CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It is a sad day for the NFL.

Cincinnati Bengals receiver, 26-year-old Chris Henry died at 6:36 a.m. this morning from injuries resulting from falling out of the back of a pickup truck during what police described as a domestic dispute with his fiancé.

Henry had a rough relationship with the league and was suspended five times over his career but Bengals owner Mike Brown wanted people to realize there was another side to the troubled player.

“We knew him in a different way than his public persona,” said Brown. “He had worked through the troubles in his life and had finally seemingly reached the point where everything was going to blossom. And he was going to have the future we all wanted for him. It’s painful to us. We feel it in our hearts, and we will miss him.”

Henry had been hospitalized since the accident occurred on Wednesday when police say the player jumped into the bed of the pickup truck owned by his fiancé Loleini Tonga as she was driving away from a residence. Sometime later, Henry “came out of the back of the vehicle” according to police.

Henry and Tonga have been raising three children.

Related Info – Chris Henry Bio – NFL.com

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

Article updated on December 18, 2009

The Associated Press selected Tiger Woods as the Athlete of the Decade.

During a period of turmoil surrounding Woods’ personal life and his infidelity to wife Elin Nordegren Woods, Woods received 56 of 142 votes cast by the AP editors.  A majority of those tallies were sent in after the controversial November car accident that involved the golf great.

Woods had 64 wins including 12 tournament majors and 56 PGA Tour victories and lost just one time with the lead going into the final round.

Cyclist Lance Armstrong who defeated cancer and was victorious in the Tour de France six times finished way behind Woods with 33 votes. Tennis star Roger Federer finished third with 25 votes.

Just days after receiving this honor, ABC News reported that Woods wife Elin would be seeking a divorce.

It was reported that “A source close to Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, told ABC News.com that a “divorce is 100 percent on.” this coming just days after Elin was photographed without her wedding ring.

Kate Coyne, senior editor at People Magazine reaffirmed the story when she told the Good Morning America show that “Sources have told us that Elin has told us this marriage is over and she is looking to divorce.” 

Related Articles:

Tiger Woods Incriminating Voice Mail Message to Female Friend

Hottest Athlete Wives Gallery – Elin Woods

Tiger Woods Transported to Hospital After Car Accident

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

NEW YORK – In the tightest vote in the 75-year history of the Heisman Trophy, Alabama Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram, shown in center of photo, won the award.

Ingram, the Flint, Michigan native may have gathered several votes last week after he led his team to a lopsided 32-13 victory in the SEC Championship game over Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators.

Running Back Toby Gerhart of the Stanford Cardinals came in second, just 28 votes behind Ingram.

Texas Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy was considered the favorite but would leave New York without hardware on this night but will be vying for a bigger prize on January 7 when his team plays in the national championship game against Ingram’s Tide.

Other nominees were past Heisman winner, Tebow and Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

Related Articles:

Alabama Squashes Florida 32-13 in SEC Championship

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – Atlanta  Falcons defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux was arrested by Gwinnett County police on charges of marijuana possession with intent to distribute.

The officer making the arrest reported that he smelled marijuana coming from the player’s SUV during a routine traffic stop Thursday night.

Babineaux, 28, was released from the Gwinnett County jail around 5 a.m. this morning after posting a required $8,300 bond. The player has had a few other run-ins with the law in Gwinnett County.

The player was arrested in Lawrenceville, GA by Gwinnett County police in 2007 on a felony count of animal abuse after his wife rushed their pet dog to an animal emergency clinic and accused Babineaux of abusing the animal and causing the death.

Charges were later dismissed in that particular case siting lack of evidence.

Here are some of the charges copied from the official arresting police documents charging Babineaux (the police spelled his name incorrectly on the docs).

