galligan587455: January 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

Senior Bowl Showcases Less-Heralded Prospects Along With Big Names

January 27 2011 Last updated at 11:50 AM ET

Saturday's Under Armour Senior Bowl will feature many of the nation's top senior college football players in a North-against-South format.

Fans will certainly recognize established talents and their schools, such as quarterbacks Jake Locker of Washington and Greg McElroy of Alabama; offensive lineman Gabe Carimi of Wisconsin and defensive end Ryan Kerrigan of Purdue.

Quick, have you ever heard of Brandon Fusco? Or Slippery Rock University?

"I never really pictured myself being here, but I worked hard through my senior season to be here, so I am very excited about the opportunity and very blessed by the opportunity," Fusco told the media earlier this week.

Fusco was one of three small-school players from Division II teams invited to play in the 62nd annual Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

The other two players are Southern Arkansas defensive lineman Cedric Thornton and receiver Edmund Gates from Abilene Christian. Gates was injured in practice and won't play.

Fusco and Thornton are the first two players from their respective schools to play in a Senior Bowl game.

"The Senior Bowl has a long history of affording the opportunity to guys from smaller schools to showcase their talents in front of the top decision-makers in the National Football League," Senior Bowl president and CEO Steve Hale said.

Fusco, at 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds, certainly has an impressive resume.

He won the Gene Upshaw Award as the top lineman in Division II, an award he will be presented with at halftime of Saturday's game. Fusco is also the Division II winner of the Rimington Award, presented to the top center in the country, and a first-team All-American.

Yet, awards don't mean much at the Senior Bowl. Fusco is tagged as the only Division II player considered a top-5 prospect at his position, and some view him as a fifth- or sixth-round selection in the NFL Draft.

"I know my game," said Fusco, who was raised near Slippery Rock, Penn., about a hour's drive north of Pittsburgh. "I'm confident I can hold my own."

Thornton also believes in his talents, even though he has not played since sustaining a high ankle sprain on Oct. 29.

Thornton, a first-team All-Gulf South Conference selection, recorded 52 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He ranked 16th in Division II and first in the GSC in tackles for loss (1.63 per game) and was 15th in the conference in total tackles (6.5 per game).

"There's no doubt, I have to stand out. I've got to dominate," Thornton told the Pensacola (Fla.) News-Journal.

"They are not looking for me to come in here and get pancaked (flattened by a blocker). They are looking for me to succeed. That's why I am here."

Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2011/01/27/senior-bowl-showcases-less-heralded-prospects-along-with-big-nam/

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D.C. United set to unveil third kit for 2011 season

Washington, D.C. ? D.C. United today announced plans for a third kit to be worn during the 2011 season. The full kit will be unveiled on Saturday, January 29 at 2:00 p.m. on the L Street Bridge of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The presentation, featuring Branko Boskvic, Andy Najar, Chris Pontius, Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms and Josh Wolff, anchors D.C. United Day at the Washington Auto Show?, presented by Volkswagen. The players will appear at the Volkswagen booth from 2:30-3:30 p.m, following the jersey launch. Julius James and Kurt Morsink will appear at the Volkswagen booth from 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 30.

PHOTO GALLERY: Third kit for 2011

Following Saturday?s unveiling, a giant 15x15 foot replica third jersey will hang in the main lobby of the Washington Convention Center for the remainder of the Washington Auto Show (Jan. 30-Feb. 6).

?We?re very excited about the new look that this alternate jersey will provide our team,? said D.C United Executive Vice President Stephen Zack. ?The fact that the Volkswagen logo is so prominent on the front of our shirt is not lost on us ? they are a wonderful company and are integrated into everything we do. We?re thrilled to launch the third kit with them at the Washington Auto Show.?

?Volkswagen is excited to have D.C. United here with us at the Washington Auto Show to showcase our continued partnership,? said Ben Freidson, Sports Strategy Manager, Volkswagen of America, Inc. ?It?s important for us to be a part of this high-profile event with a team that is so integrated into the community. We?re looking forward to an exciting season together.?

Created by adidas and prominently featuring the Volkswagen logo, D.C. United?s new kit will debut during the MLS regular season. The third jersey will be available for pre-sale at dcuteamstore.com on Saturday at approximately 3:00 PM following the unveiling. Jerseys are expected to begin shipping on Feb. 18. The authentic third jersey will be available for $110. $5 from each jersey sale will be donated to Red Card Cancer, a fundraising initiative for cancer research in partnership with Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

Media wishing to be credentialed for the jersey unveiling should contact Washington Auto Show media relations at bonnie@pomeranceassociates.com.

The Washington Auto Show runs January 28-February 6 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. For events and show hours, go to washingtonautoshow.com.

Volkswagen of America, Inc.
Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Eos, Golf, GTI, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, CC, Tiguan, Touareg and Routan through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. All 2011 Volkswagen vehicles come standard-equipped with Electronic Stability Control (ESC). This is important because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called ESC the most effective new vehicle safety technology since the safety belt. Visit Volkswagen of America online at www.vw.com or www.media.vw.com to learn more.

Source: http://www.dcunited.com/press-release/2011/01/dc-united-set-to-unveil-third-kit-for-2011-season

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Zdeno Chara, Alex Ovechkin Shine in NHL SuperSkills Competition

January 29 2011 Last updated at 08:59 PM ET

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Team Staal dominated Saturday's NHL SuperSkills, an event highlighted by Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara's fourth consecutive victory in the hardest shot competition with a record-setting volley of 105.9 mph and another win by Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin in the breakaway challenge.

Team Staal earned a 33-22 victory -- winning five of the six events -- over Team Lidstrom at RBC Center, a prelude to Sunday's NHL All-Star Game.

Chara defeated Nashville's Shea Weber, who had an impressive shot of his own that was clocked at 103.4 mph.

"It was tough," Chara said. "The guys were shooting really, really hard. They really pushed me."

Ovechkin, who broke a few sticks during the hardest shot challenge and tripped over a camera cord during the exhibition, said he was "surprised" the fans voted him the winner. He was chosen ahead of Montreal rookie defenseman P.K. Subban in the text message poll.

"Subban did a great job, but I would have voted for Corey Perry," Ovechkin said.

Fastest skater
Michael Grabner (Team Staal), New York Islanders, 14.238 seconds def. Taylor Hall (Team Lidstrom), Edmonton, 14.715.

Breakaway challenge (Fans voted via text message)
1. Alex Ovechkin (Team Staal), Washington , 38.5%
2. P.K. Subban (Team Staal), Washington, 21.3%
3. Loui Eriksson (Team Lidstrom), Dallas, 13.4%

Accuracy shooting
Daniel Sedin (Team Staal), Vancouver, def. Patrick Kane (Team Lidstrom), Chicago, in finals with time of 8.9 seconds.

Skills challenge relay
Team Lidstrom (2:09) def. Team Staal (2:18)

Hardest shot
1. Zdeno Chara (Team Staal), Boston, 105.9 mph
2. Shea Weber (Team Lidstrom), Nashville, 104.8

Elimination shoot out
Corey Perrry (Team Staal), Anaheim, 3-for-3

Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2011/01/29/nhl-superskills-competition-results/

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Eddie House Makes Playing Time Count

January 29 2011 Last updated at 05:36 PM ET

The carousel of Miami Heat guards shuffling constantly in and out of lineup coupled with injuries the team has suffered recently has now brought Eddie House back to being a steady contributor to the team who originally drafted him back in 2000.

Though slowed by a right ankle sprain that limited his minutes against the New York Knicks on Thursday, House stepped up and provided a much-needed boost off the bench to continue building on his blossoming production as of late. Putting aside the Knicks game, he's averaged 13.3 points and scored in double figures in the Heat's last five games along with knocking down 14 3-pointers.

Relegated to spectator during the Heat's dominant stretch for the last month and a half, House chose to stay positive and be ready if coach Erik Spoelstra needed him.

"Of course it's tough when you're not playing," admitted House after helping the Heat to a much-needed win against the scrappy Detroit Pistons with 15 points. "But that's the thing about it, you sit there and look at it in a negative light then when your number gets called you'll probably have negative results."

