February 3, 2012, 12:59 pm
Josh Hamilton on public relapse: ‘It was just wrong. That’s all it comes down to.’
Big League Stew (Yahoo! Sports: Blogs)

When news of Josh Hamilton's relapse first broke on Thursday night, we wrote with certainty that the Texas Rangers star would soon be forthcoming and honest about his public moment of weakness. As expected, Hamilton did just that on Friday afternoon, explaining the circumstances of his Monday night outing for more than 10 minutes at a press conference he held at Rangers Ballpark. Hamilton did not take questions from the press, but he did speak without notes and what he said was obviously from the heart. As Ken Rosenthal later said on MLB Network, it almost appeared as if he viewed the press conference as party of his recovery process — and not to calm a press and public that, for better or worse, will always play a role in his battle with addiction. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a transcript of the full statement, but here are a few of the key information points:• Hamilton said he went out to dinner on Monday night and ordered "three or four" drinks. He then called teammate Ian Kinsler and invited him to hang out, but did not drink in front of him at either of the two restaurants they visited. The two later parted ways when Kinsler dropped Hamilton off at his car, but Hamilton returned to one of the restaurants and resumed drinking. • No drugs were involved. Hamilton said he has taken and passed two drug test since Monday night. • "Things happen to me personally that I'm not proud of," Hamilton said. "It was just wrong. That's all it comes down to. I needed to be responsible, period. And I was not responsible. Those actions hurt a lot of people who are very close to me." • Hamilton apologized to his family and his fans. He cited great support from his wife Katie, but noted that it's time for him to be "the strong one" in the relationship. • "It's OK to be vulnerable, it's OK to show weakness," Hamilton said. "People are here for that reason, and they've done nothing but support me. It's a blessing for me to have them in my life." • Hamilton closed h

 

February 5, 2012, 10:32 pm
You want to watch Tom Coughlin hug Flavor Flav
Shutdown Corner (Yahoo! Sports: Blogs)

New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin has the reputation of being tough, hard-nosed, and not exactly a party animal. He changed that reputation with one hug of FLAVVVVORRRR FLLLLAAAAAVVVVVV! Winning his second Super Bowl loosened Coughlin up. Either that, or Coughlin was so happy about the win he didn't have any idea who the crazy man was looking for a hug.

 

February 4, 2012, 9:30 am
Utah’s owner strikes back at Karl Malone
Ball Don't Lie (Yahoo! Sports: Blogs)

On Friday, we published an account detailing a report from the Salt Lake Tribune, with writer Gordon Monson helping Karl Malone once again tear into the Utah Jazz for their work in making life untenable for former coach Jerry Sloan. The hook, pitched in order to strike at the heart of fair weather fans, was that Malone had to score a ticket from a scalper for a sold-out Jazz game in the wake of Sloan's retirement. Even if Sloan skulked off in a rare show of extreme prissiness, we wrote, you still go out of your way to approach Malone at any point before or during the game in order to offer him the best seat you can. On Saturday, newish Jazz owner Greg Miller took to his own blog to tear into Karl's hypocrisy. Or, as we delicately put it on Friday, Malone "playing the martyr" as he often does. Miller's post, and I'm not sure you're allowed to use this description in Salt Lake City on Sundays, is scathing. And so worth your time, even if it just adds to the pissing match. Which, again, is a thing I'm not sure you're allowed to enjoy on Salt Lake City on Sundays. Lame and ancient LDS jokes aside, here's a few snippets from Miller's rant: I've bitten my tongue time and again when Karl has made derogatory comments. I've tried to keep in mind the words of one of my mentors close to the situation who said "Karl Malone is giant pain in the ass, but he's our pain in the ass." The fact is Karl is still as high-maintenance as he ever was, but now he has nothing to offer to offset the grief and aggravation that comes with him. Some would argue that he could coach our big men. I would love to have Karl inspire them and teach him how to be warriors like he was. That can't happen. Karl is too unreliable and too unstable. Let me explain. Miller goes on to explain several, um, car dealership-related situations that saw Malone either half-ass or drop out entirely of appearances or hoped-for meetings. On the subject of last year's scalper-situation, Miller is exasperated: A year ago

 

February 5, 2012, 11:09 pm
Sunday’s Three Stars: Price blanks Jets; Kovalchuk powers Devils; Gomez doesn’t score
Puck Daddy (Yahoo! Sports: Blogs)

No. 1 Star: Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens The Canadiens netminder stopped all 23 shots he faced in their 3-0 whitewash of the Winnipeg Jets. Max Pacioretty, Alex Emelin and Tomas Plekanec had the goals. It was Price's 15th career shutout. No. 2 Star: Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey Devils The Devils sniper opened the scoring with his 22nd of the season and then had the primary assists on goals by Anton Volchenkov (!) and Dainius Zubrus in New Jersey's 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. No. 3 Star: Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins Hey, look who showed up in D.C.! Thomas made 35 saves in the Bruins' 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals, carrying a shutout into the third period until Marcus Johansson's goal at 12:04 broke it. Thomas made 14 saves in the final frame to preserve the win. Honorable mention: Marian Gaborik scored goal No. 26 on the year and assisted on Michael Del Zotto's game-winner in the New York Rangers' 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky and Ruslan Fedotenko had the other goals. … Zach Parise and David Clarkson scored their 20th goals for the Devils. Evgeni Malkin scored his 29th for the Penguins. …   The Bruins got goals from Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley, who also perfectly set up Lucic's goal. … Remember when Gaborik would have totally not gotten up from this, let alone score? Did you know? The Rangers wore their Winter Classic white sweaters for the first time at home. Fight of the Night: Brandon Prust vs. Tom Sestito, in which Sestito earned the last of his 25 penalty minutes for the game after his third fight: Dishonorable mention: Marc-Andre Fleury was yanked after giving up three goals on 12 shots. … Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal with a minus-4. … The Capitals' Brooks Laich "limped out of Verizon Center on crutches and sported an immobilizer on his left knee after getting crunched along the end boards in the second period by Bruins defenseman Dennis

 

February 3, 2012, 2:00 am
City must avoid ‘second-month syndrome’
Early Doors (Yahoo! Eurosport)

If only football would cast off its new-found discipline and invoke the spirit of Fred the Shred when he was plain old Sir Fred Goodwin. A day normally synonymous with catastrophic financial mismanagement and ludicrously ill-considered punts somehow passed with … Continue reading →

 

February 3, 2012, 10:54 am
Terry should never have regained armband
Paul Parker (Yahoo! Eurosport)

I think Patrice Evra has the character to deal with whatever is thrown at him when Manchester United visit Liverpool in the FA Cup on Saturday and I don't think he will let any abuse from the stands affect him. … Continue reading →

 

February 3, 2012, 7:51 am
Terry for Euro 2012? Capello must decide
Jim White (Yahoo! Eurosport)

Watching Phil Dowd ease Liverpool's passage into the Carling Cup final at Anfield on Wednesday night, a refereeing friend of mine asked this: isn't it about time we restored the indirect free kick? Under the current rules Dowd had no … Continue reading →

 

May 12, 2010, 8:53 am
The biggest game of my life
Danny Murphy (Yahoo! Eurosport)

I have played domestic and European finals for Liverpool, I have represented my country and been involved in a relegation dogfight, but tonight's Europa League final is the biggest game of my career.It is certainly the biggest in the club's history, and I am extremely proud to be leading out the lads in Hamburg. It is a responsibility that I take very seriously and I relish the role of Fulham captain. ...