Her Sports Blog

Michael Vick lives in a prison in Kansas, making 12 cents an hour while plotting his return to the NFL. His houses and farms will soon be gone, the two yachts are history, and he’s down to his last couple of Range Rovers.

A race horse he bought for $60,000 died of colic, the Atlanta Falcons are still trying to hit him up for millions they paid him, and the IRS and the state of Georgia want nearly $1 million in back taxes.

In 2006 he made nearly $15 million. Recently he reported total income of $12.89 for an entire month.

That’s $12.89 as in 12 dollars and 89 cents. This from someone who, before things went terribly bad, categorized a $1,000 check to his mother as “chump change.”

The numbers are cold, but they have to warm the heart of any animal lover sickened by what once went on at Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels. To many, seeing Vick stripped of the material things he and his fellow millionaire athletes like to enjoy is almost as good as watching him go to prison in the first place

Best of all, the dogs who survived the terror of Vick’s dogfighting ring are having the last laugh.

They’re the stars of a recent National Geographic Channel television special. They live in comfort in a Utah ranch, thanks to $928,000 Vick agreed to contribute to finance their care.

And now they have their own wine.

Yes, there’s Meryl, looking anything but ferocious on a bottle of Syrah. And there’s Lewis, peeking out from the front of another Vicktory Dog bottle.

Maybe Vick can pick up a $40 bottle when he gets out of prison next July, assuming things go as planned. If he’s careful about not spending his prison earnings in the commissary, he could be paroled with enough to buy a couple of them.

He shouldn’t drink too much, though. Because he’s still got some football to play.

Buried in the hundreds of pages of paper detailing Vick’s financial woes the other day in federal bankruptcy court was the declaration that not only does Vick expect to be reinstated in the NFL upon his release but also believes he will “be able to earn a substantial living” playing quarterback once again.

Good luck with that.

Just what team he believes will employ him to do so wasn’t mentioned, but the Falcons are surely out. They severed their ties with the quarterback they once were sure would lead them to a Super Bowl and are now being led by a quarterback who has been so good in his rookie season that he just might.

Vick is supposed to be released July 20, so he could be out just in time for the opening of preseason camps. But how many teams are so desperate for a quarterback that they would risk the ire of PETA-types and other animal activists to sign an ex-con who admitted to doing some heinous things?

The other question is how much would they risk for a quarterback who has a career passing rating of 75.7, fumbles the ball once every 10 times he carries it, and hasn’t played a down in two years. Quarterbacks who could run were once the rage in the NFL, but most teams today look for the traditional pocket passer.

If a team did take a chance on Vick, it would likely be for little or no guaranteed money with incentives kicking in only if he produces—something that can never be certain in the NFL, where injuries and age can quickly take their toll. Even then, Vick won’t keep all his salary because under his bankruptcy plan he must pay part of any future earnings to creditors.

Indeed, Vick’s financial mess is as much a cautionary tale to his fellow athletes as his criminal woes are.

He has assets of $16 million but owes creditors $20.3 million. His attorneys had to hire forensic accountants to find out where the money went, $18 million of it over the last two years alone as Vick bounced from one business deal to another and seemed to hire financial advisers he met standing in line at the supermarket.

Flush with bonus money from the Falcons, Vick bought houses by the handful, invested in a rental car franchise in Atlanta and poured money into a liquor store and restaurant. He hired friends, gave away money and cars, and could never say no to his mother, who got $700 for an Easter Egg hunt one year and $317,000 for a new church building the next.

Now he sits in a prison in Kansas after a staggering and quick fall from the top. Once a favorite of fans who couldn’t buy enough of his No. 7 jerseys he’s now vilified and hated by millions who will never forgive the despicable things he and his buddies did to their dogs.

A comeback is still possible, but my guess is that this story will not end well. Upon his release from prison, the odds are Vick will spend more time dodging creditors than defensive linemen.

The dogs are a different story. Those that survived will live in comfort the rest of their lives.

And for that, we should all raise a glass of Lewis red in celebration.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-timdahlberg-111508&prov=ap&type=lgns

LAS VEGAS – Brock Lesnar won the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight title in stunning fashion on Saturday at UFC 91 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, forcing a referee stoppage of legendary champion Randy Couture at 3:07 of the second round.

Lesnar, the former NCAA wrestling champion who became a superstar in World Wrestling Entertainment, vindicated himself as a mixed martial artist by defeating one of the sport’s greatest fighters.

Lesnar (3-1) landed a booming right hand that sent Couture tumbling backward and onto his back in the center of the ring. Lesnar pounced immediately and jumped on top of his 45-year-old foe, pummeling him with fists and elbows before referee Mario Yamasaki stopped it.

