Giants lose WR Nicks to hamstring injury
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 08:04am EDT
Giants lose WR Nicks to hamstring injury
New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks(notes) left the teams 20-17 victory over the winless Miami Dolphins in the fourth quarter Sunday due to a hamstring injury that could keep him out of next weeks matchup with the New England Patriots, according to the New York Post.
"Im a fast healer," Nicks said, the Post reports, but thats no guarantee that hell be back soon.
"I was running a route, I was about to run by the guy and right when I tried to accelerate to run by him I felt a little, I dont know what it was, a tug or cramp, whatever, but I felt it," Nicks said, according to the Post. "It got my attention. It was more like a cramp that didnt go nowhere, it just stayed. I knew I wouldnt be able to do nothing."
The 23-year-old Nicks has gained 575 yards and scored three touchdowns this season while not fumbling the ball once.
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Chinese offer still on table for Stuckey
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 07:28am EDT
Chinese offer still on table for Stuckey
It remains unclear what will happen to the NBA season other than the fact that Commissioner David Stern has declared that no games will be played in the month of November.
If things go horribly awry and a deal cant be made, players will continue heading off to play for overseas teams. With the largest population in the world, China is a particularly attractive market for players, except for the fact that the basketball league there wont allow players to opt out of their CBL contracts and return to the NBA if and when things get rolling again the way that other foreign leagues will.
That hasnt stopped free agents Wilson Chandler(notes), Kenyon Martin(notes), and J.R. Smith(notes) from signing with teams there and the folks in Guangdong are hoping the same is true for Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey(notes).
ESPN has it that Stuckey held off on making a decision last week because it seemed like a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement could be made. It remains unclear if and win that will happen, but ESPN reports that Guangdong still has its offer on the table to the 25-year-old.
Stuckey, the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2008, averaged 15.5 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game for the 30-52 Pistons last season.
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Cardinals expect Pujols to meet other teams
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 07:02am EDT
Cardinals expect Pujols to meet other teams
More than a few St. Louis Cardinals fans who lined the World Series winners parade route Sunday pleaded with GM John Mozeliak to re-sign first baseman Albert Pujols(notes), but the 31-year-old three-time National League MVP can do what he wants at this point.
The Cardinals have a four-day window to negotiate with its own free agents but Mozeliak doesnt expect a lot to get done in that time, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Internally, the Cardinals expect the first baseman to meet with other clubs and explore what free agency has to offer," the paper reports.
Pujols is keeping his mouth shut about what hes planning to do, the paper notes, though one suspects hell want an offer that his higher than the one the Cards gave to him in the spring: nine years and almost $200 million.
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Bears ready to franchise Forte?
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 06:32am EDT
Bears ready to franchise Forte?
Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte(notes) is on pace for the best season of his career and hed like some big bucks in a long-term contract extension to show for it, but the negotiations havent always gone smoothly this season and the team is ready to just hang the franchise tag on Forte next year if an agreement seems out of reach, according to the Chicago Tribune. That would put Forte in line to make $7.7 million next season, the paper reports, and possibly $9.2 million in 2013.
This would just be the second time that General Manager Jerry Angelo has used the tag since his tenure with the team began in 2001, the Tribune notes.
The Trib points out that the Bears have a lot of cap space available this offseason, which had originally been earmarked for Forte, but may now go to other things.
After seven games, the 25-year-old Forte has 672 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns as well as 419 yards receiving with 15 first-down catches and one touchdown catch. And he hasnt fumbled once in the 162 times hes had the ball.
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Ramirez ‘short list’ includes Cubs
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 06:26am EDT
Ramirez short list includes Cubs
Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez(notes) will become a free agent after declining a $16 million option. His agent, Paul Kinzer, says the Cubs are on the "short list" of teams the 33-year-old is up for signing with, though Ramirez has repeatedly said hed like to return to Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.
