Saints Put Ingram On Injured Reserve

New Orleans Saints rookie running back Mark Ingram had a so-so rookie season. Not spectacular, but not all that bad either. Considering the interchangable parts the Saints have on offense I'd say he did pretty good.

Too bad for Ingram, since he won't be seeing any action in his first go round in the NFL playoffs, as he's been put on injured reserve by the team.

Ingram missed the last four regular season games because of a sprained toe and the injury got worse during practice last week. Ingram's absence shouldn't be missed all that much since Chris Ivory is just coming back.

Ingram carried 122 times for 474 yards and five touchdowns this season. His longest run was a 35-yard touchdown against the New York Giants on Nov. 28.


     

Lions' Schwartz Not Pleased With The Officiating

After a disappointing 45-41 loss to the Green Bay Packers, a loss that extended their winless Lambeau streak to 21 years,  Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz didn't have much to say at the postgame news conference. When the subject turned to officiating, he had a mouthful.

Schwartz challenged two fumbles in the second quarter, winning one and losing the other. The personal eye test says he should've won both challenges. The second challenge came whebn Stefan Logan apparently fumbled a kickoff after a Green Bay score. It looked like he was stripped of the ball after he was down but the call was upheld. That left Schwartz with no challenges when Titus Young was ruled out of bounds on an apparent touchdown that made the difference in the four point loss.

"It's unfortunate the way the league plays those because like on a ball that's loose, they're going to keep their whistles in their pocket because they don't want to have a play that was a fumble that they can't get it reviewed because somebody ruled him down by contact," Schwartz said. "But they don't have a camera angle to overturn. I mean, the guy's down. And then we get the touchdown play, which every play this year they always rule in favor of touchdown knowing that it's going to get reviewed, I don't have any challenges left."

"The whole thing with replay's to get it right," Schwartz said. "Well, we didn't get it right."

Not to excuse the Lions' poor performance on defense yesterday, but they were victimized by a few bad calls that could've turned the result in their favor.

Sacramento Kings Players Aren't In Lockstep With The Coaches

You thought the Washington Wizards were a mess. The Sacramento Kings talk like they're trying to get head coach Paul Westphal a bus ticket out of town.

It doesn't look good when two of your supposed future cornerstones are questioning what the coach is drawing up on the sidelines. I know Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins aren't the model citizens of the NBA, but if they have doubt in the coach and respected veteran Chuck Hayes feeling like he made a bad move by signing with the Kings, it may be time to cut bait with Westphal.

"Teams go on 10-0 runs, and we cave in," forward Chuck Hayes said.

"It's like we shoot because we haven't put up a shot after three times up and down the court," Hayes said.


Hayes is probably wondering what he signed up for.

"What offense?" Cousins replied when asked about the Kings' most obvious weakness. "I really don't want to say anything."

"It seems like everybody is out there for themselves. He (Westphal) says to push the ball, but it's like when the first pass gets through, we're done," Evans said.



From what I saw is that there is too much dribbling and not enough cohesion on a team that some thought would show some improvement this season.

"Everybody keeps blaming the coach, about the plays, the plays not (being) good, but, hey, it be like that sometime,"  Evans said. "You've just got to play."

"We just look lost, "Evans said. "We're just playing off our natural talent to get our points. It's terrible right now. We've just got to figure something out."

"I don't know what that was," center DeMarcus Cousins said. "Running the offense coach tells us to run. Just doing what coach say. Got to do what your coach say."

Let me translate those thoughts. We're only doing what coach tells us but the plan he has isn't working and we need to try something different.

I know players play and coaches coach, but for Westphal's sake the Kings better get it together before he finds himself out of a job.    

Michael Finley Still Has More To Give

The last time anyone saw Micahel Finley in the NBA he was a spare part in the Boston Celtics' run to the NBA finals in 2010. His ankle hadn't fully healed from injury so he wasn't used in the playoffs. Everyone figured that Finley was done, but he never officially retired. Well, Finley feels that he still has more left in the tank and wants another shot in the NBA. 

