Die Hard Sports Fan

Rotoworld.com released a statement made by Adam Schefter of the NFL Network, “The league has determined that Ahmad Bradshaw is not in violation of the personal conduct policy. He will not be suspended.”  The NFL investigated the situation and concluded the crime pre-dated his NFL career.  That’s the good news, and there is some bad news also.  Bradshaw must serve another 30 days when the 2008 season is over.  That’s new news to some like the Giants organization.  According to Ralph Vacchiano over at The Blue Screen, “Tom Coughlin said he wasn’t aware of that, and other team officials have indicated the same thing.”

As a Giants fan, it’s a good thing that he doesn’t have to serve his sentence until the season is over.  However, I believe that these athletes shouldn’t get special treatment in the judicial system.  If atheletes get special treatment then the common man should get special treatment also.  Why should a judge have to work around the NBA schedule when Kobe Bryant rapes a woman?  How come the judge doesn’t revolove around the work schedule of a man who rapes a woman in Central Park?  I’m just saying…

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Ahmad Bradshaw completed his 30-day sentence for an undisclosed probation violation at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail, according to The Blue Screen.   NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an e-mail earlier today that the situation was still “under review.”  This means that Bradshaw could still be fined or suspended to begin the 2008 season if the league determines that the probation violation was also a violation the league’s personal conduct policy.  Nobody spoke up yet as to why Ahmad even went to jail so we’ll have to wait this one out.

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Our boys over at ProFootballTalk.com assembled their 2008 All-Turd Team (Offense).  The requirements for consideration are one or more arrests, one or more violations of the league’s substance abuse policy, one or more violations of the league’s steroid policy, one or more holdouts while under contract, one or more flagrant acts of rudeness and/or stupidity, and/or anything else that makes us think that there’s good cause for the player to be included on the squad.  A couple Giants made the list.

• Jeremy Shockey - “He can blame the team for not letting him on the sidelines for the Super Bowl all he wants, but we’ll never forget that image of Shockey double-fisting cocktails while his teammates pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.  The fact that the Giants came of age without him is strong evidence of how much he was holding the franchise back.”
• Ahmad Bradshaw - “Plenty of NFL players are arrested; few spend 30 days in jail.”

Congrats to Jeremy and Ahmad for making the 2008 All-Turd Team.  That’s quite an achievement.  I can’t wait to see who makes the Defense team.

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So Ahmad Bradshaw was given two years probation for one of the things he did wrong prior to being drafted by the Giants.  He must’ve missed attending something to violate his probation which landed him in the can for 30 days.  We still don’t know what he did now to violate his probation.  Maybe he was helping the Giants win Super Bowl XLII when he had to go meet his probation officer.  Anyway, Ohm Youngmisuk of the New York Daily News found out that the NFL is looking into Bradshaw’s situation.  Youngmisuk wrote that, “If commissioner Roger Goodell deems that Bradshaw has violated the league’s conduct policy code, he could suspend Bradshaw.”  If he violated the Personal Conduct Policy then he could end up suspended like Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones, Chris Henry, and Tank Johnson.  I have no problem with this at all.  If Ahmad and the Giants are telling the truth then nothing will happen to them.  If they are lying about the situation then they will be penalized accordingly, and deservedly so.  We should expect that everybody is telling the truth since all parties seemed to agree on the fact that nothing new took place.  Good thing the Giants have an army of running backs.

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Some of you may be wondering if there is anything new out there about Ahmad Bradshaw.  Each New York paper wrote an article about Bradshaw being in jail, but not much more was written that we didn’t know already.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com has been searching for theories.  Florio found an article that Tom Rock of Newsday wrote,

Bradshaw did something naughty when he was a kid (it’s a sealed juvenile thing) and was sentenced to probation by Tazewell County which covers his hometown of Bluefield, Va. Then he went to college (at UVa) and pleaded guilty to the underage drinking thing in 2004. Then he went to another college (Marshall) and was tagged with the petty larceny in 2006. He was sentenced to probation in each of those instances, but apparently those arrests — not sure if it’s either one or the combination of the two — violated the first probation agreement from when he was a juvenile in Bluefield.

Florio seemed to agree with Rock’s take on the situation, but raised some questions like…

Except for the fact that Bradshaw somehow ducked the probation violation during the months and years following the arrest in Charlottesville and later in Huntington.  Has this issue been merely percolating through the legal system all this time?  Or was Bradshaw somehow able to delay the dispensation of justice until he was able to get himself ensconced in the National Football League?  Moreover, if Rock is right, why in the hell didn’t the team or Bradshaw’s lawyer just say so?  Instead, both parties carefully have ducked addressing the basis for the development.

When I read that theory for the first time last night, it made perfect sense.  The Giants and Bradshaw’s attorney both stated that he is serving time due to something that took place before Bradshaw joined the team.  However, Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com kept on digging.  Smith found an article written by the New York Daily News who called Ahmad’s father James by telephone last night who, “would only say that the probation violation had to do with a previous juvenile offense unrelated to the player’s run-ins with the law while at the University of Virginia and Marshall University.”  So Smith was able to figure out that James’ statement contradicts Tom Rock’s theory.  At the end of the day, nobody knows why Ahmad is in jail.  Nobody will say why he’s in jail.