12/11/2009 5:10:00 AM BABINEOUX JONATHAN JOEL, LEGENDS CLUB CIR, BRASELTON GA 30517 *NO DRIVERS LICENSE $650 SB Photo

12/11/2009 1:01:00 AM 12/11/2009 5:10:00 AM BABINEOUX JONATHAN JOEL, LEGENDS CLUB CIR, BRASELTON GA 30517 TAG LIGHT VISIBLE 50 FT. $650 SB Photo

12/11/2009 5:10:00 AM BABINEOUX JONATHAN JOEL, LEGENDS CLUB CIR, BRASELTON GA 30517 MATERIALS ON WINDSHIELD/LIGHT $650 SB Photo

AM 12/11/2009 5:10:00 AM BABINEOUX JONATHAN JOEL, LEGENDS CLUB CIR, BRASELTON GA 30517 *VGCSA POSS OF MARIJUANA W/INTENT TO DIS $5700 SB Photo

12/11/2009 5:10:00 AM BABINEOUX JONATHAN JOEL 99313464 99313464 5659 LEGENDS CLUB CIR, BRASELTON GA 30517 EXPIRED TAG $650 SB Photo

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen and receiver Golden Tate announced they will skip their final year at the university to enter the upcoming NFL draft.

The university made the announcement Monday on campus explaining the players made their decisions after speaking to fired head coach Charlie Weis this past weekend.

“Growing up as a kid, one of my lifelong dreams has been to play in the NFL and with that being said, with the support of my family and coaches I will be forgoing my senior year and entering the 2010 NFL draft,” Clausen said.

Throughout the season Clausen has been included in some of the Heisman talk and may be expected to be chosen in an earlier round of the draft.

The Irish certainly will have some rebuilding to do. They fired coach Charlie Weis last week and now are unexpectedly losing two of their key players to the NFL draft.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

After defeating Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators 32-13, quarterback Greg McElroy, running back Mark Ingram and their Alabama Crimson Tide will make a trip to the BCS Championship game against the Texas Longhorns and Colt McCoy. The full 2009-2010 college football bowl schedule is here.

Citi BCS National Championship Game
Texas vs. Alabama Pasadena, Calif.
Rose Bowl Jan. 7
8 p.m. ABC

Tostitos Fiesta
Boise State vs. TCU Glendale, Ariz.
U. of Phoenix Stadium Jan. 4
8 p.m. FOX

Allstate Sugar
Florida vs. Cincinnati New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome Jan. 1
8:30 p.m. FOX

R+L Carriers New Orleans
Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome Dec. 20
8:30 p.m. ESPN

MAACO Las Vegas
Oregon State vs. BYU Las Vegas
Sam Boyd Stadium Dec. 22
8 p.m. ESPN

S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia
Utah vs. Cal San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium Dec. 23
8 p.m. ESPN

Sheraton Hawaii
Nevada vs. SMU Honolulu
Aloha Stadium Dec. 24
8 p.m. ESPN

Little Caesars
Marshall vs. Ohio Detroit
Ford Field Dec. 26
1 p.m. ESPN

Meineke Car Care
Pitt vs. North Carolina Charlotte, N.C.
Bank of America Stadium Dec. 26
4:30 p.m. ESPN

Emerald
Boston College vs. USC San Francisco
AT&T Park Dec. 26
8 p.m. ESPN

Gaylord Hotels Music City
Kentucky vs. Clemson Nashville, Tenn.
LP Field Dec. 27
8:30 p.m. ESPN

AdvoCare V100 Independence
Texas A&M vs. Georgia Shreveport, La.
Independence Stadium Dec. 28
5 p.m. ESPN2

EagleBank
Army or UCLA vs. Temple Washington, D.C.
RFK Stadium Dec. 29
4:30 p.m. ESPN

Champs Sports
Miami vs. Wisconsin Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl Dec. 29
8 p.m. ESPN

Roady’s Humanitarian
Bowling Green vs. Idaho Boise, Idaho
Bronco Stadium Dec. 30
4:30 p.m. ESPN

Pacific Life Holiday
Arizona vs. Nebraska San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium Dec. 30
8 p.m. ESPN

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Houston vs. Air Force Fort Worth, Texas
Amon G. Carter Stadium Dec. 31
Noon ESPN

Brut Sun
Oklahoma vs. Stanford El Paso, Texas
Sun Bowl Dec. 31
2 p.m. CBS

Texas
Navy vs. Missouri Houston
Reliant Stadium Dec. 31
3:30 p.m. ESPN

Insight
Minnesota vs. Iowa State Tempe, Ariz.
Sun Devil Stadium Dec. 31
6 p.m. NFL Network

