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FanHouse http://www.fanhouse.com FanHouse http://www.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif FanHouse http://www.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ Wickmayer Suspended for Agassi's Sins http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/25/wickmayer-suspended-for-agassis-sins/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/25/wickmayer-suspended-for-agassis-sins/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/25/wickmayer-suspended-for-agassis-sins/#comments

Filed under: U.S. Open, WTA

Yanina Wickmayer

It's amazing how much "no comment" can say. I've made a pet project of the curious case of Yanina Wickmayer, the young tennis player banned for a year from the tour for a doping offense even though she never missed a doping test and never failed one.

Wickmayer is being punished for Andre Agassi's sins. That's how tennis is trying to save face, by crushing a 20-year old budding star who seems to have committed, at worst, a tiny infraction.

I've spent the past few weeks calling and emailing the doping agencies and governing bodies involved. You name the initials, VDT, WADA, WTA, ITF.

Most of them are B.S. In the end, this isn't even about Wickmayer anymore. It's about doping tests and steroids in sports in general. We need watchers to keep an eye on the cheating athletes.

But who is watching the watchers?

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]]> VDTWADAYanina Wickmayer Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-11-25T00:00:00 00:00 Chelios Fights Father Time for Last Shot http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/18/chris-chelios-fighting-father-time-for-one-last-shot/ http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/18/chris-chelios-fighting-father-time-for-one-last-shot/ http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/18/chris-chelios-fighting-father-time-for-one-last-shot/#comments

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL Free Agency, Minor League Hockey

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- You park your car, walk in the side door of the Hoffman Estates Community Center in suburban Chicago, and the first thing you see is some gray-haired, slightly hunched guy standing under a sign that says, "Senior Center. 50+ club."

Chris Chelios is not aging well.

What? Oh, wait, that wasn't Chelios. Chelios was around the corner, a mere 47 years old, still 26 months from 50+ eligibility, not playing checkers, but instead playing in a hockey scrimmage with the Chicago Wolves minor league hockey team.

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]]> Chris Chelios Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-11-18T01:00:00 00:00 Bengals Batter, Bloody Stunned Steelers http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/15/bengals-batter-bloody-stunned-steelers/ http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/15/bengals-batter-bloody-stunned-steelers/ http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/11/15/bengals-batter-bloody-stunned-steelers/#comments

Filed under: Bengals, Steelers, NFL Analysis

PITTSBURGH -- When you go to a Pittsburgh Steelers game, you absorb the vibe. You live it. You expect a day of face-stomping, mouth-smashing and butt-kicking, and you walk away with the satisfying feeling that you've just beaten someone up. It's all about identity.

So it was a little disturbing to see 65,000 people leave Heinz Field Sunday all limping, hunched over, bleeding and holding their arms to their sides. The Steelers are supposed to be the team providing the stomping, smashing and kicking, not the face, the mouth and the butt.

And the last team you would expect to be pummeling the defending Super Bowl champs? Not just beating them, but pounding them? The Cincinnati Bengals.

More: Polamalu Reinjures Left Knee | Updated Standings

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]]> Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-11-15T20:45:00 00:00 There's No Ty, Weis Is Biggest Flop Ever http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/15/theres-no-ty-weis-is-biggest-flop-ever/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/15/theres-no-ty-weis-is-biggest-flop-ever/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/15/theres-no-ty-weis-is-biggest-flop-ever/#comments

Filed under: Notre Dame

PITTSBURGH -- It's over. There is nothing left. Charlie Weis is done at Notre Dame.

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]]> charlie weis Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-11-15T02:16:00 00:00 ITF Let Golden Star Serena Off Hook http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/itf-let-golden-star-serena-off-hook/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/itf-let-golden-star-serena-off-hook/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/itf-let-golden-star-serena-off-hook/#comments

Filed under: WTA

The International Tennis Federation has completed its two-month "investigation'' into Serena Williams' f-bomb-laced, threatening tirade toward a line judge on worldwide TV at the U.S. Open. Her "punishment'' should come Monday or Tuesday.

I would give just about anything to see the notes from this "investigation.'' The quote-marks show that this was just a theoretical thing, anyway. As in, it took two months to find "justice.''

This whole thing has been a sham. Will Williams be suspended from the next major, the Australian Open in January?

"I don't think [an Australian Open ban] would make much sense, because it would penalize the people handing out the punishment,'' ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said. "For the grand slam committee to exclude her from a grand slam doesn't seem likely.