With only so many minutes to go around, House was squeezed out of the rotation once Chalmers was fully healed from a high ankle sprain suffered during the offseason. Once Wade and Bosh return to the lineup, and Spoelstra can revert to his normal lineups, it will remain to be seen whether House can play regular minutes. The savvy veteran with championship experience from his time with the Boston Celtics understood it was nothing personal as he looked on from the bench earlier this season.

"That's nothing that I can control," House said diplomatically. "It wasn't anything that i was doing per se, it was a matter of the team making changes, and I was the odd man out. I just stayed positive, kept working hard and coming to the gym and getting my shots up. Making sure I was staying into the game even when I wasn't playing and, when I got my number called, that positive energy turned into positive results."

In crunch time Friday night, it was House that was on the floor while Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo looked on from the bench. With LeBron James and Mike Miller as the playmakers for the team, Spoelstra couldn't afford to lose House's firepower with Dwyane Wade missing yet another game.

His faith was rewarded with a surprising play featuring House creating off the dribble and initiating contact with Ben Gordon for the game-winning free throws in a very Wade-like manner. House couldn't contain his emotions and celebrated to the delight of the home crowd and his teammates.

"Feeling it? I was feeling good," he laughed afterward in the locker room. "I was getting open shots and I was trying to knock them down. I was feeling no better than I was feeling the last few games.

"You never know, (Friday night) I played three minutes. It's all about staying ready. I just try to maximize my minutes."

Asked about the particular celebrations, House said little but chose to dedicate it to a close friend who's had his own history of stepping up in the clutch.

"That was for my boy Sam Cassell," House said. "He knows, that's my boy Sam."

Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/01/29/eddie-house-makes-playing-time-count/

sports wikipedia

Herschel Walker vs. Scott Carson Fight Video

Nick Diaz, left, punches Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, from Brazil, in the second round of a Strikeforce Welterweight Championship mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Diaz won by submission in the second round to retain his championship. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Nick Diaz, top, punches Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, from Brazil, in the second round of a Strikeforce Welterweight Championship mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Diaz won by submission in the second round to retain his championship. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, from Brazil, reacts after losing to Nick Diaz in the second round of a Strikeforce Welterweight Championship mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Diaz won by submission in the second round to retain his championship. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Nick Diaz celebrates after beating Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, from Brazil, in a Strikeforce Welterweight Championship mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Diaz won by submission in the second round to retain his championship. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, from Brazil, top, punches Robbie Lawler in the second round of a Strikeforce Middleweight Championship mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Souza won by submission in the third round to retain his championship. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, from Brazil, celebrates after beating Robbie Lawler by submission in the third round of a Strikeforce Middleweight Championship mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Souza retained his championship. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Former NFL football player Herschel Walker, left, punches Scott Carson during the first round of a Strikeforce heavyweight mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Walker won by technical knock out in the first round. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Former NFL football player Herschel Walker, top, tackles Scott Carson during the first round a Strikeforce heavyweight mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Walker won by technical knock out in the first round. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Herschel Walker celebrates after beating Scott Carson in a Strikeforce heavyweight mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Walker won by technical knock out in the first round. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Roger Gracie, from Brazil, right, chokes Trevor Prangley in the first round of a Strikeforce light heavyweight mixed martial arts fight in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Gracie won by first round submission. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Diaz vs. Cyborg Photos

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/01/29/herschel-walker-vs-scott-carson-fight-video/

football games

Rickie Weeks Sets Deadline in Extension Negotiations With Brewers

January 31 2011 Last updated at 11:35 AM ET

Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks is more than willing to talk about a long-term contract extension with the team, but he will only talk for a limited time. Once spring training begins, Weeks only wants to think about one thing.

"Once I get to spring training, I want to focus on baseball," said Weeks.

The upcoming season is the last in which Weeks is arbitration-eligible. Weeks asked for a $7.2 million salary for the 2011 season while the team countered with an offer of $4.85 million. Even though the two sides are far apart in the negotiations, no matter what, Weeks will be in a Brewers uniform in 2011. Whether or not he'll have the opportunity to test the free-agent market is still unknown.

Weeks let the Brewers know earlier that he'd be willing to talk about a long-term deal, but after a breakout 2010 season, he's shooting for the moon. Weeks hit .269 with 29 home runs last year, but more significantly he avoided injury and played in 159 games ? something he has failed to do since he arrived on the scene in 2003.

Injuries have plagued the 28-year-old second baseman's entire professional career -- at least that was the case until 2010.

Now that Weeks has finally showed the baseball world exactly the kind of numbers he can put up, he wants to be paid. The Brewers, fearful of his propensity to injury, are hesitant to pay that asking price until Weeks shows he can stay healthy.
Unfortunately, Milwaukee may not have the luxury of waiting.

If the Brewers wait, and Weeks has another stellar season in 2011, he'll have the opportunity to test the free-agent market to gauge what other teams would be willing to pay. A power-hitting middle infielder with two years of injury-free play will fetch a huge salary ? one larger, likely, than the Brewers would have to pay right now to secure Weeks to a long-term deal.

These negotiations are a dangerous game of chicken, a game that both sides must play. When Weeks announced his unwillingness to talk once spring training begins, he enacted a very definite deadline. The odds of getting a long-term deal completed in such a short timeframe, considering the two sides aren't even close on a one-year deal, seem extremely low.

Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/01/31/rickie-weeks-sets-deadline-in-extension-negotiations/

basketball

Starry Night at MSG Fields Unlikely Hero

NEW YORK -- For the past decade, Madison Square Garden and more specifically the NBA team that called it home -- the New York Knicks -- was the rotten core of Big Apple sports.

This season, things are different. Thanks to Amar'e Stoudemire, the Knicks' first All-Star starter since 1997, the apple is polished and shiny and red and juicy. On Thursday, everyone wanted to take a bite.

TNT, back for the first time at the Garden in five years, went all out. They brought "Inside the NBA" up from Atlanta and managed to sneak Marv Albert past the Dolans and into the building. They announced the All-Star starters and three of the five Eastern Conference starters happened to be in the building.

The glitterati such as "The Donald," "The King of All Media," Kanye West, Spike Lee, Woody Allen, Alicia Keys and Tracy Morgan and his very dirty mind more than likely would have shown up to see LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat even if the Knicks were playing willing patsies to marauding opponents as they had in the past.

The stars had come to see stars, and for a while, they got what they came for.

Then the contest took a trip back in time to the 1990s when the Heat-Knicks rivalry epitomized ugly, brutal, disjointed -- and did I mention, ugly -- basketball. They also got a glimpse of the NBA's best rookie this side of Blake Griffin, Landry Fields, helping the Knicks to a hard-fought 93-88 win.

Fields, who hit two huge 3-pointers in the final five minutes, finished with 19 points, 13 boards and six assists. Not bad for a second-round pick that was left out of the 2010 Draft media guide. Count Miami coach Erik Spoelstra as one of the gobsmacked.

"He's a guy in this league, in this day and age, that's easy to overlook," Spoelstra said. "He has a game that's a throwback, old-school game that's built on cuts, movement, energy and getting your hands dirty.

"All the little things most players grow up not wanting to be with ESPN and the highlights. You have to give him credit because he's made a niche for himself."

Giving Fields credit is easy because it's deserved. The 6-foot-6 rookie is a perfect complement to Amar'e the All-Star and better-than-advertised guard Raymond Felton. Fields has been a breath of fresh air to a franchise that needed to free itself from the stench of failure.

"Landry plays smart. He never lets the game get out of control. He always plays within the game, and it works out for him. He is one of those players where a lot of energy plays get him going."
-- Amare Stoudemire "Landry plays smart," Stoudemire said. "He never lets the game get out of control. He always plays within the game, and it works out for him.

"He is one of those players where a lot of energy plays get him going."

Energy is nice, but if a player doesn't have the talent to match, that energy goes to waste. Not with Fields. For such a young player, he's surprisingly unflappable.

