New York Knicks point guard Baron Davis has a history of back injuries including a herniated disc in his lower back that has forced him to spend time on the pine until February.

While reporting on Davis’ condition, the Charlotte Observer gave this hilarious typo take on Davis’ condition:

Charlotte Observer sports editor Mike Persinger explained the gaffe on the publisher’s website writing that during a final read by an editor:

“…another experienced employee who recognized that “herniated disc” doesn’t conform to the newspaper’s style for that type of injury, and that it should be “herniated disk.” That editor tried to type in the correction, but ended up with an unfortunate typo.”

Unfortunate for the paper yes, but fortunate for those of us looking to lighten our day with a good laugh.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2012 Sports Climax, LLC

With the NBA back to ballin’ after a long lockout that few seemed to care about, who be ballin’ and setting the tone for this shortened season; and who ain’t?

The Oklahoma City Thunder (4-0) got off to the hottest start after All-Star Kevin Durant hit a three-point buzzer-beater in Game 4 of the season to bring Oklahomans to their feet and send the Dallas Mavericks (0-3) back to the state of Texas with their tails between their legs.

Durant, who finished the game with 30 points tying his LOW of the season, has averaged 31.3 PPG and trailed only LeBron James. You know, King James, the guy who left cold, no-nightlife Cleveland to strut the nude beaches in South Florida and become the most hated man in sports (until Tim Tebow and his Bible pumping mob recently took over that honor).

The Heat who added stout defender Shane Battier have started with a 3-0 run along with their East rival Atlanta Hawks (2-0) who won games against sparring partners New Jersey and Washington.  While it’s clear what the Big Three in South Beach bring to the court, is Joe Johnson, the most overpaid guy in sports at $120 million, and his Hawks for real or not? We’ll find out when they take the court during week two of the season against the Heat and Bulls twice each.

Rounding out the teams with the hottest starts is the Portland Trailblazers (3-0) who added NBA Sixth Man Award winner Jamal Crawford (13.3 PPG)…you’re gonna regret not inking him Hawks.

So while the Thunder, Heat, Blazers and Hawks be ballin’ early into the season, who ain’t?

The biggest surprise is the Mavs who so far are nursing an extended NBA Championship hangover. But how long is that gonna last is the question being bantered in area taverns around Jerry’s town. With an owner like Mark Cuban who loved winning so much he couldn’t take a piss without his championship trophy, expect this team to get back on track well in time to make another run.

Joining the Mavs in the cellar are the 0-3 Boston Celtics who have seen little luck of the Irish. Backcourt tandem Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen are holding their own averaging 46.8 PPG between them but without Paul Pierce in the line-up, they’re yet to pull off a win, dropping the first three games to the Knicks, Heat and New Orleans.

The Lakers who started out flat with losses to the Bulls and Sacramento Kings got back on track with back-to-back wins over the Jazz and Knicks with Kobe Bryant (29.3 PPG) nailing team game-high scores for his team in all four games.  Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace chipped in a combined 41.4 PPG to help even the team’s record to 2-2 and ease any ulcers courtside regular Jack Nicolson may be experiencing nowadays.

With the first week of this shortened season nearly in the books, keep an eye on CP3 and DH12 who are sure to make headlines that deal with on the court performances and not trade talks. And as always expect some of these teams to shift in the standings. Until then, that’s who be ballin’ and who ain’t.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The more Tim Tebow is hyped up, the more my system attempts to shut down and stop breathing like some bitter ex-girlfriend just hauled off and kicked me square in the nut sac….with the pair of pointy-toed boots I bought her last Halloween.

Seriously, enough already, please! And I don’t say “please” often.

While Bible pushers around the country give praise and worship No. 15 on the Denver Broncos, the rest of the sports world has about had enough of this shit.

Tebow’s stats speak loudly for one side of the debate. Yeah his defense was stout enough to keep the floundering Tebow offense in games long enough for Tebow to do a little Tebowing and ask the invisible spirits floating around in Denver for a comeback.

Some may believe those spirits turned their back on starving children in Africa and military personnel who are struggling trying to adapt to their new artificial limbs, compliments of a war that if there were a God, he wasn’t able to stop.

Enough of the rhetoric; let’s hit the meat and potatoes, the gut of this whole debate that was created by networks like ESPN for ratings sake.

The NFL is clearly a passing league and to be a respected, top quarterback you’re required to have a strong arm and throw “spirals” on target; two attributes Tim lacks to say the least.

Tebow’s stats don’t lie.

He’s dead last in the entire league in passing percentage with a 48.0 rating to start. Take a look at the rest of the embarrassing marks on his “resume” here.

