We have all been thinking it for the past year, or so, and finally someone has said it.  I’m just glad that someone was Freddie Roach, and not myself.  After all, Mayweather is a lot less likely to punch a 51-year-old man dealing with Parkinson’s disease than a 28-year-old male blogger.

Check it out.

Hat Tip – [Sweater Punch]

Does this all sound somewhat strange to you?  Well what else would you expect from a Taiwanese animated news story?

Check it out!

With a member of his entourage recording, Mayweather took the opportunity to call out Pacquiao, challenging him to take a drug test and sign the contract so that the two world-class fighters can finally square off on May 5, 2012 to see who the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world really is.  Following his initial challenge, Mayweather began talking about how he is suspicious of Pacquiao’s sudden rise from being a “C+ fighter” who was losing to “C+” opponents, to the “A+ fighter” that he is today.  As you might expect, he believes it has more to do with the assistance of performance-enhancing drugs, rather than hard training and natural ability.

With regards to Mayweather’s challenge, I can’t help but agree with the 34-year-old.  Take the test and sign the papers Manny!  Mayweather vs Pacquiao is the fight that everyone wants to see.  Not Pacquiao vs Marquez 50.

It’s probably easy for young whipper-snappers to forget that after a career spent taking a beating, your best jab probably registers as a love tap unless you’re a burly, power-hitting heavyweight like Iron Mike. So we can understand Zelenoff’s frustration. What we can’t understand is what happens next.

After climbing back in the ring, Big Z delivers a sucker punch to a man old enough to be his grandfather. Some dude evens the score by totally housing Zelenoff. Weird? Awesome? Both? We can’t totally tell.

Hat Tip -  (Deadspin)

While sporting events are always intended to be spectacles to be embraced by fans and non-fans alike, it’s easy to get carried away and offer up some pretty asinine pre-game and halftime ceremonies (some official, some…not) that just make everyone groan.

Sometimes sporting events should just focus on sports and leave the pomp and circumstances for royal weddings.

9. James Miller (The Fan Man)

Someone didn’t get enough attention as a kid, so they decided to make up for it later in life by ruining sporting events with a parachute and a fan strapped to their back. Though James Miller has taken his unique brand of aeronautics to many sporting events, the funniest and most enjoyable appearance of his was actually supposed to precede the event, as all his other appearances had, but a technical glitch (possibly in his brain) didn’t see him crash the Bowe-Holyfield fight until the seventh round, at which point he got tangled in some overhead light cables, then was ripped from his parachute and beaten until he was unconscious.

Not one to learn his lesson, he pulled the same stunt at a Raiders game (A RAIDERS GAME!) a year later. Fortunately, he didn’t land in the stands on that one.

In 2002, he hung himself. Probably the smart move on his part.

8. Rappelling Down To Drop The Ceremonial First Puck

Talk about gilding the lily. I don’t know why this was scheduled for when it was. Could they not hold off until Veterans Day? More importantly, could they not have a military official, active or retired, just walk out there and toss the puck?

This seemed like one of those things that would have about a one-in-a-billion chance of going right. The fact that it went off is a testament to their good planning, but what are the odds this guy doesn’t somehow get stuck or fall, delaying the face-off 23 minutes?

7. Creed’s Halftime Show

This is actually a recurring thing, if you consider Nickelback and Creed the same band, which I do. I was in attendance for this debacle, which was pretty damn funny. In 2001, Creed played the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving game halftime show, which I guess is innocent enough. I mean, they’re horrible, but there’s nothing that can be done about how bad they were at that stage in the game, so it was easy enough to excuse yourself to a bar. Along with Creed were some Cirque de Soleil folks who were winding themselves up in fabric and doing their thing. There were also something like a thousand doves or pigeons that were to be let out upon the conclusion of Creed’s suckfest.

Well, everything went as planned. Creed played their predictably bad music, fireworks went off, and the doves were released. The only problem was…Cowboys Stadium was pretty much a dome. So if those pigeons wanted out, they would have to climb through the narrow opening.

The birds did not do that. They exited to the sides, which meant that they flew into windows, luxury boxes, and the concourse.

I haven’t seen birds released indoors since that day.

6. Any First Pitch By An Elderly Person Or Non-Athlete

Can’t we just have a collective cringe before the game and save these poor saps the embarrassment of demonstrating that they can’t make it to home plate without two-hopping it? Sure, when a celebrity is able to fire the ball into the strike zone with any sort of velocity, it’s a pleasant surprise, but otherwise it’s no fun for anyone involved. If you want to cash in on a celebrity appearance, that’s fine, but why make them perform an athletic action that will soon be upstaged by 22 professionals? It’s mean.

