Cleaning Up the Mess...

It is that time of week to once again bring to you the lastest signings, trades, and quarterback controversies!

On with the cleanup...

NFL NEWS:
* The Miami Dolphins will name Chad Pennington opening day starter at QB
* The 49ers will name JT O'Sullivan their starting quarterback
* More quarterbacks news! The Cardinals are reportdely going to name Kurt Warner their starter
* Giants DE Osi Umenyiora will be out for the season, and talk of Michael Strahan coming back has already begun
* Bengals Wide Receiver Chad 'Ocho Cinco' Johnson has a partial labrum tear
* Tom Brady is expected to start opening week for the Patriots, and why wouldn't he?
* The Falcons have signed veteran tight end Marcus Pollard
* The Atlanta Falcons have named Matt Ryan their starting quarterback

NBA NEWS:
* The Phoenix Suns have traded guard DJ Strawberry to the Houston Rockets for Sean Singletary
* The Dallas Mavericks have re-signed swingman Devean George
* The 76ers signed big man Theo Ratliff
* OK City has waived sniper Donyell Marshall
* Nuggets have re-signed JR Smith to a multi-year deal
* The Celtics are taking a chance and signing Darius Miles
* Veteran guard Michael Finley has re-signed with the San Antonio Spurs

MLB NEWS:
* Eddie Guardado has returned to the Minnesota Twins because of a trade with the Texas Rangers
* Mets pitcher John Maine's season may be over
* Kip Wells has signed with the KC Royals
* Mets have signed reliever Al Reyes
* The Astros have signed infielder Jose Castillo
* The Braves are bringing starter Rodrigo Lopez in after almost a year off


Anything I missed?

Cleaning Up the Mess...

A day late, but not a dollar short! Come one, come all it is time to clean up the mess that the past week has left us!

On to the cleanup...

NFL NEWS:

- The Atlanta Falcons released WR Joe Horn, Horn mentioned he wanted to play in Dallas or Philly
- The New England Patriots released 36 year old TE Marcus Pollard
- The Bengals have brought back the recently released receiver Chris Henry (who has his own mugshot to hold onto)
- The Chicago Bears have decided that Kyle Orton will be their starting quarterback
- Quarterback injuries All -around! Tarvaris Jackson, Tom Brady, Derek Anderson, Peyton Manning.
- The New Orleans Saints signed safety Lance Schulters

MLB NEWS:
- The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to acquire Greg Maddux from the Padres
- The Reds have released catcher David Ross, who has drawn interest from the Red Sox and the Phillies
The KC Royals signed pitcher Kip Wells to a minor league contract
- Tom Glavine's career may be decided by Dr. James Andrews
- The Mets acquired pitcher Luis Ayala from division partner Washington Nationals

NBA NEWS:
- Former NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp has resurfaced by signing with an Italian League professional team
- Ex-Sun Gordan Giricek has signed on to play international ball in Turkey
- The Clippers re-signed big man center Paul Davis
- Goran Dragic, the Suns 2nd round pick, was in Phoenix for a physical and it looks like he will sign to play this season

I promise more posts to come soon. I do apologize for the lack of posts recently!

U S A ! U S A !

Messy Leftovers...

Well since the original weekly column dealing with the mess, there have been a few more notes out there. Let me quickly post those updates:

* The Boston Red Sox acquired pitcher Paul Byrd from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later

* Detroit Tigers placed DH Gary Sheffield on waivers

* The Detroit Tigers made more news by signing pitcher Freddy Garcia to a minor league deal

* The 76ers and Andre Iguodala reportdely agreed to a 6 year 80 million dollar deal

Cleaning Up the Mess...

Well it is Monday (as of the start of this post), so it must be time to round up some of the top news and notes items of the past week from a busy time in sports!

Let's dive into the headline makers from the past week...