While fans in Denver and Gainesville Florida want to Christian Tebow as the new savior, players and writers around the league aren’t buying into the hype.

After getting “Tebowed” by the Broncos, Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher took a shot at the fabricated star saying, “He’s a good running back, man. He runs the ball well.” That he does but to be named a second alternate for the 2012 Pro Bowl is a mockery of the voting system and the league.

There is one guarantee though; a man lacking ability as Tim does, will not survive as a starter in the NFL.

So all the Tebow-loving, ass-kissing, jump-on-the-bandwagon fair weathered fans who are buying No. 15 jerseys and plastering the name “Jesus” on the back, enjoy this short-lived revival while you can.

The rest of us will sit back and later say, “See, I told you so.”

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has dodged a lot of jabs and uppercuts from opponents during his perfect 42-0 in the ring but he couldn’t duck a Las Vegas judge who presided over his domestic violence case.

The boxer was slapped with a 90-day jail term to be served in the Clark County Jail after pleading guilty to a reduced battery domestic violence charge and no contest to two harassment charges. This is the case that evolved from Mayweather, Jr. allegedly going a round with his former girlfriend Josie Harris while two of their children were present back in September 2010.

Mayweather’s lawyer responded to the jail term by saying she may appeal the “unusual sentence”.

Floyd is expected to be in prison garb beginning Jan. 6 and the timing of this allows the fighter to not answer requests for the much anticipated title fight with Manny Pacquiao, a champion fighter from the Philippines.

While the boxing world awaited that match-up, the two fighters have sparred back and forth in the form of legal battles with defamation lawsuits in process in Las Vegas federal court that were started after Mayweather accused Pacquiao of engaging in PEDs.

Mayweather’s next bout was supposed to take place on May 5, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena but that ain’t happening with this prison term now taking precedence.

The judge also ordered Mayweather to pay a $2,500 fine which is pocket change for a zillionaire like him and complete 100 hours of community service as well as attend a domestic violence counseling program.

Have to wonder why the fighter would plea deal but when you realize he could have faced trial on felony and misdemeanor charges that carry a max of 34 years in state prison, it makes better sense. Especially the course many of these judges have been taken. Look at the several day prison term given to ESPN analyst Jalen Rose for driving with a few drinks under his belt.

With this one fight out of the way, Mayweather has more legal incidents that he needs to clean up including a misdemeanor harassment charge involving an HOA security guard.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Joe Kapp, 73-year-old former CFL and Minnesota Vikings quarterback, and Angelo Mosca, former Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ defensive tackle met on the stage of the CFL Alumni Legends get-together in Vancouver this weekend; the results were ugly when Kapp tried to offer a flower to end a decades long grudge between the two.

Mosca, who walks with the help of a cane nowadays, told Kapp to “Stick it up [his] ass”. Kapp responded by trying to stick it up Mosca’s nose (making reference that Mosca’s face was his ass. That move didn’t go over very well, Mosca took a vicious swing at Kapp’s head with the cane, Kapp responded by dropping his rival with a few punches to the head. Here’s the video here:

Attendees moved in to break up the fight and between drools, Kapp muttered some comments about “sportsmanship”.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. 

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Rex Ryan continues putting his foot in his mouth–when he’s not putting someone else’s in there–and this time it’s costing him $75,000.

The controversial New York Jets head coach was trotting off the field at halftime during the Jets 37-16 loss to New England when a fan yelled, “Hey, Rex, Belichick is better than you.”

While most NFL coaches would ignore the innocent heckle, Ryan fired back telling the fan to shut up only in a more colorful way with dialogue that you can’t put on television.

Ryan told the media he won’t appeal a fine issued by Commissioner Roger Goodell and apologized for his actions saying he is “accountable for [his] actions.”

In this day and age you can’t get away with even a few seconds of bad behavior and Ryan should have learned that when he was photographed flipping the bird to a fan in Miami in early 2010. (pictured here). He was fined $50,000 for that middle finger incident but obviously hasn’t learned a lesson.

This recent incident was captured in a 49-second video by a fan at MetLife Stadium.

The Jets front office said they will not discipline Ryan for the latest incident and GM Mike Tannenbaum said he and Rex had a sit-down and Ryan knows that his behavior was not acceptable.

Got to hand it to the Jets, even when they are playing average at best, with Rex at the helm, they always seem to find a way into the headlines.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

After almost a year off to recoup from a concussion, Sidney Crosby was greeted by an energetic packed house at Consol Energy Center when he skated onto the ice during warm-ups to the song, “Back in the Saddle Again.”

