The Rundown

Since I have a lot of sports news to cover and I'm feeling lazy, I have decided to introduce a BRAND NEW FREE feature to the blog, called the Rundown, which will cover many different topics in one entry. Sadly, I will not feature any Brazilian midgets kicking the Rocks' ass.

First, ESPN has hired an ombudsman to check the network for accuracy. In the words of the new ESPN ombudsman, George Solomon, himself, "[o]mbudsmen not only represent the readers, they also point out errors they believe the newspaper has made, as well as stories missed, slights, blunders, examples of bias and poor taste." I was surprised as hell to find out that ESPN had the balls to go ahead and make this move, but kudos to them for owning up to the fact that there coverage has been going down hill for the last couple of years.

Some of Solomon's first critiques? Too much Kenny Rogers coverage. "I counted seven replays of the incident within the first five minutes of that night's "SportsCenter. Rogers' actions clearly deserved to be the lead of the show, but you have to wonder if there might have been a measure of overkill that night . . ."

. . . and Venus's win at Wimbledon should have led over the Pepsi 400. "Another decision I questioned was leading 'SportsCenter' July 3 with the NASCAR Pepsi 400 over Venus Williams' surprising victory over Lindsay Davenport for the Wimbledon ladies championship."

As I have already written, I agree that the media has made way too big deal of the Kenny Rogers incident, even today making Rogers sound like the next O. J. Simpson after Rogers turned himself over to police. And on a side note, I have absolutely no sympathy for the cameraman Rogers attacked. The guy has appeared on dozens of talk shows and has clearly demonstrated the severe physical and emotional damage he suffered from Rogers' attack.

Additionally, I remember wondering why, "why the hell is reddneck racing the lead story over women's tennis?" when I was watching SportsCenter two Sundays ago. Here's hoping that ESPN continues to give Solomon a voice and that the producers actually listen to his advice.

Second, Dolphins tightend Randy McMichael allegedly abused his wife. McMichael was arrested by police in Georgia after giving his wife a bloody nose outside a Waffle House.

Shortly after the argument started in the restaurant, Cawanna McMichael got up to leave. Randy McMichael threw his cell phone at her as she walked away, according to The Augusta Chronicle. He then went outside with her and started to throw some of her belongings out of the their 1984 Cadillac Coupe de Ville.

I don't know much about McMichael but apparently this is his second arrest in 13 months. The Phins can't be too happy considering they had been riding high, what with bringing in head coach Nick Saban and a bunch of young blood in the draft. Even Ricky William's cross country road trip couldn't have dampened spirits in Miami until McMichael's arrest.



As long as I'm talking about the latest arrests now seems like a good time to bring up Tennessee Titans rookie cornerback Adam "Pacman"Jones. Jones was arrested after allegedly assaulting another man at a club known as 615 in Nashville. Somehow, this news doesn't surprise me considering Jones ignorantly exclaimed it would take him only a few days to learn how to play bump-and-run after he was drafted, when it takes most players at least year to learn.

If anything, this incident gives you a better idea about the kind of players coming out of West Virginia schools. Jones played for West Virginia, Randy Moss played for Marshall after being kicked out if FSU. Many football players try to transfer to Marshall after they are kicked out of college. As much as people complain about the permissive atmospheres at schools like Miami and FSU, West Virginia and Marshall are ten times worse. Afterall, West Virginia is the same school that saw it streets set on fire after the football team beat Miami a few years ago, even though the police had removed all trash and furniture from the streets and back alleys.

And finally, in other Titans news, the rumor is that Travis Henry will return to Tennessee. The Bill are willing to trade Henry to the Titans in exchange for a third round pick, which is a great deal for a runningback as good as Henry. The only problem is that the Titans already have a young talented runner in Chris Brown, who was supposed to be the runningback for the future. I guess Brown's injuries scared the Titans into making a deal for Henry. If Henry was not happy sharing a backfield with McGahee how will he feel doing the same with Brown?