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Oklahoma Sooners Linebacker Death Is An Accident

Oklahoma Sooners Death

The Oklahoma Sooner’s linebacker Austin Box had several prescription painkillers as well as an anti-anxiety drug in his system when he suddenly died, according to a report released Tuesday by the medical examiner’s office.

The 22-year old’s death two months ago was ruled accidental.  The report says the combination of drugs caused likely pulmonary edema or fluid in his lungs along with aspiration pneumonia which is an inflammation of the lungs which comes from inhaling foreign substances.

The sports world has lost too many athletes way too soon. Here are a few:

”There is no greater pain than the loss of a child,” Box’s parents, Gail and Craig Box, said in a statement. ”The pain is intensified by knowing that the death of your child could have been prevented.

”Anyone that knew Austin would give testament to his pure heart. The love and pride we feel for our son cannot be diminished by the cause of his death. He gave us so much joy and so many wonderful memories. He will forever be `Mommy’s baby’ and `Daddy’s little boy.”’

It was a friend of Box’s that found him unresponsive in his El Reno home.  He called authorities the morning of May 19.  He told a dispatcher that Box was not breathing and that Box had taken some pain pills.  He later told police officers that he thought Box had overdosed.

An autopsy of Box’s body shows the painkillers morphine, oxymorphone, hydrocodone, oxycodone and hydromorphone in his system.  The anti-anxiety drug Alprazolam was also found in Box’s body.  The report says Box’s medical conditions included cardiomegaly or an enlarged heart and a chronic pain history.

NFL Dooms Day Is Drawing Near

NFL Dooms Day

As each day passes so does the hope of an NFL season being played in 2011.  Arguments between the NFL Players’ Association and the NFL over a collective bargaining agreement have gone on much longer than most fans want to know.  A decision needs to be made some as time is quickly running out to save the season.

When the season traditionally starts is getting closer and it seems as though nothing has happened since the end of the last season.  Players and owners are continuing to argue over dividing $9 billion in revenue and a lockout.  This has kept players from being at events in their own respective team’s facilities.  It has now dragged on for more than four months.

The individuals involved in the labor dispute met all during last week in New York yet nothing was resolved in the private meetings.  NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell took the weekend off and plan to resume negotiations on Monday.

These meetings will be without the mediator of the labor dispute Judge Arthur J. Boylan.  He scheduled a mediated session for July 19 in Minneapolis while encouraging both sides to keep talking until that time.

As the struggle to agree on a collective bargaining agreement continues things are becoming more dire outside of the meetings.  The first preseason game between Chicago Bears and the St. Louis Rams in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game is supposed to happen on August 7^th.  Just a few short weeks after the Minneapolis meeting planned by Judge Boylan.  Some teams have also cancelled training camps, which usually draws fans and helps tourism.

Rangers Fan’s Plunging Death Docuses On Baseball Safety

Texas Rangers Fan Died

A Texas Rangers fan that died while trying to catch a ball thrown by outfielder Josh Hamilton is a tragic story for all baseball players and fans.

‘‘It’s a horrible feeling ­because he’s a human ­being and a baseball fan, and I think everybody should be thinking, praying for them,’’ White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. ‘‘You don’t want to even see a foul ball hit anybody. You wish that never happened. Unfortunately, it did. It’s a very sad situation. A very sad moment for baseball.’’

The accident occurred Thursday night during the second inning of the game between the Rangers and Oakland Athletics at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Hamilton retrieved a foul ball off the bat of the Conor Jackson from the A’s and tossed it to the fan. But the gentleman, who was at the game with his 6-year-old son, fell 20 feet when stretching to catch the ball. The 39-year-old man was a firefighter and he was conscious for a time but died later at a hospital.

‘‘It’s unfortunate, and it’s sad,’’ Alex Rios, Sox outfielder said. ‘‘They [fans] need to be a little more careful when they’re reaching out for balls. People have to be more careful and judge the situation a little better ­because it’s just a ball. The guy lost his life for a ball, and that’s a shame.’’

The incident has really affected Hamilton.

‘‘That’s the first thing that went through my mind,’’ Guillen said. ‘‘Obviously it’s not his fault. I hope people understand that. Fans, ­media people have to understand that Josh had nothing to do with it. I don’t know him very well, but I hope he can forget. It will be hard, but he can’t do anything about it.’’

‘‘Obviously you’re ­going to feel bad for him, but there’s nothing you can do,’’ Rios added. ‘‘You don’t know what’s going to happen when you throw balls in the stands. I know how he has to be feeling. He’s got to be feeling bad, but it’s not his fault.’’

Officials from Major League Baseball talked about the matter Friday to see if new guidelines should be established for ballparks.