NFL NEWS:

* Did you hear that Brett Favre was traded to the Jets? A trade that seemed to have gone under the radar... (sarcasm)

* As a result of this Favre guy, the Jets cut Chad Pennington and proceeded to sign with the Miami Dolphins

* Safety Adam Archuleta signed a deal with the Oakland Raiders

* The Pittsburgh Steelers signed QB Byron Leftwhich to backup BIG Ben

* The 49ers signed line backer Takeo Spikes

* After a 17 day absence, Shawn Andrews reported to Eagles training camp

* Seahawks wide receiver Bobby Engram will be out 6-8 weeks with a cracked shoulder bone

* Willis McGahee will miss 2-4 weeks with knee surgery

NBA NEWS:

* The Atlanta Hawks matched the deal Josh Smith signed with the Memphis Grizzlies and signed him long-term

* 76ers 2nd year center Jason Smith tore his ACL and will most likely be out for the season

* Team USA took care of business in the opening game and defeated host country, China

* The Clippers signed veteran point guard Jason Williams

MLB NEWS:

* The Orioles traded reliever Chad Bradford to the Tampa Bay Rays, and DFA's Al Reyes

* The Cubs traded reliever Scott Eyre to the Philadelphia Phillies

* The St. Louis Cardinals signed infielder Felipe Lopez, formerly of the Nationals

* The Royals traded pitcher Horacio Ramirez to the Chicago White Sox

* The Mariners released DH Jose Vidro

* The Florida Marlines signed catcher Paul Lo Duca

* The Rays placed both Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford on the DL, activate OF Rocco Baldelli

* The Blue Jays released outfielder Shannon Stewart

* BIG NEWS!! -- The Cincinnati Reds traded outfielder Adam Dunn to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 3 minor leaguers

GRAB BAG NEWS:

* Paddy Harrington won the PGA Championship, making it back to back majors for Harrington

* Michael Phelps is a perfect 3 for 3 so far in the Olympics in his quest for 8 Gold Medals

* The Olympics Open Ceremonies were on 08/08/08 and started the games off with a bang

Anything I missed??

Cleaning Up the Mess...

So it is Monday, and that means it is time to Clean all the leftovers aka the mess from the week that was...

NFL NEWS:

- The Carolina Panthers suspended WR Steve Smith for 2 Games because of his fight with CB Ken Lucas during Training Camp

- Denver Broncos WR Brandon Marshall was suspended for 3 Games because of the league's personal conduct policy

- Ocho Cinco returned to full practice for th Bengals

- Brett Favre was reinstated!! ( a post to come on that subject)

- Packers RB Ryan Grant signed a 4-Year $30 Million Dollar deal

- The Redskins defeated the Colts 30-16 in the 2008 Hall of Fame Game

- Art Monk and Darrell Green were among inductees into the '08 Class

NBA NEWS:

- Sixers Guard Lou Williams resigned with the Sixers for 5 years and $25 million

- Ex-Magic Guard Carlos Arroyo went European and signed with an Israeli team

- Mavericks forward Josh Howard was arrested in a drag racing incident

- Luol Deng signed a 6 Year, $72-80 Million Dollar deal

- Disgraced referee Tim Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in prison

MLB NEWS:

- The Trade Deadline came and went, check out the previous "Trader Rater" posts for all that dirt

- The Yankees signed P Victor Zambrano to a minor league deal

- 3B Eric Chavez is out for the season

- P Tim Hudson is also probably out for the season

- The Red Sox offered a minor league contract to P Joe Borowski

- Prince Fielder and Manny Parra got into a scuffle in the dugout which prompted a tag team match at Summerslam -- Prince Fielder & Ken Lucas versus Manny Parra & Steve Smith

GRAB BAG NEWS:

- The Coaches Poll came out and the Georgie Bulldogs are ranked #1

- Rafa Nadal will become number 1 in the Tennis rankings in the upcoming weeks

- Big Brown won his race at the Haskell Invitational

- Carl Edwards won the Pocono 400

- Vijay Singh won the Bridgestone Invitational

- Brit Andy Murray won the Cincinnati Masters

Anything I missed??

Cleaning Up the Mess

It's that time of week again, let's get to the Mess!...

