best training camp of anybody on the team.

K.C. Johnson

The Look Just Says It All

Option27 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:14:52 -0000

The Look Just Says It All

Bulger back at starting QB

Option27 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:51:11 -0000

Bulger back at starting QB

ST. LOUIS -- Marc Bulger is the St. Louis Rams' starting quarterback again in one of Jim Haslett's first moves as their new coach.

Backup Trent Green started Sunday's 31-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Scott Linehan's final game as coach. Bulger was back with the starters in practice Tuesday. He is the highest paid player in franchise history.

Haslett was elevated from defensive coordinator Monday. He says Bulger will be the starter the rest of the season. The winless Rams have a bye this week.

Report : Linehan out if Rams lose to Buffalo

Option27 — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:44:58 -0000

Peter King reports

PETER KING REPORTING LINEHAN COULD BE CANNED: On the Notre Dame halftime show on NBC this afternoon SI's Peter King reported that if the Rams lose to the Bills on Sunday that Scott Linehan is expected to be given his "walking papers" as King put it. The benching of Marc Bulger looks to be the last straw in light of the ripple effects it has caused through the locker room. Steven Jackson and apparently other offensive players believe the blame for the offense's troubles have been placed solely on Bulger and it doesn't sit well with a lot of the men who voted Bulger to be one of the offensive co-captains.

I would put everything I own on the Bills tomorrow

Ed. Note, VanRam: I'll have a game thread up in time for us to start kvetching during the early games. The Rams don't play, as you know, 'til 3:05 p.m., Central time. All things Rams have revolved around the turmoil this week, so we're a little short on Xs and Os. But let's face it, the way this team's been playing the Xs and Os haven't meant a whole helluva lot.

Here's the official game preview from 3k.
Lots of lineup changes...besides the 800 lbs gorilla in the room at QB. Donnie Avery will start opposite Torry Holt and the defense will look a bit different today, featuring DT Clifton Ryan at NT.
The Linehan/Zygmunt drama swirls, but keep an eye on Marshall Faulk, who met with Rams owner Chip Rosenbloom this week. If/when something happens, I suspect Faulk might be in the fold for some role.
Here's a look at the Bills and their improved fortunes.

Paul Williams v. Andy Kolle, for those that missed it

Option27 — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:01:30 -0000

Paul Williams v. Andy Kolle, for those that missed it

Bullying Around The Net (Updated)

Option27 — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:34:01 -0000

The upcoming NBA season is near and not only does it come with games, but more stories as well. The gloomy days of Summer are gone. Training camp is near. Days of constantly searching the web for some decent Bulls news are gone as well.

Here are just a few stories that have caught my eye over the last couple of days

K.C. Johnson has finally climbed out of his dark cave

Mike McGraw writes about Gordon and the qualifying offer stuff

McGraw also writes of the recent invites to camp

Marty Burns writes on the obvious glut of guards

Mike Khan on the Bulls changes

New . . .

Brian Hanley on the qualifying offer deadline and other Ben Gordon stuff

McGraw on Del Negro

Quoteworthy: "You know what, he's not out there playing." -- Marc Bulger, Rams quarterback, on...

Option27 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:25:39 -0000

Quoteworthy: "You know what, he's not out there playing." -- Marc Bulger, Rams quarterback, on Coach Scott Linehan

LINK

My Weekend In Vegas (Gossip Boy Edition)

Option27 — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:36:48 -0000

I don't wanna bore anyone with all the fun that I had in Vegas this past weekend but I just thought that there was some radness to share. Obviously I went to Vegas for the fight, but a couple spectacular things happened whilst there.

1) Had the chance to meet and party with Mike Tyson at Wet Republic and Drais. Oh, and for anyone who gives a rats ass, the guy was wearing the same exact "Curb Your Enthusiasm" shirt the whole weekend. But he's genuinely a really nice guy but only likes to take pics with girls. Seems to not care for boxing as much. Just likes to be noticed, which is probably why he's at so many fights.

2) At the fight : I also re-watched the fight when I got home. First off, I'm kinda digging the Golden Boy - HBO merger thing they had going on. Uhh, Mario Lopez . . . not so much. I really wanted to see the scorecards but I guess they didn't mention them. I had Marquez up by 2 rounds going into the 11th from my view.

Also worth mentioning, PPV showed a few fighters at the fight but not all of them. My seats were so freaking great that the celebs would pretty much have to walk by me to get to their seats. All the fighters I saw at the fight - Winky Wright, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Paul Malignaggi, Antonio Margarito and Yuriorkis Gamboa.

3) Ok, now the real news. After the fight at the Palms Hotel. Spotted - Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. sitting at nearby tables both speaking to the Maloof brothers. You maybe wondering why? Spoke to them afterwards and apparently the Maloof brothers were desperately trying to convince the two fighters to sign on for the much talked about rematch that Floyd backed out on earlier this year. And the result . . .

::Drum Roll Please::

Floyd told them that if Oscar beats Manny on December 6, he will come out of retirement to fight Oscar. I don't know why he wouldn't want to fight Manny if Manny won, but hey . . . I'll take anything I can get outta Floyd right now. The return is imminent!

PS - Also watched the Bradley fight last night. Dude is athletic as hell. Has an extremely bright future. Just hope he gets some big fights eventually. Doubt it will happen anytime soon.

Winky is back . . . maybe

Option27 — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:23:01 -0000

Ronald Winky Wright could possibly be fighting Arthur Abraham in January according to Dan Rafael.

Winky Wright (51-4-1, 25 KOs), out of action for 14 months since losing a decision in a 170-pound fight to Bernard Hopkins, could challenge middleweight titleholder Arthur Abraham of Germany in early 2009, Wright told ESPN.com

I've been missing this man for way too long and after he handles Abraham (hopefully), he should make his way back into everyone's top 10 P4P lists again. Although I'm not to pleased about what Dan had wrote in an earlier chat

David: (Odessa, TX):: Winky's best weight is at 147. Dan Rafael: I'll probably write a blog about it, but I'll clue you in -- I spoke at length with Winky yesterday. He told me he has gotten up to 198 pounds, but he plans to fight at 160 in his next fight early next year.

Either way, the man has finally decided to put down the Twinkies and get back into the ring. It's a great return for boxing . . . Once it's a done deal.