More From Couch: Serena Is No. 1, and Deserves It

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]]> serena williamsSerenaWilliamsvenus williamsVenusWilliams Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-11-08T19:24:00 00:00 WADA Crock: Making Wickmayer Pay for Agassi's Sin http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/06/banning-wickmayer-wada-crock/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/06/banning-wickmayer-wada-crock/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/06/banning-wickmayer-wada-crock/#comments

Filed under: U.S. Open, ATP

Yanina Wickmayer

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency acknowledged that it's too late to punish Andre Agassi for his failed drug test from 1997, darned statute of limitations. But WADA said it still wants some punishment, anyway. Maybe for Agassi's lies to doping officials, which he admits in his book? Maybe for perjury?

Doubtful. But I knew tennis would get its pound of flesh, anyway, as Agassi has embarrassed the sport's governing bodies. What I didn't know was how fast they would get that flesh.

Or that they would take it from Yanina Wickmayer.

She was banned Thursday for a year for a doping offense. It wasn't for failing a test, or apparently even for missing one, though details still aren't out. It was because she failed to report three times to doping officials over the past 18 months where she would be.

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]]> andre agassiAndreAgassirafael nadalRafaelNadalserena williamsSerenaWilliamsyanina wickmayerYaninaWickmayer Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-11-06T11:30:00 00:00 Twilight 'Zona: Tennis Seniors Arrested http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/twilight-zona-tennis-seniors-get-busted/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/twilight-zona-tennis-seniors-get-busted/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/twilight-zona-tennis-seniors-get-busted/#comments

Filed under: Police Blotter

Here we go again. How many stories like this are we going to get?

Stories of senseless tennis violence. And what do you get when this happens?

Ray Moore and George Morell know. Moore was wrestled to the ground by a cop, a knee in his back while he was cuffed, apparently bleeding. Both were arrested, and spent the bulk of the day in jail.

"There were five cop cars there,'' said Donna Morell, George's wife. "Five. My husband and Ray were in different cells all day, in solitary.''

Surely, they deserved it.

"They're in their 80s, you know,'' she said.

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]]> Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-11-04T14:30:00 00:00 Shamefully, Agassi Fails the Trust Test http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/shamefully-agassi-fails-to-pass-the-trust-test/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/shamefully-agassi-fails-to-pass-the-trust-test/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/shamefully-agassi-fails-to-pass-the-trust-test/#comments

Filed under: ATP

You're being handled, played, manipulated. I am, too.

Where is Andre Agassi? Why hasn't he come out in the past 72 hours to tell us that drugs weren't the greatest thing to happen to him, no matter what his book excerpts seem to say? Why has this man who has done so many great things with his school for disadvantaged kids, let the message just hang out there?

Drugs fun. Hate tennis. Bad relationship with Dad.

If he wanted to clear his soul, to confess to his sins, then why did he need be paid $5 million to do it.

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]]> andre agassiAndreAgassi Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-30T16:30:00 00:00 Serena Williams Is No. 1, and Deserves It http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/28/serena-williams-is-no-1-and-deserves-it/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/28/serena-williams-is-no-1-and-deserves-it/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/28/serena-williams-is-no-1-and-deserves-it/#comments

Filed under: WTA, WTA Rankings

Serena Williams

She threatened a player, didn't try most of the year, famously threatened a line judge and was thrown out of a match.

The other thing Serena Williams did in 2009 was this:

She won the year-end No. 1 ranking. It became official Wednesday in Doha, Qatar, at the WTA Championships when Dinara Safina, the current No. 1 Williams was trying to overcome, withdrew from the tournament with a bad back. It guaranteed that Williams would finish the year No. 1 for the first time since 2002.

Two more things: She deserves it.

And it's the best thing for tennis.

More Coverage: Serena Stays Unbeaten in Doha

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]]> ana ivanovicdinara safinajelena jankovickim clijstersmaria sharapovaserena williamsvenus williams Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-28T20:30:00 00:00 Agassi's Admission Falls in Gray Zone http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/28/agassis-admission-falls-in-gray-zone/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/28/agassis-admission-falls-in-gray-zone/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/28/agassis-admission-falls-in-gray-zone/#comments

Filed under: Media Watch

Image is everything. That what's Andre Agassi told us from the start. It has been the headline to his career, his life.

He went from the punk kid, all image and no substance, to the grown man philanthropist, creating, running and also raising funds for a charter school for disadvantaged kids.