MLB NEWS:
- Philadelphia Phillies shipped SP Adam Eaton to the Minor Leagues

- The Dodgers acquired 3B/OF Casey Blake from the Cleveland Indians

- The Yankees acquired RP Damaso Marte and OF Xavier Nady from the Pirates for 4 Minor Leaguers

- RP Goose Gossage was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame

- The Indians acquired SP Anthony Reyes from the St. Louis Cardinals

- Manny Ramirez is about done with the Boston Red Sox

- Oakland A's reliever Brad Ziegler has thrown 27 consecutive scoreless innings to break a record that has stood since 1907

NFL NEWS:
- Ocho Cinco aka Chad Johnson arrived at Bengals Training Camp as expected

- Shawn Andrews has not appeared at Eagles camp just yet

- Devin Hester was rewarded with a 4 year 30 million dollar extension

- The Dallas Cowboys appear ready to cut WR Terry Glenn (UPDATE: Terry Glenn appears ready to sign with the Miami Dolphins)

- Rams RB Steven Jackson has been a no-show so far at team camp

- The Raiders cut RB LaMont Jordan, who later signed with the NE Patriots

NBA NEWS:
- The Golden State Warriors are keeping Andres Biendrins with a 6-Year deal

- Josh Childress signed a 4 year deal to play professional ball in Greece

- Forward James Posey signed with the New Orleans Hornets

- Hawks point guard Acie Law was named to the All-Revue team for the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league.

- The Clippers signed swingman Ricky Davis to 2-year deal

- Former #1 Pick Kwame Brown has signed with the Detroit Pistons

- The Sixers have signed PG Royal Ivey and G Kareem Rush

GRAB BAG NEWS:
- Rafael Nadal beat Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday to win the Rogers Cup, his fifth straight tournament victory.

- Matt D'Orazio threw seven touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead the Philadelphia Soul to their first ArenaBowl victory, beating defending AFL champion San Jose 59-56 on Sunday.

- Carlos Sastre has won the Tour de France in one of the closest finishes in the 105-year-old race. He is the third Spaniard in a row to win cycling's premier event.


Anything I missed....?

I'm Baaack

Well I was away for the past week on vacay in Mexico, enjoying the beautiful weather, relaxation, and activities so I do apologize for the lack of posts recently.

In a somewhat modified version of Cleaning Up the Mess... I am going to run through some of the bigger moves and newsworthy items with my 2 cents attached to each big story.






** The Philadelphia Phillies acquired SP Joe Blanton from the Oakland A's for 3 prospects -- I think this is a solid move for the Phils considering the ever disappearing act of the Starting Pitcher market. With Oswalt and Bedard hitting the DL and Harden and Sabathia already gone, Blanton seems like a reasonable acquisition for not a steep price.

**The Washington Redskins traded 2 picks to the Miami Dolphins for All-Pro DE Jason Taylor -- This was a huge move from the Redskins in what has been a relatively quiet offseason for the Redskins considering their standards. The Redskins did not give up that much considering what they get in return. A great move for the 'skins and a necessary one for the Dolphins.



** The New York Giants traded Jeremy Shockey to the New Orleans Saints for 2 Picks -- Well it seems like this trade has been rumored every since the NFL Draft, but it is a necessary one for both teams. Drew Brees gets another weapon in a good pass catching Tight End in Jeremy Shockey, while the Giants get rid of their headache.


** Paddy Harrington won the British Open for the 2nd year in a row -- Yes, I was pulling for Greg Norman to pull the upset.

** Josh Hamilton stole the show in New York at the 2008 Home Run Derby, but Justin Morneau was the winner at the showcase.

** A classic All-Star game took place this season with the AL winning at about 1:30 in the morning on Wednesday.

** Some Media notes to take care of:


- The ESPYs were last night and Justin Timberlake was very entertaining as the host


- Billy Packer will not be back at CBS for the upcoming College Basketball Season.


- Doug Collins and Mike Breen will anchor the coverage of the Olympics and the US Men's Hoops Team


- Bob Papa: The New York Giants radio voice has been officially named the new play-by-play man for NFL broadcasts on the NFL Network. Papa


Those were some of the bigger stories from the past week, and I will be sure to comment some more of some of the bigger stories that I missed from the past week!

Cleaning Up the Mess...

COME ONE, COME ALL, FEAR NOT Y'ALL... IT'S ONCE AGAIN TIME TO BECOME WOMEN AND MEN AND BUST OUT THE BROOMS!

Let's get on with the news and my favorite picture, the Cedric Benson mugshot!

NFL NEWS:

- Former SD Chargers safety Terrence Kiel was involved in a terrible car accident and passed away Friday evening.

- "Inside the NFL" will be moved to Showtime and will be hosted by James Brown, Phil Simms, and Cris Collinsworth

- Dan Patrick will join the ever-growing crowd on the NBC Football coverage and will accompany Keith Olberman, Bob Costas, Jerome Bettis, and Tiki Barber among more!