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I’m definitely going to tune into TLC tonight when they make the Giants bike on American Chopper.  There is an article below about it below, and it airs at 9 PM EST.

Giants.com:

Anheuser-Busch signs cornerstone partnership - “The New Meadowlands Stadium Co. announced today that Budweiser and Bud Light will become the second cornerstone partner of the greatest stadium venture in National Football League history. The agreement grants Budweiser and Bud Light a significant presence in and around the new Meadowlands Stadium when it opens in 2010, and extends the beers’ malt beverage sponsorship of both the New York Jets and the New York Giants. With the signing of this sponsorship deal, 50 percent of the cornerstones have been sponsored by leading international companies.”

American Chopper, Giants style - Michael Eisen says to tune into TLC tonight at 9 PM EDT to watch the making of the Giants bike on “American Chopper”.  Eisen wrote that, “The ultimate Giants fan bike has been designed and produced by Orange County Choppers, a custom motorcycle manufacturer founded and run by Giants fans Paul Teutul, Sr. and Paul Teutul, Jr.”  Orange County Choppers is a shop up in Newburgh, NY that builds custom choppers.  I recommend that you make the trip up there because they got some of the best looking choppers you will ever see.

Sirius: Shaun O’ Hara (Video) - Giants C Shaun O’ Hara is a guest on Sirius Radio.

New York Times:

The N.F.L. Grows a Little Quieter - Here are a few excerpts from an article put together by the AP…

• “Favre, Strahan and Sapp have retired, costing the N.F.L. three potential first-ballot Hall of Famers with extra-large-sized personalities.”
• “Top players retire from the N.F.L. every year, and the league’s popularity never seems to wane. But professional football will not be as much fun without Favre, Strahan and Sapp — players whose exploits on the field were exceeded only by their ability to yap off it.”

The Star-Ledger:

Bradshaw’s lawyer confirms there’s no new incident - Bradshaw’s lawyer, Charlie Stacy, released this statement…

Ahmad Bradshaw is currently serving a 30-day jail sentence in Abingdon Regional Jail in Virginia on a probation violation charged out of the Tazewell County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. The underlying charge in this matter stems from an offense that occurred while Mr. Bradshaw was a juvenile. Mr. Bradshaw has not been charged with any offense since being drafted by the New York Giants and is eager to put this matter behind him and be in training for the next season.

Full Plax interview - The other day, Mike Garafolo included a portion of Plaxico’s interview on Philly’s Sportsradio 610 WIP-AM.  Now, Garafolo has the entire interview.  You must download an mp3 file to hear it.

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RB Ahmad Bradshaw has been jailed in southwest Virginia since June 15 for an undisclosed probation violation, according to USA Today.  In response, the Giants stated that, “We are aware of the situation and have been in contact with Ahamd’s legal representative. This situation is not the result of any recent incident. It stems from an issue that occurred prior to Ahmad being drafted by the Giants. Beyond that, we have no further comment.”

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph down in Virginia wrote…

According to Lt. Mike Henegar, a spokesman for the jail, Bradshaw will “serve a certain amount of time” for a probation violation. He wouldn’t say when Bradshaw was charged or how long he had been jailed.

Henegar, who said he was limited to what he could say, would not reveal what the probation was related to, and he also couldn’t disclose the amount of time Bradshaw would serve at “this point in time.”

 

This offseason keeps getting worse and worse.  It seems like Bradshaw and the Giants are on the same page though.  I’m not sure why everything’s a secret.  The Giants report to training camp in about 36 days so Bradshaw’s attorney must have tried to find a window in the Giants schedule where Ahmad could serve his sentence.  Remember that Bradshaw is on Jerry Reese’s ’short leash’ because of his past issues, and Bradshaw told JR that he won’t let him down.  For Ahmad’s sake, this better be old news like everybody says or he won’t be on the team much longer.

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After the unbelievable season we just had we are now officially back to business. Party time was great and the players were spoiled left and right but now they look towards what lies in front of them. Looking at the Giants I do not see a reason to trade or release anyone (maybe a reserve). The team looks complete and now that they tasted victory, they will pursue that flavor once again. How good would it feel to get another crown and be known around the league as a brute force not to mess with? I can be realistic and say that we won’t finish the regular season undefeated but you can bet every game it’s going to be a nightmare for the opposite team. First off, our defensive line it’s just going to be top notch. I believe they are going to be the boys who stand out the most. Linebackers are the second body who’ll make their presence felt closing gaps and shutting down short pass situations. The cornerbacks and safeties will step up big this year and hope that watching the tape will help them see where they get beat. Our running game is going to be ridiculous.However order you like to place them in, Jacobs, Bradshaw, and Ward are going to take us to the top of the chart in rushing yards. Our wide receivers will be the consistent open wins on the field. Our offensive line is full of soldiers that help us stand tall to the team name, “Giants”. It’s on again and the team is ready to begin their journey putting 07 behind. You better believe that these Giants are not the type to let their previous superbowl win affect this year’s performance. These guys would rather be known as the force that could not be stopped then win one superbowl and call it a career. Something happened to these Giants late in the regular season, and it’s not going away. It does not have to be a dream and next season we’ll prove everyone wrong again

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