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Who turned off the heat??

May 18th, 2012 | By love not hate

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<p>Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat walks up the court after missing a shot against the Indiana Pacers in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the 2012 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on May 17, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers defeated the Heat 94-75.</p><br /><br />
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Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat walks up the court after missing a shot against the Indiana Pacers in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the 2012 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on May 17, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers defeated the Heat 94-75.

    Jonathan Daniel    /    Getty Images

There was a rending, tearing sound to this Heat loss, like when you hear seams ripping apart, or seasons slipping away. There was a frustration that boiled over in the third quarter as a team dreaming of an NBA championship was helpless to stop its own collapse. Coach Erik Spoelstra approached Dwyane Wade during a timeout, as if to place his hand on the player’s shoulder. “Get out of my [expletive] face!” Wade snapped. This is the state of the Heat today — angry, beaten and wondering what to do now — after Thursday night’s 94-75 loss that gave the Indiana Pacers a 2-1 lead in this best-of-7, second-round series. Spoelstra downplayed the outburst by Wade, like you knew he would. “That happens,” the coach said. “That really is nothing. That’s the least of our concerns.” If so, that, too, is indicative of a team reeling and seemingly at a loss for answers. Wade’s frustration was understandable after perhaps the worst night of his stellar career. Has anyone seen Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr.? Black male, 6-3. D.O.B 1-17-82. No visible tattoos but often seen wearing a No. 3 basketball jersey. Mr. Wade is missing. His shots are, anyway. And largely because of that, it now looks as if his team is in jeopardy of disappearing from these playoffs as surely as his shooting touch has. Everything was collapsing all around Wade here Thursday. A game. A series. A season. Maybe everything. And the most beloved player in the franchise’s 24 seasons was helpless to stop it. You kept waiting, right? You filed away Wade’s scoreless first half — the first of his playoff career — as some sort of bizarre aberration and kept expecting the second-half burst, the run, the shots to start dropping, and D-Wade to be D-Wade again, muting the enemy crowd, lifting his team. Nothing. This critical loss isn’t Wade’s alone but it is his foremost, after the whisper of an astonishing five-point performance on dismal 2-for-13 shooting. “It was a bad night,” he said. “There were a lot of reasons for it. I just didn’t have it going.” Wade still was simmering following the game. He was asked if he had anything to say about the courtside outburst. “No,” he said. It wasn’t just Thursday that led to Wade’s frustration overload. Wade shot poorly from the field in the first two games as well, and his series totals are now 18 shots made in 58 attempts, or barely 30 percent. Wade wasn’t himself Thursday, so Mario Chalmers played Wade instead, scoring a game-high 25 points while his mentor missed and stewed, stewed and missed. Wade has been the hero plenty for Miami over the years. Miami needs him to be again. Desperately, now. If LeBron James were shooting as awfully as Wade is in this series, he would be on a national rotisserie, being turned slowly by a hungrily salivating media brandishing sharp knives. Wade tends to get a pass because even he is eclipsed now by the shadow of James, the league MVP. But Wade’s shoulders are broad enough and his skin thick enough to take the truth: His poor shooting is costing Miami about as dearly right now as the injury absence of Chris Bosh. “He’s one of the best players in the world,” James, who scored 22 Thursday, said of Wade. “When you have a game like that you just move on to the next one.”

Miami Heat!!!

May 17th, 2012 | By love not hate

When the Miami Heat lost Game 2 of their series with the Indiana Pacers, fans and media that have always been quick to mock Chris Bosh’s contributions suddenly changed course. Bosh miraculously transformed into a key cog in the Heat lineup whose absence severely crippled his team’s chances of victory. LeBron James acknowledged that playing out of position at the power forward was “taxing” and probably contributed to his end-of-game passivity.

More than anything else, his absence revealed the lack of depth in the Miami Heat roster. Beyond the talented trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Bosh, the rest of the role players have not stepped up. Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier both had career low shooting percentages in 2011-12, despite having more open looks. Playing with three superstars should open up acres of space on the court, but perhaps age is catching up to them.

