Kobe Bryant Suspended For Knicks Game

NEW YORK (Reuters)

Los Angeles Lakers all-star Kobe Bryant was hit with a one game suspension on Tuesday for striking San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili in the face.

The incident occurred with the game tied and just under three seconds remaining in the fourth period of Sunday's 96-94 overtime home loss to the Spurs.

Bryant, who is averaging 28.4 points, 5.5 assists and 5.4 rebounds a game, will miss Tuesday night's meeting with the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

One of the NBA's highest paid players, the one game ban will cost Bryant a reported $196,875.

Considering that the Lakers only come into New York once a year, keeping Kobe out of tonight's game is just ludicrous. Of course, nothing David Stern does these days makes much sense. Knicks fans need to seriously do a protest.

Tony Parker To Make It Official

Access Hollywood:

LOS ANGELES (January 25, 2007) -- Eva Longoria and Tony Parker are hoping the number seven brings them a lifetime of good luck.

The "Desperate" diva and her NBA beau will tie the knot on July 7, 2007, according to Us Weekly. The couple, who got engaged in November 2006, will reportedly wed at Chateau de Chantilly in Tony's native France.

"Tony is extremely superstitious and thinks 07-07-07 is the day most lucky to get married on," a source told Us Weekly. In addition, designer Monique Lhuillier will create Longoria's dress for the big day, Us Weekly reports.

Eva, 31, and Tony, 24, a point guard for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, met in November 2004 in the team's locker room following a game, after Eva told a local news reporter that Tony was her favorite player on the team.

Nothing against Tony, but Eva Longoria just comes off as a money-hungry diva, so I give it 5 years.

Tops.

Michael Vick Needs A Weed Carrier

Hilarious skit from "Saturday Night Live" on Michael Vick getting caught trying to bring weed on an airplane.

He's Back! Ron Artest Returns To Detroit

SFGate.com:

Carmelo Anthony was supposed to be back on the court Saturday, but a postponed game extended his suspension another two days. So now he can watch another highly anticipated return of a brawler: Ron Artest, back at Detroit.

"It's going to be crazy," Anthony said. "They might boo him (like) crazy out there. I can't wait to see that game."

Artest can't, either. Sacramento's visit to the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday night is his first game in Detroit since the brawl between Indiana Pacers players and Pistons fans on Nov. 19, 2004.

"I haven't played there in a long time and it's going to be a fun environment," he said earlier this week. "I'm looking forward to Detroit."

Artest charged into the stands trying to attack a fan who had hit him with a beverage. He was suspended for the remainder of that season and didn't play for either the Pacers or the Kings, to whom he was traded, during their visits to Detroit last season.

If Artest was still a Pacer maybe I could get into this, but he's not and The Brawl was so long ago that besides getting booed I don't see Piston fans getting too worked up about his return. And neither am I.

Mike Tyson Indicted On Drug Charges

Reuters:

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has been indicted for drug possession and driving under the influence of drugs by an Arizona grand jury, authorities said on Friday.

Tyson, 40, faces two counts each of felony drug possession and misdemeanor driving under the influence in connection with his December 29 arrest in Scottsdale, Arizona, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said.

Thomas said he was seeking prison time for the former boxer, who has a long record of legal troubles. If convicted, Tyson faces more than seven years' imprisonment.

The embattled fighter was taken into custody after nearly colliding his black BMW into a sheriff's car after leaving a nightclub, according to court documents.

He was found with cocaine on him and in his vehicle, police said. In court documents, the arresting officer said Tyson admitted to using cocaine that day and revealed he was addicted to the illegal drug.

Tyson attorney Tom Marlowe could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

Jason Kidd Claims That He's Battered Husband

From CNN.com.

New Jersey Nets star Jason Kidd filed for divorce from his wife of 10 years Tuesday, accusing her of "extreme cruelty" throughout their marriage.