5. Celebrity Coin Flips (Again, Any One…Ever)
This one is just gratuitous. I know some traditionalists will argue that this is nice gesture to nod to a famous alumni or fan, but I just don’t care. Matthew McConaughey is gonna toss for Texas? Don’t care. Reggie White is gonna toss for a Packers game? That’s impressive, but only because he’s been dead for a decade. Ok. Let me revise my statement. Unless you’re going to have a reanimated person who has been dead for at least four years, don’t bother me with the coinflip. I would rather you just do it in private and get the game moving. I know there are commercials involved, though, so this will fall on deaf ears.

The only coin flip I would want to see on national TV is this one:

4. Prince Naseem Hamed’s Entrances

Boxing is certainly about spectacle, and that’s a large part of the sport’s charm. Michael Buffer (see below), weigh-ins (see below), and other gimmicks seem to now overshadow the fight at hand. However, no one has ever milked their time in the spotlight like Prince Naseem Hamed. It was cute at first, but after a while it just seemed tedious, desparate, and sad, like an adult trying get the wave going at a sporting event.

According to Wikipedia, the last bastion of all information, good and true, Hamed has entered fights “via a Chevrolet Impala, a flying carpet, an elevator, and a palanquin; re-enacting the video of Michael Jackson’s Thriller; and wearing a Halloween mask. He was also known for his front somersault over the top rope into the ring.”

You want to make some over the top spectacle? That’s totally cool. Just make it quick.

Prince Naseem Hamed did NOT make things quick. Watch the video.

3. Lingerie Bowl

The lingerie bowl is so stupid and pointless that it bothers me when it’s on another channel that I’m not even watching. MTV positioned it opposite the Super Bowl halftime show so their core audience of window-lickers and mouthbreathers could presumably masturbate amidst everyone else at their Super bowl parties. Or something like that.

It wasn’t lingerie, it wasn’t football, but boy was it stupid.

2. Michael Buffer For Other Sports

No, Michael, we are not “ready to rumble” because this is a football game. We only rumble at boxing matches. You’ve got a good thing going with your boxing announcing – there’s no reason to cheapen it. Well, actually there is. Michael Buffer reportedly has been paid as much as $1 million to show up and bellow his catch phrase for teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.

Ok. So there’s a good reason to do it, but that doesn’t make it any less lame for the fans.

1. Boxing Weigh-In’s

They stare each other down for the cameras and flex – that’s fine. They make their statements, that’s cool too. But the manufactured vitriol between the fighters for the sake of spectacle is just painful. It’s three days before the fight. Do we really think you’re going to risk your paycheck by coming to blows 48 hours before earning $25 million? No, we don’t, even if we might secretly hope you’re dumb enough to.

This is how it goes down. Someone says something at the press conference, one of the boxers stands up, then their entourages race up and all collectively hold themselves back from engaging in the non-fight that has presented itself.

I’m looking at you, Floyd Mayweather.

The entertaining sideshow we are referring to began with approximately 20 seconds left in round four, as Ortiz had Mayweather against the ropes and was landing some shots on the undefeated former champion.  However, Ortiz appeared to get a little too riled up, as he let his emotions get the better of him and delivered a headbutt to the chin of Mayweather.  Ortiz was deducted a point for the illegal maneuver, but when the fight was restarted and the two met to touch gloves at the center of the ring, it appeared as though Mayweather was saying something in the ear of Ortiz, before stepping back and knocking out his unsuspecting opponent with a left-right combo.

For some reason, referee Joe Cortez was not looking at the fighters while this took place, and when his focus returned to the fighters, Ortiz was on the ground and Cortez proceeded to begin his 10-count.  The reigning WBC champion was unable to get back to his feet, and Mayweather was awarded the KO victory at 2:59 of the fourth round.

If you though that was strange, it gets better!

With the boos raining down on Mayweather, he met with a rather disappointed Larry Merchant in the ring for a post-fight interview.  Fed up with Merchant’s questions about his apparent cheapshot, Mayweather sounded off on the ringside analyst, yelling “HBO needs to fire you” and “you don’t know sh*t about boxing.”  Merchant responded by saying, “I wish I was 50 years younger and I’d kick your ass.”

On the one hand, the fight just seemed to start getting interesting, as Ortiz had lost the first three rounds but appeared to have something going in the fourth round before throwing the head butt.  That left many believing that he may have been able to work his way back into the fight, had it continued.  But on the other hand, that post-fight exchange between Floyd Mayweather and Larry Merchant alone was probably worth about $30, which has left me wondering whether those of us who paid the $50 bucks to watch this fight ended up getting our money’s worth?

