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      Saturday MMA Review: 8/8

      August 8, 2009 /

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

      – Russian heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko told the UFC to get stuffed, and signed with rival MMA promotion Strikeforce. As you can imagine, Dana White wasn’t too happy about this.

      – James Irvin officially became the most cursed MMA fighter in history.

      – Josh Barnett’s latest steroid bust, which single-handedly destroyed Affliction’s MMA promotion, actually saved the sport of mixed martial arts.

      – Speaking of ‘roids, BJ Penn is pretty sure that Georges St. Pierre uses them, because how else would you explain his physique? You know, other than genetics and hard work…

      – Sengoku’s featherweight grand prix finals turned into a clusterbang of injuries and racism.

      – Former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski may have attempted suicide after two straight knockout losses.

      – Busty French-Canadian ring girl Edith Labelle exited the UFC under mysterious circumstances. Rumor has it, she was too drunk to work UFC 100 last month.

      – Swing by CagePotato.com Saturday night starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the UFC 101 pay-per-view broadcast. You can get familiar with the card by reading this debate on the major topics of the event, and our always-helpful gambling advice. And remember: This ain’t Las Vegas, and it ain’t New Jersey. This is Philly.

      Mixed Martial Arts

      Top 5 Active Special Teams TD Leaders

      August 8, 2009 /

      Donte HallSome NFL players are just electrifying to watch when they return kicks. Some are even more electrifying when they are on your fantasy team, or if your D/ST gives you six points for a kick return score. Here is a list of the top five (or so) active players in this very department:

      1. Dante Hall, St. Louis Rams (12)—He’s lost a step or two, but between 2002 and 2004 while with Kansas City, this guy was positively money on returns. You just couldn’t kick the ball to him without that nagging fear of a big return. In 2003, Hall had 4 TDs, including a 100-yard kick return and a 93 yard punt return. Just sick.

      2. Devin Hester, Chicago Bears (11)—Those 11 returns were in just TWO seasons, 2006 and 2007, as Hester’s focus in 2008 was more as a receiver. But 11 TDs in two seasons is amazing, and consider that he also returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl 41 all the way.

      3. Allen Rossum, San Francisco 49ers (8)—He’s played for five different teams, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous to defend.

      4. Antwaan Randle El, Washington Redskins (6)—He only has one return TD in the last three years while with the Redskins, but still very dangerous as a return man and a receiver in the open field.

      4 (tie). Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers (6)—He doesn’t return kicks anymore, but why should one of the game’s perennial Top 5 receivers be relegated to kickoff duty anymore?

      4 (tie). Joshua Cribbs, Cleveland Browns (6)—Only 26 years old this season, Cribbs has been one of the lone bright spots on a struggling Browns’ team his first three seasons.

      Source: Pro Football Reference

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Football, NFL

      Olney: Blue Jays place Rios on waivers

      August 7, 2009 /

      In a surprising development, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney is reporting that the Blue Jays have placed outfielder Alex Rios on waivers and an unidentified team has already claimed him.

      The Blue Jays, it appears, have three options, and must make a decision by Tuesday, because the waiver period will roll through the weekend:

      • They could work out a trade with the team that claimed Rios.
      • They could pull him back from waivers, and keep him for themselves the rest of this season.
      • They could simply allow the team that claimed him to take him, at no cost.

      While this move definitely came out of nowhere, it makes sense that the Jays would want to dump Rios’ salary with his ceiling pretty much maxed out at 28 years old. He’s probably not going to play up to the $60 million that remains on his contract so if another team wants to take on all of his salary, then maybe Toronto is thinking it should jump on the opportunity and spend the money elsewhere.

      What’ll be interesting to find out is which team claimed Rios. According to MLB Trade Rumors, several teams including the Mets, Red Sox, Giants, Reds and Mariners did not put a waiver claim on him, so the mystery team remains at large.

      The first team that I thought of when I heard this news (and before I checked out MLB Trade Rumors) was the Giants. GM Brian Sabean foolishly toyed with the idea of trading Tim Lincecum for Rios two winters ago, so it would stand to reason that San Fran (who is still a hitter shy of making a serious World Series push) would go after him now. But with the way the waiver claims work in baseball, the Giants would be one of the last teams in line seeing as how they play in the NL (AL teams would have first crack at Rios) and they have the third best record in their league.

      Red Sox designate Smoltz for assignment

      August 7, 2009 /

      The AP is reporting that the Red Sox have cut starter John Smoltz and now Boston has 10 days to trade, release or send the 42-year-old veteran to the minors.

      “When he woke up today, he said, ‘How can I help the team win?'” Epstein said. “But he’s a realist and understands the results have not been what we were looking for.”

      After more than two decades of big wins in Atlanta, Smoltz signed with the Red Sox last January, hoping he could recover from surgery on his right shoulder. After eight starts, the numbers weren’t pretty for a pitcher with Hall of Fame credentials: 2-5 with an 8.32 ERA.

      Boston cut him while in a three-way race with the Yankees and Tampa Bay, and with Smoltz still searching for answers after one of the worst outings of his career.

      This is where I could write about how Smoltz would be a nice option as a fifth starter for a contender, but it’s hard to make that argument given how bad he’s been over the past month. Plus, he was the fifth starter (essentially) on a contender and he was brutal.

      Maybe he could wind up back in the National League and help a team like the Brewers or Giants, but again, he’s been so bad lately that it must just be time for him to hang ‘em up.

      MLB

      LeBron James will not sign an extension this summer

      August 7, 2009 /

      It was kind of a pipe dream anyway, but LeBron isn’t going to sign the extension that the Cavs have offered, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

      “I signed a contract in 2006 with an option,” he said. “It would make no sense for me to sign that contract if I didn’t keep my options open. I’ll let you fill in the blanks.”

      James is playing this one the right way. If he re-ups now, then he loses the leverage necessary to keep GM Danny Ferry’s feet to the fire in terms of bringing in some long-term help. Shaquille O’Neal is fine for a year or two, but he’s most definitely a short-term fix.

      The bad news is that with the long-term commitment the team made to Anderson Varejao, the Cavs aren’t projected to have any cap space next summer if they’re lucky enough to re-sign LeBron. It looks like Ferry sees the writing on the wall — with the salary cap likely dropping to $50-$51 million next season, he wasn’t going to have enough money to sign LeBron and another superstar, so he re-signed Varejao to make this year’s Cavs team as good as possible in the hopes that a Finals appearance or a championship would be enough to keep LeBron in Cleveland.

      NBA, News

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