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He was the team’s leading scorer before aggravating a past injury during last week’s All-Star game. From AP-
EDMONTON, Alberta — Edmonton Oilers center Shawn Horcoff will miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
The 29-year-old forward, who leads the team with 50 points in 53 games this season, aggravated the injury when fell awkwardly at the NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta on Jan. 27.
“I tweaked it three times before that already this season,” Horcoff said. “Each time you do it, it gets worse.
“That’s the thing that scared me the most. It was just a harmless play. I got clipped from behind a little bit and I just went to catch myself on the ice. It [shoulder] sublexed. It popped in and out.”
Horcoff had an MRI after returning to Edmonton. He played in the Oilers’ first game after the All-Star break, a 3-0 loss to San Jose on Jan. 29, before sitting out a loss to Dallas on Friday. Horcoff will have surgery this week.
Some may argue All-Star games aren’t worth the risk of injury. I’d have a hard time disagreeing with them. Edmonton, ranked 14th of 15 in the Western Conference standings, looks further than ever from a possible playoff spot this season.
I remember the name well while as I grew up following the New York Mets. Ed Vargo was behind the plate for a no-hitter, a perfect game, and for four WS between 1965 and 1983. RIP.
BUTLER, Pa. — Ed Vargo, a longtime National League umpire who worked in four World Series and was behind the plate when Hank Aaron tied Babe Ruth’s career home run mark, has died. He was 79.
Vargo died Saturday at his home in Butler, about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh, according to Geibel Funeral Home in Butler.
Vargo umpired in the National League from 1960-83, worked the 1965, 1971, 1978 and 1983 World Series and four All-Star games.
Vargo is the only major league umpire to call a no-hitter and a perfect game for the same pitcher, according to MLB’s Web site. He was behind home plate for Sandy Koufax’s no-hitter on June 4, 1964, and his perfect game on Sept. 9, 1965.
A one-time minor league catcher, Vargo stayed in baseball long after leaving the field. He was the supervisor of umpires for the National League from 1987-97.
Vargo wore the same jacket when he worked Koufax’s perfect game, the first World Series night game in 1971 and Hank Aaron’s 714th home run in 1974. He gave the jacket to amateur umpire Ray Gouley, who donated it to the Hall of Fame after he learned of its historical significance.
Edward P. Vargo was born in Butler in 1928. One of his first jobs was as a batboy and equipment manager for the Butler Yankees.
Vargo is survived by his wife of 45 years, Elizabeth; two daughters; and two sons. A funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at St. Peter Catholic Church in Butler, and Vargo will be buried at Butler County Memorial Park Cemetery in Butler.
He won his 900th game as a head coach last month. From AP-
LUBBOCK, Texas – Bob Knight resigned Monday at Texas Tech, a stunning midseason move by the winningest men’s coach in major college basketball.
Known as much for his fiery temper as his basketball brilliance, Knight gave no hint a change was coming. He will be replaced by his son, Pat, a Red Raiders assistant.
Chris Cook, a spokesman for athletic director Gerald Myers, confirmed the resignation, which was first reported by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Related links
Bob Knight’s milestone wins
In September, Knight signed a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2011-12 season. In 2005, Pat Knight was appointed his father’s successor.
“Coach Knight has had a great career. His coaching record speaks for itself. His love for basketball is clear, but most importantly his love for teaching and the students has been a hallmark of his tenure here at Texas Tech,” said Sally Logue Post, a spokeswoman for Texas Tech.
Bob Knight has 902 career wins, more than any coach in the history of Division I men’s basketball. Win No. 900 came last month against Texas A&M. The Red Raiders are 12-8 this season.
Knight arrived at Texas Tech in March 2001, six months after being fired by Indiana for what school officials there called a “pattern of unacceptable behavior.”
I expect Knight is done with coaching. He certainly was a successful if controversial coach. Good luck in retirement Bobby.
He was a 1st round pick in 2002. From AP-
BLAKELY, Ga. – New Orleans defensive end Charles Grant was stabbed in the neck, and a pregnant woman was shot and killed early Sunday in an altercation at a nightclub in southwest Georgia.
Grant was assaulted and had an injury to his neck, according to a statement released by Capt. Will Caudill of the Early County Sheriff’s Office. Grant was transported to Early Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and later released.
Early County Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a fight around 1 a.m. Sunday at a nightclub in Blakely, which is about 190 miles southwest of Atlanta.
*****
In the incident, 23-year-old Korynda Reed of Blakely was shot, police said. She was transported to Southeast Alabama Medical Center in Dothan, Ala., where she died. Early County Sheriff Jimmie R. Murkerson said Reed was pregnant.
