Miscellaneous Sports Wives and Girlfriends (WAGS)
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- It's not often that we find ourselves covering the wives of a coach or athlete embroiled in a scandal (see Jerry Sandusky), but at times the situation dictates we must.
Bernie Fine's wife, Laurie Fine has become a central figure involved in the story surrounding the child molestation accusations levied against her husband. ESPN ran a series of reports around the Bernie Fine case, including a phone call between Laurie and one of the alleged victims, Bobby Davis. During the phone call, Laurie sounded like she was aware of the alleged sexual activities taking place between Bobby Davis and Bernie Fine, and felt "powerless" to do anything to stop it.
After a few months of relative silence from the Fine camp, word came out on May 15 that Laurie Fine was taking serious action. Laurie has filed a federal libel lawsuit against ESPN, reporter Mark Schwarz and producer Arty Berko for irresponsible reporting on this case. She alleged that her words from that phone call were taken out of context, and cast her in a very negative light. The 44 page lawsuit claims amongst many things that Schwartz, Berko and ESPN "spitefully destroyed Laurie Fine's reputation" in their reporting. They also accuse Schwartz of losing his journalistic integrity after a decade of communication with Bobby Davis and sought to capitalize on the unfounded Bernie Fine accusations in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky case. The lawsuit also claims that Bobby Davis was a troubled young man who would call frequently, leaving Laurie Fine with little recourse than to let him talk, and either agree to placate, or to respond sarcastically. Fine also rebukes claims of Laurie Fine engaging in sexual relations with Davis, and various members of the Syracuse Men's basketball team.
The suit requests compensatory and punitive damages to be assessed to ESPN and determined by a jury. ESPN responded to the allegations with only the following statement:
The suit is without merit and we stand by our reporting
Bernie and Laurie Fine were married in 1985 and have three children.
The Story
- Oh where to begin with Franck Ribery.
First let's state the obvious, he's an extremely talented player for both FC Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga league and the French National Team. He's also very religious, having converted to Islam and taking the name Bilal Yusuf Mohammed.
As for his personal life, Franck Ribery is married to Wahiba Ribery, who many describe as his childhood sweetheart. It was only after marrying Wahiba that Franck converted to Islam. The couple also has two daughters together. Now that covers the basic but let's get into the details that make Franck more than a great soccer player.
The 2010 World Cup is one that many French fans will quickly pass over when discussing the rich history of the program. The tournament was filled with both losses and team dissent. There were rumors of boycotts by the players and players flat out quitting on the coach. All of this led to a first round exit for France and a nation stunned by the developments. In the middle of all of this was Franck, who would later be suspended 3 International games for his part in the anarchy. Eventually Franck worked his way back into the good graces of the team and now is a central piece of the team.
We'd be remiss to ignore the scar. It's very hard to not notice the scar on Franck's face, and it turns out he and his family were in a horrible car accident when he was young. The family car collided with a truck which left Franck with the scar you now see.
The scar story isn't particularly great gossip, so now for the good dirt. Like many athletes Franck is rumored to have not been completely faithful to his wife Wahiba. Most athletes who cheat on their wives do at least make sure the girl they do it with is of age. In 2010 a story broke that had Franck a the center of an underage prostitution scandal. Zahia Dehar is the name of the call girl who Franck flew out for his birthday party. At the time she was 17, not the legal age of 18. Franck claimed, and Zahia backs up, that she told him she was 18. Regardless Franck was charged with soliciting a prostitute. Despite all of this Franck is still married to Wahiba.
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- Miguel Cotto's wife Melissa Guzman has a difficult job. As the wife of a professional boxer, she has to endure every jab and hook delivered to the head of the father of her children, never knowing the immediate, or long term impact each shot carries. Many wives cannot sit ringside during a fight, and the wives that do, most often times seem like the coolest dimes in the room.
Melissa however, represents both sides of the fence. Melissa frequents Miguel's fights in person in order to support her husband, but at the same time has been visibly emotional on a number of occasions. A recent bout against Manny Pacquiao took a significant toll on Miguel, and Melissa and her children were seen crying hysterically. She explained her reaction:
It was something we did not expect. Not so much by the defeat because this is something he can recover again. But by the blows, because you know the pain and sacrifices made in life and your health is more important... Miguel is going to replace the defeat and will come stronger.
Miguel and Melissa Cotto have two sons together and a daughter from another relationship for Miguel, Luis Aquino, Alondra and Miguel III (aka Jun Jun). The couple has founded a non profit foundation together called El Angel. El Angel aims to help children and teenagers in the battle against obesity.
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- Devon Still is likely to be first round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, but his journey to the podium hasn't always been easy.
After battling his way through an injury plagued start to his career missing both the 2007 and bulk of the 2008 seasons due to injury. And no one can forget the 2011-2012 season for Penn State which overshadowed the end of Still's career in Happy Valley.
Fortunately for Still, he's finally found motivation and focus to keep him from being distracted. Still and his longtime girlfriend Channing Smythe became parents to a girl in April, 2010. Lehsari who goes by Leah, provides Still the inspiration to excel and walk on stage with the commissioner next week and he says as much in an interview with the Sun Gazette:
"That [Leah] was my main motivation, my biggest motivation just to know that I'm playing for her livelihood. I wasn't going to let nobody go out there and stop me from being able to provide for my daughter."
Still also acknowledges that none of his success happens without his girlfriend Channing Smythe helping to take care of Leah at home and during the season, home meant at a small off campus apartment. There's not much else known about Channing, though we fully expect to see her in the green room with Still next Thursday night. By then, we hope to have some pictures to share with you.
