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Sports Outside the Beltway

Browns QB Anderson sprains left MCL, likely will be done for season

Will the last Cleveland Brown Quarterback please stand up. From ESPN-

It appears the Browns have lost their second quarterback in two weeks.

Just several days after losing Brady Quinn to a broken finger, Cleveland also lost Derek Anderson to a left MCL injury in the waning moments of Sunday’s 10-6 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts. The recovery time for MCL injuries is usually 3-4 weeks, which likely means Anderson is out for the remainder of the 2008 season.

*****

Anderson was hurt Sunday when Browns right tackle Kevin Shaffer landed on Anderson’s leg on the final drive.

“It didn’t look good with him coming off,” Browns coach Romeo Crennel said after the game. “I’m not encouraged by the way he came off the field.”

Ken Dorsey, who entered the year as the third-string quarterback, will start next week against the Tennessee Titans and probably for the rest of the year. He didn’t throw a pass all season until Anderson went down in the fourth quarter. He finished the game 0 for 3.

Brady Quinn is already done for the year. Not much good can be expected from a team reduced to its 3rd string Quarterback. Romeo Crunel’s job is in jeopardy, and Anderson’s injury may spell doom for the coach.

 

Former MLB Coach Tom Burgess dead at 82

He also played professional hockey and had two brief stints a major league baseball player. RIP.

Tom Burgess, who played briefly in the major leagues before serving as a coach under Joe Torre and Bobby Cox, has died. He was 81.

A member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, Burgess died Monday at his Lambeth home after a battle with cancer, Baseball Canada said.

Burgess spent most of his professional playing career in the minors but had two short stints in the big leagues as an outfielder and first baseman. He went 1-for-21 (.048) at the plate with the 1954 St. Louis Cardinals and didn’t get back to the majors until eight years later, when he batted .196 with two homers and 13 RBIs for the 1962 Los Angeles Angels.

After his playing career ended, Burgess managed at many levels for St. Louis, Atlanta, the New York Mets, Texas and Detroit. He was third base coach for the Mets under Joe Frazier and Torre in 1977 and for Atlanta under Cox in 1978.

Burgess also coached and managed for Baseball Canada and Baseball Ontario.

“Tom could not give enough back to baseball,” Tom Valcke, president of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a phone interview Thursday. “He would teach anyone, anytime, everything he knew, as long as they wanted to learn and to work.”

As well as the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, Burgess also is a member of the London, Ontario, sports Hall of Fame and the Rochester Red Wings Hall of Fame.

 

Phoenix C Olli Jokinen to miss at least two weeks with shoulder injury

The former Florida Panthers 397 consecutive game streak comes to an end at 397. From AP-

Phoenix Coyotes center Olli Jokinen will be sidelined for at least two weeks by a shoulder injury, ending his consecutive games streak at 397.

Jokinen, the team’s second-leading scorer with seven goals and 18 points, was injured in the first period Wednesday night at Columbus when he was checked hard into the boards by Blue Jackets defenseman Marc Methot.

Jokinen went to the bench apparently favoring his left shoulder, then went to the locker room for treatment and did not return to the game.

The Coyotes released no details of Jokinen’s injury at Thursday’s practice, but coach Wayne Greztky said Jokinen will miss Friday’s home game against Colorado and “it looks like [he'll be sidelined] for two to four weeks.”

Jokinen, acquired in a trade with Florida in June, last missed a game during the 2002-03 season while with the Panthers.

Get well Olli. You still have many fans here in South Florida, me included.

 

Florida Panthers- Even more pain

More bad injury news for my favorite NHL hockey team-

The Panthers’ anemic offense took another hit when center Nathan Horton was lost for an indefinite amount of time after sustaining a deep leg cut in the third period of Wednesday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Horton got tangled up with a Panthers player and New Jersey defenseman Colin White against the boards and had his leg stepped on; the skate blade cut through Horton’s boot and left a deep gash.

Horton didn’t suffer a major injury, but coach Pete DeBoer said because of where the cut is, Horton (six goals, seven assists) cannot play. The Panthers likely will call up Shawn Matthias from AHL Rochester to replace Horton for tonight’s home game against the New York Rangers.

“He’s out through the weekend, then we’ll go from there,” DeBoer said. “It’s tough to see on the video how it happened.”

With Horton now down, Florida is without three of its most productive scorers. Cory Stillman and Richard Zednik are out with injuries also. The return to Matthias to Florida is the only good news to come out of this. I was very impressed by his play during a short call up last year.

In other Panthers news, Florida’s on again off again relationship with forward Wade Belak has come to a close

The Panthers traded enforcer Wade Belak to the Nashville Predators for center Nick Tarnasky on Thursday.

Tarnasky, 24, has no goals and one assist in 11 games with Nashville. The 6-foot-2, 224-pounder has 11 goals, 10 assists and a minus-23 rating in 180 games.

The Panthers placed Belak on waivers Saturday.

He cleared Monday, met with coach Pete DeBoer Tuesday and was in Wednesday’s lineup against the Devils.

Only a minus 23 rating in his NHL career. Tamasky should fit in well with the Panthers. Wasn’t one of the reason GM Jacques Martin traded Olli Jokinen was because the then Florida Captain had a minus 19 rating last year? More bright moves from the management of the Florida Panthers.

 

Detroit Lions K Jason Hanson ties all-time NFL field goal record

That was about the only thing Motor City football fans had to cheer about yesterday. From AP-

Jason Hanson kicked a 53-yard field goal against the Tennessee Titans and tied Morten Andersen’s NFL record for the most kicks from 50-plus yards.

