"Hot Links" Archive

How is that for an eye-catching headline. The former boxing champ appeared on CBS’ Sunday morning yesterday and talked about how much his priorities have changed since he was fighting. He said now he worries most about whether his kids and his family are happy.

Tyson says:

“I can say I bled for garbage,” the former heavyweight champion said. “At one time it meant a lot - when you’re just a young kid, this is everything to you. But then you realize your priorities change. And you just want your children to be happy and do nice things and that makes you happy.

I’ve been thinking of doing some “transition” posts on this blog. I think it’s obvious that a great many athletes struggle a lot when their careers are clearly coming to a close. And without the change in priorities that Tyson mentioned, it becomes really difficult for them to move on to their “next lives.”  Just something I’ve been thinking about-which is why this story caught my eye.

You can read more on Tyson’s thoughts here. I have to say I still find his bird obsession a little disturbing.

Here’s the clip about the belts:

I love to see dads share their thoughts on fatherhood, so I wanted to link you guys in case you’re interested too.

Starting this month, Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears is writing a monthly column on Fatherhood for the magazine and web site “Chicago Parent.”

I think it’s a cute article, but it wouldn’t hurt if whomever is helping him write would let it future posts loosen up the tone a bit. Still a great idea for Devin and a opportunity to see a player in a different light.

Check the article out here:

I’m having a great time so far this off season.  It’s been nice to come home and catch up with family and friends.  What I look forward to the most on my breaks from football is spending time on my farm.

I own a horse farm in Southern Maryland where I operate an equine boarding facility and keep my own horses, Hawk, Sonny, Don Rico, Lil Red and Jo Jo.  I primarily ride for fun and a way to unwind in the off season.  But my hunger for knowledge and my competitive nature have driven me to explore other horse disciplines.  The past few years, I’ve gotten into a sport called Reining.  The more I learn about it, the more I love it.

Reining is a western riding competition for horses where riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops.  More than any other competitive horse sport, reining requires that a horse and rider be completely in tune with each other.  My first real participation in the world of reining was as horse owner.  But this off season, I decided to delve into the hands-on aspects of reining.

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Scottsdale, Arizona where my reining horse, Dunnit With Sugar lives.   Dunnit is a five year old chocolate Palomino Stallion who has been competing since the age of three.  He’s a beautiful, spirited horse who’s been successful in show rings already.  As an athlete myself, I understand that any athlete must follow an intense regimen of training in order to rise to the top of their sport…and that goes for a sport horse too.  So, I went out to Arizona to meet with Matt Mills, the trainer for my horse.  I wanted to learn more about Dunnit and develop a plan to turn the horse into a record setter.  The meeting went well and we both see something really special in this horse.  I just entered him into another competition and can’t wait to see how he does.

While I was in Arizona, I also had the opportunity to meet Michelle and Michael Miola who own Silver Spurs Equine.  Silver Spurs is home to four of the top reining stallions nationwide.  Michael and Michelle showed me a great time while at their farm and home.   I was able to meet the Miola’s trainer, Brett Stone too.  Brett’s an amazing trainer who taught me the basics of the reining discipline on a beautiful horse named China Rose.  This trip has just fueled my desire to learn more about the sport of reining and about becoming a better horseman.

At my farm in Maryland, my family and I enjoy trail riding, which is for pleasure, not sport.   Growing up in football, I can’t help but let my competitive nature show and that’s why learning the reining discipline is so exciting for me.  I’m back in Maryland now and spend time on my farm everyday.  I’m looking forward to warmer weather so I can hit the trails!  You can go to my farm’s facebook page at www.facebook.com/westbrookfarm to see more photos of my trip!

**Feel free to leave Brian a comment here or on facebook so he can see what you guys have to say.

I went over to ESPNW, ESPN’s new site for women sports fans and athletes, to check out the site so I could do a review here. The very first post on the site is one about athletes and cheating originally written for ESPN.

Anyway, the article reiterates what we already know: cheating is a lifestyle in the sportsworld (for those who want to) and some men will work entirely too hard just to get some side you-know-what. The article is about 3000 words, so I’ll share a few highlights here:

On Enablers:

There are unspoken codes in the big leagues. On football Sundays, some NFL players are known to dole out their tickets to two different mates in separate parts of the stadium — the wives’ section and the girlfriends’ section. Their paths are never supposed to cross. The lifestyle, in many locker rooms, is accepted.

Even the women who marry pro athletes often quickly learn the codes and unwritten rules of being an athlete’s wife.

