Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 623 of 1503)

      Red Sox would “love” to have Jason Bay back

      November 20, 2009 /

      At least, this according to WEEI.com:

      Speaking at an event to honor Red Sox principal owner John Henry, who received the Woodrow Wilson Award for corporate sponsorship, team president/CEO Larry Lucchino expressed his organization’s desire to re-sign Jason Bay.

      “Very much so,” Lucchino said when asked if the Red Sox wanted the outfielder back. “We’d love to have him back. He’s in many ways the personification of a player we want here.”

      The Red Sox’ exclusive period to negotiate with Bay runs out at midnight Thursday.

      Bay will draw plenty of interest on the open market, but the Red Sox certainly have the cash to re-sign him. It just depends on whether or not a more lucrative offer comes along and Bay bites on it. (Translation: It just depends on whether or not Bay wants to go the way of CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira and play for the Yankees next season.)

      What will be interesting is whether or not he heads back to the NL on his own accord. He has proven that he can produce in either league, but usually hitters want to play in the NL because of the weaker pitching. Any number of teams could use Bay’s services, but it’ll all depend on which team will open up its wallet and which ones he feels gives him an opportunity to win.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      MLB

      No. 12 Oklahoma State hangs on vs. Colorado

      November 20, 2009 /

      Without quarterback Zac Robinson (concussion), No. 12 Oklahoma State was almost victims of the first big upset of Week 12.

      The Cowboys needed a fourth quarter touchdown reception by Justin Blackmon from Brandon Weeden and two big defensive stops to beat Colorado, 31-28 on Thursday night.

      Turnovers almost doomed OK State. They lost three fumbles on the night (two on muffed punts) and junior quarterback Alex Cate was also intercepted to give the Buffalos scoring opportunities the entire night.

      Cate struggled to make an impact while starting in place of the injured Robinson. In fact, he didn’t complete a pass and finished 0-for-9 with the one interception. The sophomore Weeden had to come in and rescue the sputtering Cowboy offense, which he successfully did by completing 10-of-15 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns.

      Of course, OK State’s offense got plenty of production out of senior running back Keith Toston, who compiled 170 yards with one touchdown on 30 carries. On the night, the Cowboys rushed for 232 yards and held Colorado to just 13 yards on the ground.

      With this win, Oklahoma State keeps its slim hopes alive in the Big 12 South. The Cowboys would need to beat Oklahoma next week and have Texas (6-0) lose both its remaining games in order to leapfrog the Longhorns in the standings. But chances are Texas won’t slip up against a struggling Kansas, which has lost five in a row and whose head coach is facing allegations of player abuse.

      College Football

      Panthers blow opportunity to get back into playoff chase

      November 20, 2009 /

      I don’t get the Carolina Panthers.

      One week after playing inspired in a 28-19 win over division rival Atlanta, the Panthers laid a dud in a 24-17 loss to the Dolphins on Thursday night in Carolina.

      After they beat the Falcons, some pundits started believing in the Panthers again. Hey, why not? They beat the Cardinals in Arizona in Week 8, hung with a powerhouse Saints team in New Orleans in Week 9, and beat a good Falcons team in Week 10.

      But after their performance Thursday night, it’s hard to believe that John Fox’s team will play consistent enough throughout the rest of the season to make a postseason run. Jake Delhomme is too mistake-prone, the loss of Jordan Gross kills the offensive line (the Dolphins sacked Delhomme four times), and the defense can’t stop the run.

      At best, this is a 7-9 Panthers team. They’ll play hard enough for Fox to stay somewhat alive in the Wild Card race, but they blew a huge opportunity this week to earn a victory at home and put pressure on the Falcons to win in New York (vs. the Giants) on Sunday.

      On the other side, the Dolphins still have a pulse at 5-5. Granted, given that they play in a tough AFC they don’t have much of a pulse, but considering they’re still alive without Chad Pennington and Ronnie Brown is quite an accomplishment.

      Ricky Williams really stepped up in the absence of Brown, rushing for 119 yards with two touchdowns on 22 carries. He also caught two passes for 19 yards and a touchdown, which proves he can be multi-dimensional.

