Barry Sanders seeks a divorce

It looks like Deion won't be the only Sanders getting a divorce. According to a report in the Detroit News, former Detroit Lions great Barry Sanders is seeking a divorce from his wife of 11 years Lauren Campbell-Sanders. Campbell-Sanders is a news anchor at WDIV in Detroit.

In his divorce filing in Oakland Circuit Court, Sanders, 43, of West Bloomfield Township, said there has been a breakdown in his 11-year marriage with native Detroiter Lauren Campbell-Sanders, who works at WDIV (Ch. 4).

In the lawsuit assigned to Oakland Circuit Judge Lisa Gorcyca, Sanders seeks joint custody of their three sons, aged 4, 8 and 10, until they are 18 years of age, but is asking the court to make his wife responsible for all of their health insurance and health care expenses.

Sanders said in the lawsuit he intends to provide child support in accordance with state guidelines.

As much as I hate to see the disintegration of a marriage, but hopefully this doesn't get ugly and played out in public like the Deion/Pilar Sanders divorce. Hopefully all ends well and they can be civil to each other.

Aldridge had thoughts of leaving Portland

Since the days of Bill Walton it seems like the Portland Trail Blazers have been cursed by injuries to their stars. Either injuries or bad apples in the locker room. The latest blow to the Blazers has been Greg Oden's latest setback trying to recover from knee surgery, which will probably end his Blazers career and put his NBA career in serious jeopardy.

There was once a time when the Blazers were thought to be an up and coming force in the NBA. I was one of those believers. They had Brandon Roy, the team leader and All-Star. LaMarcus Aldridge, a big man with tons of potential. Then there was Greg Oden, who was thought to be the next dominant big man in the NBA. With the three young guns on board. Aldridge felt out of place and low in the pecking order behind Roy, Oden, and Andre Miller. So Aldridge was at a point where he thought leaving Portland would be better for his career.

"I was the last of the Big Three," Aldridge said, referring to his importance. "I even remember Coach telling me that the team is really good, but you are the glue," referring to a term for a role player who does the little things to keep the team together. "And I was like, 'Aw man, I'm the glue?' I mean, that's not a bad role, but I saw myself being so much more." 


Aldridge is now the cornerstone of the franchise since the Blazers lost Roy to retirement (bad knees) and Oden to chronic knee problems. But Aldridge had doubts about being in Portland and him being an All-Star if Roy and Oden remained healthy.


"No. No. No. I wouldn't," Aldridge said. "I mean, I would go as far to ask would I even still be here?"

"I probably would have ended up signing somewhere else," Aldridge said. "Think about it. I was the last option out of those guys, so they both would have gotten max deals, and they wouldn't have given me my deal (five years, $62.5 million). They only signed me because I was the only low post threat left on the team. If they had Greg, they don't give me the number I wanted, and I'm somewhere else. I think about it all the time. I wouldn't even be here had Greg not gotten hurt." 


Now Aldridge holds no grudges and wished the two had stayed healthy to see how things would've turned out. But there is no doubt that he might've been forced to leave to advance his career to the level it is now. Aldridge is happy in Portland and not because he's option number one. He just wanted a bigger role on the team, but he happened to get it because the other two stars were felled by injury. I'm sure Aldridge would like to rewrite the script but if the Blazers could get a few pieces to surround Aldridge they could be thought of as a contender once again.  
 

Is Saunders trying to line himself up for the Golden Gophers job?

To some in the Twin Cities, Minnesota Golden Gophers head basketball coach, Tubby Smith, might be a disappointment. When Smith arrived in Minneapolis, there were some hoping that he could recreate the magic that Clem Haskins had during his run at Minnesota. Instead there has been mediocrity that could land Smith on the proverbial hot seat with two years left on his contract.

Flip Saunders is an ex-NBA coach and Minnesota alum. Since he is unemployed he has a lot of idle time on his hands. So in an interview with KFAN's Dan Barreiro, it almost sounds like Saunders is doing a bit of politicking on his behalf for the Minnesota job. 

When answering questions about why college coaches have failed in the NBA, Saunders unintentionally sounded as if he wanted the job.

"One thing I’ve always said a lot is college coaches don’t always translate to the NBA. But yet guys have been college, gone to the NBA, that maybe fail in the NBA even their experience when they go back to college, they always say they’re much better coaches in college after they’ve been to the NBA."

After Barreiro jumped on the reply, Saunders back-pedaled, saying " No, no, no, no don’t throw that out there. I’m just saying if you look at guys like Larry Brown, [who] went from a pro coach and then goes back to UCLA and Kansas, has a lot of success; you look at [John] Calipari, as far as [Rick] Pitino. And if you talk to a lot of those guys, you’ve got to realize you spend 24/7 on basketball; it’s the purest you can be from a standpoint of basketball that there is as far as just working on basketball and just working on different plays, different schemes. So when you’re doing that, and you’re playing so many games, 110 games a year when you’re in the playoffs, those are the things that are going to make you better as a coach because the more situations you see the better you’re going to get."

I get what he was saying, but Saunders could've used a better choice of words. As much as I dislike Saunders as a coach, I don't think he was trying to get a jump on the Minnesota gig. I think he might be content in his unemployment right now and would like a few years away from the game.  

