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Blanc wants French players to sing national anthem [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 7:59 pm] In his latest effort to try and get the public to stop thinking his team is comprised of terrible human beings, new France manager Laurent Blanc is urging his team to sing the national anthem before their Euro qualifier against Belarus on Friday. The goal, of course, is to prove that they actually care about the team, the country and everything that isn't themselves and not just standing there stone-faced mannequins (or waving to the cameras). Says Blanc (via the AP):“I have personally encouraged the players to sing the Marseillaise because I was practically certain some of them didn’t know the words,” Blanc said on Thursday. “I think they will know the words to sing it now, but everyone’s free to do what they want. They know my way of thinking, though: if you know the national anthem of your country it’s preferable to sing it.“I don’t have many opportunities to sing it. I admit I don’t sing it under the shower,” Blanc added. “But when you are representing your country—and God knows when you play for the national team you are—it’s a pleasure to sing it.”So there are no excuses now. Everyone has been given the lyrics and publicly prodded to sing their hearts out. Whoever doesn't is going to look like a total jerkface. Best clear those pipes, boys. More links! And Corinthians' 30 million fans! [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 7:26 pm] All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award-winning Dirty Tackle... To celebrate the club's centenary, Nike helpfully reminds us why you should never mess with a Corinthians fan. And that they apparently like to say "bro" a lot. [Original Winger]Pele as a comedian. [Run of Play] Government announces controversial plans to shut down northern rumor mills. [The Gaffer] The new England kit. Look at the shoulders. [Umbro Flickr] Russia World Cup bid chief makes excuses for racism. [MFUSA] Welcoming the Van der Vaarts to London. [Kickette] Bulgaria want the ref to keep an eye on Rooney. [Telegraph] How bookmakers are policing Russian football. [Football Ramble] Rohan Ricketts explains why Moldova is better than MLS. [Sabotage Times] Top 10 Marmite players. [Pies]Davey Becks returning to the Galaxy next week. [MLS Insider] Dirk Kuyt scares children. [Studs Up] In which former NHL coach Ken Hitchcock foils a shoplifter [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 5:57 pm] As an NHL coach, Ken Hitchcock's teams were known for their smothering defense.How fitting, then, that the former Columbus Blue Jackets coach is being lauded in Kelowna, British Columbia for grabbing and holding a shoplifter until public safety officials arrived on Wednesday morning. According to the Kelowna Daily Courier, a 14-year-old boy shoplifted three pairs of shorts from Cruzwear Unlimited on Bernard Avenue, the "largest swimwear store in Western Canada." Cruzwear employee Sherrie Lessare grabbed the boy's backpack as he attempted to flee the store, and called for help. Hitchcock, who vacations in Kelowna, was sitting in a parked car and sprung to action when he saw the struggle. Hitchcock and a motorcyclist pinned the shoplifter against a window. From the Daily Courier (not available online): The motorcyclist grabbed the teen's arm, but he broke away. Hitchcock straight-armed him against the window as he struggled. He continued holding the boy until members of Downtown On Call arrived. They banned the youth from the store and told him he'd face a trespassing charge if he returned.Hitchcock returned to the store 30 minutes later to check on Lessare. "There are awesome people out there," she said.Lessare had no idea who Hitchcock was. She described him as "distinguished," tanned, wearing walking shorts and expensive white runners. It's true: Lessare didn't know a guy with 533 career coaching victories, a Stanley Cup ring with the Dallas Stars and a gold medal from the Vancouver Olympics had thwarted a thief at her store. Even after she was told about his career, it didn't register: When her co-workers later asked about Hitchcock, Lessare told them he was "a head coach in the NFL ... Ken something." On Thursday, Hitchcock's good deed started gaining fame. Hockey Canada tweeted a blog by hockey writer Gregg Drinnan that mentioned the incident. Phone calls started coming into the swimwear shop from reporters a Florida cheerleaders need exemption to wear skirts on game days [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 5:50 pm] Cheerleaders in Seminole (Fla.) County high schools are getting to wear their skirts on game days, but it took a special exemption to a new strict dress code to maintain the longstanding high school tradition. According to the Orlando Sentinel, a new dress code in place in Seminole County would outlaw cheerleading skirts as too short to wear on campuses during the school day. The new dress code stipulates that "dresses, skirts and shorts must be at least mid-thigh or below in length," guidelines that fall under