Florida Sentinel Bulletin

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The wife of former baseball star Manny Ramirez calmly told a sheriff’s dispatcher in a 911 call that her husband had struck her at their suburban home.

“My husband just hit me,” Juliana Ramirez says on the tape released Tuesday by the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Juliana then says she was struck on her face and head and has a bump on her head. But she also declined medical attention.

Manny Ramirez was arrested Monday on a domestic battery charge. The former World Series MVP was released Tuesday on $2,500 bail. He declined to comment to reporters.

Ramirez retired in April from the Tampa Bay Rays after he tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. He could have faced a 100-game suspension for a second violation of Major League Baseball’s drug policy.

NEW YORK — Grief counselors are helping a New York City high school come to grips with the loss of a basketball star who was fatally shot in the housing project where she lived.

Eighteen-year-old Tayshana Murphy was gunned down at about 4:15 a.m. Sunday in the Grant Houses in upper Manhattan. Police have made no arrests.

Murphy was in her senior year at Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers and was a nationally ranked guard on the girls basketball team.

A spokeswoman for Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said grief counselors were at the school Monday. Walcott visited to pay his respects to Murphy’s teammates and coach.

Witnesses said they believe the gunmen mistook Murphy for someone who had been involved in an assault earlier Sunday.

LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather, Jr. leans forward. He’s talking to HBO’s Max Kellerman and sitting directly across from his next opponent, Victor Ortiz.
“…what I always tell them…”

The cocky smirk makes the day’s thousandth appearance, and the Mayweather haters brace themselves for what’s coming next. “They put 41 in front of me …”
Mayweather leisurely leans back as if surveying his kingdom. “…and 41 came up short.”

On cue comes that million-dollar smile that his fans love and his haters hate. In addition to hating what he said and how he said it, the haters seethingly despise the truth of what he just said.

This Saturday, September 17th 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, Floyd “Money” Mayweather (41W, 0L) will face off against the young and hungry “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (29W, 2L and 2D).

This is one of Mayweather’s most interesting fights in a long time. It’s interesting because of who he’s fighting… well, more to the point, because of certain traits that the fighter he’s mixing it up with has.

Let’s look at the top intriguing factors that have boxing fans chatting:

“Ortiz is younger, bigger, stronger and hungrier. Mayweather has been out of the ring for almost a year and a half-AND he’s 34 years old.

Sentinel picks Mayweather in a unanimous decision.

NEW YORK — Michael Jordan has been fined by the NBA for making comments about the league’s ongoing collective bargaining process.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank confirmed the penalty for the Charlotte Bobcats owner on Monday, but said the league doesn’t comment on the total. ESPN.com reported the fine was $100,000.

In an interview last month with Australia’s Herald Sun, Jordan said the NBA’s current model was “broken” and called for revenue sharing for small market teams such as his Bobcats and the Milwaukee Bucks, whom Australian Andrew Bogut plays for. The Hall of Famer added that he knows “owners are not going to move off what we feel is very necessary for us to get a deal in place where we can coexist as partners.”

The NBA prohibits owners from speaking publicly about the labor situation.

ATLANTA  — A federal jury is hearing a lawsuit filed by a retired NBA All-Star who claims a ritzy Atlanta restaurant discriminated against him and a friend when waiters insisted they give up their seats to white women.

Joe Barry Carroll played parts of 10 seasons in the NBA for several teams in the 1980s. He and attorney, Joseph Shaw, are suing the Tavern at Phipps. They will try to prove during the trial that began Monday that the restaurant has a systematic plan to discourage Black patrons. The two men, who are Black, said they were removed by security guards when they refused to leave their seats.

The restaurant has said it often asks men to give up their seats to women at the bar and has denied the discrimination accusations.

On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wanted badly to defeat the Detroit Lions. The Lions had kept them out of the playoffs in 2010 when the Bucs lost 23-20. It was anticipated that the Bucs, especially with the new draft picks, would handle the Lions and make the crowd at Raymond James Stadium yell for more.

But, it didn’t turn out like that. The Bucs lost their season opener 27-20, and the game was never really competitive.

The Buccaneer offense looked pitiful for three quarters, and the defense looked worse for the entire game.

On a day the Bucs were supposed to honor the late Lee Roy Selmon, they looked like they were never really prepared for the Lions. Buc quarterback Josh Freeman finished the evening completing 28 of 43 passes for 257 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. His counterpart, Matthew Stafford, finished 24 of 33 for 305 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.

The leading ground gainer for the Bucs was Freeman who gained 26 yards on four carries. LeGarrett Blount ran 5 times for 15 yards, and Earnest Graham carried the ball 6 times for 13 yards.
Detroit’s ground game totaled 126 yards and the Bucs could only muster 56 yards.

Calvin “Megatron” Johnson had 6 catches for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Buccaneer touchdowns came from an interception by Aqib Talib and a 5-yard pass to Mike Williams.

Next week the Bucs travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings in a 1 p. m. game that will be televised locally. The Bucs didn’t lose any ground in the NFC South, because the Saints, Falcons, and Panthers also lost their season openers.

Cam Newton had one of the greatest debut performances in NFL history on Sunday, but after the Panthers’ 28-21 loss to the Cardinals, he was unhappy.

One of the veteran leaders in the Panthers’ locker room is taking that as a good sign from the rookie quarterback.

“Cam is very disappointed,” wide receiver Steve Smith said. “I’m encouraged by that.”

Newton, who’s just a year removed from leading Auburn to a perfect season, was dejected about the loss. “The last time I lost a game was Navarro Junior College,” Newton said. “What do you want me to say, it feels great? It is not a comfortable feeling for me.”

Panthers’ Cam Newton Is Sweet In Defeat

Brushing off criticism that he could not succeed as a pro passer, Newton shredded the Arizona secondary for 422 yards and accounted for all three of the Panthers’ touchdowns. But the Cardinals took advantage of secondary and special teams breakdowns by the Panthers to claim a 28-21 victory and spoil the debut of the No. 1 draft pick.

Newton broke the record held by Peyton Manning (302) for passing yards by a rookie in Week 1 and equaled Matthew Stafford’s record total for rookies. Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick of Detroit, threw for 422 yards against Cleveland in Week 10 in 2009.

NEW YORK — Already being outplayed by Sam Stosur in the U.S. Open final, the last thing Serena Williams needed was to lose a game for yelling during a point.

That’s exactly what happened early in the second set, leading to an argument between Williams and the chair umpire, a scene less ugly than — but reminiscent of — the American’s tirade two years ago at the same tournament. In the end, Stosur beat Williams 6-2, 6-3 Sunday in a surprisingly lopsided upset for her first Grand Slam title.

“I think I had one of my best days,” Stosur said. “I’m very fortunate to do it on this stage.”

“She played really, really well. She’s a great player, and it’s good to see,” Williams said. “I tried my hardest and she kept hitting winners and I was, ‘Oh my God, what am I doing?’

ANKARA, TURKEY — New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams has arrived in Istanbul to start his stint with Turkish basketball team Besiktas.

The Istanbul-based club said the All-Star guard arrived Thursday together with his family. Williams has joined Besiktas until the end of the NBA lockout. Williams averaged 20.1 points and 10.3 assists for the Nets and the Utah Jazz last season.

Besiktas signed Allen Iverson last season, but the former NBA MVP only played 10 games because of injury. Other NBA players that have signed to play in the Turkish league include Nets guard Sasha Vujacic, Darius Songaila of the Philadelphia 76ers and Nets draft pick Bojan Bogdanovic.