Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 888 of 1503)

      Friday MMA Review 4/3

      April 3, 2009 /

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

      – Carlos Condit didn’t live up to the hype and Junie Browning didn’t live up to his mouth at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night show. You can check out some videos from the event here.

      – Word on the street is that jiu-jitsu phenon Demian Maia will get the next crack at Anderson Silva’s UFC middleweight belt…assuming Silva crushes Thales Leites later this month at UFC 97.

      – BJ Penn will finally return to the lightweight division at UFC 101 (August 8th, Philadelphia), where he’ll take on #1 contender Kenny Florian. It will be the first time in 15 months that the UFC’s 155-pound strap will be on the line.

      – The ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter debuted Wednesday night, as 16 British hopefuls were cut down to eight official members of Team U.K. We do not have high hopes for this lot.

      – After a rage-filled video-blog entry that saw UFC prez Dana White use the word “faggot” and call a female reporter a “fuckin’ dumb bitch,” White has issued a public apology. To the gays, at least.

      – Is DADA the next Kimbo Slice?

      – We counted down some quick ‘n’ ugly MMA knockouts.

      – Check out CagePotato.com on Monday morning for full results of WEC 40 (Torres vs. Mizugaki), DREAM 8 (Aoki vs. Sakurai), and Bellator Fighting Championships’ debut event.

      Mixed Martial Arts

      Ichiro heading to DL with bleeding ulcer

      April 3, 2009 /

      Mariners’ outfielder Ichiro Suzuki will be placed on the disabled list and is expected to miss the first week of the season after it was discovered that he was suffering from a bleeding ulcer.

      Ichiro had been suffering from severe fatigue, causing him to miss the Mariners’ last three Cactus League games (March 30-April 1). He was examined by doctors in Arizona who determined that he had suffered a bleeding ulcer. The ulcer is not bleeding now, but in the interim, doctors have ordered restricted activity.

      Ichiro has played in 197 consecutive games (dating back to Aug. 26, 2007), the fourth-longest active Iron Man streak in the Majors. He has played in 807 of the Mariners’ last 810 games over the last five seasons, and since coming to Seattle in 2001, has played in 1,280 of 1,296 possible games (missed only 16 games in 8 years).

      Raise your hand if you drafted Ichiro in your fantasy league this year…

      Dude has only missed 16 games in 8 years and a week after I draft him he heads to the DL. Sweet.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Are the Bears now the favorites in the NFC North?

      April 3, 2009 /

      In one day, the Bears seemingly addressed their 20-year old quarterback problem and also added a significant piece to their offensive line. In one day, the Bears might have gone from a .500 team to the perennial favorites in the NFC North.

      It’s way too early to be getting into predictions for the 2009 NFL Season. Voluntary workouts have begun, but the draft is still weeks away and teams are still trying to reshape their rosters.

      But with the trade acquisition of Jay Cutler and the signing of left tackle Orlando Pace, the Bears significantly upgraded their offense and hopefully made current players like Matt Forte, Devin Hester, Frank Omiyale and Chris Williams better.

      Make no mistake – Chicago is far from a Super Bowl contender. They still need to upgrade their wide receiver position, could use another defensive end to throw in the mix with Alex Brown, Adewale Ogunleye and Mark Anderson, and even though they signed Josh Bullocks this offseason, they could still use an upgrade at safety as well.

      But while every team in the division has arguably gotten weaker, the Bears have upgraded. The Vikings are still pretty strong, but they lost long-time center Matt Birk and still have questions to be answered at quarterback. The Packers are planning to run a 3-4 defense next season, but have done next to nothing to add true 3-4 personnel and the Lions will continue to take a sandblaster to their entire roster.

      Continue reading »

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Mets on the verge of signing Gary Sheffield?

      April 3, 2009 /

      According to Newsday, the Mets are close to signing a deal with free agent outfielder Gary Sheffield, who was recently released by the Tigers.

      Gary SheffieldThe Mets have contacted Gary Sheffield directly to gauge his interest in coming to New York and a person familiar with the situation said today that he could sign with a club as soon as tonight. Sheffield worked out yesterday at a college field in Tampa, as first reported by SI.com, and the Mets are considered to be his first choice, with the Phillies and Reds also showing interest.

      On the surface, Sheffield appears to be a good fit for the Mets as a right-handed slugger capable of providing power off the bench. If they did sign Sheffield, Marlon Anderson is the most obvious roster casualty. Eating his $1.15-million salary is made more palatable by the fact that Sheffield is only due the major-league minimum of $400,000. The Tigers released him earlier this week despite owing him $14 million for this season.

      Finding Sheffield playing time is a little more complicated. The Mets could immediately platoon him with Ryan Church in rightfield, which seems more likely given their infatuation with Daniel Murphy in left. Of course, if Murphy struggles, that decision could be flipped.

      On the surface, adding a player who can bring some pop to your lineup makes sense but is Sheffield really a good fit for the Mets? Sheff is never above bitching about his role and considering the Mets already have a pretty crowded outfield as it is, will he start to complain about his playing time?

      I think GM Omar Minaya is doing his due diligence to explore every option available. But adding a often cranky 40-year old outfielder with declining defensive skills (that’s putting it nicely) and a long injury history might not be worth it in the end.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Did the Browns have Quinn on the table for Cutler?

      April 3, 2009 /

      Following the Jay Cutler trade to Chicago, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Browns had a deal on the table that would have sent Brady Quinn to Denver. According to the report, the Redskins would have gotten Cutler, while the Browns would have acquired Washington QB Jason Campbell.

      Of course, Browns’ head coach Eric Mangini denied the report less than 24 hours later.

      The report comes a little more than a week after Mangini said at the NFL owners meetings that he wouldn’t rule out a trade.

      “What I haven’t ruled out is [GM] George [Kokinis] and I looking at any opportunity to improve the team,” he said. “But I in no way am saying that is specific to the quarterback situation. But we would look at any opportunity we thought would improve the team.”

      He also said he told both Quinn and Derek Anderson that they’d openly compete for the job in training camp and that he was “excited” about the competition.

      There’s more at stake for Quinn in the competition than just the starting job. If he plays at least 70 percent of the snaps next season, he’ll earn $11 million in contract escalators.

      There have been more than a handful of rumors this offseason that involve the Browns trading Quinn. Granted, they could all be just that – rumors. But one has to wonder whether or not Mangini is high on Quinn and if he had the choice, whether or not he’d love to blow up the quarterback situation in Cleveland and start over.

      But in terms of dealing with this specific rumor, the only thing that doesn’t make sense is why Mangini would want Campbell. Outside of starting experience, why would he want Campbell over Quinn? Campbell has been trying to learn the West Coast Offense for over a year, so to acquire him and try to teach him a new playbook wouldn’t be a very bright idea. If the Browns did make that trade, I think they’d be taking a step back from what they already have.

      NFL, Rumors & Gossip

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