“They are some big-ass ham hocks coming at you,” Couture said.

The first round was an even and cautious battle, much of it spent with the two former collegiate wrestling stars battling for position along the cage.

Couture’s plan was to try to stand and move and wear Lesnar down, but Lesnar’s stand-up was significantly improved even from where it was when he met Heath Herring in his last out, in August at UFC 87.

“I believe in hard work and that it pays off, honest to God,” Lesnar said. “I may come across as a cocky SOB, but I’m confident. That’s what the Lord gave me, my body and my mind.”

He needed his mind to remain composed against Couture, a master game planner who was fighting for the first time in 15 months after a legal dispute with UFC. Lesnar, who appeared nervous at the beginning of the bout, never made the big mistake, like he did when he met ex-champion Frank Mir in his UFC debut in February, and he capitalized when he had his chance.

He won the belt in his fourth fight, which, ironically, was when Couture captured the heavyweight belt for what would be the first of three times when he defeated Maurice Smith.

Lesnar was able to neutralize Couture’s wrestling ability and was using his size and weight to wear down Couture.

“I can’t believe it,” Lesnar said. “I want to thank [UFC president] Dana White, the UFC and I’d like to thank this guy, Randy Couture. It takes a lot of balls to take a year off and come back and fight a young buck like me.”

Lesnar will face the winner of the Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Mir bout, which will be held at UFC 92 on Dec. 27 in the same arena, sometime next year for the undisputed title. Nogueira won the interim belt by defeating Tim Sylvia when Couture was in the midst of his legal dispute with the UFC.

In the top undercard bout, lightweight Ken Florian earned a title shot with a first-round submission victory over Joe Stevenson.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-mainevent111508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

From kids to adults Sports are important for all. Everyone should exercise or play sports because human body is just like a machine and we know very well what happens if we don’t use a machine for a long time or don’t polish it regularly, like every machine human body also needs maintenance in the form of exercise. So playing some sports is just like polishing your body.

Other benefits

There are many other benefits of sports but a few of them are given below: 

1.       Chance to hone your skills:

Sports provide you with a chance to use your hidden skills; enhance them and if you are devoted enough to the sport you play than you can show those skills to the whole world, and make your name remain forever.

2.       Endurance:

Sports men are physically very strong and we know in every sport sometimes due to mistake of other players we often get injured and being so powerful it is hard to show patience but sportsmen are told how to tolerate such mistakes.

3.       Strength:

Every Sports keeps your body in shape, provides you with strong muscles and also increases your stamina besides providing strength to your body sports also strengthens your mind and makes it active for daily tasks.

4.       Protection from deceases:

By playing any sports you can protect your body from many deceases we all know weak people get ill most often than strong and healthy people and this is because your body contains a system which protects it from bacteria and other germs this system is called immune system. if you have healthy body you definitely have strong immune system and vice versa. 

I am sure you all have seen the commercials and heard all the hype about tonight’s Ultimate Fighting PPV. The biggest match on the card is Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar. While I enjoy occasionally watching wrestling I am a huge fan of ultimate fighting always have been.

I have one problem with this fight as I am sure a few people or maybe more do. For the life of me I can not understand how in the hell did Brock end up facing Randy? He has had 2 fights in UFC & he is 1-1 he lost his first fight to Frank Mir who I am sure we can all agree is a pretty good fighter. Brock won his second match which was against Heath Herring who lets all be honest he isn’t the best fighter he has had more losses then wins.

So lets match up Randy & Brock’s MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) Records shall we Randy is 16-8-0 while Brock is 2-1-0.  While Brock was wrestling in WWE I saw a few of his matches granted he is a good wrestler which can help him in the octagon but here there are no pin falls you have submission & knockouts so the F5 he used in wrestling isn’t going to help him here. 

There are a lot of fighters who deserve a shot against Randy but Brock surely isn’t one of them. Dana White is always saying how these fighters need to prove themselves and prove they have what it takes to be in the UFC, well Brock hasn’t done that for me and for him to have a title shot after only two fights makes what Dana White says a joke. I am sure some of the fighters there are pissed that Brock has jumped ahead of them and gotten a shot at Randy I think he got it more by name then anything else.

So lets fast forward here and see what ending outcome of all this could be. The winner of Couture vs Lesnar goes on to face(well is suppose to but things can change) the winner of Mir vs Nogueira for the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship the reason they are doing this is because Nogueira is only the UFC interim Heavyweight champion. When its all said & done the two winners will fight in a match to unify the titles.  In the end I don’t think Brock deserves to even be in contention by that is just my two cents…