Tonight’s column is going to be NFL heavy. Those that know me understand that I am a football fan first then all other sports fall in line after that all the way down to soccer and curling.
The largest story in the NFL is the brother of Janoris Jenkins has been charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of Rene Roosevelt, who was found in the home of Jenkins yesterday. Jenkins was in Florida and did not comment on the situation, supposedly allowing law enforcement to take the lead. Roosevelt apparently was strangled, and Jenkins’ brother has a checkered past, he was currently on parole, and has served two prison sentences related to drug possession and intent to sell. He is currently being held in the Ontario County jail for a prole violation. I honestly feel that Janoris had nothing to do with this as he was out of the state, but this does not look good and I assume the Giants and the NFL are looking at this very closely. Condolences go to the family of Mr. Roosevelt.
Next up is another sad story, this time coming out of Denver. The wife of Pat Bowlen, Annabel announced today that she has also been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, stating that because of June being Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month she felt now was the time to make the announcement. This is so sad, for the spouse of an NFL Owner, who is also suffering from this terrible disease breaks my heart. I Have knows a few people in my lifetime that have suffered from this disease and I can definitely tell you that it is not pretty. My heart goes out tot he Bowlen family, and despite my hatred of the Denver Broncos (The Drive, The Fumble) I would not wish this on my worst enemy. My thoughts are with the Bowlen family, not that it means anything, but I feel for them.
Changing gears a bit, some feel good stories from the NFL. First, Saquon Barkley, the second pick in the NFL draft, bought his parents a house, something he has been wanting to do for years. This a feel good story for me and shows how much Barkley loves his parents. He said that this is something he has been promising him self since he was a kid. for him to finally be able to do this is wonderful. His average salary over the next four years will be 7.9 million per year, so I guess he can afford to do what he wants to do. Second, Andrew Luck plans pre-camp workouts with his WR’s leading up to training camp. Luck said it is part of the plan and that he intends to build relationships with the receivers that he has not had the chance to get to know while he was rehabbing his injured shoulder. He has a lot of rust and plans to get as many reps as possible before training camp starts.
From MLB, and I apologize for all of the bad news on this post tonight, a 48 year old man was found dead in a beer cooler at the Atlanta Braves ballpark and the police are investigating if it was foul play. Todd Keeling was an inventor who was in Atlanta to install beer taps in the ballpark, and his company produced those beer taps that would allow stadiums to pour three times more than normal beer taps. He had already installed these taps at stadiums in Chicago and Minnesota. A cause of death has not been released.
Don’t look now but the hottest team in the National League is the Cincinnati Reds. they have won nine of their last ten and twelve of their last fifteen. Orioles Manny Machado is on the trade block and the Phillies are rumored to try and get him, but the Dodgers are the favorites in this lottery. The Orioles are terrible and they need value, whether it is draft picks or prospects, and Machado is one of the most attractive players available in MLB. The Tigers fired pitching coach Chris Bosio for insensitive comments made toward a team employee. The Tigers are not saying what the comments were, nor the employee in which they were directed, only that the comments made were a violation of club policy and his contract and that they would have no further comment on the issue. Arkansas won game one of the College World Series Tuesday night over Oregon State 4-1 in the best of three series. Arkansas is looking to be the sixth straight school to win the series for the first time in their history. Game two is tonight, and I will report the result in tomorrows column.
LeBron still has not announced what he is going to do…… Germany was eliminated from the World Cup today…. NASCAR SUCKS… Tiger returns this weekend at the Quicken Loans National…. Martin St Louis (Go Bolts) inducted in the NHL Hall of fame, as well as Gary Bettman and Martin Brodeur….. Serena ranked 25th at Wimbledon….Nadal worlds number one
More tomorrow…