Sticky situation: Tyrann Mathieu and his parents, Tyrone and Sheila Mathieu, are critical of the new Sports Illustrated cover story centered on the “Honey Badger,” which they say went too far, New Orleans’ WVUE-TV Fox 8 reports. All three declined to be interviewed for the article, which former LSU Tiger Mathieu described as “ridiculous” after he read it on Tuesday. The article, which you can read in its entirety here, details Mathieu’s journey to stardom at LSU and his struggles to manage the attention, ultimately ending in his getting kicked off the team. It also says he may have violated NCAA rules that could jeopardize his future eligibility to play at LSU. You can read the complete report from WVUE here.
Déjŕ vu all over again: The NFL is again urging a federal judge to avoid interfering in Commissioner Roger Goodell’s efforts to discipline four players for alleged participation in the New Orleans Saints’ cash-for-hits bounty pool. In a response today to papers the players filed earlier this week, the NFL says its collective bargaining agreement with the players union gives Goodell the power to handle discipline involving conduct detrimental to football “at his discretion.” U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan is considering the players’ request to overturn varying suspensions to Saints linebacker Jon Vilma (full season), Saints defensive end Will Smith (four games), free agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove (seven games) and Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita (one game). The full story can be found here.
Going up: U.S. builders started construction on homes in September at the fastest rate since July 2008 and made plans to build even more homes in the coming months. The Commerce Department reports today that home construction rose 15% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000. Single-family construction rose 11% to the fastest rate in four years. Apartment building increased 25.1%. Applications for building permits, a sign of future construction, jumped nearly 12% to an annual rate of 894,000, also the highest since July 2008. Get all the details in the full story here.