Besides the Big 3, the rest of the Heat roster has combined for 21 and 23 points in Games 1 and 2 respectively. With that kind of continued lack of production from their role players, the Heat will struggle to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Dwyane Wade largely avoids the massive criticism heaped on LeBron after every loss, probably because he has already led a team to a championship. On the other hand, LeBron must carry the burden of every great player who hasn’t won a championship and will face unfair criticism from all sides until he gets one. Missing free throws, giving the ball up, and disengaging during the fourth quarter has become a worrying habit. But one can’t help but remember his spectacular performances in the postseason series against the Celtics and Bulls last spring when he was the best player on the court by a wide margin. That’s what makes his occasional fourth quarter disappearing act so frustrating.

It will be interesting to see where LeBron plays in Game 3 in Indiana, and what adjustments Erik Spoelstra makes to his rotation. The home crowd will be amped for the Heat’s arrival, but as the Boston Celtics showed Wednesday night it is possible to snatch back momentum in a mere 48 minutes.

Osi Umenyiora wishes LeSean McCoy a happy Mother’s Day

May 14th, 2012 | By love not hate

Osi+Umenyiora+Divisional+Playoffs+New+York+XbPdu4-0rkFlLast year, Eagles running back LeSean McCoy touched off a feud with Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora by calling Umenyiora overrated and soft.

Umenyiora replied by calling McCoy “she” and “Lady Gaga” and held onto the animosity well into the regular season. You might think that winning a Super Bowl while the Eagles made the playoffs gave Umenyiora the last laugh, but you’d be wrong. Umenyiora used Mother’s Day as a way to stoke the flames via Twitter.

“Happy Mothers Day Lesean Mccoy (sic)! Enjoy your special day!!”

Umenyiora then tweeted that “the beef is never over.” McCoy has not responded on his own Twitter account, although it’s probably a good bet that there will be some response from the running back before the next game between the two teams.

That game will be on NBC, as it happens, in Week Four of the 2012 season.

Junior Seau brain being donated?????????

May 9th, 2012 | By love not hate

The family of Junior Seau, the NFL football star who died last week, is now reconsidering donating his brainto science, backing off their decision last week to let his brain be examined for signs of traumatic injury.

“The Seau family is currently revisiting several important family decisions and placing them on hold in order to confer with their elders,” said Pastor Shawn Mitchell, the longtime San Diego Chargers’ chaplain, in a statement. The Seaus are of Samoan descent, and elders are the most respected and highly regarded in a Samoan family. They are often consulted when making family decisions. It is unclear when the family now plans to make its final decision regarding the brain donation.

“They really want to do everything right,” Mitchell said.

Seau, 43, who played for the Chargers as well as the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, was found dead last Wednesday at his home in Oceanside, Calif., apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Medical examiners ruled his death a suicide.

On Thursday evening, the family said they hoped that the brain donation would help others “down the road.”

Seau’s death has sent shock waves through the sports and science worlds, but experts have cautioned that it is too early to determine whether Seau’s suicide was linked to potential concussions he likely experienced during his 20-year NFL career.

PHOTO: Junior Seau
Glenn James/Getty Images
San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau is… View Full Size
PHOTO: Junior Seau

San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau is shown before a game against the Carolina Panthers, in San Diego, in this Sept. 14, 1997 photo.

On Thursday, former quarterback Kurt Warner said on “The Dan Patrick Show” that he’d prefer his children not to play football because of the risks that have been associated with it in recent years. He backtracked Friday after Amani Toomer, a retired NFL player who appears regularly on NBC SportsTalk, called Warner “a little disingenuous” for his comments.

“I think Kurt Warner needs to keep his opinions to himself when it comes to this. Everything that he’s gotten in his life has come from playing football,” said Toomer Thursday on SportsTalk. Toomer said he would “definitely” let his own children play football.

Warner responded to the comments on ESPN Radio’s “Hill and Schlereth” show Friday. While he said he is grateful for all that football has brought him, “At the end of the day, you know, I’ve seen how my wife looks at this game when I’m out there getting hit.”

“And it’s different when you put on a parent’s hat,” Warner said. “And, yeah, I want my kids to play and I want them to be healthy and I’d love them to have a great, long career, whether that’s collegiate, whether that’s professional…But as a parent, I can’t avoid the fact that it’s a dangerous sport, and it’s a violent sport.”

Jacopo Annese, director of the University of California at San Diego’s Brain Observatory, said there has not been a definitive link shown between blows to the head and such disorders as depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s, but he did say there is strong scientific and anecdotal evidence.

“However ghoulish it may appear to the majority of the public, the work that is conducted postmortem is essential to validate this hypothesis, because the important clues are at the cellular level and we can’t see these with MRI, but we can with our microscopes,” said Annese.

