NASCAR Penalizes Team Penske

Just before the start of the NRA 500 on April 13th at the Texas Motor Speedway Team Penske was penalized for rear-end housings that failed pre-race inspection. NASCAR requires all suspension systems and parts to be pre-approved prior to being used in competition. Because these parts were not pre-approved they were confiscated by NASCAR, Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were stripped of 25 points, both crew chiefs fined $100k and suspended for six races and several other team members were also suspended for six weeks. Penske Racing does plan to appeal these penalties.

Lebanese Soccer Referees Received Sexual Services to fix a Match

Lebanese soccer referees Ali Sabbagh, Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb were recently charged with receiving free sexual services to fix an Asian Football Confederation Cup match in Singapore. These are high level officials who have worked games for the Asian Football Confederation, Lebanese top league and matches between national teams. Sounds like the referees received the red card this time for their violations.

UFC Legend Don Frye Alleges Brock Lesnar Fights were Fixed

UFC legend Don Frye alleges that both Randy Couture and Frank Mir threw their fights with former UFC champion Brock Lesnar. He claims the UFC hand fed Lesnar easy fights, pumped him up and then fixed his big fights. Lesnar is a wrestler with the WWE so he has that type of background and the UFC did make a boatload of money off him. Check out the second half of the video to hear Don's claims.

Former Cyclist Grischa Niermann Suspended for Doping

Recently former German cyclist Grischa Niermann came forward to admit his use of EPO from 2000-2003. Niermann came forward to admit his doping past to help fight for a clean sport and educate younger riders of his negative experiences. Although a coach now Niermann still received a reduced six month suspension that started on February 15th. Are any top level cyclists clean these days?

MMA Fighter Lavar Johnson Fails UFC 157 Post-Fight Drug Test

UFC fighter Lavar Johnson failed his UFC 157 post-fight drug test according to the California State Athletic Commission. Johnson failed due to elevated testosterone levels which was confirmed by a secondary carbon isotope ratio test and was consistent with steroid use. This doesn't bode well for his future in the UFC who recently released him.

A Canadian Loophole for Georges St-Pierre?

The norm for MMA fights is to allow a one pound allowance at their official weigh-in except for title fights where both fighters must be the exact weight or below. A recently leaked video shows the UFC's Senior VP of Business and Legal Affairs and Assistant General Counsel, Michael Mersh, state to Nick Diaz and camp ten minutes before weigh-in that they will allow a 0.9 lb weigh-in allowance at UFC 158. He goes on to say that 170.9 will still count as 170 even. They question why they were not told before with no solid answer. Was Georges St-Pierre slightly overweight prior to his UFC 158 weigh-in? With such a highly anticipated fight was the UFC giving special treatment to one of their biggest stars and to keep the fight a title fight? Nick Diaz did weigh in at 169 while Georges St-Pierre weighed in at 170. Was St-Pierre truly at 170 or higher? He always does appear to be bigger and roided out for his fights. Hopefully this video does not get deleted.

Red Sox Suggested PED Use to Curt Schilling

Several weeks ago former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling told ESPN radio that former members of the Red Sox organization suggested the use of performance enhancing drugs to lengthen his career. The conversation was in the clubhouse in earshot of several people so obviously nothing to hide from others and common place in that clubhouse at the time. I don't doubt that PED use was rampant in MLB and probably still is.

The Question of Transgender Athletes

If you are a MMA fan you might have heard the news over the past few days of the first transgender fighter Fallon Fox. Fox is a professional fighter with a 5-0 record with all fights coming to a stop in the first round. News broke of Fox's gender change days after her last victory at Championship Fight Alliance. Fox born a man underwent gender reassignment surgery along with supplemental hormone therapy over six years ago. Currently the International Olympic Committee sides with the new gender after two years of hormone replacement therapy. The MMA world is buzzing and both sides are making their opinions heard. Curious what our readers think, should Fallon Fox be allowed to compete in MMA against other women or does she have any advantages?

MLB Investigating More PED Usage

Major League Baseball is currently investigating more performance enhancing drug (PED) usage among it's current players. This time they are seeking the records of Biogenesis Anti-Aging Clinic founder Tony Bosch who has a notebook of PED plans for baseball players including Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Melky Cabrera, Nelson, Cruz, Gio Gonzalez and other players over the last three years. No surprise here but will monitor this story to see who they officially link to this and the consequences they hand down.

NASCAR's Answer to Ratings Drop

How do you fix the lowest TV ratings in five years for NASCAR? Have one of it's most popular and only current female driver Danica Patrick win the pole for tomorrow's Daytona 500. Not saying this is outright fixed but has to be suspicious. Fox Sports, NASCAR, all the sponsors and everyone else involved just hit it big. That is a monumental amount of extra income that will be generated from this one event. Suspicious because Patrick has yet to win a race in NASCAR, it's her first full season in Sprint Cup and she is still adjusting to this type of car and now she wins the pole of the most coveted race of the year to kick off the season. Of note to futures bettors, the line on Patrick to win the Daytona 500 has now dropped from 125-1 to 22-1.

Widespread Match Fixing in Soccer

Europol recently announced their findings in a global betting scam run from Singapore that fixed hundreds of soccer matches back to 2008. Approximately 680 suspicious matches including World Cup and European championships qualifying games and the Champions League games were found to have turned up close to the equivalent of $11 million in profits and $2.7 million in bribes. Investigators found 425 participants from 15 countries including players, match officials, club officials and criminals were involved.

Did Bill Callahan Throw Super Bowl XXXVII?

Former Oakland Raiders players Tim Brown and Jerry Rice say coach Bill Callahan threw the Super Bowl game in 2003 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers which they lost 48-21. They claim Callahan disliked his team and players and was content to let his old boss, then-Bucs coach John Gruden, beat him. Callahan surprised players by changing the offensive game plan just three days before the Super Bowl which is just unheard of at this level. In previous seasons players did not support or trust Callahan. Callahan has since denied these allegations and outraged by them. Not very often you hear players accuse coaches of sabotage so hopefully this is further investigated and exposed if true.

They Call it the Super Bowl for a Reason

My yearly rant about this game is back. They call it the Super Bowl because Vegas and online sports books along with the bookies make a SUPER killing. Vegas sports books have profited off this game 20 out of the last 22 years with losses of $2.57M and $397K in those two losing years. Sure, all those ridiculous prop bets add to the take but how can anyone profit that many years without some sort of fixed result to ensure profitability? Maybe the sports books should be the one's raising the Lombardi trophy each year. Happy betting and enjoy the Super Bowl.

Lance Armstong Finally Confesses

Cyclist Lance Armstong finally confessed to blood doping and his use of performance enhancing drugs last week on the Oprah Winfrew show. If you missed the exclusive interview click here to see his confessions of guilt. From hero to zero, what a shame.