"My whole theme of today was staying focused," Fields said. "I wanted to remain that way no matter how many we were up, how many we were down, fourth quarter, first quarter, second or third, I wanted to remain consistent."

He may have been the only one on an even keel because the game itself was far from it. With LeBron James in a funk (he would miss 17 of his 24 shots), Miami's original assassin, Wade, sporting new goggles to lessen the effects of migraines, went to work. At one point, Wade saw the basketball world through his Heat-tinted goggles by hitting 13 of his first 14 shots. Someone asked Fields if he was freaked out by Wade's eyewear.

"He looks like a superhero to me," Fields said.

Wade looked that way to everyone. But then the Knicks' defense finally wore down the Heat, holding them to 15 fourth-quarter points.

"The first two games we got caught by surprise at how fast they are defensively and the way they play," Stoudemire said. "They are very aggressive, very quick, very fast and very strong.

"The first game we played well in the first half. The second game we played well in the second half. Tonight, we put a total 48-minute game together and got the win."

This kind of gritty, grind-it-out effort is what the Knicks will need if they want to make -- and survive -- in the playoffs. Yes, playoffs, a subject the currently sixth-seeded Knicks, who have one postseason appearance in the last 10 seasons, bring up without provocation or irony.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Fields said. "We still have a lot of time left for playoff time."

He may be right. This Knicks team, for all its flaws -- streaky shooting, lack of depth and consistent defensive intensity -- looks as if it could be playing the postseason.

The Garden, and the stars that fill the seats as well as those on the court, better get ready.

Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/01/28/starry-night-at-msg-fields-unlikely-hero/

basketball history

Omar Gonzalez, Juan Agudelo Among U.S. Players to Watch Against Chile

It's all-too easy to get caught up in the post-World Cup hangover. When the words "four-year cycle" are thrown around, the slow climb toward Brazil 2014 can feel like an eternity.

But this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup is a crucial event. Although the regional tournament is a biennial affair, many countries send their best personnel only to the edition that occurs the year after the World Cup, when a berth in the next Confederations Cup is at stake.

The very youthful pool of players summoned to Carson, Calif., by U.S. coach Bob Bradley ahead of Saturday's friendly against Chile (10 p.m. ET, TeleFutura) clearly indicates that he has one eye on the more-distant future. But Bradley surely will be using the other to evaluate certain players for his 23-man Gold Cup roster.

If these eight players manage to show something against the Chileans and carry that momentum forward, they just might join Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and the rest of the varsity squad in June.

Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Carlos Bocanegra and Jay DeMerit, two center backs who didn't miss a minute of action in South Africa, each will be 34 years old come 2014. That in mind, it's safe to assume Bradley would like to inject some youth into central defense. And the 22-year-old Gonzalez (photo), an MLS defender of the year finalist, looks like an ideal candidate.

At 6-5, he possesses the necessary physical tools to succeed. But as Gonzalez's up-and-down international debut against Brazil in August revealed, he still has a way to go when it comes to his distribution out of the back and man-marking.

Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls)

If Bradley isn't impressed by Gonzalez's athletic prowess, he might find Ream's uncanny composure and organizational expertise more to his liking. A 2010 rookie of the year finalist, Ream played every minute of New York's worst-to-first campaign that was in full force long before the celebrated midseason signings of Thierry Henry and Rafael M�rquez.

Ream and Gonzalez seem to complement each other quite well, and U.S. fans will probably see the pairing work together against Chile. Still, it's hard to imagine Bradley taking two inexperienced center backs to the Gold Cup, so they could very well end up competing against each other for a spot.

Sean Franklin (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Incumbent Steve Cherundolo has the right back spot clamped down for the foreseeable future. Behind him, there waits a stable of talented defenders, including West Ham's Jonathan Spector and Aston Villa's Eric Lichaj, trying to position themselves to take over when the time comes.

All of this said, Franklin still has a chance thanks to his speed and overlapping vigor. The biggest disadvantage for the 25-year-old? Bradley's reluctance to position right-footed players at left back. As a result, there's a chance just one out of Spector, Lichaj and Franklin will represent the Yanks this summer.

Mikkel Diskerud (Stab�k, Norway)

Even though the U.S. player pool is already stacked with gifted central midfielders, it's hard to ignore a 20-year-old who brings creative zeal to the table like Diskerud.

The Norwegian-born playmaker only needed 11 minutes during his international debut against South Africa in November to show off that flair, skillfully evading a swarm of defenders before assisting Juan Agudelo's game-winner. It's that type of match-changing bravado that makes Diskerud such an enticing prospect.

Alejandro Bedoya (�rebro, Sweden)

The grizzled veteran of the bunch, with six caps to his name, Bedoya brings pace and energy to the flanks that nearly earned him a spot on the World Cup roster.

His immediate future with the national team could very well depend on the type of skill set Bradley looks for in his reserve midfielders. If he's content depending on natural central midfielders, such as Benny Feilhaber, Sacha Kljestan and Diskerud, to also provide depth out wide, Bedoya could be out of luck. If not, the former Boston College Eagle's ability to operate as a true winger could be his saving grace.

Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls)

It's well-documented that no U.S. forward has scored in a World Cup since Brian McBride notched two goals in 2002. As promising as Jozy Altidore is, he only scored three goals for club and country last year.

Thus, the search for capable goal-scorers continues. Enter the 18-year-old Agudelo, who had played just 14 minutes before starting the Red Bulls' two playoff games last fall. But he made two promising starts in the playoffs before finding net during his international debut against South Africa, making him the youngest U.S. scorer in the modern era. Premature or not, consider the hype machine revved and ready to go.

Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City)

Despite being a Canadian youth international and the son of Alex Bunbury, a former Canadian national team striker, Teal Bunbury accepted a U.S. call-up in November and picked up his first cap against South Africa.

Like Agudelo, Bunbury is young (20), well built (6-2, 175 pounds) and largely unproven (just 13 starts his rookie year). His respectable five-goal haul in those limited MLS minutes hints at his potential, though he still might be a few years away from being an impact player at the international level.

Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

As Bradley's selections of Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez to the World Cup squad conveyed, he won't hesitate to place his trust with in-form strikers, even if their international experience is lacking.

At 27 years old, Wondolowski had never sniffed the national team before this camp. Now, after scoring 18 goals to win the MLS golden boot and carry his club to the playoffs, he seems as good a candidate as any to earn minutes up top. Plus, he offers the versatility to fill in on the wing.

Source: http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2011/01/21/omar-gonzalez-juan-agudelo-among-us-players-to-watch-against-chile/

basketball playbook

Marta Returns to WPS, Signs with Expansion Club in Western New York

January 26 2011 Last updated at 08:59 AM ET

She is, without question, the best women's soccer player in the world -- a five-time FIFA award winner whose stunning skill would impress even Andy Gray and Richard Keys.

Her talents have translated to Women's Professional Soccer, where she led her clubs to first place in each of the league's two seasons while scoring 29 goals.

But she's also been the kiss of death. Worth a reported $500,000 per year, the Brazilian's contract has weighed heavily on clubs struggling to survive in a sport that still hasn't turned the corner. Marta's first team, the Los Angeles Sol, folded one year ago after L.A. Galaxy owner Anschutz Entertainment Group pulled out and a prospective replacement failed to deliver. WPS's marquee franchise was history.

Its marquee player moved north to the Bay Area to join FC Gold Pride, who improved on its last place finish in 2009 and won the league championship last year. Marta scored the final goal in a 4-0 rout of Philadelphia in the final. Two months later, the Pride closed up shop.

Four clubs have gone under in all, and WPS will kick off its third season with just six (or five-and-a-half, we don't know what to make of the ludicrous half-franchise that is magicTalk SC/Washington Freedom), one (or one-and-a-half) fewer than it started with two years ago. With the league hanging on by a couple of threads, which club would be willing to take on the brilliant half-million dollar jinx?

