Michael Phelps will not be facing criminal charges related to an investigation triggered by the picture of the Olympic star taking a toke off a bong, however the owner of that bong will.

Zachary King was arrested by Richland County, S.C. police on February 7 and charged with marijuana possession.

Police say they tracked down King as the bong owner after King tried to sell the world’s most famous water pipe for $100,000 on eBay. King denies shopping it on eBay but will have to answer to authorities regarding the charges.

Richland County sheriff Leon Lott released a statement regarding not charging Phelps that included a confirmation there was no evidence in the case, “Having thoroughly investigated this matter, we do not believe we have enough evidence to prosecute anyone that was present at the November party”.

Lott’s office did, however, feel they had enough evidence to get a search warrant for two homes and made a total of eight arrests stemming from the photo and party.

While Lott takes the podium under the spotlight of the national media and is now a household name in law enforcement, the Huffington Post is circulating a petition suggesting the sheriff is overzealous regarding an issue like this when there is a laundry list of unsolved homicides in his jurisdiction.

Phelps, who won a record 8 gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic games, is currently serving a three-month suspension by USA Swimming.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – There’s a buzz around Georgia that Bulldog Matthew Stafford may not accept the offer to work out during this month’s NFL Combine.If Stafford refuses to participate, he and his agent should be sent a strong message. Teams high on the draft list like the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs should pass and let the underclassman sit and squirm in his seat as a list of names are called before his.

If you think that cannot happen, Google Brady Quinn and Matt Leinhart. Both award-winning college quarterbacks were projected by many to be No. 1 picks.

Leinhart, a USC standout, sat for hours finally being taken 10th by the Arizona Cardinals and Quinn of Notre Dame was forced to sit and squirm in his seat and listen to 21 names echo in the hall before his was finally called by the Cleveland Browns.

To make matters worse, Quinn was forced to sit out and miss the first several days of camp as his agent tried frantically to get a deal signed, a deal signed so late, it eliminated the quarterback’s chance of taking the snaps on opening day.

Getting back to the Stafford issue. There is a certain amount of pressure in performing in front of an audience like the Combine but organizations deserve an opportunity to see how these young athletes respond under a little pressure, especially when those unproven players have agents who plan on asking for tens of millions of guaranteed dollars.

Bottom line is, if a player, especially an underclassman quarterback, cannot perform up to par at a Combine, should he and his agent walk with a semi-trailer full of millions?

If Stafford does not show as expected, this may prove to be risky advice by his agent. It’s almost like they are hiding something from the NFL scouts.

The Lions or Chiefs are foolish to choose Stafford unless he puts on the spikes and airs out some balls this month.

If the ‘Dawg from Georgia doesn’t show, there may be some extra-motivated lineman that will salivating for the draft.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

Previously published in USA Hockey Magazine Feb. 2009 Edition

ATLANTA – When you’re only 5-foot-7, it’s easy to fly under the radar. But after an impressive college career and an award-winning rookie season in professional hockey, Brett Sterling is proving that big things can come in small packages.Now, the California native is trying to prove he deserves a regular spot with the Atlanta Thrashers.

A fifth-round pick by the Thrashers in 2003, Sterling has put together a quiet but competent professional career with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League. In his first full season in the Windy City, Sterling tallied a league-leading 55 goals, earned AHL rookie-of-the-year honors and a first team All-Star spot.

“I came in my first year and nobody knew who I was,” says Sterling, a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award during his junior season at Colorado College. “Coming in unknown was great, and I was playing with unbelievable players like Jason Krog and Darren Haydar. I had 34 goals in my first 35 games. All of a sudden teams started keying on me and the defense started to tighten up.”
Since taking the AHL by storm, Sterling has been threatening to cross the NHL threshold on a full-time basis. He spent his off-season working out and was committed to bringing himself to camp in the best possible shape.

After leading the Thrashers in scoring this preseason, the high-flying, left winger made the final cut and remained on the roster. Sterling saw action in 13 NHL games with the Thrashers last season and still hopes to build on that. “I feel a lot more comfortable this year,” says Sterling, who has played in three games so far this season with the Thrashers. “Last year I was jittery, and we had a rough start. That never helps when your team starts out 0-6 and you’re getting shifted around a lot, playing on the right wing with a variety of players.

“I’m a confidence player so the earlier you get scoring like I did my first year in the minors, the better. In the NHL, guys are bigger and stronger and they put up a better fight. It’s a challenge, and I’m ready for it. I thrive on that.”

Sterling’s journey from the sunny beaches of California to the NHL has been an interesting one. His family was first introduced to the sport by his uncle who encouraged Brett’s cousin and older brother to play hockey. He soon followed, donning his first pair of skates at 2 and playing his first season of organized hockey at age 4.

He continued playing both ice and inline hockey in California until he was 16. That’s when he received a great opportunity to play with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. “I wanted to go so bad; I actually called my parents to make sure it was OK with them after I already said yes to Ann Arbor,” recalls Sterling. “It was a big step but a great opportunity. You really develop as a player and learn about yourself.”
His experience in Ann Arbor led Sterling to Colorado Springs, where he notched 184 points as a four-year player with the WCHA powerhouse Tigers.

