MySports Today

Several NFL sources have indicated that they expect NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to take harsh actions against Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.  Goodell recently came down harsh on Donte Stallworth who had pled guilty to DUI manslaughter in the death of a Miami construction worker in March.  Stallworth recieved a 30-day jail sentence, 2 years house arrest and 8 years of probation, and Goodell extended that punishment by suspending Stallworth indefinitely.

League sources expect Goodell to indefinitely suspend each of Vick and Burress as well.

Vick is set to be released from federal confinement in mid-July.  Vick served 20 months in jail for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring.  Goodell has indicated that he wants to see Vick show remorse for his actions, and that might mean that Vick will need to stay out of trouble for some period of time before Goodell allows Vick to sign with a team.

Burress has yet to be indicted for his actions this past November.  Burress was charged with possessing and firing an unregistered gun in New York City.  His case has been postponed until mid-September and he refused to accept jail time while negotiating a plead deal with prosecutors.  While Goodell would probably rather see the criminal justice system take action against Burress before the NFL does, because of the slow pace of the proceedings, that will likely not be the case.  Expect Goodell to announce some punishment against Burress before he is able to report to any team’s mini camp for the 2009-2010 NFL season.

Stay tuned…

Boy do I love this idea.  Great, sexy pictures of hate chicks from all over the world.  It doesn’t get any better than this.  Melissa Haro is our latest beauty – while she mainly models in NYC, Paris and on location, she calls San Jose, California her home.  Haro works for Elite Model Management and has appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2008 and 2009.  Enjoy our sexy little pirate…

We are just shy of the midway point of the 2009 MLB schedule and the Mets are right where they want to be at 37-34.  The Mets trail the Phillies by just 1/2 game in the NL East race.  Given the injury issues, you can’t really complain too much about their position in the standings.  Currently, the Mets have 7 players on the disabled list who would be playing a vital role in the Mets everyday attack.  Outfielders Carlos Beltran and Angel Pagan; Shortstop Jose Reyes; 1st Baseman Carlos Delgado; Starting Pitchers John Maines and Oliver Perez; and Relief Pitcher J.J. Putz.  At some point during the next few months, the Mets expect to have all of those players back and ready for MLB action.  If the Mets can weather the storm during the month of July and stay towards the top of the NL East, they should have a good chance to dethrone the Phillies from a 3rd straight NL East crown. David Wright has shouldered the load for much of the season with a .356 batting average; 39 RBI’s, 47 runs and a whopping 19 stolen bases.  Johan Santana (9-5; 3.08 ERA; 1.20 WHIP; 100 K’s; 30 BB’s) and Frankie Rodriguez (20 saves; 1.01 ERA; 1.07 WHIP; 38 K’s; 19 BB’s) have shouldered the pitching loads.  When everybody is back and healthy in Queens, the Mets should be one of the best teams in the NL.

I am optimistic that this will be the case – losing such quality hitters like Beltran, Reyes and Delgado for such an extended period is just too hard for a team to overcome everyday during the long MLB season.  Not having 40% of your starting rotation is also hard to overcome for most MLB teams.  Fortunately for the Mets, the Phillies have struggled at home to the tune of an atrocious 13-22 record.  That being said, however, the Phillies 24-11 road record is by far the best road record of any team in the major leagues and the Phillies will not be able to keep that pace up over the long season.  10 of their 37 wins have come against the worst team in baseball – the Washington Nationals – and their weaknesses were exposed when they played the AL East in interleague play – losing 10 games to the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles andRays.

The NL East race should be a fun one to watch over the next 3 months.  The past 2 seasons, the Mets have choked away big leads to the Phillies down the stretch.  It will be interesting to see if the Mets can make a move from behind and overtake the Phillies in 2009.  The fun will begin this weekend as the Mets battle the Yankees at CITI for the final 3 games of the 2009 interleague Subway Series.

The New Jersey Nets agreed to trade Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to the Orlando Magic for Rafer Alston, Tpny Battie and Courtney Lee.  What a blockbuster day for the NBA in the hours leading up to the 2009 NBA Draft.  Earlier today, it was announced that the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Shaquille O’Neal from the Phoenix Suns to bolster their club with Lebron James to take the Orlando Magic head-on in next year’s playoffs.  What will happen next?

The Nets will likely draft shooting guard Terrence Williams from Lousiville with the #11 pick in the NBA draft to replace the deprature of Carter.

The Phoenix Suns have traded Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ben Wallace (and his crazy expiring contract), Sasha Pavlovic and the Cavs 2nd round pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.  The Cavs will also send some cash to the Suns.