No arrests have been made, and the case remains under investigation.
This article states that ‘Grant has been released after being detained as one of several potential witnesses or suspects.’ The pregnant woman was supposedly shot. My condolences to her family.
He came from four shots back to earn his second victory of 2008.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Tiger Woods birdied his last two holes Sunday to rally from a four-shot deficit and win the Dubai Desert Classic, starting his season with two victories that looked nothing alike.
One week after winning the Buick Invitational by eight shots, Woods had to birdie five of his last seven holes for a 7-under 65, then wait to see if Ernie Els could catch him.
Needing a birdie on the par-5 18th to force a playoff, Els hit his second shot into the water and made bogey.
“To go 2-for-2, it’s a pretty good start, isn’t it?” Woods said.
This is the third time he has started a season with two straight victories, and it was another sign that the world’s No. 1 player could be headed for a big year.
Two for two is pretty good and yes Tiger could be headed for a big year. Expect the press to start talking about a Tiger slump after two consecutive tournaments without a win. It is part of the Tiger Woods news cycle we’ve become accustomed to over the last 10 years.
No mention is made in the AP article of when Tiger plays next. Will it be The Northern Trust Open aka LA Open at Riviera CC? Tiger has played this tournament most years, but not all. 2007 saw Tiger skip the tournament. He has never won in LA, the closest Tiger to a victory was a playoff loss to Billy Mayfair in 1998. Billy remains the only person to beat Tiger in a playoff, not withstanding that there is a golf fiction book saying Tiger lost a playoff to Ed Fiori in 1996. If Ed was only so lucky.
Across Canada and the US, General Managers are already evaluating their team in preparation for Feb. 26th. For the Columbus GM Scott Howson, the big decision is what to do in regards to goaltender Pascal Leclaire. From the Columbus Dispatch-
The next three weeks are crucial for the Blue Jackets, who must decide whether they are a playoff-caliber club and a buyer or a seller at the Feb. 26 trade deadline.
On Feb. 27, the off-ice focus should shift to re-signing goaltender Pascal Leclaire, who is set to become a restricted free agent July 1.
First, a little background.
In the old NHL, there was a gentleman’s agreement that general managers wouldn’t poach other clubs’ restricted free agents by signing them to offer sheets. In the new NHL, gentlemen have gone the way of enforcers, which is to say there aren’t as many left.
Last summer, Edmonton general manager Kevin Lowe extended offer sheets to Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek and Anaheim’s Dustin Penner. The Sabres matched the Vanek offer (seven years, $50 million), but the Ducks let Penner leave for five years, $21.25 million. And a new day dawned.
Offer sheets used to be rare. There were only seven of note between 1990 and 2006. Now, it’s considered another way, albeit an expensive one, of adding star power.
Many have assumed that offer sheets could be extended for the likes of pending restricted free agents Shea Weber, Dion Phaneuf, Corey Perry, Matt Stajan and Alexander Semin, among others.
Does anybody doubt that Leclaire would be near the top of that list?
I might. Leclaire is having an exceptional 07-08 but what was his record like before this year?
59 games played 17 wins 32 losses 0 Overtime losses 3.13 Goals against average .905 save percentage
Those statistics are below average for a starting NHL goaltender. I could also add that Leclaire wasn’t even the starting goalie for the Blue Jackets in 06-07. Instead Fredrik Norrena did most of the net work for Columbus, playing in 55 games.
Could Leclaire have blossomed into a top goalie? Perhaps, but part of one season proves nothing. With his being a restricted free agent and Columbus in contention for a playoff spot, I wouldn’t trade the goalie. That’s unless some team wants to trade the farm to get Leclaire. That will happen sometimes. Nashvile last year traded three players to get the oft injured Peter Forsberg just before the trading deadline. What is Forsberg doing these days?
Update- Another player rumored to be on the trading block is Toronto’s Mats Sundin. He is 36 years old and still a good scorer, Sundin does however have a no trade clause in his contract is a unrestricted free agent at season’s end. A team trading for Sundin could see the Swede take a hike a little over four months after acquiring him.
If Toronto does trade Sundin, lay odds it is to a Western Conference team and definitely not Maple Leaf Division rival, the Ottawa Senators.
She defeated Ji-Yai Shin on the second hole of a sudden death playoff.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Karrie Webb won her fourth Women’s Australian Open title with a 3-meter (10-foot) birdie putt Sunday on the second hole of a playoff against South Korea’s Shin Ji-yai.
Webb, who won last year’s title at Royal Sydney, and Shin finished with closing 67s at Kingston Heath and 8-under totals of 284.
Both players had parred the 18th on the first hole of the playoff before Webb’s winning putt on the same hole 15 minutes later in the joint Australian-European tour event.
