Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 817 of 1503)

Cardinals to go after Tejada?

According to a report by Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have their eyes on Astros’ shortstop Miguel Tejada.

The Cardinals have expanded their search for an additional hitter to include Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada. Tejada fits the profile of what the Cardinals are seeking — an offensive deterrent capable of playing multiple positions. The Astros are experiencing financial problems and could part with a player owed $13 million this season. Tejada entered Wednesday leading the NL in batting with a .357 average and 21 doubles. He ranked third in the league with a .354 average against righthanded pitching. … Khalil Greene managed three hits Wednesday night in his second game on a rehab assignment with the Memphis Redbirds.

It’s amazing how the Cards are scrambling to add a shortstop after being excited about picking up Khalil Greene this offseason. When I interviewed Tony La Russa before the season regarding his “ARF” Foundation, he mentioned Greene’s name several times in reference to how St. Louis was glad to have him in their lineup. Greene has missed time due to “anxiety-related issues,” but maybe he can bounce back and St. Louis won’t have to make a move in the end.

Tejada has some tread on his tires, but the guy can obviously still hit. The Cards need to do something if they want to eventually separately themselves in a tight NL Central.

Sixteen Alabama teams penalized for textbook scandal

The University of Alabama is having a bad day.

Sixteen athletics teams at Alabama have been penalized for their involvement in improperly obtaining free textbooks for other students, with the football team ordered to vacate an unspecified number of victories between the 2005 and 2007 seasons, the NCAA Committee on Infractions announced Thursday.

Alabama could be forced to vacate as many as 21 football wins that came under the watch of former coach Mike Shula and current coach Nick Saban, sources at the university told ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach. Citing a source, the Birmingham News reported the number of victories to be at least 10.

The football program, which will not lose future scholarships, and the other 15 teams have been put on three years’ probation — the third probation penalty for university athletics in the last decade. Alabama also was ordered to pay a $43,900 fine.

In addition to football, the programs receiving penalties are men’s and women’s basketball, softball, baseball, women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball.

In men’s tennis and men’s and women’s track, the individual records of 15 athletes identified as “intentional wrongdoers” will be vacated and team point totals from regular season, postseason and NCAA championship contests will be reconfigured, the NCAA said.

Alabama went 10-2 in 2005, 6-7 in 2006 and 7-6 in 2007. So in the grand scheme of things, if they do have to give back those victories, it wouldn’t have much of an affect on the outcome of those seasons for other teams. But could you imagine if the Tide would have won one of those mythical titles that the BCS tries to pass off as a national championship in 2005, 2006 or 2007? Boy, Alabama’s face would have been red!

On a side note, textbooks in college should be free anyway. That’s one of the biggest scams universities run on students every year. First, you’re going to pay us $12,000 a year just to attend our school. Then we’re going to charge you another $500 to $1,000 for textbooks and when you sell them back to us, we’re only going to give you $21.84 for your trade in.

Have a nice day.

Ibanez irate over blogger’s PED speculation, but is Inquirer columnist to blame?

A story gaining major national attention over the last couple days is a story that Jerod Morris of Midwest Sports Fans wrote about 37-year old Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez, who has been on a tear (.325, 20 HRs, 55 RBI) to start the 2009 baseball season.

The motivation behind Morris’ article (which you can read in full here) was to prove that Ibanez’s incredible start wasn’t due to the possible use of steroids or any other form of performance-enhancing drugs.

Here’s an excerpt from Morris’ article, although I implore you to read the entire piece because he dedicates most of the post to trying to prove that legit factors (i.e. the ball parks he’s played in, the pitchers he’s faced, etc.) have led to Ibanez’s fast start.

Thirdly, it’s time for me to begrudgingly acknowledge the elephant in the room: any aging hitter who puts up numbers this much better than his career averages is going to immediately generate suspicion that the numbers are not natural, that perhaps he is under the influence of some sort of performance enhancer. And since I was not able to draw any absolute parallels between his prodigously improved HR rate and his new ballpark’s hitter-friendliness, it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility that “other” performance enhancers could be part of the equation.

Sorry Raul Ibanez and Major League Baseball, that’s just the era that we are in — testing or no testing.

The above except was enough to compel Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Gonzalez to write a piece entitled, “A cheap shot at Ibanez.”

Here’s an excerpt from Gonzalez’s article:

Continue reading »

Report: Eagles close to new deal with Donovan McNabb

According to a report by Comcast Sportsnet in Philadelphia, the Eagles are close to signing quarterback Donovan McNabb to a new contract.

Under his current deal, the 11th-year veteran is scheduled to earn $9.2 million this season and $10 million in 2010. The two sides had been discussing an extension before agreeing to focus on reworking the two years remaining on his current deal.

Earlier this offseason, the 32-year-old McNabb reportedly indicated he wouldn’t negotiate a new deal until he saw the moves the team made in the offseason. Apparently, he’s satisfied, although he has yet to hold a press conference this offseason to discuss the matter.

In 2002, McNabb signed a 12-year, $115 million extension that had him under contract through 2013. The last three years of that extension were voided, though, when McNabb reached certain incentive clauses.

Last season, his 10th in the league, McNabb completed 345 of 571 pass attempts for 3,916 yards – all franchise records.

Football fans seem to either love or hate McNabb and I have been someone that has always been in his corner. Some Philly fans have chastised him ever since he was drafted and love to harp on everything and anything that they feel he does remotely wrong. But the guy has been incredibly productive throughout his entire career and outside of a couple brutal games in the middle of the season, he proved last year that he still has the talent and ability to lead the Eagles deep into the postseason.

It looks like all of the Kevin Kolb fans will have to wait a little longer to see the young QB get his shot to be a starter.

Joe Montana’s son commits to Washington

Joe Montana’s son, Nick, who is entering his senior year at Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California, has officially committed the University of Washington. This news comes on the heels of the Huskies losing out on Skyline High School’s Jake Heaps, who spurned Washington to commit to BYU.

Montana (the son, not one of the greatest quarterbacks to have ever lived) actually had offers from Notre Dame, LSU, Ohio State, Stanford, Alabama and Georgia, but chose Washington despite the Huskies’ brutal 0-12 season in 2008.

Even though the Huskies have a ton of work ahead of them in order to be competitive again, it’s nice to see that Montana wants to help play a role in turning Washington back into the proud program it once was. Nick could have gone to his dad’s alma mater Notre Dame, but that probably would have created unnecessary pressure on him to succeed.

For three SEC programs to be interested in Montana, you know the kid has some immense talent. It’ll be fun to follow him at Washington after he wraps up his senior year of high school.

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