“When I went to Boston, my ankle wasn’t 100 percent,” Finley said. “So afer that season, I got my ankle worked on. I’ve been working hard to get that at 100 percent. I feel a lot better than during my time in Boston.



“With the lockout and the shortened season, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more injuries than usual since there’s been not much of a training camp. I’m just working hard to be in shape and prepared in case an NBA team calls me.”

“I got offers from the D-League before (Ricky Davis or Greg Ostertag) ever thought about playing in the D-League,” Finley said. “My thing is, I want to play basketball, I would enjoy playing in the D-League, but at the same time I don’t want to take an opportunity away from a young guy to get exposure. I’m still thinking about it. If the right situation comes, where I could be something like a player-coach, maybe I would take that opportunity.”


So he's still open to playing overseas or in the D-league. At least he doesn't feel that he should be given a shot because of past accomplishments. He wants to try to earn a spot. If he shows that he could still be a contributor he might get the opportunity. I think it could work for him on a team chasing a title. There a lesser players in the league right now that are sitting the bench stealing money.








 

Snooki To Get Into The Boxing Business

Jersey Shore star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi has turned out to be a pretty savvy businesswoman. I'm not calling her Bill Gates smart, it's just that she's turned her reality TV role into business ventures outside of television.

Her next venture is Team Snooki. That is her boxing team that will feature the Hyland brothers. Three Irish brothers that are champions in their weight classes. I don't know which division or belts they hold, but that's what I'm led to believe.  

Patrick “Pajo”, Eddie and Paul Hyland will headline a night of boxing at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City on Saturday, January 28, 2012.

“We are incredibly excited to introduce The Hyland Brothers and Team Snooki Boxing. We’ve seen what these boys can do, and expect nothing less than continued success and ‘living up to the hype’ for each of them here in the States,” Vice President of Final Round Promotions Mike Pascale said in a press release.

I guess the Snooki brand has reached the world of sports.









     

Saunders Gets Techinical For Sending In An Ineligible Player

The NBA season isn't all that old. So there might be some mistakes early in the season that you can correct so they don't bite you in the ass later in the season. With a prolonged lockout the play and mistakes on the court may look ugly at times. You just don't expect it to spill over to the coaches.

But I'm talking about the Washington Wizards and they've already had some early season dust-ups within the locker room. And the coach Flip Saunders isn't much better.

You should already know my feelings about Saunders, and this current mistake confirms it.

He sent Roger Mason into the game in the first quarter. He scored a basket and appeared to give the Wiz some quality minutes. Problem is, Mason wasn't on the active roster. The Wizards were assessed a technical foul and the basket was credited to Rashard Lewis. Nice to see him earning his keep.

Seems a little dumb to have someone on the bench, dressed to play, who is ineligible. You know, in case something like this happens. It is 100% inexcusable. Flip Saunders is one of the worst coaches in the game so this does not surprise me. He should be in an ice shanty fishing on some lake in Minnesota. He can't coach his way out of a paper bag.

Welker Fined $10,000 For Wearing An Unautorized Hat

On the heels of Marshawn Lynch being fined $10,000 over his Skittles inspired cleats he wore last week, New England Patriots receiver Wes Welker is being fined $10,000 for wearing an unauthorized hat. A hat he's been wearing after games and during interviews all season.

Wes Welker was fined $10,000 by the league for wearing an "unauthorized hat during his postgame interview," according to a league spokesman.

The hat in question is a Bonk Breaker hat. Bonk Breaker is a gluten free, dairy free energy bar and Welker is an investor in the company. 

Welker isn't too happy about having to fork over $10,000 for some nonsense.

“Got fined by the NFL for wearing a @Bonk_Breaker hat in an interview after the game,” Welker wrote. “Thanks for warning me the other 16 weeks I wore the hat.”

At least give the man a warning if you have a problem with it. It's like getting wrote up at work for something you did 9 months ago. It's good that the NFL has their priorities together reagrding whta you can get fined for.