Chick-fil-A
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee Atlanta
Georgia Dome Dec. 31
7:30 p.m. ESPN

Outback
Northwestern vs. Auburn Tampa, Fla.
Raymond James Stadium Jan. 1
11 a.m. ESPN

Capital One
Penn State vs. LSU Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl Jan. 1
1 p.m. ABC

Konica Minolta Gator
West Virginia vs. Florida State Jacksonville, Fla.
Municipal Stadium Jan. 1
1 p.m. CBS

Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi
Ohio State vs. Oregon Pasadena, Calif.
Rose Bowl Jan. 1
4:30 p.m. ABC
International
South Florida vs. Northern Illinois Toronto, Canada
Rogers Centre Jan. 2 Noon ESPN2

Papajohns.com
South Carolina vs. UConn Birmingham, Ala.
Legion Field Jan. 2
2 p.m. ESPN

AT&T Cotton
Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss Arlington, Texas
Cowboys Stadium Jan. 2
2 p.m. FOX

AutoZone Liberty
Arkansas vs. East Carolina Memphis, Tenn.
Liberty Bowl Jan. 2
5:30 p.m. ESPN

Valero Alamo
Michigan State vs. Texas Tech San Antonio
Alamodome Jan. 2
9 p.m. ESPN

FedEx Orange
Iowa vs. Georgia Tech Miami
Land Shark Stadium Jan. 5
8 p.m. FOX

GMAC
Central Michigan vs. Troy Mobile, Ala.
Ladd-Peebles Stadium Jan. 6
7 p.m. ESPN

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – In the much anticipated SEC Championship match-up between the #1 Florida Gators and #2 Alabama Crimson Tide,  the Tide set the tone early scoring on the first two possessions and coasted to a 32-13 victory at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta.The Tide dominated time of possession through the first three quarters, keeping the ball out of Tim Tebow’s hands.

Their most impressive possession started midway through the 3rd quarter when quarterback Greg McElroy and the Tide offense held the ball for a 17-play, 88-yard drive that burned 8:47 minutes off the clock and resulted in running back Mark Ingram’s 3rd touchdown of the game.

Tebow responded leading his offense down the field but just when it looked like the Gators may be orchestrating a comeback, he made a bad decision and threw an interception in the red zone suffocating any opportunity for a miraculous comeback.

In the race for this year’s Heisman Trophy, Ingram improved his chances of gaining votes with 27 carries for 109 yards and 3 TDs and 2 receptions for 76 yards against Florida’s No. 1 defense while Tebow finished 20-of-35 for 246 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.

Florida’s loss snapped an incredible 22-game win streak that dated back to a 31-30 loss to Ole Miss back on September 28, 2008.

Game Stats:

                                                          GATORS                            CRIMSON TIDE
1st Downs                                         13                                                26
3rd down efficiency                        4-11                                           11-15
4th down efficiency                         0-1                                             0-0
Total Yards                                        335                                           490
Passing                                             246                                            239
Comp-Att                                           20-35                                       12-18
Yards per pass                                 7.0                                            13.3
Rushing                                             89                                              251
Rushing Attempts                           14                                                53
Yards per rush                                6.4                                              4.7
Penalties                                         5-51                                            1-5
Turnovers                                         1                                                   0
Fumbles lost                                    0                                                   0
Interceptions thrown                      1                                                    0
Possession                                     20:23                                          39:37

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

ORLANDO – The level of the whole scenario surrounding the Tiger Woods recent car accident keeps escalating to bizarre proportions.

While the Florida Highway Patrol just announced yesterday that it had concluded it’s investigation and insisted they had treated Tiger as any other citizen, this morning, US Magazine.com released an incriminating audio-tape believed to be Tiger Woods warning a female friend, 24 year-old Los Angeles cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, that his wife Elin Nordegren looked into his phone, may have found the number and may be calling.

Here is the transcript of the voice-mail message: 

“Hey, it’s Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. Can you please take your name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you. So if you can, please take your name off that. Just have it as a number on the voicemail. You got to do this for me. Huge. Quickly. Bye.”

Here’s the audio of the message:

Woods had already dropped out of this week’s tournament play and has not been interviewed by the media since the accident. 

