A federal grand jury has indicted Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The 19-page indictment charges Clemens with three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. According to the United States attorney’s office, Clemens faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, but under the current sentencing guidelines, a conviction would likely bring 15-21 months. Clemens’s allegedly false testimony came in a public hearing in which Clemens and his former trainer Brian McNamee, testifying under oath, directly contradicted each other about whether Clemens had used the banned substances.

Authorities in the western U.S. state of California are investigating a crash at a popular off-road race that killed eight people. A dozen more were injured, some seriously.
The accident occurred Saturday (evening – 0240 GMT Sunday) just as the race, called the California 200, was starting. The driver of a truck participating in the race lost control. The vehicle plowed into a crowd of spectators who had gathered at a dry lake bed in southern California for the annual event.
The 200-mile race involving a variety of off-road vehicles was being held near the city of Lucerne Valley in the Mojave desert, 165 kilometers northeast of Los Angeles. It had been scheduled to last through the night before the accident brought it to an abrupt end.

I was looking around on Deadspin and saw this gem, only they didn’t provide the videos I found on YouTube. Click on the image for the enlarged version and try to find the female flashing the crowd at the X Games during the Speed and Style competition. All the different expressions are priceless…it’s NSFW I guess for side-boobage.

Did you notice the dude next to her? I sure hope not so look again. Well, it appears the crowd owes a him a beer or something for making it all happen…

Click For Video

We haven’t had a chance to interview Jimmy @ Skate Thru Life yet so I just grabbed the mission statement off  the Skate Thru Life site:

The Mission of Skate Thru Life is not only to further the positive image of the sport of skateboarding, but to do so by helping to build free community skate parks. Skateboarding is an activity that runs into problems at times with local business owners and police, etc. I love banzing down a huge hill just like the next guy, or skating a cool parking lot, but not everybody else loves it when skateboarders are present. Given the reality of this situation, the solution is to build more free skate parks. Almost every athlete has a place to engage in their respective sports provided to them by their cities. More and more municipalities these days are recognizing the need for free community skate parks, and more and more of them are popping up all over the place. We as community members, however, have to make things happen. If we don’t do anything, almost no city is just going to up and build a free skate park.
Check out the Tony Hawk Foundation for more information about becoming active in your community in terms of getting a free skate park built.

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MILWAUKEE — NASCAR team owner Jack Roush was in serious but stable condition after walking away from a plane crash in Wisconsin on Tuesday night. “There are injuries. Possible surgery,” Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said in a text message to The Associated Press. “But he walked out of the plane.”

According to the EAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that two occupants on board were Roush and Brenda Stricklin of Plymouth, Mich.

“Each exited the aircraft following the accident,” the statement said. “Both were transported to local hospitals, with Roush in serious but stable condition and Strickland with non-life threatening injuries. The NTSB is leading the investigation into the accident.”

The Beechcraft Premier jet pancaked onto the runway and broke in half and no flames or smoke were seen, according to the aviation news website AVweb.com. Jason McDowell, an aviation photographer who was at the airport, tweeted a photo of team co-owner Jack Roush exiting the plane with a bloody face.

I love baseball and it would be nice to have a Triple-A stadium down the street but I’m not sure this is a good idea. No cash from the Padres? Is this really the way most minor league stadium deals are structured?

From NCTimes.com

Landing the top minor league team of the San Diego Padres would require Escondido to pay the entire $45 million cost to build a 9,000-seat ballpark and to give the team all revenue from concessions and naming rights, city officials said Monday.

Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler said the city’s motive for spending so much money without any immediate revenue in return would be spurring development of a large district of shops, restaurants and condominiums near the ballpark, which would be built on mostly vacant city land between Washington Avenue and the Sprinter rail line.

“A ballpark would be a cool anchor that changes the way people feel about that area,” said Pfeiler, predicting the ballpark would attract many millions of dollars in private development to the industrial zone south of Highway 78 and east of Interstate 15. “This is the quickest way to get what we want to happen there.”

When asked about the proposal, City Councilman Sam Abed said he was concerned that the city would be committing nearly all of its redevelopment revenue for the next 25 years without any guaranteed return on that investment.

“The deal right now is frontloaded to the Padres and backloaded to the city,” Abed said, noting that the only immediate revenue would be “insignificant” lease payments from the team. “We only benefit if and when all this ancillary development happens.”

“It is with profound sadness that the family of George M. Steinbrenner III announces his passing. He passed away this morning in Tampa, Fla., at age 80,” the family said in a statement.
“He was an incredible and charitable man. First and foremost he was devoted to his entire family — his beloved wife, Joan; his sisters, Susan Norpell and Judy Kamm, his children, Hank, Jennifer Jessica and Hal; and all of his grandchildren.
“He was a visionary and a giant in the world of sports. He took a great but struggling franchise and turned it into a champion again.” Steinbrenner had been in failing health for the past several years and had rarely appeared in public. He attended the opening game at the new stadium in April 2009, sitting in his suite with his wife, Joan. When he was introduced and received an ovation, his shoulders shook and he cried.

The North County Times is reporting Escondido is pulling ahead of San Marcos as the front-runner to become the next home for the Padres Triple-A baseball team. City officials have been meeting with the Padres to discuss potential plans a new minor league ballpark surrounded by a large shopping and dining district. Escondido officials say their location offers the greater potential for accompanying development and is located south of Highway 78 and just east of Interstate 15.

NCTimes.com

“They like the location and they like the potential for ancillary development,” said attorney Dave Ferguson, who last fall spearheaded an effort to bring a new San Diego Chargers stadium to the same area. Ferguson said the San Marcos ballpark site provided less opportunity for extra revenue.

Padres officials declined to comment Thursday, but Padres chief executive Jeff Moorad told the North County Times last week that the team was leaning away from San Marcos because another city had a better plan.

I’m going to submit my request for Swasted.com press credentials right now…

Today, Wednesday July 7th, two great San Diego athletes, LaDainian Tomlinson and Jimmie Johnson enjoyed the birth of their first child. Unfortunately, instead of using their combined wealth and the wonderful technology of the 21st century to form a super-athlete, they impregnated their respective wives (LaTorsha Tomlinson, Chandra Johnson).

It’s the first child for both couples but each are sneaky in their own way.

For the Tomlinson’s, we’re not sure if its a boy or a girl but Daylen was born to LaDainian and LaTorsha. Congratulations to LT and his wife. It’s going to be a rough year for the former San Diego Charger and new New York Jet. Fighting for playing time on the field and sleeping time at home.

Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson’s wife Chandra gave birth to a baby girl but no name was released.

Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut took the honors at the annual Nathan’s July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest. But not without some controversy.
Chestnut’s main competition, Takeru (The Tsunami) Kobayashi, who was sidelined due to a technicality apparently rushed the winner’s circle part of the stage after the contest, and was hauled away by police, reported by the New York Daily News. Yet another reason why the terrorists hate us.