Lawson leads Nuggets over Bulls 108-91 (Yahoo! Sports)
CHICAGO (AP)—Ty Lawson tied a season high with 27 points, Arron Affalo added 22 and the Denver Nuggets shot 50 percent Monday night to beat the Chicago Bulls 108-91. Denver, playing its third game in four nights as part of a seven-game road swing, got its first win three games into the trip. Al Harrington added 17 points and Andre Miller chipped in with 12 points and 10 assists for the Nuggets, who are scrapping for a playoff spot in the West. C.J. Watson and John Lucas III scored 17 points each for the Bulls. Chicago star Derrick Rose sat out his seventh straight game with a groin injury and the Bulls seemed to be out of sync most of the night, especially on defense.
Lawson leads Nuggets over Bulls 108-91 (Yahoo! Sports)
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Scary allegations are still emanating from Zach Randolph’s pool cue party gone wrong
Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, jokin’ around (Getty Images) After an iffy start to his career that involved feuds with coaches, teammates, and a general disinterest in putting together the sort of all-around game that contributes to winning basketball, Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph has turned into quite the team leader since being dealt to Memphis in the summer of 2010. Not only did he lead the Grizzlies to the playoffs last year, but by all accounts he’s been very professional in his long (though curiously delayed) rehabilitation from injury this season. But police accounts of one night gone terribly wrong at Randolph’s Portland estate last summer are dragging his name right back into the mud. More specifically, police suspect that Zach dragged a bag of weed away from a local dealer without paying, and then told his buddies to drag the dealer’s rear end to the curb, but not before they roughed him up real good. And that when police showed up at Randolph’s house, it took a drawn pistol to get Randolph to put his hands where the officers could see them. From the Oregonian: Once inside, deputies found Randolph in bed with a woman and ordered both to “show me your hands.” The woman complied, but Randolph continued to hold his hands behind his pillow and under the covers until one of the deputies, concerned they were heading into a physical confrontation, pointed his handgun at Randolph, reports say.In the ensuing hours of interviews, two women — one a flight attendant — gave police false names. All those present denied any knowledge of drugs, despite the strong smell of marijuana in the air, or knowledge of the beating. The rest of the report details that Randolph apparently balked at having to pay drug dealer James Reuben Beasley $120 for a half-ounce of marijuana. I could text some friends of mine to ask them what a half-ounce of pot usually costs, but I don’t want them to get the wrong idea about me and my weekend plans, so I suppose we’ll just have to find out just how outrageous a sum that is some other time. The dealer alleges that Randolph grabbed the bag anyway without paying, and had “six or seven” bodyguards slap him around a bit, including a meeting with the business end of a pool cue. Not the party end, but the business end. Prosecutors believe that because few will testify against the dealer, and because most of the allegations against Randolph are coming from an admitted drug dealer, that the case is not prosecutable. And if the allegations are true? Stop having these parties, Zach. No more bags. No more pool cues.
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Bhopal victims use Dow tie to bare woes (Yahoo! Sports)
BHOPAL, India (AP)—On a cold winter night, more than 27 years ago, waves of a lethal gas escaped a chemical plant and swept over the ramshackle homes of this city’s sleeping poor, killing thousands and sickening half a million people and making Bhopal synonymous with industrial disaster. The survivors, still plagued by lingering illnesses, sick children, the holes left by dead relatives, faded away from the world’s memory. Now, they have a serendipitous chance to seize perhaps the world’s biggest stage to remind everyone of their existence—the London Olympics. Bhopal activists, hoping to emulate the Tibetans who dominated headlines ahead of the 2008 Beijing Games, accuse Olympic sponsor Dow Chemical Co. of owing them compensation for their sorrow even though the giant corporation played no role in the accident. Dow disputes that it has any obligation, saying it purchased the company responsible for the Bhopal plant only after it had settled a liability case with India’s government. The suffering of the Bhopal victims, however, is undeniable. Activists say that thousands of children born to parents directly exposed to the gas leak or poisoned by contaminated water are plagued by brain damage, cerebral palsy, stunted growth, cleft lips, missing palates. Cancer rates are inordinately high. Skin, vision and breathing disorders are endemic. And for that prolonged suffering, the survivors have blamed both their own government and Dow. The government for negotiating a low compensation and then ignoring them. Dow, because 16 years after the tragedy it bought the Union Carbide Corporation, an American company that had a majority stake in the pesticide plant that leaked the