Wednesday’s Morning Mashup: Dwyane Wade apologizes to Kobe Bryant for foul

Welcome to Wednesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WEDNESDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
NBA: Bucks at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. (CSNNE; WEEI)
NBA: Bulls at Spurs, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
College basketball: Georgia Tech at Boston College, 7 p.m. (NESN; WRKO)
College basketball: Maryland at North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
College basketball: Marquette at Cincinnati, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
College basketball: St. John’s at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
College basketball: Miami at NC State, 9 p.m. (NESN)
College basketball: Iowa at Nebraska, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
College basketball: Oklahoma at Texas, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
NHL: Penguins at Stars, 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN)

AROUND THE WEB:

Dwyane Wade (right) left Kobe Bryant with a nasal fracture after a hard foul in Sunday's All-Star Game. (AP)

♦ Heat guard Dwyane Wade acknowledged that he apologized for breaking Kobe Bryant‘s nose with a hard foul in Sunday’s All-Star Game, but he did it in the fashion that has become typical of the Heat — burying it in comments that imply everyone is biased against the Heat’s superstars.

“He knows it’s no ill intent on me to do that,” Wade said at Tuesday’s practice. “Did I take a foul? Yes, I took a foul. So, talk about me for taking a foul. But I never wanted that kind of outcome.”

Wade also has been criticized for ignoring Bryant after hitting him, walking over to complain about a previous call to the referee.

“I don’t know if anybody wants me to get down on my knees in front of the world and [apologize]. I don’t have to do that,” Wade said. “Like I said, everyone has an opinion, everyone uses their opinion. Like I said, I sent my apologies to Kobe, and I move on from it.”

Although he was diagnosed with a nasal fracture and a concussion, Bryant is expected to play when the Lakers host the Heat Sunday.

♦ New Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said he doesn’t have many rules, but one big one is that every player is expected to be lined up in front of the dugout for the national anthem.

“The national anthem is 10 minutes before the game starts,” he said. “We’re going to start in 10 minutes and you’re late? National anthem, they’re going to be there. … That’s the only [rule] I have. You’re not going to go by that easy one? We’re going to have problems.”

Guillen explained that part of the reason is because he wants the entire team focused on getting ready for the game, even those who aren’t starting. And respect for the country is another.

“A lot of people have been killed trying to make this country free for us,” he said. “You should be there for at least two minutes. Respect that, especially if you come from another country. You should be there an hour before. I think it looks good for baseball if you’re in the stands and you look at the team respecting the flag and the national anthem. … Kids can see that, the respect.”

♦ According to a new book by Tiger Woods‘ former coach, Hank Haney, the golfer considered leaving the sport to become a Navy SEAL and took it so far as to do training on naval bases around the country.

Woods’ father, Earl Woods, was a special forces soldier in Vietnam, and Haney claims Tiger was obsessed with joining the Navy’s elite fighting unit.

Writes Haney: To my knowledge, he did training in parachuting, self-defense, urban-warfare simulations and shooting. I never heard of Tiger doing any training in the water with the SEALs, but he was already a pretty accomplished diver.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Feb. 29, 1976, which Bruins goalie recorded his 17th consecutive victory — an NHL record that still stands — with a 5-3 decision over the visiting Canucks?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “At no point did I tamper in any way with the samples.” – Sample collector Dino Laurenzi Jr., responding to accusations from Brewers star Ryan Braun that he did not follow protocol before sending Braun’s urine to the testing lab

STAT OF THE DAY: 5 – Games in February in which the Bruins have been shut out, with Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to the visiting Senators the latest

‘NET RESULTS: Florida A&M University High School forward Lekaris Salter dribbles down the court and drills a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the Class 2A state title over Hollywood Christian.

NFL Network host Rich Eisen sets a personal best with a 6.03 in the 40 at the NFL combine.

Former University of California and arena football quarterback Joe Ayoob sets the world record for paper airplane toss at 226 feet, 10 inches.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Gilles Gilbert

SOOTHING SOUNDS: The late Jimmy Dorsey was born on this day in 1904.

One Comments for “Wednesday’s Morning Mashup: Dwyane Wade apologizes to Kobe Bryant for foul”

1. Dennis F Says:
   February 29th, 2012 at 8:28 am

   Take away all the elbow pads and maybe these monsters will stop throwing elbows. Or, what an idea. have the referees call elbows thrown at folks and make them play baskeball versus WWW take down matches. Look what they were allowed to to to Rhondo climbing up his back and sitting on him resulting in a technical foul.

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