Ron Franklin Fired by ESPN

Filed under: Media Watch, Sports Business and Media

Ron Franklin has been fired by ESPN after he reportedly made sexist comments in the direction of a female employee. The termination ends Franklin's 20-plus year tenure with the network, where he has called mostly college football and basketball games. He has been focused on the Big 12 in recent years.

A spokesman for ESPN told the Associated Press Tuesday that "based on what occurred last Friday, we have ended our relationship with (Franklin)."

The incident referenced is one where sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards said Franklin called her "sweet baby" (other versions of the story have "sweetcakes," but Edwards said in an e-mail to USA Today that it was the former term). When Edwards noted her distaste for the comment, Franklin allegedly called her an "a**hole."

Franklin did issue a public apology Monday, but it wasn't enough to save his job.

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More Coverage: ESPN Getting Serious

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JWoww on Jersey Shore?s new season: ?There?s a whole lot of drama!?

Notoriously hot-tempered roommate Angelina Pivarnick may be gone, but according to Jersey Shore cast member Jenny ?JWoww? Farley, the tears and tirades remain on the third season of the MTV reality hit. ?There?s a whole lot of drama!? JWoww told In Touch about the latest round of the series, returning on January 6, at an in-store signing for Abdominal Cuts by Revolution at GNC in New York. The bodacious brunette, who is currently dating Roger Mathews after a bitter split from Tom Lippolis last August, admits that she is at the center of much of the action. ?You will see that I go through a bad breakup, and I find new love,? she says. ?Everyone finally gets to see my side of the story, and I come out of my shell.? JWoww?s angry ex publicly accused her of cheating last summer, but the starlet is hardly heartbroken -- she's turning her misadventures in love into a dating advice book to be released in February.

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Mac App Store Awakens Tomorrow Morning, Phase 3 Of Operation: Compact Disc Dirt Nap

We've known for a few weeks that Apple would launch their new Mac App Store on January 6, hitting their goal of launching it within 90 days of its formal unveiling at an event in October. And now we appear to know what time it will hit tomorrow: 12 PM ET, 9 AM PT, according to The Loop, whose sources are usually spot-on on such things. In other words, tomorrow morning, Apple kicks off phase 3 of their quest to kill the compact disc. Phase 1 of this quest began in 2003 when Apple first launched the iTunes Music Store. At launch, the store only had some 200,000 pieces of music to download, so it hardly threatened the booming music CD sales of the time. But that quickly changed, and now iTunes is the biggest music retailer, with downloads far outpacing CD sales.

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Joe Johnson Adjusts Game to Fit New Role

Filed under: Hawks, NBA All-Star Game

ATLANTA -- Plenty have been critical of Joe Johnson's mammoth contract. They're just not as boisterous about it as Clipper Darrell, the Staples Center fan who dresses from ball cap to sneakers in Clippers red and blue and rants at foes throughout games.

"Be honest: Do you really think you are worth $120 million?'' Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer Michael Cunningham tweeted about what Clipper Darrell yelled Sunday at the Hawks guard, whose new six-year contract actually is worth $123 million.

On that day, Johnson did look a lot more worth the money than he has shown much of the season. He scored 29 points in Atlanta's 107-98 win.

Last season, Johnson had to listen to talk regularly about what he might do as a free agent in the summer of 2010. Now that he's re-signed, he must hear claims by naysayers he's overpaid.

Johnson's scoring average is down this season from 21.3 to 17.6 and his shooting percentage has plummeted from 45.8 to 39.9. His assists average, though, is up from 4.9 to 5.7 and Hawks general manager Rick Sund can't stop lauding Johnson for his defensive abilities.

"Not at all,'' Johnson said in an interview with FanHouse about whether it's any sort of burden living up to his contract. "I plan a great six years (on the deal) here. So I don't think it was an odd thing. We just got to keep doing what we've been doing, and we're trying to build on it.''

 

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Dwayne Bowe Misses Practice With Illness

Filed under: Chiefs, NFL Injuries

Dwayne Bowe, who hauled in an NFL-leading 15 touchdowns during the regular season, sat out Kansas City's practice Wednesday because of an undisclosed illness.

Chiefs coach Todd Haley did not elaborate on Bowe's situation, nor did he say what Bowe's status was for Sunday's first-round playoff game against Baltimore.

"All I can go by is (Wednesday), and he didn't practice (Wednesday)," Haley said on a conference call, according to NationalFootballPost.com.

 

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Indianapolis Colts Improve Run Defense With Simple, Fast Approach

Filed under: Colts, AFC South, NFL Playoffs

INDIANAPOLIS -- Don't over-think it, Gary Brackett will tell you.

