The Kansas City Royals just sent a strong message to the rest of baseball by trading for Cincinnati Reds Johnny Cueto, as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

For the 2015 season, this is a great move for the Royals as they can now add an ace with a 2.62 ERA to a starting rotation that ranks just 10th in the American League with a 4.27 ERA. The Royals, who lead the AL Central by a comfortable 7.5 games, now have to be considered a favorite to return to the World Series, where they came one game short of winning it all a year ago.

However, this trade is also an enormous gamble for the Royals and could be costly if they don't win a championship.

In order to add Cueto for the playoff push, the Royals had to give up three pitchers, Brandon Finnegan, Cody Reed, and John Lamb, whom Jim Callis of MLB.com says have "major upside."

“All three of the lefties acquired by Cincinnati have a chance to be big league starters. The highest profile belongs to Finnegan, who made history in 2014 as the first player to appear in the College World Series and World Series in the same calendar year. The 17th overall pick the 2014 Draft.”

Jeff Passan of Yahoo echoes this sentiment, saying the Reds got good trade value in the three prospects but that it was a deal the Royals "needed to make."

Giving up prospects for a a few months of a proven big leaguer is nothing new. Giving up three good prospects for a player who will be a free agent after the season is something that has become more rare in an era that places a premium on prospects more so than ever before. A low-revenue team giving up three future low-cost assets for a chance to win it all is almost unheard of.

Last season, the Royals ranked 16th in MLB in total revenue ($231 million), according to Forbes, and that was with the profitable run in the postseason. The year before, their revenue was estimated to be just $178 million, 29th in MLB.

If we consider that a team can potentially keep a player for up to seven seasons before they hit free agency, the Royals just gave up to 21 seasons of cost-controlled talent for a three-month rental. That's a gamble for any team. It's an enormous gamble for the Royals specifically.

There are also concerns about Cueto's health as he missed time earlier this year with an elbow issue and prior to the eight shutout innings in his most recent start, he has struggled recently.

In this case, the Royals just need Cueto to stay healthy for three more months, but it is something that will still linger in the back of everybody's mind every time he takes the mound.

If Kansas City wins the World Series, the gamble will have paid off. However, anything less and there is a good chance this will be a big loss for the Royals.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: REVEALED: The science behind the super-powerful T-shirt cannon

At the 2018 World Cup preliminary draw in St. Petersburg, outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter received a strong endorsement from Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Speaking on a Swiss TV station, Putin said he not only believes the soon-to-be ex-FIFA president is being unfairly criticized, he thinks Blatter should receive a Nobel prize for his work, according to Reuters.

"We all know the situation developing around Mr. Blatter right now. I don't want to go into details, but I don't believe a word about him being involved in corruption personally," Putin said. "I think people like Mr Blatter, or the heads of big international sporting federations, or the Olympic Games, deserve special recognition. If there is anyone who deserves the Nobel Prize, it's those people.”

Putin is one of the few public figures to voice his support for Blatter, who announced his intentional to resign as FIFA president in the wake of unprecedented corruption scandal. Blatter has faced criticism from former players, fellow soccer officials, and government officials.

Russia is scheduled to host the 2018 World Cup, despite Swiss investigators launching a probe into the 2018 and 2022 bidding process. Blatter has pledged his "total support" for Putin and Russia's World Cup bid.

With investigations surrounding both men, Blatter and Putin's meeting was heavily mocked by English comedian John Oliver on his show "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver" Sunday night.

"Let's move on to FIFA – an international crime syndicate that occasionally organizes soccer matches," Oliver said. "I'm honestly surprised that [Blatter and Putin] were able to touch each other without instantly creating a vortex of concentrated evil that sucked all of humanity into a gaping [hole] of eternal darkness. And I have to say, shaking hands with Putin when you may be facing corruption charges speaks a much larger problem for FIFA's top brass, because sometimes it seems they honestly may not know how bad their actions look."

It was widely reported before the FIFA scandal that Blatter aspired to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's how Cristiano Ronaldo spends his money

Less than a year after signing a four-year, $41.5 million contract extension with the New Orleans Saints, linebacker Junior Galette was cut from the team Friday.

According to a story by Katherine Terrell in the Times-Picayune, the Saints were willing to swallow close to $18 million and lose their leading pass-rusher because of problems both on and off the field.

After signing his contract extension, Galette lost the respect of coaches and players around him because of a poor attitude, Terrell reports.

Although he was named one of the team's captains, last year during a preseason game he allegedly got in a fistfight with teammate Brandon Deaderick.

Sources told Terrell the two had another locker-room altercation after the team's loss to the San Francisco 49ers in November.

Galette has been involved in two domestic-violence-related scandals.

In June, a leaked video from 2013 allegedly showed him hitting a woman with a belt on a beach in Miami.

In February, domestic-violence charges against him were dropped in a separate incident.

As Terrell put it, "In the end, the Saints wanted Galette gone badly enough they essentially paid to get rid of him."

Normally, these stories end when the player is released. But the aftermath of Galette's dismissal has gone off the rails.

First, in that same Times-Picayune story, Galette called the Saints' decision "the worst call they've ever made." On Sunday night, someone apparently took to his girlfriend's Twitter account to rant about Saints head coach Sean Payton, other members of the Saints, and the organization as a whole.

