More Nascar Violations

This time Team Penske are the culprits of illegal modifications discovered during inspections last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Chad Walter, crew chief for Sam Hornish Jr and Jeremy Bullins, crew chief for Brad Keselowski were both fined $10,000 and put on probation for the rest of the Nascar season. The tiniest modifications can make a huge impact at these types of speeds and therefore highly scrutinized and inspected but also sometimes difficult to spot.

Cyclist Denis Galimzyanov Admits to Doping

Another cyclist has tested positive for doping. A couple of weeks ago cyclist Denis Galimzyanov tested positive for the blood booster erythropoietin (EPO). Galimzyanov admitted his wrong doing and said his team had nothing to do with it and was all his doing. Galimzyanov has been provisionally suspended and could face a ban from the sport of up to two years.

Henrik Lundqvist Hints at Fix

On Monday of this week the New York Rangers won game six of the first round NHL playoffs 3-2 to force a deciding game seven so why was Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist up in arms? With the Rangers leading 3-1 with less than a minute remaining the Senators scored after what Lundqvist claimed was interference and an illegal kick of the puck. After a lengthy review officials upheld the call which Lundqvist called an, "absolute joke" and "someone wanted them back in the game, for sure." This hint of collusion sounds similar to comments made by coach John Tortorella after the Winter Classic. Interesting to note that one source showed close to 62% of bettors on the Rangers and roughly 63% on the under which happened to be 5. Bettors were already winning on the side so maybe they did let this extra goal slide to salvage a push on the total and not have a complete loss on the game for Vegas sports books.

Baylor University on Probation for Infractions

Earlier this week Baylor University was put on probation for three years by the NCAA and self imposed quite a few penalties of their own for recruiting violations. The men's and women's basketball teams violated recruiting policies by making hundreds of impermissible telephone calls and text messages. The women's program just completed the first 40-0 season ever and won the national championship and the men's had a successful run in the tournament up to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual champion Kentucky. Illegal recruiting obviously played a hand in getting these players to make these great teams. Although not fixing games the people behind these teams cheated in recruiting which more or less fixed the success of its current programs. Success brings in money which it always seems to boil down to these days in sports.

Gambling Ads and the NFL

The National Fix League (NFL) is at it again. Ok so this isn't necessarily about fixes in sports but something worth mentioning. The NFL always claims to be the most responsible sport and strongest opposed to gambling on its games but just informed its teams this past Thursday they will now allow limited casino and state-licensed gambling advertisements. The ads will be limited to inner concourses and upper bowls of stadiums, local radio broadcasts and game programs. The NFL still claims to maintain a strong opposition to gambling on it's games but then why would they encourage advertising of other forms of gambling then? As always it's always about money, the NFL wants you to gamble so they make more money.

UFC Fighter Alistair Overeem Tests Positive for Elevated Testosterone Levels

Two weeks in a row discussing steroids or testosterone issues in mixed martial arts. Random testing might be doing it's job of weeding out some of the cheaters in this sport. The latest to test positive for elevated levels of testosterone is UFC fighter Alistair Overeem just weeks before his title shot against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146. Although the fight has not been officially taken off the card it looks doubtful as Overeem would have to appear before the Nevada State Athletic Commission to explain his elevated levels to obtain a license for the fight. Overeem's testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) level was greater than 10/1 far above the allowable 6/1 in the state of Nevada. Disappointed to see this fight canceled but good to see this caught beforehand in case Overeem won by illegal means to become a new champion.

Do You Believe Cyborg?

It's good to see an athlete take responsibility for their mistakes but they never admit to knowingly taking anything illegal and always make an excuse or play dumb and say they had no idea. I just don't buy it, do you? Just admit you cheated and move on. In this case Cris "Cyborg" Santos, a mixed martial arts fighter claims she had no idea she was taking steroids and thought it was something for weight loss. Then she goes on to state that steroids don't make you stronger or give you an advantage. What, are you kidding me? Cyborg is a beast that completely destroys any opponent that she faces and many believe it was obvious she has been on steroids for a long time. I guess there is no certain proof of that and you have to give someone the benefit of the doubt but you have to question cases like this. Her recent positive test for steroids resulted in a one year ban from mixed martial arts and stripped of her title belt.

Tennis Player Daniel Koellerer Banned for Life for Match-Fixing

Tennis player Daniel Koellerer lost his appeal yesterday and is now banned for life from tennis for match-fixing. Koellerer allegedly approached other tennis players from October 2009 to July 2010 to fix matches. The tennis governing bodies found enough evidence to uphold its original ruling and handed down the first lifetime ban in the sport.

FBI Investigating Point Shaving at Auburn

News broke last week that the FBI has been investigating point shaving at Auburn University. Specifically the FBI has been investigating point guard Varez Ward with special attention to Auburn's 68-50 loss to Alabama on February 7th and a 56-53 loss at Arkansas on January 25th. As soon as Auburn officials learned of the information they reported it to the FBI, NCAA and the Southeastern Conference. Generally point shaving schemes involve more than one player so I will definitely be monitoring this case to see if anything else is discovered from this investigation.

2010 Soccer World Cup Warm-up Matches Controlled by Referees

FIFA reported earlier this week that the South African Football Association was duped into allowing an Asian match fixing syndicate managed by Wilson Perumal to appoint certain referees for certain warm-up international matches played in 2010 prior to the World Cup hosted by South Africa. Perumal has been convicted of match fixing charges in Finland since then. While matches and referees are investigated it just goes to show once again you never know where the fix is being controlled but almost certainly has to do with money. It appears all teams and countries show no evidence to manipulating games.

Soccer Match-Fixing Widespread in Eastern and Southern Europe

The BBC recently reported that match-fixing and other issues in Eastern and Southern Europe are more widespread than most believed. As reported by a survey by FIFPro, 23.6% of players are aware of match-fixing in their league and as high as 43.5% in Russia who will host the 2018 World Cup. They also stated 11.9% of players and as high as 30.3% in Greece have been approached to fix the results of games. The common link found was between players not being paid and fixing games. No matter the reason or level of play it always comes down to money as I always say.

Jimmie Johnson's Car Fails Daytona 500 Opening Day Inspection

A week prior to the big day tomorrow one of the biggest names in Nascar failed his opening day car inspection for the Daytona 500. Jimmie Johnson's car failed pre-race inspection for C-pillars that were found to be out of spec and accordingly confiscated. Car body violations are common at times but this one made news since it came from one of the biggest names in the sport prior to Nascar's biggest race of the year. Who doesn't want to win this race and some will do whatever it takes.

Another Tour de France Champion Banned for Doping

Jan Ullrich, a former Tour de France champion has been banned from cycling for two years for doping. The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced the findings on February 9th and stated he was part of the doping program by Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes that was revealed in 2006. How many former champions will be caught doping? This list keeps getting longer and sure we will see many more cyclists to come.

Soccer Corruption

We all know soccer has had quite a few problems with corruption over the last few years and the latest report will give us an idea just how big the problems are. A Swiss court has ruled that a document identifying soccer officials who took millions in kickbacks from World Cup broadcast deals will be released. FIFA will not appeal the ruling so obviously they have come to terms with the corruption the sport has recently seen and trying to move on. As I always say, it's always about money.