Nothing can turn a season on its head faster than injuries can. It doesn’t matter if it’s in training camp or in the middle of a playoff run; injuries always come at a terrible time.

There is something about season ending injuries at the start of the season, however, that is always disheartening to teams and fans hoping that this is their year.

Here is a list of players falling to serious injuries or injuries that could threaten players throughout the season:

LeCharles Bentley, C, Cleveland Browns. This is by far the biggest blow to any team unfortunate enough to be suffering from injuries so early into the season. Bentley tore his patellar tendon in his first 11-on-11 drills of training camp and will miss the entire season for the Browns.

Bentley was one of the prized free agents that Cleveland signed this offseason and was called the “face of our free agent class” by general manager Phil Savage. He was signed to bolster the Browns offensive line after anchoring the center position for the New Orleans Saints for five seasons.

Brian Finneran, WR, Atlanta Falcons. Finneran isn’t a widely known player by any means, but at 6’5”, he has been a favorite target of Michael Vick for several seasons now. Finneran uses his height to tower over shorter cornerbacks and is a great option for fade routes on the goal line.

While trying to make a cut in practice late Sunday evening, Finneran’s knee buckled and he went down to the ground in riving pain. An MRI Monday showed that Finneran will indeed be lost for the season. Jerome Pathon is likely to take his place as the Falcons No. 3 wide out.

Steve Smith, WR, Carolina Panthers. Although his injury is not nearly as serious as the one’s Bentley and Finneran suffered, there is no bigger offensive weapon for the Panthers than Smith.

Just two seasons ago, Smith broke his leg in the Panthers season opener, and missed the entire 16-game schedule for Carolina. Now, Smith has been hampered with a left hamstring strain and is day-to-day as far as a return.

Shaun Rogers, DT, Detroit Lions. Another injury that doesn’t appear to be that serious at the onsite is Rogers injuring his shoulder in a practice with the Lions Monday afternoon.

Rogers is the stud on Detroit’s defensive line and what makes everything stout in the run defense. The injury should not keep Rogers out for a lengthy time, but the injuries to him and Steve Smith are the type of nagging pains that can bother players throughout the entire season.

Sports Illustrated once again compiled its annual list of America’s richest athletes and ranked them from 1-50.

Not surprisingly, Tiger Woods tops the list at #1. Nobody else even comes close to Woods, whose yearly income (which includes each athlete’s salary/winnings plus endorsements) is more than double that of any other athlete on the list. Woods is closing in on $100 million.

At #2 is another professional golfer, Phil Mickelson, totalling almost $46 million a year. The largest jump from last year’s list has to be Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer. Not even ranked last year, Palmer lands at #5, thanks to his $119 million contract extension. Albert Pujols made a significant leap as well, jumping to #21 after failing to make the list last year.

After Woods and Mickelson, the rest of the top 10 goes in this order: Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Carson Palmer, LeBron James, Derek Jeter, A-Rod, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, and Michael Vick. See SI.com for the rest of the top 50.

So the dude who won this year’s Tour de France tested positive for high testosterone levels…?

Big deal.

Okay, so it is a big deal that American Floyd Landis, the first person other than Lance Armstrong to win the Tour de France in the last eight years, appears to have cheated his way to a victory, but that doesn’t mean that I nor anyone else should be surprised by the news. I mean, come on, haven’t we been paying attention? No matter the sport, no matter the venue, no matter the stakes, no matter the potential backlash, athletes are doping, and they’ve been doing it for some time. Bill Romanowski, Marion Jones, German triathlete Nina Kraft, punter Todd Sauerbrun and, of course, everyone’s favorite cheater, Barry Bonds. And that’s just the short list, folks. The very short list.

So the fact that Landis may have used performance enhancers (they’re still awaiting the results of the “backup B sample” test) shouldn’t really shock anyone, especially anyone who’s paid any attention to competitive cycling. The ESPN article I linked to above includes a sidebar that details doping scandals involving Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, Francisco Mancebo, Roberto Heras, David Millar, Richard Virenque and, in some cases, entire teams.

This is nothing new, nothing out of the ordinary, “Nothing to see here,” as South Park’s Sheriff Barbrady would say. Not anymore, it’s not. That’s unfortunate, for sure, but short of someone uncovering hard proof that Lance Armstrong used, we’re past the “shock value” stage. And, hell, even then, would anybody really be all the surprised to learn that Armstrong doped? ESPN’s Pat Forde says that, if Landis is indeed found guilty of cheating, we won’t be able to trust anyone else in sports again.

