Hump Day Headlines

In this week's Hump Day Headlines, we discuss power crazy football executives, home court perfection, Kelvin Sampson, and Super Sunday...

• Good for LaDainian Tomlinson. He wants to return to San Diego despite the fact his General Manager is one of the biggest blowhards in sports. This he said in an interview in Tampa on ESPN's "Jim Rome is Burning". Chargers GM A.J. Smith mocked Tomlinson publicly this week when the All-Pro running back was quoted on his blog reiterating to media that he had no intentions of leaving the Chargers. Tomlinson then had to read that his GM made almost an identical quote regarding LaDainian's status to the San Diego Union Tribune. That had Tomlinson publicly confused and it lead linebacker Shawne Merriman to lash out at Smith, saying "That [stuff] doesn't help bring a Super Bowl to San Diego...and that [stuff] needs to stop, period. It needs to stop now." Smith has since responded by apologizing to L.T., telling the Chargers team website that it was important to him that Tomlinson knew "exactly what happened." So let me get this straight, A.J. You mocked your star player publicly, because you're an arrogant, power-crazed jerk, and now you're trying to save face? Good for L.T. that he wants to remain loyal to the Charger fans that adore him. But if that were me? I'd demand a trade.
• The Cleveland Cavaliers are unbeatable at home. That's not an opinion. That's a fact. With last night's win over the miserable Kings, the fighting Bron-Brons are now 21-0 at the Quicken Loans Arena. That is pretty remarkable. The next best home records in the NBA this year are the only two teams with comparable records to the Cavs overall. Boston is 22-2 at the TD Bank North Garden, and the Lakers are 23-3 at the Staples Center. The best home record in NBA History is 40-1, accomplished by the 67-15 Celtics at the old Boston Garden between 1985-1986. (The 95-96 Bulls that went 72-10, the best overall record in NBA regular season history, went 39-2 at the United Center.) If the Cavaliers keep up this torrid pace, they could be the most dangerous team in the playoffs this year. If you knew the team never lost at home, would you want to play there in a playoff series? I don't think so.
• Kelvin Sampson is appealing his five year ban from college basketball coaching, as reported by the Indianapolis Star. The former Indiana basketball coach was give then "show cause penalty", meaning that he can't get hired by another school unless that school convinces the powers that be that he should be allowed back. I guess assistant coaching the Eastern Conference's eight-seeded Bucks isn't doing it for Mr. Sampson. Sampson was pink-slipped in the first place because he and his assistants made more than 100 illegal phone calls to recruits. Apparently these recuits he racked up the phone bill trying to land aren't so great after all, considering IU basketball is the worst in the Big Ten this year. At 5-13 overall and as the only team winless in the conference (0-6), new coach Tom Crean will have some work to do. The program seems to be in good hands though, considering how well Crean's former club Marquette is doing this year.
• Oh yeah, I should probably mention something about the Super Bowl here since that is a recurring headline this week in sports. Yesterday we had the Media Day, which really wasn't all that great, but as Scott chronicled Tuesday, it can at least be entertaining. Here are the storylines I think you'll hear about most as we head towards Super Sunday: Larry Fitzgerald's father is a sportswriter who is covering his son at the game. The star wideout also attended college at Pittsburgh. Is Kurt Warner a Hall of Famer if he wins the Super Bowl? Mike Tomlin is the 3rd African-American coach to lead his team to the Super Bowl. Ken Whisenhunt is the former Steelers offensive coordinator. What ever happened to Matt Leinart? Are Anquan Boldin and offensive coordinator Todd Haley still fighting? The Cardinals are the sports team with the longest championship drought of any sports franchise other than my Chicago Cubs. (A tear just rolled down my face) Can the Cardinals cover the seven point spread? Get ready for Super Sunday...