Though small in stature, Sterling is a solid competitor and not timid about going into high-traffic areas to gain a scoring chance.
In a league where it’s common to find 220-pound defensemen standing well over 6-feet tall, Sterling pulls his inspiration from some past NHL stars.

“The guys like Theo Fleury, Paul Kariya, Dino Ciccarelli, I watched them very carefully when I was growing up and tried to emulate them the best I could,” he says. “The NHL game has opened up for smaller guys these days.”

Although he has spent much of the season in Chicago, Sterling is on the fast track to gain a spot on the Thrashers roster. The team continues to rebuild around its young stars under the tutelage of Head Coach John Anderson, who was behind the Wolves’ bench during Sterling’s incredible rookie year in Chicago.

“Last year [and this year] I made the team out of camp, which is awesome,” says Sterling, who hopes to follow his coach from the AHL to Atlanta.

“That team last year struggled, and I struggled along with them. I went back to the AHL but now I’m back this year. I want to prove that I belong [in Atlanta] and want to prove to people I can play here.”

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

PHOENIX – The NBA All-Star game on Sunday reminded us why it is sometimes beneficial to suit up a handful of players by popularity as opposed to talent and productivity. That contest is clearly not about pure talent and competition, it is about entertainment and entertain is exactly what Shaquille O’Neal did in front of his hometown fans in Phoenix.With his better years way behind him, who would have thought Shaq would end up putting down 17 points in less than 11 minutes going 8 of 9 from the field. Even more of a stretch was thinking ex-Laker teammate Kobe Bryant and Shaq would be sharing any hardware again, especially an All-Star MVP trophy.

Kobe led the West with 27 points in the 146-119 victory over the East.

When asked about sharing the award with Shaq, Kobe appeared to enjoy the moment but made it clear the players weren’t planning to spend any upcoming holidays together. “We’re not going to go back to the room and watch Steel Magnolias or something like that, you know what I’m saying, crying, all that stuff,” said Kobe. “We had a good time. That’s all.”

“It felt like old times”, said Shaq, “I miss those times”.

One of the game’s lighter moments which made highlight reels around the country was Shaq’s Globetrotter-type bounce-pass through Dwight Howard’s legs followed by a return pass from Chris Paul and a finishing slam dunk by Big Daddy. The play brought a rousing response from the crowd and a row of laughs from both benches.

West starters Phoenix Suns’ forward Amar’e Stoudemire finished with 19 while New Orleans Hornet Chris Paul finished with 14 helpers for the West. LeBron James led the East with 20 points.

For the complete box score visit NBA.com.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – As the Barry Bonds’ March 2 trial grows closer and pieces of the prosecutors’ case against MLB’s home run record- holder continue to go public, if there was any doubt whether Hank Aaron supports Bonds as home run king, those questions may have been answered.

In an interview Aaron this week with the Atlanta-Journal-Constitution, the retired player made his opinion clear saying the HR record belongs to Bonds and should not be taken away.

“In all fairness to everybody, I just don’t see how you really can do a thing like that and just say somebody isn’t the record holder anymore, and let’s go back to the way that it was,” Aaron told the AJC.

“If you did that, you’d have to go back and change all kinds of records. It (the home run record) is probably the most hallowed record out there, as far as I’m concerned, but it’s now in the hands of somebody else. It belongs to Barry.”

“Really, it’s sort of a tricky call when you start going down that road of who is legitimate,” Aaron added in the interview.

These are strong points made by one of baseball’s greatest players of all time. If Bonds is stripped of the record, does that force MLB to strip A-Rod of his MVP award he won in 2003 and Roger Clemens, if convicted, of his laundry-list of strikeout records and seven Cy Young awards.

The list would go on and on. Major League Baseball would have to rewrite their record books and Cooperstown would have to apply asterisks to or garage sale many of their memorabilia displays.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA, GA. – The limited attendance at the Gwinnett Gladiators’ morning skate on Thursday February 12th made it evident their  phone had been ringing off the hook the past week.With only 12 guys dressed for the practice scrimmage, Coach Jeff Pyle was facing the upcoming challenge of having a short bench for this weekend’s games against division rivals South Carolina Stingrays and the Charlotte Checkers.

Being a head coach or GM in the ECHL can be a challenging and frustrating task. Unlike the execs running teams in the NHL, the ECHL is a developmental league and the breeding grounds for upper level leagues like the AHL and NHL. Rosters change on a monthly basis and teams can lose players at any given moment.

The Gwinnett Gladiators experienced that scenario this past week when the Chicago Black Hawks’ AHL affiliate Rockford Ice Hogs called up goalie Joe Fallon and defenseman Brennan Turner, the Atlanta Thrashers’ affiliate Chicago Wolves recalled forward Matt Siddall and the AHL Toronto Marlies snagged Josh Engel from the roster to fill vacant positions.

Although the call-ups coupled with a laundry list of injuries has shrunk Pyle’s bench, the coach has his team ready to face the test and concentrated on the positive side to this scenario, expecting it to motivate the remaining players on his roster.