Webb birdied the 16th and 17th holes of her final round to force the playoff. Shin had birdied four of six holes on the back nine and was in the clubhouse with a two-stroke lead when Webb rallied with her late birdies.
Webb won one of the Australian pre-LPGA events in 2007, causing me to speculate she would have a bigger season than in 06. Was I ever off the mark, Karrie didn’t win an LPGA event in 2007. Karrie’s best days on the LPGA are likely behind her, but I wouldn’t bet against her winning in 2008.
Shin is emerging as one of the top players in the world. Dominating the KLPGA for the last two years in a row, plus contending at last year’s US Women’s Open. Ji Yai isn’t due to attempt qualifying for the LPGA till the fall of 2008. You can already mark her down as the heavy favorite for 2009 Rookie of the Year.
Talking about the LPGA, there is less than two weeks till the first event of 2008. Three months without the women’s tour, boy am I suffering withdrawal. LOL.
San Diego will travel 5,478 miles to play New Orleans.
PHOENIX (Reuters) – The National Football League is returning to London next season for another regular season game with the San Diego Chargers playing the New Orleans Saints, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced on Friday.
The Saints will host the Chargers at Wembley Stadium on October 26, Goodell said.
In another international development, the commissioner said the Buffalo Bills would cross the border into Canada to play a regular season game every year in Toronto over the next five years starting this season.
Goodell, who did not specify the Bills’ opponent in this year’s game in Toronto, also said Buffalo would play a pre-season game every other year there.
Last season saw the NFL’s boldest international move to date when the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10 at Wembley in October in the league’s first ever regular season game held outside North America.
NFL Europe went bust in 2007. There was a team in London, but the Monarachs eventually moved to Berlin due to lack of fan support. Then why does the NFL feel the need to play regular season games in this city?
Lugo is veteran, and I’ve liked him in the past, but what will the Marlins do with him? From the Miami Herald-
The Marlins and Gonzalez, a 40-year-old outfielder, have agreed on a one-year contract that will pay Gonzalez $2 million. The contract contains incentive bonuses, ones based on plate appearances, that could raise the total to as much as $3 million.
What is uncertain is how the Marlins intend to use Gonzalez, who has spent most of his 18 seasons in the major leagues playing left field, a position that belongs to Josh Willingham.
But Willingham has been bothered by lower-back problems, which caused him to spend the end of last season on the bench, and the Marlins could be looking at Gonzalez as backup insurance.
Gonzalez’s agent, Gregg Clifton, said the Marlins told him their plans are to use Gonzalez in the outfield and at first base, but did not guarantee a starting job. Gonzalez has played just five of his 2,455 games in the majors at first base, where Mike Jacobs appears set to return.
”He’s happy to do whatever it is to help the team,” Clifton said.
That has to be seen yet. Many veterans can’t handle a smaller role on a team. Especially one that looks not to be very good. Maybe Gonzalez will be different, but I see his acquisition as being of little help to the 2008 Marlins.
The Maple Leaf forward did it as he left the penalty box during a game last night.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nik Antropov has been suspended for three games for throwing his stick in the direction of the referees when he left the penalty box after the Carolina Hurricanes won Thursday night, 3-2, in overtime.
It was the culmination of a difficult night for the Maple Leafs, who were seething about the officiating after the game in Raleigh, N.C.
Nik Antropov, who has played in all 53 Maple Leafs games this season, will miss three after throwing his stick toward the referees.
Antropov was called for hooking Cory Stillman with 2:36 left in overtime, and Rod Brind’Amour scored the winner during the power play. When Antropov departed from the penalty box, he slammed his stick on the ice, then tossed it along the boards, but toward the referees. He was assessed two game misconduct penalties, the second of which was for abuse of an official and carries an automatic three-game suspension.
Antropov, 27, has played in all 53 Leafs games this season and has 41 points (18 goals, 23 assists), second-best on the team behind only captain Mats Sundin.
According to the NHL rulebook, a three-game suspension is levied when “any player or goalkeeper who, by his actions, physically demeans an official or physically threatens an official by [but not limited to] throwing a stick or any other piece of equipment.”
NHL senior vice president of hockey operations Mike Murphy confirmed from the league office in Toronto that Antropov would be suspended for three games, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail.
I haven’t seen a video of the incident, but if Antropov threw his stick anywhere in the direction of the refs, the Maple Leaf player has gotten off lightly for his actions. Not surprisingly, since the NHL has handed out light penalties for far worse actions than Antropov’s. That the league contiues this policy may not be anything new, but I feel outrage should still be expressed till the NHL does something about these hooligans.
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