New York Giant loses index finger in fireworks accident

Results of online poll at ESPN showed 63% of Americans consider the Patriots as cheaters.

"We don't know how many fingers he has."

That was the money quote delivered last month by New York Giants co-owner John Mara regarding star defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. JPP had injured his hand setting off fireworks while celebrating the Fourth of July and, until reports of the player's medical records surfaced, no one within the franchise was quite sure about the extent of the damage. The Giants soon received a clarification for that curly question - Pierre-Paul was left with four digits on his right hand after having his index finger amputated - but until this week were yet to meet the man in question. Which seems rather important, considering the Giants' season starts this weekend and Pierre-Paul, as one of the team's best players, had a US$14.8 million ($23.5 million) contract on the table. Now, though, after finally examining the elusive Pierre-Paul at a Manhattan hospital, the Giants have deemed him unfit to play and sent the 26-year-old to Florida to continue practising without pay. One can only hope the hit to his wallet precludes any fireworks purchases in the near future.

Zebra hunting

With role models like Jason Pierre-Paul, is it any wonder young football players behave like those from John Jay High School in Texas? Two teenagers were suspended this week and could face criminal charges after appearing to deliberately target a referee during the dying moments of an acrimonious defeat. Actually, scratch "appearing to" - one player lined up the unsuspecting referee and viciously knocked him to the ground from behind, before the second dived in and drove his helmet into the prone official. The video was damning, both players were ejected from the game and suspended indefinitely from both their team and their school. "The first thing we want is that those two kids never play football again," said Austin Football Officials Association secretary Wayne Elliott. Yeah, good luck with that. If Michael Vick can play again after running a dog-fighting ring, if Leonard Little and Donte Stallworth can play again after being convicted of DUI manslaughter, then those kids can probably rest easy.

Everyone's piling on the Pats

Last week we brought you what was hopefully the end of Deflategate, with Tom Brady's four-game suspension being quashed. But if you were wondering why such harsh a penalty was applied for something so insignificant as letting a little air out of footballs, we may have received an answer. The Patriots - also fined US$1 million and docked two draft picks - were reportedly being punished excessively for sins of the past. Because before Deflategate there was Spygate, which saw the Pats escape with a slap on the wrist after filming an opposition team's defensive signals. Well, it turns out the crime was far more serious, with ESPN reporting the Patriots ran a sophisticated spying operation from 2000-07. The exact magnitude of the crime was allegedly hidden by bumbling NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, wanting to avoid seriously staining the sport. But the rest of the NFL resented New England's escape, pressuring Goodell into inflicting severe punishment for Deflategate as a "make-up call". And the commish, essentially a puppet with a US$44-million-a-year salary, happily agreed.