MVN - Most Valuable Network

The Top Five for 12/22

The top five sports stories of the day:

5. Marbury appeals $195K fine. Stephon Marbury has filed a grievance with the NBA over a $195,000 fine he received from the New York Knicks, after leaving the team without permission earlier in the season. According to reports, the Knicks currently intend to waive that fine–however, Marbury still needed to file the appeal to maintain the right to contest the fine. The fine stems back to November 13, when Marbury missed a game against Phoenix after reportedly being told that he would not start.

Report from the New York Post | MVN Knicks

4. Three Saturday bowl games. The bowl season in college football is getting underway, with three bowl games in action today. #20 Cincinnati kicked off the day by defeating Southern Miss in the Papajohns.com Bowl–the victory gave the Bearcats their second 10-win season in 56 years, and it secured their spot in the final top 25 rankings.

Meanwhile, quarterback Donovan Porterie (354 yards and two touchdowns) led New Mexico to a 23-0 win over Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl, and BYU faces UCLA in tonight’s Las Vegas Bowl.

Coverage of Bowl Games at MVN’s Football University

NCAA Coverage at MVN

3. UNC Cruises; Huggins gets 600th win. In college basketball today, the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels steamrolled UC-Santa Barbara, as they cruised to a 105-70 win. Tyler Hansbrough led the Heels with 21 points, and UNC shot 57% from the field for the game.

Elsewhere, #24 West Virginia coach Bob Huggins secured his 600th win, as the Mountaineers beat Canisius 77-54–Huggins is the sixth active division one coach to reach that milestone. Forward Joe Alexander led West Virginia with 20 points.

UNC AP Recap | Cincinatti AP Recap | MVN North Carolina | MVN’s Basketball University

2. Mayweather considering move to MMA. According to a report from ESPN.com, Floyd Mayweather Jr. met with Mark Cuban this week to discuss a move by the boxer to compete in mixed martial arts events. Cuban, who owns an MMA promotional company, said of Mayweather, “He’s an icon in boxing. He’s conquered that world.”

Leonard Ellerbe, a friend and adviser of Mayweather, told ESPN, “[A move to MMA] is something he is interested in, and when Floyd makes his move, obviously it’s going to be a mega event.” Mayweather’s fights in 2007, against Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya, have generated over $200 million in revenue.

AP Report | Report from MVN Boxing | MMA Coverage at MVN

1. FSU will be without 36 players for Music City Bowl. A total of 36 Florida State football players will miss the school’s Music City Bowl match against Kentucky because of an academic scandal, other violations of team rules, and injuries. The Seminoles will be without Letroy Guion, Budd Thacker and Paul Griffin (three key defensive tackles), cornerback Patrick Robinson (six interceptions in the 2007 season), linebacker Dekoda Watson, and a host of others.

Only 43 scholarship players will be available for the game, and 13 of the players out for the bowl game have started at some point this season. As many as 25 members of the Seminoles were suspended for an academic cheating scandal that occurred during an internet music history course.

AP Report | College Football Coverage at MVN’s Football University

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.