Although it actually took place on Monday night, the battle between the final two players of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event field was aired on ESPN last night and it did not disappoint fans who have been waiting for months to see the November Nine be whittled down to one.

After nearly three hours of heads-up play, poker pro Joe Cada took down amateur Darvin Moon to win $8.55 million and the poker world’s most coveted bracelet. And for the second year in a row, a record was set for the youngest Main Event champion ever. Cada is 340 days younger than last year’s Main Event winner, Peter Eastgate, who overtook the 20 year old record from Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth.

The Main Event was as popular as ever this year, drawing 6,494 players when the tournament began back in June. It also received a lot of hype because the final table featured arguably the greatest player in the world in Phil Ivey, who was knocked out in 7th place on a bad beat. And while Ivey received all the pre-final table hype, it is Cada who gets to bask in the spotlight of poker’s biggest spotlight.

So how does it feel to be 21 years old, a multi-millionaire, and the winner of poker’s most popular tournament?

“I’ve dreamed of winning this tournament, and to do it the first year out of the gate is unbelievable,” said Cada on the WSOP Web site. “This is just amazing.”

Image Source: Guardian.co.uk

That is why it is so surprising that his soon to be released book, “Open: An Autobiography,” reveals that he used crystal meth during his playing career. The details of his use — like how much he used, how frequently he used and if he ever played while under the influence — are still unknown to the public but the fact that he has admitted to using the illegal drug is nothing short of shocking.

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that another athlete has used drugs, but this case is a bit different than usual. Known performance enhancing drugs are often illegal and usually banned from professional sports, but at least they are used by athletes with the intent to enhance their game. While that doesn’t make it right to use them, it certainly has a different feel from a fan’s standpoint than an athlete using a recreational drug like crystal meth.

Unfortunately, we will have to wait until the book’s November 9 release date to find out more information. Until then, we are left with only questions about the latest athlete to fall from grace.

What do you think about the news? Is it better or worse than being caught for using performance enhancing drugs? Should an athletes personal life matter to fans?

After months and months of rumors of him sitting out the season if he doesn’t get paid the way he feels he should, Crabtree and his camp finally came to there senses and agreed to a contract with the 49ers. This all came out of the blue as no talks between the two parties had taken place in months before Tuesday. The 49ers strategy of “we don’t need you” worked well because of a 3-1 start to the season. This made them less likely to change their offer and Crabtree was forced to realize that he needs the NFL, not the NFL needs him. It should take some time for Crabtree to get acquainted with the offense since he has missed training camp and practices, but when he is able to he should give the 49ers offense a much needed deep threat. The only thing is who knows how fast he will pick up the offense this season, but I think they will be able to start using him some after their bye week next week. That is why it was important to get him signed right now. Crabtree was very productive in college, catching 97 passes for 1,165 yards and 19 touchdowns last year during his sophomore season at Texas Tech. He finished his college career with 231 receptions for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns. We will see what he does in the NFL going forward.

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Kimbo Slice is ready to make his TUF debut tonight in a fight with Roy Nelson, who is 13-4 in his career. This is by far the most anticipated and hyped fight ever in the TUF series. Fans have been waiting for this fight since the start of the show and Kimbo is one of the main reasons that the first episode broke previous TUF records for most watched show. This show however should be even bigger. The UFC is already advertising it as the biggest fight in the history of TUF and with the names involved it really is. Though this fight is prerecorded, the UFC has kept a tight leash on an information being leaked. This fight will pretty much make the show so they couldn’t have the results leaked to the public. Bedsides being a huge hit in the ratings this should actually be a good fight between two guys who have fought in big events before. I know I will be watching! Kimbo has a lot to prove after a embarrassing loss in his last fight, which could be a blessing in disguise if he does well on the show. Any way it should make for some good TV and I just can’t wait for this fight. Tune in to Spike TV tonight to watch.

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Ever been so disappointed in your team’s performance that you felt ripped off and wanted your money back for attending the game? I know I have, but I have never thought to send a letter to the head coach about it. Well a fan from Oregon did so after a disappointing loss to open the season at Boise St., in where the now infamous punch from star running back LeGarrette Blount got him suspended for the season, and received a check in the mail signed by the coach. Tony Seminary, an Oregon Alumnus from the Portland area, made the trip to Boise and was so unhappy that after the game he sent an email to coach Chip Kelly, with an attached invoice for $439 in travel expenses.