Sorry Pat, but that boat sailed long ago.

I was born in Cleveland (well, 30 minutes south of Cleveland). I’ve been a Cleveland sports fan my entire life. And as much as I have wanted to deny the existence of any sort of hex on the C-Town teams, at this point resistance may be futile:

Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley, one of Cleveland’s biggest free-agent signings this winter, injured his left knee during the Browns’ first 11-on-11 drill of training camp.

Bentley got tangled in a pile of players as he was blocking on a running play for Reuben Droughns.

Bentley screamed, “No,” before remaining on his knees as the Browns moved their scrimmage up the field so the 6-foot-2, 309-pounder could be attended to. He stayed on the ground in a seated position for several minutes before Cleveland’s medical staff immobilized his left knee and carted him to the locker room.

Bentley covered his face with a towel on the short drive to the field house as Browns players and fans looked on in shock.

Well of course they looked on in shock: they’ve seen Kellen Winslow, Sean Jones and Braylon Edwards go down with season-ending injuries the past two years, and now, according to the Akron Beacon Journal, Bentley’s season may be done too:

A source close to Bentley said there is a fear he has a partial or complete tear of the patella tendon in his left knee and would require surgery, sidelining him possibly for the entire 2006 season.

Bentley was to undergo an MRI exam to determine the severity of the injury. Results were expected to be available this afternoon.

I mean, COME ON! Outrageous. Absolutely outrageous. It was the FIRST DAY OF TRAINING CAMP. Nothing is confirmed yet, so I suppose he could come out of this with a sprain or something else less severe than a torn tendon, but it sure as hell doesn’t look good for Browns fans. Then again, when does it ever look good for Browns fans?

Does the Cleveland Sports Curse actually exist? Well, if it doesn’t, this city’s fans and teams have dreadfully bad luck.

Hell, I’d vote for him:

Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley has changed his political uniform from red to blue and is talking again about running for governor of Alabama, possibly in 2010.

“Alabama, that’s my home. I’m thinking about running for governor; they need the help,” Barkley said.

Barkley, a Leeds native, has been talking about running for governor of his home state since he was playing with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. In 1995, he said he was considering running in 1998 as a Republican but that never materialized.

After that, Barkley continued to identify himself as a Republican until recently, when he switched to the Democratic team.

“I was a Republican until they lost their minds,” he said earlier this month at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada.

“Sir Charles” reinforced that Tuesday while speaking to a convention of public school board members in Destin, Fla.

“What I’ve said is I’m rich like a Republican. But I’m not one,” Barkley said in remarks reported by The Birmingham News.

Can you imagine kids 50 years from now reading about Governor Barkley in their history books?

In the ever so demanding world of a prima donna NFL wide receiver, there is yet another pass catcher that wants out of his current city.

ESPN.com is reporting that Raiders’ receiver Jerry Porter is demanding a trade out of Oakland. The San Francisco Chronicle broke the news of Porter’s demands in a recent story.

“Yes. Absolutely. I’ve told them that,” Porter told the newspaper. The 2000 second round pick has caught 239 passes in his six NFL seasons for 3,215 yards and has scored 24 touchdowns.

Porter told the newspaper that his agent told him that the Raiders have asked for two No. 1 picks in return for him in any deal. “Why … would you ask for a No. 1 for me, or ask for two No. 1s for me, when I wasn’t even a No. 1?,” he told the newspaper.

Apparently, Porter got into an argument with new/old Raiders head coach Art Shell and his position coach Fred Biletnikoff over where he could train this offseason.

Porter wanted to train in Florida, Shell and Biletnikoff, God forbid, wanted Porter to train with the rest of his teammates in Oakland.

My main concern if the Raiders do trade Porter is when does it end? First it’s T.O. who wants out of San Francisco, then Moss out of Minnesota (although the Vikings were just as willing to part ways) and just this past offseason Ashley Lelie wants out of Denver, and now Porter.

Will this situation with wide receivers escalade to them wanting a trade every single time they feel mistreated or misused? Shell is trying to rebuild what has become a morbid franchise with only three winning seasons since he was first let go in 1994.

