Gem City Sports Network

For a few days it looked like this would be a slim day in my twisted head. But lo and behold, the stories just flowed like water in the last 24 hours, so here we go!

The Dayton Dutch Lions’ mens schedule is FINALLY out. The Lions kick off the season at 7:30 PM on Thursday, May 21st against London FC, at DOC Stadium in West Carrollton. Among the notable opponents the Lions will face this season are the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ U23 team, the Chicago Fire’s U23 team (both on the road, unfortunately), Toronto FC’s youth academy team, and the reigning PDL Champions, the Michigan Bucks. In the time between then and now, I have the tryouts to look forward to at DOC Stadium in West Carrollton in about three weeks. They’re happening on February 21st and 22nd. I’ll be there for the Saturday session only, as I have a call with the Gem City Slam the next day.

Speaking of the Slam, their first home game is this coming Sunday against the Louisville Diesel. Tipoff is at 4 PM. Following that, the Lady Slam take to the court to take on the Brick City Warriors, with tipoff at approximately 6 PM. Check out their official facebook page for more info. I do, however, wish they had a real, honest-to-goodness website. Makes it kinda hard for people to find out about you without one.

Back to PDL soccer. Interestingly enough, Dayton’s PDL bretheren, the Cincinnati Dutch Lions (who play in a completely different conference) have their schedule out, but haven’t listed a home venue yet. Last year, they played their games at Xavier University’s soccer field. It was a nice facility. It would be better, though, if it didn’t have all that nasty blue X crap on it though (end Dayton Flyers mark-out moment). Seriously though, it’s weird and concerning to see so many TBAs listed on a team’s schedule just 3 months before the season is supposed to begin. Reminds me of a certain sport we used to cover on this site…

Oh Lance Armstrong. What did you do this time? Damaged some cars while driving around drunk, and trying to pin the deed on your girlfriend? Wouldn’t be the first time he tried to ruin someone’s life to protect his shining image. Also, if the girl’s going to take the blame anyway, wouldn’t it make sense for her to, oh I don’t know, not blame Lance before deciding to take the blame herself?

Bad news in the world of MMA. In my last piece, I wrote about how pleased I was that Anderson Silva beat the ever loving crap out of Nick Diaz. Well, turns out that Silva tested positive for PEDs in an out-of-competition test earlier in January. To make matters worse, Nick Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites after that fight as well. To make things even worse for Silva, he said in an interview last October that people who get caught using PEDs should be banned for life. I expect he’ll backpedal from that stance very shortly.

It does make me wonder though. Fighters, and pro athletes of all types, sometimes claim that they just take whatever their trainers or “team” gives them, whether it’s supplements or whatnot, without a thought or care in the world. Now in team sports, that usually results in fines and suspensions, but it doesn’t turn a team win into a loss or a no contest. That DOES happen in combat sports, where it’s just one-on-one.

To follow up on the Silva story, his doctor claims that Silva didn’t use steroids at all. What makes this interesting is that this doctor, Dr. Marcio Tannure, is also the medical director for Brazil’s athletic commission. Many people have called him out for this apparent conflict of interest. The biggest fighter in the world is paying him to be his doctor, and at the same time, an athletic commission, that could potentially do Silva in if this test had occurred in Brazil, is paying him to be on the commission as well. Sell to the highest bidder anyone?

I just have a feeling that this story is only going to get worse before it gets better.

TMZ is reporting that Indianapolis Colts Linebacker D’Quell Jackson was arrested last Tuesday in Washington D.C. for allegedly punching a 41-year-old pizza delivery driver in the face. Why? Apparently over a parking spot. Supposedly the driver parked in Jackson’s spot. One piece of information that is missing, though, from the articles I’ve seen so far say where this “spot” was at. If this was at an apartment complex, condo, or place of work with assigned parking, and this driver parked in Jackson’s assigned spot, I can see why he would be upset. Anywhere else with open parking, boy, what a prima donna. In either case, is it really worth getting violent over? What does this prove? That Jackson is a “tough guy”? Yeah, beating up someone in much worse physical shape than you makes you a real badass…

That’s all I can come up with for this edition. If you agree or disagree with anything here, or want to add to something here, please leave a comment below!