Josh Alper Posts

Calvin Pace Suspended for First 4 Games of NFL Season

Posted: Jul 2nd 2009 3:30 PM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Jets, AFC East

42 COMMENTS
The NFL announced that Jets linebacker Calvin Pace will miss the first four games of the 2009 season while he serves a suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

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    From left, Dick Mitchell, Babe Parilli, Clayton Webb, Bob Fry, and George Blanda greet each other upon arriving at a Paul "Bear" Bryant reunion at the Crown Plaza, Campbell House in Lexington, Kentucky, Friday, June 19, 2009. Kentucky football players who played for the famed coach get together every other year. (Pablo Alcala/Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT)

    MCT

    Babe Parilli, gets a bear hug from Dick Mitchell during a Paul "Bear" Bryant reunion at the Crown Plaza, Campbell House in Lexington, Kentucky, Friday, June 19, 2009. Kentucky football players who played for the famed coach get together every other year. (Pablo Alcala/Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT)

    MCT

    Former NFL football quarterback Troy Aikman, right, talks with San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Young, left, before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game between the Houston Astros and the Padres, Thursday, July 2, 2009, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

    AP

    Former NFL football quarterback Troy Aikman throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres, Thursday, July 2, 2009, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

    AP

    Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and his girlfriend Jessica Simpson talk on the number one tee after opening ceremonies for the AT&T National golf tournament at Congressional Country Club, Wednesday, July 1, 2009, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

    AP

    Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (L) and Tiger Woods stand together on the 10th green during the Pro-Am for the AT&T National PGA golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, July 1, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES SPORT GOLF FOOTBALL)

    Reuters

    Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo plays a shot from a bunker along the 11th fairway during the Pro-Am for the AT&T National PGA golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, July 1, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES SPORT FOOTBALL GOLF)

    Reuters

    Tiger Woods (L) and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (R) play together on the 14th tee during the Pro-Am for the AT&T National PGA golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, July 1, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES SPORT GOLF FOOTBALL IMAGES OF THE DAY)

    Reuters

    Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, left, stands with New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi on the field before the Yankees' baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

    AP

    Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, left, holds a football as New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter throws long toss on the field before the Yankees' baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

    AP

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Scott Boras' Car Attacked Outside California Restaurant

Posted: Jul 2nd 2009 11:05 AM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: MLB Biz, MLB Police Blotter

5 COMMENTS
Scott Boras car attackedThe Newport Beach Police Department landed themselves a doozy of a case on Monday night. Scott Boras, much-maligned baseball agent, had dinner at Bandera Restaurant and returned to a disturbing scene in the parking lot after his meal. His Land Rover bore signs of a brutal assault, with damage to the windshield and driver's side window.

Someone used an unknown hard, long object (that's what she said) during the assault, but police are short on other leads. If they hope to crack the case, they'll probably need to start working in shifts as there's no shortage of people with an ax to grind -- or window to break -- when it comes to Boras.
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Jack Clark Knows How to Hold a Grudge

Posted: Jul 1st 2009 2:30 PM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Cardinals, Mets, NL Central, NL East, MLB Media Watch

2 COMMENTS
Things went pretty well for Jack Clark during his three years as a St. Louis Cardinal in the mid-1980s. He hit 66 homers and the Cardinals went to the World Series in 1985 and 1987. Sure, they dropped each of those series in seven games and the '86 Cardinals finished 28 1/2 games behind the Mets, but you'd think 20-plus years of perspective might make any leftover pain go away.

You'd think wrong.

Clark still harbors a honey of a grudge against that Mets club and aired his grievances well ahead of the Festivus season.
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Brandon Marshall Has Wanted Out of Denver for Quite Some Time

Posted: Jun 30th 2009 4:45 PM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Broncos, AFC West

7 COMMENTS
When rumors about Brandon Marshall leaving the Broncos started percolating, most people assumed that the wide receiver wanted a trade because he was either unhappy about his contract or unhappy that the team traded quarterback Jay Cutler to the Bears. Those may both be valid, but he started dreaming about a departure from the Rockies long before either of those issues came to the forefront.