Shell is trying not to, in his words, “let the inmates run the asylum” in Oakland anymore, so give it a rest and just play Porter.

ESPN posted a brief but cryptic news bit stating that Harold Reynolds, an ESPN analyst and host of “Baseball Tonight,” is no longer with the network. That’s it. No other details were revealed.

There’s a story in here, kids. Did he pull a Gregg Easterbrook and say something silly on his blog? Either way, I for one am going to miss him terribly. I loved his brutal honesty.

Reggie Bush, chosen second overall by the New Orleans Saints, is unhappy with contract negotiations and is threatening to sit out the entire 2006 season and re-enter the draft in ‘07. Much of the pre-draft speculation had him going #1 overall but the Texans chose DE Mario Williams instead. Bush now wants #1 money. In Yahoo sportswriter Jason Cole’s article, the Bush party is a little upset.

“No player has ever had the kind of leverage that Reggie Bush has right now,” the source said. “The Saints made it clear what they were willing to do before and now we’ll see if they’re going to get there.”

Reggie holding out for the whole season would only prove to be disasterous for a city that has already gone through enough with Hurricane Katrina. In Bush, the Saints were thought to be getting a player that could drastically change a franchise. Not only would Bush improve their football team, he would lighten the mood and bring much needed hope to a hurricane-devastasted city. After the drafting of Bush, ticket sales surely skyrocketed and the city was finally getting to be excited again about football. A holdout would disappoint thousands of fans and would almost be a slap in the face by Bush. As for Reggie himself, sitting out a year with no football would not be wise on his part. Missing a year of action on the field would clearly not be beneficial for him.

ESPN.com is reporting that free agent cornerback Ty Law has agreed to a five year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. The deal reunites the 12-year veteran with head coach Herm Edwards, whom Law played for last season while a member of the New York Jets.

Law, the former long-time corner for the New England Patriots, was released from New England after injuries had sidelined him for most of the ‘04 NFL season. He bounced back in 2005 with the Jets, however, and led the league in interceptions with 10.

Law joins fellow veteran defensive backs Patrick Surtain and Sammy Knight on what should be a solid secondary for the Chiefs in ’06.

Law still has to take a physical on Monday for the deal to be officially complete.

In a strange move, John Salmons cancelled a sign-and-trade that would have sent him to the Toronto Raptors.

“Upon reviewing the basketball situation in Toronto, John decided it’s not the best fit for him,” Salmons’ agent, Joel Bell, said a statement released Friday. “In a very stressful and tough decision, he decided he could not accept the opportunity to play for the Raptors, even though he was excited about the prospect of being in Toronto.”

Huh?

I love it when agents say something but say nothing at the same time. What happened here? It appeared that Salmons would have had the opportunity to start at guard for a team that should be on the rise, with new GM Bryan Colangelo leading the way. Instead, he’s without a contract for next season after turning down an offer from the Suns and having his qualifying offer by the Sixers rescinded earlier in the week. He would be a valuable addition to any team in need of a complimentary swingman. He proved he was able to pick up his play, scoring well in games that Allen Iverson missed due to injury.

Just days after almost getting into a fistfight with Toronto Blue Jays’ manager John Gibbons, Shea Hillenbrand was traded to the San Francisco Giants. The Giants sent relief pitcher Jeremy Accardo and also received reliever Vinnie Chulk from Toronto.

In a well-publicized tirade earlier last week, Hillenbrand was upset with the Blue Jays organization for not congratulating him and his wife on adopting a baby girl. On top of that, Hillenbrand was irate over the fact that he wasn’t in the Toronto lineup once he returned from signing the adoption papers.

Matters got worse when Hillenbrand decided to partake in a little freelance writing.

Hillenbrand was designated for assignment during Toronto’s game Wednesday night after writing “play for yourself” on a board the Blue Jays use to post batting practice times. He later wrote the “ship was sinking” before manager John Gibbons challenged him to a fight during a team meeting.

San Francisco adds the pop to their lineup that they have so desperately been seeking while trying to contend in a tight NL West race. Hillenbrand will play first base for the Giants and probably bat right behind Barry Bonds.

For the Blue Jays, they get a rising young pitcher in Accardo, whom the Giants weren’t thrilled to part with given their bullpen struggles this season. However, GM Brian Sabean thought that the Giants could acquire relief help easier before the trade deadline than he could get a bat like Hillenbrand.

