Santa Claus comes early every year for the Detroit Lions, on Thanksgiving to be exact. The jolly old soul hands the Lions their annual ‘gift’ in the form of a Thanksgiving game on their home field.

This is a clear case of not needing to be ‘good’ in any way shape or form to receive this handout from the NFL.

Year after year, this franchise struggles, and against the will of many of the other NFL owners, they continue to keep the Thanksgiving Game and the exposure that goes along with it.

Over the years many owners have brought up discussions and votes have occurred to move this game around the league to share the revenue. Somehow William Clay Ford continues to keep the game in his hometown of Detroit.

You have to wonder if the fact Ford Motor Company is one of the NFL’s biggest and most loyal advertisers has anything to do with this joke of an organization keeping this game.

I personally have attended several Thanksgiving games over the years and it’s quite the tradition. I saw O.J. Simpson shatter the single game rushing record when his Buffalo Bills visited the Lions at Pontiac Silverdome back in the 70’s. I spent many Thanksgiving days tailgating, seeing the game then finishing the day off stuffing myself with turkey dinner.

I love tradition and have a strong track record of supporting and keeping it. It makes my gut hurt to say this, but it is time for a change. To make NFL fans across the nation sit through a Lions game on this upcoming holiday and the ones to follow is absurd. It is time for Ford and his 0-9 Lions to hand over the torch.

The Dallas Cowboys were a dismal 1-15 one year but rebuilt and bounced back over the years, becoming a contender and winning a Super Bowl, earning the right to keep their spot.

The Lions on the other hand have shown no improvement over that same span, in fact they have gotten worse as their record over the past decade indicates.

If you’re out there Santa Claus, stop handing this gift to this NFL team and deliver a stocking full of coal and sticks to Ford and his Lions.

Taking the game from the Lions and spreading it throughout the league would bring much joy to fans across the nation.

Making this change is like delivering a Christmas gift to the rest of the NFL football world and relieves them from the agony and torture of sitting through Lion debacles year-after-year.

There is a rebuttal to this case and point found on Deadspin.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – Evander Holyfield will fight the WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev on December 20thin Zurich, Switzerland with contracts expected to be signed by the end of the week.

Holyfield, 46 years-old, has said he will retire and be done by the end of 2009 but that end may come sooner if he steps into a few too many Valuev hooks and gets pounded by this Russian giant.

Valuev is a monster. A 7ft 2in, 330 lb. giant who throws haymakers.

A way for Holyfield to train for the fight against this beast may be to throw his jaw in front of a speeding bus a few times, then see if he can still stand up. Okay, that’s a little too extreme but he better be ready to take a hard pounding.

Although he is facing financial hardships and child support issues, Holyfieldshould realize it isn’t always about “Show me the money!” His age is sure to be a negative factor and he could get permanently knocked stupid if he inadvertently walks into one of those classic Valuev haymakers.

Valuev, 35-years-old, is 49-1 with 34 KOs. Holyfield, a former heavyweight champ has not fought since losing a unanimous decision to Sultan Ibragimov a year ago.

A four-time heavyweight champion, Holyfield will become the oldest fighter to win the crown if he beats the odds and finds a way to defeat Valuev.

In the 1974 classic heavyweight brawl billed as “Rumble in the Jungle”, Ali invented the rope-a-dope to defeat heavy favorite “Big George” Foreman who was 40-0 with 37 KO’s in one of the most improbable finishes in boxing history.

Difference is, as big as 6′ 3″ Big George was, he would have been dwarfed by the 7′ 2″ Valuev.

Evander, step into that ring with your huge heart and rusted knuckles and give it your all but know when to say, “No mas” . . . “No mas.”

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

Hollywood may be involved in imploding some sports arenas scheduled for demolition. This was done years ago in downtown Orlando when special effect coordinators for a Lethal Weapon sequel dropped the city hall for the opening scene in one of their films.

It makes perfect sense. A film production company pays for use of the building, arranges and pays for the implosion and insurance then leaves the city with only the clean-up.  Some cities are currently trying to make such an arrangement.

With so many stadiums and arenas scheduled for demolition to make room for state-of-the-art facilities, one career that seems to be thriving in this upside down economy is that of a “wrecking ball driver”.

The biggest hype of the year was the Yankees taking the  field for the final time at Yankee Stadium last week. Like their neighbor Super Bowl Giants, the guys in pinstripes will  be playing in a new stadium.