For those of you who didn’t get to see it, as well as those of you who want to see it again, you can catch the must-see highlights from the latter portion of the fight and the post-fight interview in the video below.

Everyone says stupid stuff. However, when you’re in the public eye, you can expect that stupid stuff to echo around for a long, long time. Just ask Jessica Simpson. Well, silly comments or brief moments of stupidity are often made fun of, then quickly forgotten. But anything having to do with a social or political issue, regardless of context, always seems to have much more sticking power when it comes the public consciousness. While some of the people on the list have managed to weather the storm following their racial insensitivity, more than a few have not. So remember: no matter how epic your sporting career may have been, if you say something racist, there’s a decent chance that will be your legacy. Just look at these guys.

10. Michael Irvin

The noted loudmouth went on a national radio show in 2006 and had this to say about Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo – “He doesn’t look like he’s that type of an athlete. But he is. He is, man. I don’t know … some brother down in that line somewhere … I don’t know who saw what or where, his great-great-great-great-grandma ran over in the ‘hood or something went down.”

Looks like The Playmaker is wrong about a couple things here, not the least of which is that he refers to Tony Romo as a great athlete, which in and of itself should be grounds for at least suspension.

9. Byron Scott
Well this almost certainly wasn’t intentional which affords us the opportunity to laugh at the gaffe. Here’s a casual press shot of Byron Scott doing something basketball-ish while donning this season’s must-have accessory: the swastika tie. How anyone involved with this photo shoot could let him get in front of a camera with that number boggles the mind, but it happened.

And if it WAS intentional? Then God help us all us from Byron Scott and his plans for a master race.

8. Spanish National Basketball Team
While not the most egregious example of racism on this list, this photo demonstrates both insensitivity to Asians and the fact that Spain keeps leading the discussion when people bring up the most racist sports fans in the world.

While this photo was taken for a sponsor of the Spanish basketball squad, I don’t really get the message. “We’re going to China! Let’s bust out slanty eyes like some 7 year-olds!” Whatever the intention was, the message that resonated was either that these guys are too stupid to realize this wasn’t clever or funny or that they were too insensitive to care. Not the best spot to be in.

7. Floyd Mayweather
Not content to simply bob and weave his way to dodging a fight against Manny Pacquiao, two months ago, Floyd went on a bizarre video rant that was at once homophobic, ignorant, racist and completely devoid of charm. eferring to him as a “yellow chump” (I’m guessing not in the cowardly sense) and ordering that “motherfucker to make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice,” the real offense here is that a guy making approximately $75 billion per year doesn’t know that sushi comes from the Japan and not the Philippines.

One could argue that Floyd’s earlier escapades, like wearing a sombrero when fighting De La Hoya on Cinco de Mayo may have blurred the line between humor and good taste, but there’s no question after watching his homemade video. Dude’s racist.

6. Fuzzy Zoeller
Golfers LOVE change. They are among the most progressive people in the world. So needless to say, when a 22 year-old athletic black phenom was raising hell and winning tournaments by double digit stroke leads, they were thrilled.

Leave it to some old white guy named Fuzzy to lead the welcome wagon for Tiger Woods. When Woods was running away with his first Masters in ’97, Zoeller had these kind words for him, “You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year. Got it? Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.”

See ya at the Klan rally, Fuzz.

5. Bill Romanowski
Romanowski’s alleged racial comments have all been delivered via second-hand sources, but his violent, pill-seeking behavior in the past has precluded us giving him the benefit of the doubt. He blinded a teammate, spat on J.J. Stokes and heaved a football at the crotch of Bryan Cox.

Apparently, Romanowski was trying to sell a teammate on PED’s because “It is the only way we can compete with the black guys.” Then the source claimed that Romanowski actually didn’t say “black guys” but rather dropped the n-bomb. Mike Shanahan has come to his defense saying that if he was a racist, he wouldn’t have been voted defensive captain three years in a row, but Romanowski’s past behavior indicates that this guy is capable of most anything, including racism.

4. Charles Barkley
Because of Charles’ happy-go-lucky demeanor, he often gets away with saying some pretty garish stuff that would leave others crucified by the media. Having been somewhat outspoken on race issues in the past, he stepped up his game when it came to the discussion of black coaches in college football. He blasted Auburn for not hiring the black candidate, while further condemning Notre Dame for firing Tyrone Willingham, which I agree with, but not on the merits of race.

