Morning Musings: Porn, Drugs and Portis

By Chris

Just some quick thoughts on a beautiful Wednesday morning:

-Steeler’s offensive line coach Larry Zierlein reportedly sent what the Steelers are calling an “inappropriate e-mail” from his Pittsburgh office to “unintended recipients” throughout the NFL last Friday. Zierlein, as Buffalo fans may recall, was an assistant line coach for the Bills last season. Mike Florio’s blog, ProFootballTalk.com broke the story and it was finally confirmed yesterday. Apparently, according to Sports Illustrated’s rumor site FanNation, the porn message made its way up the ranks from important Steelers officials all the way up to commissioner Roger Goodell himself. It’s nice to know that the players aren’t the only ones who don’t know how to handle themselves in the NFL.

-Jason Giambi failed a test for amphetamines within the last year, according to the New York Daily News. So I guess when he said he was wrong for doing “that stuff,” amphetamines weren’t included. There’s also a rumor that the Angels would like to trade for him. Owner Arte Moreno always likes to look for a big move and Giambi would be an upgrade offensively over any of the first baseman currently on the Halos roster. Unfortunately, with all of the trouble Giambi was now dug himself into, who knows if he’ll even be in the game much longer. With the positive amphetamine test, Giambi subjected himself to six additional tests for one year, making his statement to USA Today about being “tested more than anyone” all the more true. The Daily News couldn’t have picked a hotter time to leak those test results and they couldn’t have done it at a worse time for Giambi.

-The Ducks advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals with a win over Detroit last night. Now I can have a rooting interest and I may be able to stomach watching this series. Ottawa has the ability to adapt to Anaheim’s defensive style from the blue line out, but it will ultimately be the goaltending that will keep Canada from its first championship since 1993. It’s very hard to see Ray Emery outplaying former Conn Smythe winner J.S. Giguere on the biggest stage of all. I see the Ducks taking advantage of all those juicy rebounds Emery will leave on the doorstep and taking the Cup in five.

-Clinton Portis makes me laugh. From his goofy disguises in post game interviews to his recent comments about Mike Vick and dog fighting not being a problem, I just can’t wait to see what he does next. I love how he couldn't even keep a straight face during that dog fighting interview. A reality show is a no-brainer. Unfortunately, such a series might jeopardize Goodell’s efforts to keep the image of the league clean. And those efforts are working out reeeeeeeeally well right now.

-The Spurs are up 2-0 against the Jazz already? Really? Does anyone even expect Utah to win a game? And notice that since Bill Simmons’ ESPN the Magazine column was published last week, everyone is now praising Tim Duncan as “the greatest player in the past decade.” Coinicdence? And also, is there is a reason as to why there needs to be a four day lay-off between games in that series? I blame Tom Bergeron.

-The University at Buffalo finally finished their new 12,000 square foot training facility last month. The old weight room inside Alumni was a joke for a Division I program and hopefully the new facility will help sway athletic recruits to the Bulls program. The Morris Sports Performance Center will actually be able to house whole teams! And it’s good to hear they’re not settling with just this new facility, as Rodney McKissic writes in The Buffalo News today: “The Morris Center is a precursor to a projected 200,000-square-foot indoor multipurpose field house that will include a 120-yard football field and an estimated 20,000-square-foot weight room, which would be one of the biggest in college athletics. The field house, nevertheless, is in the embryonic stages of planning.”