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A sign of things to come? ND nixes Weis’ recruiting trip

November 25, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

Charlie Weis has been informed that his West Coast recruiting trip has been canceled and that he’ll return to South Bend following the Irish’s game with Stanford on Saturday.

From FOX Sports.com:

Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday during a taping of his radio show for WLS Radio 890 in Chicago, which normally airs on Saturday, that Weis will fly back with the team.
Weis had said Sunday he planned to stay on the West Coast recruiting, just as he had last year when he and Swarbrick met to discuss his future after the regular-season finale at USC.
A message seeking comment was left for Swarbrick on his cell phone Tuesday evening by The Associated Press. Swarbrick’s comments became public after Weis’ weekly news conference on Tuesday.
Weis wasn’t in a reflective mood at what could be the final weekly news conference at his alma mater. Two days after saying he couldn’t argue if Notre Dame officials decided to fire him with a 6-5 record, Weis set the tone with his opening comment: “I have a news flash. We have a football game this Saturday evening against Stanford, so let’s see if we can’t talk about that,” he said.

The writing is on the wall: Weis is done in South Bend regardless of how the team does this week at Stanford.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

College Football

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Red Sox targeting Roy Halladay

November 25, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

According to a report by the New York Daily News, the Red Sox are targeting Blue Jays’ ace Roy Halladay.

If the Red Sox are serious about dealing for Halladay in the next two weeks, the Yankees will likely have their chance to get involved in the sweepstakes for the Blue Jays ace, although it will take a package of top prospects – as well as a sizeable contract extension for Halladay, who has a full no-trade clause – to get a deal done.
To land Halladay, Boston would likely have to give up Clay Buchholz, the organization’s top young pitcher, as well as Casey Kelly, the pitcher/shortstop who signed with the Red Sox in 2008 after being recruited by Tennessee to play quarterback. Red Sox GM Theo Epstein is said to be smitten with Kelly, which could be a sticking point in talks with Toronto if Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos insists on the 20-year-old being included in a deal.
The Yankees would love to acquire Halladay, although Cashman has been reluctant to deal away top prospects such as Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero for a player he would then have to sign for more than $100 million, such as Halladay. Toronto would also likely require either Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain in a deal.

Halladay, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester would form one of the best top 3’s in all of baseball. But is it worth it for Epstein to give up Buchholz and Kelly in a deal with no guarantees that Halladay will re-sign once he becomes a free agent at the end of the 2010 season? One would think that “The Doc” would want to re-sign with a contender like Boston, but again, there are no guarantees and Boston might lose a couple valuable prospects for just one year of Halladay.

We’ll see if this report has any teeth to it over the next couple of weeks. Storylines like these are created all the time around the winter meetings and some are just fabricated rumors.

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MLB

Boston Red Sox Casey Kelly Clay Buchholz New York Yankees Roy Halladay Theo Epstein Yankees

Alicia Sacramone hearts Brady Quinn

November 25, 2009 / John Paulsen

Remember Alicia Sacramone? She was the hottie gymnast from the 2008 Olympics who, as it turns out, sports a mean left hook.

Anyway, in a recent interview, she confirmed that she’s dating Browns’ QB Brady Quinn.

USA Gymnastics: I hear you’ve been attending a lot of Cleveland Browns football games lately. Can you talk about that?
Alicia: Yes, I have become a football fan. I was always a football fan but never into it too much until now. I’m dating Brady Quinn (the quarterback for Cleveland) so I travel to Cleveland on Sunday afternoons for home games.
USA Gymnastics: Has Brady visited you at the gym?
Alicia: No, but he said he’s excited to come to a gymnastics meet.
USA Gymnastics: How did you two meet?
Alicia: We met at a charity event through a mutual friend.

Whatever you do, Brady — don’t make her angry.

NFL, The Olympics, Women

Alicia Sacramone Brady Quinn Cleveland Browns

Review of The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons

November 25, 2009 / John Paulsen

I’ve always had a tough time doing book reviews. I’m only able to devote a few minutes here and there to actually sitting down and reading, so it takes me a while to get through a typical book. Combine that with the kind of turnaround that people want for a (or any) review, and I often wonder if someone that claims to have read an entire book is actually telling the truth.

In the interest of full disclosure, when Bill Simmons’ 700-page The Book of Basketball landed on my front stoop, I decided then and there that I’d read the first few chapters and then post about it. After all, Christmas is coming up and people are probably wondering if this opus is a worthwhile gift for the beloved basketball fan in their life. (It is.)

Anyone familiar with Simmons’ work on ESPN knows that he’s an engaging writer who uses an easy-to-read, conversational style littered with funny pop culture references. His book is no different. As a former collegiate player, I often take exception to his knowledge of the game. I’m not talking about history — if there’s one thing that’s clear about this book, it’s that Simmons understands how the NBA got from Point A to Point Z.

Humor, NBA, Reviews

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