lethal methyl isocyanate gas. The rest of the Indian subsidiary was owned by Indian investors and financial institutions. Ten years after the tragedy, the subsidiary, Union Carbide India Ltd, was sold to an Indian company now called Eveready Industries. But the anger of survivors, activists and now even the government has now primarily been focused on Dow, and the company’s high-profile Olympic sponsorship has re-energized their desperate fight for justice. They blocked trains by laying on rail tracks, wrote impassioned letters to officials and athletes, pushed the Indian Olympic Association and the sports ministry to lobby the International Olympic Committee to drop Dow as a sponsor. The sports ministry also hinted that a boycott could be an option. Dow, which is sponsoring a $11 million decorative wrap that will sheathe London’s Olympic Stadium, has long denied responsibility for the gas disaster. Dow says the legal case was resolved when Union Carbide settled with the Indian government for $470 million in 1989, a decade before it bought the company. It says all responsibility for the factory and any lingering contamination now rests with the state of Madhya Pradesh, of which Bhopal is the capital. As the case has garnered renewed national attention and sympathy in India, the state’s position has dramatically changed. In 2009, Babulal Gaur, the state minister for Gas Relief and Rehabilitation told The Associated Press that the birth defects in the victims’ children were mostly caused by poverty. He acknowledged the state owned the land where the now-shuttered plant stands. However, on Tuesday he called Dow a “murderous” company and said the health woes of the survivors and their families were its responsibility. Eveready, the Indian company that now owns the subsidiary that directly controlled the plant, has no responsibility, he said. Survivors and the activists who support them argue that Dow’s legal responsibilities are far from over. In recent years, the government has revived the case against Dow. In February 2011, India’s Supreme Court issued notices to Dow Chemicals and Union Carbide Corp. saying it will begin hearings on a government petition asking for an additional $1.7 billion in compensation for the victims. Activists say its purchase of Union Carbide also makes Dow responsible for lingering contamination and other issues. The IOC says Dow was not responsible for the gas leak and would continue as an Olympic sponsor. British Prime Minister David Cameron has backed that decision. “Dow was not the owner of Union Carbide at the time, so this is a different company and a different business,” Cameron has told the Indian broadcaster CNN-IBN. Emails and telephones messages by The Associated Press seeking comment from Dow representatives in India and the US weren’t answered. The IOC’s perceived insensitivity angers the Bhopal victims and those who have dedicated their lives to helping them, like Satinath Sarangi, director of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic, which offers free health care for those exposed to gas or polluted water. “For Dow the Olympics are like the Ganga in which it will dip and wash away its crime,” said Sarangi, referring to the ritual cleansing devout Hindus take in the sacred Ganges river. But here, memories of running from the gas, watching bodies of friends, family and neighbors pile up on the narrow winding streets and in overwhelmed hospital wards can’t be washed away. “I can never forget that night as long as I live,” says Balkrishan Namdev, a 55-year-old survivor and activist. He remembers waking up feeling like he couldn’t breathe. Like someone was burning chili peppers. Then there was just mad panic. “Even the leaves of the trees turned black.” Those who suffered were already bitterly poor, most of them unskilled migrant laborers from rural areas. Most of the survivors of the gas leak lost the only skill they could barter for money—their ability to do hard labor. Their poverty and political weakness left them vulnerable to the conditions that led to the world’s worst industrial accident, and forced them to take compensation so low that it wouldn’t even pay for a year’s medicine for some survivors, Sarangi said. Even today it’s impossible to walk past a dozen homes in the slums that circle the compound of the old pesticide factory without finding a child with disabilities. Dozens of parents bring their children for physical and speech therapy to a special school and clinic run by the Chingari Trust, a nonprofit organization run by two survivors. Here, a 4-year-old girl is gently coaxed to put one skinny leg ahead of the other on a wooden beam on the floor. She can walk but has serious behavioral and sensory problems, her therapist says. Crowds send her into a panic. She suddenly falls down. She has problems sleeping and staying asleep. Three-year-old Mohammed Imran Ali lies on a stretcher as his thin, twisted limbs are gently exercised. Other children with wasted limbs and vacant eyes smile and stare at visitors. To spend even a few hours at Chingari, the word means “spark” in Hindi, is to know that long years after the fumes dissipated, the scars it left on Bhopal’s minds and bodies are far from healed. Targeting Dow’s Olympic sponsorship, they feel, might be their last best hope to get justice.