the category of eliminating clothing that is "sexually suggestive." The disparity between allowing cheerleaders to wear short skirts and not other students was brought up by the mother of a Lake Brantley High School girl sent home for wearing a shirt that was deemed too short. Area principals were able to circumvent the new dress code thanks to a provision that says principals at individual schools are allowed to interpret what apparel falls within acceptable terms of the new rules. Fittingly, the schools' decision to grant a cheerleading uniform exemption was announced by a former Seminole High School cheerleader who now serves as a school district spokeswoman. "It is tradition that they wear their uniforms on game day, like the football players wear their uniform shirts," said district spokeswoman Regina Klaers. While today's decision grants leniency for cheerleaders, it's undetermined if other actions of school spirit will be shut down by the new dress code. The Sentinel points out that pajama day is a nearly universal homecoming week tradition, but pajamas are specifically outlawed as everyday wear under the new guidelines. It stands to reason that themed days for different decades - 70s day with afros and bell bottoms and 80s day with cutoff jean shorts - might also run afoul of the "distracting garments" clause. With t-shirts promoting T-shirts that promote violence, alcohol, tobacco, sex or drugs als No joke — Ron Artest to speak to children about mental health [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 5:10 pm] Some things go together perfectly. You know, peanut butter and chocolate, bread and butter, Brad Miller and camoflauge shorts — you get the gist. These combinations are so natural and so ideal that it's hard to imagine them without each other. On the other side of the "things that go well together" spectrum — Ron Artest and mental health. He made a name for himself by being completely unhinged in every way, shape and form. Furthermore, in the past when it's been recommended that he be on mood-controlling medication, Artest would "throw it in the garbage." But things have changed for Ron-Ron. The first sign was him giving his psychiatrist a shoutout in his amazing post game speech. The latest is the community work he'll be doing in Montebello, CA, next week. From Daniel Tedford of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune:OK, maybe you need like a time and place, oh and the reason world champion Los Angeles Laker and game 7 hero Ron Artest is going to be in Montebello tomorrow.Apparently, he has teamed up with Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (no, really, I'm serious) to raise awareness about mental health stigma's and advocate for the Mental Health in Schools Act, a.k.a. HR 2531.That's right — Ron Artest is going to be speaking to kids in school about mental health. When you read that sentence, you realize how much has the world has changed without you even realizing it. It's amazing that a guy who went in to a crowd of people with fists flying during a professional basketball game is now a spokesperson for seeking out mental health assistance.That being said, I'm with Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk who thinks this is a "pretty good fit." There aren't a lot of famous people who have shown such positive effects from getting help with their mental health problems. Because, seriously, Ron Artest has gone from being a crazy person who fights fans to a guy who made the most important shot in the biggest game of his life then thanked hi Create-a-Caption: This is your owner, Chicago Cubs fans [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:44 pm] Well, let's look at the bright side: If I would have told you that Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts was going to dress up in a ridiculous costume commonly found in the Wrigley Field stands and some fans would later be mad, you would have just assumed he'd be apologizing to Kosuke Fukudome later. Yes, it's all about small victories these days over here on the North Side. So have at it, amateur Internet copy editors of the world. How should this caption read?Follow the jump for winners from the last C-a-C, featuring Boston's owners: Red Sox owners take refuge in the Green Monster 1st — Samuel. "OMG, it's Manny's pregnancy tests!" 2nd — halls4u. "Owners scout possible locations for Damon statue."3rd — Matt. "We've got the Patriots on in the owners' lounge, come on in."HM — andrewscott448. "Well Tom, what'd you expect? We are in a recession." Bradenton Prep Academy faces questions of legitimacy, age [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:38 pm] The Bradenton (Fla.) Preparatory Academy is in trouble on multiple fronts: The school is in serious debt, the state of Florida doesn't recognize that it's teaching students in its current building and its acclaimed football program may be fielding players who have already graduated from high school. All those problems were brought to light in an investigation by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, which proved that Prep Learning