Hanson made his 40th field goal from 50-plus yards Thursday on the 74th attempt of his career, which started with the Lions in 1992.

Hanson a 2nd round pick in 1992 out of Washington State, has played his entire career in Detroit. He is 38 years old, and so far as kickers go, that may mean he has 5-10 more years in the NFL.

 

Racing greyhound electrocuted in ‘unfortunate accident’

The incident happened over a week ago but was only reported today.

A racing greyhound was killed last week in a freak accident at the Sanford Orlando Kennel Club in Longwood. The state Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering confirmed Monday that it is investigating the death, but a spokeswoman for that agency would not give details because it is an ongoing investigation. It could take two weeks to a month to complete the investigation, said spokeswoman Alexis Antonacci. Mark Loewe, general manager at the track, said he has talked to state investigators and expects them to rule the animal’s death to be “an unfortunate accident.” That was the conclusion the track reached in its own internal investigation, he said. The dog was electrocuted in the 12th race of a 14-race matinee program Nov. 17. The final two races were canceled so that park employees could make sure there were no problems with the equipment, Loewe said. The dogs were racing on the track when one dog was bumped and slid under the inside rail, Loewe said. He touched the electrical source used to operate the lure that the dogs chase. He called it a “very rare case” and said he talked to workers who have been at the track for almost 40 years “and they can not remember anything like this.”

I’ve only been to the dog races once in my life but because of my father, been to the horse races many times. Some people consider these sports cruel. I don’t think either is, IMHO. What happened in Longwood was very unfortunate.

 

Yale head football Coach Jack Siedlecki retires

His tenure in New Haven lasted 12 years and resulted in two Ivy League championships. From AP-

Yale football coach Jack Siedlecki announced he is retiring after 12 years and two Ivy League championships, but he’ll be staying at the university to become assistant athletic director.

Siedlecki was 70-47 and 47-37 in the conference during his tenure in New Haven, which included sharing league championships with Brown in 1999 and Princeton in 2006.

The Bulldogs were 9-0 heading into last year’s final game and looking for their first perfect season since 1960, but lost to Harvard. Yale finished this season 6-4, including 4-3 in the conference and a 10-0 loss to Harvard in the 125th edition of “The Game.”

Siedlecki took the helm after Hall of Fame coach Carm Cozza retired in 1996 after 32 seasons. Only Cozza was head coach at Yale longer.

“I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished over 12 years,” Siedlecki said in a statement Wednesday. “I have been given an opportunity to stay affiliated with Yale Athletics for the balance of my career, and I deeply appreciate that.”

It wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday why Siedlecki was retiring.

So he can be assistant athletic director? Where did I read that before?

Happy trails coach.

 

Florida Panther Richard Zednik out for several weeks

He suffered a arm injury in a game played last Monday. From AP-

Florida winger Richard Zednik will be out for several weeks after injuring his left arm during Monday night’s 3-2 victory over Carolina.

Zednik was hurt in the second period when he was checked into the boards behind the Carolina net by defenseman Josef Melichar.

“It looks fairly long-term, weeks anyway,” coach Pete DeBoer said.

Zednik missed the final 24 games of last season after his neck was slashed by the skate of teammate Olli Jokinen during a Feb. 10 game at Buffalo.

Zednik has three goals and five assists this season.

The injuries continue to pile up for the cats. Bryan Allen is out indefinitely, Cory Stillman has a concussion and is sidelined at present, before that Bryan McCabe(What’s this about Bryans all getting hurt) missed 10 games due to a back injury, now Zednik. Zednik hasn’t been particularly productive, but he was having a better year than veteran forwards Ville Peltonen, Rostislav Olesz, and Brett McLean. Florida is going to struggle to play .500 hockey this year.

 

Ball State completes perfect regular season with win over W. Michigan

Its been nine years since another Mid-American school(Marshall) had a similar season. From AP-

Ball State had everything planned Tuesday night.

It hand-picked the celebratory music, and fans crashed the party by waving signs and flags as they danced with players near midfield. Yes, after waiting nearly 60 years for a perfect regular season, the Cardinals made sure they got this one right.

MiQuale Lewis ran for three touchdowns and set a school single-season record, Nate Davis threw for one score and ran for another and even the defense got into the end zone as No. 15 Ball State rolled to a 45-22 victory over Western Michigan, clinching a spot in the Mid-American Conference championship game.

Ball State will at most go to a 2nd tier bowl game. When growing up I remember another not well known Indiana school making a run for the national championship in NCAA basketball. It was Indiana State led by Larry Bird. That school made the NCAA championship game but lost to Michigan. No such Cinderella near miss in Ball State’s immediate future.

 

QB Brady Quinn out for the year with a broken finger

That according to ESPN-

Brady Quinn finally got his chance, but it’s not going to end the way he envisioned.

After only three starts, the Cleveland Browns quarterback will be shut down for the season with a broken index finger, sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen on Tuesday.

Sources told ESPN that the team has not determined whether surgery will be necessary, but Quinn must stop all football activity for at least six weeks, ending his season.

Quinn and the Browns made the decision after the quarterback had been examined by noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., earlier Tuesday. According to FoxSports.com, the exam found that the break had gotten worse and was threatening tendons in the finger as well.

Derek Anderson, who lost his job to Quinn in Week 10, will return to the starting spot when the Browns host the Colts on Sunday.

The Browns, who are 4-7, won’t be going anywhere this post-season. The book is still out on Quinn as to whether he will be another bust at QB. His stats so far are far from impressive.

 
 


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