Say What?
Chargers fine Weddle for watching daughter at halftime
Football before family. That seems to be the message the San Diego Chargers sent Eric Weddle, their All-Pro safety who was fined $10,000 for staying on the field for eight minutes to watch his daughter dance during a halftime show in the season’s final home game. Then the Chargers made another decision that infuriated their most esteemed defensive player: they put him on injured reserve after a groin injury in Thursday night’s game at Oakland. Weddle, 30, wanted the team to wait a day or two to see how the injury progressed. He went to the IR against his wishes, so he was ruled out for the season finale at Denver this Sunday. Weddle is due to become a free agent in the off-season, and given that the Chargers have shown no interest in extending his contract, he apparently has played his final game for that team. A team spokesman said that with 17 players on injured reserve, there was not room for all of them to travel to Denver, so the decision was made to ban all injured players from traveling on the charter flight. Some media observers interpreted this incident as another indicator that the team will be moving from San Diego to Los Angeles and is not concerned about alienating one of its most popular players and the fan base as well. Wrote the San Diego Union: “This is one of the great family men and role models in the game.”
Woman pleads guilty to extorting Yanks GM Cashman
A New York woman pleaded guilty to extortion, perjury and criminal impersonation after claiming she had an affair with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. Louise Neathway, 39, was sentenced to five-years probation was charged in 2012 with harassing Cashman and extorting $6,000 by threatening to damage his reputation. She claimed she had a consensual sexual relationship with Cashman, who was married at the time. Cashman has declined to comment on the matter.
NHL faces another sex scandal: Sabres’ Evander Kane
Patrick Kane is a National Hockey League player who was born in Buffalo and plays for the Chicago Blackhawks. Evander Kane is an NHL player with the Buffalo Sabres. The two Kanes are not related, but they do have something in common: being investigated for an alleged sexual offense. They also hired the same attorney to defend them: Paul Cambria of Buffalo. In the case of the Blackhawks’ Kane, no charges were filed because the prosecution decided there was not enough evidence to convict. That same thing may happen in the accusation involving the Sabres’ Kane. The Buffalo News cited police sources saying the accuser was having memory issues.
Mark Jackson says Steph Curry ‘is hurting the game’
ABC analyst Mark Jackson, who formerly coached Golden State’s superstar Steph Curry, made a rather bizarre comment that Curry “is hurting the game.” He elaborated: “I go into these high school gyms, I watch these kids, and the first thing they do is run to the 3-point line. You are not Steph Curry. Work on the other aspects of your game. People think that he’s just a knockdown shooter. That’s not why he’s the MVP. He’s a complete basketball player.” Informed of those comments, Curry said: “I don’t know what he means by that. If you can shoot, shoot. If you can’t, stop.”