While research methodology has not changed dramatically, the questions have evolved, offering clues into the potential lifetime adverse effects of hits and concussions.

Is the MIAMI HEAT really ready?

May 9th, 2012 | By love not hate

After squandering the chance to sweep the Knicks, the Heat says it must respond with passion and execution in Wednesday’s Game 5.

Miami Heat’s LeBron James tries to get around New York  Knicks’ Amare’ Stoudemire during the fourth quarter of a playoff game between the Heat and the Knicks.  Round 1, Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden in New York City, May 6, 2012.

Miami Heat’s LeBron James feels New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony’s hand in his face during the fourth quarter of a playoff game between the Heat and the Knicks. Round 1, Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden in New York City, May 6, 2012.

The game: The Heat desperately wants to close out the first round with a win on Wednesday to avoid returning to New York for a Game 6. Mike Bibby will start for the Knicks in place of Baron Davis, who was lost for the series in Game 4 when he went down with a dislocated kneecap. Amare Stoudemire (lacerated left hand) will play the game with a brace. Guard Jeremy Lin (meniscus) was ruled out of the series on Tuesday by Knicks coach Mike Woodson.

 

            It’s not about whether LeBron James or Shane Battier guards Carmelo Anthony.

It’s not about who takes the last shot.

Here’s what the Heat lacked in Game 4 and what it’ll need in Game 5 on Wednesday to close out the Knicks: more passion. The Heat couldn’t match New York’s desire in Game 4. Simple as that. Sometimes that’s all the playoffs are about.

And, so, the Knicks took a game back in this best-of-7 series with a power forward playing with one good hand, a Heat castoff at point guard, an interim coach managing a depleted roster and one legitimate superstar trying to save a little face before bowing out of the postseason.

“We just have to be more aggressive and stay poised,” Heat center Chris Bosh said. “It’s really not about being concerned about the offense or anything like that. They’re going to go down swinging. We have to stay tough mentally.”

Will the Heat make any strategic changes for Game 5? Not likely. The only significant adjustment will be that of attitude, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“For us coming back home, we want to dictate the game with our identity,” Spoelstra said. “And we’re not going to start making things up and doing things we’re not comfortable with. It’s time to play our game and do it with an incredible amount of passion.”

Avoiding a return to Madison Square Garden and a Game 6 now becomes the great motivator.

“It’s just on us to finish and make our free throws when we step to the line,” Bosh said.

Spoelstra’s in-game decisions were scrutinized after Game 4’s loss and Tuesday, a practice day for Miami, he continued to field questions about his coaching acumen.

Such is the life of a man charged with leading a team that’s never supposed to lose.

One reporter asked Spoelstra how he handles the pressure of leading a championship-or-bust team before pointing out that Spoelstra did not receive a single vote for the NBA’s Coach of the Year award.

“I’m not spending my time thinking about what my answer would be if we fail,” Spoelstra said. “We’re spending our time working on the process of this long journey.

“And we’re all comfortable. We went through this last year. It’s not even abnormal for us. If we lose, we expect the decibel level to raise, and we’ve developed an ability to compartmentalize and focus on what really matters and what’s real.”

The Heat’s Big 3 jumped to the defense of its coach.

“Spo’s a great coach, man,” LeBron James said. “He puts us in position to win games every night. He gets us prepared every single night.

“We’re never blindsided by anything when we get on the floor, and he motivates us to go out and play.”

Said Bosh: “He’s a good coach. He doesn’t sleep much when we lose, and he doesn’t take any credit when we win. He’s just a stand-up guy, and he’s always worried about getting better.”

Spoelstra pointed to three different opportunities during Game 4 to pull away from the Knicks and end the series.

Each time, mental errors or turnovers or lazy fouls allowed the Knicks to scratch their way back into the game.

“It will come down to our strengths and what our identity is and that’s to defend and finish,” Spoelstra said.

Miami Heat falls to New York

May 7th, 2012 | By love not hate

Carmelo Anthony scored 41 points Sunday in Game 4 as the Knicks avoided a sweep and sent the series back to Miami.

New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony squeezes between Miami Heat players as he leaps for the basket in the third quarter in Round 1 of Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden in New York City, May 6, 2012. CHARLES TRAINOR JR / Staff Photo

Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade unable to stop Carmelo Anthony in the fourth quarter.  Round 1, Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Playoffs between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks. Madison Square Garden, New York City. May 6, 2012.. CHARLES TRAINOR JR / Staff Photo

 

     Consider this one a stay of execution.

