Knucklehead of the Week
Tennis brat Nick Kyrgios was fined $10,000 by the ATP last week for an “insulting remark” he made toward Stan Wawrinka during a match in Montreal. Kyrgios, 20, told Wawrinka that another player had slept with his girlfriend, but used a different verb. A courtside microphone picked up what was said. Kyrgios also was fined for something he said to a ball person. Kyrgios lost his match the next day and got into a spat with a fan. The mohawked wonder told Wawrinka he was sorry and later said, “Obviously, he was angry.”
I was driving south of Springfield on Saturday and turned onto East Possum Road. Near the intersection I swerved to avoid … a dead opossum. I’m glad Jill wasn’t riding shotgun because she’s good for a horror-film scream whenever she spots one of these marsupials — flattened or not.
The Bengals showed off $20 million in improvements to Paul Brown Stadium during Friday's NFL preseason snoozer. The most visibile upgrade at the ancient 15-year-old facility is a large HD scoreboard. It cost $10 million, and Hamilton County taxpayers picked up $7.5M of that tab.
“We were pleased to be able to partner with Hamilton County to enhance the video quality at PBS,” Bengals executive Katie Blackburn said. I’m sure the Bengals were happy to keep sticking it to their fans, courtesy of a lopsided stadium deal. The makeover also featured “enhanced food preparation and presentation.” What is this, football or Cutthroat Kitchen?
I thought the turf in Canton looked ragged during last week's Hall of Fame game. Turns out it's 11 years old and will be replaced. The Steelers have insinuated that it played a part in the ACL injury sustained by kicker Sean Suisham. Fullback Will Johnson, a Centerville High graduate, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "I had a couple of plays there, especially in the middle of the field, where I was sliding. I saw a lot of guys losing their footing."
The Big Ten Network has kicked off its annual football bus tour, which means a lot of driving for somebody. BTN will take a look at what's going on at Ohio State at 6 p.m. Thursday in its first installment of Scarlet and Gray Days. Hopefully the behind-the-scenes footage includes Urban Meyer eating a healthy salad for lunch.
The Harlem Globetrotters announced last week they are dropping the Washington Generals from their schedule. Rumor has it that the Globetrotters are scouting UD's December home opponents over the past 10 years. I'm confident they'll find a team they can beat a thousand straight times.
Trending up: Anthony Rizzo, Hisashi Iwakuma, Mike Hauschild. The Cubs first baseman will be in "best catch" shows for years to come after going into the stands to record an out. Rizzo hopped on the tarp at Wrigley Field, then ventured into the box seats to snag a foul ball. He didn't have time for nachos.
Trending down: Altee Tenpenny, Ray Rice, Michael Lorenzen. Tenpenny, a former four-star recruit with a five-star name, transferred from Alabama to UNLV a few months ago. The running back was kicked off his new team last week. Perhaps the lure of The Strip was a bit too much for the Arkansas kid.
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