Florida Sentinel Bulletin

NEW YORK — They don’t have a deal yet, and they are just about out of time.

After some two years of on-and-off negotiations, that’s about all NBA players and owners agree on. The gaps in their financial proposals have been so great that they sometimes decide it’s best to just talk about something else.

Now they have to figure it out quickly. Without at least getting very close to the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement this weekend, hopes of the 2011-12 season starting on time would be all but lost.

“We realize that the calendar, the clock, the watch, whatever you want to say, is running out in terms of starting our regular season on time. So we’re going to try to get some things done this weekend and see what we can do,” said the Lakers’ Derek Fisher, president of the players’ association.

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI — Authorities in suburban Detroit say Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace has been charged with drunken driving and unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon after a traffic stop.

Bloomfield Township police said Thursday that the 37-year-old Wallace was arrested about 3 a.m. Saturday after officers observed a Cadillac Escalade being driven erratically. Police said they found an unloaded pistol in a backpack.

Officers say Wallace was given a blood-alcohol test and he was above Michigan’s legal limit of 0.08 percent. Police declined to provide further details.

Wallace, who helped the Pistons win the 2004 NBA title, was arraigned and released on a $5,000 personal bond. His next court hearing is Monday.

In case the All-Star front court players appearing on episodes of Law & Order: SVU hasn’t clued you in, the NBA is still in a lockout. According to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, commissioner David Stern is aiming to strike a deal with the players’ union this weekend.

But just in case that doesn’t work out, there is one player who seems to be very motivated to find honest work outside of basketball… Delonte West.

The free agent guard tweeted Wednesday evening that he has applied for a job at Regency Furniture.

“Applied at Regency Furniture, need a 2nd job to stay afloat during the lockout,” he wrote, including a picture of his application.

A new book about Walter Payton, the Chicago Bears’ legendary Hall of Famer, reveals a controversial, private side of the running back and has drawn criticism from his family.

In Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton, Jeff Pearlman chronicles Payton’s life from his childhood in Mississippi and battle with a rare liver disease and death from bile duct cancer in 1999.

Excerpts in Sports Illustrated relate tales of Payton’s extramarital affairs, including a scene in Canton, Ohio, when Payton took both his wife and girlfriend to his Hall of Fame induction. Payton, Pearlman writes in detail, battled depression and was addicted to painkillers during his playing career and afterward.

In the continuing attempt to make this country as soft as possible, there’s now the “Madre Hill” rule. A rule that prohibits young players from scoring too many touchdowns.

Meet 11-year-old running back, Demias Jimerson, who plays in Arkansas’ Wilson Intermediate League. Jimerson is so good that the league implemented a little known rule named after Arkansas Razorbacks great, Madre Hill. If a player has already scored three touchdowns and his team has a 14-point lead, then he’s banned from the endzone.

I’m somewhat confused here. If Jimerson gets close to the goal line, is he supposed to fall down and do snow angels or is there some kind of invisible fence that shocks him and prevents him from scoring? Inquiring minds want to know.

The days of Howard Cosell, “Dandy” Don Meredith, and Frank Gifford are gone, but Monday Night Football is still the best way to start the week.

This Monday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Indianapolis Colts, who enter the game without their star, Peyton Manning, under center.

The Bucs are coming off a 16-13 win over their NFC South rival, the Atlanta Falcons, and it appears the defense has finally jelled and is playing strong, especially against the run.

Raymond James Stadium will be bursting at the seams with excitement for this game as the Bucs try to improve to 3-1.

The Bucs will be without the services of Cody Grimm who appears to be lost for the season with a knee injury. Linebacker Geno Hayes, who suffered a concussion against the Falcons, is still being evaluated.

The Colts are 0-3 and will be looking for their first victory.

The Buccaneers will hold their Friday practice at night at the University of South Florida.

Ronde Barber Honored
Playing 15 years as a professional football cornerback isn’t an easy task, and longevity isn’t a virtue, but for a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, it seems time hasn’t slowed him down at all.

Jamael Oronde “Ronde” Barber  has been honored by the National Football league for the 9th time as the NFL Defensive Player Of The Week.

To earn the honor, the 36-year-old Barber recorded 4 tackles, one for a loss, a fumble recovery, an interception, and defended five passes in the Bucs 16-13 win over the Atlanta Falcons last week.

Barber also made his 186th consecutive start, the longest active consecutive streak in the NFL.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Falcons safety William Moore says he was fined $7,500 by the NFL for a hit in last week’s loss to Tampa Bay.

There was some confusion when Moore said Wednesday he was fined for a helmet-to-helmet hit that did not draw a penalty.

Instead, coach Mike Smith confirmed the fine was for an unnecessary roughness penalty when Moore used his helmet to hit running back Earnest Graham in the third quarter of the Buccaneers’ 16-13 win.

Moore had four tackles and an interception in the loss.

It is the second straight week the league has fined an Atlanta defensive back. Cornerback Dunta Robinson was fined $40,000 for leading with his helmet on his hit on Philadelphia receiver Jeremy Maclin on Sept. 18.

Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z is set to kick off an unprecedented marketing campaign to lure disgruntled Knicks fans to the new home of his New Jersey Nets come next fall.

The Brooklyn-born rapper, who has never before linked his powerful brand with the team he partly owns, is expected to reveal the team’s new name this morning as part of the marketing launch, reports The New York Post.

While the team’s name change may be simple (to Brooklyn Nets), the game plan ahead of the move to Prospect Heights’ Barclays Center is rife with innovative marketing techniques aimed to bring fans from lower Manhattan over to the outer borough.

The strong presence of Jay-Z, will be “the face of the team’s fourth-quarter campaign” to sell premium seats, is among the most significant factors.

From the moment Cam Newton took the stage as the number one overall pick in last April’s NFL Draft, skeptics and critics have come after him with furor. And much to their surprise all Newton has done is side step the rush and execute play after outstanding play.

In Newton’s first two regular season games — on the heels of a preseason in which critics seemed more than a little eager to mention his “struggles” became the only quarterback in NFL history to begin his career with consecutive 400+ yard performances and the sixth quarterback to do so overall.