The Heat was afforded every conceivable advantage on Sunday at Madison Square Garden but Miami still couldn’t put away the bandaged and beleaguered Knicks, losing to New York 89-87 in Game 4 of the best-of-7, first-round series.

Miami is up 3-1 in the all-but-over series. No team has ever lost a playoff series after leading 3-0 and Game 5 will be played Wednesday at AmericanAirlines Arena, where the Heat had the best home record this season in the NBA.

But it’s not over yet and the Heat still hasn’t defeated the Knicks in a postseason series since 1997. It felt oh-so close for most of Game 4 but the Heat fell apart in the end.

Trailing by two points on the game’s final play, Heat guard Dwyane Wade lost his dribble while driving to the basket and instead settled for a desperation three-pointer that clumsily caromed off the front of the rim as time expired.

“I kind of lost it and when I lost it, it kind of forced [me] the other way,” Wade said. “I actually had a good shot. I thought it was going in. Just a little bit short.”

Wade shrugged off the game’s final play, saying that the Heat accomplished its goal in New York of taking 1 of 2 games at Madison Square Garden. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra opted to put the ball in Wade’s hands for the final play of the game rather than involving LeBron James. While Wade bumbled through the final possession, James stood  idly by in the corner before gravitating to the elbow. He wasn’t anywhere near the ball.

James’ explanation of the final play: “I knew that, for the most part, that [Carmelo Anthony] was going to try to deny me, so we came out on the timeout going pick-and-roll with D-Wade and [Chris Bosh], knowing they were going to make a switch,” said James, who finished with 27 points, four assists and four rebounds. “I feel like he got in the lane and didn’t have a good look initially and he ended up dribbling the ball for a three. “For me, personally, I would love to have the ball. As a team, we all win games together and we all lose games together. That is all that matters.”

They might have lost it together but much of the blame goes to Wade, who not only botched the final play but also went 4 of 11 from the free-throw line. He finished with 22 points on 4 of 11 shooting. To his credit, Wade was strong in the fourth quarter (11 points) before missing the final shot.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Wade said. “We just wanted to give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter. We were right there.”

Thanks to James.

He might have vanished mysteriously on the final play but James was great in the final two minutes of the game. His three-pointer with 1:16 to play tied the score at 84 after Mike Bibby drilled a three-pointer from the corner to give the Knicks a three-point lead.

Carmelo Anthony, who finally decided to show up in the playoffs on Sunday, then matched James with a clutch three of his own. After a game filled with woefully poor outside shooting from both sides the barrage of three-pointers in quick succession by Bibby, James and Anthony gave a dreadful game the potential for a fantastic finish.

It was a great finish, but first the Heat had to make two crucial errors to give the Knicks its first postseason win in 11 years.

The first mistake, an egregious backcourt turnover by Bosh following a 20-second timeout, gave the Knicks the ball with a three-point lead and 40.9 seconds on the clock. New York called its own 20-second timeout before Anthony was fouled by Shane Battier while in the act of shooting a three.

Anthony finished with 41 points, the most of any player in this first-round series, but came close to being labeled a postseason choker  when he missed his first two free throws. Anthony made the final foul shot to put the Knicks ahead 88-84.

James had an answer.

He dribbled straight into the teeth of the Knicks’ defense following Anthony’s made free throw, spun past Knicks center Tyson Chandler, drew a foul and then flipped in a layup. It was the sixth foul for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year and James made the continuation free throw to cut the Knicks’ score to a point.

Amare Stoudemire, playing with a  bandage over his lacerated left hand, missed the second of two free throws to with 14.9 seconds left to set the stage for Wade’s miss at the buzzer. Stoudemire, who missed Game 3, returned to the series with 20 points and 10 rebounds. While Stoudemire returned from his injury, the Knicks lost another player for the series when Baron Davis went down with a dislocated kneecap

Miami HEAT smashes down on those knickys!!!