St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk will have season-ending and possible career-ending knee surgery. Faulk will undergo reconstructive surgery and it looks like the end may be in sight for the back in ninth place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list.

“We were hoping for the best, but we’ve been planning for both scenarios,” said Linehan (Rams coach). “I think reality is setting in for sure that potentially his career is winding down.”

Steven Jackson will return as starter and Tony Fisher will most likely fill in as a third down back, but the team has inquired about Michael Bennett from New Orleans.

At 33, Faulk has had a terrific NFL career and although his career isn’t over yet, it’s getting close. He has endured numerous knee surgeries throughout his career and may not be able to come back from this one. His role has been diminished because of his age and with the emergence of the young Steven Jackson so it might be best for him to just hang up the cleats.

Let the McNabb-Owens’ fireworks start again, folks.

Around training camp time last year, Terrell Owens was doing calisthenics in his driveway for members of the media while serving a suspension from Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid.

It appears that this season, at least as training camp is reopened for the Eagles, the memory of T.O., who is now a Dallas Cowboy, is still fresh on everybody’s mind. And every question fired by the media about Owens is directed right at quarterback Donovan McNabb.

When McNabb was asked what he thought about Owens’ latest autobiography, T.O., McNabb referred to it as a ‘children’s book’ and that he hadn’t read it yet.

In T.O. , which came out earlier this month, Owens mostly offers his side of his tumultuous second season in Philadelphia. McNabb joked that he should have been a co-author because Owens mentioned the five-time Pro Bowl quarterback at length in the book.

“It won’t sell unless he’s talking about me,” McNabb said, adding that he didn’t read the book and is waiting to play himself in the movie.

Owens likens McNabb to a bully who spat in his mouth as a teenager while he innocently slept on a school bus. He traces the root of the friction to when McNabb didn’t throw him the ball on a play in a game during his first season with the Eagles.

McNabb scoffed at Owens’ version of events.

I like the fact that McNabb is speaking his mind out about Owens this year, since he was criticized for not doing it more last year. But how much more fuel does Owens need to play well against the Eagles this year?

The guy is a drama queen and a baby, but he always plays hard on the field and I’d assume that McNabb and the Eagles would rather just leave the T.O. mess behind them.

We all know that Owens will fire something back within the next few days…who isn’t ready for these two teams to meet twice in the regular season?

The Suns signed Marcus Banks to a 5-year/$21 M deal to back up Steve Nash at point guard. This is a great signing for Phoenix, who have an up-and-coming guard to take over for Nash once he retires, which is probably why Banks agreed to a backup role. After the All-Star break, he averaged 12.2 ppg and 5.2 apg, while shooting 47% from the field.

In an interview soon to be aired by HBO, Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens puts the blame on the media for pegging him as a selfish individual.

Owens said he doesn’t think reporters are necessarily conspiring against him as much as using him “to gain viewers’ attention.” As a result, he believes that he is “misunderstood.” He said other players have been, too, “but I feel like I have been one of the main guys who’ve been vilified.”

Why?

“That’s the million-dollar question,” he said. “Why me? … At some point it does get to me. And I can’t say it enough. Dude, I’m human and that’s what I’m trying to get people to understand.”

Hmm, let’s see. T.O spent an entire spring whining about his contract and felt like he was being underpaid. He called out his star quarterback and his antics arguably ruined the Eagles’ 2005 season. I don’t know who the bigger baby is: T.O or Barry Bonds?

ESPN.com is reporting that Dallas Cowboys’ safety Keith Davis is in stable condition after the 27-year old was shot twice while driving on a Dallas highway Sunday.

Davis was reportedly struck in the back of the head and in the right thigh by an unknown driver at around 5 a.m. Sunday morning.

Apparently, this wasn’t the first time that Davis has been shot.

This is the second time in three years that Davis has been shot. He was an innocent bystander last time, and this time Stephens said the player was driving home from a family vacation.

In June 2003, Davis was shot in the hip and elbow while picking up a friend at a topless club. Coach Bill Parcells released Davis about a month later, on the first day of the coach’s first training camp with the Cowboys. Davis did not play football that season, but rejoined the club in 2004 and became a full-time starter last season.

How in God’s green earth can a guy be shot two times in three years and not be involved in any trouble to warrant the bullets? That has got to be as hard to do as getting struck by lightening doesn’t it?

