"Roy Halladay, who died at 40 on Tuesday when his plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida, was a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher, unparalleled worker, and model teammate. Those who knew him best also described him as a devoted husband to his wife, Brandy, and father to his sons, Ryan and Braden.
In short, he was everything you would want a person and a baseball player to be."
-- Ken Rosenthal
Boys will be boys!
According to a report on ESPN.com, three UCLA men's basketball players -- including LiAngelo Ball (far right), the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball -- were arrested in China just days before Friday's season-opening game against Georgia Tech in Shanghai.
One source told ESPN the group of players -- which also included freshmen Cody Riley and Jalen Hill -- was arrested on shoplifting charges.
The players are being questioned about stealing from a Louis Vuitton store that is located next to the team's hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins had been staying before moving on to Shanghai on Wednesday.
A source says the three players are not currently with the team in Shanghai, where UCLA was scheduled to practice Wednesday.
Jones may have it in for Goodell
According to a report on the website for Pro Football Weekly, there is an increasing effort on the part of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to have current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell removed from that job.
While there may be some fuzzy math in this particular report, there is no doubt some bad blood simmering from the ongoing dispute in regards to running back Ezekiel Elliott and the six-game suspension handed down by the league. The case has gone on from arbitration hearings to courtrooms, with literally no end in sight.
According to the report, Jones is also extremely upset about Goodell’s refusal to back him in immediately demanding that all NFL players stand for the national anthem.
There's a lot to unpack in this story, so we'll attempt to do some storytelling of our own through this process.
I admit, I'm curiously fascinated by a story making the rounds that any potential expansion of the college football playoffs -- while a fine idea supposedly for networks and sponsors -- would result in more players "pulling a McCaffrey" or "performing a Fournette" and refusing to participate.
Last year, you may remember neither Leonard Fournette of LSU and Christian McCaffrey of Stanford played in their respective teams bowl games. It's been widely suggested both players sat out those games wary of injury which would prevent them from a splash payday in the NFL draft.
Now, there's talk of more players, perhaps in large part because of the increasing awareness and intolerance towards college athletes not receiving any benefits, that a potential expansion of the very popular college football playoffs would be an ideal place for more college athletes to express themselves by not participating.
Gonna be a fun show. Looking forward to it.