Yankee stadium is scheduled to be dismantled in March 2009 removing the seats and other collectibles to sell to collectors. After the valuables are removed, the stadium will be flattened and only the memories will remain.

A close second on the hype-meter is this possibility of Hollywood getting involved.

Besides Tiger Stadium, many other venues around the country will soon be greeted by the wrecking ball including the Wachovia Spectrum, Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and the Dallas Star’s Reunion Arena.

The Dallas Film Commission is searching for a film crew who needs the blast for a scene in one of their movies to have the honor of leveling Reunion Arena. 

Some of the current demolitions are not going smoothly as historians are getting involved.

The razing of historic Tiger Stadium has created protests from organized fundraising groups who are fighting to salvage at least part of the park. Those groups from Detroit, with the help of Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, have been trying to convince the city to transform a part of the structure into a baseball museum. This has been an uphill battle as the city is considering plans for a retail and residential neighborhood.

The Dallas Cowboys will be vacating Texas Stadium after this season after entertaining fans there since 1971. The tab for Tony and Jessica’s new structure is expected to top $1 billion. (see picture)

For several years, Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings and the Orlando Magic’s Arena have also been discussed and may soon join this list of functionally obsolete razed facilities.

Bad news for historians but good news for ‘wrecking ball operators’ and maybe Hollywood.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

Vikings defensive tackle Jim Marshall owned the line of scrimmage throughout his career, recording 127 sacks and an NFL record 29 fumble recoveries. One of those fumbles would put him on NFL video blooper reels forever:

That game occurred on October 25, 1964 against NFC rival San Francisco. As shown in the video above, Marshall, a member of the famous “Purple People Eaters” line, scooped up  the fumble and ran it 66 yards into the end zone.

As he galloped down the sideline, his teammates were jumping up and down waving their arms in what he thought was celebration.

After making his way into the end zone, the out-of-breath, exhausted player heaved the ball out of bounds in celebration then soon realized he would forever make it onto every NFL blooper reel in existence.

Marshall had just run in the wrong direction and instead of scoring a TD and putting 6 points on the board for the Vikings, he had just handed the 49ers a two-point safety. The Vikings did go on to win that game with Marshall coming up with a few huge defensive plays contributing to the win.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

Run, Daunte, RUN!

In the opposite direction of the Detroit Lions facility in Allen Park.

Daunte Culpepper and the Detroit Lions confirmed the NFL quarterback had a “Good workout” with the Lions and is staying in contact with them concerning playing for the team.

Culpepper should seriously reconsider going to the 0-7 team that implodes annually and many feel is staffed with minor-leaguers dressed up in NFL attire.

The Lions have a solid history of destroying talented player’s and coaches careers (Google Marcus Pollard, Tatum Bell, Steve Mariucchi).

There is something about donning the silver and blue in Detroit . . . failure is sure to follow and the team is in more disarray and turmoil as ever. This may sound odd but they are actually worse than their 0-7 record, getting blown out and falling behind 21-0 in a majority of their games.

Culpepper’s arm has some life left in it. Enough life to provide a competitive team with a solid run into the playoffs . . . that team is not the Detroit Lions; this year, next or any year in the near future.

Why go out with a crash like Jon Kitna and Tatum Bell and Steve Mariucchi?

If he is simply looking for a paycheck, he can go on an autograph or speaking tour to fill up his piggy bank and wait for an NFL team to offer him a spot in the near future or next season.

Daunte, who has thrown for more than 22,000 yards in his nine-year career, will take a physical beating scrambling for his life behind the inept ‘O’ line of the Lions (Google Jon Kitna) and shorten what little is left of his career.

Be patient, Daunte, good fortune and jobs come to those who wait.

RUN, Daunte, RUN!

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

As stern criticism concerning Jose Canseco’s lack of character, ill-intentions and sleaze factor mounts, there seems to be a sudden shift in gears with his public relations strategy.

After glowing in the spotlight as MLB’s snitch of the century and taking in tons of cash, Canseco decides it’s time to say he is sorry and he does it in his new A&E documentary called, “Last Shot.”

Now bankrupt, Canseco said he is sorry he ever created his book ‘Juiced”, and sorry for outing his fellow MLB players for taking illegal steroids.

The following quotes from the book and other interviews have revealed a  character unconcerned about his fellow athletes and former friends.