Turns out it's going to be the expansion team in the league's smallest market. The Western New York Flash, launched by the Sahlen's meat packing company (check out the similar logo -- it's good to see the new club upholding the tradition of pointless, indecipherable WPS team names) and scheduled to play in Rochester, have elected to shoulder the Marta burden in the hope that fans might turn out to see the world's best player. marta flash

"(Owner Joe Sahlen) recognized Marta's importance to the league and wanted to keep her here," Flash GM Henrik Ambarchian told The Buffalo News. "He decided to assume her contract. We contacted the league office and the FC Gold Pride was willing to transfer her right to the Flash. We did contact her agent and he gave us his word and OK'd the move. He (said he) would contact Marta and give her the good news.

"She is a global name. People around the world know who she is and will follow where she plays. That brings global attention to Western New York."

It certainly is a gamble, and it will be interesting to see if Marta can acclimatize herself to a culture that's far different from that of Brazil and California (she has played professionally in Sweden as well). It'll also be interesting to see whether fans can acclimatize themselves to buying tickets to WPS games. Regular season attendance fell 23% last season.

Thanks to Marta, the Flash will likely win. Whether they can attract fans, and stay in business, will have a tremendous impact on the future of American women's soccer.

Source: http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2011/01/26/marta-returns-to-wps-signs-with-expansion-club-in-western-new-y/

football history

Hannah Storm Signs New ESPN Contract

January 26 2011 Last updated at 03:20 PM ET

Hannah Storm, arguably the most visible woman at ESPN, has signed a contract extension that will bolster her visibility, the channel announced Wednesday.

Storm, who came to the Worldwide Leader from CBS News in 2008 to launch the late-morning "SportsCenter", has inked a deal, the length and financial terms of which were not disclosed.

However, ESPN was all too happy to announce that Storm, who began hosting NBA coverage, will also be on-site host for the channel's coverage of the Super Bowl, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, as well as the NBA Finals.

Storm will also make appearances on "The Sports Reporters", while continuing to host "SportsCenter" on Sunday mornings during the NFL season and the Tournament of Roses Parade and "ESPN Sports Saturday" on ABC. .

Storm, who previously worked at NBC Sports and at CNN, is the wife of NBC's Dan Hicks.

Source: http://www.fanhouse.com/2011/01/26/hannah-storm-signs-new-espn-contract/

who invented football

Sunday, January 30, 2011

US players to be considered domestic for Canadian teams

NEW YORK ? The 2011 MLS season will see the league?s two Canadian clubs operate on a more even playing field compared to their US-based counterparts.

The league announced on Friday that players considered domestic players in the United States will also be considered domestic players in Canada.

?We want to make sure the MLS teams from Canada are competitive with other MLS teams and, at the same time, we want to make sure we?re creating the best environment for domestic players to develop in Canada,? MLS executive vice president of player relations and competition Todd Durbin told MLSsoccer.com.

?The backbone of the league has been and will continue to be the US domestic players, and that is a very large pool upon which our teams can draw from. If the Canadian teams are limited in their ability to draw from that pool, there?s a possibility that it could impact them competitively on the field.?

With the freedom to select players from the pool of US and Canadian domestic players, the Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto FC and future Canadian clubs will also be required to maintain a minimum of three Canadian players on their roster. Montreal is set to join the league in 2012.

The rule sets the first ever domestic-player minimum for MLS clubs in league history. Durbin expects Canadian teams to regularly exceed this number.

?You could in theory have a team with no Canadian domestics on it,? Durbin said. ?That is clearly not our goal and it?s not the goal of Vancouver or Toronto, who are committed to developing players.?

In order to monitor the impact on the development of Canadian players, MLS has partnered with the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) in setting up a task force that will continually evaluate the rule, which expires after the 2015 season.

?MLS and the CSA will be working together to ensure that there?s optimal player development opportunities for players in Canada,? Durbin said. ?We?ll also be reviewing the number of Canadian players on each MLS roster with the idea of balancing the need for MLS teams to be competitive and our collective commitment to developing players in Canada.?

�

Source: http://www.dcunited.com/news/2011/01/us-players-to-be-considered-domestic-for-canadian-teams

foot locker

FanHouse TV: Steve Phillips on Mets, Bernie Madoff Scandal

January 29 2011 Last updated at 10:04 PM ET

The Wilpon family announced this week that they were looking to sell a portion of the Mets, citing uncertainty in the wake of the Bernie Madoff scandal. While the parties on the other side of any potential lawsuit against the Wilpons may believe that the family was guilty in some part of Madoff's scheme, not all agree.

Steve Phillips may know the Wilpon family better than anyone after a 20-year association with the team, and he isn't buying it.

Phillips explains why he knows Fred and Jeff Wilpon are victims, not villains in this FanHouse TV Exclusive.

Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/01/29/fanhouse-tv-steve-phillips-on-mets-bernie-madoff-scandal/

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NASCAR President Mike Helton Confirms Points System Change Imminent

January 21 2011 Last updated at 03:00 PM ET

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR President Mike Helton, Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton and Sprint Cup Series director John Darby held a competition update news conference Friday at Daytona International Speedway, confirming that the sanctioning body is looking at a "simpler" points system that would be introduced in all three national series for the 2011 season.

Speaking to reporters during downtime from a three-day preseason test session at the Daytona Beach track, the trio spoke on a wide range of issues. First, Helton made the news official that drivers must now select only one of the three national series to earn points toward a championship. He also indicated NASCAR was considering changes to the 1, 3 and 7:30 p.m. race start times introduced this past year.

Pemberton said that the proposed fuel injection systems would not be used this season but are progressing well in tests and Darby explained that the introduction of ethanol to fuel this year was actually an easier transition than when NASCAR switched from leaded to unleaded fuel in 2008.

The hot topic, unquestionably, was a change to the points system -- which would be the first since NASCAR formed in 1958 -- even if none of the officials would confirm what the new format might look like.

"We're in the middle of the conversations, telling the competitors where our mind is,'' Helton said. "The goal for some time is to create a points system that is easy to understand, easy to explain, easy to talk about but also be credible at the end of the season. So it's a function of taking the current one that has established credibility and come up with one that you can sit and have a conversation with someone and they say, 'well, that's pretty simple.' ''

"We're close. And we're getting a lot of good feedback from the drivers about tweaks that would go into that.''

The Associated Press citing unnamed sources, reported this week that NASCAR is considering a system using 43 points. The winner in the 43-car field gets 43 points and the last place car gets one point. Helton said the tweak to that might include bonuses for wins as incentive and reward.

NASCAR CEO Brian France is expected to announce the new points system next Wednesday at dinner with the national racing media at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.

Helton was asked if he thought the late timing of the news -- with teams expected in Daytona Beach for the season-opening Speedweeks only three weeks from now -- might hurt the series' credibility with competitors and fans.
"I think that our fans -- as long as we maintain the core elements of the sport, tweaking the points, tweaking the Chase, tweaking different components in the sport -- they're quick studies."
-- Mike Helton
"I think the credibility of our final decision is actually better because of the collaborative effort that we put into it today as opposed to what might have happened in the past to get to the final decision,'' Helton said. "So that when the final decision is confirmed, and NASCAR, who's the governing body and responsible for making the final decisions, right, wrong or indifferent, our appetite and our desire is to do it correctly and have one that makes sense and not one just for the sake of changing things. ''

And Helton continued, "I think that our fans -- as long as we maintain the core elements of the sport, tweaking the points, tweaking the Chase, tweaking different components in the sport -- they're quick studies.

"And by the time we announce our final decisions and the time Speed Week opens up, in today's world with all the opportunity to debate it and discuss it and to wash it out between all of our stakeholders, I think the season will start off with, 'Okay, let's go.'''

Helton explained that the new pick-your-championship rule was designed to give the lesser tier Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series a more distinct identity. Under the new rules, a driver such as defending series champion Brad Keselowski may win 10 times in the Nationwide Series in 2011, but he will not receive any points in the drivers championship, although his car owner can earn points toward that title.

In other news, Pemberton reported that he was satisfied with the new, slightly smaller restrictor plate that the Sprint Cup Series cars have been running during this three-day test at Daytona. Yesterday's top speed -- turned in by David Reutimann's No. 00 Toyota -- was 195.780 mph. Tony Stewart had the fastest lap in Friday's rain-delayed first session at 194.884 mph.