The tweets have since been deleted, but Canal Street Chronicle has screenshots of the entire episode, and Reddit user PaySayJack compiled a summary of the diatribe, which includes allegations of drug use and infidelity.

Galette has since denied using his girlfriend's Twitter to bash the Saints, saying he hasn't used Twitter since January. Despite that denial, Saints defensive end Will Smith responded, calling Galette a #loser4life:

We've reached out to Galette's management company for comment, and we'll update this post when we hear back.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: People were baffled by 50 sharks circling in shallow waters off the English coast

Boston's bid to host the 2024 Olympics was undercut by its own mayor, its skeptical public and, finally, leaders of the U.S. Olympic Committee, who were tired of the city's ever-changing blueprint.

Next, it might be time to see if there is more Olympic love in Los Angeles.

After the USOC and Boston cut ties on Monday, CEO Scott Blackmun said the federation still wants to try to host the 2024 Games. The USOC has until Sept. 15 to officially name its candidate. Several Olympic leaders have quietly been pushing Los Angeles — the city that invented the modern-day template for the Olympics when it played host in 1984 — as the best possible substitute.

San Francisco and Washington were also in the mix at the end of the USOC's domestic selection process.

Approval ratings that couldn't sneak out of the 40s were the first sign of trouble for Boston, and it became clear the bid was doomed in the 72-hour period before the USOC board met with bid leaders Monday and they jointly decided to pull the plug.

On Friday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker stuck to his previous position: He would need a full report from a consulting group before he would throw his weight behind the bid. On Monday morning, Mayor Marty Walsh slapped together a news conference to announce he wouldn't be pressured into signing the host city contract that essentially sticks the city and state with the burden of any cost overruns.

No governor. No mayor. No bid.

"Boston 2024 has expressed confidence that, with more time, they could generate the public support necessary to win the bid and deliver a great games," Blackmun said. "They also recognize, however, that we are out of time if the USOC is going to be able to consider a bid from another city."

The Boston bid started souring within days of its beginning in January, beset by poor communication and an active opposition group that kept public support low. At his news conference, Walsh said the opposition to theOlympics amounted to about "10 people on Twitter." He miscalculated, and the Internet struck back. The hashtag #10peopleonTwitter started trending.

The chairs of No Boston Olympics celebrated Monday night at a Boston pub.

"We need to move forward as a city, and today's decision allows us to do that on our own terms, not the terms of the USOC or the IOC," they said in a statement. "We're better off for having passed on Boston 2024."

The United States hasn't hosted a Summer Olympics since the Atlanta Games in 1996, or any Olympics since the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002. Bids for 2012 (New York) and 2016 (Chicago) both ended in fourth-place embarrassments.

The USOC spent nearly two years on a mostly secret domestic selection process for 2024 that began with letters to almost three dozen cities gauging interest in hosting the games. The thought was that the long gap betweenOlympics, combined with the USOC's vastly improved relationship with international leaders, would make this America's race to lose. But the federation ran into trouble before getting to the starting line.

There's still time to save face. Chairman Larry Probst and Blackmun likely will make quick phone calls to leaders in Los Angeles, including Mayor Eric Garcetti and agent/power broker Casey Wasserman. Garcetti released a statement saying he'd had no contact with the USOC, but was willing to talk.

A move to San Francisco or Washington would come as a surprise. Then again, Boston was a surprise when it won at first.

"We were all excited when (Boston) was announced, but it seems to have stumbled since," said John Coates, vice president of the International Olympic Committee, who was in Kuala Lumpur for an IOC meeting. "But it's better to face up to these things early if you don't have full public support."

IOC executive board member Sergei Bubka of Ukraine said he believes it's important for the United States to bid.

And if it's Los Angeles?

"Los Angeles has great history, lots of experience. We will respect their decision," Bubka said.

Los Angeles has already hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics.

The '84 Games, with former USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth helping call the shots, came in the wake of the 1980 Moscow boycott and a bidding process in which only one other city — Tehran — expressed serious interest. Los Angeles reinvigorated the struggling Olympic brand. Some of the venues, including the L.A. Coliseum, are already in place and could be spruced up for the 2024 Games.

Still, when the USOC was going through its vetting process, some in the IOC chafed at a possible return to a sprawling, traffic-choked city that the Olympics had been to twice already. But as the Boston bid tanked, Los Angeles started looking better.

What's certain is that Boston will never know where it would have finished against Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Germany, and, quite possibly, Toronto, which is considering a bid. The bid's one and only public disclosure report, released in March, said they spent $2 million over the initial months of the effort.

The Boston effort broke down under the weight of empty promises and ever-changing plans and leadership teams.

Recently released documents show the original organizers underestimated the amount of opposition and downplayed the possibility of a statewide referendum on the games.

A plan rewritten by a new leadership team, led by Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, took a blowtorch to the original idea of a compact, walkable Olympics, instead spreading venues around the metro area and the state. There was no firm plan for a media center, considered one of the biggest projects at any games. Even though complex insurance policies were in place, claims that the public wouldn't be on the hook for the multibillion-dollar sports event never gained traction.

Walsh's news conference Monday reflected that.

