RBG Magazine » Sports

Howry Released as Cubs Reinstate Zambrano

rwoodbury — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:33:42 +0000

The Cubs gave Bob Howry his unconditional release as the team put pitched Carlos Zambrano back on the roster. Zambrano was told to leave the team back on June 29th after exploding after the first inning against the rival White Sox. Zambrano apologized to his teammates before the game Friday night. Howry had a 7.71 ERA,was 1-3, with 3 holds, 38 innings pitched where he gave up 36 runs.

Edwin Jackson To White Sox…For How Long?

rwoodbury — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:07:04 +0000

Well it is that time of the year again. Every year between July 25th-31st the baseball world is flipped on its side while every analyst tries to predict where players are being traded. Some players are going to contenders while some are going to losers. Some franchises are dumping contracts while others are overpaying for a shot at a spot in the playoffs.

The latest news come from Chicago as the White Sox recieved Edwin Jackson in a trade that landed the Diamondbacks with right hander Daniel Hudson and lefty David Holmberg.

“They just told me that they appreciated the hard work I put in and how I handled everything that’s been happening the last week and helping them to win a game, You can’t really feel too bad.”

Despite throwing a no hitter against the Rays on June 25th, Jackson is just 6-10 in his first season with the Diamondbacks. Jackson came off a career year in 2009 when he was selected as a All Star while playing for the AL Central rival Tigers.

Holmberg is 19, was 1-1 record. He has had an 4.46 ERA in eight starts with Advanced Rookie Great Falls

There is a lot of speculation that the trade was made to make a better offer for Adam Dunn, a player that the Sox have been proposing trades to with no real response. The Sox have also shown interest in Prince Fielder, Brad Hawpe, and Lance Berkman. With Kenny Williams trigger finger always fast but calculated it is hard to tell if Jackson will be on the Sox roster for a day or the rest of the year but we will find out very shortly. In my opinion Edwin Jackson is a more important piece to the Sox winning ways than adding another bat…

University Of Arizona Sanctioned By NCAA

rwoodbury — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:59:58 +0000

The NCAA added more sanctions to the Arizona men’s basketball program Thursday. NCAA came down hard on the team by vacating 19 wins from the 2007-2008 Wildcats season and also removed an additional scholarship because of violations that involved Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson. While the Arizona side was quick to announce their violations and even self imposed sanctions in February that included the loss of scholarships for 2011-2012 and several cutbacks in recruiting visits over that time the NCAA felt they needed to come down harder. The NCAA held Arizona to their word by minimizing recruiting in 2011 but they determined that players from the 2007-08 were ineligible and the team would be forced to vacate all wins involving those players. The NCAA also took away scholarships for 2012-13 season and pushed the Cats probation back for another 2 years. The University said it will not appeal the ruling.

“We’re satisfied that the process has reached a conclusion,” Arizona director of athletics Greg Byrne said. “We have cooperated throughout and respect the findings of the committee. Now it’s time for us to move forward with a focus on maintaining the highest standards of integrity within our entire athletics program.”

The team may be OK with the vacated wins of prior seasons but fans of the program will be frustrated hearing that their recruiting will be hurting the first several years of Sean Miller experiment.

Flozell Adams Moves to Pittsburgh

Your Voice — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:59:29 +0000

After being dropped by the Dallas Cowboys this off-season, the left tackle Flozell Adams was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers this Thursday according to some NFL sources. This move should put on alert the NFL betting world because it ends the team’s question marks at right tackle.

The Steelers agreed to a two-year deal with ex-Cowboy LT Adams after he visited the Steelers in late June and took a physical. The ‘Boys released Adams early this offseason to avoid paying him a $6.5 million salary.

Adams was one of the weakest points on the Cowboys team last season, so that’s another reason why they let him go. The Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo was sacked 34 times last year, plenty of times coming from the left.

The idea with Adams as a tackle for the Steelers is to replace the injured right tackle Willie Colon, who is out for the entire season after destroying his right Achilles’ tendon during an off-season exercise.

Flozell will definitely help the Steelers now that they will have to start the 2010 season with a backup quarterback after Big Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension.

Pittsburgh will probably use Byron Leftwich as a starter and as we all know, his movement is not his signature.

Adams gives Pittsburgh a veteran starter who can perform right away, as he is a five-time Pro Bowler.

Twins Add Another Piece To Compete In AL Central

rwoodbury — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:01:11 +0000

The Minnesota Twins have acquired star closer Matt Capps from the Washington Nationals. The deal went down late Thursday night where the Nationals received stud prospect Wilson Ramos and minor league left-hander Joe Testa. Capps addition clearly brings more depth to a team that trails the Chicago White Sox by just 1 1/2 games. Every team but the Minnesota had a little something to smile about when Joe Nathan was forced to have Tommy John surgery during spring training. With Jon Rauch moved to a set up role to make room for Capps the team will be pitching hard the entire game.

Oswalt To Phillies

rwoodbury — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:56:58 +0000

It is official Roy Oswalt has waived his no trade clause and is now apart of the Philadelphia Phillies. Everyone has been guessing for the last several weeks where Oswalt would land after he publicly declared that he wished to be traded

The veteran pitches was dealt to the Phillies in exchange for left-handed starter J.A. Happ and two prospects, outfielder Anthony Gose and shortstop Jonathan Villar. Oswalt spoke on how he was happy that both teams benefited from the deal and how he was happy he was going to a contender. The ace picher spoke about this saying:

“The hardest part about it is cleaning out my locker. I’ve been in the same place for 10 years and having to say goodbye and clean out the locker is the toughest part,”

Astros owner Ed Wade thanked Oswalt for his time with the Astros.

“We salute what Roy did for the organization and the contributions that he made here over the course of his career in an Astros uniform and his profile here is significant,” Wade said. “At the end of the day, we have to do what’s best for the Houston Astros. You can’t make a deal like this as a favor to a player. In this case I think we served everybody’s purposes with what we did.”

Oswalt was suppossed to make his next start with the Astros on Friday but will now be flying to Washington Thursday and will make his debut on Friday. Phillies players showed their pleasure with the trade such as fellow pitcher Halladay who said. “It says a lot that this team is dedicated to winning.” This is a good trade for both teams and will help the Phillies make it back to the playoffs. Oswalt is 143-82 with a 3.24 ERA for his career and is a great addition to the team.

Strasburg Takes His First Trip To DL

rwoodbury — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:51:30 +0000

The Washington Nationals have placed rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg on the 15 day disabled list because of inflammation in his throwing arm. The young hurler was a late scratch from Tuesdays contest because of a stiff shoulder. Their is no doubt that the Nationals will take extra precautions on their most expensive prize.The Nationals rookie has become the face of the franchise and has only made 9 appearances in the Majors. The talent that Strasburg has makes general managers in this situation left with an easy decision. Make sure that the youngster is 100% and and only then do you put him back on the bump. Clearly the Nationals want him back out there to help them win games and get fans to the park but not at the cost of injuring him further. Strasburg is famous for his record setting rookie contract last year when the San Diego State pitcher signed a record for $15.1 million beating the previous record set by Mark Prior $10.5 million in 2001.

Another Face In Cincinnati

rwoodbury — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:44:54 +0000

The Cincinnati Bengals have given another player a second chance! That player just so happens to have the first name Terrell and last name Owens. Portrayed by the media as one of the NFL’s “riskiest” players for his off the field antics their is no risk involved with pairing him up with close friend Ochocinco. The team hopes build off of their 2009 success where they went 10-6. The franchise continues to roll the dice and winning every time they try with a player.

The Bengals are coming off a great season where they went 10-6 with one of those losses coming off a flook play by the Broncos to start the season. Maybe I bought into HBO’s Hard Knocks, maybe it was Ochocinco hilarious image but I am pretty sure that I really brought into was Marvin Lewis (coach) and Mike Brown (owner) aggresive game plan to win. With the addition of Terrell Owens I feel this team will be a legitimate contender to win the AFC North. They have the talent and Marvin Lewis has a Phil Jackson type of attitude where he is able to handle and coach some of the bad boys of the league. Marvin Lewis doesn’t take $*^* and will not put up with a players ego becoming bigger without it helping them win. The Bengals will spend 2 million dollars for a 1 year deal on the receiver that may have one last run in him. Whether it is catching the ball or forcing a team to put one less on Ocho this team will see an improvement on the field. I don’t care about haters that say he brings to much “baggage”.. wake up he is he is an elite receiver, workout freak, and has proven he can perform. With Palmer leading the way I feel this team is bound to play good football throughout the entire season.

The 2 receiver had a recent Twitter fiesta that had them battling back and forth jokingly. Ochocino said that a new robin was coming to town in TO, TO was quick to reply ”Ocho Uno is coming 2 town!! Hey Robin, Batman will b there soon!.” These guys may have fun on the sidelines and but the 2 are serious on the field. They get frustrated when they are losing, they call out teammates when they are losing but it is only because of one reason, they want to win!!!

Fear Not ‘Cats Fans, UK’s Calipari Won’t Change Recruiting Style

Andrew Hardison — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:06:09 +0000

It’s no secret that Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari recruits the best of the best.

The ‘Cats 2009 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 by every major recruiting syndicate, heralded by current NBA draft picks John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe. Calipari took it a step further in securing his second straight No. 1 recruiting class led by 2010 Top-15 prospects Brandon Knight (No. 6), Enes Kanter (No. 3), and Terrance Jones (No. 13).

All three hope to contribute at Kentucky much like Wall and Cousins did during the 2009-2010 seasons.

One thing that doesn’t seem inclement is a change in recruiting styles—namely recruiting so called ‘four-year’ players at Kentucky—an idea presented to the second year head coach of Kentucky by Sports Illustrated’ columnist Seth Davis.

Calipari scoffed at the idea saying,

If you recruit guys who you know are going to be there for four years, you’ll probably be in the NIT, and that’s not a good thing at Kentucky. You recruit the best players you can, and if someone is going to take them in the first round, I tell them to go.

Calipari has stuck by his guns, replicating the same recruiting philosophy he started at Memphis. Recruit the best players regardless of how long the prospect will stay at your school.

There was a problem however, when recruiting players to Memphis. It didn’t capture the appeal of all the nation’s top athletes.

At Kentucky, Calipari doesn’t have that problem.

In just over a year, Calipari has turned recruiting around at Kentucky. With two straight No. 1 recruiting classes and an expected third—the 2011 class could be one of the best ever—Kentucky’s leading proponent of ‘one-and-done’ recruiting sees no end in sight.

That’s a good thing for the Big Blue Nation.

It is however, understandable to see both sides of the argument. Davis has a point in that ‘four-year’ guys often produce a bond within the team, a similar role junior Patrick Patterson excelled at during his last year at Kentucky. Calipari also has a point in that ‘one-and-done’ players are usually the most talented, making it difficult to pass on such players as Wall and Cousins.

The 2009 recruiting class was a breath of fresh air for ‘Cats fans and the 2010 class is no different. It seems like a common trend is occurring as Calipari insists on bringing the top talent to Lexington during his tenure as Kentucky’s head coach.

White team prevails 114-96 during Team USA’s Las Vegas scrimmage

Andrew Hardison — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 22:57:26 +0000

After several days of team practices and workouts some of the NBA’s youngest and brightest stars matched up against each other for Team USA during an inter-squad matchup in Las Vegas.

Superstars Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose of the White team overpowered the Blue team 114-96, giving fans in Las Vegas and around the world a chance to see what Team USA will look like by the end of August for the 2010 FIBA World Championships.

Durant was the star of the game scoring 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field during 29 minutes of play. He did have seven turnovers, but that is only a small blemish for Team USA’s best overall player.

Team USA has a loaded backcourt, headlined by Rose who finished the game with 15 points, eight assists, and five steals. His play during the scrimmage likely catapulted him into the starting point guard role for Team USA as it heads to Turkey at the end of August.

Others like Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder), Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies) all had better games than former Kentucky Wildcats point guard Rajon Rondo during the scrimmage, making it difficult to read whether Rondo will sneak his way onto Team USA’s final 12-15 man roster. Mayo and Westbrook both finished with double-digit points (18 and 14), giving the Blue team an exciting backcourt tandem that must have Team USA President Jerry Colangelo salivating from the mouth. Gordon finished the game with 16 points, while Curry poured in 14 points.

There are some rather intriguing surprises from the scrimmage, coming from Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies who scored 23 points for the Blue team on 7-of-11 shooting while draining 6-of-7 free throws. His play will likely give him a spot on the final roster at the forward position. Another surprise was Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia Sixers) who put up 17 points to go with five assists. Team USA President Jerry Colangelo will likely put Iguodala on the roster for his perimeter defense, an aspect that is sorely needed during foreign play. Last, but not least was the play of Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks) had 13 points and nine rebounds likely giving him the starting center spot over the likes of Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets) and JaVal McGee (Washington Wizards).

Next up for Team USA is another scrimmage game that takes place August 15 in New York against France. Colangelo will have a tough decision, but is expected to trim the roster down to 12-15 players by that time.

The mix of players may not seem to be all that impressive, but it will certainly be interesting to see how 2010 version of Team USA will match up against some of the world’s finest basketball organizations.