Academy currently has no recognized physical campus after its prior home was lost to foreclosure last year. It doesn't even have the correct permit to operate a school in Florida and owes back pay of more than $25,000 to its teachers and more than $1 million in taxes to the U.S. government. Still, Prep Learning Academy has one of the most far-reaching and aggressive schedules of any private school football program in the country. The Patriots obliterated the defending Texas private school (TAPPS) champion Richardson Canyon Creek 55-0 last week. That thrashing was just the second stop on a season sojourn that will also take Prep to New Orleans and Minnesota, not to mention another stop in Texas. "I find it amazing that they can come up with all this money to send a team to Texas but they couldn't pay us," former teacher Mary Conway, one of 15 former staff preparing to sue the school for unpaid salary, told the Herald-Tribune. "I believe they have money. They just don't want to pay the former teachers." If suspicions about the program's finances weren't enough, Prep is also facing serious questions about its players, too. According to a story from the Bradenton Herald, Prep's other Texas foe, Redwater High, cancelled its game against the Patriots. Redwater called the meeting off after learning that Prep fields seven players who are too old to participate in high school football in Texas, two of whom have already graduated from high school. Redwater coach and athletic director Jeff Stine even cited Prep's overaged players Does another team have a Houston-type spoiler effort in them? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:21 pm] If this were a perfect world, the Houston Astros would be entering September with a slate full of important dates against contenders like the Padres, Giants, Phillies and Braves.Instead, they're looking at a schedule full of has-been and never-were teams just like their own selves. Only the Reds stand out among the sea of Cubs, Pirates and Nats, but the recent 'Stros sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals has almost pushed that Sept. 17-19 matchup of almost being meaningless. So it looks like the Astros will have to settle for our simple praise for not rolling over when facing the Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies the past two weeks. The Astros were a perfect 7-0 against the contenders, throwing a decent-sized wrench into their playoff plans. And it looks like we'll have to look toward other basement-dwellers to give managers the sinking feeling that former Astros skip Larry Dierker recalls from his days as a contender: "I remember that feeling from my days in dugout. I was fearful about losing to the Pirates or Brewers in September. On the one hand, it was an opportunity because we had more talent. But on the other, we felt like we had to win every game against them, because the rest of our games were with better teams." So which teams out there could play big spoiler roles in the final month? I have two potential picks, one for both the American and National League.In the NL, there's the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are nine games back in the NL West and 7 1/2 behind the Phillies in the NL wild card. They might be motivated by their longshot odds and have six games apiece against the Giants, Padres and the Rockies. In the AL, the Royals have six games left against the Twins, three against the White Sox and a four-game set against Tampa Bay to end the season. Zack Greinke always has the potential to turn a series and the Royals will have plenty of guys trying to earn roles for next season. (If only Mike Moustakas were getting his call Five unanswered preseason questions [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:16 pm] The final week of the 2010 preseason is upon us, though this will be to football what John Beck is to Rex Grossman (or something like that). We've seen most of what we're going to see from the starters, and now it's time for the low-round rookies and other fringe players to try desperately to work their way onto the final 53. Here are five questions this preseason has brought up in this particular mind:1. Will the Carolina Panthers ever score an offensive touchdown?Through three preseason games, the Panthers have run 199 plays from scrimmage and scored a grand total of zero offensive touchdowns. The only Panthers player to get in the end zone under any circumstances is running back Mike Goodson, and he did that on a kick return. The problems are all over the place - receiver Steve Smith is still out after breaking his arm playing flag football in the offseason, quarterbacks Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen have looked sub-decent at best, and that renowned Panthers power running game has gone "Pffft" as opposing defenses are able to put their focus there. The good news for the Panthers is that their defense is playing at a ridiculous pace right now - first in the NFL in total defense, second in points allowed, and first with 18 sacks. That's pretty impressive for a team with several new defensive starters. The