"I will not sign a document that puts one dollar of taxpayers' money on the line for one penny of overruns on the Olympics," he said.

Turns out, he won't have to.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This simple exercise routine is the answer to working out when traveling

Seventy years after the end of the second world war, stadiums built by the Nazis for the 1936 Olympics are to play host to Europe’s biggest Jewish sporting competition.

More than 2,000 Jewish athletes from 36 countries are arriving in Berlin to take part in the European Maccabi Games, which feature 19 events, including badminton, basketball, chess and volleyball. The games, hosted by Germany for the first time, start on Tuesday and run until 5 August.

“It is a special joy for us that the [games] are taking place in Germany for the first time,” said a statement from Joseph Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. “Jewish athletes demonstrate that we Jews are a part of Europe, we belong to Germany – and we won’t let anybody take that away from us.”

Joachim Gauch, the president of Germany, will officially open the games on Tuesday evening at a ceremony at the Berlin Waldbühne, an open-air stage originally built for the 1936 Olympic Games. Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, which was also built for the Nazi-era competition, will also host many of the events involved in the games. 

There will also be a series of friendly games under the banner “Let’s Play Together”, in which Jewish participants will play against non-Jewish athletes and celebrity teams in sports such as basketball and hockey.

The 1936 Olympics took place three years after Adolf Hitler became German chancellor. Nazi authorities barred all German Jews, or people with Jewish ancestry, from competing, with the exception of fencer Helene Mayer, who competed even though her father was Jewish.

“Where Jewish athletes were excluded from the Olympic Games in 1936, thousands will send a message for tolerance and openness and against antisemitism and racism this summer,” the European Maccabi Games organisers said in a statement.

Russ Snipper, who is competing in the tenpin bowling contest for the Great Britain team, said that being able to take part in the Maccabi games in Germany was a “phenomenal opportunity”.

“It obviously has greater significance because of the location of this event, for Jews to be in Berlin … it’s a massive statement for us and Germans,” he told the Guardian.

“We’ve been able to reflect on our own experiences but it’s more prevalent being here and being at the centre of everything, from a historical perspective,” Snipper added.

He went on to say that the 1936 Olympics are often referred to as the “Nazi Olympics”, but he preferred to think of them as the “Jesse Owens Olympics”, referring to the black US track and field athlete who is said to have irked Hitler by winning four gold medals at the games.

The first European Maccabi Games took place in 1929 in Prague, but were soon discontinued with the rise of the Nazis.

They resumed in 1959 in Copenhagen. In 2011, Vienna hosted the games, marking the first time Jewish athletes had competed on the former territory of Nazi Germany.

The event marks 50 years of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel and Alon Meyer, president of Maccabi Germany, said he hoped it would “do justice to the historical dimension”.

“We want to set a mark internationally and show that Judaism in Germany has found its solid place, that it is vital and diverse, and that it is an accepted part of the country. To sum it up in one word: normal.”

Join the conversation about this story »

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This guy took his dirt bike and rode it on a roller coaster track

The Toronto Blue Jays just made a big move for perhaps the biggest luxury in baseball.

Late Monday night, the Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies agreed on a trade that would send Rockies' star shortstop Tory Tulowitzki to the Blue Jays in exchange for Jose Reyes. The deal also sends relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins to the Blue Jays while the Rockies get three right-handed pitching prospects in Jeff Hoffman, Miguel Castro, and Jesus Tinoco.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports was the first to report the deal.

The move shocked the baseball world as the Blue Jays, believed to be targeting pitchers to help a weak rotation, added one of baseball's best hitters to the best offense in MLB. As Hardball Talk's Matthew Puoliot said, "To say this one came out of nowhere would be an understatement."

Yahoo's Jeff Passan reports that Tulowitzki and Rockies owner Dick Monfort had an agreement that Tulowitzki had to approve any prospective trade before it went down. Instead, Tulowitzki reportedly found out he'd been traded when Rockies "teary-eyed" manager Walt Weiss had to pull out Tulowitzki in the ninth inning of a game. The Rockies' clubhouse was described by Denver Post's Patrick Saunders as "shocked" and "somber."

The move is both shocking and puzzling as the Blue Jays are acquiring Tulowitzki and his $100 million salary through 2020 to double down on their potent offense. The Blue Jays already lead baseball in Offensive Runs Above Average at 59.9 — 19 higher than the second-place Giants. They lead baseball in runs with 72 more than the second-place Yankees, and lead baseball with a .772 OPS. They're not exactly starved for offense, but in Tulowitzki, they receive a .300 batter with 12 home runs, 53 RBIs, and a .818 OPS. It's safe to call the Blue Jays offense the scariest in the league.

While the Blue Jays offense didn't need help, their pitching rotation, which is 18th in WAR and has given up the seventh-most home runs in baseball, could use a boost. Instead of targeting several of the solid pitching names available as the trade deadline approaches, Passan reports the Blue Jays will likely dig into their minor league affiliates for prospects to call up.

Additionally, Tulowitzki's long-term fit with the Blue Jays is puzzling. While he's an upgrade over Jose Reyes — and a team will always welcome a great hitter into the rotation — his $100 million through 2020, compared to the $66 million Reyes is owed through 2017, is a big investment. At 30 years old, Tulowitzki has averaged just 87 games per season over the last four years, and now heads to a potentially risky turf field in Toronto.