During a past interview with Mike Wallace: “When the cameras stopped rolling, Wallace asked me if we could talk, off-camera. He kept me there for another hour, clearly curious about steroids. . . . He wondered how the steroids and human growth hormones (HGH) might help him, a man in his 80s, live a longer, healthier life. He wanted to know everything.”

In his book: “I met Mags (Magglio Ordonez) in 2001, when I was with the White Sox. When it was all said and done, when Maggs had the information he needed, he told me he was in. A few days later, we went into the back room in the clubhouse, and I jabbed a needle into his butt. ‘Ow,’ he said. ‘That hurt.’ ‘You’ll get used to it,’ I said.”

Canseco also mentioned the comments he made about Roger Clemens were edited out of interviews he had with ESPN and 60 Minutes and attributed that to the fact Clemens, who is a member of our Famous Mugshots Gallery, is from Texas and is very close to the Bush family.  “Clemens is a personal friend of Bush Sr. and his wife, Barbara. Clemens still has a standing invitation from Bush Jr. to visit the White House anytime. Getting the picture? Maybe the President of the United States, or his daddy, the ex-President, made some calls and took care of things for good ol’ Roger.”

In another chapter: “So A-Rod, if you’re reading this book, and if I’m not getting through to you, let’s get clear on one thing: I hate your — guts.”

Canseco’s National-Enquirer-like tale has ruined the careers, reputations and lives of several people including Clemens, Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire to name only a few.

Canseco’s life since retiring from baseball, has taken the route of a desperate man, whoring himself out to productions like Celebrity Boxing along the way; it doesn’t get much more pathetic than that.

Celebrity Boxing has included other people over the years who were trying desperately to cling to fame. There was a Tonya Harding vs. Clinton-sleaze Paula Jones, Refrigerator Perry vs. Manute Bol; and even a Partridge-family member vs. Brady Bunch member bout.

Canseco was knocked out in his bout by a sportscaster, Vai Sikahema. Canseco, 6-ft 4in, 245 lbs. got pummeled by the much smaller Sikahema, 5ft 9in, 205 lbs.

Sikahema knocked Canseco down with a left hook and again with a flurry of punches, both in the first round and the fight was called after just one round.

Entertainment? Depends who you ask.

Is his book ‘Juice’ entertainment? Depends who you ask.

So how sorry is Canseco, really?

Canseco recently released a second book slamming steroid use as well as the A&E documentary. Creating more negative exposure against the same sport and people he threw under the bus sounds more like a PR and marketing tour. It’s no wonder most people do not see any sincerity in his apology and look at it as another money-making scheme.

When filmmakers make a movie, they go on tour, doing interviews to draw attention to their movie and stir interest . . . the exact things Canseco is doing. If Canseco was sorry and concerned about the damage he has done why give it more exposure.

In this interview on A&E he recites a script that many feel are nothing but words without meaning, “I should not have written that book. The more I think about it the more I regret mentioning these players in my book because I admired them, I respected them.”

Respected them so much, that instead of trying to brush it under the rug; he writes a second book then goes in front of a camera talking about them.

Canseco goes on in his interview making statements that does nothing more than question his intelligence, “I never really realized this was going to blow up as big as it was going to blow up and hurt so many people.”

What planet has he been living on?

“If I could meet with Mark McGuire and these players I would definitely apologize to them because the more I think about it, the more wrong I was.”

If he were really sorry he would help pay for Bond’s and Clemen’s legal fees and pursue getting Mark McGuire into the Hall of Fame instead of going on his PR tour.

The only thing Canseco is sorry about is that very few people care what he has to say anymore so his new book sales are down and bill collectors are said to be banging on his door.

His greed and lack of concern for his fellow players and his sport will make him remembered as nothing but a greedy snitch who stabbed his friends in the back.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

The No. 1 Texas Longhorns are coming off back-to-back victories against then-No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 11 Missouri while scoring a total of 101 combined points. They were rewarded for their performance; becoming the first team since the 2006 Ohio State Buckeyes to receive all 65 votes from the media and becoming a unanimous No. 1choice in the AP poll.

Texas Coach Mack Brown is attempting to take all the attention in stride and is keeping his players focused on striving to improve as he prepares his Longhorns for another tough match-up this weekend against No. 7 Oklahoma State Cowboys. “We’re playing at a high level, but we’re not a great team yet. We’re at a point, unless we play well, we’ll get beat.” he said.

In last year’s meeting Oklahoma State blew a 35-14 lead in the 4th quarter and suffered a heartbreaking 38-35 loss to the Longhorns.

