Junior Seau Is Dead; Derby Day Is Overbooked
Today in sports: San Diego Chargers great Junior Seau is dead at 43 after an apparent suicide, Floyd Mayweather Jr. did not win $1.5 million betting on the Clippers, and Amar'e Stoudemire explains he did not intend to slice his hand open in a fit of rage after losing to Miami on Monday.
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Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau, 43, who spent 19 seasons with the San Diego Chargers, the Miami Dolphins, and the New England Patriots has reportedly been found dead in his San Diego-area home. "A witness who heard the news from police" tells San Diego's KGTV that authorities believe Seau killed himself, while "police sources" confirmed the death to TMZ. Another witness tells KGTV that "a gunshot was heard inside Seau's home" earlier in the day. [KGTV and TMZ]
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New York Knicks center Amar'e Stoudemire vows he'll be available to play in Game 4 of the team's series against the Miami Heat, despite delivering the fire extinguisher-punch-heard-round-the-sports-world on Monday night. Stoudemire looked upbeat during a media scrum Wednesday, even offering a quasi-defense of his decision to hit an inanimate object protected by a layer of glass. "It wasn't like I had a closed fist," he noted. "I just wanted to make some noise." Fair enough. [New York Daily News]
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have done something nice, signing Eric LeGrand -- the former Rutgers defensive lineman who was paralyzed after sustaining a serious spinal injury while covering a kickoff in a game against Army in 2010. Tampa can't give LeGrand any money because it would count against the team's salary cap, but it is a very thoughtful gesture. Greg Schiano, entering his first season as Tampa's head coach, was LeGrand's coach at Rutgers when the accident happened. [AP]
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Floyd Mayweather Jr. fights Miguel Cotto on Saturday, but at Tuesday's media session at the MGM Grand, he spent an hour mainly talking about Manny Pacquiao. The gist: he thinks Pac-Man is on steroids ("Even Ray Charles could see that"), absolutely would be willing to fight him, but almost certainly will not, because "health is more important than anything." So basically, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still afraid to have Manny Pacquiao punch him in the head. Which isn't unreasonable. [Las Vegas Sun, video via MLive]
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In other Floyd Mayweather Jr. news: there was a rumor making the rounds that he bet $1.8 million on the Los Angeles Clippers, a six-point underdog, in Game 1 of their playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies. Los Angeles ended up winning the game outright, which would have meant a $1.5 million payout for the fighter, except he says he never put it down. We believe him, because Mayweather is the kind of bettor who likes to tweet pictures of winning tickets, and would never miss a chance to tell people about the time the Grizzlies blew a 27-point lead and he made $1.5 million. [Beyond the Bets]
It seems 21 horses have been entered to run in the Kentucky Derby, one above the maximum allowable field. So someone's got to go. Hopefully it won't be Hansen, the horse with the alabastor coat. Or Union Rags, the likely favorite and most Barbaro-esque member of the field. Anyone but those two. Unless someone scratches, the field of 20 will be determined by their ""earnings in graded stakes races." [AP]