He grew up so well, cleaned up so nicely, and won a humanitarian award in September at the U.S. Open. Now he comes back with this:

Agassi writes in his autobiography that he regularly used crystal meth on tour in 1997 when he was 27 years old. He failed the tennis tour's drug test, and then lied his way out of it by saying he had accidentally taken a drink from a glass of his assistant who, he said, used to spike his own drinks with the drug.

Why, Andre? Why did you do it? Why did you feel the need to say it? What happens to your image now?

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]]> andre agassibrad gilbert Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-28T00:20:00 00:00 Torturous Wait Ends for Ball State Coach http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/torturous-wait-ends-for-ball-state-coach/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/torturous-wait-ends-for-ball-state-coach/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/torturous-wait-ends-for-ball-state-coach/#comments

Filed under: Ball State, Eastern Michigan

Stan Parrish

YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Stan Parrish wins again. He won in 1986, and now he won again Saturday.

In between? Well, no. No wins as a head coach. But on Saturday, Parrish, the head coach at Ball State put an end, briefly at least, to 23 years and six days of head coaching pain.

Ball State 29, Eastern Michigan 27.

That's the last two years of Reagan, two Bushes, one Clinton and closing in on a year of Obama without leading a team to victory.

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]]> brady hokestan parrish Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-24T21:00:00 00:00 Was the Fix in on Wozniacki's 'Injury'? http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/21/was-the-fix-in-on-wozniackis-injury/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/21/was-the-fix-in-on-wozniackis-injury/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/21/was-the-fix-in-on-wozniackis-injury/#comments

Filed under: WTA

In a sport that has had a serious gambling scandal involving suspicions of match-fixing, how are we supposed to take Caroline Wozniacki's match the other day?

I'm starting to wonder exactly how many tennis matches aren't really on the up-and-up. Wozniacki, who reached the U.S. Open final, led Anne Kremer 7-5, 5-0 Tuesday at the Luxembourg Open.

And that's when Wozniacki chose to retire from the match with an injury. No broken bones. No fall. She had won seven straight games and was four points from winning.

"The injury suddenly happened," she said.

No way.

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]]> andy roddickAndyRoddickanne kremerAnneKremercaroline wozniackiCarolineWozniackiserena williamsSerenaWilliams Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-21T20:04:00 00:00 Martina Hingis Fades From Game http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/20/martina-hingis-fades-from-game/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/20/martina-hingis-fades-from-game/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/20/martina-hingis-fades-from-game/#comments

Filed under: WTA

Martina Hingis

Some of the excuses from these athletes are just laughable. They thought they were just injecting vitamins in their behinds. They didn't know the ingredients in that medicine. They must have gotten it in their systems by kissing a woman who had been using the stuff at a bar.

Martina Hingis never made an excuse for failing a cocaine test. She said she never did the stuff and had no clue how it could have gotten into her system, if it really did.

So it's over for Hingis. She failed that test more than two years ago, and now her suspension is up, and it's the era of comebacks in women's tennis. I always figured she'd try again. A failed drug test was no way for a great athlete to end a career.

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]]> martina hingis Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-20T20:20:00 00:00 Serena, Lineswoman Won't Hug It Out http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/19/serena-lineswoman-wont-hug-it-out/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/19/serena-lineswoman-wont-hug-it-out/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/19/serena-lineswoman-wont-hug-it-out/#comments

Filed under: U.S. Open, WTA

Two days after threatening to shove a tennis ball down her throat, Serena Williams said she would like to give a U.S. Open line judge "a big ole hug."

Unfortunately, that happy -- heartfelt? -- reunion will have to wait. The Serena line judge, whose identity has remained a secret, will not be at the WTA Tour Championships next week in Doha, Qatar.

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]]> Serena Williams Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-19T22:15:00 00:00 No Pain, No Gain on the Tours http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/19/no-pain-no-gain-on-the-atp-tour/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/19/no-pain-no-gain-on-the-atp-tour/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/19/no-pain-no-gain-on-the-atp-tour/#comments

Filed under: WTA, ATP

Three weeks. That's all Andy Roddick is expected to miss with the knee injury that knocked him out of the Shanghai Masters last week in the middle of his first-round match.

It should still give him time to qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London in November.

"Results of the MRI [scan] showed a mild sprain of his medial collateral ligament of the left knee," said a statement on Roddick's website. "The news was very good for Andy. No surgery will be needed and Andy is expected to make a 100 percent recovery."