However, Charles Barkley’s shining racist comment hearkens back to a press conference when he was asked if he thought his team not getting calls was a racial issue, to which he responded (I’m paraphrasing. It’s been a while and I can’t find the original quote), “This is why I hate white people. You guys try to turn everything into a racial issue.” Says the guy with the white wife.

Because it was Chuck, the press conference erupted with laughter and the world kept on spinning. However, if the races had been reversed, I think we would have seen a very different outcome for the perpetrator.

3. Shaquile O’Neal
In what’s perhaps the least threatening, but most childish act of racial insensitivity on this list, Shaq was interviewed by Fox Sports in 2002 and asked if he had any words for upstart Chinese center Yao Ming. To which Shaq intellectually replied, “Tell [NBA center] Yao Ming, ‘Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-so.”

No word at press time if Yao had received the message.

2. Don “Moose” Lewis
Haven’t heard of this guy? Good. Most of America hasn’t. However, he made a minor splash earlier in 2010 by presenting plans for a “whites-only” basketball league. He obviously ruffled some feathers with these plans, so he decided to cover his ass by declaring, “There’s nothing hatred [sic] about what we’re doing. I don’t hate anyone of color. But people of white, American-born citizens are in the minority now. Here’s a league for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like.”

First of all, Moose, there’s a lot “hatred” about what you’re hatching. Secondly, if you want to gauge the depth of the market for fans of fundamental basketball check out the attendance numbers for the WNBA. Then try to get investors for your experiment.

1. Jimmy the Greek
This sports personality’s legacy was tainted by perhaps the most iconic racist statement in the history of sport. Conveyed to a TV reporter, Jimmy Snyder said:

“The black is a better athlete to begin with because he’s been bred to be that way — because of his high thighs and big thighs that goes up into his back, and they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs. This goes back all the way to the Civil War when during the slave trading, the owner — the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so that he could have a big black kid.”

And that was pretty much the end of the famed handicapper’s career. Beyond that tone statement, there was little evidence that Snyder harbored any racist sentiments, but, in light of the fact that he was a public figure representing a TV station, it should come as no surprise that the network did what they did.

His nickname isn’t “Money” for nothing!

If there is one thing that is for sure about Floyd MayweatherJr., it is that the only thing he loves more than his money is himself.  So when boxing’s pound-for-pound top dog turned 33 less than a month ago, he threw himself quite the bash, and as you would expect, a few of his best friend(s) were in attendance as well…

His stacks of money!  And by the way Floyd Mayweather’s Net Worth is estimated at $90 million

Mayweather even took the time to get in a picture with his dearest companions (about $600,000 of them).  Not too many people would feel safe walking around with that much cash on them, but I guess when you make a living by knocking people out with your fists, not much scares you.

For more pics of Mayweather’s birthday bash, check out FloydMayweather.com.

Total Pro Sports – He may not eat your children, a la Mike Tyson, but Juan Manuel Marquez is prepared to do just about anything to win, and that includes drinking his own urine.

With his much anticipated bout versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. scheduled for September 19th, HBO’s 24/7 caught up with the Mexican lightweight and found out an interesting bit of information regarding his pre-fight preparations.  Rather than settle for water, or even a refreshing bottle of Michael Jordan’s limited edition Gatorade, Marquez prefers to drink his piss.

Why you ask?

I think that this has helped me.  I’ve done it for the last five or six fights with good results.

I also drink my urine because that’s where a lot of protein and vitamins are, part of your vitamin intake, and why not drink them again instead of wasting them.

Such an idea may bring a whole new meaning to the term “Whizzinator”.  Maybe Marquez could find a reason for buying such an instrument.

I can not say for sure whether this has been scientifically proven to work, but if Marquez believes he is winning because of it, then by all means drink away.  If there is one thing that holds true within the sporting world, it is that a winning formula should not be tampered with, even when it involves the ingesting of bodily fluids.

Hat Tip – [Deadspin]

In an interview with an English reporter (This is not the first time Mayweather has turned an interview into a hit) , Floyd is asked whether he is a big English football fan?  His answer was based on his thoughts of David Beckham, saying he is an big star over in England, but when he walks the streets in the United States, people just say “hey, how you doing.”  I’m guessing Floyd hasn’t walked along too many streets with Becks.

I am not sure which is more funny.  The fact that Mayweather is completely unfamiliar with David Beckham (evident in his inability to recall his name), or his assumption that the English star can walk the streets almost unnoticed.  Best of all, we can’t blame it on some sort of brain injury resulting from his boxing career.  Mayweather was never one to take many punches to the head.

Hat Tip – [DirtyTackle]