- Imprisoned Michael Vick has filed for bankruptcy protection

- And YES, Brett Favre may unretire again, and for some reason I can care less every time this is brought up.

MLB NEWS:

- All Star teams were indeed announced with Clint Hurdle and Terry Francona as the team's managers. You can find the all-star rosters here: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2008/roster_team.jsp

- The Brewers were able to acquire CC Sabathia from the Indians for 4 prospects including stud Matt LaPorta

- The Final Vote contestants for the All-Star games are: Aaron Rowand, Corey Hart, David Wright, Carlos Lee, and Pat Burrell for the NL and Jason Giambi, Evan Longoria, Jermaine Dye, Brian Roberts, and Jose Guillen for the AL (in which you can use the widget in the upper right hand corner to vote with)

- Home Run Derby Participants so far: Chase Utley, Grady Sizemore, Josh Hamilton, Dan Uggla, Lance Berkman, and Vladimir Guerrero

NBA NEWS:

- The Seattle Sonics will be relocated to Oklahoma City

- Baron Davis will sign with the Clippers

- Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas will return to the Wiz

- Chris Duhon will sign the Knicks

- Vinny Del Negro added some experience to the bench, adding Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff as assistants

GRAB BAG NEWS:

- Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer to win the 2008 Wimbledon in a classic

- The next Winter CLassic in the NHL will be at Wrigley Field next year and it will be between the Blackhawks and the Red Wings

Anything I missed?

Cleaning Up the Mess...

A Day late, but not a dollar short. I do apologize for the day-delay on the Cleaning up the Mess segment for the week that was.

Enough of that, let's clean up the headline grabbers from the past week!

(And yes this is the unofficial logo of this specific feature)

NFL NEWS:

- Pittsburgh Steelers released running back Najeh Davenport

- Commish Goodell recently said that rookies are being paid to much!

- Tampa Bay RB Earnest Graham signed a 3 year extension and will indeed show up to training camp

NBA NEWS:

- Derrick Rose was the number 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft

- Raptors trade TJ Ford among others to the Pacers for Jermaine O'Neal among others

- The Nets swapped Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for Yi and Bobby Simmons

- The 2008 Olympic Roster was finalized and it includes Lebron, Kobe, and Carmelo among others

- Elton Brand and Baron Davis both became unrestricted free agents

MLB NEWS:

- Nationals closer Chad Cordero is out for the season

- Alex Rodriguez will not participate in the home run derby in his own park

- Brett Myers accepted a demotion to triple-A to work out the kinks

- The Hall of Fame will not accept the 756 HR ball from Barry Bonds

- Manny Ramirez (aka ManRam) shoved a traveling employee last week

GRAB BAG NEWS:

- Uga VI, the beloved University of Georgia mascot, has died from congestive heart failure at his home in Savannah

- The Washington Capitols signed Goalie Jose Theodore

- The Tampa Bay Lightning signed Ryan Malone to a 7-year deal

- Spain won the 2008 Euro Cup

Anything I missed?

Cleaning Up the Mess...

Time to round up the news, and do a little recapping of the recent headlines... BROOMS AND TRASHBAGS PLEASE!

- Michael Strahan will join the FOX Sunday Football Studio this upcoming season, but will not be replacing anyone

- The Nuggets on Monday suspended forward Carmelo Anthony for the first two games of the 2008-09 season, vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien announced in a statement.

- Everyone's favorite mullet, Barry Melrose has been announced as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning

- Curt Schilling will have surgery that will end his season and perhaps his careeer

- NFL ARRESTS!
* Carolina Panthers receiver Dwayne Jarrett pleaded guilty to driving while impaired on Monday, minutes before he was scheduled to go on trial
* Titans' DE Jevon Kearse received a D.U.I.
* Cardinals RB JJ Arrington was arrested for disorderly conduct
* Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw was jailed for 30 for violating his probation

- Pacman Jones would not like to be referred to as Adam Jones or simply Mr. Jones (cue the counting crows)

- The Olympic team was announced for the 2008 Games (roster includes Carmelo, Lebron, Wade, Kobe, Bosh, Howard, Boozer, Kidd, Deron Williams, CP3, Prince, Redd)

- And oh yeah, some guy named Tiger Woods won his 4th US Open on Monday in the playoff.

Cleaning Up the Mess

Get out the brooms and garbage bags... it is time to once again Clean Up The Mess..

MLB NEWS:

- Thunderstorms cancelled the final Hall of Fame game today between the Padres and the Cubs
- Seattle Mariners General Manager Bill Bavasi has been fired
- Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang has been sidelined for at least 6 weeks because of a foot injury suffered Sunday
- New York Mets acquired OF Trot Nixon from the Arizona Diamondbacks
- Mariners placed JJ Putz on the DL


NFL NEWS:

- Former Dolphin WR Marcus Vick was arrested with a D.U.I.
- Former Bengals WR Chris Henry has been suspended for the entire 2008 season
- Former Patriots LB Roosevelt Colvin will sign with the Houston Texans
- Offensive Lineman Johnathan Ogden of the Ravens retired after 12 seasons in the NFL


NBA NEWS:

- Players who recently declared staying in the 2008 Draft: Joe Alexander (WVU), Mario Chalmers (Kansas), Marreese Speights (Florida)
- Chicago Bulls introduced Vinny Del Negro as their new Head Coach
- Atlanta Hawks and Mike Woodson agreed on a 2 year contract extension


GRAB BAG NEWS:
- Capitals Winger Alexander Ovechkin was awarded the League MVP award
- Sportscaster Charlie Jones dies of a heart attack

Cleaning Up the Mess

The post titled "cleaning up the mess" will be a new feature on the blog that will basically just recap all the big stories and stories you may has missed over the recent couple days. The post will be similar to a "quick hits" type of segment. I hope you all enjoy!

NBA News:

- Detroit Pistons have named Michael Curry their new head coach on a 3-year deal

- Phoenix Suns introduced former Bucks' coach Terry Porter as their new head coach

- According to sources, the Chicago Bulls have offered their coaching vacancy to Vinny Del Negro

- Gilbert Arenas opted out of his final year of his 6 year deal with Washington as expected.

NFL News:

- Lito Sheppard is still absent from Eagles OTAs and practice

- After his recent DUI, Cedric Benson was released by the Chicago Bears

- After 15 years and the recent Super Bowl victory, Giants' DE Michael Strahan will retire (interesting to not the possible Hall of Fame class of Favre, Strahan, and Warren Sapp)

NHL News:

- Detroit Red Wings goalie Dominic Hasek will retire and certainly will be a Hall of Famer

MLB News:

- Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th Home Run tonight in front of about 30 people in Florida

- Seattle Mariners fired their hitting coach (I expect more moves of the like to occur)



Grab Bag News:

- Floyd Mayweather Jr. has apparently "retired" from Boxing

- Rafael Nadal won his 4th straight French Open

- Big Brown was unsuccessful in his bid to win the Triple Crown


Anything I missed?

Cleaning up the Mess...

Let's break out the mop and broom and clean up some of these stories floating around in sports...

I'm just saying...

...Jose Canseco is a RAT...a pile of scum. The fact that he won't release who "Max" is, just means he is holding out for a third book to make more money. He has been right on some people in the Mithcell Report, but so far he has no evidence on A-Rod.

...A-Rod should just deny, deny, deny, and deny...unless of course Canseco is telling the truth.

...Chris Webber should not make the Hall of the Fame.

...The San Francisco Giants are doing the right thing by stripping their entire stadium of Barry Bonds-related items.

...Michael Beasely will be the number 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.

...Chris Long will be the number 1 pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

...Johan Santana will not win the NL Cy Young award.

...Brandon Webb will win the NL Cy Young award.

...Chris Paul should win the 2008 NBA MVP.

...Bobby Knight has been a likeable analyst on ESPN.

...MLB in Japan to open the season is an awful idea!

...Joba Chamberlain is overrated...already.

...The Rays will be a legitimate team this year, not a playoff team, but a 75 win team.

...Scott Kazmir/James Shields/Matt Garza will win more games combined than Josh Beckett/Dice-K/Clay Bucholz

...Miguel Cabrera will win the AL MVP

...The wild card will not come out of the AL East, it will come down to the Mariners and Indians.

...Patrick Roy...what!?

...the Mavericks will not make the playoffs.


...til next time
-E