‘‘At this point, there’s nothing,’’ Sox senior vice president of communications Scott Reifert said. ‘‘If you look around the 30 ballparks, each one is different and each profile is different, so I think it’s difficult to say, ‘Hey, here’s a rule for all 30 ballparks.’ In our case, the renovations we did about 12 years ago actually brought fans right down to the field, so in many cases you’re eyeball to eyeball with the player.

‘‘Obviously you want as much interaction as you can have between the fans and the players, and you just try to balance that with fan safety.

‘‘What a tragedy. You have to stop and realize that for the family and the people ­involved, the player involved, it’s a terrible tragedy out of a moment that occurs how many times a night at every ballpark.’’

Hines Ward, Steelers Receiver Arrested In DeKalb County For DUI

Hines Ward Arrested

Former UGA receiver Hines Ward who now plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol on Saturday in DeKalb County on the Buford Highway.

According to the DeKalb police, Ward was apparently stopped around 2:00 in the morning on Buford Highway close to Briarwood Road because an officer saw that his Aston Martin failed to maintain its lane and hit a curb.

Ward failed the field sobriety test that he was given and he also refused to take a breathalyzer test.  He told the officers he had only two drinks at a downtown club.

A passenger in Ward’s car was not drinking so he was allowed to drive the car instead of having the car impounded.

Ward was cooperative during the stop and was later taken to the DeKalb County Jail.  The Jail records indicate the 35 year old Ward was booked into the jail at 3:41 AM and he was later released on $1,000 bond.

The jail records have Pittsburgh as Ward’s current home but he also has another home in Sandy Springs.

When he was reached on Saturday afternoon Ward told the AJC the he was “with my family right now, so I can’t talk right now. I’ll put out a statement later today.”

This arrest is not Ward’s first serious traffic charge in DeKalb.  He was charged with speeding and reckless driving in April of 2006.  He paid a $1,350 fine for speeding but the reckless driving charges were dropped.

Friday Ward had posted on Facebook that he had a bad texting while driving habit and wanted fans to help him stop that habit.

Maryland Football NCAA Violations, Imposing Penalties And Limits Practice

Maryland Football Violations

The University of Maryland has imposed penalties upon itself which include limiting football practice time during the fall semester due to secondary violations which occurred last season under the coach at that time Ralph Friedgen, which was announced by the school Saturday morning.

Some of the violations involve the “countable athletically-related hours” which players had during the fall semester of 2010.  The athletic department found an extra 1.25 hours per week were used last year over the allowed 20 hours per week.  The report also mentioned “some administrative interns involved with football also were in attendance during non-mandatory summer workouts prior to last season.”

Maryland reported these violations to the NCAA and the ACC and recommended imposed penalties during this season.  The football team will be limited to only 17.5 hours of activity per week during this first semester. The penalty will be imposed during weeks when fall classes are in session.

Also, the football administrative interns will only be observing and participating in on-field activities during the preseason practice period of August.  Graduate assistants are prohibited from participating in August for 16 practices.

Practice season regulations as well as rules-education sessions regarding playing and rules involving permissible summer activities will also be conducted with all players, coaches and football-related staff.

Letters of admonishment will be sent to all non-coaching staff members still employed as well as two Friedgen assistants retained by new coach Randy Edsall, wide receivers coach Lee Hull and offensive line coach Tom Brattan.

“We have already put processes and controls in place to better ensure things like this don’t happen in the future,” Kevin Anderson Athletic Director said in a statement. “It’s fundamental to me and to the department that we operate with integrity and do things the right way as we move forward. Our view is that we need to deal with the past so we can be better tomorrow.”

The athletic department heard Friday that the NCAA accepted these penalties as being sufficient.

South Korea Wins 2018 Winter Olympics Bid

2018 Winter Olympics

On Wednesday South Korea was selected to be the host site for the 2018 Winter Olympics.  South Korea beat out two European challengers: Germany and France.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) made the announcement in Durban, South Africa.  The decision comes after months of intense lobbying by a South Korean contingent.  This included a visit to the selection city by South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak, who made a delivery pitch to the voting panel.

South Korea beat bids by Annecy, France and Munich, Germany.  Early in the day all three cities were allowed to make 45-minute presentations which were followed by 15 minutes of questions prior to the IOC casting their votes through secret ballots.

The Olympics in 2018 will be held in Pyeongchang which is a town in South Korea’s third largest county by the same name.  The games will be held in the scenic Taebaek mountain region which is famous there for winter sports.

Pyeongchang being chosen comes after two close South  Korean defeated attempts for the 2010 and 2014 games, which went to Canada’s Vancouver and Russia’s Sochi.

