NFLPA’s Gene Upshaw Makes Another Top 10 List!
Sports writer, Chick Ludwig, from the Dayton Daily News, compiled his new list of Top 10 sports folks who should ‘ just go away’ and Gene Upshaw just made the cut. Wonder why?
Top 10 list of sports folks who should ‘just go away’
LIFE WOULD BE GRAND WITHOUT THESE HEADACHES
My top 10 list of sports people (and persons) I wish would “just go away”:
1. Chad Johnson, Bengals wide receiver — Tired of hearing and reading about Chadly? Sorry, folks, but it’s only going to get worse. The only thing missing from his repertoire is sit-ups in his driveway and an impromptu news conference featuring agent Drew Rosenhaus, who represents Terrell Owens. As soon as Chad dumped his original agent, L.A.-based Jerome Stanley, in February 2005 in favor of Rosenhaus, trouble started brewing. Rosenhaus negotiated a landmark $35.5 million contract extension for Chad in 2006, which is now obsolete. Now Chad wants a new team and a new contract similar to Larry Fitzgerald’s four-year, $40 million. Chad, please, just go away.
2. Drew Rosenhaus, agent — The title of his autobiography, “A Shark Never Sleeps: Wheeling and Dealing with the NFL’s Most Ruthless Agent,” published in 1998, says it all. With more than 90 clients, Drew has so much money he can’t count it all. Drew, please, just go away.
3. Bud Selig, Major League Baseball commissioner — The first pitch of every baseball season always took place in Cincinnati. Selig ruined that sacred tradition by force-feeding us season openers in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Japan. Selig also allowed an All-Star game to end in a tie. But his most grievous error came when he sat idly by, watching baseball’s home run assault at the height of the steroid era. Bud, please, just go away.
4. Barry Bonds, baseball free agent — Find a photo of Bonds when he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now find a photo of Bonds when he played for the San Francisco Giants. My, how his body changed. Did the “morph” from skinny to bulky occur through weight training and flexibility exercises? Or were performance-enhancing drugs involved? You decide. Barry, please, just go away.
5. Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee — The congressional committee that grilled Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee on allegations of performance-enhancing drug use in the Mitchell report has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether Clemens committed perjury when he testified on Capitol Hill. McNamee faces a defamation lawsuit from Clemens after testifying to Mitchell report investigators and Congress that he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award-winner with steroids and human growth hormone. Now McNamee is selling between 50 and 60 pieces of signed Roger Clemens memorabilia through a Boston-area dealer. “Mac” is due to pocket 80 percent of the profits, which should net him six figures. Roger and Brian, please, just go away.
6. Isiah Thomas, head coach, New York Knicks — He is undoubtedly the NBA’s worst coach and worst executive, running one of the league’s greatest franchises so far into the ground that it has to look up to see bottom. His record since taking over as the coach in June 2006 after firing Larry Brown? 53-104. Finally, mercifully, Thomas was replaced as the Knicks team president by Donnie Walsh, the new president for basketball operations. As former players go, I’d take Calvin Murphy over Thomas any day of the week.
7. John Daly, golfer — Now that his 10-year exemptions for winning the 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 British Open have run their course, Daly no longer has full exempt status on the PGA Tour. He must now depend heavily on Sponsor Invitations, which are plentiful. Will somebody, anybody, please stop enabling this guy? John, please, just go away.
8. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots head coach — Courtesy of “Spygate,” Belichick apparently had help on his way to becoming a genius. Spygate unfolded after the first game of the 2007 season when tapes of the New York Jets’ defensive signals were confiscated from a Patriots employee on the sideline. Belichick was fined $500,000, the team was fined $250,000 and was stripped of its first-round draft choice. Bill, please, just go away.
9. Gene Upshaw, executive director, NFL Players Association — Bryant Gumbel was right on the money when he called the players’ union boss “the league’s biggest embarrassment.” Gumbel suggested the union’s membership should get rid of Upshaw “before they become ex-players and find out the hard way why so many are so outraged.” Upshaw’s cruel and callous disregard for ex-players’ health and well-being in terms of pension and disability benefits is astounding. He’s being sued by a number of veterans, who claim he’s denied them millions in licensing fees. The “Sports Business Journal” reported Upshaw earned $6.7 million in the year that ended Feb. 28, 2007. While Upshaw ranks consistently as sports’ highest-paid union chief, numerous former players are struggling to make ends meet. Gene, please, just go away.
10. Buckeye basketball fans — I’ve been flooded with emails and phone calls, denouncing Ohio State fans for verbally abusing and physically threatening Dayton Flyers fans before, during and after OSU’s 74-63 victory over UD in the quarterfinals of the NIT at sold-out Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center. Ohio State — back-to-back BCS losers to Florida and LSU — can’t beat the SEC in football, so its fans resort to intimidating their friendly Dayton neighbors, who dared to have the audacity to attend the game. As a proud 1976 graduate of The Ohio State University (B.A., Journalism, 1976) — I “walked” with classmate Archie Griffin, the two-time Heisman Trophy winner, on diploma day at St. John Arena — I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for Buckeye fans, who rank second only to Notre Dame fans as being the most insufferable on the planet. Remember: You don’t live in Cleveland. You live in Columbus. Buckeye basketball fans, please, just go away.