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Brees says he had no knowledge of Saints’ bounties
Drew Brees has earned the benefit of the doubt in most cases. (AP) It hasn’t been the best month for Drew Brees. The New Orleans Saints quarterback, who’s been the face of the franchise and a key cog in the city’s turnaround from tragedy since 2006 was handed the franchise tag on March 3 (a move that reportedly made him ‘livid’), and that was right around the time the hammer came down on former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and his alleged practice of paying his players to injure their opponents. It was a black eye for the team, but it really hit Brees close to home when former Saints offensive lineman Kyle Turley went public and wondered what Brees might have known about the hits his teammates were putting out on other NFL quarterbacks. In Turley’s mind, Brees knew all about it, and did nothing to stop it. “Of course,” Turley said on Miami radio about Brees’ awareness of the situation. “You know everything that goes on in your locker room. It’s not just a secret deal where okay here’s these big incentives for all these bounties. I’m sure it wasn’t just against Brett Favre, I’m sure it was the whole season. That stuff, you’re a family, you’re tight, you’re close, and you share everything and there’s nothing that you really don’t know about people from your locker room. “Of course. I’m sure he knew about it. After that big win when you come in that money isn’t just secretly put in your locker, that money is taken out in front of everybody and thrown to you. That’s the mentality that they want. That get rich quick thing is continuing to go on, and the attention to players safety, I don’t know how much more I need to talk about it.” That’s a lot for Turley to throw at Brees, who’s been nothing but a stand-up guy throughout his NFL career. It’s pretty implausible to think that a quarterback wouldn’t know of such a practice, given how close players are in locker rooms, but Brees has earned the benefit of any doubt. On Friday, Brees released a public statement, writing a letter directly to his fans, on his personal website. You can read the full statement after the jump. This has been an eventful offseason for me and my family. Brittany and I would like to thank all of you for the thoughtful words and well wishes since we announced that baby boy #3 is on the way. While we were all disappointed with the way the season ended, the offseason has given us the opportunity to reflect back on what was a truly memorable year. It has also given me the opportunity to enjoy some much needed quality time with my family. I do feel a responsibility to my teammates, the Saints organization and to the fans, to address the “Bounty” allegations. There is no place in the National Football League, or any sport played at any level, for players to conspire, to be coerced, or to be incentivized to intentionally injure another player. I did not participate in any Bounty program, nor did I have any knowledge relating to its real existence. I have spent the last several years as an Executive Committee Member of the NFLPA making health and safety a priority and I am proud of the advancements we’ve made and will continue to make. As a leader of our football team, I feel comfortable in stating that I know well the integrity of our organization from the ownership level, to management, our head coach, and the players on our team. We, as Saints players, pride ourselves on playing this game with honor and hold ourselves to a very high standard. We also share a great sense of responsibility to our community and to each other, a strong belief in our purpose, a resiliency to overcome adversity and a work ethic and commitment to leave things better than we found them. The accusations and perceptions alone created by this issue make us feel like we should all apologize to the young people that love our game and aspire to be in our shoes. Regardless of the outcome of the “bounty” issue, we owe it to them to provide the best example of how to behave as professionals and more importantly, as people of integrity. To our fans, please reserve judgment until the investigation is complete and the facts in their entirety are known. We are all working diligently to find the truth in this matter and if the facts prove there was improper behavior, we will hold ourselves accountable. Until that time, we will stand together and remain united as an organization. Thank you for your support. Drew
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Eriksson helps Stars edge Flames (Yahoo! Sports)
