Winter X Games Athlete Caleb Moore Undergoes Surgery for Heart Contusion After Terrible Snowmobile Accident (UPDATE: Caleb Moore Dies from Complications)

It has always amazed me how these X Games athletes do these tricks almost so flawlessly without injury. Sadly that did not happen during this years X Games in Aspen. Co.  Thursday night Winter X athlete Caleb Moore suffered a terrible crash during the Winter X Games Snowmobile Freestyle finals. Get well soon.

“While Caleb was being evaluated late last night, he developed bleeding around the heart and was urgently flighted to Grand Junction [Colo.],” an X Games Medical report stated “He underwent surgery this morning. The procedure went well, and Caleb is currently in ICU with a heart contusion.”

 UPDATE I: Sad news from the world of Xtreme Sports, 25 year old Snowmobiler Caleb Moore Dies After Critical Injuries in X Games Crash.

Texas snowmobiler Caleb Moore died today after succumbing to injuries he sustained one week ago at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., when his snowmobile flipped on top of him in a violent crash during competition.

“This morning Caleb Moore passed away,” the Moore family said in a statement through family spokeswoman Chelsea Lawson. “He will be truly missed and never forgotten.

PGA Golfer Phil Mickelson May Retire or Move from California After Democrats Rob Him of 62% of His Income

WELCOME TO BARACK OBAMA’S CLASS WARFARE WORLD … Is the Obama tax increase going to force golfer Phil Mickelson to retire, maybe.

In an interview with Forbes, PGA golfer Phil Mickelson stated that he may retire and/or move from California as Obama and Democrat tax increases now take more than 62% of his income. Thanks to Barack Obama, Democrats, Obamacare and the state of California, Mickelson will see far less money at years end. Due to the fiscal cliff bill, Mickelson will experience an increase in his top tax rate on ordinary income from 35% to 39.6%, and an increase in his top rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends from 15% to 20%. Also, because Obama allowed the expiration of the temporary 2% reduction in the payroll tax rate on the first $113,700 of self-employment income. Wait, there is more. Thanks to Obamacare, Mickelson will be liable for an additional 0.9% tax on his self-employment income and 3.8% tax on his net investment income after each exceeds $250,000.  However, it does not stop there, the folks of California actually passed a proposition to increase taxes. In November, California passed Proposition 30, which increases the top income tax rate on resident millionaires to 13.3%.

Word is, Phil Mickelson is mad as hell about rising tax rates, and he’s not going to take it anymore.  What follows is a brief portion of an interview Mickelson gave earlier today after carding a final-round 66 at the Palmer Course at PGA West in La Quinta – which I assure you, is not associated with the La Quinta next door to your local Denny’s – in which the golfer hinted that he is considering drastic career changes because of a combined tax rate nearing “62, 63 percent:”

Q. When you’re asked about Stricker’s semi-retirement, with the political situation the last couple months, blah, blah, blah, what did you mean by that? Do you find it an unsettling time in a way?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it’s been an interesting offseason. And I’m going to have to make some drastic changes. I’m not going to jump the gun and do it right away, but I will be making some drastic changes.

Why wouldn’t one question working hard, entering as many tournaments as Phil does and being away from his family when between the feds and state they take more than 60% of his income. All this so Obama and the libs in California can redistribute his hard work to slackers.  Makes all the sense in the world, those that work their tail off, to have the fruits of their labor given to those who don’t. Welcome to Obamaland.

The Bizarre Story of Manti Teo’s Fake/Deceased Girlfriend Lennay Kekua May Have been Solved … Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Confesses He is the Low Life Who Conned Manti Te’o

The fake/deceased girlfriend Lennay Kekua of Notre Dame’s LB Manti Teo may have finally come to a conclusion … Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is involved in scamming Notre Dame star Manti Te’o.