According to the website everydayshouldbesaturday.com the email message was this,” The product on the field Thursday night is not something I was at all proud of, and I feel as though I’m entitled to my money back for the trip.” Chip Kelly then responded to the email with “What’s your address?” A couple days later after giving his address Seminary received a check for $439 in the mail signed by Kelly. He was so impressed by this gesture that he returned the check with a thank you note, instead of cashing it. Seminary said he was speechless when he saw the check and had this to say about the coach, “I think of Coach Kelly as a totally different person now. I have a different bond with him now. … Let’s just say he lost every game as an Oregon coach. You would never hear me calling for his head. It just wouldn’t happen. The guy showed an incredible amount of class.” This is a very cool story I just have to wonder how many fans are now going to try this after a loss now? And if they do get a check would they cash it, instead of sending it back?

With Donovan McNabb cracking his ribs on Sunday and the Eagles not knowing how long he will be out, Michael Vick was now added to the 53-man roster and can now practice with the team. Though he can’t actually play till week three against the Chiefs because of his two game suspension, the Eagles want him to be ready if McNabb is out for an extended period of time. Eagles coach Andy Ried has maintained that Kevin Kolb is still the back and will start if McNabb can’t go even though they signed Jeff Garcia. Garcia was a free agent after the Raiders cut him before the season. The Eagles said that they will use Garcia as a back up in the coming weeks. To make room for Vick and Garcia the Eagles had to cut WR Hank Baskett, who in 48 games with the Eagles had 72 catches for 1,052 yards and 6 touchdowns.

The injury to McNabb will just fuel the fire to the quarterback controversy between him and Vick that the media wants to create. If McNabb is out for along time and Vick is leading the Eagles to wins, they will be stuck with a difficult decision when he returns. It’s going to be hard on all parties but we are not there yet and we still need to find out how long McNabb will be out. I don’t think they would sign Garcia though if it was just a one week injury.

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When the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Rubio with the 5th overall pick in this years draft they had to be expecting this. Why else would they draft another point guard (Jonny Flynn) with the very next pick 6th overall. On Tuesday, the 19-year old Rubio said that a move to the NBA would be too risky and complicate his life, so he wants to keep playing in Spain for a couple more years. Another big factor was a 5 million dollar buyout clause in his contract with his current team, DKV Joventut. NBA guidelines limit the amount of money Minnesota could have contributed to Rubio’s buyout at $500,000. That means that Rubio would have had to pay the rest in his own money, something that he was hesitant to do. “They could only put half a million into it, and I think that the deal with Minnesota had too many obstacles,” Rubio said.

David Kahn, Timberwolves president, said a package of endorsement deals and sponsorships had helped make the NBA deal attractive enough for Rubio and Joventut to enter into an agreement on Saturday, but in the end it just wasn’t enough. Kahn was in Spain on three occasions trying to make a deal that would work for all parties and though he had figured one out before Rubio made up his mind. Rubio said, “Going to Minnesota would have just complicated my life a lot. It was a risk and I didn’t see it so clearly. My priority was the NBA and it was impossible for the Minnesota Timberwolves to pay my buyout clause, so I wanted to stay home.” He does still plan on going to the NBA in a couple years and a trade to the Spanish side Barcelona, who paid the $5 million buyout, will make it a lot easier in the future. Under his new contract with Barcelona he can leave for the NBA after two years with no buyout. He’ll still be only 21-years-old by then and probably a more well rounded player. The Timberwolves don’t really need him this year anyway and he will still be young when he does come, so I don’t know if they are too disappointed.

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Quote source: Yahoo sports

Everyone around football was predicting this since the Jets moved up in the draft to grab Sanchez, and now the Jets finally made it official. Mark Sanchez is the new starting QB for the New York Jets. He will get the nod for the rest of preseason and then when the Jets open at Houston. Though he struggled against Baltimore in the beginning of the game, his first pass was intercepted for a touchdown, the Jets felt that he has proved enough to be the starter. Sanchez went 3-8 for 43 yards and did throw his first touchdown pass, an okay game against one of the best defenses in football. Ray Lewis had this to say about rookie QB’s going against the Ravens D: “You put a young guy like Sanchez in there and you see our defense, it can be difficult. You saw his eyes get big, and he was jumping around in the pocket. Bottom line: We gave a lot of looks and disguises and we confused him a little bit.” And I think that Mark would agree because to start the game, he looked like a deer in headlights till he finally calmed down and just played. Jets coach Rex Ryan had this to say about Sanchez facing his former team: “I’m proud of the way he responded. It ain’t going to be perfect; sometimes you have these type of nights. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due, and most of that goes to their defense.” Well Sanchez will have plenty of time to improve and I’m interested to see how he performs with the Jets this season.

Its official: Michael Vick will be on the field for the first time in two years. The Eagles will play Vick in Thursday’s preseason game against the Falcons, his former team. The atmosphere should be crazy with media from all over there to cover it. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there was some protests around the stadium. In my opinion, I think he served his time and has been punished enough. I think he should be able to play football after that just like anyone else that has served their time in jail. You don’t have to forgive what he has done, but you should move on and let him live his life after the punishment. I’m sure time in jail will change anyone especially when it causes you to lose everything, like in Vicks case. It all makes for good TV on Thursday’s game.

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Quote Source: ESPN.com

You had to think that the story wasn’t truly over when Favre announced he was retiring three weeks ago; not when the story involves Brett Favre. He’s done this to us twice before and the truth is that he cannot just walk away from the game; not when there are teams telling him they still need him. Three weeks ago Favre was talking about how he didn’t think that his body could make through a full season and that this was the end, he wouldn’t try to come back. Now after training camp has passed and preseason has started Favre has had a change of heart. Favre said that he just didn’t want to leave the game with regret about what if or could have happened.

“I don’t know how I’ll feel a year from now, five years from now, but I didn’t want to say what if,” he said. He also said it wasn’t about getting back at the Packers by signing with the Packers rival. This is not about revenge or anything like that. Believe me. You can’t take away the 16 years I had in Green Bay. It was unbelievable. It was great, and that will be forever cherished by me and the guys I played with. They’ve moved on. I’ve moved on. I think it’s great for football.”

The rival Vikings will give Favre $25 million for two years to come back and be there starting QB. The QB’s on the roster have to be feeling like trash right now after this. And say that this Favre experiment doesn’t work, like it didn’t with the Jets, the Vikings will be looking for a totally new QB, cause they obviously have no confidence in the ones that are there. The Vikings are now thinking Super Bowl but the fact is that Favre has faded down the stretch in each of the last couple years. ESPN has the stats on his last four years and over the last 5 games of the season his numbers drop dramatically.:

Category       First 11games       Last 5 games
Comp pct                64.8                      56.1
Pass yards PG       253.8                   211.4
TD-Int                   75-50                  13-34
Passer rating         88.2                      59.9

*from ESPN.com 

These numbers don’t lie, Favre age is catching up to him and he is no longer able to play at a high level for a full season. The Vikings are hoping he can because they are putting a lot into him. I just don’t see it happening and think the Vikings are making a big mistake.

After heavy talks with UFC, Fedor Emelianenko (number 1 ranked heavy weight in the world) has chosen to sign with Strikeforce instead. The company announced on Monday that he had signed a multi-fight agreement. In a press release Fedor said, “Strikeforce is a top fight promotion that houses some of the greatest fighters in the world. I am prepared to fight any of them.”

Fedor became a free agent after his former company Affliction had to cancel it’s up coming show and then its promoting company all together. When this happened it seemed like a sure fire bet that he would be joining UFC, and the fans would get a dream match-up with Fedor vs. Brock Lesnar, current UFC champ. And honestly, I was really getting excited thinking that it was going to happen. I guess Fedor just doesn’t want to fight in the UFC and I don’t know why unless he is scared. It can’t be a money thing because UFC could pay so much more Strikeforce with its PPV’s. The UFC could make Strikeforce go out of business if it wanted to by scheduling events on the same day and I have a feeling that Dana White, UFC President, just might be mad enough to do that now. White had this to say about the situation: “Fedor is a f—ing joke! He turns down a huge deal and the opportunity to face the best in the world to fight nobodies for no money!” White also addressed fans: “I feel sorry for the real fight fans. I wanted to make the deal, but it takes two and it is very obvious Fedor doesn’t want to fight the best, and doesn’t give a sh-t about the fans!”

I would have to strongly agree with Dana on this one. I know Fedor is still good but why wouldn’t he want to fight the best fighters to prove it. UFC is the best MMA promotion in the world right now, Strikeforce on the other hand will probably be out of business in a couple years. It’s like staying in the minor leagues because your doing well and not going to the major league to face better more competitive competition.

Source: AP Photo & Yahoo