Brandon Joyce, Former NFL Player, Shot Dead at 26

Filed under: Rams, Vikings, UFL

Former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Brandon Joyce has died from injuries sustained after he was shot outside a St. Louis-area Bass Pro Shop Friday. He was most recently a member of the St. Louis Rams' offseason roster. Joyce was 26.

Three men have been arrested in connection with the murder. Cory J. Brooks, 21, Tory T. Brooks, 21, and Deveon C. Shockley, 21, all of the St. Louis area, have been taken into custody. Joyce was originally from St. Charles, a suburb of St. Louis.

According to police records, the men were involved in an altercation when Joyce was attempting to buy narcotics from them Dec. 24. There is a fourth suspect who has been preliminarily identified as the shooter, though he is not in custody.

Joyce was signed by Minnesota as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois State in 2008 but failed make to the team. He played for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League in 2009.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Michael Jorden Tiger woods David Beckham LA Lakers Roger Federer

2010 Team Reviews: JGR Inches Closer to Title

Filed under: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano, NASCAR

As easily the most staunch threat to unseat Jimmie Johnson and Co. from their record-setting run through the previous four seasons, Joe Gibbs Racing takes second spot in our review of the top teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 2010.

Denny Hamlin (above) delivered the last, best threat to Johnson's run to five consecutive championships at Homestead in November by holding a narrow points lead on the No. 48 before the season finale. However, a risky decision early in the race left Hamlin spinning and scrambling while Johnson cruised to his fifth.

It was a storyline we've seen before from the JGR camp -- most notably in Kyle Busch's 2008 Chase implosion.

Labeling the 2010 season a failure for JGR with one gaffe in one race, however, isn't fair to the otherwise notable successes the team saw during the campaign. Here's a look back, and the reasoning why, JGR was the second-best NASCAR organization in 2010.

2nd- Denny Hamlin [8 wins, 14 Top-5s, 18 Top-10s, 2 DNFs, 12.9 Avg Finish]

New Jersey Devils Nicklas Lidstrom Michael Jorden Tiger woods David Beckham

Kevin Durant Scores NBA Season-High 44 as Thunder Top Nuggets

Filed under: Nuggets, Thunder

Kevin Durant made sure the first Christmas Day game in Oklahoma City Thunder history would be a memorable one.

Durant scored 44 points -- 21 of them coming in the third quarter -- to lead the Thunder to a 114-106 victory over the Denver Nuggets. The 44 points were an NBA season-high for Durant, who entered the game as the NBA's leading scorer at 27.5 points per game.

Durant's third-quarter foray swung the momentum of the game after the Thunder surprisingly struggled to keep pace with the Nuggets in the first half, despite Denver playing without star forward Carmelo Anthony. The Thunder's deficit reached double digits on multiple occasions.

But Durant and the Thunder came alive in the third, with the fourth-year forward at one point scoring 11 consecutive points for Oklahoma City in just under two-and-a-half minutes. His 19-foot jumper with 1:15 left in the quarter gave the Thunder the lead for good.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

David Beckham LA Lakers Roger Federer New Jersey Devils Nicklas Lidstrom

The Next Tiger? Meet Joseph Bramlett

Filed under: PGA

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. -- Veteran Billy Mayfair won the PGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament Monday. That's good. Joseph Bramlett finished seven shots back and tied for 16th. Maybe, even better.

That's how Q School, golf's six-day, 108-hole coming-of-age event, works. Nobody really wins qualifying. Success is achieved by surviving -- that means finishing among the top 25 and ties -- to play in next season's PGA Tour.

"Yeah, this is about as good as it can get right now," Bramlett said. "You always play to win, but just getting that tour card is winning."

For more reasons than the obvious.

Bramlett, 22 and fresh out of Stanford, will bring more than a promising game and high hopes to the 2011 PGA Tour season. He'll bring a little more color.

---

Mick Eliott at Q-School: Ben Martin Leads the Long Haul at Q-School
Billy Horschel Doing it All Over Again at Q School
Billy Mayfair Back to Future at Q-School

---

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Michael Jorden Tiger woods David Beckham LA Lakers Roger Federer

Lichaj seeing his stock rise

Tiger woods David Beckham LA Lakers Roger Federer New Jersey Devils

Monday Evening Ticker: Arsenal cruises, RSL keeps Paulo Jr and more

David Beckham LA Lakers Roger Federer New Jersey Devils Nicklas Lidstrom

Jeremy Hazell Describes Moment of Gun-Shot Wound

Filed under: Seton Hall

It's always better to keep things in perspective.

Jeremy Hazell, a 6-foot-5 senior guard for the Seton Hall basketball team, knows that best now.

"I just feel very lucky, very blessed," Hazell said in an exclusive interview with the New York Daily News on Monday, after surviving a gun-shot wound while walking back from a Christmas party early Sunday in east Harlem.

"I didn't know these guys -- never saw them before," Hazell said. "They just tried to rob me. I never knew something like this could happen to me."

After undergoing surgery for a broken scaphoid bone in his left wrist Dec.2, the NBA hopeful could have been lost for his final NCAA season.

On Christmas night, Hazell could have lost his life.

Michael Jorden Tiger woods David Beckham LA Lakers Roger Federer