The fake, deceased, back from the dead, Internet hoax girlfriend  Lennay Kekua of Notre Dame’s LB Manti Teo has been one of the most bizarre stories to come down the pike in quite some time. Was Te’o scammed or was he involved in on the hoax? From the initial story, reported byDeadspin,  I have actually not posted on this for a reason and that was in order to have the facts come out, rather than speculation and unidentified sources coming forward and making comments for their own self-serving reasons. After all the shock over this story and speculation that Manti Te’o may have been involved in the hoax, it appears that TMZ has tracked down the culprit. The Manti Te’o not-really-dead-girlfriend hoax was perpetuated by a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who served as a representative for the family of the fake “Lennay Kekua”.

VIDEO: Tuiasosopo confessed to being the mastermind behind a hoax involving former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o and his fake-deceased girlfriend Lennay Kekua.  

From VIDEO above, according to ESPN,  Tuiasosopo also said he pulled off similar hoaxes on different people.

TMZ reported:

The Manti Te’o not-really-dead-girlfriend hoax was perpetuated by a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo — who served as a representative for the family of the fake “Lennay Kekua” … and TMZ has the photo proof.

Here’s what we know …

While Manti was “dating” Lennay … a Notre Dame die-hard fan who we’ll call “Jan” (to protect her identity) reached out to Lennay on Twitter and began an online friendship.

After Lennay’s supposed death, Jan became involved with a group called “Wear a Lei 4 Manti” — in which fans wore Hawaiian leis to ND football games to show their support for the football star.

When the “Wear a Lei 4 Manti” movement began to receive media attention, Jan says she noticed she gained a Twitter follower named U’ilani Rae Kekua.

Jan tells TMZ … she reached out to U’ilani and asked if she was related to Lennay — to which U’ilani replied, “Yes, that’s my baby sister.” The two became friends.

In fact, Jan says they both mentioned how they were going to attend the Notre Dame vs. USC game in L.A. on November 24, 2012 … so Jan sent U’ilani her cell phone number in case she wanted to meet up.

Here’s where the story takes a turn … Jan tells TMZ she got a phone call from U’ilani on the day of the game directing her to the famous Tommy Trojan statue in front of the stadium, so they could meet up.

But when Jan arrived to the statue, U’ilani was NOT there … but guess who was — Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. Jan and Ronaiah even took a photo together (see above). (Read the full story at TMZ).

Many have questioned how a story like this could ever happen, it’s just not believable that anyone could allow this to happen to them. This is why we never posted or commented on the story initially. In this day and age I actually thought it was completely believable that it could. Today’s kids live on line in social networking, twitter and Facebook. It is almost as if physical relationships are not the norm. Although I would say that there is this thing called Skype where one could see one in real time. That being said, SM learned a long time ago there is a dirty underbelly of the Internet and there are some real heinous individuals on it that will say and claim everything and anything.

We still must wait for Manti Te’o to speak about this in his own words no matter how embarrassing it may be. In order for him to move on, he must give his accounts of what happened.

Oprah Winfrey Interview … Lance Armstrong Admits Doping and Says He Plans to Testify Against International Cycling Union Officials

After decades of denials, Lance Armstrong admits to doping during his interview with Oprah Winfrey. It had been widely speculated that Armstrong was finally going to come clean on his doping past. According to accounts, in an Oprah interview that is scheduled to air on Thursday, Lance Armstrong confessed that he used performance enhancing drugs during his cycling career. A sport that he has been presently banned for life and has been stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles. Reports also say that Armstrong is willing to testify against International Cycling Union officials who were aware of the wide spreading doping in the sport. The questions is to Armstrong, so why now? Will Armstrong’s admission and outing of officials get his ban shortened and allow him to compete in cycling and triathlon events in the future?

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey that is scheduled for broadcast on her network on Thursday, Lance Armstrong confessed that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career, according to two people briefed on the interview, which was recorded Monday in Austin, Tex.

It is unclear, though, how forthcoming Armstrong was about his doping program, which the United States Anti-Doping Agency has said was part of the most sophisticated, organized and professional doping scheme in the history of sports. Armstrong, when reached by e-mail Monday, said he could not discuss the interview.