Tulowitzki's fit is also odd considering the Blue Jays only have $40 million committed to salary next season. With several big contracts coming off the books and a chance to re-tool, Tulowitzki's $20 million-per-year salary stands out. If the Blue Jays want to trade Tulowitzki, he'll have to waive a no-trade clause.

Jayson Stark says that won't happen any time soon.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Blue Jays are still trying to chase pitchers to bolster their rotation. In the meantime, the Blue Jays, chasing the second wild card spot in the American League, are adding a $100 million luxury, betting that they can make a run for the playoffs behind a dynamic offense.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Everything you didn't know about Manny Pacquiao's incredible life outside of boxing

There are three big Olympic hosting stories going on right now. Together, they give you a sense of where the world's biggest sporting event stands in 2015.

1. The US Olympic Committee killed Boston's 2024 Summer Olympics bid barely six months after backing it.

Behind an organized opposition group, public support for the bid dissipated over the spring and summer because of concerns about cost overruns and new construction. The final straw came when Boston Mayor Marty Walsh refused to immediately sign the standard host-city contract that puts taxpayers on the hook for any cost overruns.

2. Senior Japanese sports official Kimito Kubo resigned after widespread outrage at a new report that put the estimated cost of Tokyo's 2020 Olympic Stadium at $2 billion, nearly double the initial amount.

The stadium plan has since been scrapped, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announced earlier this month. He said in a statement, "We must go back to the drawing board. The cost has just ballooned too much." Drawing up a new stadium plan means it won't be ready for the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final, which was supposed to take place in the new stadium.

3. Beijing is believed to be on the verge of winning the rights to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, despite open IOC criticism of its bid.

Since 2013, every potential host city with a democratically elected government dropped out of the bidding for the 2022 games, leaving only Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan. Among the problems outlined in the IOC's evaluation of Beijing's bid: It doesn't snow on the mountain that will host the downhill-skiing events.

There's a theme here: Cities all over the democratic world can no longer justify spending billions in public money — or guaranteeing to spend untold amounts of public money if the event goes over budget — on the Olympics.

Academics have long argued that hosting the Olympics isn't a wise financial investment. The economic effect is consistently overstated, the cost almost always exceeds the original budget, and the venues used for niche sports instantly lose their functionality the minute the games are over.

Boston attempted to deflect criticism by framing the $5 billion in public money as "roadway, transportation, and infrastructure improvements" that would leave a lasting legacy, but as the professor and mega-event expert Victor Matheson wrote in 2006, "general infrastructure" that exists only to serve sports infrastructure is still a sports-related expenditure that doesn't have much of a net economic benefit:

Furthermore, the separation between what is “sports” infrastructure and what is “general” infrastructure is not always clear. The new Wembley stadium in London was originally slated to cost around $500 million. In addition, over $150 million in “general” infrastructure improvements were proposed at the same time including new roads and a completely renovated Underground station. Without the presence of Wembley Stadium, however, no new roads or subway station would be required. Therefore, from an objective standpoint, the entire $650 million price tag should be considered specialized sports infrastructure, and an analysis of the expenditure would likely lead to a negative appraisal of its economic benefit.

As the writer Simon Kuper put it in an article about Brazil's spending for the 2014 World Cup, the things you need for a big sporting event are not the same things you need for daily life.

The International Olympic Committee is aware of this trend and has adopted some solid reform measures aimed at reducing the cost of hosting the event. The use of preexisting venues will be encouraged, for example, to prevent the sort of white elephants that the 2004 Athens Olympics produced.

Paris, perhaps the front-runner for the 2024 Olympics, has all the major sports venues already and needs to build only an aquatics center. Los Angeles, which many believe will replace Boston as the USOC's host city, could basically host the Olympics tomorrow if it had to.

For now, it appears that cities that bid for the Olympics will fall into two camps: one, cities with authoritarian governments that don't have to justify the more than $5 billion price tag to the public, and, two, cities that already have all the stuff you need to host.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid player in MLB history, makes and spends his $400 million

In recent weeks, the boxing world has heavily criticized Floyd Mayweather for reportedly picking Andre Berto, a low-level fighter who has lost three of his last six fights, as his September opponent in what Mayweather has claimed will be his final fight before retiring.

However, a new, and popular, theory has emerged explaining Mayweather's rationale — this won't actually be his last fight.

According to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith — who originally reported that Mayweather texted him saying he'd be willing to give Manny Pacquiao a rematch — Mayweather is planning to use Berto as a "tuneup" for a possible rematch against Pacquiao or a more formidable opponent.

"I've never believed [Mayweather was going to retire in September]. I don't believe that. I think Mayweather knows that," Smith said. "I think Mayweather is using this [fight with Berto] as a tuneup, and then he's going to give Manny Pacquiao a rematch.

"It's almost one of those things where it's a tuneup, it's going to be perceived as a cake-walk in a lot of people's eyes. And he's like, 'I'm Money Mayweather, I'm giving you me on free TV. You don't have to pay for it at all. It's a tuneup similar to what Manny Pacquiao did to Chris Algieri. And then I'm going to come out of retirement and I'll fight a Manny Pacquiao, or a Miguel Cotto if Cotto is lucky enough to beat Canelo Alvarez.'"

