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From AP-
Reliever Fernando Rodney signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels yesterday.
The 32-year-old right-hander spent his first seven major league seasons with the Detroit Tigers, including the last two years as their closer. He converted 37 of 38 save opportunities last season, pitching a career-best 75[0xb7] innings.
Rodney is a very good relief pitcher. In light of his talent and the terms of their contract with him, I see this as a very low risk move for the Angels.
A Christmas present for South Florida horsemen. From Harnessracing.com-
With director of racing operations John Yinger quick to point out that they are not major increases, things are trending upward in the purse and handle categories at The Isle Pompano Park.
The Dec. 23 program marked the implementation of purse hikes ranging from about 2.5 percent to over nine percent in some categories. For $4,000 claiming pacers and trotters, the purse is increased from $3,200 to $3,500; for the $15,000 claiming pacers four years of age and under, the purse is increased from $6,800 to $7,000; for $12,500 claiming pacers, the purse is increased from $6,800 to $7,000; and in the non-winners of $6,001 in the last five starts condition, the purse is increased from $6,800 to $7,000.
“This is just a slight purse bump in a few classes where we felt it was needed and it was possible at this time” says The Isle Pompano Park’s race secretary Greg DeFrank.
While this is certainly good news, the most interesting part of the article is yet to come.
As for handle, the final two programs before Christmas produced the best nights of the meet since racing resumed on Sept. 19. Wagering on the Dec. 21 program topped $231,000 and on the Dec.23 card the recorded handle was a meet high at just under $400,000.
So Christmas is apparently a good time to go to the horse track for some people? Many years ago, my father would take us to Florida at holiday time partly so he could go to Pompano Park where some of our horses were stabled.
All five Timberwolves starters scored in double figures. From AP-
In a season in which the breaks haven’t gone their way, the Minnesota Timberwolves got a little lucky against the New Jersey Nets.
Al Jefferson scored a season-high 27 points and the Timberwolves got a favorable videotape review in the final minute to defeat the Nets 103-99 on Wednesday night in the battle of the NBA’s two worst teams.
In a game that seesawed in the fourth quarter, the big play was an instant replay with 26 seconds to play and the Wolves clinging to a 99-97 lead.
Minnesota inbounded the ball near halfcourt and the pass went to Corey Brewer. Devin Harris and Courtney Lee double-teammed him and Lee hit the ball out of Brewer’s hands and out of bounds.
The officials originally called it out off Brewer and the Nets called timeout and went to their bench to set up a play.
The officials then went to the scorer’s table and watched videotape replays and it clearly showed the ball went out off Lee, so they overturned the call and awarded the ball to Minnesota.
Timberwolves Coach Kurt Rambis said his team was very fortunate. Indeed they were, without New Jersey to face, the team was likely to have just five wins before Christmas.
New Jersey, who opened the year 0-18, looks like they are trying to equal that mark again this season. After winning 2 of 3, the Nets have lost 8 in a row for a record of 2-27. Does anyone besides me think this team can’t win 10 games this season?
Where as the NBA will play games on Christmas day, the NHL won’t.(Florida announcer Billy Lindsay said there may be a clause in the league’s collective bargaining agreement with players that rules out holiday games) Therefore there is no hockey on either December 24th or 25th. My favorite team, the Florida Panthers, doesn’t return to the ice till December 27th.
The NHL is almost at the half way point of 2009-10. With all 30 teams having played at least 35 games. Due to the Winter Olympics and the over two-week break the NHL takes as a result of it, the schedule is accelerated this year.
Here are some random notes on games played yesterday and how the NHL shapes up at the moment.
The New York Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 4-1. Now Florida, Montreal who defeated Carolina 5-1, and the Rangers are in a three-way tie for the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Since the Rangers have played the fewest games, for the moment they have tiebreaks.
Pittsburgh routs Ottawa 8-2. The big news out of this game is the injury to Senator Winger Daniel Alfredsson. Alfredsson, who is Ottawa’s leading scorer, is expected to be out for a couple of weeks.
Ilya Bryzgalov shuts out Anaheim 4-0 to extend Phoenix’s home winning streak to 8 games. The Coyotes are currently 4th in the Western Conference standings.
If Phoenix is one of the pleasant surprises of the 2009-10 NHL season, the play of Columbus Blue Jacket Goalie Steve Mason ranks as one of this year’s biggest disappointments. A almost 3.50 Goals against average was only helped slightly as Dallas beat Columbus last night 3-1.
Backup Chicago Goalie Anti Niemi notches his 4th shutout of the year as the Blackhawks beat Detroit 4-0.
While not shutting out Tampa Bay, Philadelphia’s 3rd Goaltender of the year Michael Leighton looks impressive as the Flyers beat the Lightning 5-2. Before the game was played, Philadelphia’s practice had to be cancelled due to sewage line problem in their locker room.
Merry Christmas NHL. I hope the season is as exciting (and unusual) post Christmas as it was before the holiday break.
Hauck, who coached the University of Montana Grizzlies from 2003-2009, replaces Mike Sanford who was fired last November 16th.
Incoming UNLV coach Bobby Hauck says he’s excited about generating enthusiasm for football and building a winning program, but he doesn’t know how long it will take for his team to reach his goals.
Hauck said Wednesday as he was introduced by the university that enthusiasm for his team will come if it’s worth watching.
The Board of Regents was set to approve Hauck’s contract in an afternoon meeting.
UNLV President Neal Smatresk says the three-year contract will pay Hauck $350,000 annually, with some pay deferred and incentives for winning, bowl games and helping student-athletes graduate.