May 4th, 2012 | By love not hate

Game 3 Game Leaders
Heat lead 3-0 POINTS REBOUNDS ASSISTS
Box Recap Photos
87 70
James
32
Chandler
15
James
5

Despite a team-high 22 points, Carmelo Anthony was just 7-of-23 from the floor with five turnovers in Thursday's loss.
Despite a team-high 22 points, Carmelo Anthony  was just 7-of-23 from the floor with five turnovers in Thursday’s loss.
Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

Heat lead 3-0
GAME 1 Heat  100,             Knicks 67
GAME 2 Heat  104,             Knicks 94
GAME 3 Heat  87,             Knicks 70
GAME 4 at NYK, Sun.             May 6, 3:30 p.m., ABC
GAME 5 at MIA, Wed.             May 9, If Necessary
GAME 5 at NYK, Fri.             May 11, If Necessary
GAME 7 at MIA, Sun.             May 13, If         Necessary

 

NEW YORK — This was no New York nick. This was a full-blown laceration, a  wound that left a trail of blood, necessitated stitches and, depending on your  sources, almost divorced a finger from the rest of a left hand. Three days had  elapsed since Amar’e Stoudemire stalked off the AmericanAirlines Arena court in  Miami and decided to fight the glass encasement shrouding a fire extinguisher –  the glass won decisively, as glass tends to do when pitted against bare human  flesh.

Still, Stoudemire’s injury was the talk off the town — “Bloody ‘Mare” as the New York Post splayed on the back page — heading into the Knicks’ 87-70  loss in Game 3 of their first-round series with the Heat.

Talk radio buzzed about Stoudemire’s “freak accident.” But really it was no  such thing. When a man — even in heat of battle/ Battle of Heat — throws a  haymaker at an inanimate object and suffers a self-inflicted injury, it is not  an “accident.” And this wasn’t freaky either. It was completely consistent with  the vibe of the 2012 New York Knicks.

For whatever else you might say about this franchise, it has a singular knack  for drama and Melodrama. In this season — the compressed variety, no less –  the Knicks may only have won 36 games, but they were the league leaders in  surreal storylines.

Consider: Despite acquiring center Tyson Chandler, a defensive stalwart, in  the offseason, the Knicks lost 15 of their first 23 games, often playing  layup-line defense. And despite watching the games in a newly refurbished  Madison Square Garden, the angry fans booed early and often. Life was bad.

Then, with the season slipping away and the team’s leading scorer, Carmelo  Anthony, out with an injury, the Knicks unleashed Jeremy Lin on the world  (literally). Life was good. Then Anthony returned, couldn’t coexist with the  authority figure, and the coach, Mike D’Antoni, was fired. By then, Lin had  injured his knee and the team was losing games. Life was bad. Under the interim  coach, Mike Woodson, New York went 18-6 and reached the playoffs. Chandler? He  ended up winning Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Don’t blame this on the tabloids or the ravenous New York media. Had these  unlikely storylines and undulating fortunes and wacky rhythms visited teams in  Salt Lake or Milwaukee or Memphis, it would have warranted just as much  coverage. And, damn, was it fun.

In sports, though, practicality tends to trump theatricality. For all the  plot points and hairpin turns, New York’s season is about to end with deafening  quiet. With Stoudemire on the bench wearing a gray suit and beige sling, the  Knicks lost to the Heat on Thursday and now trail 3-0 in the series. The game  had its moments — characteristic Knicks moments — including an 18-1 New York  run and a J.R. Smith dunk destined for YouTube. But the Knicks disintegrated in  the fourth quarter and have still haven’t won a playoff game in their last 13  tries, a streak dating back to April of 2001. (Perspective: This was pre-9/11;  when Anthony was a high school junior.)

If you needed a contrasting franchise, you could do worse than the Heat.  Having learned from the circus of last season, chastened by losing to Dallas in  the Finals last June to the delight of a nation, Miami is now a buttoned-up  outfit, one that doesn’t traffic in distraction. The coaches and players talk  often of “professionalism” and “business.” As in, “we took care of business  tonight,” a bromide offered by both Dwyane Wade and Mike Miller within minutes  of each other Thursday night. Then again, when the opposing team shoots 31.9  percent from the floor and scores 30 points in the entire second half, business  is easy.

This is another loss that reflects poorly on Anthony, who made only seven of  his 23 shots. Take these numbers lightly, given Anthony’s mandate to score with  Stoudemire out, given the four and six arms contesting every shot. But here  goes: he has now shot less than 50 percent in eight straight playoff games. His  career postseason record is 16-36, the worst of any NBA player who has appeared  in 50 or more playoffs games over the last 20 years.

