Broadside Sports

Ryan Dempsey, Staff Writer

NFL

Former Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson believes the Bears did everything in their power to keep him from signing with another team.

Benson was released in June 2008 after being arrested two different times for alcohol-related issues.

Benson will finally come face-to-face with his former team, as his new team the Cincinnati Bengals, host the Bears. Benson has insisted that he is not out for revenge, despite having bad feelings.

“I heard all the rumors that were said coming out of Chicago,” Benson said. “Even the Bengals told me all the things, that they would call and inquire about me and get nothing but negative things.

Just that I didn’t work hard, that I was, I guess, a prima donna or I didn’t work hard on the field, just wasn’t focused, just anything negative that they could say, it was said. I’m sure that contributed largely to me not getting picked up right away.”

NBA

There are a lot of things a team can do in attempts to improve their team, but what about relocating?

The New Jersey Nets, who have not had a winning season since the 2005-06 season and who have started the season in last place, are considering moving their team to Newark while their new Brooklyn stadium is being built.

The Star-Ledger reported Thursday that “the Nets were considering playing regular-season games at the Prudential Center, as long as they do not have to pay an $8 million penalty to get out of their lease at the Meadowlands.”

The Nets have already had some transitioning issues as Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to invest $200 million to acquire 80 percent of the NBA team and 45 percent of the arena project.

MLB

It seems that Major League Baseball umpires cannot get anything right, missing clear calls in nearly every game of the playoffs this season. The inconsistency of calls could be why the MLB is breaking tradition and sticking with only experienced umpires for the World Series.

At least two first-time World Series umpires have been on the last five World Series’ crews. Starting in 1983, the only crew that did not include a new World Series umpire was 1997.

Hopefully using more experienced referees will increase the correct calls being made, but even that is no guarantee.

What the MLB needs is the ability to give teams an allotment of instant replay challenges.

Until something changes, the game of baseball will be flawed with errors of referees who believe their opinion and call is the only thing that matters.