"There's some margin in there,'' Pemberton said, The track is smooth and we're happy with where we're at right now and maybe even a little bit quicker.''

Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2011/01/21/nascar-president-mike-helton-confirms-points-system-change-immin/

basketball offenses

TCU Horned Frogs Tops Among Non-AQ Teams in 2011 Recruiting

In the final push toward National Signing Day 2011 on Wednesday, FanHouse has examined the recruiting efforts of major conferences in twice-weekly notebooks. As always, recruiting is an always-changing landscape -- and there are several high-profile players who remain uncommitted. In the finale of the eight-part series, here is FanHouse's review of the major non-automatic BCS qualifiers.

THE BEST

TCU HORNED FROGS

Total commitments (as of Jan. 27): 25

Five- and four-star commitments: 2

The 411: TCU is all set to join the Big East in 2012, leaving the Mountain West in search of a conference that has an automatic berth in the BCS for the league champion. Doing so will be slightly easier with four-star incoming talent like ATH LaDarius Brown (6-2, 190, Waxahachie, Texas, HS) and DT Chuck Hunter (6-1, 294, West Monroe, La., HS) on board.

Grade: A

UTAH UTES

Total commitments (as of Jan. 27): 18

Five- and four-star commitments: 2

The 411: Like TCU, Utah is bolting the Mountain West for an automatic qualifier -- though a year earlier, and the Utes might find the new Pac-12 a bit tougher sledding than the Big East. Of course, loading up with four-star commitments like RB Harvey Langi (6-1, 220, South Jordon, Utah, Bingham HS) and DB Keith McBill (6-4, 215, Norwalk, Calif., Cerritos CC) will make the transition earlier.

Grade: A

THE CONTENDERS

BOISE STATE BRONCOS

Total commitments (as of Jan. 27): 20

Five- and four-star commitments: 0

The 411: The Broncos are also on the move to a new conference, though switching from the WAC to the Mountain West will continue to keep Boise State on the outside of the BCS party without an automatic invitation. Recruiting is an unfinished puzzle for Boise State, though the commitments of QB Jimmy Laughrea (6-2, 180, Rocklin, Calif., HS) and DT Jeff Worthy (6-4, 275, La Habra, Calif., Whittier Christian HS) are a solid start.

Grade: B+

SMU MUSTANGS

Total commitments (as of Jan. 27): 27

Five- and four-star commitments: 1

The 411: SMU is staying put in Conference USA, continuing its renaissance under coach June Jones. DE Davon Moreland (6-3, 225, Los Angeles, Calif., Salesian HS) and OL Dontae Levingston (6-5, 279, Harbor City, Calif., Narbonne HS) are the high spots in the 2011 recruiting class.

Grade: B

REST OF THE PACK

LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS

Total commitments (as of Jan. 27): 22

Five- and four-star commitments: 0

The 411: Coach Spike Dykes is going through his first full recruiting class, and just has a spot or two left to fill. The best future Bulldogs are OL Oscar Johnson (6-6, 350, Wesson, Ms., Copiah-Lincoln CC) and WR Quinton Patton (6-0, 195, Coffeyville, Kan., Coffeyville CC).

Grade: B-

WESTERN KENTUCKY HILLTOPPERS

Total commitments (as of Jan. 27): 17

Five- and four-star commitments: 0

The 411: The Hilltoppers still have a bit to go before the 2011 recruiting finish line, but already have a strong jump on the rest of the Sun Belt. LB Daerius Washington (6-0, 190, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dillard HS) and WR Boe Brand (6-0, 155, Bradenton, Fla., Southeast HS) are two steals from the Sunshine State.

Grade: C

TOLEDO ROCKETS

Total commitments (as of Jan. 27): 16

Five- and four-star commitments: 0

The 411: Toledo also has room left to fill its 2011 recruiting class, though the Rockets have a good jump on the rest of the Mid-American Conference. WR Alonzo Russell (6-4, 188, New Berlin, N.Y., Milford Academy) and WR Justin Olack (6-3, 195, Massillon, Ohio, Washington HS) are big future passing targets.

Grade: C

HAWAII WARRIORS

Total commitments (as of Jan. 27): 12

Five- and four-star commitments: 0

The 411: Hawaii still has several spots to fill in its 2011 recruiting class, which means grading the Warriors a work in progress. RB Will Gregory (6-0, 179, Compton, Calif., Dominguez HS) and LB Brenden Daley (6-4, 255, Ventura, Calif., CC) have Hawaii off to a strong start.

Grade: C-

COMMITMENT TICKER

As National Signing Day is less than a week away, more and more athletes are making their commitments. Since Monday, five four-star athletes are among the 24 public pledges -- which are non-binding and are always subject to change before Wednesday.

Four-star RB Tre Mason (5-9, 185, Lake Worth, Fla., Park Vista HS) committed to Auburn. Four-star RB Bishop Sankey (5-11, 190, Spokane, Wash., Gonzaga Prep School) pledged to Washington. Four-star CB Blake Countess (5-10, 174, Olney, Md., Our Lady Good Counsel HS) and four-star LB Antonio Poole (6-1, 225, Cincinnati, Ohio, Winton Woods HS) are both headed to Michigan. Four-star LB C.J. Johnson (6-2, 240, Philadelphia, Miss., HS) committed to Ole Miss.

S Marquis Jackson (6-0, 190, Fort Worth, Texas, Arlington Heights HS) committed to Kansas, WR Keyarris Garrett (6-5, 185, Daingerfield, Texas, HS) pledged to Tulsa, DT Mo Latu (6-2, 318, Gilbert, Ariz., Perry HS) is headed to Arizona State, WR Justin Olack (6-4, 190, Massillon, Ohio, Washington HS) committed to Toledo, and OG Robert Trudo (6-4, 280, Farrell, Pa., Farrell Area HS/UMS) pledged to Syracuse.

DT Roderick Byers (6-3, 262, Rock Hill, S.C., Northwestern HS) committed to Oregon, DE Devaunte Sigler (6-3, 249, Mobile, Ala., B.C. Rain HS) pledged to Auburn, RB Jalen Simmons (5-8, 194, Charlotte, N.C., West Charlotte HS) is headed to South Carolina State, OT Matt Killian (6-6, 275, Saint Charles, Mo., Francis Howell HS) committed to Northern Illinois, and CB Floyd Raven (6-2, 180, Reserve, La., East Saint John HS) is going to Ole Miss.

WR Kyle Coleman (6-2, 205, Pine Bluff, Ark., Watson Chapel HS) will go to Arkansas State, CB Kenneth Lynn (5-11, 160, Dallas, Texas, Justin F. Kimball HS) committed to Iowa State, DT James Castleman (6-4, 280, Amarillo, Texas, HS) pledged to Oklahoma State, QB Russell Bellomy (6-3, 185, Arlington, Texas, Martin HS) committed to Michigan, and WR Rashawn Scott (6-2, 198, Melbourne, Fla., Melbourne Central Catholic HS) pledged to Miami (Fla.).

DE Arrington Jenkins (6-3, 217, Miami, Fla., Coral Park HS) committed to Florida State, TE Benson Browne (6-6, 240, Cincinnati, Ohio, Walnut Hills HS) pledged to North Carolina State, LB Troy Gray (6-1, 215, Kennesaw, Ga., North Cobb HS) will play at Central Florida and OT Larry Mazyck (6-7, 320, Fork Union, Va., Fork Union Military Academy) is set to attend Vanderbilt.

Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2011/01/28/tcu-horned-frogs-tops-among-non-aq-teams-in-2011-recruiting/

fox sports wikipedia

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg Preview and Predictions

Two title belts are on the line, and the most famous fighter in the promotion will step into the cage, when Strikeforce returns to its home base of San Jose on Saturday night. We've got the full preview right here.

What: Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Where: HP Pavilion, San Jose

When: The Showtime card starts at 10 PM ET on Saturday.

Predictions on the four televised fights below.

