Longtime University of Arizona basketball assistant coach Emmanuel “Book” Richardson was one of four coaches arrested Tuesday by the FBI.

Richardson’s arrest was for allegedly receiving more than $20,000 in bribes from former sports agent Christian Dawkins and financial advisor Munish Sood, in exchange for recruiting prospective and current Arizona players, according to the FBI’s documents.

The University of Arizona’s athletic department suspended the ninth-year coach Tuesday, releasing a statement that said in part:

We became aware of the situation involving one of our men’s basketball coaches Emmanuel Richardson this morning. We have been working in conjunction with the University, and have confirmed that Richardson has been suspended effective immediately. We will cooperate fully with authorities as they move through their investigation.

Richardson, along with University of Southern California‘s Tony Bland, Auburn’s Chuck Person and Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans, were among the 10 people charged Tuesday with federal crimes.

According to the FBI reports, Richardson agreed to take the money to guide his player’s to use Dawkins as a manager and Sood as a financial adviser once their careers in Tucson ended.

Acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon Kim announced the charges Tuesday, laying out the charges facing the coaches, as well as financial advisors and representatives from an unnamed sportswear company.

According to the complaint, Richardson on June 20 agreed to take a $5,000 bribe in a meeting with an undercover FBI agent and Sood.

Richardson, according to the same complaint, also requested $15,000 more from the officer to lock down a player, identified by Richardson as a “top point guard in the country.”

Richardson faces upwards of 60 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine if convicted of all charges, according to the Arizona Daily Star.

Busy Wednesday night? We've got tickets to the Dec. 14 Wildcat basketball game against the Grand Canyon Antelopes, which starts at 9 p.m., and we want you to take them. There is one catch: The winner has to pick up the tickets at our office (near the Foothills Mall) sometime before we lock the doors at 5 p.m. We'll get in touch with the winner around 10 a.m. the day of the game, so that gives you about seven hours to get your business in order.

Want a pair of tickets to the game? Enter here:

Phillip Brooks, better known by his ring name CM Punk, went from World Wrestling Entertainment Champion to having a 0-1 record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in UFC 203 on Sept. 10.

The 37-year-old former professional wrestler's debut only last two minutes and 14 seconds and
lost by submission to 2-0 fighter Mickey Gall, who is 24. This was Punk’s dream: To get the chance to fight in the UFC and the bravery to go into the octagon is commendable. But, what is the dream and how brave is he really?

Punk is well set. He has been wrestling for most of his life and has been able to climb the ranks in that world and he reached stardom in the WWE, which comes with a pretty penny. He built a legion of fans which still support him even after he left the WWE two years ago. His status allowed him to receive the three fight contract with the UFC with no past experience. Fairly easy when you think about his opponent's journey.

Gall has been fighting since he was 13-years-old. Training hard, climbing the ropes in mixed martial arts and has been able to reach the UFC. Sound familiar? However, Gall has a long way if he wishes to reach the level Punk did in the WWE, which in the UFC is uncertain.

Unlike in the WWE, where superstars are chosen and match results decided based on crowd reaction and on the “buy rate,” the fighters in the UFC are a sort of independent contractor. Their results decide whether or not they get another fight. If Gall would have lost this fight, more certain then not, he would not have another fight in the UFC until he showed his stripes, again. 

Sports fans! It feels like it has been a little while since we've done this. 

We're giving away two pairs of tickets to see the Diamondbacks play the Rockies on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 6:40 p.m. at Chase Field (401 E. Jefferson Street, Phoenix). We'll get in touch with the winner midday on Tuesday, Sept. 13 so be by your phone!

Every year on April 15, Major League Baseball has Jackie Robinson Day in honor of the player who broke the color barrier in the MLB. Robinson is not only remembered as being a great player, but is also noted for his use of nonviolence as he was bombarded with hatred and threats of violence though his career.

Teams and players honor Robinson on his day by wearing his number, 42. However, he is also honored throughout the season as his number is retired universally in the MLB.

There is another player who in the eyes of many people is as great as Robinson. A player and a humanitarian.

Roberto Clemente was a Puerto Rican baseball player who played 18 seasons in the MLB with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 to 1972. In his career, he was able to win two World Series championships, hit 240 home runs and is part of the 3,000 hits club.

Clemente was also a philanthropist and did not do it for personal or public admiration, but because he knew the struggle of growing up in poverty being that he lived it. He always reached out to the youth, despite his busy schedule, holding baseball clinics in both the United States and his native Puerto Rico.

Clemente was quoted as saying “Everyone knows I've been struggling all my life. I believe that every human being is equal, but one has to fight hard all the time to maintain that equality.”

His given nature tragically ended is life as Clemente died in a plane crash on its way to Nicaragua with aid for earthquake victims on Dec. 31, 1972. He was 38.

At the moment, the Pittsburgh Pirates are the only team in baseball to have his number, 21, retired. Not only would the creation of ‘Roberto Clemente Day’ allow fans old and new to remember this great player and person, but it would also resonate with the demography of the MLB.

A large percentage of the baseball player in the MLB are Latino, with a large number of them being Afro-Latino. Clemente was an Afro-Latino.

For now, Clemente is remembered by many, but it would not hurt to see him remembered and honored by all.

You know the drill: Enter below to win tickets to see the Diamondbacks vs. Reds game on Friday, Aug. 26 at 6:40 p.m. We'll contact the winner midday Thursday and they'll have to pick the tickets up from our office either Thursday or Friday before 5 p.m.

Good luck!

We've got four tickets to Tuesday evening's DBacks vs. Nationals baseball game at Chase Field (401 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix). The game starts at 6:40 p.m.

Enter below and we'll get in touch with the winner midday Monday. Keep in mind that the tickets will need to be picked up from our office on the Northwest side of town sometime Monday or Tuesday before 5 p.m.

But before you enter: Triple check that you're going to be able to go if you win. About half the time the tickets from these giveaways aren't picked up. That's wasteful and inconsiderate. Please only enter if you're really, really sure you can make it to the game—or at least call me back if you win and can't use the tickets, so I can pass them off to someone else. Deal?

Whether facing off against a fellow professional in the mixed martial arts cage or getting into street fights in his youth, Raymond “The Truth” Piña knows a thing or two about combat.

A lifelong wrestler who competed at Sunnyside High School, Piña molded his knack for getting into street fights as a youth into a professional MMA career—one he hopes will take him far in the cutthroat, constantly evolving sport.

Training out of Neutral Corner Gym here in Tucson, as well as several other locations in town, the 24-year-old Tucson native has been cutting his teeth nearly every day since making his amateur debut back in 2009 and believes his constant evolution as a fighter will one day earn him a spot in the limelight.

On Saturday, July 23, Piña (who holds a 6-2 record) will face off in a 170-pound welterweight bout here in Tucson, at Casino Del Sol, when Arizona MMA promotion World Fighting Federation returns to town to host “WFF 29.”

Pitted against an opponent with years of experience on his side, Piña will compete against Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA veteran Estevan “El Terrible” Payan (16-9-1NC), who fights out of Phoenix. Though Payan may hold the advantage when it comes to in-cage experience, Piña believes his tenacity and skill set will be enough to win the day in front of a hometown crowd.

“I hope to show everyone that has doubts about me that I'm the real deal,” Piña said. “I'm going to show everyone that I'm going places… It's the best feeling in the world to walk out to a crowd that loves you and supports me the way they do. My fans and supporters are what drive me to be somebody. I've never thought I would be loved the way I'm loved here in Tucson but to me it's one of the greatest feelings in the world.”

Busy Sunday night? We're giving away a four pack of tickets to the July 3 FC Tucson game against Laguna FC. The game is at 7:30 p.m. at Kino North Stadium (2817 E. Ajo Way).

All you have to do to enter is fill out the form below. We'll contact the winner midday on Friday, July 1. Tickets can be purchased here. 

UA finance prof Mitchell Towner knew when to hold them and knew when to fold them yesterday at the World Series of Poker. The Las Vegas Review Journal caught up him after he played his winning hand:

“I really don’t play poker,” Towner said. “I’ve only ever played two events that are worth more than like $100.”

Towner, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Arizona, looked like anything but a novice on Tuesday night as he won the World Series of Poker’s $1,500 buy-in “Monster Stack” No-limit Hold ’em event at the Rio Convention Center.

The 29-year-old Towner defeated Venezuela’s Dorian Rios during heads-up play and collected $1.12 million along with his first — obviously — career bracelet.

“I just tried to play fairly straightforward. I didn’t want to put myself in any marginal spots,” Towner said. “It seemed like people were liable to blast off occasionally and so I figured, you never know, maybe I’ll get hit with the deck of cards and run really, really well, and that’s what happened.”

[Las Vegas Review-Journal]

Ed note: This post original referred to Towner as a math professor.