Related Articles and Photos:

Elin Nordegren Photos – Sexiest Athlete Wives Gallery – Sports Climax

Tiger Woods Transported to Hospital After Car Accident – Orlando Sentinel

Behind the Scenes with Tiger Woods on First Commecial Shoot – Sports Climax

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – Riding the wave of a four-game win streak and dramatic last-second victory Monday night against division rival Florida Panthers, the Atlanta Thrashers will be taking a great deal of momentum into their game Thursday night against the New York Islanders at Philips Arena.

The Thrashers under the great leadership of Captain Kovalchuk appear to be adapting to Coach John Anderson’s offensive scheme as the team leads the NHL in goals per game with an impressive 3.46 mark. To put that in perspective, the dominating Detroit Red Wings led the NHL last season with a 3.52.

One of the reasons for the Thrashers hot start is the contribution of several players who were not on the roster at the start of last season.

Three of the top four names found on the team’s current stats sheet are Rich Peverley (10g-16a-26pts), Maxim Afinogenov (11g, 14a, 25pts) and Nik Antropov (2g, 21a, 23pts). Afinogenov scored the game winner with 5 seconds remaining in regulation time in that dramatic win against the Panthers.

Another factor is the impressive play of their youngsters. Nineteen-year-old Zach Bogosian leads the NHL in goals by a defensemen with 8 while eighteen-year-old rookie Evander Kane, another first-round pick, has contributed as well, adding (8g, 5a, 13pts), creating a rookie-of-the-year buzz around the city of Atlanta.

Goaltending is another area the team has improved and they’ve done it without Kari Lehtonen, their starting goaltender over the past few seasons. While Lehtonen continues to recover from an injury that required surgery, back-up goaltenders Johan ‘Moose’ Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec have been sharing the crease duties.

After registering two shutouts (one each) over the past four games, the Thrashers find themselves in the upper half of the league in goals against average, a vast improvement over the past few years when they hovered near the basement in that category.

Pavelec, who earlier this season allowed a 180-ft shot to score, shut out the Red Wings 2-0 in Detroit while Moose put up a 1-0 goose egg at home against the pesky Philadelphia Flyers. Moose’s win snapped a 14-game winless streak against the Flyers.

Currently the Thrashers own one of the best road records in the NHL at 8-2-1 and find themselves in the 5th position in their conference with several games in hand on the leaders.

To put that in mathematical perspective, if the Thrashers win all four of the games they have in hand on the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, the Thrashers would find themselves one point ahead of Sid The Kid in the standings; but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.

More NHL:

Thrashers’ Goalie Pavelec Allows 180-ft Shot to Score (video) – Sports Climax

Captain Kovalchuk Returns Early & Shows Great Leadership –  Sports Climax  

Yahoo!Sports – Puck Daddy

Bill ‘Iceman’ Tiller – Atlanta-Journal-Constitution

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

What is your opinion of this commentary explaining an obvious line drive out to left field during a crucial moment of an extra-inning MLB game? “Line drive. Base hit. Caught out there. The runner tags. Throw to the plate. On target. And in time! A double play!” (see YouTube video of call below).

Cable television network TBS must have the same negative opinion regarding it as a majority of the media and fans do because although Chip Caray, the owner of that embarrassing call above has several years left on his contract, the network and Caray have suddenly parted ways.

The blundered call above, the overuse of his line, “He fisted him!” and several other miscues delivered by Caray this past MLS season created a huge buzz during the playoffs and may have led to his departure.

In a company memo, David Levy, the president of Turner Sports, wrote: “Since the end of this year’s M.L.B. playoffs, we’ve had several discussions with Chip Caray regarding 2010 and beyond. Both sides have agreed that now is the right time for Turner Sports and Chip to move ahead on different paths.”

Caray was handed the mic as a third-generation announcer. He is the grandson of the legendary Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray and son of the late Skip Caray who called the games for the Atlanta Braves for several years.

Related Stories:

Chip Caray Blundering His Way Through MLB Playoffs

Fisting Chip Caray – Deadspin.com

Caray is in a Verbal Slump in the TBS Booth – NY Times

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax