Page 2080 of 2957

      Cubs interested in acquiring Jake Peavy

      November 7, 2008 /

      The Chicago Cubs have emerged as a possible candidate to acquire San Diego Padres’ ace Jake Peavy.

      The Chicago Cubs have leapt to the forefront of the Jake Peavy trade discussion, though the San Diego Padres are continuing to talk with the Atlanta Braves in hopes of extracting a better package, sources told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday night.

      The team that lands the former National League Cy Young winner could depend on which includes its top pitching prospect, according to the sources. The Padres have asked the Cubs for right-hander Jeff Samardzija as the headliner of a package that could include outfielder Felix Pie, pitcher Sean Marshall and infielder Ronny Cedeno. Other potential pieces, another source said, were pitcher Kevin Hart and minor-league pitcher Donnie Veal.

      A rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Jake Peavy and Ryan Dempster would be filthy, although the Cubs would be mortgaging their long-term future by parting with so many prospects. Still, their roster is set up for them to win now and in baseball, you have to worry about one year at a time if you’re a contender like the Cubs obviously are.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      The college football regular season is not a playoff

      November 7, 2008 /

      Phil Guidry of SI.com is my hero:

      The regular season is a playoff
      Of all the absolute nonsense network sportscasters and BCS apologists spew during the season, this might be the most galling. If the regular season is a playoff, it’s the most asinine, unfulfilling playoff ever devised. If this is a playoff, it’s missing one teeny, tiny, possibly useful ingredient for the big picture: the actual “playing” part.

      Things would be fine if everyone played the same balanced schedule and the best teams got the chance to pick each other off during the season until a true champion emerged. But if there’s one thing college football fans can agree on, it’s that conference schedules are not created equal…

      In reality, this alleged regular season playoff settles virtually nothing on the field, and that means at the end of the year we could have the following situation: Florida could get shut out of the title game even though it’s churning through SEC opponents by 30 points per game. Penn State could get shut out even with an undefeated season. USC could get shut out even though it’s, well, shutting people out (three times this season, and it hasn’t even faced UCLA yet). Texas could get shut out even though its only loss came against an unbeaten team, in the final seconds, thanks to the best play of the season. Oklahoma could get shut out even though Texas is the only team that beat it…

      Imagine a world where the NFL didn’t have playoffs. It just had a 17-Week regular season and at the end, the New York Giants played the Tennessee Titans because each team had the right combination of wins, common opponents and margin of victory points.

      I think I just threw up in my mouth. And that’s how I feel watching college football every Saturday knowing that there’s no true playoff system to tell me if Penn State is better than Texas Tech or Alabama is better than Florida.

      College Football

      Brandon Marshall tries to make political statement during game

      November 7, 2008 /

      Brandon Marshall explains his attempt to make a political statement in support of Barack Obama during the Broncos’ 34-30 win over the Browns on NFL Network Thursday night.

      One blogger at FanIQ.com sums up the situation pretty well:

      Well done on Stokely’s part, showing the awareness and intelligence that Marshall seemed to completely disregard in his zeal to play politics during a football game. Celebrating Barack Obama’s victory is something that can be done on one’s own time, and probably shouldn’t be something that is planned on the company’s dime. I’m not sure why anyone would feel that it’s ok for athletes to make these sorts of political statements when they are “at work,” but I’m sure if anyone in a normal job were to celebrate election results at work in a way that could potentially damage the company, it would result in punitive action.

      Is there a reason that athletes feel the need to abuse the public stage to express political views? I’m certainly not suggesting they be censored, but I do believe a certain amount of discretion should be considered, and I’m not sure that I see that in sports today.

      NFL, Video

      Utah keeps BCS hopes alive with last minute TD to beat TCU

      November 7, 2008 /

      Brian JohnsonThey had trailed all game and their BCS hopes appeared to be dashed. Yet back-to-back missed field goals by TCU had kept No. 8 Utah alive.

      Down 10-6 the entire second half, the Utes started at their own 20 with 2:48 left in the game. There, QB Brian Johnson marched Utah down the field in rhythmic fashion, even completing an 11-yard pass on a 4th and 5 from TCU’s 26-yard line. Then, on a 2nd and 4 from the TCU 9-yard line, Johnson found Freddie Brown for the go-ahead touchdown with only 47 seconds to play. Utah held on the final 47 seconds for a 13-10 win.

      It took the Utes nine plays and 80 yards, but they had saved their season. For the No. 12 Horned Frogs, it had taken them just two minutes and one second from blowing the opportunity to knock off the No. 8 team in the nation and perhaps climb into the top 10 themselves.

      Utah’s comeback was incredibly impressive and what a game by the senior Johnson. But TCU blew a golden opportunity to put the Utes away several times in the fourth quarter. Twice they had marched into the red zone with less than seven minutes remaining in the game and twice they were unable to put the game away with touchdowns or even field goals, as they missed two 30-yard attempts that would have at least kept the game tied once Utah scored.

      It’s hard to blame TCU’s defense for finally yielding in the final minutes. Normally when you hold the No. 8 team to only 13 points (including 6 until the final three minutes left in the game) you should walk away with a victory.

      College Football

      Boras: Dodgers’ offer for Manny not long enough

      November 7, 2008 /

      The Los Angeles Dodgers have a $45 million offer on the table for Manny Ramirez, but apparently the contract it isn’t long enough for agent Scott Boras’s liking. The Dodgers are offering a 2-year deal, but Ramirez and Boras are seeking a 6-year contract.

      One of the two sources said the Dodgers presented agent Scott Boras with a back-loaded deal that would pay Ramirez $15 million in 2009, down from the $20 million he earned this year. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said Wednesday that the contract included an option year.

      Boras wouldn’t confirm the details of the proposed contract but wondered aloud why it didn’t include more years. He has said that Ramirez deserves a six-year deal.

      “There is evidence of major league teams giving a player that’s older a contract for five years,” Boras said.

      The reference was to the five-year deal the San Francisco Giants awarded Barry Bonds in 2002, when he was 37. Boras noted that he negotiated that contract with Colletti, who was the Giants’ assistant general manager at the time.

      Six years seems ridiculous given Manny’s age, but then again, it’s not like his production is declining. Nobody knows if he’ll continue to play at a high level in his late 30s, but he seems like a decent risk worth taking.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