Ventura and Ryan on speaking terms

It's been nearly twenty years since the infamous Nolan Ryan/Robin Ventura brawl, which Ryan got the best of Ventura and has been a running joke since then. A then 46 year old Ryan took the young Ventura to the woodshed. Numerous videos have been shown and Ventura has never been able to live it down.

The two have never crossed paths until today. Ryan is the CEO of the Texas Rangers and Ventura is the manager for the Chicago White Sox. It was the opener for both teams in Arlington today and they finally had a chance to speak. 

Ryan went over to the White Sox clubhouse and wished Ventura good luck. There was never any ill will between the two over the fight.

"He was a very good player and very successful player," Ryan said Thursday. "It was just a reaction or response to the moment. He and I had no personal interaction prior to that night. There was nothing that precipitated it from something previously."


The video of the fight is a staple at Rangers games but Ventura doesn't seem to mind, although it sounds a little bitter.

"It's not like I haven't seen it," Ventura said Thursday. "It's up to them. They can play it if they want. It's not going to change any decision I make or anything else I do."


I'm sure Ventura doesn't like having to see himself get pummeled by what was deemed an old man.

Dwight Howard isn't a winning player

There aren't many NBA players that are considered winning players. There are a select few in the league and you can probably count them on one hand. Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Durant, and no matter what anyone says LeBron James.

Dwight Howard is not one of them. It's not because he hasn't won any championships. It's because of the act he's pulling with the Orlando Magic franchise. He's literally trying to hold the Magic hostage and trying to get coach Stan Van Gundy fired. That all depends on who you ask. Van Gundy and reporters say that Howard has asked for Van Gundy to be canned. Howard denies this rumor.


"I know he has," Van Gundy told reporters after the team's morning shootaround ahead of Thursday night's matchup with the New York Knicks. "That's just the way it is. Again, I've been dealing with that all year. It's not anything real bothersome. You go out and do your job."


It's just like Howard to deny the statement. Just like he wanted to be traded, but later was all in and staying with the Magic. The problem with his trade request is that he wanted to pick his destination. I've always maintained that the franchise should be holding all the cards especially when it comes to trades. No player should be able to hold a team hostage like what Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Dwight Howard have done recently. Players would hate me if I were a general manager because I'm trading you for the best deal I get, not where you want to go.

About the Van Gundy rumors which Howard denies, it's no secret that Howard would rather have Van Gundy out of town rather than him staying in Orlando. It's a fact of life in professional sports. When the star player doesn't like the coach, usually the coach leaves town and it's not voluntary. Howard has been pretty critical of Van Gundy's coaching style the past few years and now he's playing a game of him or me.

"Whatever happens at the end of the season is not under my control," Howard told reporters. "I am a player for the Magic. I am not the GM. I am not (owner) Rich DeVos I am not (Magic CEO) Alex Martins. So that's not my job. So you guys should stop ... every other week ... trying to find something, because there's nothing.


"I haven't said anything to anybody about anything. Our main concern is winning. So all the other stuff should stop."

In a way Dwight is still immature. He says all the right things and talks about winning, but he isn't about winning. Which means he's not a winning player. If you want photo ops, commercials, and want to sell jerseys then Dwight is your guy. But if you want to win championships, you should go elsewhere.

I'm not saying he's a bad player, but he's what a friend of mine calls a "square button player". Anyone with a playstation should be familiar with that analogy. He just doesn't have the on court demeanor of a winner.

Police pull their guns on Torii Hunter

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Torii Hunter had a pretty harrowing experience while at home. Police responded to an alarm at Hunter's home and the end result was Hunter having to ID himself while the cops had their guns drawn.

Hunter responded to the incident via Twitter and was initially excited by the whole incident, but to his credit didn't make a big deal out of it.



“My alarm went off in my house while I was in it. 20mins later I saw cops checking out the scene. Went outside and they drew there guns on me,” his first Tweet said. “They didn’t believe I lived here in Newport coast so they walked me upstairs at gunpoint to get my ID. When I showed him my ID, he said I’m an angel fan hope u guys have a great season. ARE U KIDDING ME!!!!!! Lol”


Hunter later praised the cops for doing their job.


“The police departmen did a great job of protecting my home. Thanks guys!” he wrote.


I do give Hunter credit for not being too bent out of shape about it.