Never is that more pronounced than when wives travel on the road. They know their husbands’ careers and earnings are foremost, so even if a wife sees a married teammate with another woman, she is expected to remain silent and keep that information to herself — even if she is close to that teammate’s wife.

Vikings Tackle B. Mckinnie on waiting until retirement to get married:

“A lot of coaches and players have a lot of distractions at home, and it will cause them not to play well,” says Bryant McKinnie, an unmarried left tackle for the Minnesota Vikings. “At the rookie symposium, we learned that 75 percent of NFL marriages end with divorce within two to three years after retirement. And that’s just something that’s always been on my mind.”

He has a point, but given the fact that a lot of athletes are caught up in drama involving women who aren’t their wives or even girlfriends, not being married isn’t the only key to avoiding distraction.

On repeat offenders:

Toni Blackshear doesn’t date athletes anymore. She knows she’s going to come across as a groupie. She is 41 now and doesn’t really care. She has a 16-year-old daughter with former NFL player Chuck Smith whom she dated when both were single.

She’s also had relationships with a handful of NBA and NFL players who generally had one common denominator: They couldn’t stay faithful.

Girl…

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Back in Shakesperean times, women weren’t allowed to be in performances. Men played all the parts in the dramas. Today, we call that football. Football is an all male Young and The Restless with enough drama for everyone from the casual watcher to the maniacal fanatic.

Week 8 served up plenty to talk about, and it’s always interesting how story lines are covered by different news outlets.

To start, the Washington Post’s Redskins blog rounded up all the reactions from people around the league regarding Shanahan’s what-the-fuck decision to bench McNabb in favor of Rex Grossman with 2 minutes left on the game clock.

The reactions were mostly angry. Actually, I was surprised at how angry they were. The only  mild reaction was the best one in my opinion. Michael Irving said:

“It wasn’t just taking Donovan out. It was bringing Rex Grossman in. All of our eyes have seen enough of Rex Grossman.”

Basically!

Michael Wilbon, Mike Ditka, Tony Kornheiser et al were more thorough in their statements, but Irvin’s sentiment was shared by all.

Unless you’ve been hiding inside Troy Polamalu’s luxurious locks the last 24 hours, you’ve probably heard that Randy Moss was unceremoniously waived by Vikings Coach Brad Childress. Not only was he waived, but he was the last to find out.

Jason Cole at Yahoo Sports didn’t like Childress’ decision one bit:

In announcing the team’s intentions to release Randy Moss(notes), Childress confirmed what many in the Vikings organization have believed about him for years: His management of people is questionable, his willingness to listen is nonexistent and his reaction to criticism is punitive.

This only confirms the growing tension that already existed in the Minnesota locker room before the season. Everyone in Minnesota knew back in training camp (and actually long before then), that Favre and Childress don’t get along. Favre doesn’t respect Childress, viewing him more as geeky impediment rather than a sophisticated football mind.

The difference with Favre is that Childress knows he needs Favre to have a real chance. Once Childress got Favre, there was no turning back. Make no mistake: Favre runs the show in that battle of alpha males.

When it came to Moss, Childress wasn’t going to let another player run roughshod over him. When Moss criticized the coaches Sunday after the loss to the Patriots, that was the tipping point.

I’m not fan of my-way-or-the-highway Coaches, I wrote about it when I gave my reaction to McNabb’s benching. So overall I don’t disagree with Cole. However, I don’t agree that “Childress knows he needs Favre to have a real chance.” I think it’s pretty clear the Vikings don’t have a chance with Favre. They’d probably be just as well to have Jackson QB with an experienced and prolific WR like Randy Moss to throw to.

I do agree that Favre is winning their battle, unfortunately there’s nothing to be won.

Who gets Moss? Guesses?

ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter said various league sources indicated the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and the Bears could be possibly interested in making a claim for Moss.

The receiver will enter waiver process Tuesday, and there’s a good chance he could join a new team soon after he’s officially waived, considering his representatives — according to reports — have already been contacted by the Dolphins and Seahawks. The Buffalo Bills, by virtue of owning the worst record in the league, get first dibs on Moss, who will be awarded to the team with the worst record to put in a claim.

The fact that the Patriots are on that list just shows how odd the NFL can be sometimes. In terms of the list of interested teams, Moss might make a good choice for the Raiders and possibly the Seahawks, but Moss is gonna be a pain in the ass for any team that isn’t winning. Not sure how he’d be all that useful for the Dolphins. Unless he can gain 70 lbs in a week and get some blocking skills, the Skins should stay far away. And as far as I’m concerned the Jets need to work with what they’ve got.

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