And don't over-analyze, either.

When it comes to the well-timed improvement of the Indianapolis Colts' run defense, Brackett -- the Colts' starting middle linebacker and defensive captain -- has seen a lot of over-thinking and over-analyzing over the years, particularly this time of year.

Yes, Brackett said, the Colts' run defense has improved late in the season.

The statistics say as much. And the results do, too.

But while that has given the Colts a positive feel entering their ninth consecutive postseason appearance, Brackett said the reality is the Colts' run defense never was actually all that bad.

And whatever improvement there has been? Brackett said it comes from simple approach.

 

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New Year's redux: Vegas photos, late Round of the Year candidate and 'Sexyata'

When it comes to MMA, not everything was in the Octagon or about the UFC on New Year's weekend. Japan had two outstanding fight cards and then there was all the partying around Las Vegas. 

Bruce Buffer hit the scene before UFC 125. The dude is 53 years old! What's in his drink? Get me some. He sent out this Sin City club photo (lower left) via Twitter asking for help from @rampage4real. He also snapped a fine of photo of Jake Shields who's not in training. 

Things aren't going as well for Jenna Jameson. While walking around Las Vegas on New Year's morning, we stumbled upon this clearance item at the Tito Ortiz's Punishment store inside Hooter's Casino. Make that all Jenna items on clearance. 

If you didn't sleep in on Saturday, you had a chance to meet one of the "stars" of Season 12 of "The Ultimate Fighter." Michael Johnson and Alex "Bruce Leeroy" Cacares were joined by none other than Brad Tate for an autograph signing. Who you ask? He was the medic for Georges St. Pierre's team. The medic that got choked by Josh Koscheck. The medic that mocked on Sevak Magakian for being multi-lingual. Good call by The Gun Store in Las Vegas, though, Tate probably was one of the five most recognizable figures from the show. That's got to make hardcore fans "who only want to see the fighting" on TUF real happy.  

Sexyata did it again. Kazuyuki "Sexyata" Miyata pulled off another awesome suplex at Dynamite!! 2010. He got UFC veteran Caol Uno this time. At Dream 16, he tossed Takeshi Inoue around in similar fashion. Miyata's upset of Uno was one of the biggest of the night at Dynamite!! Check out the Dynamite!! gallery at FanHouse. 

Update I - Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer (Audio - 11:00 mark) said Dynamite!! was a big failure on Japanese TV. He criticized the placement of the  matches and pointed out that the Kazushi Sakaraba fight never made it on television in Japan.

HDNet is going to show Sengoku's Soul of Fight over two weekends in January (Part 1 -- Jan. 14; Part 2 -- Jan. 21). Apparently, the Yoshiro Maeda-Masanori Kanehara fight (1:40 mark) was a mini-version of the Leonard Garcia-"Korean Zombie" match. Maeda stopped Kanehara at 1:27 of the first round. 

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With guilty plea in mortgage fraud case, Sonnen should get probation and $10,000 fine

UFC fighter Chael Sonnen is currently serving the last few months of a steroid suspension in California. He's expected to return to active fighting sometime in the spring or is he? 

According to the Lake Oswego Review, his battle versus the federal government has ended with a guilty plea to money laundering:

A licensed Realtor from West Linn, Sonnen admitted before a judge Monday that he conducted a financial transaction designed to hide or disguise the ownership and control of proceeds of mortgage fraud, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.

Update: According to the Oregonian, as part of his guilty plea, Sonnen agreed to give up his realtor's license and pay a $10,000 fine. The government is recommending two years probation.

Update II - Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer reports (Audio - 1:40 mark) that Sonnen is turning state's evidence. He's also scheduled to fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128 in New Jersey on March 19. 

The IRS issued a public statement:

"West Linn residents, and other residents throughout the Portland-Vancouver area, can rest assured knowing that federal law enforcement agencies take mortgage fraud very seriously because it played a major role in almost crippling this nation’s banking system just a few years ago," said Marcus Williams, a special agent in charge of IRS criminal investigations for the Pacific Northwest.

Money laundering carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Sonnen's sentencing is scheduled for March 28.

Update III - Here is the full release from the U.S. Attorney's Office on Oregon. Sonnen's conspired with a mortgage broker to falsify repair work.

