Oscar Pistorius Sentenced To Prison

((ht: cbsnews.com))

So it appears that former double amputee and Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius will spend time in jail for the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius was sentenced to 5-years for the shooting incident which was termed by the judge as "gross negligence".

However...

Pistorius's lawyer says that the former Olympian is expected to serve 10 months in jail and the rest of his term will be spent under "House Arrest". There are appeal options for both sides in this case but neither have said whether they'll pursue that option.

You'll recall back in September, Pistorius was convicted of "culpable homicide" after a lengthy and emotional trial in South Africa.

Coverage of the sentencing from CBSNews.com:

DEVELOPING: UCLA Athletics Flooded By Water Main Break

((HT: ABC7 KABC-TV))

As of 6:20 eastern time this evening, a massive water main break has erupted near all the athletics facilities on the UCLA campus effecting the Drake Track and Field Stadium, Pauley Pavilion, J.D. Morgan Center, the George Kneller Student-Athlete Academic Center, Athletic Hall of Fame and John Wooden Center.

Early reports from KNBC-TV had 36,000 gallons of water a minute escaping from the 30-inch water main break on Sunset Boulevard.

Here's the early news from Sunset


Pauley Pavilion was renovated two years ago at the cost of $133-million. Two parking structures are flooded and taking on water nearby and the intramural fields are reported to be at least 50-percent underwater at present two and a half hours into the emergency.

No word from UCLA athletics at present as to how their facilities are impacted.

More when we know more...

2120 UPDATE: The LA Department of Water and Power put out some details on the pipe that burst.

The water main is a 30-inch, 90-year-old riveted steel pipe that delivers water to the area at a high velocity from Upper Stone Canyon Reservoir.

Water flow through the pipe when operational is estimated at 75,000 gallons per minute. LADWP serves approximately 500 million gallons of water to customers each day.

OSG High: Louisiana Coach Arrested For Underage Sex, Exposing Student To AIDS

((HT: WWL-TV))

A New Orleans-area high school track coach is in jail on a million-dollar bond after having sex with an underage boy and knowingly exposing him to the AIDS virus.

Derrick Nesby, only employed a year at HL Bourgeois High, was arrested on one count of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile and one count of intentional exposure to the AIDS virus.

He denies the allegations in a very disturbing story- and, frankly, the HQ thinks the word "disturbing" barely scratches the surface...

Here's the story out of Terrebone Parish

The disgust in the HQ right now is pretty deep...

Tyson Gay Tests Positive for Banned Substance (UPDATED: Five Jamaicans Did, Too, Including Asafa Powell)

((ht: ap.org))

The fastest man in the United States will be sitting out the August World Championships after getting a positive drug test result on Friday.

Tyson Gay got the results from a May test given by the U.S Anti-Doping Agency. That test was given on May 16th.

He told the Associated Press--"I don't have a sabotage story, I basically put my trust in someone and was let down."

Gay made his way back into the headlines recently after going on the record that he felt healthy and good enough to take down Usain Bolt.

That won't happen next month in Moscow as Gay now tries to get his B sample (2nd test) results and hope those come back clean.

PM UPDATE: Five Jamaicans have been tested positive for banned substances...

Two field event athletes and three runners tested positive at the National Trials and the two sprinters are Olympic gold medallists- Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson... Powell apparently handed over his supplements when his trainer got busted in Italy...

Powell then released a statement:

“I want to be clear in saying to my family, friends, and most of all my fans worldwide that I have never knowingly or willfully taken any supplements or substances that break any rules. I am not now — nor have I ever been — a cheat,” he said.

“My team has launched an internal investigation and we are cooperating with the relevant agencies and law enforcement authorities to discover how the substance got in my system. I assure you that we will find out how this substance passed our rigorous internal checks and balances and design systems to make sure it never happens again."

Simpson did the same:

“I would not intentionally take an illegal substance of any form into my system. I want to sincerely say to my family (especially my parents, grandparents and siblings), Paul Doyle (agent), MVP track club, fellow athletes, former sponsors and the rest of Jamaica, that l am deeply sorry for any hurt or embarrassment this positive test may have caused."

Sources are telling the Gleaner newspaper in Jamaica that the sprinters might have ingested the banned substance from a new dietary supplement recently introduced to their training camp.

It is understood that one of the athletes had done extensive research on the supplement before taking it, and is now considering legal action against the supplier.

Well, then...

Here's Gay beating Powell at Lausanne just recently... interesting to see just how much of this holds up...

OSG High: Connecticut HS Runner Does It With CP

((HT: WFSB-TV Hartford))

Meg Moore has battled cerebral palsy all of her life, but it hasn't stopped her dream of running cross country in high school.

She started running in sixth grade and hasn't stopped... she even has dabbled into play writing as a middle schooler...

John Moore tried to catch up with the ambitious high schooler...
WFSB Channel 3

Kearney To Claim Discrimination Vs. Texas

((HT: ESPN/Naqi))

Former Texas women's track coach Bev Kearney, who resigned January 5th after it was disclosed she had an intimate relationship with an athlete in her program back in 2002, will announce the filing of an EEOC and Texas Workforce Commission discrimination charge on Monday, according to her attorney and Naqi.