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]]> andy roddickAndyRoddickrafael nadalRafaelNadalstanislas wawrinkaStanislasWawrinka Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-19T19:00:00 00:00 Gimme a 'T' for Texas and 'T' for Terrible http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/17/gimme-a-t-for-texas-and-t-for-terrible/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/17/gimme-a-t-for-texas-and-t-for-terrible/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/17/gimme-a-t-for-texas-and-t-for-terrible/#comments

Filed under: Oklahoma, Texas, Big 12

Colt McCoy

DALLAS -- Colt McCoy did it all with a sore thumb. Colt McCoy also had lost his voice during the week because of a cold. Colt McCoy saved the game with a tackle. A tackle from a quarterback!

This is why headlines and highlights aren't enough. Texas beat Oklahoma 16-13 Saturday to go 6-0 and keep up its run toward the national championship in its System Stinks Redemption Tour.

But when you watch the recap on ESPN and hear the fairy tale of McCoy, keep this in mind:

He wasn't any good.

And Texas? Worse.

More Coverage: Sam Bradford Down, Sooners Are Out

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]]> colt mccoymack brown Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-17T20:30:00 00:00 Players Divided Over Grueling Schedule http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/15/players-divided-over-grueling-schedule/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/15/players-divided-over-grueling-schedule/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/15/players-divided-over-grueling-schedule/#comments

Filed under: WTA, ATP

It seemed so simple at first, when Andy Roddick made his point better than anyone could. He complained on Monday that the tennis schedule is too demanding, and warned that star players could start dropping.

Then his knee popped, and he dropped.

But that has turned into a disagreement between two former No. 1 players, Roddick and Marat Safin, and other players have piped in over the hot topic on tour now. And it all shows how difficult this scheduling mess will be to clear up.

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]]> andy roddickmarat safin Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-15T20:10:00 00:00 Hellish Schedule Breaking Down Players http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/13/players-broken-down-by-hellish-schedule/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/13/players-broken-down-by-hellish-schedule/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/13/players-broken-down-by-hellish-schedule/#comments

Filed under: WTA, ATP

Andy Roddick warned us. Everyone has been warning us, really, with words or with pain, or meltdowns.

But on Monday, Roddick complained that the tennis schedule is too rough on the players. He called the requirements of the tour "ridiculous," and warned that the short-sightedness of the rules-makers might cut short the careers of stars.

More Coverage: Del Potro Joins Shanghai Injured List

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]]> andy roddick Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-13T23:30:00 00:00 Worth the Weight: Serena Does Right Thing With Body Issue http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/12/serena-does-right-thing-with-body-issue/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/12/serena-does-right-thing-with-body-issue/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/12/serena-does-right-thing-with-body-issue/#comments

Filed under: WTA

Serena Williams appeared nude, or at least awfully close, on the cover of ESPN the Magazine's The Body Issue last week, and there was probably some uncomfortable line crossed for women's sports between selling sex and sport.

But if so, it was worth it. Williams has found a great new role, an important role, though the message would have come through much stronger without air-brushing, by celebrating form exactly the way form is. Heaven forbid if any photo-shopping was involved.

Williams looks great in the magazine, as do, frankly, all the other athletes, male and female, inside. But Williams is pushing the line here more than most of the others, and I'd just like to say this:

Good for her. Somehow, we have pushed a dangerous ideal on young girls everywhere, celebrating size zero walking down a runway. Why do we want girls to feel like zeroes anyway?

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]]> Serena Williams Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-12T15:00:00 00:00 Eat Something Damir, No One Cares if You Don't http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/08/eat-something-damir-no-one-cares-if-you-dont/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/08/eat-something-damir-no-one-cares-if-you-dont/ http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2009/10/08/eat-something-damir-no-one-cares-if-you-dont/#comments

Filed under: Police Blotter, WTA

This is probably not the right form of protest for tennis' ultimate Psycho Dad, Damir Dokic. See, the thing is, if you choose to hurt yourself, it's only effective if people care.

Dokic has spent enough time bullying, intimidating and threatening, much of that allegedly directed at his daughter, Jelena Dokic, that he doesn't exactly have the stuff of a martyr.

"I am very worried," Damir's lawyer, Bosijka Djukic, told the Associated Press Thursday.

So that's one. And Djukic said that Dokic' wife -- that makes two who apparently care -- had said that Damir won't take food, water or medicine in protest of his 15-month prison term in Serbia.

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]]> damir dokicjelena dokic Greg Couch greg-couch 2009-10-08T19:30:00 00:00