This match-up features two undefeated teams fighting for position in their conference and orchestrating runs for the national championship game. Both teams are 7-0 overall and 3-0 in their conference and have two great players taking the snaps from center.

Cowboys’ Zac Robinson (14 TDs) and Longhorns’ Colt McCoy (19 TDs) will try to light it up on Saturday when these two offensive powerhouses take the field in Texas.

Texas has given up 275 yards passing a game so Robinson may find success in the passing game. McCoy praised the Cowboys’ offense, “They can score pretty much every time they have the ball, so we’re going to have to keep playing to that standard.”

McCoy’s Longhorns have proven they can do the same.

Sounds like an offensive slugfest, one we won’t want to miss.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

Updated on Oct. 23 @ 6:50 a.m.

NEW YORK – Looks like it’s time for the “he said, she said” game. Brett Favre denies giving Matt Millen and the Detroit Lions information on his ex-Packer’s offense prior to the Lion’s Sept. 14 game against the Packers earlier this year and reporter Jay Glazer said he investigated this story fully and continues to defend it.

“I stand by my story 1000 percent,”Glazer told The Associated Press. “I guess Brett and I will just agree to disagree on certain things. The way I do my work, I don’t go on what just one person told me. I investigated this fully and for quite some time. I spoke with several sources, and when I go with something, I make sure it’s dead-on. I think my track record speaks for itself.”

Favre made a few comments at the Jet’s weekly press conference, “When Matt called me and was talking about hunting . . . don’t think for a second I wasn’t thinking, ‘Now, surely he wants to know something,’  Yeah, I played for the Packers for 16 years and we played against the Lions a bunch, but it’s no secret what we did against them. I don’t have a playbook from Green Bay. I didn’t send the playbook. I didn’t call him and say, ‘Look, if you do this, you’re going to win the game.’ I didn’t do that.”

He added that if he were “a guessing man,” there’s a chance other (Lions coaches or staff) might have been listening in on the conversation.

Favre went on to say that sharing information is common in the NFL, and it isn’t against league rules.

“It happens every day,” Favre said. “It happens more than you know. Nothing happened that was any different than happens any other day. But the fact I was in Green Bay for so long and what happened this offseason, that makes it a big deal. I didn’t give (Millen) any game planning, I haven’t been in that offense in over a year. I don’t know what else to tell you. It was pretty simple.”

Against the rules or not, this doesn’t sit well with many players or fans. Glazer’s report said that Favre who was sent off to the New York Jets after an ugly divorce with the Packers, spent over an hour on the phone with Lions coaches, giving the hopeless Lions information on his former team’s offense. Favre says he spoke to Millen for ‘no more than 25 minutes’.

Either way, how embarrassing is this for the Lions since it appears Matt Millen did indeed contact Favre and his Lions got their asses handed to them on their home field 48-25 in front of 60,285 fans.

The Lions continue to ‘refuse comment’. Most anyone would agreee if there was no ill-intent on the Lions part, then they should step up to the plate, look the media in the eyes and explain nothing unethical happened.

The Lions Coach Rod Marinelli preaches accountability and good character to his staff and players, yet when something like this occurs or when one of his coaches drives through a Wendy’s drive-through naked, he is the first one to turn his cheek.  

If and when all the facts surrounding this surface and prove their was info sharing, this is worse than the New England Patriots spying scandal that rocked the NFL last year. At least the Pats were cheating trying to help themselves and those games in question were all victories.

The Lions are embarrassing enough when they get blown out playing fair but if they had a little extra helpful information and still got blown out, that is nothing short of pathetic, and Favre would be nothing short of pathetic for offering it to them, regardless of who called who.

Favre’s move would be taken as a blatant retaliation for the Packers offering the player an invite to come out of retirement, AGAIN, and compete to earn a starting spot on the team.

Favre didn’t want to compete. He wanted the QB spot handed to him.

After seeing Aaron Rodgers perform so well several weeks into the season, it’s obvious why the coaching staff wanted the white-hairing, old-timer to have to beat out the younger, quarterback.

Favre then said he was done and the relationship was trashed. His ego took off like a rocket and landed him in New York.

Speaking of Rockets and NY; almost overnight, Roger Clemens has lost most of the trust and respect that took him decades to gain and Favre may be following those same footsteps.

