Weekly Sporties

-After the major league season ends it is not uncommon for baseball players to head off and play some sort of winter league season. Not only can they use this shorter season to stay in shape, but often foreign-born players use their fame to help grow the game in their native countries with some major league players even owning the team they are playing for. As long as you don't get hurt, everyone wins. Well, as long as you don't get hurt or do anything that might get you suspended for the MLB season, which is the exact situation that Texas Rangers' catcher Yorvit Torrealba is facing. Torrealba was playing in a league back in his native Venezuela when he disagreed with an ump's call. He disagreed so much that he actually punched the umpire in the face, getting himself suspended from that league for 66 games, which is the rest of this season and all of next season. People are left to wonder if he could face some discipline from Major League Baseball. Technically he wasn't representing the Rangers or MLB at the time, so some people think it is none of their concern. Personally, I don't see how they can ignore it: the video went viral and has been seen by a lot of people so they can't exactly claim ignorance of the circumstances. (I know Bud Selig isn't a fan of replay, but this may be one video he may be forced to watch.) Torrealba shouldn't get 66 games, but I can't see him getting off with nothing.

-Another fight in the news this week happened on Christmas Day (Peace on Earth and Good Will Towards Men, my ass) between the Celtics' Kevin Garnett and the Knicks' Bill Walker. After Garnett missed what would have been a game-tying shot at the buzzer, he and Walker began exchanging words. After getting closer to one another, Garnett shoved Walker by the throat. Now, I'm not going to defend Garnett because his actions are indefensible. This is exactly the kind of crap he pulls all the time, which can make it hard to be a Garnett fan sometimes. He is always picking on guys who are smaller and less-famous than him and he's damn lucky he wasn't suspended for this. That being said, Walker didn't exactly help himself out either. Watch the video - after Garnett shoves him Walker is backing up with his arms above his head, like he's being robbed. He doesn't do a damn thing until his teammate grabs him by the waist, at which point now he can't wait to get his hands on Garnett. It's the classic, "I don't want to fight... I don't want to fight...You're lucky my teammates are holding me back!" And basketball players wonder why people never put them on the 'toughest athletes' list.

-I'm always slightly amused when coaches make declarations about events several years in the future. Most of these guys can't promise where they will be in a year and we're supposed to think they have a plan mapped out for five years down the road? That is why I found it so interesting when Rick Pitino announced that after his current contract with Louisville expires in 2017 he'll be retiring. All this tells me is that Rick Pitino will be coaching somewhere else in 2019. First off, Pitino doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who has a ton of outside hobbies. I know he owns horses, but I can't see him spending his days at the stables. My guess is that he is starting to get itchy at Louisville and figures this is the best way to not sign a contract extension without it becoming a news story. His son is already at the school as the associate coach and I'm sure it is only a matter of time before they set up a line of succession, like Bobby Knight did with his son down at Texas Tech. Then Rick will do some TV and he'll be back on the sidelines within a couple years someplace else. I'm not sure if he'll try and find a bigger school to coach at, but I do know this much: it won't be a job in the NBA.

-Judging by the uptick in people showing up on a specific older post, many people are interested in the blood transfusion that Kobe Bryant had a couple months back. For those of you who don't remember it, Kobe flew to Germany to meet with a doctor who performed this procedure in which they take blood from one part of your body, put it into a centrifuge to get the blood's natural healing proteins stimulated and then inject the blood back into the patient's problem area. It is supposed to be a miracle of modern science. At the time I said that while the entire thing seems futuristic and a bit shady it was cleared by every league involved, so it must be on the up-and-up. However, that was before this week, when it was revealed that Yankees' slugger Alex Rodriguez had the same procedure done, allegedly at the recommendation of Kobe. I am now fully convinced that this is just a new way to inject steroids into an athlete's body without getting caught. Sorry, but there is a tipping point I have where the scales of suspicion surrounding any slightly shady medical procedure slide from "Yeah, it's probably legit" to "Nope, I'm pretty sure they're cheating." That tipping point typically is the moment Alex Rodriguez gets involved. Some people simply don't get the benefit of the doubt anymore.

-Since we've just talked about two athletes I can't stand, let's get the trifecta out of the way. After months of saying how he was ready to come back and had interest from numerous NFL teams, this week it was announced that former 49er/Eagle/Cowboy/Bill and Bengal Terrell Owens is close to signing with the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League. Let me say that again: the Indoor Football League. That's not even the Arena League. This isn't even like a guy trying to hitch on for one last season by signing with a AAA team, this would be more akin to a guy signing with an Independent League team. Now, allegedly this offer comes not only with a contract in the mid-six figure range, but will also include part-ownership of the team. That sounds great, but I've seen teams like this before: they come and go on a whim and even when they are still in operation there is no guarantee they are making any money. It is not like he was offered ownership of an NFL franchise here. I know I shouldn't expect Owens, a veteran of reality TV, to have the common sense to know when it is time to walk away, but you would hope someone in his inner circle would be able to get to him and let him know how bad this looks. He's already going to have a hard time making the Hall of Fame based on all the bridges he's burned, adding on the memory of him running around some indoor league isn't going to help his cause.

-Every year I tell myself that I don't care about all these meaningless college football bowl games and that this is the year I stop watching games between two teams I didn't want to see when it counted for something. Yet, every year I end up watching more of the Music City Bowl than most of the alumni of the schools involved. I can't help it. But, there is one thing we can help and that is stopping the charade surrounding the Gatorade bath. I like the tradition of it, I just don't like trying to hide that it is about to happen. Near the conclusion of every bowl the winning seniors gather around the Gatorade bucket along with about 6 camera people and everyone tries to look as inconspicuous as possible. Of course, by trying to look natural they do nothing but stick out worse than normal. Meanwhile the coach has to pretend he doesn't see this collection of about 20 large human beings and act surprised when they finally drench him with cold water. It has all the sincerity of pretending I can't find one of my nieces during a game of hide-and-go-seek when she has chosen to hide in plain sight. Look, the coach knows it is coming and unless you're playing in some unseasonably cold weather he's probably looking forward to it. Stop trying to be slick, boys, because you're not fooling anyone.

-One of the bowls I tuned it to last night was the Insight Bowl. Now, I missed seeing this happen live, but during the game the overhead sky-cam malfunctioned and crashed onto the field. For those of you unfamiliar with the technology, the sky-cam is a camera on a wire system which hovers over the field and gives us some great views of the game. It is the only thing positive thing the XFL ever produced. (Sorry, He Hate Me.) Luckily, no one was hurt. Actually, I think the more amazing thing is that this hasn't happened before yesterday. As with any piece of technology it has a ton of moving parts and plenty of places for things to break off, so the fact that this is the first incident of this happening is kind of amazing. Still, this is what happens when you get to some of these lower-level bowl games. If you're not getting the A, B or C team doing the broadcast how can you expect the best crew behind the scenes. They probably had an intern working that camera. I'm gonna guess they will have the regulars in place by the Fiesta Bowl.