Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 762 of 1503)

      Mason reconsiders retirement, rejoins Ravens

      August 1, 2009 /

      Wide receiver Derrick Mason has reconsidered retirement and has decided that he will play for the Ravens in 2009.

      “It was a tough decision, but I think it was a good decision for me to come back,” Mason said. “I needed to evaluate my life, football and my career. The last several weeks thinking about it and talking with my family was an important time for me and them.

      “I still have an intense fire inside me, and I want to play. My family and I wanted to finish it out the right way. I felt like I had left something undone, and I wanted to finish it. I believe this is a good example for my son and my daughter on how to be thoughtful and also follow through.”

      “I wanted to make sure that when I do retire, I won’t have any regrets,” he said. “As I’ve thought about this and talked about this with my family, I realized I would have regrets if I didn’t come back.
      “I think I’m in great shape. I have been working out, and I was part of the offseason program. I’m ready to get out there with my teammates.”

      This is great news for the Ravens, who would have been desperately thin at receiver without Mason. While he isn’t a spring chicken at 35 years old, Mason did haul in 80 passes last year for 1,037 yards and five touchdowns. He was Baltimore best playmaker in Baltimore’s passing game last year and Joe Flacco’s number one target.

      Again, this is great news for the Ravens.

      NFL

      Saturday MMA Review: 8/1

      August 1, 2009 /

      Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

      – In a press conference held Friday, UFC boss Dana White announced the returns of Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort, and promised to be close on another deal that will “change the UFC forever.”

      – Unfortunately, getting Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko into the UFC remains a pipe-dream — and it will remain that way as long as Fedor has morons like Jerry Millen in his camp.

      – Josh Barnett insists that he’s innocent of his latest steroid charge. His urine, however, is telling a different story.

      – Speaking of ‘roids, we ran down every single steroid bust in MMA history, from Tim Sylvia’s ill-fated attempt to lose his gut to Kevin Randleman’s infamous “dead human or live animal” incident.

      – Strikeforce’s August 15th show continues to undergo major changes, with Renato Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi brought over from Affliction’s canceled “Trilogy” card, Jay Hieron coming in to replace Joe Riggs, and Mitsuhiro Ishida replacing injured lightweight champ Josh Thomson. Luckily, Gina Carano is still looking quite healthy.

      – Also in the wake of Affliction’s collapse, the UFC swooped in to rescue Ben Rothwell, Paul Daley, and Joe Lauzon’s little brother.

      – Kenny Florian talked to us about his gameplan for BJ Penn, and set the record straight on that text message he may or may not have sent Penn that may or may not have accused Georges St. Pierre of greasing.

      Mixed Martial Arts

      Roddy White a no-show at Falcons camp

      August 1, 2009 /

      The excitement bubble has just been burst for the Atlanta Falcons.

      After being one of the NFL’s feel good stories in 2008, the Falcons are off to a bumpy start so far in 2009 as one of their top playmakers decided not to show up for camp because he’s upset about his contract.

      Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, the 27th pick of the 2005 draft, was a no-show for the first team meeting Friday evening.

      White was scheduled to report by 6:30 p.m., but he was not there, according to his agent. Players not present for the first meeting are considered “holdouts.”

      A player holding out will be fined $17,000 per day, as determined by the collective bargaining agreement.

      The Falcons have been in discussions with White’s representative, Jonathan Feinsod, about a contract extension. He confirmed that White wasn’t at the meeting but said “no comment” when asked to elaborate.

      There’s no question that White deserves a pay raise. Over the past two years, he’s compiled 171 receptions, 2,584 yards and 13 touchdowns while emerging as one of the better young receivers in the game. He certainly deserves more than the $2.28 million he’s expected to receive in his final year of his rookie contract and the Falcons need to pay him to ensure Matt Ryan has his top playmaker in the passing game for years to come.

      That said, I find it ironic that this is the same White who caught only 59 passes and three touchdowns in his first two seasons in the NFL and now he’s essentially ready to holdout for a new contract. Granted, most receivers don’t develop until their third year, but White was so bad that some were deeming him a bust after only his second season.

      Again, White deserves a pay raise and the Falcons are likely to pay him…in due time. But it must tick the Falcons off that White is putting a damper on what should be an exciting time for Atlanta’s organization by bitching about a contract when quite frankly, he didn’t deserve whatever he was making in his first two seasons.

