Arenas, Crittenton Face-Off With Guns Over Gambling Debt (Reports)

Did Gilbert Arenas and Jarvis Crittenton really battle it out (with guns drawn) over a Gambling debt or is this story just hot air?







Arenas, Crittenton Dispute Begins Over Card Game


A dispute that began on the team plane and resumed more than 24 hours later in the team's locker room between Washington Wizards guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton is at the center of an investigation by local and federal authorities into Arenas' recent admission of gun possession on Wizards property, according to sources close to the situation.

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that an argument commenced during a card game on the team's overnight flight back to Washington from Phoenix on Dec. 19 and escalated into a heated exchange between Arenas and Crittenton. The Wizards had Dec. 20 off, but sources say the hostilities resumed Dec. 21 in the locker room on a practice day.

Sources say that Arenas, in response to what was said on the flight, placed three guns he owns on a chair near Crittenton's locker stall and invited him to pick one before practice on Dec. 21. Sources said that Crittenton subsequently let Arenas know that he had his own gun.

The New York Post, quoting league security sources, reported in Friday's editions that Arenas and Crittenton pulled guns on each other over a gambling debt during the pre-practice confrontation at the Verizon Center.

The Washington Post, in a story posted on its Web site Friday night, quoted Arenas as saying, "That's not the real story." The newspaper also reported that the argument between Arenas and Crittenton was over "who had the bigger gun" and that there was never any intent to physically harm Crittenton, according to "a person who has spoken with Arenas recently."

It is not known how many other Wizards players were in the locker room at the time of the clash. The Wizards and Arenas have maintained since Dec. 24, when the team publicly confirmed that Arenas had stored three guns in a locked box in his locker, that the firearms were unloaded.

If either Arenas or Crittenton is found to have brandished a gun against his teammate, long-term suspensions and heavy fines from NBA commissioner David Stern would appear to be likely, given the ever-rising levels of Stern's distaste for any hint of violence in the league in the wake of the infamous Indiana-Detroit brawl in November 2004.

The league office, though, is expected to wait to see whether local or federal charges are filed in the case before determining the scale of potential punishments.

Arenas spoke briefly with reporters Friday afternoon following Washington's practice and also made numerous statements via his Twitter account disputing the New York Post's report, which alleges that Crittenton became angry at Arenas for refusing to make good on a gambling debt, prompting Arenas to pull a gun first and Crittenton to respond by grabbing his own gun.

The Washington Post reported Friday afternoon that Arenas is threatening to sue the New York Post.The Washington Post also spoke to Arenas' father, Gilbert Arenas Sr., who said: "From the respect of guns being pulled in the locker room and at each other... that's ludicrous. [Gilbert Jr.] bringing the guns to the locker room to keep away from his kids, that's true. [But] Gil did not pull a gun on anybody. That's about all that I can say."

Arenas eventually turned his three guns in to team security and later told reporters -- after a CBSSports.com report on Christmas Eve revealed that Arenas was being investigated for violating league rules on gun possession -- that he brought them to the workplace because he no longer wanted them in his house after the birth of his third child in early December.

District of Columbia police officials immediately began looking into the matter and announced in a statement Wednesday, without naming any names or providing further details, that they have begun assisting the U.S. Attorney's Office in a joint probe into "an allegation that weapons were located inside a locker room at the Verizon Center."

Through a series of tweets, Arenas appeared Friday to be trying to downplay the severity of the situation in his usual glib manner. But the potential range of punishments would figure to be severe given the stricter-than-usual gun laws in the District of Columbia and the NBA's rules forbidding gun possession on league property.

Although no action from the league office is expected until the legal process plays out, which is the NBA norm, Stern is bound to take an especially dim view of the whole episode in deference to late Wizards owner Abe Pollin, who changed the team's nickname from Bullets to Wizards in 1997 in part because he was so profoundly affected by the assassination of former Israeli prime minister and close friend Yitzhak Rabin. Until his death in November, Pollin was as close to Stern as any NBA owner.

"There is an active investigation by D.C. law enforcement authorities, which we are monitoring closely," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said Friday. "We are not taking any independent action at this time."