Panthers might be able to eke out a few ugly wins early on, and Smith is expected back for the first regular-season game, but concerns have to be mounting.2. Will Jay Cutler survive the regular season?Last season, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler suffered a career-high 35 sacks (555 passing attempts). He was also hurried a league-leading 141 times by enemy defenders, according to Football Outsiders. That was the result of a subpar and injury-plagued offensive line. With most of that same line in place for 2010, and the addition of offensive coordinator Mike Martz (who provides higher offensive totals and larger sack percentages to every team he The top five unanswered questions of the preseason [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:16 pm] The final week of the 2010 preseason is upon us, though this will be to football what John Beck is to Rex Grossman (or something like that). We've seen most of what we're going to see from the starters, and now it's time for the low-round rookies and other fringe players to try desperately to work their way onto the final 53. Here are five questions this preseason has brought up in this particular mind:1. Will the Carolina Panthers ever score an offensive touchdown?Through three preseason games, the Panthers have run 199 plays from scrimmage and scored a grand total of zero offensive touchdowns. The only Panthers player to get in the end zone under any circumstances is running back Mike Goodson, and he did that on a kick return. The problems are all over the place - receiver Steve Smith is still out after breaking his arm playing flag football in the offseason, quarterbacks Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen have looked sub-decent at best, and that renowned Panthers power running game has gone "Pffft" as opposing defenses are able to put their focus there. The good news for the Panthers is that their defense is playing at a ridiculous pace right now - first in the NFL in total defense, second in points allowed, and first with 18 sacks. That's pretty impressive for a team with several new defensive starters. The Panthers might be able to eke out a few ugly wins early on, and Smith is expected back for the first regular-season game, but concerns have to be mounting.2. Will Jay Cutler survive the regular season?Last season, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler suffered a career-high 35 sacks (555 passing attempts). He was also hurried a league-leading 141 times by enemy defenders, according to Football Outsiders. That was the result of a subpar and injury-plagued offensive line. With most of that same line in place for 2010, and the addition of offensive coordinator Mike Martz (who provides higher offensive totals and larger sack percentages to every team he Montreal's Price talks new 2-year contract, expectations post-Halak [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:15 pm] What was it? What finally pushed restricted free agent Carey Price, 22, and the Montreal Canadiens to agree on a new 2-year, $5.5 million contract?Was it the Carey Price training camp "strike" talk earlier this week that his agent quickly denied and Price denied again today? Could it be the fact that Jaroslav Halak, the playoff hero who was traded to the St. Louis Blues as Montreal decided to keep Price, is returning to town this weekend for a charity autograph session and, we imagine, a media mobbing? Were they worried about losing Price to the siren's song of professional rodeo? (By the way, Price said today his rodeo season is done, ruining the chance to see him take down a steer in the afternoon and stop a Buffalo at night.) Whatever the motivation, it's finally done: The first year for $2.5 million and the second for $3 million. (s/t Tony Marinaro with the contract figures.) The $2.75 million cap hit is a full $1 million less than Halak's, who signed a 4-year deal with the Blues. On a conference call today, Price said both sides "wanted [the contract] a little bit shorter" and that it was "an appropriate amount of time for length." He said the contract duration was something both sides "cleared up right away." The 2-year contract positions Price to be a restricted free agent again in 2012 and potentially sign his next contract under a new CBA -- just like it did for RFAs David Perron, Sam Gagner and Erik Johnson. But for now, Price is the man between the pipes for Montreal, after Halak's trade cleared up the controversy. "I didn't know what to expect. I thought it was 50/50," he said of the Habs' goaltending decision this summer. Price acknowledged last season was a learning experience. Talking about how he shouldn't have been "down" emotionally as often as he was. Saying things like "ice time isn't given to you. It's earned." The Canadiens made the Eastern Conference finals on the Montreal's Price talks new two-year contract, expectations post-Halak [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:15 pm] What was it? What finally pushed restricted free agent Carey Price, 22, and the Montreal Canadiens to agree on a new two-year, $5.5 million