Lance Armstrong Teammate Suspended

Team RadioShack cyclist Li Fuyu has been suspended by the International Cycling Union after testing positive for the banned anabolic agent Clenbuterol during a Belgian race last month.  Li is suspended until the results of his B-sample are determined in the coming weeks.  If the B-sample is positive as well he will be removed from the RadioShack team that also includes Lance Armstrong.

Michael Waltrip NASCAR Racing Team Penalized

NASCAR penalized Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) drivers Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann along with closely affiliated drivers Max Papis and Marcos Ambrose this week.  All four teams were found to be running non-approved radiator pans and each fined $25,000.  The crew chiefs of Papis and Ambrose were additionally fined $50,000 each and both lost 50 driver and 50 car owner points for unapproved added weight.  Those points may prove costly in car owner points as both are trying to maintain a top 35 guaranteed qualifying spot.  As long as NASCAR has been around drivers and owners have been trying to cheat the system with illegal adjustments to gain an advantage.

Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal - Where it all Began

Before Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal came to Las Vegas there were no sports books.  Rosenthal was a sports gambling pioneer who had inside information to just about anything in the sports world.  He learned his trade in the bleachers of Wrigley Field and soon had a reputation as a leading sports bettor and handicapper.  He was arrested several times for illegal gambling and bookmaking which led to his departure to Las Vegas.  He was the first to operate a sports book in a casino and secretly ran the Stardust, Freemont, Marina and Hacienda casinos in Las Vegas.  Rosenthal was eventually denied a gaming license due to his connections to the Chicago Outfit and subsequently forced out of Las Vegas when he was added to the notorious Black Book.  He later ran a sports betting website and was a consultant to offshore sports betting companies.  If you're reading this blog you have probably already seen the blockbuster Martin Scorsese film based on Rosenthal named Casino.  This is a great movie and does a good job capturing the rise and fall of Rosenthal, played by Robert De Niro.

Ultimate Fraud Championship (UFC) 112

Did anyone else pay for UFC 112?  What the hell was that?  I have been waiting months for this event and it was a disaster.  Can't say for sure if anything was fixed but the outcomes sure seemed unlikely.  Maybe the three main bouts had lots of money on them that they wouldn't go to the late rounds and therefore they all did in shocking ways.  In the first main bout Matt Hughes had plenty of opportunities to take out Renzo Gracie but continued to knock him down with leg kicks and strikes only to stroll to the other side of the octagon and let Renzo get back up time and time again finally ending in a late third round stoppage.  In the second fight BJ Penn was looking for the knockout punch the first two rounds.  I then commented to friends and also heard his own trainers tell him to take it to the ground.  One of the best BJJ specialist in the world and he does not listen to his trainers and did not even attempt one take down in five championship rounds.  Something was definitely not right about Penn or this fight which led to Frankie Edgar stealing the lightweight title from Penn in a unanimous decision.  I'm pretty pissed by now and expecting Anderson Silva to put on a show against Damian Maia for the middleweight title bout.  Silva certainly put on a show.  We have all seen him egg on opponents before but this was out of control and made him look like an disrespectful goof to Maia, UFC, Dana White and all us of poor saps that paid for this event on television.  Once he was warned late in the fight for taunting he then decided to run around the octagon and waste time to get his unanimous decision.  Maia made a late charge with the upset crowd chanting his name at this point but the damage was already done.  I'm a huge MMA and UFC fan but tonight they were KO'd!!!  Check out the video above of Dana White in disgust of this event.  My advice to him for the next few days is to not check his twitter account as there are quite a lot of vulgar complaints.

Sports Fix Flashback - UNLV and The Fixer

In 1991 UNLV basketball players from the 1990 championship team were linked to convicted sports fixer Richie "The Fixer" Perry.  The picture above shows the close relationship Perry had with those players.  Perry a basketball junkie and coach denied any wrong doing.  His involvement in a Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal and harness racing superfecta scandal in the 1970's along with his connections and insider sports information brought great scrutiny upon the UNLV team.  Inquiries into recruiting violations, insider information, giving money to players and access to coach Jerry Tarkanians own seats ultimately led to the coach resigning and Perry being put in the Nevada Black Book.