Shanda Sounds Off: NBA Flopping and Crazed Fans
Tweet of the Week:
Proof surfaces that this week that Washington Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty did a spread in Playgirl in his younger years, and thanks to Nationals beat writer James Wagner, we now have proof. This week Washington pitcher, Gio Gonzalez was photographed sporting a t-shirt with a picture of a young McCatty.
Evidence of the McCatty shirts is finally out. RT @jackobeam: Haha. Gio wearing the shirt. #CatNips twitter.com/JackoBeam/stat…
— James Wagner (@JamesWagnerWP) May 22, 2013
Video of the Week:
Royals fan runs on field and steals pitcher’s rosin bag during game before being escorted off field
NBA fines Grizzlies Tony Allen $5,000 for flopping
If you missed this week’s Game 2 of the Western Conference between the Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies you didn’t miss too much. What you did however miss was what the league is now calling a flopping incident. Let me catch some of you out there up to speed.
Flop/Flopping – n/adj- is an intentional fall after little or no physical contact by an opposing player in attempt to draw a personal foul call by an official against the opponent.
Going back years and years, players have used their acting abilities (some award-winning) to enhance their flopping as an attempt to draw fouls. This year the league has been cracking down on it in a major way.
According to NBA.com, Grizzlies guard Tony Allen was hit with a $5,000 fine for violating the anti-flopping rule in Game 2. After calling a flagrant foul on Manu Ginobili for grabbing Allen’s arm while he was driving to the basket, Allen dramatically fell to the floor clutching the back of his head and rolled around. Replays showed Ginobili never made contact with Allen’s head, which promoted the league to slap him with the violation.
Robbie Rogers Returns to L.A. Galaxy as first openly gay U.S. soccer player
Soccer player Robbie Rogers announced his decision to return to soccer last week after retiring earlier this year. The now 26-year old athlete made the decision to step away from the game following his announcement that he is openly gay. But after a couple months away from the game, Rogers was acquired by the LA Galaxy from the Chicago Fire. L.A. said he has been training with them for several weeks now.
What made him have a change of heart? Rogers said addressing a LGBT youth forum last month in Portland helped him make his decision to return to the game.
“These kids are standing up for themselves and changing the world,” Rogers said. “And I’m 25, I have a platform and a voice to be a role model. How much of a coward was I not to step up to the plate?”
Rogers’ return makes him the first openly gay athlete in the MLS. The news comes just a month after former NBA player Jason Collins announced he is gay, which sent the sports world buzzing.
Spurs’ Duncan’s divorce gets messy
San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan and wife Amy are splitting. Mrs. Duncan, who has filed to end their marriage of 12 years, is citing that the marriage has become “insupportable because of discord and conflict.”
However, the NBA star is asking a judge to slow his role on hauling the couple into court and has submitted legal paperwork stating that his employment is “currently making extraordinary demands on him and will continue to make those demands on him for the next 30 days.” Duncan is playing in the NBA finals, and it looks like nothing is going to get in his way, not even divorce. The Spurs swept the Memphis Grizzlies to advance to the finals.
In addition to timing issues, it seems Duncan was suspicious of his wife last fall, as he reportedly hired a private investigator to look into her actions.
It’s always sad to see a marriage end after such a long time. Duncan has revealed that he has a pre-nup, which will be enforced and the ex-couple claims they will come to an agreement about finances for their two children.
Hot Water for Jay-Z and Roc Nation Sports
He was just getting warmed up with the recent signings of WNBA’s Skylar Diggins, NY Giants’ Victor Cruz and new NY Jets rookie Geno Smith, but Jay-Z seems to have landed himself in a little hot water after attracting the attention of NFLPA.
The NFL is investigating the rapper turned sports agent and whether or not he’s broken league rules when it comes to his recruitment of Smith, who signed with Roc Nation Sports last week. Smith and Jay-Z were seen in photos the rookie posted on social network Instagram prior to his announcement.
According to the league’s rules, only NFLPA-certified agents are allowed in the recruitment of athletes, which Jay-Z was not. He started out with such a bang — great signings, great talent. We’ll see what happens with the rapper and his new venture.