AFC Divisional Playoffs: Baltimore Ravens Shock Peyton Manning and Denver Broncos in Double Overtime 38-35

The Baltimore Ravens and retiring all-pro linebacker Ray Lewis’ Cinderella story continues …

The Baltimore Ravens, a 10 point underdog, have stunned the Denver Broncos at Mile High and knocked off the number #1 seed in the AFC 38-35 in double overtime.  All of the talk was about Peyton Manning and his MVP like year, yet it was the Ravens QB Joe Flacco who outplayed Manning and threw for 3 TD’s and no interceptions. The talk was all about the Broncos defense, yet it was the Ravens D behind their inspirational and 17 year veteran LB Ray Lewis who won the day and intercepted Manning two times and turned three Manning turnovers into 17 points, including the game winning FG in double overtime.

The Broncos were primed to win the game and many pretty much had thought they had when with 31 seconds left in the game and a Bronco defense playing a deep prevent defense some how allowed a receiver to get behind them as Flacco hooked up with Jacoby Jones on what is beng referred to as the “Flacco Fling”.

Somewhere up there in the all-time playoff archives near the “Hail Mary” by Roger Staubach and the “Immaculate Reception” by Franco Harris now lives the “Flacco Fling” by the Baltimore Ravens quarterback.

One big throw down the sideline, 70 make-or-break yards on a wing and a prayer — a high, arcing touchdown pass that soared through the icy air, flew over two defenders, landed in the hands of Jacoby Jones, saved the game for Baltimore and kept Ray Lewis’ 17-year career going at least one more week.

The record will show Justin Tucker kicked a 47-yard field goal 1:42 into the second overtime Saturday to give the Ravens a 38-35 victory over Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. The highlight? That would be Flacco’s game-tying touchdown to Jones on third-and-3 from the 30 with 31 seconds left in regulation and no timeouts.

Sorry I cannot resist the following, but  it would appear that Tim Tebow has the last laugh, as his brother tweeted, on the Denver Broncos and John Elway, who all but ran the former Bronco QB out of town last year. Question: Who has more playoff wins with the Denver Broncos, Peyton Manning or Tim Tebow? The answer would be Tebow. Peyton Manning now has a post season record of 9 wins and 11 losses and the temperature at kickoff was 13 degrees, and Manning record fell to 0-4 lifetime in playoff games when the temperature is 40 or less. Good luck ever winning a playoff game in Denver. I had always wondered when the Broncos brought Manning in to play who had played in a Dome his entire career, how exactly they were going to get over the outside weather issue. Looks like they have not.

The Broncos had this game won except for the fact that they played the final minutes of the game not to lose, rather than to win. The play calling by the Broncos at the end of the game was as stunning as was the Ravens come back and eventual victory. How do the Broncos take the ball out of Peyton Manning’s hands with the game on the line? Manning, who is considered ne of the best QB’s of all time and an obvious unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer had a 3rd down and 6 to go with just under 2 minutes to go with a 7 point lead and they ran a simple off tackle running play. Really? Isn’t this the reason why you brought Manning in to win the game? Then after the Ravens scored the tying TD with 31 seconds left in the game, with two time outs and Manning as the QB, he took a knee and they played for OT. What in the hell were the Broncos thinking? Peyton Manning is supposed to be the greatest QB of all time and on two separate occasions with the game on the line, the Broncos took the ball out of his hands. To borrow a line from the movie, ‘The Replacements’ … “winners want the ball”.

After an exceptional come back and MVP-like year by Peyton Manning, it will be the terrible and rookie-like pass that he attempted in OT that was intercepted that eventually lead to the game winning FG by Baltimore that will be the lasting image.

UPDATE I: Tim Tebow’s brother trolls the entire city of Denver on Twitter

Tebow’s brother Peter took to Twitter with a simple message: “Am I the only one in Denver who’s happy right now?” Well, the Ravens are probably celebrating, but you get the point. (And just to drive that point home, Tebow retweeted someone who wrote, “That’s karma, Elway.”)
Of course, it’s easier to make pro-Tebow jabs on Twitter than it is to score on Denver’s secondary. Even so, this nonsense isn’t going to stop until Peyton Manning actually wins a playoff game for Denver.