Sonnen, a licensed realtor in the State of Oregon, admitted that a financial transaction he conducted was designed to conceal or disguise the ownership and control of the proceeds of wire fraud. The scheme involved Joel Rosabal and Chadwick Amsden, employees of Crown Point Enterprises, dba Lighthouse Financial Group (Lighthouse), a mortgage brokerage service based principally in Vancouver, Washington, with operations in Oregon and elsewhere. Rosabal and Amsden submitted a materially false loan application on the buyer’s behalf to Decision One Mortgage, a subprime lending institution that is now defunct, for the purchase of residential property located at 11249 SE Rolling Hills Lane, Portland, Oregon. Sonnen acted as the realtor for the transaction. Sonnen submitted a false letter and Sales Agreement Addendum instructing the title company to pay loan proceeds to a plumbing company for repairs to the home. In fact, Sonnen knew and had negotiated with Rosabal that no repairs would be performed on the home and the funds designated to the plumbing company would instead be paid to the buyer as a cash incentive to purchase the home. This agreement was not disclosed to Decision One Mortgage. Once the loan was funded, the title company paid over $69,000 to the plumbing company and the plumbing company, in turn and at Sonnen’s direction, paid $65,000 to the buyer of the home.

Sonnen referenced a battle vs. the federal government during a recent interview with HDNet's Mike Straka (0:43 mark), but made no mention of this specific case.

Newspaper report tip via MMAScraps

U.S. Attorney's release via Bloody Elbow

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See? See?

It's Sunday.

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Peyton Manning Hopes to Extend Career-Long Domination of Rex Ryan

Filed under: Colts, Jets, AFC East, AFC South

INDIANAPOLIS -- Peyton Manning said he hasn't much followed what New York Jets coach Rex Ryan has been saying about him in the press this week.

As Manning sees it, there's no time for such thoughts.

That's because while the Indianapolis Colts' 11-time Pro Bowl quarterback has beaten Ryan two times in the postseason -- and while that record is providing Ryan more than a bit of motivation throughout this week -- Manning said his concern his preparing for the Jets.

And to hear Manning tell it, that's a time-consuming process.

Very, very time-consuming.

"It takes you absolutely forever to watch one game with their defense," Manning said Tuesday as the AFC South Champion Colts (10-6) prepared to play the Jets (11-5) in an AFC Wild Card Game Saturday at 8 p.m.

Manning said Ryan's use of multiple schemes and personnel combinations makes preparing for the Jets tough, particularly considering the game will be played on Saturday rather than Sunday.

"It takes you some time," Manning said. "I feel like we're already behind the eight ball with a short week. With a Saturday game, you're a day short on your preparation. It's a full-time cram session."

While Ryan's schemes may present Manning difficulty, it has been a challenge that Manning has met in impressive fashion, particularly in the postseason.

Manning has Ryan six times as a defensive coordinator and twice as a head coach. In 2005, Manning and the Colts beat the Ravens, 24-7, in the regular-season opener in Ryan's first game as the Ravens' defensive coordinator, and the Colts beat Baltimore the following post-season, 15-6, en route to a Super Bowl XLI title.

The Colts beat Baltimore in the 2007 and 2008 regular seasons by a combined 75-23, and also led the Jets in the 2009 regular season -- Ryan's first as the Jets' head coach -- before pulling Manning and other starters in the third quarter of what became the Colts' first loss of the season.

The Jets led the Colts in the first half of the AFC Championship Game this past February before Manning rallied the Colts to a 30-17 victory with two second-half touchdown passes. Manning completed 17 of 30 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in that game.

In six games against Ryan defenses, Manning is 5-1 -- including last season's regular-season loss in December -- and has averaged 232 yards a game passing with a total of 12 touchdowns and two interceptions.

"You can't mention Indianapolis without saying Peyton Manning and Indianapolis," Ryan said. "I know he's there. I've seen him many years at the Pro Bowl. I respect the heck out of this guy but I want to beat him one day. I just hope it's this Saturday. ... It's as simple as that. Peyton Manning has beaten me twice in the playoffs. It's well documented and you have all the stats. This is about this year and I've waited a full year for this. We will see what happens."

One factor working against Manning this week has been an issue throughout the latter half of the season: the absence of not only tight end Dallas Clark, but of wide receiver Austin Collie. Clark has been out since October with a wrist injury, and Collie is on injured reserve with a concussion.

"As a credit to them, they just brought a lot to the table," Manning said.

 

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Assistly Scores $3 Million More For Fast Growing SaaS Customer Service Product

Assistly, a software as a service startup that helps companies deal with customer service, formally launched just a little over three months ago. They got to that point on a $1.7 million venture round raised in early 2010. Now they've raised another $3 million. Investors in this round include Bullpen Capital, Index Ventures and Kenny Van Zant, as well as existing investors True Ventures and Social Leverage.