      My TSR cohort John Paulsen made a good point the other day in that Williams doesn’t have the same wear and tear on him as most 32-year olds, given that he was out of football for a couple years. He won’t have the opportunity to face a suspect Carolina front seven every week, but if he continues to run the way he did on Thursday night then he’ll give Miami a chance to win on most game days.

      NFL

      Kansas’ Mangino defends himself following allegations of player abuse

      November 20, 2009 /

      Kansas head football coach Mark Manginio, who is facing allegations of verbal abuse and inappropriate physical contact against players, defended himself on a sports radio station in Kansas City on Thursday.

      Per ESPN.com:

      “We are sending kids out into the world prepared,” Mangino told the radio station. “But I can’t do the work of some parents, what they should have done before [the players] got to me. Some of these guys are bitter, they are bitter and [the allegations] are about that.

      “There are some things that happen for 18 years of their lives that I can’t change in four years of college. Can’t do it. Can’t change their behaviors, can’t change their attitudes.”

      Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins has launched an investigation into Mangino allegedly grabbing, yelling at and putting his finger in the chest of senior linebacker Arist Wright, who had been laughing during a walkthrough or practice prior to the Colorado game on Oct. 17, two people briefed on the situation told ESPN’s Joe Schad on Tuesday night.

      Since then, several former Kansas players come forward with allegations of verbal abuse.

      “There are people who want to embarrass the program for their 15 minutes of fame,” Mangino told the radio station.

      This isn’t the first time that the KU football program has come under some kind of investigation under Mangino’s watch.

      In 2005, Kansas’ athletic department reported to the NCAA that several members of the football program had committed academic fraud under Mangino. In 2006, a graduate assistant was found to have supplied answers to correspondence courses being taken by potential athletes. As a result, the football team was limited for two years in its recruitment of junior college transfers and also lost two scholarships for each of the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

      Granted, Mangino said that he didn’t know anything was going on and did take responsibility for his staff. But one has to wonder whether or not these recent allegations will lead to his ousting at KU if he’s found guilty of any wrong doing.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Biggest injury concern: Orton, Turner, Brown or Benson?

      November 19, 2009 /

      Last week, several teams’ playoff hopes took major hits as key players all left their respective games due to various injuries.

      The Broncos (Kyle Orton), Falcons (Michael Turner), Dolphins (Ronnie Brown) and Bengals (Cedric Benson) seem to be bitten he hardest by the injury bug but which injury should concern their respective teams the most? Let’s break down all four situations.

      Broncos: Without Orton, Denver stands little chance of beating the Chargers at home this Sunday and even less of a chance of winning the AFC West. Orton isn’t Peyton Manning, but he might as well be the Broncos’ version of the star Colts’ QB because Chris Simms proved last week that he isn’t capable of keeping Denver afloat if Orton misses significant time. Now maybe with more preparation Simms will be better, but chances are the Broncos’ hopes of making the playoffs will fall flat with him under center. Orton says that he will play this weekend, even though he has torn ligaments in his left ankle. He admitted last year that he shouldn’t have tried to grit out a right ankle injury when he was playing for the Bears, so there’s a chance that he’s about to make the same mistake twice. This Sunday will be a good indication of how severe Orton’s injury really is.

      Falcons: After getting off to a slow start, Turner was back in 2008 form the past couple weeks and even compiled 111 yards on only nine carries against the Panthers last Sunday before suffering a high ankle sprain. Usually those types of injuries take months to heel, but the Falcons don’t seem concerned about Turner missing more than a couple of weeks. The problem is that the Falcons are in the midst of a Wild Card chase in the NFC and they need their bruising back on the field – especially as Matt Ryan continues to struggle in his second year. Atlanta has capable backups in Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood, but the latter can’t stay healthy and the former doesn’t have much experience. If Ryan can step up and prove he can lead the Falcons through the air, then Turner can rest up and be ready in time for a late-season run. If Ryan falters again like he has been, then Turner might feel the need to rush back from his injury sooner than he (or the team) intends.

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      NFL

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