Off the Wall: News & Notes

A few stories, I have found today that I thought were interesting to pass along.

**According to www.profootballtalk.com, ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown has yanked Emmitt Smith from the coverage squad and he will be replaced in studio by Cris Carter. The squad as of now will include Chris Berman, Mike Ditka, Cris Carter, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, and Chris Mortenson. You can read the post here.

**A sporting news blog recently took a look at what it would like with Brett Favre playing for several other teams in a Madden Simulation.

**WNBA News!! The WNBA has received the first A-plus given in Richard Lapchick's annual diversity report card on race and gender.

**Disgraced ref Tim Donaghy has been sentenced to 15 months in prison today. More thoughts to follow on this one.

**Mark Schlabach of www.espn.com, wrote up an article of the top 10 most hated college football programs as of today. #1 is THEE Ohio State. Read the full list here.

A quick comment

First off, thanks to Tim Dierkes, www.mlbtraderumors.com, for reppin' the blog a bit and a big thanks to all the new readers as I try to slowly but surely expand this blog to bigger and better things.

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"Disgraced basketball referee Tim Donaghy told investigators in the NBA betting probe that relationships among officials, coaches and players "affected the outcome of games," his attorney said." (this according to espn.com, and I'm sure multiple other media outlets). So, Mr. Donaghy has come out and said that he did indeed alter and affect the outcomes of games that he did indeed officiate. My initial thought, that's disgusting. In a time where scandals are running rampant through sports, some bigger than others, I was hoping that this whole Donaghy thing would sort of disappear. When you have Spygate annoying the football community and steroids not only being linked to baseball but other Olympic athletes, and not to mention the recruiting scandals taking place in college sports (i.e. Kelvin Sampson, OJ Mayo, Reggie Bush, etc.), the sporting world and fanbase is flat out getting tired of it.

Could this be a case of Donaghy singing like a canary to try and lessen his punishment or is he indeed saying the truth? The case is set for July 14th while facing maximum 25 years in prison.

What do you make of the Donaghy situation? Do you believe what he is saying?

Do comment below.