Carmelo Anthony has been in the postseason every year, but his teams have never made it out of the first round.
Carmelo Anthony has been in the postseason every  year, but his teams have never made it out of the first round.
Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Anthony, of course, was a postseason star at Syracuse, the main reason he was  picked third in the 2003 NBA draft (Irony: two picks behind LeBron, immediately  ahead of Chris Bosh and Wade, all four on the floor Thursday.) In his nine NBA  seasons, Anthony has made the postseason every year, yet his team has made it  out of the first round only once. This is a player who has now earned more money  for his career than Michael Jordan did.

And this season will be no different. The Knicks are a game from ending this  rollicking, bizarre and ultimately unsatisfying season. Was it a good time?  Sure. What it successful? Not really. Like the shell game they play outside the  arena on Eighth Avenue, there was a lot of motion and possibility and, finally,  not much payoff.

Where is the franchise, big picture? It still has no true point guard. It  still has no true coach. Outmaneuvered this series, Woodson is likely to keep  his interim status until Phil Jackson, John Calipari, Stan Van Gundy and  Lord-knows-who-else officially turn the job down. Stoudemire, the team’s  cornerstone when the season began, may be on the trading blocks, though his  value has gone down the mineshaft. As for the other cornerstone, for all of  Anthony’s dynamic scoring, it’s still unclear whether he can be the leader of a  contending team. The Knicks aren’t likely to build through the draft either, as  they traded their 2012 first-round pick.

After Game 3, no one battled any courtside structures. Instead, staring at  the ground, the Knicks filed out of their new locker room, issued a few  statements of disappointment, walked down the twisting catacombs of their  refurbished arena. One by one, they disappeared into a tunnel. Presumably it led  to somewhere.

The football team curse!

May 3rd, 2012 | By love not hate

Junior Seau, who was found dead Wednesday after he shot himself in the chest, is the eighth player from the San Diego Chargers Super Bowl team to die before age 45.

San Diego sports fan have long claimed that city was cursed — it’s the largest city in that country that has never won a major league championship. However, it seems that the 1994 Chargers team may, itself, bear a curse.

Some of the players have died in freak accidents — Rodney Culver was killed in an airline crash and Doug Miller was hit twice by lightning on a camping trip — but all were killed before their time.

Super Bowl XXIXTragic: Eight of the 45 players who took the San Diego Chargers to Super Bowl XXIX have died before age 45

NFL Great Junior Seau
Linebacker Lew Bush

Too soon: Junior Seau (left) was 43 when he killed himself at his home in California. Lew Bush, (right) who died of a heart attack in December, was 42

The 1994 Chargers team was never supposed to be in the Super Bowl. The players never even supposed to make the play-offs, according to pundits who watched the rag-tag team before the season kicked off.

Ultimately, the team didn’t have what it took to win the Super Bowl. They were dominated by to the San Francisco 49s in a 49-26 game that the chargers never led.

 

 

Eight of the 45 members of the team are now dead, leaving the surviving players reeling.

‘It’s crazy, just crazy, that we’ve had so many guys who have fallen. I can’t make any sense of it. I’ve given up trying,’ former Chargers running back Natrone Means told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2008.

‘You just hope you quit getting these random messages out of nowhere that another teammate has passed away.’

Shawn Lee Chargers Defensive Lineman Shawn Lee
Defensive Lineman Chris Mims

Heart failure: Shawn Lee, 44, (left) went into cardiac arrest in February 2011. Chris Mims, 39, was all alone and weighed nearly 500 pounds when an enlarged heart took his life

 

Center Curtis Whitley Center Curtis Whitley struggled with drug abuse for years before dying of a drug overdose in 2008 at age 39

Seau, who was 43, was an intimidating linebacker who was a key to the Chargers defense that year. His apparent suicide shocked his family and stunned friends, most of whom never realized anything was wrong.

The first apparent victim of the 1994 Chargers curse was linebacker David Griggs, who died in a car crash in June 1995 — just months after he played in the Super Bowl.

Police say Griggs, 28, had a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit when he swerved off a highway in Fort Lauderdale and slammed into a metal pole.

Less than a year later, running back Rodney Culver and his wife were killed when ValuJet Flight 592 crashed in the Florida Everglades in May 1996. All 110 people aboard lost their lives.

Culver was just 26 and left behind two young children.

Linebacker Doug Miller was 28 when he died in what can only be described as a freak accident. He was camping along the Colorado River near Dotsero, Colorado in July 1998, when lighting struck him.