After the Cavs – the Eastern Conference’s best team during the regular season – lost to the Orlando Magic in the 6th game of the Eastern Conference Finals, Cavs GM Danny Ferry felt changes needed to be made.  O’Neal – despite the wear and tear on his big body – should give the Cavs the front line presence needed to bring a stronger game to Dwight Howard and the Magic.

Lebron James should be able to wash those tears away with the addition of Shaq to the Cavs rotation.  Shaq isn’t the player he once was, but he should be able to help the Cavs during the playoffs as long as he stays healthy.  Should a fun conference to watch in 2009-2010…

Our latest installment of the SI Swimsuit model collection features Ingrid Vandebosch – wife of successful Nascar race care driver Jeff Gordon.  The 40-year old still has what it takes to compete with the younger, more athletic models these days.  Vandebosch began her modeling career back in 1996 in the Netherlands.  She has worked on modeling projects for Christian Dior and Amway and has graced the pages of the following fashion magazines – Vogue, Glamour, Marie Claire and ELLE.  She also appeared in the “wives of star athletes” section of the 2008 SI Swimsuit issue, along with Carmella Garcia (wife of NFL Quarterback Jeff Garcia); Michelle Damon (wife of MLB center fielder Johny Damon).

Vandebosch and Gordon have been married since November 2006 and it hasn’t hurt her one bit – Enjoy…

NBA League sources have confirmed that the Boston Celtics are willing to consider trades involving either Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo, 2 of the key stars who helped bring an NBA championship back to Boston in 2008.  Allen has an expiring $20 million contract at the end of the 2009-2010 NBA season, and the Celtics seem reluctant to give Rondo the lucrative, long-term deal that he seeks.  While the 34-year Allen is in the twilight of his career, the 24-year old Rondo has emerged as a big-game player, averaging 11.9 points, 8.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds during the regualr season.  Rondo also had 3 triple-doubles in the playoffs this past season.

While Celtics GM Danny Ainge and Pistons GM Joe Dumars never actually spoke about this proposed trade, NBA league sources have reported that low-level executives from the Celtics and Pistons discussed a trade that would have sent Allen and Rondo to the Celtics for Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey.  The trade makes little sense for the Pistons (unloading 3 of their 4 best players for 1 old guy and 1 young guy), and reports have it that the Pistons exec immediately rejected the deal.

It should be interesting to see if the Celtics make a move this off-season.  Without Kevin Garnett much of the season, the Celtics weaknesses were exposed as the Chicago Bulls took them to the brink of elimination with a grueling 7-game series in the 1st round of the playoffs.  It seems clear that Ainge is trying to make some productive moves now to better his ball club before it’s too late.

Any excuse to drop some Maria Sharapova pics on you guys.  Maria Sharapova overcame a slow start to defeat her opponent – Viktoriya Kutuzova – 7-5, 6-4 in straight sets.

Enjoy…

Julie Henderson – it’s now your turn to step up to the plate and show your talents to our loyal readers at MySportsToday!  The 23-year blonde bombshell from Texas has been a mainstay in the SI Swimsuit Issue since 2007.  Henderson has agreements with several model agencies – Models 1, Modelwerk, New York Model Management and Ford Models Europe – Paris.  Julie stands right up there with the best of them – Bar Rafaeli, Anne V, Tori Praver, Brooklyn Decker & Marisa Miller.  Enjoy sports fans…

The NFL has suspended Donte Stallworth indefinitely.  It’s about time!  Stallworth pleaded guilty to vehicular DUI manslaughter in Miami earlier this week.  Stallworth was driving drunk when he killed a pedestrian back in March 2009. Stallworth was sentenced to 3-days in jail, 2 years house arrest and 8 years of probation.  He has a permanent lifetime ban on ever obtaining a driver’s license.  The house arrest agreement with prosecutors would have allowed him to resume his NFL playing career later this year, but Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Stallworth under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

Goodell had this to say about Stallworth’s plea deal with Miami prosecutors in a letter to the player.  “The conduct reflected in your guilty plea resulted in the tragic loss of life and was inexcusable.  While the criminal justice system has determined the legal consequences of this incident, it is my responsibility as NFL commissioner to determine appropriate league discipline for your actions, which have caused irreparable harm to the victim and his family, your club, your fellow players and the NFL.”  Goodell has always taken a hardline with players who violate the NFL’s personal conduct policy.  League sources have suggested that Stallworth will not be allowed to play during the 2009-2010 NFL season, and that Goodell will re-visit Stallworth’s case at the beginning of 2010.  Assuming Stallworth stays out of trouble during the next 12 months or so, Goodell would then consider allowing Stallworth to play during the 2010-2011 NFL season.

It’s about time someone stepped up to the plate and issued a warranted punishment for Stallworth’s actions.