Dwight Howard's Dad Blast Kobe

“I told him before he said it publicly, ‘It’s your career. No person can say what you need to do or not do. You can’t worry about what Kobe or anybody else says,’” Howard Sr. said. “Nobody can say what Kobe said — that’s stepping into another man’s shoes. I understand what Kobe was trying to do, but he went about it the wrong way. He’s trying to win a championship. But Dwight has to tell Kobe, ‘I appreciate your opinion, but that doesn’t matter. We’re two men on this team. We need to be reasonable about this.’”

 H/T: YardBarker

Phil Mickelson Falls At Pebble Beach

H/T: Yahoo Sports Blog

RG3 shows how classy he is by offerring words of encouragment to Tony Romo after his latest choke job.

RG=Class act

There's a reason why RG3 is RG3. This story is an example of everything that makes this kid the perfect face of a franchise. Moments after the biggest win of his young career, Griffin waded through the post game masses to offer heartfelt words of encouragement to his fallen rival.

If he weren't a redskin I think RG3 would be my favorite player in the league.

 via Profootball Talk
Thanks to the NFL Films microphones, we now know what Griffin said: Griffin, who surely knew that Romo was about to face a hailstorm of criticism for his three-interception game against the Redskins, was attempting to lift Romo’s spirits.
“Hey Tony. I just wanted to say to you, don’t listen to what anybody else is saying about you. You’re a great quarterback, man. And this game doesn’t mean anything,” Griffin said to Romo, in comments that will air Wednesday night on Showtime’s Inside the NFL.

Ray Lewis set to retire at the end of the season. (VIDEO)

According to numerous sources Ray Lewis is set to retire at the end of the season. Lewis is regarded by many as the greatest middle line backer of all time. Not by me Ray Lewis hasn't been Ray Lewis in years and though it's sad to see an all time great go but it's the nature of the beast.

 Lewis probably won't be straying far from the public eye though. If ESPN doesn't snatch him up, another network will. Lewis is a perfect fit for the pregame studio show format. Lewis probably won't turn down any motivational speaking engagements either. Regardless of how you feel about Ray Ray, the man was a beast and a microcosm of everything a football player should be.

God is calling,'' the 37-year-old Lewis said. ''My children have made the ultimate sacrifice for their father for 17 years. I don't want to see them do that no more. I've done what I wanted to do in this business, and now it's my turn to give them something back.''

The dreaded, I'm going to spend more time with my family excuse. I don't doubt Lewis' love for his family but I doubt he'd be retiring if he was able to still dominated on the field. 

''It's either hold onto the game and keep playing and let my kids miss out on times we can be spending together,'' Lewis said. ''Because I always promised my son if he got a full ride on scholarship Daddy is going to be there. I can't miss that.''

Ray's Madden intro speech seems almost prophetic now.

Orange Bowl Rep tells NIU that they never wanted them there in the first place.

 What the hell is wrong with the people associated with the Orange bowl? First whoever is running their Twitter account gets into a Twitter scuffle and later poked fun at West Virgina's bowl misfortunes. 

Now this via:CBS Sports:

You guys [NIU] don't even deserve to be here,” the Orange Bowl rep said to the NIU staffer. “We didn't even want you here.”

According to a source, the exchange took place the other night in a hospitality suite. The Orange Bowl rep had compared NIU to Duke, the source said, and the NIU rep responded by pointing out that the Huskies, who are riding a 12-game winning streak, have been to bowl games in five consecutive seasons. The conversation escalated from there, the source said.

Kickoff is 8:30 tonight on ESPN, should be fun. 

Reid, Cards Close to a Deal

 Adam Schefter does what Adam Schefter does. I actually prefer him to Mort and Glazer, though they are all good reporters.Reid seems like a perfect fit for the Cards, who began the season 0-4 only to finish 5-11. If anyone can get something out of those QBs down there it's Reid, who would be reunited with former Eagles backup Kevin Kolb.

Andy Reid has emerged as the leading candidate to become Arizona's next HC and could be named to job by end of the week, per league sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 1, 2013

One league source said he was "95 percent" certain former Eagles HC Andy Reid will wind up coaching the Cardinals.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 1, 2013

Blake Griffin Throws Down a Between the Legs Dunk With Ease During Warmups(VIDEO)

Every time I see Griffin do something amazing I always think to myself enjoy it while you can. One day father time will catch up with him. Until then enjoy the most freakish athlete of our generation.