JaVale McGee was shocked by the trade to the Nuggets

The way Denver Nuggets big man, JaVale McGee tells it, it almost sounds like he would've rather stayed in Washington than being traded to Denver. McGee was totally unaware that he was on the trading block and was caught off guard by the deal. Players are usually informed by friends, agents, family, or entourage about whether they're being traded or not.

McGee says he was shocked and was caught napping literally when he was hit with news of the trade.

“I was sleeping, taking my pregame nap,” McGee told HOOPSWORLD. “When I woke up, I found out that I had been traded. I had a bunch of text messages from different people and I talked to the team. I was shocked. I just asked, ‘When do I leave?’”


Even though there was some shock and awe from the news of the trade, McGee is happy that he was traded to a playoff contender and hopes that he can be with the Nuggets for awhile.

“This is a great organization,” McGee said. “There are a lot of hard working people here and this organization gives their players everything they need.” 


The Nuggets better hope that McGee has less spaceman moments and taps into his wealth of physical talent. If he can do that the Nuggets will be an exciting team to watch. If not, McGee can at least collect some big checks since he does have talent, athleticism, and stands 6-11.  

MSU's Derrick Nix suspended indefinitely following arrest

After Michigan State's season ending loss to Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament, center Derrick Nix talked as if he was ready to take on a leadership role for the team next season. It would take some big shoes to fill Draymond Green's leadership void and Nix was willing to take the role. Nix had a lot of work to be done to be regarded as a leader and it's going to even harder for him after the recent turn of events.

Nix was arrested for possession of marijuana and operating a vehicle with the presence of drugs. He's now suspended indefinitely and even though he does have a small window to regain his spot on the team he has no margin for error.

East Lansing police pulled Nix over at Lake Lansing and Abbot roads. He was driving a red, 2011 Dodge. Nix must reappear at 54B court in 4-10 days for arraignment . Both charges are misdemeanors.

“Based on the information we have received, Derrick Nix has been suspended indefinitely from our basketball team, and his future with our program is uncertain,” Tom Izzo said in a released statement. “He made an irresponsible decision that has put his future with our program in serious jeopardy.”


Another question that could draw a red flag is where did he get the car from? I'm not saying there's any dirty dealings but that question always comes up.

Nix needs to get his house in order because the Spartans were counting on him to have a bigger role on the team.

LaGarrette Blount wouldn't be happy if Buccaneers chose Trent Richardson

The NFL Draft is coming up and there are plenty of mock drafts to go around. Mock drafts usually aren't the end all be all but sometimes they do come close to nailing who goes where.

A lot of mock drafts have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selecting Alabama running back Trent Richardson. I think that would be a solid pick as he and LaGarrette Blount would form a pretty good backfield combo. One problem, Blount wants no part of a time share backfield. And he says that he wouldn't be too happy with the pick which might relegate him to being a goal line back.

"I would not like that pick," Blount said at Nike's unveiling of the new NFL uniforms in New York City. "I would definitely not be happy with that pick."


Blount believes he's a feature back and expressed that last season. When it was suggested that he take a Brandon Jacobs type role he scoffed at that notion.

"I don't want that role," Blount said. 


Blount should realize that he could extend his career with the addition of Richardson, he should also know that when a team drafts a player with the number five pick he's not going to sit on the bench. Why would he view Richardson as competition when it's clear that the Bucs could use another running back on the team that could help you win games. Maybe it's because Blount knows that he probably would lose the starting job if Richardson is drafted.

I have a personal bias against Blount as he stunk it up on my fantasy team last year. Step your game up.

Singleton has no regrets about spending $10,000 in lottery

The multistate Mega Millions lottery reached staggering proportions with a jackpot of $640 million. There were three winners in Maryland, Illinois, and Kansas, but Washington Wizards rookie Chris Singleton wasn't among the three.

No dice after dropping $10,000 on lottery tickets. I guess professional athletes have lottery dreams too. Even after spending an absurd amount of money for the tickets, Singleton has no regrets about the money he spent.


Washington Wizards rookie Chris Singleton says it was worth it to buy $10,000 worth of tickets for last week's Mega Millions lottery, adding it was "either that or blowing it in the clubs."


Singleton didn't win a share of the record-breaking top prize, but he said Monday that he did win some money. He's not sure how much because he hasn't gone through all of his tickets yet.


My only beef is that athletes and entertainers shouldn't play to let someone needy have a better shot at winning the top prize.