After initially saying he would give Pacquiao a rematch, Mayweather reconsidered and bashed Pacquiao for attempting to use his shoulder injury as an excuse for his poor performance. Mayweather called Pacquiao a "coward," and said he had no desire to grant the former eight-division title-holder a rematch. Despite this, the belief that Mayweather would actually reconsider, and end his career with one last rematch against Pacquiao, makes a lot of sense on a number of levels.

For one, the timing makes sense. A few days after the fight Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, it was revealed Pacquiao had to undergo surgery on a torn rotator cuff. His 9-12 month recovery time would make him unavailable to fight in September — the date of Mayweather's presumed last fight — but available for a fight later the next year.

This theory would also explain why Mayweather, who's made millions of dollars as a result of pay-per-view sales, is attempting to air his September fight for free on CBS. Many have speculated boxing fans would refuse to pay large amounts of money to buy Mayweather's next fight on pay-per-view since a fight would Berto would be so dramatically one-sided, and many were disappointed with Mayweather's last pay-per-view fight against Pacquiao.

Airing the Berto fight for free would please fans. And, with his six-fight contract with Showtime/CBS complete, Mayweather could then air his last fight, a presumed rematch against Pacquiao, on pay-per-view with whichever network offers him the largest possible payout. The first Mayweather-Pacquiao fight shattered records, with Mayweather alone taking home a reported $200 million in total earnings.

This would explain Mayweather's current standoff in contract negotiations with Showtime/CBS over the Berto fight. ESPN's boxing expert Dan Rafel suspects Showtime/CBS is worried about this exact scenario eventually taking place, and want to make sure if he does, in fact, come out of retirement for a 50th fight, then they have the rights to air it:

Lastly, while many believe Mayweather's primary, and only, concern is money, Mayweather has still shown he cares about his legacy and wants to be known, not just as the greatest boxer of this generation, but, as the greatest boxer of all-time.

This is a man who markets himself, and his brand, embodied with the acronym "TBE," The Best Ever. If Mayweather does fight two more times, and wins both, he could then retire with a perfect 50-0 record, surpassing the legendary Rocky Marciano and his undefeated record of 49-0.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's how Floyd Mayweather spends his millions

During Monday’s match between John Cena and Seth Rollins on WWE’s “Monday Night Raw,” Cena suffered a broken nose following a knee to the face by Rollins.

The United States Champion and star of “Trainwreck” was down but not out as he continued to wrestle after the injury and ended up defeating Rollins to defend the title.

WWE tweeted this look at the impact of knee to face.

Here's how Cena looked during the match:

WWE.com confirmed the broken nose last night:

“As you can see on television tonight, John suffered from a nasal fraction,” confirmed WWE physician Dr. Steve Daquino. “He’s got quite a bit of displacement, so we sent him over to the local emergency room so he can be evaluated by the ears, nose and throat doctor who’s on call tonight and see what can be done to properly repair it.”

BI’s attempts to reach Cena’s reps for an update on his condition were not successful. We will update this story accordingly.

Watch the match here:

SEE ALSO: How WWE star John Cena created his memorable character in "Trainwreck"

Join the conversation about this story »

It's been a rough and extremely bizarre year for Australian professional golfer and four-time PGA Tour winner Robert Allenby. In January, hours after finishing his second round at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Allenby claimed to have been beaten, robbed, and kidnapped as he was settling up his tab at a Waikiki wine bar, and then dumped out of a car 6 1/2 miles away.

The following week, however, several witnesses on scene at the wine bar came out and refuted Allenby's story. Charade Keane, a homeless woman that Allenby said had first told him he'd been dumped out of the car by "a few guys", denied this report entirely. Instead, she told KITV in Honolulu that when she found Allenby, he was sitting across the street from the wine bar with two other homeless men and was already bloodied.

Last weekend, Allenby again made headlines, this time because he fired his caddie, the veteran Mick Middlemo, during the middle of his opening round at the RBC Canadian Open after a disagreement over club selection. Allenby landed a 150-yard approach shot in the water because, as ScoreGolf.com first reported, he felt Middlemo had suggested the wrong club. After a verbal disagreement between the two, Allenby promptly fired him and let a fan carry his bag for the remainder of the round. Allenby ended up shooting an 81, and withdrew from the tournament.

Middlemo, it appears, isn't pleased with the whole situation. Shortly after being fired, he told News Corp Australia that he believed Allenby had lied about the kidnapping and injured his face probably because he "just fell over s---faced drunk."

Then, in response to Middlemo's allegations, Anthony Puntoriero—Allenby's close friend and the man that was with him at the wine bar on the night of the abduction—came out to bash the caddie and stand by Allenby's account from the night. 

"I am livid because Mick was with us the next day looking at CCTV footage of how Robert left the place, he has seen it all, and yet he makes the claim he did," Puntoriero told ABC Australia.

The whole story has basically turned into a he-said-she-said ordeal and feels a lot like a fight you were involved in at some point during middle school, minus the kidnapping. 

