When will athletes get it?? Is ESPN nuts!! My 2 cents on Jay Cutler and B.J. Raji in this edition of Rants and Raves.

Athletes-gone-wild seems to be the one of the hot topics for this weeks edition of Rants and Raves.

Running Back Laurence Maroney was arrested by St. Louis police and held on unlawful weapons and drug charges. The Broncos player was arrested with five others while being pulled over during a traffic stop. Cops believe Maroney and his friends were smoking weed. Laurence’s publicist, Jane Higgins, told a TV stations that Maroney just happened to be behind the car “by pure coincidence.” Supposedly Maroney holds a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Baseball’s problem child, Seattle Mariners outfielder, Milton Bradley was arrested by Los Angeles police for allegedly making threats against a women. He was released after he posted $50,000 in bail. Hopefully more will be revealed at a court appearance scheduled for February 8^th.

Janoris Jenkins, a Florida Gator, was arrested on a marijuana possession charge in a Gainesville nightclub. Jenkins had less than 20 grams of marijuana, which is a misdemeanor. He was not taken to jail. He signed a notice to appear in court on February 17^th. This is the second arrest for Janoris. The first was in May 2009 during a downtown fight.

If Athletes are supposed to be role models for our children, is this what I am expecting my kids and grandchildren to be like??

Are you kidding me!! ESPN inks a mega deal with the NFL and they won’t show the playoffs or Super Bowl. Who is the moron in charge of this idiotic deal?

It is reported that ESPN has reached a deal with the NFL for 9-10 years worth nearly $2 billion a year. ESPN will still do Monday Night Football but will not be in the rotation for the rights to the Super Bowl or playoffs. This is a 70% pay increase in the annual rights fees to show the profitable “Monday Night Football.” By comparison, Fox pays $720 million, CBS pays $620 million and NBC pays $603 million. DirecTV pay about a $1 billion a year for Sunday Ticket service. ESPN and the NFL have said both sides are still in discussions but no agreements have been reached.

I think Jay Cutler was the driving force in the Bears trip to the NFC Championship. But, there comes a time when you have to step it up, regardless of how you feel, or how your hurting. I can see the Bears front office sticking up for him, saying it was they who held him out. This stuff would never have happened before the 2000’s. Players would have played with a severed fingers, bloodied faces, broken noses, etc. He could have played with a sprained MCL.

With that being said, hats off to Bears QB Caleb Hanie, who under a difficult situation guided the team to two touchdowns, one rushing by Chester Taylor and Caleb’s first NFL touchdown pass.

B.J. Raji dance, please don’t try this at home:

Pictures by: Laurence Maroney - multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images, Milton Bradley - www4.pictures.zimbio.com, Janoris Jenkins - gatorcountry.com/images, ESPN Logo - washburnim.files.wordpress.com, NFL Logo - midwestsportsfans.com, Jay Cutler - blogdownchicagobears.com, Caleb Hanie - chicagobears.com,

Video of B.J. Raji by mockessiondotcom