Page 1086 of 2957

      Joe Nathan to have Tommy John surgery?

      March 9, 2010 /

      According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Joe Christensen, Twins’ closer Joe Nathan has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will decide whether or not to have Tommy John surgery within the next two weeks.

      If Nathan opts to go with the surgery, he would miss the entire 2010 season and leave the Twins without a closer. Nathan says that he will do whatever he can to give himself the “best chance to go out there and help” the Twins, but also realizes that he has to decide soon whether or not to have surgery because the club needs to figure out its closer situation.

      Jon Rauch was added to Minnesota’s bullpen in August, so he may be asked to close for the Twins at the start of the season, or at least until the club finds a more suitable option. Matt Guerrier is also a candidate after pitching extremely well (2.36 ERA, 33 holds, 0.97 WHIP) in 2009.

      Hopefully Nathan won’t need surgery but at this point, it’s probably wise to count him out for the 2010 season. Fantasy owners should take note.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Dwight Howard’s defense is overrated?

      March 9, 2010 /

      Yes, at least according to Peter Keating, who wrote a piece entitled “Why Dwight Howard is overrated,” which outlines the recent research presented by John Huizinga and Charles “Sandy” Weil at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

      Insider subscription required, so I’ll be brief in my excerpt…

      Over the entire stretch of data that Huizinga and Weil examined, Tim Duncan didn’t goaltend once, while 24 percent of Dwight Howard’s blocks resulted in free points for the other team.

      The data yields all kinds of instructive contrasts, most clearly between Duncan and Howard (hence the name of Huizinga and Weil’s paper). In 2008, Howard had 232 blocked shots, but he either saved or created just 124 points; Duncan had 149 blocks, but generated 167 points. On a points-per-block basis, Duncan has four of the top 10 seasons, according to Huizinga and Weil. Howard has three of the bottom 10.

      If anything, Howard should look at this report and draw two conclusions: 1) he needs to stop goaltending, and 2) he needs to try to direct his blocks better. Either block it to himself or to a teammate to start a fast break opportunity. He often tosses the ball out of bounds, which only serves to give possession back to the other team.

      On the final Laker possession in Sunday’s tilt in Orlando, Howard picked up Kobe off of a screen and roll and forced him into a very tough fadeaway jumper. His defense on that play was excellent and I think he is a very good defender. Could he be better? This research says he can.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Scott Fujita donates playoff earnings to charity, Haiti & New Orleans

      March 9, 2010 /

      If the below story doesn’t get your heart warmed up this morning, I don’t know what will.

      From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

      Fujita has decided to donate half of his $82,000 in NFL playoff earnings to two causes, one of which is coastal restoration.

      His reasons?

      “The people of this city and region have been so good to me and my family that we just felt strongly about doing something to protect the city we have come to love so much, ” Fujita said. “And helping on the coastal issue has been on the back of my mind since I first got here.”

      “You always hear about southern hospitality, but I experienced it from my first days here, ” Fujita recalled. “I was living in a residence hotel for the first few weeks while we looked for a place in town, and spent that time just walking around the city and bar hopping, getting to know the place.

      “Well, when people found out I was moving here from another city, I couldn’t pay for a drink. They didn’t know I was an NFL player. They just knew I was a guy who had come to join them, and that was it – I was a hero. I don’t think I paid for a drink for the first three or four weeks.”

      “Jaclyn and I were looking not just for a cause to donate to, but more importantly something we believe in, something we think we could actually make a difference in by using the visibility of the New Orleans Saints, ” he said. “And the coastal issue had been in the back of my mind almost since I got here.”

      Keep in mind that this is the same Scott Fujita that won’t be playing in New Orleans anymore after signing a free agent contract with the Browns over the weekend. Outside of playing for the Saints, he has no ties to New Orleans (he grew up in California), yet he still recognized what the city did for him and wanted to help out in any way he could.

      I’m never one to suggest that athletes have to donate because it’s their money – they can do whatever they want with it. But for a player like Fujita to donate all of his playoff earnings the way he did just shows what a class act he is.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Does the Wallace trade signal that the Seahawks will draft a QB?

      March 9, 2010 /

      On Monday night, the Browns acquired quarterback Seneca Wallace from the Seahawks in exchange for a conditional pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

      What this trade means for the Browns is pretty simple: they get a veteran quarterback who is familiar with Mike Holmgren’s offense and who could pave the way for the release of Derek Anderson. Wallace has little upside at this point, but he’s a stable backup that can keep the team competitive if he’s forced into action.

      For the Seahawks, this trade potentially means much more. There has been plenty of speculation that the Hawks will draft a quarterback at some point during April’s draft and this trade may open the door wider for that possibility. Given Matt Hasselbeck’s age (34), it would make sense that Seattle would draft their franchise quarterback this year and have him learn under Hasselbeck for a season or two until he’s ready to take over the reins.

      Now, this doesn’t mean that the Seahawks will target a QB at No. 6, although that’s certainly a possibility. If they wait, they could still target a signal caller like Colt McCoy (assuming he’s available of course) with their second round pick (No. 40 overall). One would think that if they were to draft a quarterback this April, it would be with one of their first two picks.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