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Jim Harbaugh Reportedly Not Interested in Michigan Job

Filed under: Stanford, Coaching

Jim Harbaugh's future is the talk of both college football and the NFL. After Stanford's Orange Bowl victory Monday night, everyone wants to know whether Harbaugh is staying put or going to Michigan or the NFL.

According to a report, it won't be Michigan. A source close to Harbaugh told the Detroit Free Press that if Harbaugh decides to stay in the college ranks, he'll remain at Stanford instead of taking a job at his alma mater. Rich Rodriguez is still Michigan's coach, though his future is in doubt.

Harbaugh is also tied to the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos. The Broncos appear close to hiring John Elway, a Stanford alum who attended the Orange Bowl in person, to run the team.

After the Monday night win over Virginia Tech, Harbaugh wouldn't comment on his future.

"Oh please, please, give me a break," he said. "You know, have some respect for the game."

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Whitley: Harbaugh, Luck Dance Around the Obvious

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Heat's Hot Third Quarters Setting Tone

Filed under: Heat

MIAMI -- Perhaps the best kept secret that's been responsible for the Miami Heat's winning ways this season has been their utter dominance in the third quarter. However, it doesn't appear to have been lost on Dwyane Wade as the Heat were facing a 14-point deficit to start the second half against the Golden State Warriors Saturday night. He had good reason to be walking back on the court after the break with plenty of confidence in his team.

He was only half joking when asked when he knew the Heat would make their comeback. "When the third quarter started," he laughed.

"I know my team. When we came out for the third quarter we knew we were going to make a run and turn it around because we knew what we had to do. And we did it."

By the time the quarter had ended, the Warriors had given up all but one point of their lead. It's a recurring theme throughout the season as the Heat have outscored their opponent in the third quarter in all but nine of their 37 games. The Heat rank first in the league in points (26.5) and scoring margin (+4.5) in the third quarter. They also boast the highest average margin through three quarters (+8.7 points), affording them breathing room entering the final stage of games.

 

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Ideeli

Oh my...

Seeing this top on Ideeli...

...made me laugh because of this post.

Six months later and, still, no one wants it.

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Religion Fail

Earlier today...

MY 3-YEAR-OLD NEPHEW JACK: Why do we get presents on Christmas?

MY MOM: Well, do you know who baby Jesus is?

JACK: You mean Chuck E. Cheesus?

Uh, that'd be a no.

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So You Just Bought Sex.com For $13 Million ? Now What?

Sex.com. It's a domain name with quite a history - heck, it was rocky enough for a book to be written solely about it. I'll spare you that story and let you discover it on your own, though. TechCrunch had an exclusive interview with the guy who currently owns the valuable domain name - he acquired it for $13 million a couple of months ago. For a variety of reasons, he wishes to keep his identity under wraps, at least for the time being, but he did share some interesting insights into how sex.com fares now that it's parked. And he's keen to figure out what to do with it now, too.

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The hottest New Year?s Eve cocktail

Kim and Kourtney Kardshian recently stayed at the chic Smyth hotel in New York?s Tribeca section while filming their new E! reality show and frequented the famous Plein Sud restaurant. The reality stars are only a small part of the celebrity following, which also includes Ed Westwick and Jessica Szhor, who sampled their delicious Red Velvet Champaign cocktail. To party like a celebrity on New Year's Eve at the Tribeca hotspot, check out their website at pleinsudnyc.com for reservations to ring in the new year!

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Suns' Garret Siler Assigned to NBA D-League Iowa Energy

Filed under: NBA D-League, Iowa Energy

The Phoenix Suns knew Garret Siler was a project when they invited him to training camp this fall, and after seemingly doing everything they could in practice, Suns brass has decided to send Siler to the NBA D-League for the next stage in the big man's development.

Siler, a behemoth listed at 6-foot-11 and 305 pounds, will fly to Bismarck, North Dakota, to join the Suns' D-League affiliate Iowa Energy for a game against the Dakota Wizards on Monday night. It will be his first game action in nearly a month; the last time he had actual game action was in a Dec. 5 victory against the Washington Wizards where Siler scored three points and grabbed three rebounds in just three minutes of court time.

This will be the first regular-season game Siler's played in the D-League despite being the fifth overall pick prior to last season. That's because, after playing in the preseason with the Utah Flash, Siler decided to take a more lucrative offer last year with the Shanghai Sharks in China. Despite being a rookie out of NCAA Division 2 Augusta State, Siler averaged 14.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game while making an outstanding 75.7 percent of his field goal attempts.

 

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Jack Del Rio Returns But His Quarterback, Coordinators Remain on Hot Seat

Filed under: Jaguars, AFC South

Jack Del Rio got another chance on Monday.