However, the paper sees it as "doubtful he will return since the Cubs prefer" the two draft picks it will pick up when Ramirez signs with another team. Plus, the Trib notes, the Cubs didnt have to shell out the $2 million buyout for Ramirez when he declines his option.
Ramirez batted .306 this season, hitting 26 home runs and 35 doubles and leading the team in RBIs with 93.
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‘Substantial’ offer not keeping Sabathia from opting out?
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 05:58am EDT
Substantial offer not keeping Sabathia from opting out?
Midnight Halloween night marks the deadline for C.C. Sabathia(notes) to opt out of his contract with the New York Yankees and it is looking like the Bronx Bombers have not wowed him enough yet to convince him to just sign on for more.
SI.com reports that Sabathia is expected to opt out before Monday evening and give up four years and $92 million in order to become a free agent. Meanwhile, the New York Times has it that the team made a "formal offer" to Sabathia this weekend that is "substantial."
The Times notes that "there is no take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum attached to the Yankees offer, so Sabathia could opt out, check out other teams and return to New York."
While it is expected that Sabathia will end up back with the Yanks, other teams will be able to take a crack at getting the 31-year-old 19-game winner on if he opts out Monday.
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Cardinals QB Kolb has turf toe?
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 05:52am EDT
Cardinals QB Kolb has turf toe?
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb(notes) got hurt on the very first play of the teams 30-27 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but never came out, the Arizona Republic reports. After the game, Kolb was wearing a walking boot, the paper notes.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt told KTAR radio after the game that the injury could be turf toe, according to the Republic.
The Cards are now 1-6 and tied with the St. Louis Rams for the worst record in the NFC. Wonder if Kolb is regretting all his talk last year when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles about how ready he was to be a starter.
Meanwhile, Cardinals running back Beanie Wells(notes) played despite a knee injury and said that things werent going to suddenly get better anytime soon. "Its probably going to be an all-year thing, trying to get this . . . right," he said, according to the Tucson Citizen. He ended up rushing for 83 yards and a touchdown.
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Browns lose another running back
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 05:47am EDT
Browns lose another running back
Now the Cleveland Browns are down two running backs. Peyton Hillis(notes) already had a pulled hamstring and now Montario Hardesty(notes), who missed all of last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, suffered a strained calf Sunday in the teams 20-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The injury may have come as early as on the games second play, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
"It just tightened up on me," Hardesty said, according to the paper. "I tried to continue to go, but it wouldnt go for me."
Hell have an MRI Monday in Cleveland, and, as the Plain Dealer notes, hope it doesnt turn out to be anything close to last years injury.
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Predators traveling without Fisher
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 05:41am EDT
Predators traveling without Fisher
Nashville Predators forward Mike Fisher(notes) wont be in the lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks Monday night due to an injury from "a high, hard blindside hit in the neutral zone" from Anaheim Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin(notes) in the teams 3-0 win Saturday.
Even though Nashville wanted the league to look into the legality of the hit on the 31-year-old, Beauchemin wont face disciplining action from the league senior vice president Brendan Shanahan(notes), acceding to USA Today.
Alternate-captain Fisher, of course, was only playing in his third game of the season after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. He has two goals and two assists so far. Last season, he played for both Nashville and the Ottawa Senators, scoring 19 goals and 17 assists.
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Devils’ Brodeur never returning to 100%?
October 31, 2011
Mon Oct 31 05:36am EDT
Devils Brodeur never returning to 100%?
New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur(notes) has only appeared in four periods of play so far this season, the last coming October 13 against the Los Angeles Kings when he landed awkwardly on his right shoulder after a shot by Kings defenseman Alec Martinez(notes).
It turns out that the 39-year-old Brodeurs right shoulder has been suffering from some kind of injury for several years, according to the Bergen Record, but Brodeur says its nothing surgery can fix and its not a torn labrum. "Believe me, I wouldnt be able to do what Im doing now if I did," he said, according to the Record. He also told the paper "I don’t think it ever will be" 100%.
He could return to the lineup Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the paper notes.
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