Earlier reports had placed South Korea’s bid as a slim favorite over Germany, while France was a distant third choice.

The choice of Pyeongchang for the 2018 means the Winter Games will be held in Asia for the first time since 1998 games were held in Nagano, Japan.

In a bit of brinksmanship, both Germany and South Korea sent national skating queens to possibly help sway the vote.  Katarina Witt who is a two-time Olympic figure skating champ led the Munich bidding committee.  Kim Yu-na, a 2010 gold medal figure skater served as an honorary diplomat for South Korea’s efforts.

South Korean celebrated their selection during a concert at Seoul city Hall.  “It gave me goose bumps when I heard that we got it,” said Jeong shin-don, a 40-year old white-collar worker, who waited quite a few hours for the announcement. “I’m beyond being excited.”

Faculty lecturer To Be Vice-Chair Of Special Olympics In Great Britain

Special Olympics Great Britain

The Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB) recently appointed Jim Blair, a senior lecturer on the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences as their new vice-chair.

SOGB is a registered charity and is the largest provider of year round sports training and competition in Great Britain which is formed for programs that focus on adults and children with learning disabilities.  The charity is currently offering 26 sports for more than 8,000 adults and children using a network of 135 clubs throughout the United Kingdom.

In addition to being the vice-chair of Special Olympics Great Britain, Mr. Blair is also the organization’s Clinical Director for Health Promotion.  That role has him involved with the healthy athletes screening in Germany as well as at the Great Britain Games in Leicester back in 2009 and the European Games that took place in Warsaw last year.  He just finished setting up a Health and Well Being Forum.

Jim spoke, “Through participation in the Special Olympics programme, athletes gain a significant sense of worth through socialising and achieving personal dreams and ambitions that cannot be easily met through other means. The healthy athletes programme ensures that people’s unmet health needs are identified and a plan of action put in place with and for the athlete.”

In this new position, Jim is eager the benefits of being involved in Special Olympics are even more widely recognized as an vital component of a fulfilling, comprehensive and active healthy life. Jim is also devoted to assisting in increasing the organization to allow more people with a learning disability as well as their families and the volunteers are engaged in sports activities.

Brian Wilson Cranky Closer Has Dugout Tantrum

Brian Wilson Gets Cranky

Brian Wilson is well known for his beard.  He is also known for his World Series-clinching pitch and best 72 saves in the major league since the earlier part of last year.  He is also known for his all-around craziness.

Friday he was entertaining in a different way by offering up the most thrilling reaction to blowing a save this year.

Wilson in his own words gave himself “30 seconds to absolutely lose it.”  He did not disappoint after exiting the game during the Giant’s ninth inning of what was eventually a 4-3 victory over the Tigers.

Part of Wilson’s ranting included flinging the Giant’s Gatorade cooler in the dugout.  He took a bat and with a running start he tomahawked the cooler while it was sitting on the ground.  Then for good measure he smacked the wall with the bat.

He then tossed the bat away and continued to stomp for a few more minutes.  He then picked up the bat again and decided to drop it with contempt.

Then to top of the ranting he punched an object which was either a tray of bubble gum or sunflower seeds with his beloved right pitching hand.

When asked later how his hand was, Wilson replied, “My hand’s fine. Ask the wall.”

The entire scense made Carlos Zambrano look amateur.

Wilson was then asked if it will be hard to watch replays on SportsCenter.  “I don’t watch SportsCenter, so it’s not going to be too difficult,” Wilson replied. “I mean, why would that be difficult? I squared it up.”

‘Fireworks & Fights & Fireworks’ Appearing This Weekend

Fireworks and Fights and Fireworks

While there will be plenty of fireworks in the skies across Mid-Michigan this weekend, there will also be a few fists flying too.

Both Sides Fail To Reach A New Deal In NBA Lockout

NBA lockout

NBA players locked out the owners according to union chief Billy Hunter as the two sides failed to reach an agreement through collective bargaining.

This action on behalf of the NBA now means that half of the major professional sports in the USA are in lock out.  The National Football League locked its players out in March.  The two sides had been discussing a deal this week, trying really hard to work out a new deal.

After a three-hour meeting on Thursday, the National Basketball Association along with its players couldn’t even come close to closing the wide gap which still remains in their positions.  All business of the league is officially on hold including Friday’s opening of the free agency period.  As of now it is possible that games will eventually be enough lost.   The most recent lockout reduced the 1998-99 season to only 50 games in their schedule.  This was the only time the NBA had missed any games because of a stop in work.

“We tried to avoid the lockout; unfortunately, we couldn’t reach a deal,” Matt Bonner, union executive committee member stated.

Both sides remain a good deal apart on almost every major issue, including salary caps and salaries to revenues and revenue sharing.