Tragedy......too young

When will the killing stop? My guess....never. Another young life was lost this past Tuesday morning....Sean Taylor, the safety for the Washington Redskins. Although many are mourning over the loss of this amazing athlete and teammate, to me the death seems a little screwy.
Dr. Edge brought to my attention how odd it is where the wound was located and how the intruder went directly to his bedroom. Also, Taylor's girlfriend and mother of their child, and the child itself were there, and they came out unharmed.
The entire football club is deeply saddened and are still trying to cope with the loss. The coach of the Redskins said, " "We're going to miss him, I'm not talking about as a player. I'm talking about as a person." Although, through this sadness detectives are apprehensive about the cause of this horrible crime and WHY it happened. Miami Dade Police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta said...

Police had no description of a possible suspect and were investigating whether the shooting was connected to a break-in at Taylor's home eight days earlier, in which police said someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed.

Not only has this affected the team, but his family as well is taking this hard not only from the loss but the questions and mystery of it all. Taylor and his father were extremely close; they are helping police in finding more information in this tragic loss.
Taylor was having the best season of his career on the field and had stayed out of trouble off the field since the birth of his daughter, Jackie, in May 2006. He was becoming a leader, and his teammates had elected him to the players' committee that meets regularly with Gibbs.
Through all of this I hope that the athletes in the professional world, and the world in general can see that life is precious and that your never promised tomorrow. Live everyday to the fullest and never regret anything.

Gentlemen?.....I think not....

WOW, I love our world today where you can't even go to a sporting event as a woman and be pressured to lift up your shirt and expose your breasts, and if not-be pelted with food and beer. The New York Jets have recently cracked down on fans who yell obscene things at women during halftime. The breakdown goes as follows-fans yell at women crossing the pedestrian path to expose their breasts and yell in approval is she agrees.
Are you kidding me?! If "fans" were egging me on to do so, I woulf flip them the bird and move on and IF I did get pelted with beer or food, there would be some serious consequences.......I hope.

The authority "has assured us that they will address this conduct at all Meadowlands events," Matt Higgins, the Jets' senior vice president-business operations, said in a statement. "We will not allow a small minority of people to ruin the experience for our fans and will be monitoring the situation."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello is disgusted by the fans behavior and demands necessary actions to be taken; although this behavior is not TOO out of the ordinary, lawmakers and officials agree that it has gone too far.
"Where people have been caught exposing themselves, they have been evicted from the stadium and often arrested," Jones told the AP. "Where other fans exhibit dangerous or illegal behaviors including harassment, they have been dealt with in similar fashion."
George Zoffinger, president of the agency that runs the stadium, said that the 370 member stadium security will be increased for remaining games-I sure hope so. Although, I do not think that these problems will be resolved until these fans learn how to act like normal functioning adults.

Won by a Hair

Have you ever had that race, the game winning basket, the last hit that won the game......barely? Well that's exactly what the Southlake Carroll Girl's Cross Country team did. Well, not at first exactly....after the race, dissapointed due to the fact they got 2nd place for the first time in 4 years to Kingwood High School. Southlake Carroll has one of the most consistent teams in high school history and when this happened the Coach Ondrasek of Southlake Carroll was bound determined there was a mistake.
"This is strictly a timing issue and a chip malfunction," UIL spokeswoman Kim Rogers said. "It was one runner out of 1,100. It happened to affect the championship." The chip timing device that is used in many mass cross country races is one of the most accurate forms of counting places and for their to be a mistake is very uncommon according to many.
The Kingwood girls were initially awarded the medals at the State Meet and the Southlake Carroll girls were awarded two days later with the gold medals....the rightful owners.

"The girls are, of course, sad and I'm sad, but the right thing was done," Burleson said. "Coach Ondrasek was fighting for his girls. I would have done
the same thing."

After the University Scholastics League jury of appeals overturned the official results, they agreed there was a scoring error. Although the Southlake Carroll Coach was worried during the process, he stated, " The actual event that took place that was questioable to Coach Onrasek was when he knew his 5th runner placed better than 58th place. After petition was filed, which the Kingwood coach knew nothing about till reading it on the internet and then confirming by calling the coach herself.

One lesson that was learned that was the most important: always double check. Also, just because something is timed from a "computer chip" does not mean that it is always accurate, there will always be room for a mistake. High School cross country all over the United States is known for big upsets and letdowns, but one thing for sure, girls OR boys....it's who has the most glory.

Goin for Broke?

How can you be a millionaire one day and a regular old joe the next? Ask Marion Jones perhaps; due to fighting court battle fees, her homes foreclosing and losing all of her endorsements. My question is, earning an average total of $80,000 a race and millions from endorsements-why isn't there any saved? In a way, after all of the hoopla I do feel bad for her-I mean she loses all that she has known-her career, the people she trusted, her coaches, her endorsements, etc....

"Jones’ financial woes were revealed in a 168-page deposition in a
breach-of-contract suit she filed in Dallas against veteran track coach Dan
Pfaff. Pfaff countersued and won a judgment against Jones for about $240,000
in unpaid training fees and legal expenses."

What does one do after all of this? Do they get a regular job and go on with their life like nothing happened? Well, that's up to her I'm guessing, but what would you do? Also everyone that is involved seems to be getting stirred up in this controversy; her agent for example. He plead guilty to bank fraud on Friday, It would be the first time an agent has “been decertified through this process,” Masback said, CEO of the USATF.

"In a case that also involved Jones’ coach and the father of her child, Wells entered a guilty plea in federal court in March. Prosecutors said he played a minor role in a scam that used track and field figures to cash and launder millions of dollars in forged or counterfeit checks over several years."

Knowing the fate of Jones' agent has not been decided yet, but from the looks of things, he might as well be banished from the field. Anyone associated with the Jones's camp from now on will most likely be looked down upon and associated with her fall.

Like I have stated before, as sad as it is-Marion Jones is done. Her career, her character, and most of all the little girls who looked up to her no longer can because she is a fraud. She knew what she was getting herself into, she is a big girl who can make adult decisions and now she has to live with the consequences.

26.2 miles, Can you RUN that?

The prestigious New York City Marathon took place this past week November 4th and let's just say it was a weekend of news. Paula Radcliffe, who recently just gave birth this past January, ran her first marathon in two years, and won! "I've really, really missed it," Radcliffe said. "It's way more fun than cross training in a pool or cross training in a gym, and that's what it's all about. That's what keeps me motivated to work hard and to cross train hard is just getting out there and enjoying the atmosphere." This is an amazing accomplishment for someone who hasn't raced this distance in almost two years, but also for someone who just recently beared a child.
Martin Lel of Kenya won the men's title, which finished just moments later, making his kick in the final mile to edge out Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco in 2:09:04 in the first race without a pacesetter. Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa finished third. Kenyans are knowing for being extremely succesful in the sport distance running.
Although, in more tragic news, marathon runner Ryan Shay who is a five-time national champion distance runner, died while participating in the Olympic Trials. Shay was diagnosed with an enlarged heart years ago and instructed to get a pacemaker, but doctors cleared him to run. "We all are devastated over Ryan's death. It is a tremendous loss for the sport and the long-distance running community," said USA's Track and Field CEO.
This is not the first case of distance runners dying from such causes; some say that marathon running may be too much for the heart to handle. Who would've thought that something doctors say to do these days to help the health of your heart, can almost kill you?! Is too much of a good thing too much?