Nick Diaz vs. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos
Diaz's welterweight belt is on the line, but I don't view Cyborg as a legitimate No. 1 contender for it. The fact that Diaz-Cyborg is a title fight says more about the dearth of welterweight contenders in Strikeforce than it says about where Cyborg ranks in the welterweight division. Cyborg looked good in his one and only fight of 2010, a first-round TKO over Marius Zaromskis, but that shouldn't have been enough for him to get a title shot, and Diaz should make short work of him.
Pick: Diaz

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Robbie Lawler
It's easy to see why Jacare is favored to retain his title: He's one of the best -- maybe the very best -- Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioners in the world, and Lawler's greatest weakness is his submission defense. Jacare winning by submission wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

But I'm picking Lawler. Jacare's chin is suspect, and Lawler has serious knockout power, and I think Lawler is going to connect to that suspect chin, pull off the upset and become the middleweight champion of Strikeforce.
Pick: Lawler

Herschel Walker vs. Scott Carson
Before I get into this, let me just say that Walker is one of my all-time favorite athletes. I've been a fan of his as far back as I can remember. When I was a kid playing youth football I found an article about his workout regimens and decided to start doing pushups and situps during commercials while I watched TV, just like Herschel (I didn't quite stick with it the way he has, so I don't quite have the physique he has). He's one of the all-time great college football players and his NFL career is under-appreciated. I love that he challenges himself with new things (like he did when he competed in the 1992 Olympics in bobsledding), and I love that he loves MMA.

But I don't love the fact that Walker vs. Carson is on the televised card of a major mixed martial arts promotion. The first time Walker fought, against Greg Nagy last year, it was sort of justifiable for Showtime and Strikeforce to put it on, simply for the curiosity factor. But it's sort of silly for them to keep doing this unless Walker is going to fight someone noteworthy, which Carson certainly isn't. In terms of the quality of the MMA skill on display, this will be as bad a fight as you'll see from any of the major American promotions.

As for the fight itself, well, I don't know much of anything about Carson, but I know that he's fought exactly once in the last nine and a half years, and that one fight was a first-round knockout loss. Strikeforce set this fight up to give Walker another win, and that's what he'll get, for what it's worth.
Pick: Walker

Roger Gracie vs. Trevor Prangley
Gracie is one of the most talented members of the first family of Brazilian jiu jitsu and one of the best submission grapplers in the world. He's fought three times in MMA and won all three fights by submission, but I don't think he's quite ready for an MMA opponent of Prangley's level. Prangley is coming off one of the best wins of his career, over Keith Jardine on the Shark Fights card in September, and I think he's going to be savvy enough to keep the fight off the ground and effective enough standing up to win a decision.
Pick: Prangley

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/01/28/strikeforce-diaz-vs-cyborg-preview-and-predictions/

pictures of sports cars

Despite Plight, Mandi Schwartz Inspires

SEATTLE -- They think of the homemade cookies, the plate of yummy goodness she brought to their locker room not so long ago. Mandi Schwartz was all bundled up then, wearing triple thick layers and a mighty scarf but still shivering quite a bit. Her immune system, weakened by a recent bone marrow transplant and countless rounds of chemotherapy, probably shouldn't have been subjected to a cold and drafty ice rink, but that is Mandi.

She is a hockey player, and true hockey players, the ones weaned on wake-up calls before sunrise and long drives to games and aching, bruised shins, well, those sort of hockey players just can't stay away.

"That day was pretty amazing. We were like, 'Oh, these are amazing cookies,' and she was like, 'Oh, I'll give you the recipe,'" says Maddie Davis, a 13-year-old forward for Western Washington Female Hockey Association Phoenix, an all-girls team that plays predominantly against boys-only teams. "It was so awesome that she came to our bench and helped coach. When we found out her leukemia had returned, we were all bumming."

It's not fair -- though those are three words Schwartz would never dare say during her two years-plus battle with acute myeloid leukemia. The cancer has returned, more aggressive than ever, and all treatment has been suspended. She's at home in her native Saskatchewan now, surrounded by her two brothers, her parents and her fianc�, the quintessential hockey family spending, as Jonathan Holloway, master of Calhoun College at Yale University, wrote, "their days in quiet celebration of their time together."

No, not fair at all, but cancer never is.

She's only 22. She was supposed to graduate from Yale, maybe help the Bulldogs win a championship in women's ice hockey, marry her childhood sweetheart Kaylem Prefontaine, cheer for her brother Jaden in his journey as a first-round pick of the St. Louis Blues, skate for the millionth time around the makeshift rink behind the family's home in the tiny hamlet of Wilcox with her other brother Rylan, watch NHL games with her mother Carol, eat late-night pizza with her father, Rick.

However the end comes, when it comes, there is zero chance Mandi will be forgotten by those who loved her, those who played with her and those blessed to circle in her orbit for barely a moment.
They recognize in Mandi traits indicative to every true athlete -- perseverance, determination, grace, fearlessness -- but mostly they saw a kindred spirit, one who cherishes the sound of blades on ice.

The pre-teen and teenage girls on the Phoenix team that skates out of western Washington will talk about her forever, not just because she was their role model and idol in a sport that has few. They recognize in Mandi traits indicative to every true athlete -- perseverance, determination, grace, fearlessness -- but mostly they saw a kindred spirit, one who cherishes the sound of blades on ice.

It was a Saturday in December when Mandi made her coaching debut for the Phoenix. The previous few months had been beyond brutal -- many cancer patients wouldn't have survived -- but the Sept. 22 bone marrow transplant at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance's inpatient unit at the University of Washington Medical Center seemed to be working, her blood-cell counts improving incrementally. She could walk now, slowly, laboriously, looking so unlike the girl who, according to her Yale teammates, was a whirl of perpetual energy on the ice and in the classroom.

Days after the transplant, Mandi jumped on a stationary exercise bike, a medical marvel to most everyone who peeked into the room. Then came serious complications -- a liver condition that required Mandi to move to the intensive care unit, lung infections, intestinal inflammation, her days marked by hallucinations and relentless vomiting.

She rebounded, again, and while it's simplistic to credit the toughness bred in her from a lifetime of athletics, it wouldn't be wrong, either. The stem cells appeared to be engrafting with the bone marrow; her body began generating new immune cells. Could it be? The transplant looked successful, her cancer in remission. What a fantastic ending to a story that had inspired millions of Mandi's fans, old and new, from all across the world.

Though the risk of infection was still high, there was Mandi and her omnipresent bottle of hand sanitizer at the Kent Valley Ice Centre on that chilly December morning. She brought those homemade cookies as a gift for the team that had unofficially adopted her as a big sister during her hospitalization in Seattle, but really she was there for one reason.

Behind the bench she hopped, this tiny wisp of a thing wrapped in layer upon layer, and what happened across the next three periods was simply divine. All season long the girls on the under-14 Phoenix team had worn a No. 17 patch on their jerseys -- Mandi's number at Yale -- and they had retired the No. 17 jersey, but now they were playing the Kent Valley Boys team, on the Kent Valley Boys team's home ice, in front of a crowd that figured the Kent Valley Boys team wouldn't have much trouble with the all-girls Phoenix side.

Somehow, Mandi summoned the energy to prowl the bench, saying and sometimes slightly shouting words of wisdom honed from millions of hours at the rink. The game was scoreless deep into the first period when she called together the Phoenix and gave them advice that might not have rocked Lombardi, but resonated nonetheless.

"She told us to just try our best and not worry about the score," says Nora Keaney, a defenseman who promptly tallied off a full-ice rush, causing whiplashes throughout the stands. Keaney then assisted on Woodard Hooper's goal, scored again late in the third period, goalie Anna Stensland turned away 23 shots and the Phoenix stopped the Kent Valley Boys team, 3-0.

Rarely has there been a one-time assistant coach as satisfied as Mandi Schwartz was on that fine day. For three glorious periods, in a frosty rink similar to the hundreds she frequented as a child in Saskatchewan, Mandi wasn't a leukemia patient. She was a hockey nut, swaying to the music of blades skimming ice.

