Jynnan Tonnyx

I’m calling B.S. on Commissioner Stern when he commented on Carmelo Anthony’s suspension. Yes, I agree that ‘Melo deserved a suspension, but suspending him longer than any other player involved in the fracas is ridiculous, especially when the whole mess was instigated by a hard foul at Coach Isiah Thomas’ direction.

“We judged him on his actions on the court, period,” Stern said. “And they deserved a harsh penalty.”

Bullshit. The fact is that ‘Melo is getting singled out for exceptional treatment because he is the best-known player involved. Stern is trying to send a message, and he’s using one of the league’s most visible (and admired) players to do it. Never mind that the mere fact that their leading scorer is getting suspended for any length of time already punishes the Nuggets disproportionately to the Knicks, who are terrible but staying afloat in a lousy conference. A 15-game suspension probably dooms the Nuggets to miss the playoffs in the West (unless they can still engineer a trade for Allen Iverson, but that seems unlikely). The Knicks might very well make the playoffs anyway.

It’s an absolutely idiotic, broken system that does nothing but give a veneer of respectability to the thoroughly inept, pathetic referee system in college football. What the hell is the point of having this stupid thing if a trained replay official can’t even spot what is plainly obvious to the public at home, and even to the retards in the press box?

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Considering his supposed goal is to restore ethical integrity to international sports competitions, I can’t imagine a more ethically-challenged man than Dick Pound leading the WADA. He has always resorted to the dirtiest of smear campaigns when he couldn’t find any real evidence, and his sickening attempts to discredit Lance Armstrong (in conjunction with yellow journalism by France’s L’Equipe that would make Fox News blush) are only the latest in a long string of underhanded tactics by a man who seems less concerned with actually cleaning up sports than with getting his name in the papers. I’m really glad Armstrong is standing up to him, and asking the IOC to sanction him for his schoolyard bully tactics. His demagoguery is detrimental to the cause of getting drugs out of sports, and a rebuke from the IOC might finally put him in his place.

The ends don’t justify the means. The way to clean up sports is through improved testing regimes and education, not by spreading innuendo and suspicion to try and shame athletes when you can’t get real proof.

aren’t the only team that gets disrespected.

Hey, I’m not claiming the win against New England wasn’t ugly, or that Pittsburgh doesn’t look pretty scary going into the AFC Championship, but why is Denver the favorite punching bag for all the columnists today?

The Patriots committed five turnovers, but somehow to these wags, that doesn’t reflect on Denver at all. Never mind that only one, the Hobbs fumble of the punt return, was unforced. Brady forced a bad ball that ended up in Champ Bailey’s hands because he was being run ragged by the pass rush. His other pick was also due to pressure.

The Football Outsiders say recovering fumbles is basically luck, but causing them, and getting interceptions, are signs of team strength. Denver caused two fumbles and got two picks, for a +4 turnover differential. So where’s the respect?

And get mad all you want over the PI call against Samuel on that play to Lelie in the endzone, but do you really think Denver, driving from the Pats’ 40, wasn’t coming away with at least 3?

Here’s one more thing to chew on, sports fans: Denver has never lost an AFC Championship game at home, and is 6 for 7 total.

After the disheartening news for Giants fans that Barry Bonds might be out for the whole season, a Sports Illustrated online poll shows a full 25% of readers think the Giants will now finish in fifth (last) place in the NL West. Apparently, 25% of readers have forgotten that Todd and the Toddlers are playing in that division this year.

Congratulations to USC, who played a terrific game in last night’s Orange Bowl. They had my Sooners beat at every turn. Read more…

Losing at home, on national television, in a divisional game, in weather favorable to your team, with the division lead on the line, to your most hated rival (who are only 3-7) on a blocked field goal, by one point? It doesn’t get much uglier than that.

Final score: Raiders 25, Broncos 24.

My Dad just called and said a friend has two extra seats to the Broncos-Raiders game at Mile High tonight! Of course, the temperature outside is about 25° F, but what the hell? I’ve never been to the new stadium, and I’ve never gotten to watch Shanahan demolish the Raiders in person, either.