For his part, the Jacksonville Jaguars coach said Tuesday he not only plans to take advantage of that opportunity, but that he perhaps is more prepared than ever to do so.

Jaguars Owner Wayne Weaver announced Monday that Del Rio would return for a ninth season, and on Tuesday, Del Rio said he knows not many coaches would have gotten the chance.

"I think it's rare to have a head coach rebuild a team twice," Del Rio said Tuesday, two days after the Jaguars' season ended with a three-game losing streak. "It was absolutely best thing for this franchise going forward."

Weaver said Monday he believed the team was making progress in the last two years under general manager Gene Smith, and that considering that, blowing up the coaching staff would have been insanity.

Weaver also told reporters after the press conference the team likely would have a new coach if it didn't qualify for the playoffs in 2011.

"I think I've made improvement as a head coach," Del Rio said.

Del Rio also Tuesday addressed the status of David Garrard as the team's starting quarterback. Weaver on Monday expressed support of Garrard and Del Rio said he still believes Garrard can continue developing.

"He has been a very good quarterback," Del Rio said. "He's not been elite, but I saw guys like Rich Gannon late in their career become elite. ... We're going to go back and demand even more."

Del Rio added of the quarterback position, "I think we've maybe not been aggressive enough bringing in talent at that position."

Also on Monday, Weaver announced that defensive coordinator Mel Tucker would assume play-calling duties on game-day. Tucker's contract expired after the season, and Del Rio said having Tucker call plays was a way of keeping Tucker on the staff.

"I went into the meeting yesterday with my own list of things to discuss and one of those was my desire to have Mel be here," Del Rio said. "He's groomed and ready for the opportunity to call our defense. Mel is a good football coach."

Weaver also said Monday that while Del Rio has two years remaining on his contract, assistants had not had their contracts rolled over. That means most assistant coaches will coach as lame ducks.

Del Rio said considering that, he would allow assistants to look for other jobs.

Del Rio also said while some of the draft selections early in his tenure -- selections made while James "Shack" Harris was the general manager -- are no longer with the team and perhaps set the franchise back, he doesn't distance himself from those decisions.

"I don't separate myself from Shack," Del Rio said. "I shared in some of those decisions about players that haven't panned out."

Del Rio said the offense and special teams were solid much of the season, and -- as Weaver said Monday -- improvement must be made defensively. He also said he understands the desire for improvement, and that it's a desire he shares.

 

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Young Tavares too much for old-school Baroni at UFC 125

Phil Baroni's been around MMA for a long time. His brawling, attacking style was effective back 2002, but it just doesn't cut it anymore. Baroni dropped to .500 for his career as he lost to Brad Tavares, an "Ultimate Fighter" alum. Tavares took Baroni's biggest shots and scored a TKO finish at 4:20 of the first round in the opening fight of the UFC 125 telecast on ION television.

"I knew going in there against a veteran like Baroni I could come and show what I can do, and show the rest of the UFC that I'm here as a contender," Tavares told UFC.com. "Winning it over Baroni is good, and finishing him like that is just icing on the cake." 

Baroni (13-13, 3-7 UFC) usually comes out like gangbusters, but exhibited self-control early in this one. Trying to manage his stamina, he slowly stalked the much younger Tavares. Just over a minute into the fight, Baroni, 34, showed off that massive power when he caught Tavares with a left hook. The punch buckled Tavares' legs and he hit the ground near the cage. Baroni probably made a mistake by jumping on top of Tavares to ry and finish the fight.

The Hawaiian survived and got his wits about him as the fight got back to the feet. The two minutes were highlighted by clinch work along the cage. With 1:10 left in the round, Baroni drilled Tavares with a knee that landed low. After a short break, the fight was restarted in the middle of the cage. Baroni had a little trouble getting the engine revved up again.

Tavares followed a combination with a left high kick that stopped Baroni in his tracks. The "New York Bad Ass" backed up towards the cage and ate a huge right hook. That was followed by a knee and three more punches that dropped Baroni. Tavares held his head down with his left hand and blasted away with rights. Eight unanswered shots forced referee Josh Rosenthal to stop the fight.

Baroni rose to his feet with blood splattered on his nose and a small cut under his right eye. 

Tavares (7-0, 2-0 UFC) reached the semifinals on TUF 11, where he lost a close decision to the eventual champ Court McGee. He turned 23 just 10 days ago and may be the brightest prospect from that season. 

UFC 125 undercard (Courtesy MMAjunkie):

Jacob Volkmann def. Antonio McKee via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
Daniel Roberts def. Greg Soto via submission (kimura) - Round 1, 3:45.
Diego Nunes def. Mike Brown via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

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