Abreu: Play me or trade me

At age 37, Bobby Abreu isn't exactly washed up as a Major League Baseball player. If he's hid in a good lineup he could still produce. Not at a high level, but he can still produce. Put him with the Detroit Tigers at DH or in leftfield and I think he could go for 15-20 homers and a .275 average. I just don't think he's an everyday player at this point in his career.

Don't tell that to Abreu. He still wants to be an everyday player and if the Los Angeles Angels don't give him that chance he wants to be traded.


"I'm an every-day player. I can still be in the lineup for a Major League team," said Abreu from his native Venezuela. "I will not be on the bench knowing that I can play.


"If the Angels don't have a position for me, then the best thing is to trade me. It would be the correct (thing) to do. I won't be able to do nothing sitting in the bench."


"I want to play, and I believe I can help this team. But if there is no spot for me, then I would prefer to play somewhere different," said the left-handed hitter and two time All-Star.


At this point Abreu is no more than a platoon player. He can still be an effective player, just not an everyday player. I'm not saying he is ready for spot duty, but if he wants to play everyday it might be as a DH.

Iverson gets a contract offer...from indoor soccer league

It looks like another obscure indoor sports league is making big news again. After Terrell Owens signed with the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League, the Rochester Lancers of the Major Indoor Soccer League announced they have offered a contract to former NBA star Allen Iverson. 

Under the contract offered, Iverson would make $20,000 per game, with a $5,000 bonus for each goal scored. There would also be win bonuses and merchandise bonuses. There's only one problem. There are only two games left in the season.


"Allen Iverson is one of the premier athletes of our time," said Rich Randall, Lancers vice president.  "With his athleticism and competitive hunger, I think he can be a great fit with our team and fans as we make an important playoff push, while also driving interest to an exciting, growing sport."  


I find it nothing more than a ploy to get your team and league in the news. I guess any publicity is good publicity in this case. Don't look for Iverson to be kicking it on a soccer field near you. Even though Iverson has been reported to be in dire straits financially, the money wouldn't be enough to satisfy Iverson and his lavish lifestyle. But if he wants to stay over here in the U.S. this would be his chance.  

Chisora slaps Klitschko at weigh in

Heavyweight contender Dereck Chisora is talking a big game before his title fight against champion Vitali Klitschko. First he went Babe Ruth and called his shot by saying he would knock Klitschko out in the eighth round. Now he came up with the bad idea of slapping Klitschko at the weigh in.

That ranks right up there with jumping in shark infested waters. Be ambitious but be smart. Not many think Chisora has a chance but he thinks he has as good a shot as anyone to beat the 40 year old champion.

"Everybody's tired of you and your brother," Chisora said. "There's no excitement in the ring. It's time for the new king. People want a new relief in boxing. Him and his brother have killed the sport I love."


"I'm looking forward to this fight," Chisora said. "And I trained hard. And the way we're going to be fighting will be a hundred miles an hour from the first round to round eight, which I promise you fans that he's going down on."


"Right now, I can smell fear in this corner right now. If you can't smell it, I can. You know, right here I smell a bit of fear, to the opposite side, because they know they're about to lose something massive," Chisora said as he pointed at Klitschko earlier this week.


"I'm physically, emotionally, mentally looking forward to this fight because it's going to be one heck of a fight, I tell you that now."


After the pimp slap by Chisora, Vitali promised that he'll be the one giving the beating on Saturday.


"I am going to hit back on Saturday," the Ukrainian champion said. "He will get his beating."


"Chisora can hit, and I do, too. So I don't see it going 12 rounds," Klitschko said.


 "I'm really looking forward to teaching this young gentleman a lesson," the champion said. "He is from Great Britain, but he's lacking appropriate manners."


It sounds like Chisora is looking to make this a brawl. I don't know if he wants to do that with Klitschko, who is a skilled ring technician. Chisora might get his shots in but I see another Klitschko stoppage in the seventh round.

Maybe after this Chisora will remember he's Dereck Chisora and not Muhammad Ali.

Cliff Avril wants to get paid

The Detroit Lions face some key offseason decisions. The decisions they make will shape the future and deteermine whether they will move forward or fall back next season. One of the bigger decisions will be what to do about Cliff Avril.

Avril, a defensive end, had a career year with 11 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 3 recoveries, an interception and 2 touchdowns. Avril benefited from playing alongside Ndamukong Suh, but he has always produced. Now that he's a free agent, Avril is looking to cash in. And who can blame him. In the NFL you get the money while you're hot.

He discussed his situation in an interview with Rich Gannon and Adam Schein on  SiriusXM NFL Radio today. He wants to remain a Lion, but he won't come cheap.

"I just want to be paid as one of the guys that's helping the team grow," Avril said. "I want to be there. We have a young D-line. But I know it's a business, and you only hit free agency once or twice in your career, so you definitely have to take advantage of it."


"There's no such thing as a hometown discount in the NFL," he said. "Once you can't play anymore, they're going to let you go, so you definitely have to strike gold when you can.


"That said, if they and another team present the same thing, I'd definitely stay with the Lions." 

"I kind of think the Lions will try to do the right thing, I guess," he said. "A lot of teams don't think the Lions will let me hit free agency. But a few teams have called."

He also said he would favor a team that focuses on the defensive line rather than linebackers or safeties. That would work in Detroit's favor.

This is what scares me as a Lions fan. Eventually players will want to get paid and there won't be enough to go around. That could stunt the growth of this team.