contract?Was it the Carey Price training camp "strike" talk earlier this week that his agent quickly denied and Price denied again Thursday?Could it be the fact that Jaroslav Halak, the playoff hero who was traded to the St. Louis Blues as Montreal decided to keep Price, is returning to town this weekend for a charity autograph session and, we imagine, a media mobbing? Were they worried about losing Price to the siren's song of professional rodeo? (By the way, Price said Thursday his rodeo season is done, ruining the chance to see him take down a steer in the afternoon and stop a Buffalo at night.)Whatever the motivation, it's finally done: The first year for $2.5 million and the second for $3 million. (s/t Tony Marinaro with the contract figures.) The $2.75 million cap hit is a full $1 million less than Halak's, who signed a four-year deal with the Blues. On a conference call Thursday, Price said both sides "wanted [the contract] a little bit shorter" and that it was "an appropriate amount of time for length." He said the contract duration was something both sides "cleared up right away." The two-year contract positions Price to be a restricted free agent again in 2012 and potentially sign his next contract under a new CBA -- just like it did for RFAs David Perron, Sam Gagner and Erik Johnson. But for now, Price is the man between the pipes for Montreal, after Halak's trade cleared up the controversy. "I didn't know what to expect. I thought it was 50/50," he said of the Habs' goaltending decision this summer. Price acknowledged last season was a learning experience. Talking about how he shouldn't have been "down" emotionally as often as he was. Saying things like "ice time isn't given to you. It's earned." The Canadiens made the Eastern Conference finals on Huerta soaks in more of the brawl spotlight on TMZ [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:15 pm] In an odd way, Roger Huerta is proving you don't need the UFC marketing machine to promote yourself to casual and non-MMA fans. The former UFC prospect is only 1-1 since leaving the promotion but has gotten plenty of national attention. The reason? It wasn't exactly part of some grand plan. At 2:15 a.m., Huerta happened to stumble upon what looked like a man hitting a woman outside an Austin bar in Texas. Huerta stepped in to beat the snot out of the unsuspecting dude, who was reported to have been a former University of Texas linebacker. According to TMZ's Harvey Levin, the Huerta fight video was one of the biggest stories of that week on the site. Considering that TMZ is normally dealing with the likes of Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Justin Bieber, for anything concerning an MMA fighter to compete with that mix is pretty impressive. Huerta was invited to appear on TMZ's afternoon webcast and talked about the incident. "I approached the man and said, "You don't do that. You don't hit a woman," said Huerta. "The video doesn't show what happened next, but he said, '[Expletive] you. I'll knock any [expletive] out I want.' The tape also doesn't show that he swung at me two or three times right after that." "All you see is me bouncing up and down. He has already swung at me at that point. Then the guy takes off running. I chased him down and you saw what else happened ... I can't talk about what exactly happened because it's a legal matter. If the same thing occurred, I would do it all over again. I have no regrets." It's interesting to note that Huerta had to often restrain himself from going into too much detail. There are still plenty of legal hoops to jump through. Huerta says he do it again but you wonder if he'd like to erase the end of the brawl where he apparently got pretty vicious? The appearance actually makes you wonder who's handling his case. It's a little surprising that a lawyer would allow him to s Thursday night live blog: Get your double entendre on [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:13 pm] True, South Carolina's opening-night shindig with N.C. State last year was an unmitigated disaster, limping in on a final score of 7-3. And yes, South Carolina's opening-night shindig with N.C. State in 2008 was also something of a clunker, featuring zero first-half touchdowns and just 10 total points through the first three quarters before the Gamecocks piled it on a little late for a 34-0 shutout. And of course South Carolina's opening-night shindig with Mississippi State in 2006 was an ugly one, too, ending 15-0 for the Gamecocks. You see the pattern: Carolina hasn't allowed a touchdown in three straight Thursday-night wins to open the last four seasons, but it hasn't scored many of its own, either. But scoring isn't the point, necessarily. The late-breaking absence of a pair of South Carolina starters still under NCAA scrutiny isn't the point. Football is the point. What: Thursday night live blog. Southern Miss at South Carolina and Pittsburgh at Utah on the early shift, USC at Hawaii possibly bringing it home for the insomniacs. As always the late slot is a game-time decision. When: Gamecocks-Golden Eagles kicks