Nora Keaney, wobbling atop skates at age four, is 13 now, and she plays alongside Maddie Davis on an elite select team. They competed in the MLK Invitational Girls'/Women's Hockey Tournament in San Jose over the holiday weekend, took second place, and talked about Mandi Schwartz the way teenage boys talk about Sidney Crosby.

"When I first met her she was at the hospital. She didn't look too good. We were just happy she was getting better," Nora says. "There aren't a lot of (hockey) opportunities for girls. The leagues are almost always all guys. She's such an inspiration to us."

Patrick Keaney, Nora's father, hails from a hockey-playing Massachusetts family, but he's new to coaching girls, and when he had questions about their skating strides or skill levels, Mandi, from her hospital bed, drew up a bunch of defensive drills. He loves saying the Phoenix are "undefeated with Mandi on the bench."
"We never asked them to win for Mandi. That's too much burden for the girls," he says. "We ask them to dedicate their effort for Mandi."
-- Patrick Keaney
"We never asked them to win for Mandi. That's too much burden for the girls," he says. "We ask them to dedicate their effort for Mandi."

He is sitting in a hotel lounge near the Seattle airport, already looking exhausted from just thinking about the flight to London he soon has to catch, but then the tales about Mandi and her extraordinary family start to flow, and Keaney glows. He must be talking about old friends -- just a few days earlier Keaney packed up the Schwartz' rental apartment in Seattle and drove their belongings across the Canadian prairies to Wilcox, the small village nestled south of Regina, something only an old and dear friend would do.

But no, they met mere months ago, after Keaney's wife read an item about Mandi's plight. Rick and Carol Schwartz, she learned, would be staying near the University of Washington Medical Center while their daughter underwent the bone marrow transplant. They hadn't a car. The Keaneys insisted they take one of theirs, for as long as it was needed.

Richard Childress Reflects on Dale Earnhardt, Predicts an RCR Title

WELCOME, N.C. -- Richard Childress knew the questions were coming. But that didn't make it any easier.

On Feb. 18, it will have been 10 years since his best friend, seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, was killed in the last corner of the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Earnhardt drove Childress' black No. 3 Chevy to six of his titles and most of his glory. But more than that, the two were like brothers -- best friends, hunting buddies, business partners.

So even before the NASCAR media descended upon the Richard Childress Racing headquarters about an hour north of Charlotte on this rainy, cold Tuesday afternoon, Childress had prepared himself for the inevitable questions as the sport solemnly marks 10 years since it lost its greatest star and Childress lost his greatest friend.

"I'm not dreading it, so to speak, but I know there's going to be a lot of questions that I know deserve answers and some of the answers I'm the only person that can give,'' Childress said during a nearly hour-long interview on NASCAR's annual preseason media tour.

"It (the accident) almost seems like yesterday because you're always still remembering and thinking of what's happened since that time. Ten years, it just doesn't seem like it.''

Calmly, thoughtfully and generously, Childress alternately answered painful questions about Earnhardt and boldly predicted that one of his four Richard Childress Racing cars would dethrone five-time reigning Sprint Cup Series champ Jimmie Johnson in 2011.

Clearly, the mood was more upbeat as Childress proudly explained his optimism for 2011, but there was also that twinkle in his eye when he was asked to share a special memory about Earnhardt. And sometimes the twinkle produced tears, even if they didn't drop.

Of that fateful Sunday afternoon when Earnhardt, who was running third, was caught up in the accident while Michael Waltrip and his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on to finish first and second. Childress says he remembers very little about the race.

"I have personally tried to block that (race) totally out of my mind,'' Childress said. "When I get asked a question, it deserves an answer and I'll answer the best I can. What gets me through is remembering all the good times and all the great and fun times I had with Dale Earnhardt. I try to block as much of that day out of my mind.''
"I have personally tried to block that (race) totally out of my mind. When I get asked a question, it deserves an answer and I'll answer the best I can. What gets me through is remembering all the good times and all the great and fun times I had with Dale Earnhardt."
-- Richard Childress
Childress also revealed that he very seriously considered closing down his team because of the accident.

"Probably all the way up until that Tuesday,'' Childress explained. "Sunday night definitely (thought about quitting). My wife and I talked about it. Monday, I talked about it, I thought about a lot of things.

"Then Tuesday, I was out on the dock by myself at Bill France Jr.'s house, and some thoughts came back from an old hunting trip. I knew I had to (go on) then.''

The hunting trip was one of many he had taken with Earnhardt, and Childress said a conversation they had during that time gave him direction and the strength to go on.

"We were climbing a mountain in New Mexico,'' Childress explained. "We had been hunting, and typical Dale, he had the guide's horse's tail, it's just the way you hunt and climb hills and dangerous mountains. I had Dale's horse's tail. We get up this thing and Dale's horse starts slipping on this chunk of ice and starts rearing up and coming back on me.

"I had to come off the mountain and when I jumped, the horse flipped behind me and trees caught us both. It could have been real bad and Dale and I always called it the 'Great Horse Wreck.' "

"Naturally Dale blamed me for pulling his horse off the mountain, like I could have physically done that,'' Childress said with a laugh.

"Then we got back to camp that night and were having a cocktail around the fireplace and I told him, 'You know if I got killed on that mountain today, you (still) would have had to race (that week's Cup event at) Phoenix. We looked at each other and he said, 'If it ever happens to me, you better race.'

"That helped make it a lot easier.''

While the media and fans will be making a particular to-do about Earnhardt's death on this 10-year anniversary of sorts, Childress said he always thinks about it, pausing to look up onto the Turn 4 high banks and saying a little prayer every time he arrives inside Daytona International Speedway.

Asked about the whereabouts of Earnhardt's No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet, Childress politely declined to comment.

It's the positives he instead chooses to focus on as this painful time is so publicly thrust upon him. When Childress thinks of Dale Earnhardt, it's not only in terms of his great racing legacy, but in the laughter they shared, the quiet times they had, the opportunities they seized and the plans they made.

"It doesn't matter where I go, I get questions about Dale Earnhardt,'' Childress said with a smile. "I think his legacy will live a long time in the sport. I'm going to do everything I can as long as I'm here to make sure.''

Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2011/01/25/richard-childress-reflects-on-dale-earnhardt-and-predicts-an-rcr/

paragon sports

Central Florida Thinks South Florida Is Trying to Block Its Path to Big East

January 26 2011 Last updated at 05:35 PM ET

Is University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft attempting to keep Central Florida out of the Big East?

UCF thinks so.

A UCF spokesperson told The Orlando Sentinel that appears to be the case. However, a USF spokesperson told FanHouse Wednesday Genshaft will "vote for the best interests of the Big East, not any university."

With the Big East announcing last year its plans to expand, UCF has been rumored, speculated and reported as one of the league's top expansion candidates. TCU recently accepted an offer to join the Big East beginning in 2012 and Villanova, already a league member in all sports but football, will decide by April if it will accept an invitation to move its football program from FCS to the Big East.

USF ended its four-game football series with UCF in 2008 in part because the Bulls, including athletic director Doug Woolard and former football coach Jim Leavitt, felt they ultimately had nothing to gain playing the Knights, who are located 90 miles from Tampa.

UCF spokesperson Grant Heston said he believes USF is trying to keep UCF, members of Conference USA, from joining the Big East.

"We have been hearing this, too," Heston wrote in an e-mail to the Sentinel. "We hope it's not true, because our joining the Big East would clearly be a win-win for both universities."

Through a spokesperson, Genshaft would not address UCF -- or any other university specifically -- but stressed she would do what's in the Big East's best interests.

"Judy has always been clear that she doesn't discuss Big East board votes in advance and in public -- and the Big East insists that its commissioner (John Marinatto) is the only spokesperson," USF vice president of communications Michael Hoad wrote in an e-mail to FanHouse. "There's no reason for her to announce support or opposition to any school in advance of meetings.

"Bottom line: USF itself has no 'position' on Big East expansion. When there's a decision, she'll vote just like everyone else. However, she is clear that she'll vote for the best interests of the Big East, not for any university."

