While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your pleasurable viewing. Have something you think we should see and read about tomorrow? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.
Tragedy in Tennessee: “Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was shot multiple times, including once in the head, and a pistol was discovered near the body of the 20-year-old woman found dead with him Saturday in a downtown condominium. Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron identified the woman as Sahel Kazemi, whom he called a ‘friend’ of McNair’s. She had a single gunshot wound to the head. Police said the 36-year-old McNair was found on the sofa in the living room, and Kazemi was very close to him on the floor. Aaron said the gun was not ‘readily apparent’ when police first arrived.” [ESPN.com news services]
Eddie reflects on the former MVP: “The Houston Oilers, who later moved to Tennessee, drafted McNair with the third overall pick in 1995 out of Alcorn State, a historically black college where McNair first displayed his dazzling ability to scramble or throw — and a toughness that pushed him to play through numerous injuries. Other players marveled at his grittiness, and in 1999 he returned from early-season back surgery to take the Titans to the Super Bowl. ‘He was the heart and soul of our team,’ his former teammate Eddie George told ESPN. The greatest stretch of McNair’s career might have occurred near the end of the 2002 season, when McNair had so many injuries he could not practice for two months. He led the Titans to five straight victories to finish the regular season before they lost in the American Football Conference championship game.” [Chris Hine and Judy Battista/The New York Times]
Why does Manny remain so popular despite his suspension? It seems like the NFL and MLB have something in common with their drug policies now: “Ramirez did his 50 games, took a $7 million hit, kept silent for the most part and he is home free. He will not be called in front of Congress or the commissioner. We still don’t know why he had an elevated level of testosterone or a female fertility drug in his system, whether he was a serial steroid user or had the unbelievably bad luck of getting caught the first time he sought help for his little “medical issue.” We’re still waiting for the first big league player to use his ‘mistake’ as an opportunity to speak out for a drug-free game. Mark McGwire? Alex Rodriguez? Hello?” [Tom Verducci/SI.com]
Well Sunday is for relaxing, and then LBJ gets right back to work just like us on Monday: “For LeBron James, the journey to repeat as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player begins Monday morning. That’s when the Cavs star will meet assistant coach Chris Jent at the team’s practice facility in Independence. ‘LeBron is driven to win a championship,’ said Jent. ‘Most people have no idea how hard he works. He wanted to start last week, but I told him to rest his body. Let’s start after July 4th.’ James will begin his day by meeting assistant trainer Mike Mancias. Sometimes, they lift weights. Sometimes, it’s yoga. It always involves some stretching.” [Terry Pluto/The Cleveland Plain Dealer]
Here comes the organizational shuffling, beginning with the acquisition of a former big-shot prospect: “He has spent the 2009 season between AA Bowie (6-2, 3.62ERA, 12GS, 69.2IP, 85H, 28ER) & AAA Norfolk (1-0, 1.80ERA, 3GS, 20.0IP, 21H, 4ER) in the Orioles organization. He began his pro career in 2001 in the Mariners organization (4th round pick) and appeared in 13 big league games with the M’s and Reds in 2006-07 (61.1IP, 86H, 43ER, 3-3, 6.31). He will start for Akron on Sunday at Harrisburg.” [Tony Lastoria/Indians Prospect Insider]
Don’t you just love it when the Indians are playing well on the Fourth of July? It just makes things so much easier when your parents come home all happy after a solid 5-2 victory thanks to the efforts of Carl Pavano. [Ryan/Let's Go Tribe]
I spoke with Aaron after his previous rough outing in Akron and he sounded relatively optimistic, but this does not look good at all: “Aaron Laffey (strained right oblique) was roughed up for seven runs on 10 hits with two walks and three strikeouts in just four innings of work for Triple-A Columbus in his fourth Minor League rehab start Friday. Six of the runs came in the first inning. Laffey said he was throwing nothing but four-seam fastballs that inning in an attempt to get the pitch working for him, so he shrugged off the results.” [Anthony Castrovince/CastroTurf]
