1. Rockets guard Rafer Alston said Monday he was innocent of misdemeanor assault and public intoxication charges filed against him a day earlier. Alston was accused of grabbing a parking attendant’s arm, shaking him and spitting on him after Alston’s vehicle was towed from a lot early Sunday. The attendant said Alston parked illegally and did not pay [Rockets’ Alston disputes misdemeanor assault, public intoxication charges]. Alston told Houston television station KRIV that he didn’t do anything to the attendant.
2. Anthony Hargrove is running out of second chances with the Buffalo Bills, who are considering releasing the defensive end after he landed in trouble for the second time in a week. “Releasing him is an option,” coach Dick Jauron said Sunday, a day after the NFL suspended Hargrove for the first four regular-season games without pay for violating the league’s substance abuse policy [Jauron says releasing Hargrove an option following four-game suspension]. The suspension capped a difficult week for Hargrove, who was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors stemming from a confrontation with police outside a Rochester night club in the early morning of Aug. 5. Police say Hargrove broke an officer’s glasses. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 21.
3. Chicago Bears fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo said he might sue the maker of an over-the-counter supplement after the NFL suspended him for the first four regular-season games without pay for violating the league’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances on Thursday. The suspension begins Sept. 1 and ends after a game against Detroit on Sept. 30 [Ayanbadejo gets four-game suspension for first-time offense]. He is eligible to participate in preseason games and practices. Ayanbadejo insisted he did not take steroids, did not knowingly “infringe on the rules of the NFL performance-enhancing drug policy” and that he had passed “60-plus drug tests and never failed one.”
4. A former Triple-A pitcher from California has become the first player in Japanese baseball history to flunk a drug test. Rick Guttormson, who played in the San Diego and Seattle minor league systems, was suspended for 20 days Friday after testing positive for a banned substance. His team, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, was fined $63,000 [Guttormson suspended 20 days, team fined $63,000 for positive drug test].
5. Titans starting quarterback Vince Young was held out of Saturday night’s preseason game by coach Jeff Fisher for violating a team rule. Fisher told The Associated Press on Sunday that Young was punished for missing curfew and that Young will start Friday night at New England but won’t play any more snaps than previously planned. [Titans’ Young benched vs. Redskins for violating team rule].
One reply on “Nightmare Clients for the Week of August 5th-August 12th”
That sucks for Ayanbadejo, and figures to hurt the Bears especially with Benson being the featured back now. This actually seems like an honest mistake, unlike most athletes that claim “they didn’t know”. But, the rules are the rules, and Ayanbadejo should have a printed out list of what substances he cannot take, and checked with his over the counter supplements to make sure they were acceptable by the NFL. Roger Goodell aint takin no shit!