In the dissolution papers, filed in state Superior Court in Bergen County, Kidd accuses Joumana Kidd of physically and mentally abusing him, threatening to make false domestic violence complaints against him to police, and of interfering with his relationship with his children.

The defendant's extreme and unwarranted jealousy and rage has left the plaintiff concerned about her emotional stability," the papers say.

The divorce filing came less than a day after the 33-year-old NBA player filed a domestic violence complaint seeking a temporary restraining order against his wife.

"Jason Kidd filed for divorce from his wife today on the grounds of extreme cruelty over a long period of time," Kidd's attorney, Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich, said in a statement Tuesday.

Now I know that there are some out who might think that claiming that your wife beat you is a punk move, but all you need to is learn about Doug Christie's wife to get an idea of on how some of these NBA wives are kind of crazy.

Mark McGwire Only Gets 23.5% Of Hall Of Fame Vote

From SI.com:

NEW YORK -- Mark McGwire fell far short in his first try for the Hall of Fame, picked by 23.5 percent of voters while Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. easily gained baseball's highest honor.

Tarnished by accusations of steroid use, McGwire appeared on 128 of a record 545 ballots in voting released today by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Ripken was picked by 537 voters, appearing on 98.5 percent of ballots, falling just short of the record percentage of 98.84 set by Tom Seaver when he was selected on 425 of 430 ballots in 1992.

Gwynn was just behind with 532 votes, 97.6 percent, after compiling 3,141 hits and a .338 batting average during his 20-year career with the San Diego Padres.

Put aside his embarrassing performance at the congressional hearings steroids in '05 and I still don't think that McGwire deserves to be in the Hall Of Fame. The HOF should be for consistently great players and/or dominant players of their era only and McGwire was neither. Don't believe, just check his career, strictly speaking he was a home-run hitter and that's that. He wasn't great in the post-season, never won an MVP, had a lifetime .263 batting average, was at best an average first basemen defensively and didn't even get 2,000 hits in his career. So regardless of what you might thing about McGwire and steroids, based on his career alone Mark McGwire just doesn't deserve to be considered amongst baseball's best.

Sports Nuts & Bolts

Larry Brown Claims To Have No Interest In Coaching 76ers

Louisville Coach Bobby Petrino Takes Falcons Job

Judge Freezes O.J. Simpson's Book Advance

NASCAR's Bobby Hamilton Dies of Cancer

Florida St. Wins BCS Champion Bowl Over Ohio St., 41-14

Ripken & Gwynn Won't Be Unanimous Picks

Patriots 37, Jets 16

Yahoo.com:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Tom Brady and the New England Patriots showed why they scare the rest of the AFC during the playoffs.

Brady capped long scoring drives with short touchdown passes to Daniel GrahamKevin Faulk, and Asante Samuel sealed it with a 36-yard interception return for a score with 4:54 left in the game as the three-time Super Bowl champions beat the New York Jets 37-16 on Sunday. and

New England (13-4), the only team to win a playoff game in each of the last four seasons, will play at top-seeded San Diego (14-2) next Sunday. The Patriots are going for their fourth Super Bowl title in six seasons.

Brady improved to 10-2 against the Jets (10-7), and played much better than in the teams' last meeting, when New York frustrated the quarterback and won 17-14. This time, Brady was in control right from the start.

New England, which has won seven of eight since that loss to New York, improved to 9-1 at home in the playoffs, and hasn't lost in the postseason since a 31-14 defeat against the Houston Oilers on Dec. 31, 1978. The Jets made things interesting early, taking a 10-7 lead in the second quarter on a 77-yard touchdown catch and run by Jerricho Cotchery.

Ok, so we got our asses handed to us by a (hey, I can say it) better team. But no one expected us to go 10-6, much less make the playoffs. Plus, our quarterback finally stayed healthy for a whole season and we have a coach steering us in the right direction. Some help in the secondary and better back-up QB (see: Jeff Garcia) and we'll be fine.