What is clear about this entire debacle, however, is that Allenby was robbed at some point that night. A month after the original incident, Owen Harbison was arrested for identity theft, unauthorized possession of confidential personal information, and attempted theft after buying $23,000 of jewelry, clothing, and gift cards in Honolulu on Allenby's stolen card. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A famous surfer is trying to revolutionize the sport of golf with a new gadget

As more and more "cord cutters" ditch cable, ESPN is seen as the biggest reason cable television is not going the way of the dodo anytime soon. The biggest reason for that is live sports, the one thing that people still have to watch as it airs. But even when it comes to ESPN, there are still some troubling signs, as you can see in the chart below.

After a meteroic rise that saw the number of homes with ESPN surpass 100 million in 2011, that number has been in steady decline, dropping 7.2% to 92.9 million in just four years. If ESPN and their family of networks are seen as the key to cable television, the industry is in serious trouble. 

It is hard not to see this chart and link it to the cost-cutting going on at the network, and the $10 million ESPN saved by letting three of their most prominent voices walk away.

Of course, this doesn't mean ESPN is in trouble. The network is still able to charge cable carriers $6.04 per subscriber, $4.56 more than any other network, according to the Wall Street Journal and their digital properties reached more than 75 million unique viewers in 2014.

But as the number of cable subscribers dwindles, ESPN is already looking at alternatives that could eventually include a standalone subscrition option for ESPN. Once that happens, cable television will change forever.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid player in MLB history, makes and spends his $400 million

Tiger Woods has been a disaster this year. However, there is a good reason to think it is only temporary and according to Woods it is just about fighting through what he calls “the perfect storm.”

As he prepares for this week's Quicken Loans National, Woods explained why changing his swing has been so much more difficult this time compared to previous changes. The reason is two-fold, starting with not being able to mask his bigger problems with a strong short game.

“I didn't think it would take this long [to get back] because I thought I would have my short game earlier, which I didn't at the very beginning of the year,” Woods told the media. “You can cover up a lot of different things when you are chipping and putting well. So a lot of my missteps throughout the years, when I've changed coaches and changed techniques, my short game was always pretty good.”

Woods game has indeed been awful at times this year. It was so bad that one of his ex-coaches, Hank Haney, speculated that Woods had the yips.

However, Woods' short game was just one part of the bigger picture. The other one, one that is easy to forget unless Tiger is grimacing and holding his back, is that he is attempting to change his swing not long after having back surgery.

“Don't forget, I came off back surgery,” Woods said. “I changed my golf swing and did a polar 180 and recovering from back surgery. You add those two together, it's the perfect storm and I have had to fight through both of those at the same time.”

Woods' back issues came into play as recently as February when he was forced to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines after just 11 holes. It was the third time in 12 months he withdrew from a tournament because of an injury.

However, the back issue appears to be gone.

Woods was emphatic when asked if there is anything physically that is hindering his game and whether or not he is in pain when he plays, answering with a smile, "no, not anymore."

Now it is just a matter of getting his swing where he wants it to be, something Woods called “sticking with the process.”

None of this means we will ever see the dominant Tiger Woods again. But it does sound like we are closer to seeing the Tiger Woods who was ranked No. 1 in the world as recently as March of last year.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid player in MLB history, makes and spends his $400 million

The NFL has decided to uphold Tom Brady's four-game suspension for his role in the New England Patriots Deflategate scandal.

It was reported last week that the NFL Players Association had been trying to come to a settlement with the NFL, but that the NFL wasn't hearing it. Roger Goodell was reportedly being pushed by a small group of powerful owners to uphold the suspension.

According to the NFL's statement, Brady destroyed his cell phone prior to meeting with the league investigators on March 6, despite knowing they had requested access to his text messages and other files. His council informed the NFL the cell phone had been destroyed on June 18, a few days before his appeal hearing and four months after his inititial meeeting with the NFL.

In the statement, the NFL says, "Commissioner Goodell concluded in his decision that Brady was aware of, and took steps to support, the actions of other team employees to deflate game footballs below the levels called for by the NFL's Official Playing Rules."

ESPN had previously reported that Brady refuses to accept any suspension, no matter the length.

Brady and the NFLPA will reportedly pursue legal action on the NFL to have the decision overturned.

Here's the NFL's full statement:

In the opinion informing Brady that his appeal had been denied, Commissioner Goodell emphasized important new information disclosed by Brady and his representatives in connection with the hearing.

On or shortly before March 6, the day that Tom Brady met with independent investigator Ted Wells and his colleagues, Brady directed that the cell phone he had used for the prior four months be destroyed. He did so even though he was aware that the investigators had requested access to text messages and other electronic information that had been stored on that phone. During the four months that the cell phone was in use, Brady had exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages, none of which can now be retrieved from that device. The destruction of the cell phone was not disclosed until June 18, almost four months after the investigators had first sought electronic information from Brady.

Based on the Wells Report and the evidence presented at the hearing, Commissioner Goodell concluded in his decision that Brady was aware of, and took steps to support, the actions of other team employees to deflate game footballs below the levels called for by the NFL's Official Playing Rules. The commissioner found that Brady’s deliberate destruction of potentially relevant evidence went beyond a mere failure to cooperate in the investigation and supported a finding that he had sought to hide evidence of his own participation in the underlying scheme to alter the footballs.

