Darren Rovell has been all over the Tiger-Apple-Ebay scene lately, and he didn't skip a beat on the newest development: fantasy sports site RotoHog has purchased the "Monday Apple" eaten by Tiger during the U.S. Open playoff and is holding a vote to determine what they should do with the rotten scrap of fruit.
"We were looking for something that would be a good Golden Palace play," said Shane Igoe, the site's director of content and viral marketing, referring to the online casino that has generated publicity by buying weird auction items.
A la Marc Ecko, who put the Barry Bonds' No. 756 home run ball up for a public vote, the folks at Rotohog are asking the masses what they should do with the apple.
It's a pretty good move on the part of RotoHog -- our nation's collective fascination with food, celebrity and the webbie-tubes are a solid combination to market off of. Of course, unlike Ecko, RotoHog guarantees to actually follow through with whatever the public decides (and is mocking the designer/baseball-history-ruiner on the site, +1). Anyway, head over to the Tiger Apple site and get your vote on.
To keep you prepared before you do, the choices are ...
Kiel was reportedly driving alone after leaving a party at about 10:15 Friday night when his car hit a wall, ejecting him from the vehicle. He died about an hour later. A police spokesman said friends had tried to keep Kiel from driving home from the party, and witnesses told police he appeared to be driving in the wrong direction when he crashed.
Kiel was a four-year starter at Texas A&M and a second-round pick of the Chargers in 2003. Three months after he was drafted, Kiel was shot three times in an attempted carjacking, but he made a complete recovery and played all 16 games as a rookie. During the 2006 season DEA agents showed up at the Chargers' headquarters to arrest Kiel for shipping prescription cough syrup to Texas as part of an effort to distribute a drink known as "lean," which mixes soft drinks with codeine cough syrup.
The Chargers released Kiel after he pleaded guilty to that charge, and he never played in the NFL again.
And this is not your ordinary catcher "foul-to-face" either, kids. Michael Barrett is the one batting when he clocks a ball off his bat and into his grill. If you're adverse to seeing humans take painful shots to the dome, I suggest you not watch this.
The best trash talkers in sports, from Muhammad Ali to Joe Namath to the Fab Five to Deion Sanders, have always had two qualities:
1. They're funny. 2. They can back it up on the field.
By those two standards, it appears that Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson may be developing into a great trash talker.
This week he was asked to name the toughest defense he had faced, and he answered, the San Diego Chargers. And then he added, "That was a joke."
Peterson, of course, ran for an NFL record 296 yards against the Chargers last season, and he drew a laugh with that comment. Somehow I'm guessing players on the Chargers won't find it funny.
Cherilus and Tribble were both charged with assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection with a fight at a bar. Cherilus, who was the Lions' first-round draft pick, was ordered to pay $52,000 in medical bills for a man who was injured in the fight; it's not clear whether he was ordered to pay the bills because he was more culpable than Tribble or because he will make significantly more money than Tribble, who was a sixth-round pick.
Former Chargers offensive tackle Shane Olivea, a free agent who once looked like one of the league's most promising offensive linemen, is currently without a team. Even if he signs with a team, he can't play until he serves a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
And although the league doesn't give specifics about past indiscretions, it's clear that whatever triggered this four-game suspension isn't the first time Olivea screwed up. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports:
All the Chargers would say when they released him in February was that Olivea had seemed to lose his motivation. But those around the team have known for some time that Olivea partied himself out of the league.
Acee also reports that Olivea is getting help. I hope it works. Olivea is only 26 years old and still has talent, even if, so far, that talent has gone to waste.
If you're here and you aren't sure why, it's because you should be on the main page of FanHouse's 2008 U.S. Open Bonus Playoff 'Shot of the Day' Extravaganza. Basically, we want you to tell us what the best shot of the Tiger -- Rocco Monday matchup was.
As much as I dislike Johnny Miller's "work", he is dead on when describing the bunker shot on 15 by Eldrick as a "Tiger Shot" (of course, that's what the rest of us call it too, so he's really just doing his job). Tiger follows Rocco's dialed up shot the green at 15 by going inside of him from a ridiculous downward sloping, ball-beneath-the-feet bunker shot from 170 yards out.
He may not have taken full control of the tournament here, but this is arguably the most ridiculous shot he hit the whole tournament.
Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate went to battle today while the rest of the U.S. (San Diego excepted) was at work. A lot of us watched streaming online and a ton of us followed the two via Shane Bacon and what was a pretty freaking spectacular live blog.
18 holes wasn't enough for either golfer though (well, nice guy Rocco was probably ready to go home after 18) and we ended up getting a sudden death playoff that saw Tiger walk away as the 2008 U.S. Open Champion after just one extra-overtime hole.
There were hundreds of great shots over the course of this prime time rankings raker of a U.S. Open. But Monday's round (easily the least watched of the last three days) was probably the best, as Tiger and Rocco dueled back and forth. Both of those reason -- the compelling golf and the unwatchability -- are why we want you, the fan to let us know which shot you think was the best. They are also why we're providing video clips of each shot.
Follow the links below and then vote to let us know what the Shot of the Day on Monday was, and if you have other nominations, by all means leave them in the comments section.
The issues that athletes have with addiction to uppers and pain medication is pretty well documented. I do not think that Tiger Woods has any sort of painkiller addiction. And I think he probably has a prescription for whatever he took. However, it is still really odd to hear him say that he "took some things" to help relieve the pain issues in his knee following his comeback on the final round of the U.S. Open Sunday.
The reason it is odd is that, well, to be frank, golf is much harder on pain killers. Your senses are numb and muscles relaxed, which is good for the amateur who swings to hard. But for an athlete like Tiger who relies on pinpoint timing to perform, pain medicine just does not seem like the most logical option.
It could also explain, depending on what he took and when he took it, the opening round double bogey fiasco of his.
Tiger Woods' 18th hole at Torrey Pines was nothing short of a roller coaster ride. It was both exasperating, heart wrenching and thrilling to watch as a television spectator, so I can't imagine having to be Rocco Mediate.
First, his tee shot, which went wayward, ended up in a bunker and basically took eagle out of play, which somehow made this whole thing more dramatic.
Former San Diego Chargers safety 
Former Chargers offensive tackle 
Tiger Woods