The first inklings of Marshall's desire occurred way back in 2007, although he didn't make them known to any member of the Broncos front office. Pro Football Talk unearthed a copy of the police report from an incident of suspected DUI, which featured Marshall's colorful initial trade request.
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Cardinals' Khalil Greene Sidelined Again By Anxiety Disorder

Posted: Jun 28th 2009 9:35 AM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Cardinals, NL Central, MLB Injuries

37 COMMENTS
Khalil GreeneOne of the more interesting injury-related developments this season has been the spate of anxiety, stress and other emotional/mental issues cited as reasons for sending players to the disabled list. Dontrelle Willis, Joey Votto and Khalil Greene, who missed two games after a previous stint on the DL, have all been struck with these ailments, which has generated two general schools of response.

The first is sympathetic. Many people in this country have suffered from such problems, or have close friends or family members who have suffered, and they know that being a talented athlete doesn't make you immune. The other camp feels that these are just excuses for teams to stash away players performing poorly.
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Marlon Byrd Teams Up With Victor Conte

Posted: Jun 25th 2009 12:15 PM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Rangers, AL West, MLB PEDs

0 COMMENTS
Marlon Byrd, Victor ConteYou might think that baseball players would stay as far away from Victor Conte as possible. The BALCO founder's name is synonymous with illegal drugs, see Barry Bonds and Marion Jones, but Marlon Byrd of the Texas Rangers isn't put off in the least. He openly admits that Conte advises him and is proudly featured as a client of Conte's new company, Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning, on their website.

There's no reason to believe that the supplements Byrd gets from Conte fall afoul of baseball's drug policy since he's never failed a drug test. Not that he bothered finding out what's in the pills and potions he gets from Conte.
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Akinori Iwamura Could Return to Rays This Season

Posted: Jun 22nd 2009 7:30 PM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Rays, AL East, MLB Injuries

1 COMMENT
Akinori IwamuraWhen Akinori Iwamura was carried off the field after Florida's Chris Coghlan slid into him hard at second base in late May, it was feared the Rays would be without their second baseman for the remainder of the season. During Iwamura's surgery on Monday, however, doctors found only a partial tear of his left ACL.

That mean arthroscopic, rather than reconstructive, surgery, and the Rays are reporting that Iwamura could rejoin the team in six-to-eight weeks. That lines up nicely with a potential push for a return trip to the playoffs, although one wonders how much Iwamura would actually get into the lineup when and if he will get a clean bill of health then.
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Phillies Place Raul Ibanez on Disabled List With Groin Injury

Posted: Jun 18th 2009 11:20 AM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Phillies, NL East, MLB Injuries

0 COMMENTS
A bad week for the Phillies got worse Thursday morning when the team placed left fielder Raul Ibanez on the disabled list with a groin strain. The injury has been bothering Ibanez for a while, eliminating the possibility that it had anything to do with providing a stool sample.

The loss of Ibanez won't help the Phillies reverse a trend that's seen them lose four of their last five games. Until they address the need to upgrade their starting pitching, they'll need all the offense they can get to keep winning games. Ibanez, who leads the team in most offensive categories, is a big part of those efforts.
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College Graduates Need Not Apply for Jobs in Major League Baseball

Posted: Jun 16th 2009 5:30 PM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: MLB Biz, MLB Media Watch

0 COMMENTS
You probably couldn't get through nine innings of any baseball game without hearing one player or another described as being smart. That description only applies between the lines, though. Book smarts are a different category, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal scoured media guides from all 30 teams in the major leagues and found that only 26 current players and managers received a college degree. They also ranked each ballclub by its level of education, i.e. players and managers who had spent any time in college, to see if there was any correlation between success in the classroom and success on the diamond.
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Brandon Marshall Wants to Follow Jay Cutler's Path Out of Denver

Posted: Jun 15th 2009 4:50 PM ET by Josh Alper (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Broncos, AFC West, NFL Rumors

14 COMMENTS
There's a feeling of déjà vu in the mile-high air around Denver on Monday, as Brandon Marshall's displeasure with the Denver Broncos has moved into the trade-demand stage.

A source close to the situation told FanHouse's Calvin Watkins that Marshall is questioning the team's direction after the Cutler trade, and that concern led Marshall to meet with owner Pat Bowlen.

During a radio interview with 850 KOA in Denver, Adam Schefter of the NFL Network (soon of ESPN) said that Marshall's trade request came after the wide receiver decided not to report to the opening of the Broncos' mandatory minicamp. Marshall told Bowlen, "I think I'd like to be traded," and Schefter said Marshall was unlikely to change his mind, despite Bowlen's request that he take some time to consider options.
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