How did he respond to the lengthy layoff?

In Crosby fashion, finishing the game with two goals and two assists to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-0 win over the New York Islanders.

Photo/Elliot Wikimedia Commons

In all, Crosby’s break extended over the months to total 328 days making fans and media expecting the All-Star to need some time to settle back in but Crosby had other ideas.

On his first tally, he weaved through the Islanders’ defense and shot a backhand past rookie goaltender Anders Nilsson bringing the fans to their feet and if you’re even a bad lip reader, you were able to interpret him roar, “F—k yeah!”

Crosby added two assists on goals by Evgeni Malkin and Brooks Orpik and used a backhander to notch his second goal.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was solid in net, stopping all 29 shots he faced to collect his 21st career shutout and move to within just one of franchise leader Tom Barrasso.

BTW, 250 press credentials were handed out and that’s about four times the usual number for a regular season game in Pitt.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The NBPA rejected the latest offer from the NBA owners and it appears these negotiations will start getting ugly.

After Commish David Stern gave a deadline of last Wednesday for the union to agree to the offer or be faced with reductions in future proposals, the players and their reps didn’t buy it. That proclamation turned out to be nothing but an idle threat.

Since that time, both sides met for marathon length sessions and the owners presented another deal to the players. According to some of the players and reps, the next proposal was weaker than the previous one; leading to the players to reject the offer without a formal vote.

According to ESPN New York’s Stephen Smith, NBPA head “Billy Hunter didn’t allow players to vote on the last proposal because it would have been approved and he feels the players can do better.”

Stern went in front of the cameras on ESPN and pleaded his case how the players were “self-destructing” and were at fault for the season being entirely lost but there are two sides in this mess and Stern is supposed to have the ability to avoid these types of scenarios.

Regardless of which side is at fault the recent chaos may cause the entire season to be written off.

Maybe Stern should have taken a course from NFL Commish Roger Goodell on negotiating etiquette. Goodell held his ego in check and did whatever was necessary to get his deal done; something it appears Stern was unable to do.

What’s next?

The players are preparing to take the issues to court and possibly decertify their union. They would then sue the owners in what would certainly be a bitter legal battle.

It’s getting uglier by the minute.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The Big Ten removed Joe Paterno’s name off the Big Ten football championship trophy.

The trophy was originally named Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy after Amos Stagg, a head coach who won 319 games over a 57 year period at the University of Chicago and JoePa who holds the record for most wins with 409.

Penn State fired Paterno by way of a short phone conversation while it investigates allegations of child sex-abuse that is said to have occurred on their property and involved today’s biggest villain, former defensive coach Jerry Sandusky.

So Sandusky continues to leave a trail of stain behind with the Penn State and Nittany Lions program rightfully taking some of the backlash.

Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany said it was inappropriate to keep Paterno’s name on the trophy and few outside of Penn State are arguing that at the moment.

The trophy suddenly known as the Stagg Championship Trophy will be presented at the first Big Ten title game on December 3, 2011.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

After a nationwide onslaught of negative response from most every media outlet, including social media sites like Twitter, Penn State trustees fired football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier.

The anticipated move comes after questions evolved regarding how officials handled sex abuse allegations surrounding former coach Jerry Sandusky. (story and mugshot here).

This next step in the massive overhaul came hours after Paterno announced that he planned to retire at the end of this season; his 46^th with Penn State.

“I’m out of it maybe now…the phone call put me out of it.”

“Maybe now?” No Joe Pa, you are officially 100% out of it and there may lie the problem. According to reports, Paterno may have never grasped the severity of the accusations on Sandusky that were brought to his attention in 2002 by then assistant, Mike McQueary.

During the press conference announcing the firing, the board of trustees explained they “decided it is in the best interest of the university to have a change in leadership to deal with the difficult issues [the school] was facing.”

Replacing Paterno on an interim basis will be defensive coordinator Tom Bradley while Rodney Erickson will act as interim school president.

Paterno said he was disappointed with the board’s decision and urged the students to remain calm.

According to sources close to the process, Paterno received an envelope at his home just 15 minutes before the board of trustees stepped in front of the microphone to make the announcement. Paterno was instructed to call a number and when he did, he was informed he was fired.

What an impersonal way to end a 46 year tenure that many have called one of the most impressive legacies in sports history.

Nonetheless, most feel it is deserving and by the time more layers of this raunchy onion gets peeled back, the more it’s going to reek.

After the news hit, thousands of PSU students surrounded the campus, some rioting and over-turning a media van, others chanting, “We want Joe back!”

Maybe you do, but the vast majority of the country doesn’t so it ain’t happening.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC