Page 433 of 2957

MMA February Rankings: Featherweight

February 19, 2011 / Staff

Jose Aldo remains atop HeavyMMA.com’s Featherweight rankings for the month of February.

The featherweight division remains somewhat stagnant for February. Chad Mendes had a chance to cement himself as the #2 featherweight in the world, but turned in a lackluster performance against Michihiro Omigawa. Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick don’t face off until April, and few of the top ten guys even have fights booked at this point.
Notes: Our rankings are subjective and are weighted heavily in favor of recent performance instead of a career body of work.
1. Jose Aldo
Aldo makes his long-awaited UFC debut (as champion, no less) when he takes on Mark Hominick at UFC 129 in Toronto. There will be 55,000 people in the stadium when Aldo takes to the cage; that’s pretty good exposure for a guy you’re wanting to push as one of the best fighters in the world. Everybody wants to talk about Hominick’s striking and how good it is, but Aldo should dispatch him with ease. Aldo’s biggest fight this year could come in the form of Kenny Florian, who dropped to featherweight and hopes to win one big fight and then get his title shot.

Read the full article.

External Sports, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

Chad Mendes Dream Jose Aldo Mark Hominick MMA MMA Rankings Sengoku UFC

Carmelo meets with the Knicks, denies meeting with the Nets

February 18, 2011 / John Paulsen

Per ESPN…

Carmelo Anthony and New York Knicks owner James Dolan met on Thursday night in Los Angeles, the New York Daily News reported on Friday afternoon.
The newspaper also reported that the executive of the Knicks and Denver Nuggets were set to hold a conference call on Friday afternoon to discuss a deal involving Anthony, who has been the subject of trade rumors to the Knicks and New Jersey Nets for the past several months.

As for the Nets…

Anthony, speaking Friday at a NBA Cares Day of Service event in Los Angeles, said “no meeting at all” is scheduled with the Nets. Calling it “news to me,” Anthony said: “If I was to meet with that guy [Prokhorov] to be honest I really don’t know what I would say.”

“If I was to meet with that guy…”

Wow.

So both Prokhorov’s spokeswoman and Anthony are denying that there’s a meeting scheduled, yet there are reports that the Nets and Nuggets have come to terms on a deal.

I can’t wait for this to be over.

External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

2010-11 NBA season Carmelo Anthony Carmelo Anthony rumors Denver Nuggets Mikhail Prokhorov New Jersey Nets New York Knicks

Five potential landing spots for Bob Sanders

February 18, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

For those surprised that the Colts released Bob Sanders on Friday, don’t be. The moment he suffered a season-ending biceps injury in Week 1 against the Texans this past year he gave the team no choice but to part ways with him after a seven-year partnership.

Sanders was a hell of a player from 2004 to 2007. He won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2007, went to the Pro Bowl in both ’05 and ’07, and helped the Colts win Super Bowl XLI in February of ’07.

But the Colts made a mistake handing him a $37 million contract in early 2008. Hindsight is always 20/20, but Sanders earned $7.1 million in ’08, $3.95 million in ’09, $5.5 million in ’10 and was scheduled to make $5.5 million with a $500,000 offseason workout bonus this year. During that span, he played in a total of nine games. To put that in perspective, Aaron Francisco started more games at safety (14) in the last two years than Sanders did in the last three. What choice did the Colts have but to cut their losses and move on?

But while the Colts are moving on, another team will certainly give the injury-prone, but highly talented Sanders a long look. The safety position is like a black hole for most NFL teams and surely somebody will take a risk in hopes that Sanders will stay healthy.

Which teams will that be? I’m glad you asked. Below are five potential landing spots for the former DPOY.

Jacksonville Jaguars: This is a definite possibility if the Jaguars are willing to spend. They were forced to go with two young guys in Courtney Greene and Don Carey and while the Jags may give them another year to develop, neither of them were playmakers last year. Sean Considine is fine for depth but he’s not an every-week starter and he’s a free agent next year. Sanders already knows the division and could help groom the younger players. The problem is that the Jags aren’t in need of just one player and if they wind up paying Sanders starter money only to watch him get hurt again, the move could set them back.

External Sports, NFL

Anthony Stalter Bob Sanders

Phillies or Giants: Which rotation would you rather have if you were starting a new organization?

February 18, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

So you’re the general manager of the new Las Vegas Craps team and baseball commissioner Bud Selig comes to you with the offer of all offers.

He says, since the Craps are going to struggle this year offensively with a lineup comprised of over-the-hill veterans and unproven rookies, you get your pick of stealing either the Phillies or the Giants’ starting rotation.

“Sweet mother of all that is holy,” you say to Selig. “Those are the best starting rotations in the game!”

“Yes they are, Craps owner,” Selig says. “But you have to choose one right now.”

So which rotation would you rather have? Let’s take a look at the deets first.

Philadelphia Phillies

Roy Halladay
Age: 33
Salary: $20 million in 2011; $20 million in 2012; $20 million in 2013; $20 million option in 2014.
Career Stats: 169-86, 1,714 Ks, 3.32 ERA, 58 complete games, 19 shutouts
Accolades: Two-time Cy Young winner, two-time wins champion, seven-time All-Star.

Cliff Lee
Age: 32
Salary: $11 million 2011; $21.5 million in 2012; $25 million from 2013-2015.
Career Stats: 102-61, 3.85 ERA, 1,085 Ks
Accolades: Cy Young winner, two-time All-Star, 7-2 postseason record, 2.13 postseason ERA.

External Sports, MLB

2011 MLB Season Preview Anthony Stalter Barry Zito Barry Zito contract best starting rotation in MLB Cliff Lee Cole Hamels Joe Blanton Jonathan Sanchez Madison Bumgarner Matt Cain Roy Halladay Roy Oswalt Tim Lincecum