The Wizards, in a statement issued Friday, said: "We take this situation and the ongoing investigation very seriously. We are continuing to cooperate fully with the proper authorities and the NBA and will have no further comment at this time."

In Friday's New York Post report, Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld is quoted as saying: "It's in the hands of the authorities. We're going to get to the bottom of this, if there is a bottom to this."

The controversy is the latest and possibly biggest setback in Washington's highly disappointing 10-20 start. Arenas is averaging 22.7 points and 6.9 assists after missing much of the past two seasons because of multiple surgeries on his left knee, but there is already considerable curiosity -- not only in the media but among rival teams watching the drama unfold -- whether the Wizards will eventually try to void the remainder of Arenas' mammoth six-year, $111 million contract because of this serious nature of this incident.

Arenas may not play Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs because of soreness in his left knee, Wizards head coach Flip Saunders told The Washington Post on Friday. Saunders would not comment on the reported dispute between Arenas and Crittenton.

Crittenton has not played all season because of an ankle injury and declined comment Friday when reached by the Washington Post. Crittenton's new agent, Mark Bartelstein, also declined comment Friday.



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Sources: AP, ESPN, ABC News, Youtube, Google Maps

Pope Benedict XVI Attacked During Christmas Eve Mass

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Pope Knocked Down At Christmas Eve Mass


Pope Benedict XVI's Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica got off to a tumultuous start Thursday after an apparently deranged woman jumped the barriers and knocked him down on his way to the altar.

The 82-year-old pope quickly got up and was unhurt, said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini. But 87-year-old French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, a longtime Vatican diplomat who was also dragged down, fractured his hip in the fall and will be operated on, Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said Friday.

The pope delivered his traditional Christmas Day blessing Friday, looking tired and unsteady but otherwise fine. The Vatican said his busy Christmas schedule would remain unchanged.

Footage aired on Italy's RAI state TV showed a woman dressed in a red hooded sweatshirt vaulting over the wooden barriers and rushing toward the pope before being swarmed by bodyguards.

Lombardi identified the woman as Susanna Maiolo, a Swiss-Italian national with psychiatric problems. Video shot by a witness showed Maiolo grabbing the pope's vestments as she was taken down, with Benedict seemingly falling on top of her.

Vatican officials speaking on condition of anonymity said Maiolo was involved in a similar incident last year in which she jumped the barricade as the pope passed. In that case, however, Maiolo never managed to reach the pope and was quietly tackled to the ground by security.

In both cases she wore a red sweat shirt.

The commotion occurred as the pope's procession was making its way toward the main altar and shocked gasps rang out through the crowd that packed the basilica. The procession came to a halt and security rushed to the trouble spot.

Benedettini said Maiolo was arrested by Vatican police. "During the procession an unstable person jumped a barrier and knocked down the Holy Father," Benedettini told The Associated Press by telephone. "(The pope) quickly got up and continued the procession."

Security guards tackle woman

MaryBeth Burns from Paris, Texas, was about four people away from Maiolo and was filming the pope's procession as the commotion started.

"I'm really mad because I had a perfect shot lined up," she said. "I'm still shaking."

Burns, who was visiting Italy with her family on a religious pilgrimage for Christmas, said the security guards immediately pulled the woman to the ground and the pope tumbled with them.

Benedict lost his miter and his staff in the fall. He remained on the ground for a few seconds before being helped back up by attendants. At that point a few shouts of "viva il papa!" (long live the pope!) rang out, followed by cheers from the faithful, witnesses said.

After getting up, Benedict, flanked by tense bodyguards, resumed his walk to the basilica's main altar to start the Mass. He did appear somewhat shaken and leaned heavily on aides and an armrest as he sat down in his chair.

Few people who were watching the Mass on giant screens set up in a rain-soaked St. Peter's Square even knew that the pope had fallen, with many saying that either they weren't looking or had arrived too late.

Benedict made no reference to the incident as the service started. As a choir sang, he sprinkled incense on the altar before opening the Mass with the traditional wish for peace in Latin.

Security Breaches

The latest incident was the first time a potential attacker came into direct contact with Benedict, and underscored concerns by security analysts who have frequently warned the pope is too exposed in his public appearances.

There have been other security breaches at the Vatican, in addition to this year's and last year's incidents.

In 2007, during an open-air audience in St. Peter's Square, a mentally unstable German man jumped a security barrier and grabbed the back of the pope's open car before being swarmed by security guards.

Then there was the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in 1981. John Paul suffered a severe abdominal wound as he rode in an open jeep at the start of his weekly audience in the Vatican piazza.

The pope is protected by a combination of Swiss Guards, Vatican police and Italian police.

Delivers Homily

Since the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S., the Vatican has tightened security at events where the pope is present. All visitors must pass by police to get into the square, with some going through metal detectors or being scanned by metal-detecting wands.

In a similar incident to Thursday's, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was attacked as he was greeting the crowd at a political rally earlier this month. A man with a history of psychological problems hurled a souvenir statuette at the politician, fracturing his nose and breaking two of his teeth.

Benedict celebrated this year's Christmas Eve Mass two hours earlier than the usual midnight starting time in a move by the Vatican to ease the pontiff's busy holiday schedule.

In his homily, delivered unflappably after the incident, Benedict urged the world to "wake up" from selfishness and petty affairs, and find time for God and spiritual matters.

"To wake up means to leave that private world of one's own and to enter the common reality," Benedict said. "Conflict and lack of reconciliation in the world stem from the fact that we are locked into our own interests and opinions, into our own little private world."

Benedict's next scheduled appearance is at noon on Christmas Day, when he is to deliver his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" Speech (Latin for "To the city and the world") from the basilica's balcony.




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Brittany Murphy Laid To Rest Christmas Eve At Forest Lawn

Brittany Murphy To Be Laid To Rest In Christmas Eve Service At Same LA Cemetery As Michael Jackson


Tragic Brittany Murphy will be laid to rest on Christmas Eve in the same cemetery as Michael Jackson.

Insiders say a funeral for the actress - who died on Sunday at the age of 32 - will take place tomorrow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Los Angeles Hollywood Hills.

The service is listed as 'strictly private'. According to reports, Murphy's body has now arrived at the cemetery in preparation for the service.

The Clueless star died on Sunday morning after collapsing at her Los Angeles home and suffering a cardiac arrest.

News of her funeral comes as pictures emerged of the actress on the set of what will be her last film - psychological thriller Abandoned.

In the movie, which she only finished shooting in the late summer, Murphy, 32, stars as Mary Walsh, a woman who believes her husband has vanished and is fighting not only to find him but to counter threats to her own life and sanity.

Meanwhile producers behind another movie the actress was set to star in have decided to recast her role.

Shrinking Charlotte producer Darren VanCleave has told celebrity website TMZ that he has decided to forge ahead with the project, and will dedicate the movie to the late actress.

VanCleave hasn't thought about who will be replacing Murphy yet, with the film put on hold until the new year.

Shrinking Charlotte is romantic comedy about three single men who stalk and date a woman in therapy in order to learn about honesty, fate, and eventually love. It was expected to be released in 2010.

It emerged on Tuesday that ten different types of medication were found on Murphy's bedside table by an officer from Los Angeles County Coroner's department, according to reports.

They contained anti-depressants, anti-convulsants, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics.

A post-mortem examination was carried out on Monday but it will take several weeks before the results of toxicology and neurological tests are revealed.

But Mr Monjack, who was questioned about his wife's death yesterday, insisted she had not died of a drugs overdose and revealed they planned to start a family next year.

She was an only child,' he said. 'She wanted a baby. Her dream next year was to have a child, and we talked about how he or she would look. She'd say, "They'd better have your eyes and lips and my hair".'

Although he initially opposed a post-mortem examination, he was over-ruled by the coroner.

'My initial reaction to the autopsy was they are going to cut her open,' Mr Monjack said. 'I could not bear it. That would break her mother but we realised we needed to know.'

In an interview with U.S. magazine People, he revealed his wife of almost three years had suffered from a heart murmur, which causes fatigue, dizziness and irregular heartbeats.

The condition is not life threatening and she was not taking any medication to treat it. The actress had also been suffering from laryngitis in the days leading up to her death.

'She was on herbal remedies that wouldn't speed up her heart,' Mr Monjack said. 'There was nothing here that could endanger her; there was prescription medication in the house for her female time and some cough syrup. That was it.'



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