Some of the players were not afraid to voice their opinion on the issue. “He contacted them? I don’t respect that,” former Michigan Wolverine CB Charles Woodson said. “To seek a team out and to feel like you’re trying to sabotage this team, I don’t respect that. I know he’s been the greatest player around here for a long time, but there’s no honor in that.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league had no comment but stressed that Glazer’s report detailed no illegal action. I can hear the Patriots screaming from here.

If such actions aren’t considered out of bounds, Woodson said they should be.

“I’ve never called a coach on another team and told them what’s going to happen,” Woodson said. “Obviously . . . there is a little bit of resentment there.”

Offensive lineman, Scott Wells said it would be disappointing if Favre shared information with a division rival. “Obviously it didn’t work out too well for them. We were still able to go out and move the ball on them and win the game.”

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

TALLAHASSEE – Florida State University attended their NCAA hearing on October 18 concerning the cheating scandals that rocked the university and put another ding in their athletic program and will be anxiously awaiting the committee’s decision. 

The good news is, this time the rap isn’t an athlete raping or getting busted with weapons and drugs. This bad news is, the scandal involved university personnel; more like a corrupt white-collar offense; and higher-ups must surely have known about it. If they didn’t, then they weren’t managing their staff properly.

The initial report of a cheating scandal came from a solo student who ratted out their fellow athletes during spring 2007.

After receiving the news and putting their brain cells together, the university decided to do an “in-house” investigation. That inquiry revealed that staffers provided student-athletes with answers to exams and went as far as tying papers for them during 2006-07.

In all, 61 athletes cheated and were forced to retest. Out of the 61 Seminoles retested, 59 of their scores took a plunge.

In their most recent investigation, the NCAA found no additional evidence of academic cheating-can you say paper shredder–but may still consider additional penalties against the school, including the forfeiture of games.

The university admitted cheating and manipulating of scores occurred but argued against having to forfeit games. FSU may be expecting a slap on the wrist and appears to be ready to fight to the death about taking a few wins from their football team.

“We believe that ours was a through and exhaustive inquiry including extensive examinations of computer records and files to search for any evidence of impropriety regarding NCAA or university rules,” Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said in a statement.

This is a typical example of manipulating and cheating to get ahead, then when you’re caught, do an “in-house” investigation and make a statement about how thorough and unbiased your findings are.

People are not that stupid, T.K.

Should we have criminals do their own investigations after we arrest them?

How about the next time you guys play the Miami Hurricanes we ask a few of the ‘Canes coaching staff to put on the zebra-wear, give them a whistle and let them call the game.

An AP report stated that in February, Florida State announced it was penalizing itself with two years of probation, the loss of scholarships in 10 sports and suspensions of 30 percent of a season for 61 athletes – about a third of them football players, many of them starters. The probation does not include a ban on postseason play.

Of course it doesn’t-and the 30% may sound like a lot but it’s only three games of the football season.

Again, do we look that frickin’ stupid, T.K!

Florida State also has made changes in staffing, basically fired a few ‘Scooter Libbys’, who were doing something a higher up must have known about.

It will be interesting to see if the NCAA does the right thing and nails FSU with severe sanctions as opposed to accepting FSU’s “self-sentence”.

In the meantime, the Seminoles will have to sit and sweat it out.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

ATLANTA – Philips Arena may have had a sea of empty blue seats for the Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils game, but the few fans who did come to the rink were treated to a game featuring some solid goaltending on both ends of the ice.

Martin Brodeur was a brick wall, robbing the Thrashers at point blank range on several occasions, stopping all 25 shots he faced, for the 97th shutout of his career and a 1-0 win.

The 36-year-old Brodeur is only 10 victories from Patrick Roy’s NHL record 551 and 6 shutouts away from Terry Sawchuk’s NHL record 103.

Thrashers goalie, Keri Lehtonen, was busier on the other end and just as sharp; stopping 25 of the first 26 shots he faced. The Devil’s Brian Rolston broke a scoreless tie with a power play goal with only 1:03 left in the second period and Garnet Exelby in the penalty box.

The Thrashers who were 0-5 on the power play need to create some offense. “We hit a crossbar, and we hit a post,” said Ron Hainsey. “Kovalchuk had a great chance. We came storming back. We hit a post or a crossbar. There were some other chances down there. We just couldn’t beat their all-world goalie tonight on it. We had five great chances at him, and he made some unbelievable saves. That’s why he’s coming up on the best of all time.”

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax