WWE CEO Linda McMahon accepted on behalf of WWE the Ticketmaster Platinum Ticket Award, presented by Ken Lesnik, Sr. Regional Director Sales & Marketing, Ticketmaster. The award is given to Ticketmaster’s national clients whose sales in North America exceeded 500,000 tickets through Ticketmaster channels in 2006. With sales exceeding more than 640,000 tickets in 2006, WWE joins 35 other touring events, performers, venues, promoters and sports teams including Aerosmith, Dave Matthews Band, Disney on Ice, Madison Square Garden, House of Blues and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in receiving this award...More?
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July 19, 2007
Nancy Benoit Family Will Sue Over Chris Benoit Killings
I knew this was coming:
Nancy Benoit's family attorney, Richard Decker has indicated that her family is planning to file a lawsuit, or perhaps several lawsuits relating to the Chris Benoit killings...One report from Fox News and on the Big Story with John Gibson reported that the lawsuit will name both Chris Benoit's estate as well as World Wrestling Entertainment as defendants. Others will likely be served and sued as well...More?
The Real Culprits in the Chris Benoit Case
by: Ron Johnson
After a month of speculation and investigation, the world was ready to move on from the Chris Benoit tragedy.
Then Satan sent one of his hellhounds to unleash his wrath on Earth.
Her name was Nancy Grace...
You've got steroids in football, boxing, baseball, cage fighting, and professional wrestling. Here’s some FYI for you, Skip: Dwayne Johnson, Steve Austin, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jim Duggan, and John Cena are all former football stars. To dismiss wrestling as an "illegitimate" sport is to insult anyone who has ever trained hard—and clean—to become a professional wrestler.
On Grace's show, meanwhile, disgraced WWE superstar Marc Mero took his own shots at Vince McMahon and the WWE. How ironic that Mero decided to lash out against the very company that made his ex-wife Sable a star.
Marc, you should have stayed in hiding. You have no right to bash McMahon just because your wife was better at putting butts in the seats than you were. Get over it...or at least go away...
Grace, for her part, conveniently forgot that Benoit got his start with the WCW—under the ownership of Ted Turner—in her diatribe against McMahon. Benoit began bulking up long before he ever got to the WWE—which doesn't mean McMahon shouldn’t be held accountable for his actions, but certainly suggests that Nancy should scrutinize her own boss at CNN before she goes pointing fingers anywhere else.
Remember, everyone has to start somewhere. If Ted Turner really wants to get to the bottom of the Chris Benoit case, he ought to think about looking in the mirror.
source: bleacherreport.com
Hulk Hogan's Miami Estate for Sale
Hulk Hogan's Miami estate is currently up for sale. This is the home Hogan's family moved into last year to get Brooke Hogan closer to the music moguls in Florida. However, Brooke and Linda have since moved to Los Angeles to further her music career, so that basically left the house all to Hogan and his son Nick. The Miami-based record label SOBE Entertainment chose not renew her contract after it had expired -- presumably due to the disappointing sales of her studio album, which sold only 60,000 copies and was out of the Billboard 200 album chart within five weeks of its release. Anyway, you can see the realtor listing of Hogan's Miami residence at this link. It's only going to cost you $18,900,000.
Two Major UFC Fighters Fail Drug Tests
It has been confirmed that Lightweight champion Sean Sherk has failed his post-UFC 73 drug tests. His opponent Hermes Franca released a statement claiming he would be coming up positive when the next set of test results were made public by the California State Athletic Commission.
Sherk tested positive for Nandrolone Metabolite and has been fined $2,500. He will be suspended until June 26, 2008 (nearly a year). Normal levels of Nandrolone range from 2 ng/mL to 6 ng/mL - where as Sherk was found with 12 ng/mL.
Loretta Hunt reported on Fight Network radio that Greg Nelson has indicated Sherk will challenge the test result.
Because the fight was in California, and not Nevada, the commission doesn't have the power to overturn the result of the match.
UFC has not yet made a statement regarding the test result. Sherk has 30 days to request a hearing. If he fails to successfully appeal the test result, one would think UFC would have little choice but to strip him of his championship.
source: mmanews.com & wrestlingobserver.com
July 18, 2007
Dogfighting a booming business, experts say
An estimated 40,000 people in the United States are involved in professional dogfighting, an illegal blood sport with fight purses as high as $100,000.
The latest accusations against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and three other people highlight the problem. They are accused in an indictment that describes dogs being routinely executed if they didn't fight fiercely. The indictment was handed down Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Richmond, Virginia.
The nightmare of dogfighting is growing, according to the Humane Society of the United States...More?
Player: Fellow golfer admitted steroid use
Gary Player said Wednesday he knows of at least one golfer who has used steroids, and he urged golf organizations to move quickly toward a random drug-testing plan.
"We're dreaming if we think it's not going to come into golf," Player said.
Player estimated 10 players from tours around the world were taking some type of performance-enhancing drug. Asked how he knew golfers were taking steroids, he said a player told him in confidence.
"One guy told me — and I took an oath prior to him telling me — but he told me what he did and I could see this massive change in him," Player said. "And somebody else told me something I also promised I wouldn't tell, that verified others had done it."
Last year, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the USGA used random testing for the first time at the World Amateur Team Championship in South Africa. All 12 tests came back negative....More?
Vandals Scratch Eco-Friendly Message Into Hummer
Gareth Groves said that when he brought home his new Hummer SUV, he knew his eco-friendly neighbors disapproved. But he didn't expect it to be vandalized.
read more | digg story
Call to Mind
Nowinski aggressively tackles issue of concussions in sports
The e-mails come from strangers who've seen him on TV talking about concussions and the terrible damage they can cause. The mother of an NFL player who is worried because her son is no longer the same guy. A soldier asking for the name of someone who can help him. Recently, an old Illinois high school teammate called.
"He said, 'Remember me? I used to block you in practice,' " Chris Nowinski says in a conference room where he works as a consultant for Trinity Partners, a biotech and pharmaceutical consulting firm. "Now, he's suicidal."
As the issue of sports concussions has been spotlighted amid evidence that brain trauma from their playing days may have been linked to the deaths of four former NFL players, the 28-year-old Nowinski has become a prominent voice on the subject, appearing on an HBO special, talking on CNN and National Public Radio, and being quoted in major newspapers.
Nowinski has solid credentials because he's also a victim, a former Harvard football player and World Wrestling Entertainment performer who suffered at least a half-dozen concussions that eventually ended his career...More?
July 17, 2007
WWE Statement on the Benoit Toxicology Reports
STAMFORD, Conn., July 17, 2007 – WWE understands that the toxicology reports for Chris Benoit indicate that he tested positive for testosterone and negative for anabolic steroids. On Mr. Benoit's last drug test in April 2007 administered by Aegis Labs, he tested negative for anabolic steroids and for testosterone. Given the toxicology report of GBI released today, it would appear that Mr. Benoit took testosterone sometime after his April 2007 test and the time he died. WWE understands that his dealings with Dr. Astin are currently being investigated, and WWE has no knowledge of whether Dr. Astin prescribed testosterone for Mr. Benoit at some point after the April 2007 tests.
For over 20 years, the WWE has been demonstrating our concern for the well being of our contracted athletes, instituting drug testing in 1987 leading up to our current Wellness Program which began on February 27, 2006, administered by Dr. David L. Black of Aegis Sciences Corporation – one of the world’s foremost drug testing authorities.
We believe our Wellness Program is at the very least comparable to those of professional sports and is a program that will benefit WWE Superstars for generations to come.
Benoit Toxicology Results
The results are in for the Benoit family toxicology reports.
Kriss Sperry - Georgia Chief Medical Examiner gave the details - here they are:
Nancy Benoit had 3 different drugs in her system at the time of death. Hydrocodone (also known as Mortab, Morset) were found at 120 micrograms per liter. Hydromorphone, directly from the breakdown of the hydrocodone, was also found. Finally, the anti-anxiety drug Xanex wss present at 23 micrograms per liter. All 3 drugs were found at the theraputic level - not toxic levels. Her blood alcohol level was 0.184.
Daniel Benoit's blood tested positive for Xanex at 100 micrograms per liter, which is an elevated. What is interesting about this fact is that the drug Xanex was not prescribed to Daniel and is typically not prescribed to children. Based upon this finding, it is their opinion that Daniel was sedated by Xanex at the time of his murder.
Chris Benoit tested positive for Xanex at 50 micrograms per liter. He also tested positive for Hydrocodone at 45 micrograms per liter. Both of these drugs were within the theraputic range and not toxic.
As far as steroids ..... Chris Benoit's urine tested positive for the steroid testosterone at 207 micrograms per liter. The elevated level of testosterone in his urine were the ONLY "steroids" present in Chris Benoit. The medical examiner concluded that there is no way of telling whether Benoit's elevated testosterone was a result of recent steroid use. He called it a "mystery" - but said that Benoit may have been treated for a testosterone deficiency.
The drug GHB was not found in any 3 of the individuals.
No way to tell whether the drugs in Benoit's system had any affect on his behavior that weekend. The drugs found in all 3 bodies were at therapeutic - NOT toxic levels. The medical examiner also said that the decomposition of the bodies may have affected the level of alcohol in Nancy's body.
source: wrestlezone.com
Oderint Dum Metuant: Let Them Hate As Long As They Fear
