State inspectors testified that they confiscated two gauze pads that were "firm" and "smeared with a substance" before Margarito made the first defense of his welterweight title against Mosley on Jan. 24 at Staples Center. Mosley won by a ninth-round technical knockout.

The pads, shown in photos to be caked with a white grout-like substance still under analysis by a state lab, were inserted covertly under the knuckle pads atop Margarito's fists, a fact that his trainer, Javier Capetillo, admitted could have injured Mosley.

The suspension will be upheld by other state commissions all over the country, which means that the next time you see Margarito in a ring it will most likely be under Mexican jurisdiction. However Margarito will still have to re-apply for a license a year from now, and skirting the ruling by fighting in Mexico might not sit well in Sacramento. Somehow I don't see that possibility stopping Margarito's promoter Bob Arum from cashing in on a payday, possibly in Margarito's hometown of Tijuana where the local hero can seemingly do no wrong.

The main question left unanswered is whether this was an isolated incident, and you can bet that Miguel Cotto's support team will be looking for answers. At one point during yesterday's testimony California's Deputy Attorney General Karen Chappelle attempted to claim that Margarito had similarly loaded gloves that went undetected last year when Margarito knocked out the seemingly indestructible Cotto in Las Vegas. Her claims were immediately dismissed, seeing as how that fight took place outside of the commission's purview. For now Cotto remains quiet, but if Chappelle has any tangible evidence he'd probably be interested in seeing it.

For much more on the Margarito suspension check out the coverage over at No Mas and The Queensberry Rules.

Antonio Margarito's License Is Revoked For A Year [LA Times]

PHOTO: ESPN

The first team Kacy faced relied on the Bible to express its beliefs about female football players in a pre-game statement, said New Creation athletic director Coach Ken Townley.

“The East Atlanta Mustangs didn’t play us under protest but they were allowed to read a statement on their beliefs about female football players,” Townley said. “They used biblical verses from the book of Romans. I was very stunned by that.”

Remember, these people are lecturing a home school team called the Crusaders about what the Bible says about female football players. That team has accepted her and her pretty good leg and it's their opponents who somehow can't handle giving up field goals to a girl.

• Controversy follows girl football kicker + Using the Bible to keep girls in “their place” [Atlanta Journal Constitution]

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nike acted because the new Hyperdunk ads were deemed by some to be offensive to blacks and gays. Which is, in two words, patently absurd. It also raises an interesting question: why can't a sports company just say that their ads are meant for non-idiots?

There has never been a basketball player of any persuasion who wants another man's groin to end up in his face during a dunk on the court. Never. Not gays, not blacks, not Asians, not women, not any player who has ever played the game. That was the idea behind Nike's advertising slogan created by the Wieden and Kennedy advertising agency. The company was proud of their work and posted congratulatory messages on their blog. (If you feel like a little entertainment, go read the comments. Watch as they move from self-congratulatory to angry. You can literally watch the wheels come off as those who are professionally offended swoop in. )

Go back and look at every top dunk of the past fifteen years. A large percentage of those ended up looking exactly like the imagery used in this advertising campaign. It's an iconic image, one that's neither homophobic nor racist. And every single person who got upset about this should go stand in a public park and get dunked on repeatedly. Gay or straight, sweaty balls to the face ain't fun.

Look, we all know that taking offense is our new national pastime. But what should the corporate response be when the people who take offense don't even understand what they're offended about? Not kowtowing to public "outrage", for one thing. But Nike buckled. Welcome to America in 2008: where even getting dunked on has to be tastefully done.

Nike withdraws dunk adds amid flurry of complaints [Wall Street Journal]
Hyperdunk Y'all [Weiden-Kennedy]