A friend tried to give him CPR when a second bolt of lightning hit the NFL star again, killing him.

Ten years pass without incident. Then, in May 2008, center Curtis Whitley was found dead from a drug overdose in his trailer in west Texas.

Whitley, 39, had struggled with drugs for his whole NFL career and admitted to using methamphetamine.

He was found face-down in his bathroom by friends who checked on him after not hearing from him for days.

Five months later, in October 2008, defensive end Chris Mims was found face-down dead in his home, as well.

Rodney Culver
David Griggs

The first casualties: Rodney Culver, 26, (left) was killed in a jetliner crash in May 1996 that claimed 101 lives. David Griggs, 28, (right) died when he crashed his car drunk driving just months after playing the Super Bowl

He died of an enlarged heart at age 38 after ballooning to nearly 500 pounds when he entered a depressive cycle after he was forced out of the NFL. At the end of his life, he became reclusive and he died alone in his California apartment.

Defensive tackle Shawn Lee was 44 when he went into cardiac arrest and died in North Carolina in February 2011 after suffering diabetes for years.

Linebacker Lew Bush was killed by a heart attack in San Diego in December at age 42.

 

Caleb King Vikings Running back accused of almost beating a man to death

May 2nd, 2012 | By love not hate

A NFL star has been accused of almost beating a man to death after he was teased about looking like Eddie Murphy.

Caleb King, a Minnesota Vikings running back, is being held on assault charges after the attack that might have left his 22-year-old victim with a serious facial injuries.

King, 24, is alleged to have taken exception to a remark made by Andrew Hayek at a birthday party they were attending in Oak Grove, a suburb of Minnesota, at the weekend.

Mugshot: Caleb King has a history of off-field troubles that began when he was a High School star at three
 Actor Eddie Murphy attend the 79th Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre

Spot the difference: Caleb King, left, grew angry and allegedly beat up Andrew hayek when he said he looked like Eddie Murphy, right

Hayek is alleged to have joked that King looked like Hollywood star Eddie Murphy.

According to a police report King followed Hayek out to a car and hit him in the face.

Mugshot: Caleb King has a history of off-field troubles that began when he was a High School star at threeMugshot: Caleb King has a history of off-field troubles that began when he was a High School star at three

Hayek climbed into the vehicle and locked the passenger side door in an attempt to escape while dialing 911 for help.

King is alleged to have got into the car through the unlocked driver’s door and pulled Hayek out and thrown him head first to the ground before beating him with his fists.

Other guests took the badly injured Hayek inside the house but refused to call for an ambulance.

Police were able to trace Hayek from the 911 call he made before being assaulted and rushed him to hospital.

Hayek’s injuries included a fractured skull and a nose that was so severely damaged that he had to have it completely restructured.

Surgeons had to insert more than 50 stitches in his face wounds.

King told deputies no punches were thrown and that Hayek ‘simply fell to the ground when [he] was talking to him’.

Sandra Arellano, who is Hayek’s legal guardian said one more punch would have killed him.

 

She said he had been hit so hard in the face his nasal cavity had been ‘blown out’.

‘I can’t believe how someone could intentionally hurt someone so bad,’ said Arellano.

Deep Purple: Minnesota Vikings got off the mark with a win over the Cardinals Team: King entered the NFL’s supplemental draft and was chosen by the Vikings but did not see the field in 2011

 

Authorities say he may have suffered permanent brain damage.

Hayek’s sister Jenny Eagle said her brother would not have started a fight. She said he is just 130lbs while King is much bigger at over 210lbs.

She said he had been a Vikings fan before this, but is not any more.

King was arrested on suspicion of third degree assault and remains in jail.

A spokesman for the Vikings said: ‘We’re still collecting and gathering information.’

Hayek remains in a serious condition at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids.

King played football for the University of Georgia before he was ruled academically ineligible last year.

He entered the NFL’s supplemental draft and was chosen by the Vikings but did not see the field in 2011.

Amare Stoudemire breaks fire extinguisher glass

May 1st, 2012 | By love not hate

They call me Mr. Glass T…

After the New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat, 104-94, to go down 0-2 in their first round playoff series, a locker room incident involving forward Amare Stoudemire exploded on Twitter. Beat writers later confirmed that Stoudemire suffered a laceration on his left hand, due to punching the glass enclosure of a fire extinguisher — The Knicks are in big trouble — Lets see if they could put out the Heat’s fire in game 3. -TO

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