No clogging the halls

     No Tebowing allowed. Especially when you’ve only got three minutes to get to your next class.

     Yahoo! Prep Rally reported yesterday that a Long Island high school suspended a group of athletes for imitating the popular pose in the hallway of their school.

     Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is famous for his own form of celebration, in which he goes to one knee and rests his forehead on both fists. In prayer, usually in the end zone or on the sideline following a key moment in the game.

     Riverhead superintendent Nancy Carney said she has received  hate mail from people charging religious prejudice. But she said the students were suspended for clogging the hallway, not for bringing religion into the school.

     It was reported that the students had been Tebowing all week, starting Monday, as a joke. But when other students joined in, school officials claimed it had become a disturbance and warned the participants. About 40 students took part in the Tebowing, but only four were suspended. All athletes. Two of the four  suspensions were later rescinded because they had not been warned to stop, officials said.

 ***

     This one was over by halftime. The Falcons raced out to a 27-0 lead at intermission and coasted to a 41-14 victory over the Jaguars last night in Atlanta.

     The Falcons (9-5) received three touchdown passes from Matt Ryan while John Abraham was credited with three and a half sacks. At one point in the third quarter, Atlanta was up 41-0 before Jacksonville (4-10) scored on a blocked punt.

     Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert had a miserable night, fumbling twice after taking hits from Abraham. Both turnovers led to scores.

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     Keep an eye on this story. Bears receiver Sam Hurd has been accused of attempting to set up a drug-dealing network in the Chicago area. He had a kilogram of cocaine with him when he was arrested Wednesday, and he allegedly wanted to buy five to 10 kilos of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana every week.

     Hurd allegedly told an undercover agent his co-conspirator handled the majority of the drug deals, but he focused on the “higher-end deals.”

     That’s got to make NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell cringe.

     Hurd played five seasons with the Cowboys and has contributed mostly on special teams during his first season in Chicago. His three-year deal with the Bears is reportedly worth up to $5.15 million, including a $1.35 million signing bonus.

***

     It’s that time again. Temple meets Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl to kick off the college football bowl season tomorrow. It’s the first of three bowl games on the schedule. Ohio-Utah State follows in the Idaho Potato Bowl. The action concludes with University of Louisiana-Lafayette and San Diego State in the New Orleans Bowl.  

***

     Now that Chris Paul is with the Clippers and Dwight Howard appears to be staying in Dallas for the foreseeable future, the NBA can focus on playing basketball rather than musical chairs. Just the way Commissioner David Stern likes it. Stern couldn’t have been happy with all the criticism the league received of late, even being likened to a circus. And when Stern, personally, came under fire for his handling of the first two Chris Paul trades that never happened, well, you knew that the third time would be the charm.

***

     Bidding is closed and we’ll probably find out Tuesday which major league baseball team has won the right to negotiate with Japan’s top pitcher.

     Yu Darvish is a 6-foot-5 right-hander who throws in the low to mid-90s and has been compared by some major league scouts to the Cubs’ Matt Garza. Darvish fanned 276 batters last season.

     According to Jon Heyman of CBSSorts.com, the Blue Jays are rumored to be the front-runner for Darvish’s services. There are at least a couple of other contenders, though, including the Rangers and a “mystery team.” The Yankees’ bid is not believed to be substantial. It’s been reported that the Cubs have placed a bid, but the Nationals have been very quiet about their interest.

     If Darvish’s Japanese club accepts the bid, the winner will have a month to get the pitcher’s signature on a contract.

***

     Flyers captain Chris Pronger, one of the toughest players in the NHL, will miss the rest of the season and playoffs with severe post-concussion syndrome. He hasn’t played since Nov. 19. Teammate Claude Giroux, the league’s leading scorer this season, is out indefinitely with a concussion after taking an inadvertent knee to the head by a teammate Saturday.

     When Sidney Crosby came into the league, he drew comparisons to Wayne Gretzky. Now people are wondering if Sid the Kid isn’t the next Bobby Orr, the latest superstar to have his career cut short by injuries. With Orr it was his knees; he couldn’t skate the way he once did. With Crosby it’s concussions; something a lot less clear to everyone. Even the NHL, NFL, major league baseball and the NBA don’t seem any closer to getting a handle on concussions in their sport. We’re left to wonder: Who’s next?

4 thoughts on “No clogging the halls

  1. Can you imagine, high school students emulating a sports figure? Mmmm, I guess if students do something negative it’s couseling office, something goofy -Suspension. Sad, just sad.

    • I think it came down to a question of authority. As usual. The two kids who were suspended were told to stop and did not listen. The other two had their suspensions rescinded after they complained that no one told them to cease and desist. The thing is, right now, everything about Tim Tebow is news.

  2. Sam hurd if convicted should be banned from the NFL and go to Jail . Even thoughi don’t watch to much hockey any more i do love to watch The Winter Classic . this years match up between Philly and the Rangers should be a great game . Good luck with the webpage i will spread the word !!!!!

    • Thanks, Kevin. The Bears already cut Hurd. Worst is still to come for him, though. I’m with you on the Winter Classic. Love the idea of pros playing outside, and the fact that it’s the Rangers and Flyers just makes it better.

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