Catching Up

It's been a long day today. A lot going on. Let's see what happened:

Boston Celtics - Well it seems that KG is REALLY hurt and won't play during the playoffs. This is a major blow to the Celtics championship aspirations. Without KG, the Celtics just don't have the depth to get past the Cavs. They might have some problems with a young and energetic Bulls team (my father-in-law already called about the Bulls winning at least 2 games in this series). Although there is hope that KG might play, he hasn't been ruled out and we know as the playoffs start, KG will get that itch.

Boston Celtics - With the news about KG being broadcast this morning, Danny Ainge went and had a (minor) heart attack. Well, some may say that's a cruel joke, but Danny Ainge DID have a heart attack today. I hope he is resting now, they say that he'll recover and be ok. Get yourself checked out. If you haven't seen a doctor in a while (men are stubborn), go and see one.

Football - John Madden is turning in his microphone and retiring from football announcing. No more 'Boom', 'Bam', or 'Turducken'. We all must truly pause for a moment to let this sink in. Madden has been the face of football announcing for years and he is a Super Bowl winning coach (Superbowl 11). The game just wasn't a game unless Madden was announcing it, even though he had to travel by bus due to his fear of flying. John, we will miss you.

Football - Former running back, Travis Henry (yes he of the many kids, about 11 at the present time) has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute. Two other charges are going to be dropped, but Henry is facing a mandatory 10 years to life in prison AND a $4M fine. Talk about piling it on. His kids are the ones that really lose out on this.

Duke/Michgan/Everyone - Ok, we all know I'm a Duke homer, but what is all this fuss over a kid who hasn't played football in 4 years? Paulus turned out to be a decent point guard, but who thinks that he can just come back and pick up a football and act likehe hasn't missed a beat? I certainly don't. Even Duke offered him a chance to play football but only as a wide receiver. Michigan has supposedly offered this kid a scholarship to play football this year for them. What are people drinking? I wish Paulus well, but go work on your game for the NBA draft.

Did I miss anything? What else, of note, happened today?

Wasted Talent

I had to digest this entire story before I could write anything. Yesterday, some friends of mine sent me the story about Travis Henry. As we all know, Henry was arrested yesterday by the DEA, along with a friend, James Mack, for allegedly being the money man behind a cocaine ring. This had been an ongoing investigation since September 16th. A man driving a black Impala on Highway 90 in Montana was pulled over and after a search of the car, a duffel bag with 3 pounds of weed and 6+ pounds of cocaine were found. The guy pulled a Nick Kaczur on Mack and Henry and turned informant.

Supposedly, the DEA has Henry and Mack on tape discussing the deal with the informant. They also have someone who is saying that Henry made death threats against one of his accomplices over $40K, 'they all would be dead' if he didn't get that money back.

None of this looks good for Henry. He has had a troubled past due to drugs and suspensions from the league (presently serving a year long suspension), and was cut last year from the Broncos, one year into his 5 year, $22.5M deal. Add on to all of this the fact that he has 9 kids by 9 different women, and it's just sad. I wanted to add this to Stupid Athlete Tricks, but there's got to be a part of you that feels sorry for this guy. Not a big part, because he chose to get involved with drugs (using), he chose to not protect himself with his women, and he chose to make some quick money by being a financier off drug deals.

Henry looks to spend the rest of his adult life in the pen if he's convicted of all the counts that they are going to throw at him. The guy had the talent to succeed but couldn't keep his head straight. He was drafted in 2001 by the Bills and quickly (in 4 years) became the fourth leading rusher in Bills history with 3,849 yards and 27 TDs. He still holds records at Tennessee (yards rushing, rushing attempts, and 100 yard games). It looks like Henry has taken all of this talent and wasted it.