The Wells Report, the NFL's investigation of Deflategate, found that "It is more probable than not that Brady was at least generally aware" of two Patriots' employees plans to intentionally deflate footballs before the AFC Championship game.

The report published several damning text messages between Brady and locker room attendant Jim McNally and John Jastremski, an equipment assistant. 

In addition to Brady's suspension, the Patriots were also docked a 2016 first-round pick, a 2017 fourth-round pick, and finen $1 million. Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced in May he wasn't going to fight the penalties.

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport says Brady and the NFLPA will "see the NFL in court." If the NFL's decision is upheld in court, too, Brady's first game will be Week 6... against the Indianapolis Colts.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tom Hardy makes a crazy transformation playing identical twins in this new gangster movie

The NFL has denied Tom Brady's appeal and upheld his four-game suspension for his involvement in the New England Patriots' Deflategate scandal.

An intriguing piece of new information to come out of the NFL's decision is that Brady had his assistant destroy his cellphone on or around the day he met with the NFL.

According to the NFL's 20-page decision, Brady destroyed the cellphone he'd been using since November 2014 on or around March 6, 2015 — the day he met with NFL investigators for the Wells report to talk about why the balls were deflated during the AFC title game.

Brady's legal counsel didn't tell the NFL that the cellphone was gone and the 10,000 text messages on it couldn't be retrieved until June 18, a few days before his appeal hearing.

Brady said it's common practice for him to destroy his phone and SIM card when he gets a new one so no one can "reset it or do something where the information is available to anyone."

He started using a new phone on March 6 and destroyed the old one on or around that date, despite the NFL's asking for electronic information weeks earlier.

This matters because the NFL's most convincing circumstantial evidence against Brady is that in the days after the AFC title game he suddenly started texting and calling the two Patriots employees accused of carrying out the plot to deflate the footballs.

The NFL said that destroying the cellphone hindered the investigation and is one of the main reasons the suspension was upheld. From the decision:

"Mr. Brady's direction that his cell phone (and its relevant evidence) be destroyed on or about March 6 is very troubling. Rather than simply failing to cooperate, Mr. Brady made a deliberate effort to ensure that investigators would never have access to information that he had been asked to produce. Put differently, there was an affirmative effort by Mr. Brady to conceal potentially relevant information and to undermine the investigation."

While it makes sense that a major celebrity would take some extreme steps to make sure no one could get access to one of his old phones, the NFL poked a hole in Brady's explanation. According to the NFL's decision, Brady didn't destroy the phone he used from the spring of 2014 until November 2014.

"No explanation was provided for this anomaly," the league said.

In a statement, Brady's agent said his client was completely transparent and the appeals process was a "sham."

Here's the NFL's full decision:

SEE ALSO: The NFL upholds Tom Brady's 4-game Deflategate suspension

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This is why LeBron James is in such good shape

Which NFL team had the best offseason? Here are the top five teams in the league as everyone heads back to training camp. Find out where all 32 teams stand.

Produced by Lamar Salter. Original reporting by Tony Manfred.

Follow BI Video: On Facebook

Join the conversation about this story »

The NFL has upheld the four-game suspension for Tom Brady for his role in the New England Patriots' Deflategate scandal.

The "most significant new information" that came to the NFL's attention during Brady's appeal is that he destroyed the cellphone used during the period that included the AFC Championship game and the weeks after.

According to the NFL, Brady instructed his assistant to destroy his phone even though information from it had been requested by Ted Wells as part of the investigation.

Further, the phone was destroyed "on or about March 6, 2015," the day Brady was to be interviewed by Wells and his team.

Brady's agent explained — and this was later confirmed by Brady during the appeal — that it was ordinary practice for him to destroy his old phone once he got a new one. The idea is "to destroy the phone so that no one can ever, you know, reset it or do something where the information is available to anyone."

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, who is a lawyer, called this "a problem" even if it is normal practice.

But the NFL argues that not only did Brady not offer an explanation for why he chose that date to destroy the phone, but Brady's own actions suggest it is not normal practice to do so.

According to the NFL, Brady did not destroy the phone used before the one that was destroyed and even made it available to investigators. Brady used this phone from the spring of 2014 to November 6, 2014, but it was still around when forensic expert Brad Maryman examined Brady's electronic data in the spring of 2015.

The NFL found this suspect:

“This conflicts with the fact that the cellphone that [Brady] had used prior to November 6, 2014 was, in fact, available for Mr. Maryman's review. Had Mr. Brady followed what he and his attorneys called his 'ordinary practice,' one would expect that the cellphone that he had used prior to November 6, 2014 would have been destroyed long before Mr. Maryman was hired. No explanation was provided for this anomaly.”

The NFL goes on to call the decision to destroy the cellphone “very troubling,” calling Brady's actions “a deliberate effort to ensure that investigators would never have access to information that he had been asked to produce” and “an affirmative effort by Mr. Brady to conceal potentially relevant evidence and to undermine the investigation.”

In the end, Brady's own actions may have undermined his appeal.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: For $7,000 this bike will get you to work in half the time and keep you from breaking a sweat

Miguel Herrera's rollercoaster tenure as head coach of the Mexican national team is over.