at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN; blog kicks roughly simultaneously. Pittsburgh-Utah fans, watching another 7:30 kickoff on Versus, are encouraged to interlope. USC and Hawaii do their thing at the ungodly hour of 11 p.m. ET, which may require more midnight oil than we have to burn. Who: You and all your rowdy friends. Come loud, proud and resolved to giggle like a 13-year-old every time Rece Davis refers to South Carolina as "the 'Cocks." (Don't worry: Jesse Palmer will be giggling, too.) How: Hit "Watch Now," enter comments into the available box and do your part to bridge partisan gaps in your community. Why: Because lobbing snarky barbs at earnest adolescents never gets old. And after eight long, looooooooong months ... it is time, grasshopper. It is time.<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_m Opening Time: Who is Cory Luebke? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:05 pm] We're back to a full slate of games on Friday with 30 starters to choose from. Only 29 are listed on our grid below; when the Marlins make a decision on who will replace Ricky Nolasco, we'll add to the ranks. Cory Luebke of San Diego is someone you'll want to scout and consider in deeper leagues. The Padres need to figure out a September rotation plan with so many of their young starters getting near scary inning counts, and Luekbe has been solid in Triple-A this year (2.97 ERA, 1.023 WHIP, 2.59 K/BB). Sure, he's a little old for the level at 25, but that doesn't mean he can't be successful in the pitcher-coddling NL West. To the grid: 1. Clay Buchholz (CWS) – Red Sox lucky they never shipped him. 2. Jered Weaver (@Oak) – You love him in a roomy park. 3. Gio Gonzalez (LAA) – He might even be the ace here someday, honest. 4. Daniel Hudson (Hou) – Sorry it went down like this, Chicago. 5. Matt Garza (@Bal) – He's gotten his stuff back over last month. 6. Cole Hamels (Mil) – Some runs and support from the mates would be nice. 7. Brandon Morrow (@NYY) – A cruel place to make his final start of 2010. 8. Jaime Garcia (Cin) – No signs of fatigue yet. 9. Zack Greinke (Det) – The Tigers no longer scare anyone. 10. Brett Myers (@Ari) – The most underrated pitcher in the NL. 11. John Danks (@Bos) – Wrong time for a slump, wrong park for a slump. 12. Bronson Arroyo (@StL) – Hope the fly balls stay in the park. 13. Chad Billingsley (SF) – He he an ace or just a fantasy tease? 14. R.A. Dickey (@ChC) – Knuckler in Wrigley, I'm a touch nervous. 15. Nick Blackburn (Tex) – At least it's the warmth of home. 16. Luke French (Cle) – In Safeco against a modest opponent. 17. Cory Luebke (Col) – Can he work his way into September plans? 18. Randy Wells (NYM) – Really just a No. 4 or No. 5 starter. 19. Derek Holland (@Min) – A shame they can't keep him healthy. 20. Livan Hernand The 10-man rotation, starring Andrew Bogut's robot arm [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:00 pm] A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.C: Bucksketball. Is it time to start worrying about Andrew Bogut's return?PF: HP. Breaking down positions by shot locations.SF: iLTHY. Boston gets its own Delonte West donuts shirt.SG: Julia Segel. Hey, Magic Johnson suits are pretty cheap. (via ShareBros)PG: Celtics Hub. Doc Rivers hopes the Celtics' Game 7 loss hurts for a long, long time.6th: Complex. All the NBA Twitter mess-ups you could ever hope to remember. 7th: PBT. Speaking of Twitter silliness, DaSean Butler tweeted a very weird children's story.8th: Sportress of Blogitude. Nice Sears action, LeBron James.9th: Daily Thunder. Even Radhouane Slimane couldn't block every one of Russel Westbrook's dunks.10th: Salt City Hoops. Hard to believe, but Jazz fans aren't excited about the possibility they might sign Francisco Elson.Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Holler at me at trey.kerby (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter. Benjani has some not so shocking revelations about Man City [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 3:48 pm] Like Stephen Ireland before him, Benjani isn't pleased with being unceremoniously dumped by Man City for more expensive and just straight up more players. And now that he's completed his move to Blackburn, he's eager to affirm all the stereotypes about his former club.From the Telegraph: Asked what it was like to be at City when they were spending so much money, Benjani said: ''It sounds great, but in football money is not everything. ''What is needed is people who can hang around and love you to be there. ''Sometimes you are loved to be there because of money, which is not good. I would prefer to be here without having all those facilities, be happy and trust everyone around you.'' Asked if he thought some players at City were interested in money more than anything else, Benjani said: ''Yes, it seemed like that and behind the scenes, there is no trust. ''I would prefer to play for a club where you are being trusted and you trust everyone around you.'' And then Big Sam stole his wallet.Seriously though, while there probably is a healthy mix of sour grapes behind Benjani's comments, it seems he's forgetting that Premier League clubs are businesses and not groups of BFFs out for a kick about. Still, if this sentiment pervades among Man City's current players and not just their former players, they'll be forced to change their approach just as fast as they enacted it. Photo: Getty Images Faith in Friars: Does a 7-game losing streak signal Padres doom? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 3:45 pm] The San Diego Padres lost their seventh straight game Wednesday night and, even though they still lead the NL West by four games in the loss column, Joe Posnanski fears the worst for Adrian Gonzalez (helmet) and manager Bud Black. Though he praises the Friars for their solid starting pitching, their solid defense and their ridiculous lockdown bullpenitentiary, Poz is still not sure how the team with the No. 21 offense in the majors had the best record in the NL until last week.Choosing to not mince words, Posnanski went and compared the first-place Padres to a recent squad from his hometown team, the Kansas City Royals.Losing seven straight in a pennant race is bad, but there's no need for slurs, sir!Via Joe Po's Curiously Long Posts:"In 2003, the Kansas City Royals were in first place until the end of August. The thing that made it wonderful and baffling all at once is that nobody was quite sure how they were doing it. It was like a magic trick. I was watching them every single day, and I had no idea how it was done. Only, it really wasn't like a magic trick. At a Vegas magic show, when you don't know how something is done you think, 'This guy's is a great magician.' In baseball, when you don't know how something is done you think, 'Oh boy, this ain't gonna last.'"Posnanski's opinion is probably uniform with most of America, which has been waiting on the Great San Diego Collapse since May. And then June. Later, July. Into August. And everything after.Speaking of the Counting Crows, the headline of Posnanski's post — "The Padres and a Long September" — recalls one of their hits, "A Long December."But here's the thing about "A Long December": It's actually an optimistic tune. Aside from "Mr. Jones," most Counting Crows tend to be good musical companions for the apocalypse. "December," though sad-sounding, has an upbeat lyric right out of the batter's box.A long December, and there's reason to bel Even Kevin Love has no idea what David Kahn is doing [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 3:00 pm] The Internet has certainly had its fun at the expense of Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn. Between constantly acquiring point guards, then doing the same with small forwards, then giving Darko Milicic a $20 million contract, and then talking crazy any time he's in front of a camera, he's made it pretty easy. But maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe we should let things play out for the Timberwolves. After all, none of us are actually there with Kahn, trying to understand his process. We base our opinions off reports and actions, but maybe if we were around the team Kahn's plan would make more sense.Or maybe not. Because according to Kevin Love, the plan is pretty unclear even if you're a part of the Timberwolves. From Sports Illustrated's Paul Forrester:SI.com: What's the Timberwolves' plan for improvement?Love: I hope we have a plan. I don't know what it is at this point. We obviously made a lot of moves, but I'm out there playing and thinking between the lines, not making decisions. I'm just trying to hope for the best and that we keep getting better as a team.All that stuff I said earlier about giving Kahn a chance because we're not privvy to the ins and outs of his thought process? Nevermind. If one of the biggest pieces of the team doesn't even know if there is a plan for the future, that's probably a bad sign. What's worse is that a big part of Kahn's mythical plan hinges on Ricky Rubio coming to the Timberwolves some time. No one is really sure when, but the T-Wolves are really planning on that happening. However, even if he does and even if he's really good, that doesn't mean Minnesota's roster will make any more sense. I mean, adding another point guard to a team full of point guards doesn't make the team have less point guards. Quite the opposite, actually.Who knows, though? Maybe in the next two years Kahn finds trading partners for all of his duplicate pieces and is able to use Minnesota's cap space After pulling out of Maia bout, Alan Belcher still having eye trouble [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 2:59 pm] UFC middleweight Alan Belcher was on a roll. After wins over Patrick Cote and Wilson Gouveia, he was training for a bout with Demian Maia when he had to pull out of the fight. He had a detached retina and had to undergo surgery in late July to have his eye corrected. Now, more than a month later, he is still having problems with his vision.According to his Twitter, Belcher again had to have surgery after experiencing blurry vision. His wife said that he is in pain, and that the next few weeks are important in seeing how his vision progresses. |