A degree in inspiration
Former Buffalo Bills receiver Andre Reed didn’t need a college degree to excel in the NFL. Fatherhood turned out to be a different story.
Twenty years after leaving Kutztown University, Reed received his bachelor’s degree a few weeks ago. The star wide receiver played four years of college football at Kutztown, but was 10 credits shy of completing the necessary courses when he was drafted by the Bills.
He finally finished a general studies degree through independent study from his home near San Diego and participated in the commencement ceremony.
Reed and his wife, Cyndi, have two children, Auburn, 10, and Andre, 8.
“I wanted them to see how important education is,” Reed said. “This was 80 percent for them and 20 percent for me.”
Know when to fold ‘em
Jack Nicklaus announced he will retire from competitive golf after the British Open and Ray Ratto, in a special to ESPN.com, declared, “Here’s hoping he holds true to his word.”
Assuring he meant no disrespect, Ratto continued, “It’s just that, well, we get a little worried when athletes announce they’ve had enough, and then decide they haven’t after all. See Felix Trinidad for the latest example of this – return to the ring after 29 months with a monumentally bad haircut, get utterly schooled for 12 rounds by a guy willing to call himself Winky in public, only to retire again.
“What, oh children of the corn, is the lesson we can draw from that?”
He’d like an intentional pass
From Michael Ventre of MSNBC.com: “Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig wants to implement a new steroids policy whereby a third-strike offender would be banned for life. Union leader Donald Fehr offered a counterproposal that states a third strike could come only after three balls and several foul tips.”
Creating a buzz
TNT’s Doug Collins, impressed by Dallas Mavericks guard Darrell Armstrong’s energy, said: “He is one of the few guys in the league who makes coffee nervous.”
They’re a pro team anyway, right?
The trendiest spot for NFL players to work out in the off-season is the University of Miami weight room, according to the Washington Post.
” … One day there were 11 first-round draft choices working out,” Miami coach Larry Coker told the newspaper. “I was trying to put a dollar figure on what the guys were worth, and they were worth more than the weight room, believe me.”
Hurts the eyes
Serena Williams said on ESPN2’s “Cold Pizza” that she was starting an awareness crusade to combat migraines, prompting Dwight Perry to write in the Seattle Times: “We’ll know she’s serious about reducing headaches when she stops designing her own tennis outfits.”
We’ll vote for that
Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun sees one reason professional wrestling should get more ink.
Schmuck recently wrote: “With newspaper deadlines getting earlier and earlier, maybe it’s time for us to embrace a sport that can send in results the day before the event.”
Banished Bradley
Bill Scheft of Sports Illustrated, on the Dodger Stadium renovations: “They also moved the fence in right field back 10 feet to create a ‘timeout’ corner for Milton Bradley.”