One of the other amazing things from this story is that Davis’ agent said that if the Cowboys’ training camp started tomorrow, his client would be there. I don’t know how you rebound from being shot in the back of the head, but hey, I guess Davis is experienced in this sort of injury.

Hopefully Davis recovers without any serious damage.

It looks like Alonzo Mourning is set to re-sign with the Heat for another season. It must be tempting to walk away after winning the title, but maybe he has dynasty on his mind. Mourning is still playing at a high level and was one of the most efficient centers last season…Flip Murray has agreed to sign with the Pistons for two years and $3.6 M. The signing gives Detroit the appearance of a bench…Allen Iverson says that he wants to stay with the Sixers, but only if they still want him. Considering all the trade rumors surrounding the tumultuous guard, it doesn’t appear that they do…When Peja Stojakovic agreed to sign with the Hornets, it looked like the Pacers would not get any compensation for trading away Ron Artest. But Indiana convinced the Hornets (with an undisclosed cash payment) to trade a $7.5 M trade exception, which may allow the team to complete a sign-and-trade for Al Harrington.

It’s trading time in the MLB and what better way to welcome this important point in the season than to revisit what is turning out to be one of the worst trades in the past three years?

When the Minnesota Twins’ wanted to see more of a young catcher named Joe Mauer in 2003, they decided to send their current starting backstop A.J. Pierzynski to the San Francisco Giants for relief pitcher Joe Nathan and two young prospects.

At the time, Pierzynski was an All-Star catcher and the Giants were in desperate need of catcher after relying on the likes of father-time ridden Benito Santiago for three years.

And sending young prospects that never seemed to pan out for proven players was GM Brian Sabean’s specialty for a long time. It was how Sabean built the 2002 World Series Giants.

What followed, however, was a disastrous situation that seems to only be getting worse for Sabean and the Giants. Pierzynski only lasted one year in San Francisco’s organization with sporadic play and worse yet, being labeled as a cancer in the clubhouse.

Nathan, who wasn’t regarded as closer material in the Giants organization, immediately took over as a dominant closer for the Twins and made the All-Star game in 2004 and 2005. Currently, Nathan is 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA, has converted 15 out of 16 save opportunists and has 53 strikeouts.

The news gets worse for the Giants. One of the two young prospects that San Francisco packaged up for Pierzynski was Boof Bonser, who is 2-2 with a 5.30 ERA as the fifth starter for Minnesota.

The other young prospect?

Rookie left-hander Francisco Liriano, who is one of the baseball’s biggest stories and who is currently 10-2 with a 2.12 ERA and who has 108 strikeouts.

Making matters even worse is that big mouth Pierzynski has a World Series ring after signing with the 2005 Champion Chicago White Sox after being cut by the Giants.

By the way, Mauer was the starting catcher for the AL All-Star team after hitting .373 with seven dingers and 45 RBI in the first half of the season.

To say that the Twins robbed the Giants would be a vast understatement.

This is a light weekend for sports, but ESPN and FOX have their usual MLB coverage, while TNT has two NASCAR races in New Hampshire.

MLB
Fri, 2:20 PM: NY Mets @ Chicago Cubs - ESPN
Sat, 1:20 PM: Chicago White Sox @ NY Yankees - FOX
Sat, 1:20 PM: LA Dodgers @ St. Louis - FOX
Sat, 4:05 PM: Philadelpha @ San Francisco - FOX
Sun, 6:05 PM: NY Mets @ Chicago Cubs - ESPN

Auto Racing
Sat, 3 PM: NASCAR Busch Series New England 200 - TNT
Sun, 1:30 PM: NASCAR Nextel Cup LENOX Industrial Tools 300 - TNT

John Salmons, one of my free agent gems, has been traded to Toronto as part of a 5-year/$23 M sign-and-trade deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. By most accounts, Salmons is a talented player that struggled fitting in with the Sixers and Allen Iverson, but the guard/forward shined in games that AI missed, averaging better than 14 points per contest. The Sixers will receive a second round pick and $2 M trade exception in return, which seems like a very good deal for Toronto.

Salmons had a choice between the Suns and the Raptors and apparently chose to have a shot at starter’s minutes in Toronto as opposed to playing in a reserve role in Phoenix. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doubled his stats next season, averaging around 15 points, five boards and around five assists per game.