"This is the legal prerequisite to filing a discrimination lawsuit," lawyer Derek Howard said in a text message to Naqi, "and it will specifically reference the [Major] Applewhite comparative scenario."

Applewhite, UT's co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, admitted to an inappropriate consensual relationship with a student in 2009 and is still on Mack Brown's staff at present. The double-standard is what Howard seems to be chasing with their investigation and/or subsequent lawsuit.

"[The discrimination claim] will be investigated for 180 days before [we] have the right to sue," Howard said.

Kearney won six national championships in 20 years with the Longhorns and was named Big 12 Coach of the Year last season.

Here's how the story broke when the relationship was made public and Kearney resigned back in January...
((HT: KVUE-TV))

Kearney had been placed on paid administrative leave since November of 2012. The school found out about an "intimate consensual relationship" the month before and had investigated.

Busy First Day At Five-Ringed Circus In London: Suspensions and Delays

First, THE IAAF has announced nine athletes have been suspended ahead of the London 2012 Games for doping. The list include eight women and one man: Ukrainian runners Nataliya Tobias and Antonina Yefremova, Bulgarian sprinter Inna Eftimova, Moroccan marathon runner Abderrahim Goumri, Greek steeplechaser Irini Kokkinariou, Turkish distance runner Meryem Erdogan, and Russian long-distance runners Svetlana Klyuka, Nailiya Yulamanova and Yevgenina Zinurova.

Then, as the Colombian women were set to play the North Koreans at Hampden Park in Glasgow, North Korea's women's Olympic soccer team refused to start match because of a flag dispute.

The South Korean flag was mistakenly displayed on the matrix board during player introductions, and for 40 minutes (and counting) the DPR squad failed to start the game. The two countries, South and North Korea, went to war in 1950 and an armistice was signed. But the two countries have one of the most fortified borders on the planet even today.

More when we know more...

1540 UPDATE: London Olympic organizers have apologized to North Korea for displaying South Korean flag and the match is set to start in Group G at any moment...

Here's the oops, thanks to our friends at CBSSports and James Crossans' Twitter Feed...

Oscar Pistorius Qualifies For Five-Ringed Circus

((HT: BallzRadio))

This just qualifies as a cool story... and when you listen below, the first question is the best part:

"What's it like to run in two Olympics in the same year...?"

South Africa's "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius was named to the 400 meter squad and the 4x400 relay team. The South African committee waited until the very last to reverse their initial decision not to have him on their 125-person roster since they claimed he hadn't met the basic criteria to qualify in the first place. A last-month qualifying run at the Africans Championships gave him two "A" runs that could have made him eligible.

"Since he's going to be there (in London), our decision is he can run both," Olympic committee chief executive Tubby Reddy told The Associated Press. "There's no reason why he can't. Our decision is he can."

Here's the interview Ballz did with Pistorius after he was named to the squad...

He'll be one of the biggest draws to the event in London in track and field... and it'll be interesting to see how he makes out.

Olympic Champion Michael Johnson Says Black American And Caribbean Sprinters Have a "Superior Athletic Gene"

HT: Daily Mail.com (London)

Michael Johnson winning the 200 meters at the 1996 Olympics

Remember Michael Johnson?  The American sprinter who pulled off a rare double gold medal performance at the 1996 Olympic Games by winning the 200 meters and 400 meters.  Johnson is now a track and field commentator for the BBC and offers this analysis of the upcoming Olympic Games in London.

According to Johnson a "superior athletic gene" in the descendants of West African slaves means black American and Caribbean sprinters will command the sport at the London Games.

Johnson went on to say that… "It’s a fact that hasn’t been discussed openly before. It’s a taboo subject in the States but it is what it is. Why shouldn’t we discuss it?’

Well Michael we don’t discuss it here because it’s not news.  African-American sprinters have been winning the sprints since the 1930’s and I can recall Jesse Owens was a hero to “All” Americans by winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  I suggest you do some research as to why.

When I watch the great sprinters running I could care less about the color of their skin.  Maybe that makes me odd or different.  I just see a great athlete at peak performance.

This might be news across the pond but over here it’s a wonderful fact of life.

OSG Five-Rings: Greece Suspends Track and Field Operations

Like, now...

With all of the austerity measures going on in a country that is living off emergency loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country's sports governing sports body decided the following:

"The Board of Athletics Federation ... unanimously decided to suspend all domestic sporting activity until decisions to make unfair and selective cuts in funding are reviewed," a federation statement said.

The head of the Fed, Vassilis Sevastis, admitted that coaches and other related personnel haven't even been paid for up to 10 months. They will meet again in two weeks to determine of they're going to elevate the inactivity to international events- Track and Field championships and the like...

The budget has been cut by a third for the last two years...
Here's some Greek track and field history for you...
((HT: IAAF/IOC/youtube))