The Mexican Football Federation fired Herrera on Tuesday, one day after he was accused of punching TV Azteca commentator Christian Martinoli in the neck while in line at the airport in Philadelphia, where Mexico won the Gold Cup title hours earlier.

"Violence does not fit into society, family and much less in any sport," the FMF said in announcing the firing.

Herrera denied throwing the punch, telling journalist Alejandro Villalvazo, "Yes, I argued with him, but I didn't hit him. I'm not that stupid."

Martinoli tells a different story. He told AS Mexico (via ESPNFC):

"I looked down to avoid any kind of provocation and suddenly feel a blow to the neck on the right side of my body. The next thing I see when I look up Luis Garcia is separating a madman who threw punches and kicks while I was insulted."

Martinoli says Herrera told him, "It'll be like this each time I see you."

It looks like this goes back to June, when Martinoli criticized Herrera following Mexico's 2-1 loss to Ecuador to end their Copa America campaign in the group stage. In a tweet, Martonli called Herrera a "barrabrava," basically a hooligan. Herrera responded by saying he hoped to find a place to settle their differences.

Philadelphia International Airport was apparently that place, although there's no hard evidence that the incident took place like Martinoli says:

Herrera took over the national team when Mexico was in real danger of not qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. After getting them into the tournament in miracle fashion, Mexico played well in Brazil. They beat Croatia and Cameroon and drew with Brazil in the group stage, and only lost to the Netherlands after a phantom 94th-minute penalty on a dive by Arjen Robben. Herrera also became something of a cult figure for his animated nature on the sidelines:

Things weren't quite as smooth after the World Cup. Mexico got eliminated in the group stage at the Copa America, and then struggled through their first three games in the Gold Cup. In the quarterfinal they beat Costa Rica on a controversial penalty in stoppage time, and in the semis they were down 1-0 in the 89th minute when the referee gave them a penalty so bad it delayed the game for 10 minutes and made a Panamanian official speculate that the game was fixed.

Still, Herrera won the Gold Cup with a 3-1 victory over Jamaica, booking a date with the US on October 9 to decide who goes to the Confederations Cup. Two days later, he's out.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Everything you didn't know about Manny Pacquiao's incredible life outside of boxing

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview that he believes people like Sepp Blatter deserve a Nobel Prize for their efforts in bettering their communities. Putin explicitly says he does not believe Blatter is involved in any sort of corruption. 

Produced by Emma Fierberg. Video courtesy of Reuters.

Follow BI Video: On Facebook

Join the conversation about this story »

The NFL has decided to uphold Tom Brady's four-game suspension for his involvement in the Patriots' deflated balls scandal.

While Brady and the NFL Players Association will reportedly take the case to federal court, the NFL argued that Brady's case was hurt by the revelation that he had his cellphone destroyed during the NFL's investigation.

According to the NFL's 20-page report on their decision, Brady had an assistant destroy the cellphone that he'd been using since November 2014 around March 6, 2015, the day he met with NFL investigators. According to Brady, it's common practice for him to ask assistants to destroy his hold cellphones when he gets new ones. 

The NFL wanted to review Brady's text messages and other forms of communication with locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski. The NFL wasn't aware that Brady's phone had been destroyed until June 18 — three months after speaking with investigators and days before his appeal.

In the report, the NFL clearly and concisely outlines why the destruction of his phone was so damning to his case:

"Mr. Brady's direction that his cellphone (and its relevant evidence) be destroyed on or around March 6 is very troubling. Rather than simply failing to cooperate, Mr. Brady made a deliberate effort to ensure that investigators would never have access to information that he had been asked to produce. Put differently, there was an affirmative effort by Mr. Brady to conceal potentially relevant evidence and to undermine the investigation. Mr. Brady's conduct gives rise to an inference that information from his cellphone, if it were available, would further demonstrate his direct knowledge of or involvement with the scheme to tamper with the game balls prior to the AFC Championship game. Mr. Brady's affirmative action to ensure that this information would not be available leads me to conclude that he was attempting to conceal evidence of his personal involvement in the tampering scheme, just as he had concealed for months the fact that he had destroyed his cellphone requested by the investigators."

Of course, Brady's reasoning for destroying his phone, according to the report, was simpler. He said he tells his assistant "to destroy the phone so that no one can ever, you know, reset it or do something where the information is available to anyone."

At the time of the investigation, it was reported that Brady simply wouldn't give investigators his phone, though they reportedly just asked for records of his communication with McNally and Jastremski. The Wells Report published damning texts between McNally and Jastremski and Brady in which they discussed Brady's preference for ball inflation, in addition to receiving signed balls and shoes from Brady for deflating the balls. In one text McNally referred to himself as "the deflator."

Additionally, during the time the deflated balls scandal broke and of the investigation, there was increased communication between Brady, McNally, and Jastremski.

Though it's possible the court could have a different reading of Brady's involvement in the scheme, he certainly looks worse for destroying the evidence.

In a statement, Brady's agent Don Yee called the appeals process a "sham," adding, "Tom was completely transparent. All of the electronic information was ignored; we don’t know why."

SEE ALSO: There's a hole in Tom Brady's excuse for destroying his 4-month-old cellphone

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How billionaire Michael Jordan makes and spends his money