CALGARY, Alberta (AP)—Loui Eriksson and Jamie Benn gave the Dallas Stars another full two points in their push to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Eriksson had a short-handed goal and added an assist in regulation, then scored in a shootout in Dallas’ 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday night. “We haven’t been in the playoffs for a couple years,” Eriksson said. “Definitely, we need to step up here. We’ve been playing really well lately. It’s so tight in the conference. Every game is huge for us. We need to win every one here, so we have to keep going.” Benn scored on Dallas’ first attempt in the shootout, and Eriksson connected on the second. The Stars have climbed to seventh in the Western Conference, going 6-0-1 in their last seven games. “We’re just playing simple hockey and coming together as a group to win these games and that’s what we need right now,” Benn said. “Definitely, coming down the stretch, we need as many points as we can get and we’re getting them.” Michael Ryder added a power-play goal, and Kari Lehtonen made 36 saves and assisted on Eriksson’s goal. “It was an exciting game and more work than last game against the Oilers,” said Lehtonen, who made 19 saves Friday night in a 3-1 victory over Edmonton. Curtis Glencross and Jarome Iginla scored for Calgary. The Flames have lost two straight and three of their past four. By gaining a point, they are three points behind San Jose for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference. “We’ve been walking a fine line,” defenseman Cory Sarich said. “We’ve done a lot of really good things, but then it’s the couple mistakes that bite you and then it’s kind of back to square one. We’re trying our best to make sure we tip on the right side of that line. It’s been a bit of a struggle.” Calgary is 3-7 in shootouts. “It hasn’t been easy losing those shootout games,” Iginla said. “I honestly do feel they can go either way. We need to keep going, moving forward and work on getting the next game.” Miikka Kiprusoff, who received a rare night off Friday when Leland Irving was in net for Calgary’s 3-2 loss at Anaheim, stopped 38 shots. Just past the 4-minute mark in the first period, the line of Iginla, Alex Tanguay and Michael Cammalleri hemmed the Stars into their own zone and produced several good scoring chances. Lehtonen turned aside consecutive shots by Tanguay, Cory Sarich, Cammalleri and Iginla to keep the game scoreless. During a power play for Calgary, Lehtonen then stopped Iginla’s slap shot and also denied Cammalleri from swatting in the rebound. At the other end of the ice, Kiprusoff made a nice glove grab to snag a shot by Radek Dvorak. A short time later, Kiprusoff turned over the puck to Eriksson behind his net. Eriksson sent the puck out to the slot, but Kiprusoff was able to get back into position to deny Mike Ribiero’s scoring attempt. Early in the second period, Calgary forward Lance Bouma cut hard to the net and directed a shot on goal that Lehtonen turned aside. Bouma was then hit hard into the end boards by Dallas defenseman Sheldon Souray. Bouma struggled to get to his feet, immediately went to the dressing room and didn’t return to the game. Glencross opened the scoring at 7:18 of the second with his 22nd goal, tapping in a great behind-the-back feed from linemate David Moss. With the Flames on a power play, Eriksson took a pass from Steve Ott, skated into the Calgary zone and deked around Tanguay before lifting a perfect backhand shot over Kiprusoff’s blocker for his 22nd goal. “I was planning to make a move on him and it worked real well,” Eriksson said. “It was nice to see that go in.” Eriksson then set up Ryder for a power-play goal late in the second period to put Dallas up 2-1. It was Ryder’s 28th goal of the season. The Flames had a chance to tie it early in the third period when Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas fell in the neutral zone to give Iginla a clear-cut breakaway. While Iginla failed to capitalize on the scoring attempt, he had a power-play goal a short time later when he redirected a behind-the-back feed from Cammalleri past Lehtonen. It was Iginla’s 25th of the season. Early in overtime, Lehtonen turned aside shots by Calgary defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and T.J. Brodie. Then with Cammalleri in the penalty box for hooking, Kiprusoff made a great glove grab to stop a point shot by Souray. Kiprusoff then slid across his crease to make a chest save to stop a shot off the stick of Ryder. In the shootout, Benn and Eriksson scored, while Lehtonen stopped Jokinen, and Tanguay hit the post. Notes: With forward Blake Comeau out with an upper-body injury, defenseman Anton Babchuk returned to Calgary’s lineup after missing the past 18 games as a healthy scratch. … Glencross has scored Calgary’s first goal of the game 11 times this season. … Ryder ran his points streak to five games. He has five goals and two assists in that span. … The Stars are 8-0-1 against Canadian teams.
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