      But I digress. The Falcons need to open their checkbook and pay the man. He’s worth the money given his age (27) and production over the last two years and again, Ryan is better with White in the lineup. I think it would have been better for all parties involved if White would have showed up to camp on time and let his contract situation play out on its own. But maybe this is just a scare tactic and he’ll show up in the next couple of days.

      NFL

      White Sox acquire Peavy from Padres in exchange for four pitchers

      July 31, 2009 /

      The White Sox traded for Jake Peavy again, only this time the deal actually went through as the former San Diego starter agreed to waive his no-trade clause. Chicago will be on the hook for all of Peavy’s contract, which means they’ll pay him $56 million by the end of 2012 and even more after that if they agree to pay his club option in 2013.

      In exchange for their one-time ace, the Padres acquired left-handed pitchers Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard, as well as right-handers Dexter Carter and Adam Russell. It’s essentially the same deal that the two teams agreed to in May, although this time the Sox included Richard, who wasn’t in the original offer.

      According to Peavy’s agent Barry Axelrod, the ace signed off on the trade because there was no guarantee that the Cubs or Dodgers (his preferred teams) would have made a move for him in the offseason.

      This move is surprising on the part of the White Sox seeing as how Peavy probably won’t pitch again the rest of the season, yet Chicago is still on the hook for all of his salary. Then again, with Peavy under contract through 2012 (and possibly 2013), GM Kenny Williams clearly made this move for the future (albeit at the risk of surrendering a massive amount of pitching depth).

      You knew Williams wasn’t going to stand pat and let the deadline go by without making a move and he certainly one-upped the division rival Detroit, who acquired starter Jarrod Washburn today. He has always been a bit of a gambler and if Peavy returns to full health and makes the Sox a winner (whether that means a World Series winner or otherwise), maybe we’ll look back on this trade and commend Williams for making such a bold move.

      That said, this was a massive risk by Williams. For starters, there’s only about a 50-50 chance that Peavy will pitch again this season. So not only is there a decent possibility that the Sox won’t get any use out of him this season, but they also paid a higher price for him now then they did when the deal didn’t go through in May because they included Richard.

      Even though they gave up their ace and a popular player, San Diego and their fans have to be happy with the haul they got from Chicago. It’s not like the Padres had to sweetener their offer in order to get Richard too; they’re still giving up the same piece (Peavy) to acquire more than they would have in May.

      Well done, Kevin Towers.

      MLB

      Indians trade Victor Martinez to Red Sox

      July 31, 2009 /

      The Red Sox had their sites set on possibly acquiring Padres’ slugger Adrian Gonzalez at the start of the day on Friday, but wound up trading for Indians’ catcher Victor Martinez instead.

      In a completely separate deal, Boston also swapped first baseman with the Braves, acquiring Casey Kotchman for Adam LaRoche.

      In this trade, the Tribe will receive right-hander Justin Masterson and minor league pitchers Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price. Masterson was Boston’s second-round pick in 2006, going 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 31 appearances including six starts this season. He also went 6-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 36 games last year after being called up from the minors.

      Hagadone was drafted No. 55 overall by the Sox in ’07 and missed most of the ’08 season after having Tommy John surgery. Price was the No. 45 overall pick in ’08 and has struggled thus far in the minors.

      For Boston not to have to give up Clay Buchholz in trade for V-Mart was huge. Martinez is a nice upgrade and adds pop to a Red Sox lineup that desperately needs it, but Boston would have overpaid in a deal involving Buchholz. Now with Martinez and Kotchman, they have options to play with regarding both their lineup and defense, where V-Mart will likely split time at both catcher and first base.

      As for Cleveland, it’s hard to determine if they got good value in this deal or not – and we may not know that answer for a couple of years, just like we won’t know if they got good value in the Cliff Lee trade.

      Pundits seem to like Masterson, but he seems to struggling against left-handers and really only has two pitches. Hagadone is a hard throwing reliever who could blow through the minors but he’s also coming off of Tommy John surgery and will likely start off in Double-A next year. Price is only 22, but he has struggled so far in the minors.

      So if you’re an Indians fan, you’ve got to be in flux right now. Your team traded away its best pitcher and its most popular position player outside of Grady Sizemore, but got a slew of prospects that may or may not develop. You’re club is building hope for the future, but the future may be three or four more years away and who’s to say that once all of this pitching develops that you might not have any hitting at that time? Then you’re just the San Francisco Giants of the American League.

      Every Tribe fan across the nation must be sighing right now and saying to themselves, “We’ll see.”

      By the way, it’s Victor Martinez bobble head night in Cleveland tomorrow. Whoops…

      MLB

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