Anyone familar with the history of football at UNLV knows Hauck faces a difficult task in making the Rebels competitive. No UNLV football coach has ended his tenure at the school with a winning record in over 30 years.
Is the Royals farm system so depleted they can’t come up with something better? From AP-
Outfielder Brian Anderson and the Kansas City Royals have agreed to a $700,000, one-year contract.
The 27-year old can make an additional $100,000 in performance bonuses under Wednesday’s deal.
He hit just .238 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 185 at-bats for the Chicago White Sox last season, then was traded July 28 to the Boston Red Sox for Mark Kotsay and batted .294 with two homers and five RBIs in 17 at-bats.
*****
Selected by the White Sox with the 15th overall pick in the 2003 amateur draft, Anderson has a .227 average in five major league seasons with 22 homers and 80 RBIs.
Anderson was eligible for salary arbitration but Boston didn’t offer him a contract. It is little wonder why. Anderson has a career OPS of .660. A good major league outfielder should have one in the high 800′s. Anderson isn’t even close. He should be playing AAA ball and Kansas City is deluding themselves if they think Anderson can ever be a decent backup outfielder, alone a starter.
He was also a survivor of the 1958 Munich air disaster and played for three other teams before retiring in 1966. RIP.
Former Manchester United winger Albert Scanlon, one of the ‘Busby Babes’ who survived the 1958 Munich air disaster that killed eight team mates, has died at the age of 74.
Manchester United paid tribute on their website to a player who made his debut at the age of 19 for Matt Busby’s first team in 1954 after coming through the United youth system.
Scanlon won two titles as an outside forward in 1956 and 1957 and was on the flight from Belgrade to Manchester that crashed after a refuelling stop in Munich following a European Cup match in February 1958. Fifteen passengers and crew were also killed in the disaster.
Scanlon stayed with United after recovering from his injuries, making 127 senior appearances and scoring 35 goals.
The two teams with the best records in the NHL Western Conference met last night.
The Chicago Blackhawks controlled the play for nearly the entire game against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night, but still fell short.
Evgeni Nabokov made 45 saves, and Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley each had a goal and an assist to lead the Sharks to their third straight win, 3-2 over Chicago.
Jason Demers also scored for the Sharks, who moved ahead of the Blackhawks into first place in the Western Conference, and snapped Chicago’s four-game overall and five-game home winning streaks.
Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa each had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks, who outshot the Sharks 47-14.
It’s pretty incredible then that San Jose came out on top last night.
San Jose at 22-8-7 and 51 points has a slight edge over Chicago who has 49 points with a record of 23-9-3. I will add that Colorado, Nashville, and Los Angeles are close behind with points totals of 48, 47, and 47 respectively. At the beginning of the 2009-10 NHL season was predicting those three teams to be doing well.
Or that the Detroit would be 9th in the Western Conference with a record of 18-13-5-41. Injuries and age have taken the Red Wings down a few notches. It is still early for teams to turn around or go into a slump. The Pittsburgh Penguins weren’t looking much like a playoff team around Christmas 2008. We all know who won the 2008-09 Stanley Cup, don’t we.
My personal prediction- I think San Jose will be the west’s #1 seed, Chicago #2, and Detroit will make the playoffs.
This will be his third stint with the team. From the Dallas Morning News- 
The agreement between Darren Oliver and the Rangers is now official. He will receive $3 million in base salary this season with a vesting option worth $3.25 million. The option would vest if Oliver appears in 59 games in 2010. He has averaged 58 games a season over the last three years. If the option is not picked up, Oliver would receive a $500,000 buyout, guaranteeing him at least $3.5 million.
Oliver is a good acquisition in my opinion. Originally a starting pitcher, he has been a reliever of late. And not a left handed specialist, Oliver has been tough on right handed hitters during his career. The last two years of which was spent with the Los Angeles Angels where he went 12-2 with an ERA under 2.85.
A little known fact about Oliver is that he swings a pretty good bat. He has a .221 lifetime batting average. Of course in the Designated Hitter ruled American League Oliver is unlikely to be called upon to hit.
Note- I’ve always liked Oliver. Partly due to the fact he was a pitcher on my first ever Star Tournament Championship team back in October 2000.
Is the 45-year-old’s NFL career at an end? From ESPN-
The New Orleans Saints apparently won’t carry two kickers into the playoffs, as they’ve done for much of this year. The team announced Tuesday afternoon it has cut veteran kicker John Carney.
That’s a sign they’re committed to sticking with Garrett Hartley, who reclaimed the kicking job for the 12th game of the season. Hartley had been suspended for the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s policy by taking a stimulant that he said was to keep him awake during a long drive.
Carney, 45 and a 21-year NFL veteran, was signed by the Saints when they became aware of Hartley’s suspension. Carney handled kicking duties in the first 11 games. He made 13-of-17 field goals and 50-of-52 extra points. Carney also played with the Saints from 2001 through 2006 and is the second-leading scorer in franchise history with 750 points.
New Orleans isn’t the only team to change placekickers this week. The Dallas Cowboys cut Nick Folk yesterday.
IMHO Carney’s kicking was sub par this year.(76.5 success rate on Field Goals compared to a career average of 82.4) That and in the light of his age and nomadic last few years(4 teams in less than 3 years), I do think his career is indeed over. I also think he will elected to the NFL Hall of Fame sometime in the future. Carney was one of the NFL’s elite kickers for 20 years.
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