Last year, new USF coach Skip Holtz had a similar philosophy.

"I want what's best for the league," Holtz told FanHouse. "Does West Virginia want Marshall in? No. But would they stop them from joining? No. I want what's in the best interest for the Big East.

"I'm all for strengthening the Big East. Whatever teams can do that, I'm all for that."

Brett McMurphy is a national college football writer for FanHouse. Contact him at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com and please follow at Twitter.com/BrettmcmurphY

Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2011/01/26/central-florida-thinks-south-florida-is-trying-to-block-its-path/

where does the hudson river start

Houston Dynamo switch to Eastern Conference

NEW YORK ? The Eastern Conference just added a little Texas twang for the 2011 MLS season.

League officials on Friday announced the highly awaited plans for conference realignment with the inclusion of expansion sides Portland and Vancouver, and the Houston Dynamo will make the shift from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference.

Both conferences will carry nine teams for the 2011 season, and teams will play each other twice as part of the league?s new balanced 34-game schedule.

Houston were realigned because they were the franchise furthest east in the Western Conference, roughly 100 miles east of in-state rivals FC Dallas.

?With the addition of Portland and Vancouver in 2011, MLS wanted to have two conferences of nine teams each,? MLS President Mark Abbott said. ?The most logical solution was for the Houston Dynamo ? the easternmost club in the 2010 Western Conference ? to move to the Eastern Conference.?

The move adds some hard-earned MLS hardware to the already proven Eastern Conference, as the two-time MLS Cup winning Dynamo make the change. The Dynamo won back-to-back MLS Cups in 2006 and 2007 and had reached the postseason each of the past four seasons before missing the playoffs in 2010.

With Houston now in the East, the Conference now boasts the winners of three MLS Cups since 2005 (Houston in 2006 and 2007, Columbus in 2008). The Western Conference has won the last two (Colorado and Real Salt Lake).

The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps will both join the Western Conference, where they?ll compete with the regional rival Seattle Sounders and the rest of the conference.

The Dynamo open the season on March 19 at home against the Philadelphia Union.

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Source: http://www.dcunited.com/news/2011/01/houston-dynamo-switch-to-eastern-conference

baseketball rules

Andy Gray Fired Over Sexist Comments

January 25 2011 Last updated at 12:59 PM ET

LONDON (AP) -- One of British soccer's leading television commentators was fired Tuesday, a day after being taken off the air and temporarily suspended for making sexist remarks about a female match official.

Andy Gray, the face of Sky Sports' soccer coverage for the past two decades, was dismissed by the broadcaster after "new evidence of unacceptable and offensive behavior" that took place off-air last month.

The former Scotland striker and broadcast colleague Richard Keys had been reprimanded and removed from duty Monday for making derogatory comments about lineswoman Sian Massey, former referee Wendy Toms and West Ham executive Karren Brady.

"Andy Gray's contract has been terminated for unacceptable behavior," Sky Sports managing director Barney Francis said Tuesday. "We have no hesitation in taking this action after becoming aware of new information today."

Francis was referring to footage that appears to show Gray making a suggestive comment and gesture toward Sky Sports colleague Charlotte Jackson in the studio.

The 55-year-old Gray was broadcasting the Premier League match between Wolverhampton and Liverpool on Saturday when he and Keys make disparaging remarks about Massey, who was officiating the game.

Gray questioned whether Massey knew the offside rule, a barometer of basic soccer knowledge, and made an abusive reference to Toms, saying she had been "hopeless" as a lineswoman.

The remarks were leaked to a Sunday newspaper. More footage that compromised Gray and another member of Sky Sports' commentary team-Andy Burton-was also passed to the media. Burton was taken off the air Tuesday.

Burton was talking to Gray off-air on the touchline at Molineux before the kickoff on Saturday and said: "Apparently a female lino today, bit of a looker."

In another remark on Massey's appearance, Burton added that another member of the Sky Sports crew said Massey was "all right," adding: "Now, I don't know if I should trust his judgment on that?"

Gray then said: "No, I wouldn't. I definitely wouldn't ... I can see her from here," before swearing and adding: "What do women know about the offside rule?"

Gray didn't publicly apologized for his remarks, unlike Keys, who telephoned Massey on Monday.

The 25-year-old Massey has been withdrawn as a lineswoman for Tuesday's fourth-tier league match between Crewe and Bradford, the Professional Game Match Officials organization said Tuesday.

Source: http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2011/01/25/andy-gray-fired-over-sexist-comments/

pool games

Charlotte Motor Speedway Erecting World's Largest HD Screen

January 25 2011 Last updated at 07:09 PM ET

CONCORD, N.C. -- Three tour buses slowly circled Charlotte Motor Speedway Tuesday and stopped on the backstretch, disgorging dozens of media members into the cold winter air next to the construction site of billionaire O. Bruton Smith's latest promotional extravaganza -- the world's HD largest video board.

This television screen will be 200 feet wide by 80 feet high and will tower some 30 feet higher than the backstretch lights. It will be visible -- with an impressively large image -- from every seat of the grandstands stretching from turn four all the way down the frontstretch and well into turn two.

In typical speedway fashion, the announcement included fanfare -- in this case the arrival of Marcus Smith, speedway president, and FOX NASCAR announcers Jeff Hammond and Mike Joy, all driving front end loaders.

But many in the media were more interested in hearing from Marcus Smith's father, Bruton, who parked his jet-black, brand-new Mercedes right there in the middle of the backstretch just a few yards away.

As a promoter, Smith goes back to the earliest days of NASCAR. He's always been the most innovative of the major racing promoters, and he's always been one to speak his mind. So despite the fanfare engineered by his son, when Bruton stepped out of his car, he was the one who was quickly surrounded by eager reporters.

"It's big, I can tell you that," Smith said of the giant HD screen. "By the way, this screen has been completed now (by Panasonic). It was built in China and it's been completed, so now we're doing all the footings and what not, and supposedly it's going to be up and running in April. I think it's going to be a tremendous addition."

Smith was almost uniformly optimistic and positive in his assessment of the 2011 season. The prospects are "very good," he said, because "number one, the recession is over. I said that about eight months ago. Unemployment is not. It takes awhile for that. But 2011 will be great. We can tell that by ticket sales. It's getting better and better and better."

"In the automobile business [Smith owns the Sonic Automotive dealership group], we had the biggest December ever in the history of my company. I'm using that as an example this recession is over. I think that will bleed right down to racing in 2011."
"Maybe this Chase thing -- maybe it's not as important as we thought it was. I think in one or two more years, we'll find out. I think it started off as a good idea, but I think maybe it's time to look at something else. It's not as exciting to the fans now as it was initially."
-- Bruton Smith
Smith said he's generally pleased with NASCAR's stewardship under president Brian France.

"I like Brian," he said. "I think Brian is working hard at it. He has my respect for what he does do. He and I talk frequently and sometimes I make a suggestion. He may consider it, he may not. But at least he listens."

But he was candid as usual, and on this day the subject was the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

"Maybe this Chase thing -- maybe it's not as important as we thought it was. I just don't think it's as important as maybe we thought it would be. I think in one or two more years, we'll find out. I think it started off as a good idea, but I think maybe it's time to look at something else. It's not as exciting to the fans now as it was initially."

So what's the solution?

"I'm hung up on (increasing) the purse idea," he said. "We can cure this whole thing with the purse. These race drivers will follow the money. We've got to make every race important and money will do it."

Smith suggested finding sponsors who will put up $1 million to win for every race.

"Money will make them fight for that first place," he said. "That would change the sport."

In other news from the annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour, MIchael Waltrip announced here Tuesday morning that he will drive a black No. 15 Toyota in the Daytona 500 in honor of the late Dale Earnhardt. Waltrip was driving a No. 15 Chevy when he won the 2001 Daytona 500 moments after Earnhardt was fatally injured in a crash on the last turn of the last lap.

Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2011/01/25/bruton-smith-erecting-worlds-largest-hdtv-screen-at-charlotte-m/

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