“Some of these players are starving for more ice time and this is a great opportunity for them to get it,” said Pyle. “Guys will find themselves getting a lot more ice time and spending more time on the power play. If they make the most of the opportunity, it can help their career”.

Gladiators’ President and two-time ECHL executive of the year Steve Chapman looks ahead to the two important games this weekend, “It goes with the territory. Sometimes teams ask how our roster is before they pull a guy but other times they just take who they need and we find ourselves short-handed for a game”.

The Gladiators are clinging to the fourth and final playoff spot in their division so these games are huge. Expecting large, raucous crowds during this weekend’s Second Annual Pink in the Rink to benefit women’s cancer, it will be interesting to see what players step up and respond to make the best of the opportunity.

This weekend’s games are Saturday Feb. 14th at 7:05 against the Stingrays and Sunday Feb. 15th at 4:05 against the Checkers.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

Sports Illustrated knows how to create additional hype when it comes to their Swimsuit Edition.

With an estimated 66 million readers awaiting the publication, S.I. stuck with tradition and did not release the cover until shortly before the mag was scheduled to hit the stands.

Their choice for the cover?

Bar Refaeli, the hot Israeli model and girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Swimsuit Edition began in February 1964. With the NFL season over in December and the NBA only having a handful of teams the publication decided to put a female on the cover and that decision has led to what is now known as the biggest magazine event of the year.

If you want to reminisce, visit SportsIllustrated.com and search their vault for every past swimsuit edition.

If you’re interested, you can flip through the entire magazine front to back. I located the first Swimsuit Edition I received in my mailbox back in 1973.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

NEW YORK – It was only a matter of time before the sports world was exposed to the laundry list of MLB players who

Roger Clemens (Photo: Kelly Vitolo/SC)

 have gone to the syringe using steroids.With Alex Rodriguez admitting cheating while with the Texas Rangers during the 2001 through 2003 seasons and Miguel Tejada getting hit with charges for lying during a Congressional investigation on steroids the list will only continue to grow.

Getting most of the attention lately has been Barry Bonds who’s trial starts the beginning of March and Roger Clemens, shown in the photo pitching for Houston, who is under intense investigation for perjury.

Bonds entered a not-guilty plea last week.

The sorriest part of the A-Rod situation is that MLB knew he had failed tests for performance-enhancing drugs during his American League MVP season. That raises a very interesting question.

Although it is too late for the Rangers to take back their $250 million contract that the injecting player has received and possibly spent, should A-Rod be stripped of that MVP trophy and any records associated with it?

People were screaming for Bonds to have an asterisk next to his name and the ball in Cooperstown just hours after he hit it over the fence breaking Hank Aaron’s homerun record.

Fair is fair, if Bonds has an asterisk, A-Rod certainly deserves one. And if A-Rod gets one, Clemens should if he is found guilty, and so should Jason Giambi or anyone else who has bats, gloves and balls honoring them in Cooperstown.

If Clemens is finally found to have used juice during his record-setting career and joins the list of stars who have admitted use, it may be time to call in a crew from HGTV to redecorate Cooperstown with an array of asterisks.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

Now that the NFL Pro Bowl game is completed the NFL season is officially over, it’s time to exchange last-second field goals and zebras tossing yellow hankies for LeBron slam dunks and NHL hockey brawls.

Arizona Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald continued his dominance in the NFL by winning the Pro Bowl MVP after catching 5 passes for 81 yards and 2 TD’s including a 46-yarder from Drew Brees and a 2-yarder from Eli Manning.

Placekicker 44-year-old John Carney was a perfect 3 out of 3 in field goal attempts pacing the NFC over the AFC 30-21. Carney is the oldest player ever to suit up in a Pro Bowl.

Brothers Peyton and Eli Manning were the first sibling combo to ever play in a Pro Bowl game and although Peyton had the better stats (12-of-17 for 151 yards 1 TD), Eli (8-of-14 for 111 yards 1 TD 1 INT)took home the victory.

Next year’s Pro Bowl will be played in Miami the week prior to the Super Bowl.

For video highlights go to NFL.com.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

As expected, MLB’s home run king Barry Bonds pleaded not guilty to perjury charges related to his testimony in the much-publicized steroid investigation.The slugger faces 10 counts of lying under oath to a grand jury as well as one charge for obstruction of justice.

The case is finally going to trial on March 2, 2009 after prosecutors had to twice revise the charges because of “legal technicalities”. In fact, this is the third time Bonds has entered a plea in the case.

Yesterday the judge presiding in the case released hundreds of documents related to the case including documentation of conversations involving the left-handed slugger Bonds discussing injections and other docs confirming failed drug test.

Those failed tests in question relate to evidence prosecutors say was collected in a September 2003 raid of BALCO. The defense questions the validity of those tests and are asking they be removed.

Some feel Bonds is being singled out but the bottom line is, if Bonds lied under oath, after hitting 762 over the fence he may be spending two years behind one; a taller one decorated in barbed wire.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax