Yardbarker: All Sports

Game Preview #7: Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs - The Defense Sleeps

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:00:21 -0500

Are you not entertained??? Well I am, after I watched the replay twice. But as many have mentioned, although a win is a win, you can't help but feel a little bit empty after a game like that, where we allowed a Euro team to drop 124 points on our home floor. A Spurs defense without its fangs is kinda similar to Stephon Marbury without the tattoo on his head. It just doesn't sound or look right. Okay, maybe the Starbury analogy is pretty bad, but you get the point. A...

Blazersedge Night Update (with Special Acknowledgements!)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:54:04 -0500

We have reached an important milestone with Blazersedge Night. We now have fewer than 100 tickets left to purchase from the original batch of 400 we are trying to donate to kids who otherwise wouldn't get to see a game. Together we're really going to do this! But we need that final push. For those who haven't heard, those 400 tickets are going to be distributed throughout the greater Portland area to teachers and principals and social workers and all kinds o...

UCLA vs. Humboldt St.: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:54:03 -0500

Mike Roll and Jerime Andersen did wonder for the UCLA backcourt in their return from injury, but Nikola Dragovic is still struggling to find his shooting stroke. (Photo Credit: J. Rosenfeld) View full size photo » While far from perfect, UCLA's performance versus Humboldt St. was infinitely better than the one they put on six days ago versus Concordia. It's a good thing too as the Bruins have only five days before...

Comcast Weekly Red Zone Update - Week 9 Edition

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:52:29 -0500

Let's resume our weekly tally of the Pittsburgh Steelers performance in the red zone during the 2009 season. Once more, many thanks to Comcast's Red Zone Channel for sponsoring BTSC and the rest of the SBN football blogs this year. Not bad for the Steelers this week in the red zone. If not for Big Ben's pick late in the 3rd quarter with the Steelers up 4 and threatening to blow the game open, the Steelers would have had a dandy day inside their opponents' 20. We...

Game 9 Preview: Blazers vs. Timberwolves

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:23:01 -0500

Game Time: 5:00 p.m. Pacific TV: Comcast Somehow this opponent feels oddly familiar. Ah yes...the Timberwolves. That would be the team we just racked up by 23 two games ago. The 'Wolves will be hoping that a return to the frozen confines of Target Center will allow them the opportunity to change from their secret identity "The Anti-Transition-Defense Legion" into the Super Mega Wonder Dominance Brigade (plus Corey Brewer).&...

Bobby Bowden Acts His Age, Forgets Score

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:30:00 -0500

Bowden may not remember what happened two quarters ago, but he remembers when FSU was good. That used to be enough for boosters, but after a mental lapse quite in character with an octogenarian, who knows. Corey Clark of the Tallahassee Democrat knew he would ruffle some feathers when he posted a partial transcript of Bowden's postgame remarks after a comeback loss to Clemson; he even apologized in advance. But Bowden's supporters do no one any good by pretending this sort of thing is...

Clippers vs. Oklahoma City - Game Preview

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:25:55 -0500

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP Browse more photos » 2009/2010 NBA Regular Season vs. 3-53-4 Staples Center November 11th, 2009, 7:30 PM Prime Ticket, 980 AM Probable starters: Baron Davis PG Russell Westbrook Rasual Butler SG Thabo Sefolosha Al Thornton SF Kevin Durant Marcus Camby PF Jeff Green Chris Kaman C Nenad Krstic ...

.500! Kings Beat Thunder 102-99

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:36:31 -0500

It's been awhile since the Kings could be called anything other than awful. Over the past three years, it's been hard to ever call the Kings "plucky" or "feisty" or even "mediocre." The team has just been abjectly bad. Bad with vets, bad with kids. Bad, through and through. Now, for today, this team is average. Average! Perfectly average! Never, I imagine, has a fan base been so perfectly pleased to be average for a day (or three). This game in pa...

Roundup: Tale of two cities

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:34:00 -0500

Taking a late-night/early-morning spin through the headlines before the Packers return to the practice field ...WORTH READING* Pete Dougherty examines Packers QB Aaron Rodgers' dog days. The Packers face another young QB who has had his ups and downs, Dallas' Tony Romo, on Sunday. “In the NFC, he’s playing like top five right now,” an NFC scout said of Romo. “I’d say overall NFL, he’s probably in the top eight. I think he’s better than Rodgers.”* Pete also files this scouting report o...

Worst of the Night: November 10, 2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:24:00 -0500

The mere thought of playing against the Wizards Generals is reason enough for self-man-love to present itself.Note: With Basketbawful himself unavoidably detained, I am making my WotN debut, with Chris chiming in for a couple quotes and providing the usual lacktion report.The Washington Wizards Generals: Another game, another horrendous loss. Washington put up one of its usual sloppy displays while doing nothing in crunch time en route to a 90-76 loss to the Heat, led by a 41 point effort fro...

Movin' Milton ... and Other Cubs Rumors

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:04:42 -0500

On this Veteran's Day, the CCO would like to thank all of those that have served our Country. The GM Meetings conclude at noon on Wednesday ... and there were more rumors to come out of the O'Hare Hilton on Tuesday. The phrase that pays so far this winter for the Chicago Cubs is "bounce back." As the GM Meetings wind down, Jim Hendry reiterated the fact they are looking for several players to "bounce back" next season and perform the way the Cubs' GM thou...

The Bears Den - 11/11/09

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:00:26 -0500

....where Thursday night could get ugly. ChicagoBears.com Could a different mindset help the defense? The Bears are confident they can still save the season. Mike Singletary is set to face the Bears for the first time as HC. Chicago Sun-Times Mark Potash: How about Ron Rivera for HC of the Bears? Shut up, Mark, and stop being a meatball. Lovie is accepting blame. Vernon Davis is talkin smack about the defense. And he's absolutely right - I'm starting him on my f...

Mavs Defeat Rockets 121 - 103: Postgame Quotes

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:58:50 -0500

More photos » by Glenn James - NBAE/Getty Images BEAST Browse more photos » Erick Dampier Why are you off to such a great start? The guys are looking for me more around the basket. A lot of it is Jason Kidd. He has the ball in his hands a lot so the only thing I can do is present myself in an open area and try to score whenever I get it. When I get fouled I just take my time at th...

The Leadoff guy…

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:01:00 -0500

Aybar left and Figgins (if re-signed) right are prime candidates to lead off in 2010By Brent Hubbard - AngelsWin.com ColumnistAnd tonight, the leading off for your Los Angeles Angels will be…Third baseman Chone Figgins? Left Fielder Chone Figgins? Designated Hitter Bobby Abreu? Shortstop Erick Aybar? Second baseman Howie Kendrick? Infielder Macier Izturis?Someone else?Throughout the last decade, there have primarily been two leadoff batters for the Angels, Shortstop David Eckstein and the pla...

Rested Celtics Host Jazz

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:47:00 -0500

at Utah Jazz (3-4) at Boston Celtics (7-1) Wednesday, November 11 7:30 PM ET Game #9, Home Game #5 TV: CSN HD, FSN, NBA LP 754,755 TD Banknorth Garden After playing 8 games in 12 days, the Celtics have had 3 days off for some much needed rest and practice. They now face the 3-4 Jazz who are coming off a 2 point win over the Knicks. The anticipated matchup between Rajon Rondo and Deron Williams may or may not materialize since Williams is a game time decision after an injury i...

Jayhawk Superfan Has Quite The Rap Sheet

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:30:00 -0500

KU's most visible fan, White Owl, is nowhere to be seen this season, thanks to some pretty hilarious legal trouble. That's him up in the picture. He's the one who's white. And a little crazy. Jimmy Tucker, better known to the rest of the country as "that guy with the beard who really likes Kansas athletics," has been a fixture on KU's quad since time immemorial, but students have noticed his recent absence. Seems Tucker, 62, has repeatedly violated a restraining ...

Just a Few Random Thoughts

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:25:00 -0500

First, the All Star ballots are out. The Celtics have 6 players on the ballot including the starting 5 and Sheed. I know that Dwight Howard will be the starting center but I'd love for Perk to be picked by the coaches. You can vote every 24 hours. If every Celtics fan voted for all 5 Celtics starters every 24 hours, who knows what would happen. You can go here to vote. Vote early and vote often. I watched the end of the Bulls/Nuggets game and wow, what an ending. There were 6 sec...

WTF Did the Knicks Do with Eddy Curry?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:09:00 -0500

Can someone tell me where the Knicks are hiding Eddy Curry? Seriously, what have they done with our lovable round mound of non-rebound? I'll share the video after the jump. But if you check out the screen grab to the left, it may start to give you a hint as to what I'm talking about. The man on the left, and the individual on the right, are apparently one and the same.

Although perhaps not quite literally, Eddy Curry is half the man he used to be, maybe because he was feeling the dawn fade to gray on his career. Whatever the reason, Jenny Craig should sign this guy up as their new spokesman.

Curry, who has been battling back from a torn calf muscle suffered on the first day of training camp back in late September has, by various accounts, been putting himself through grueling workouts. This is a sentiment I'd read in numerous media outlets, mostly credited to D'Antoni. I must admit. I didn't buy any of it -- not for a second.

In all honesty, I've always had a soft spot for Eddy Curry, no pun on his love handles intended. That said, he seemed a lost soul with oodles of talent and zero drive. His conditioning was awful, his work ethic non-existent. The only passion one could validate was his love for the buffet line. You wanted to see him fight, but the DNA strain just didn't seem to be there. Then, I caught this video today.

For a second, ignore the ridiculous "Help on the Way" headline as it relates to the 1-7 Knicks. Forego the notion that Eddy is not built for Coach Mike's style of play. Suspend disbelief. And just for this singular moment, let's give some props to Eddy Curry. He's easily dropped 50 pounds, if not 75. Whether it will make a difference is yet to be seen, but the transformation in and of itself has already proved something within Curry few of us thought to exist.

Outgoing MLBPA Exec Dir. Donald Fehr Could Become Advisor to NHLPA

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:39:42 -0500

Donald Fehr, who spent 26 years leading the union for the Major League Baseball players could soon become an advisor to the players union for the National Hockey League. According to Liz Mullen of the SportsBusiness Journal/SportsBusiness Daily, NHL player reps voted in support of allowing Fehr to assist the NHLPA in finding new a Exec Dir, among other things, on a conference call Sunday night, but there were not enough players on the call to establish a quorum, sources said. Mullen added that, “The 30 player reps who make up the Exec Board, the governing body of the union, now have until tomorrow evening to vote, as the constitution allows reps to send in votes to the union by e-mail or other means within 72 hours of a board meeting. The vote needs 20 yes votes to pass and 25 total votes to meet the quorum requirement.” How much is Fehr planning to charge for his services? Nothing – he is said to provide as much or as little assistance as player reps need, gratis, with only travel and other expenses included. The NHLPA has been in a state of disarray since former Executive Director Paul Kelly was voted out (see the complex chain of events). Fehr is set to be officially replaced by the MLBPA’s General Counsel, Michael Weiner at the Major League Baseball Players Association executive board meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. Nov. 30-Dec. 4 OTHER NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK (THE BIZ OF FOOTBALL) Boise St. Engages PR Firm in Attempt to Gain BCS Game Does the NFL Salary Cap Still Work? Browns Fire GM George Kokinis After 1-7 Start UFL Failing to Dazzle at the Turnstiles (THE BIZ OF HOCKEY) "Buzz" Hargrove Resigns As Interim Ombudsman of NHLPA BANKRUPTCY JUDGE APPROVES SALE OF COYOTES TO NHL (THE BIZ OF BASKETBALL) Timberwolves File Lawsuit Against AEG Over Target Center Signage Clippers Owner Donald Sterling Settles For $2.725M in Housing Discrimination Lawsuit NBA.TV Adds Brent Barry to On-Air Talent Roster (SPORTS BASH) Roger Clemens Should Have Listened to Momma The NHLPA Is Sports’ Dysfunctional Stepchild Rumor: Liberty Media Backing Out of Purchase of Bodybuilding.com After FDA Raid Sammy Sosa Proves Being a Metrosexual Has Its Consequences Key Off-Season Dates on MLB’s Calendar (and notes about them) Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is available for hire or freelance. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network. Don't forget to register and log in on The Biz of Baseball site to get updates via your in-box, and see information only logged in members can see. Follow Maury Brown on Twitter Follow The Biz of Baseball on Twitter Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook

Strikeforce Resolves Davis/Miller Situation

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:33:20 -0500

Mike Afromowitz of Strikeforce got back to me today and the promotion has made good on their promise to resolve the Davis/Miller situation. For anyone who does not know, Deray Davis and Mark Miller were scheduled to fight on Saturday night's preliminary card, however, due to time constraints the bout was canceled. As I mentioned yesterday, there were reports that the fighters were not paid their full salary and only received their "show" money. Here is Afromowitz's statemen...

Salute to the Troops

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:21:01 -0500

I wanted to take the time on Veteran's Day to give my personal salute to the men and women who protect our country. While many people talk about the "battles" that professional athletes face on game day, nothing compares to the actual battles that our veterans and the current troops face in the military. One day to honor them just doesn't seem like enough.

My father served in the Navy so I am aware of what our troops do and what they mean to this country. I will forever be thankful to these men and women.

Keep up the great work and get home safe!

Random Thoughts (a lot of them)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:37:00 -0500

YB!!!! What's good?! I apologize for only writing once last week. I meant to jump back on and write about a few things!

Anyway, hope the weekend went well and that the week got started right! I know I mentioned that I was apart of the 40 man training roster for the US Training team the past few months, and last week they announced the final 23 guys and I wasn't on the list. Now, clearly, I was disappointed, but the selection is completely out of my control. I was proud to be a part of the 40 man Training Roster, and though I wasn't selected for the final 23 guys, I'm confident that the guys that did will go over to England next summer and bring the Gold medal back where it belongs. Pumped up for my boys Max Seibald, Paul Rabil, Stephen Peyser, Joe Cinosky Drew Westervelt and Brendan Mundorf! Go to work fellas! I was fortunate enough to be part of the las US National Team (2006), so this is by no means the end of the world, just part of the game. Now it's time to get my off-season work outs going with my trainers, stay positive, work on getting my shot off quicker out of my dodge, and get ready to GO TO WORK next year for Denver!

Any of you all seen This is It? I'm hoping you all have! I've heard AMAZING things and I'm a HUGE MJ fan, have been seen since I was a baby and my parents would put on his music videos for me to fall asleep to. Either way, I promised Meredith I'd go with her, and I've been on the road and she's been on location working so we haven't gotten a chance yet! But, I think tomorrow is the night! Can't wait.

Weezy fans out there? Seen the trailer for his new documentary? Looks pretttttttty serious. More importantly, heard No Ceilings? I honestly think it may be better than Drought 3, which is the best mix tape I've ever heard. Interested to know everyone else's opinion on the situation.

Any thoughts on hoops thus far? Because of coast to coast travel, I haven't been able to watch as much as I'd like, but I'm liking how Nash is playing. Dropping dimes all over the place. Always exciting to see a dude of that size control the entire game WITH OUT scoring. Caught a bunch of Syracuse highlights this morning and those cats are ATHLETIC! Talking about running the floor! They'll literally run people into the ground this year with out a doubt.

You guys read ESPN Magazine? I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before here, but I'm a HUGE fan of the column called Player X. They've got dudes in the NFL writing a column about all the stuff that NO ONE talks about, definitely giving HUGE glimpse into the lives of these dudes. Some CRAZY stuff goes down with out a doubt.

Thats about all I've got for now!

I need to get some work done, but I'll get at you all a bit later!!

KHM

My Adventures in Italy: Entry 1

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:56:27 -0500

What’s going on everybody back in the States, welcome to my blog. So I decided to document my current residency/trip to Teramo, Italy and blog it for everybody to view for different reasons. First reason, I want to look back at this experience years from now and remember exactly what I was thinking at that particular time in my life. Not wait as time pass or once I’m back in America to change my initial thought process on each week-to-week learning experience my mind is giving me at this very instance. Second reason, I really don’t have a lot of stuff to do here so far, why not make my time here useful and productive. Might as well use that degree for something right? Third reason, I have a horrible memory so this could help me out when remembering things that I probably would forget anyway. Fourth reason, I want people to know what kind of stuff I’m doing over here just in case they might never travel out the country, you can live through me a little bit I guess. Lastly, I know you all miss me, so this is my way of talking to everybody if I don’t on a consistent basis. I’m hoping I can post new stuff every week, especially if I don’t get lazy. If I do (there’s a good chance), then for sure every two weeks, we will see what happens as we go. I know my entries aren’t going to be all accurate grammar wise, so don’t judge me ok? I’m not trying to get an A+ here people. So lets begin!

Been here for little bit over a week now (Aug 30), my internet just got installed in my place the other day. I didn’t really know what to expect once I came to Teramo regarding my place, car, food, the people and the whole playing basketball in Europe. I decided I was just going to take it as goes, so I wouldn’t disappoint myself pretty much. Everything has been pretty great so far. My place is nice I think; it’s 3 bedrooms (my bed is a queen), 2 bath apartment. My three teammates that are American who lives in my building here are older than me and married at that. Plus, all their wives are coming to stay here in a month or less, so I kind of feel like I’m going to be really chilling by myself soon, but I got my PS3!

Kitchen (top) Living room (bottom)

Outside my room (top) Inside my room (bottom)

Bathroom 1 (top, tub) Bathroom 2 (bottom, shower to the left behind the door)

Second bedroom (top) Third room (bottom, dryer and closets)

View from the living room balcony (top, left side) View from the left side (bottom)

Traveling to get here, which took about a full day was cool. I slept for most of it so the time went fast to be honest. We landed in Roma by way of Madrid, Spain (that’s what they call it here not Rome) and drove to Teramo in the team van, which took almost 2 hours, I feel asleep for most of that too. Soon as we get there, we had a team meeting for everybody in the organization that lasted an hour. Most of the coaches and players speak predominantly Italian but one coach is a translator and most of the teammates speak pretty good English too. Then after the meeting was over with, they took us to the track! I was like, “What the hell is wrong with these people?” “Can’t they just see I got here for traveling across the world” Anyways, I sucked it up and we jogged for 15 minutes around the track as a team and then we called it a day. Since then though, we run in the morning, which I didn’t mind at first, but now is getting tired of it and then practice in the evenings. The gym is hot and humid as hell so when we’re done I’m always dripping with sweat all over, we will see if this keeps up.

The city looks old but has that beautiful, historic feel to it. I believe it’s about 50,000 people living here and about 10-15 miles from the Sea. Everybody I met here is nice and the ones I don’t know just stare at me because I’m tall, dark, handsome and from America and they know I’m here to play basketball for their city. It didn’t take long to know my way around driving in the city. There are a couple roads I stick to that take me where I need to go for whatever reasons, so I’m good for that standpoint.

Picture outside the arch (top) From the inside (bottom)

Food here is another story though. Ok, if you know me, you know I loved me some breakfast. That is my specialty and the only thing I can proudly say I can cook and better than anybody! Just imagined how I felt when I get here and found out that breakfast is not a main concern here. No waffles, no pancakes, no syrup, no grits, no omelets, no french toast, no breakfast sandwiches, no sausage (the way I like it) and especially no BACON!!!!!!!!!! Bacon is my crack! It broke my heart when I saw that. Luckily enough, the other day I found something pretty close to bacon and I have force myself to use it as my substitute for the moment. At night, there are I think 4 to 5 restaurants here that sever pasta and pizza, the local foods and that’s it. So for dinner, I have been going back and forth with pizza pasta or I make hamburgers at home. So to make sure I stay healthy and get my much needed nutrients, I added salada (that’s Italian for salad people, lol) to my every night dinner menu.

I’m going to end it here people because I feel I wrote too much as is. That, or I’m tired or typing, plus I need to stuff to use to write next weeks blog. I got to keep my material new and fresh so you all can keep coming back. Hoping the lucky few that were smart enough to look on my page or see the notification of this and click to see. I thank you for reading my first entry, hope it was entertaining. Ttyl!

Elias Rankings for the 183 Potential MLB Free Agents

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:05:16 -0500

The Major League Baseball Players Association today released the Elias rankings for all 183 players that have been deemed to be "potential" free agents for the 2009-10 off-season. The term “potential” pertains to contract provisions with allow options, for either the player or club, to exercise. For example, Manny Ramirez is one such player. He exercised his player option for the 2010 to allow him to remain with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Some clubs have exercised options to release players. An example would be J.J. Putz with the New York Mets. The Elias rankings are important in determining draft pick compensation, should a player sign with another team (a player that files for free agency can resign with their former club. Case in point, Alex Rodriguez who resigned with the Yankees in 2007) Players are ranked as A, B, or no ranking what so ever. Clubs that sign a Type A free agent then give their 1st-round pick to the player’s former club. The exception would be unless the pick ranks within the top 15, in which case a 2ndround pick goes to the former club. That club also gets an extra pick between the first and second rounds. If a club loses a Type B free agent to another team, that club then gets an extra "sandwich" pick. The rankings are based upon player stats as collected by Elias. Select Read More to see the complete listing

Vick: "I Won't Be A Wildcat Guy. I Can't."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:20:00 -0500

Bob Costas caught up with Mike Vick for an interview that aired during last night's pregame show, and let's just say he doesn't seem too thrilled to be here. "It would be hard," Vick said of returning to the Eagles, according to excerpts released by NBC. "It would be an everyday struggle. But I would have to take that time to hone my skills and get better. I'm excited about the opportunity I have moving forward whether it's with Philadelphia or another te...