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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Lakers squad be able to turn it on come playoff time?

All the championship banners and the vibe of Hollywood-cool notwithstanding, panic has always been part of the package for Lakers fans. Never mind a losing streak, or the Smush Parker era -- a string of uncomfortable victories is often enough to inundate message boards and talk radio hosts with teeth-gnashing angst.

This chattering has always been greeted with a shrug or an eye roll from the protagonists, who seem to know the difference between drama and distress -- namely the difference between the playoffs and the regular season.

The message, from Phil Jackson on down, was always the same: Wake me up when it's April.

This is what made Kobe Bryant's fish-or-cut-bait decree to general manager Mitch Kupchak so noteworthy. If Bryant, who was supposed to have retired as general manager years ago, is so concerned about the state of Pau Gasol's head that he's telling Kupchak to just make a decision already -- trade Gasol or keep him -- then it's a sign for the masses to run to the nearest window ledge.

That was clear less than 24 hours later, when the Lakers tried to stem the stampede with the unusual step of issuing a statement from Kupchak, which said of exploring possible trades: "To say publicly that we would not do this would serve no purpose and put us at a competitive disadvantage. Taking such a course of action at this time would be a disservice to ownership, the team and our many fans."

Translation: I'll do my job, you do yours.

The Lakers then did just that Monday, following up their loss at Phoenix the previous night (they trailed by 27 at one point) -- with a good-for-the-soul pounding of Portland (they once led by 30).

Nobody seemed more rejuvenated than Gasol, who played with flair -- flipping a pair of no-look passes -- and assertiveness that have often been missing in a season that began with his being the centerpiece of the nixed Chris Paul trade.

Gasol has acknowledged that trade discussions -- he is reportedly being coveted by Minnesota and Chicago, among others -- have bothered him personally, if not professionally, just as reports of problems with his girlfriend troubled him during a poor playoffs last spring.

"I said what he wanted to say but he couldn't say," Bryant told TNT's Cheryl Miller after the win over Portland.

All this is well and good, with the Lakers finding a cause to rally behind. But Gasol is the least of their problems.

The Lakers don't have a reliable point guard. If Steve Blake hits five 3-pointers, as he did Monday, then great. And Derek Fisher can be counted on to hit clutch shots, but what about the other 47 minutes? The other option is rookie Andrew Goudelock, who is learning to play the point.

A name change by Metta World Peace hasn't changed the fact his game is in steady decline. Matt Barnes is the only energy player on a bench that used to be full of them, with Shannon Brown, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic.

And Lamar Odom, the NBA's reigning Sixth Man of the Year, has been replaced by Troy Murphy, who is nobody's idea of a matchup problem.

Add it all up and it's little surprise the Lakers no longer look so fearsome in the Western Conference. They are still formidable at home, 14-2, but they have won just five games on the road -- which is where they are likely to start the playoffs.

This roster, and Kupchak's failure to produce a meaningful draft pick in the last five years, is the very reason the Lakers would consider dealing Gasol -- to transform themselves.

As it is, this is an organization in transition, from the top down as Jim Buss takes an increasingly larger role. Not only is Jackson -- and nearly every vestige of his staff and system -- gone, but so are scouts and members of the training staff, swept out at the end of last season.

So, when World Peace complains about his role, saying that coach Mike Brown, who got his start as a video coordinator, is an all-stats guy, or when Andrew Bynum complains about practices sapping his energy during this condensed season, it's clear Gasol isn't the only one who is unsettled.

As Brown tinkers with his pieces and his system, playing Bryant and Gasol at a grinding 38 and 37 minutes apiece and trying to make the most of a shrinking pool of resources, the Lakers' biggest concern is no longer just waking up in time for the playoffs.

That much is plain to see, whether you're standing in Bryant's shoes or out on a ledge.Jennifer Stewart-US PRESSWIRE

Friday, February 17, 2012

Boston Red Sox Tim Wakefield to retire

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will announce his retirement Friday after 19 seasons, including the past 17 with the Boston Red Sox.

Wakefield will make the official announcement in a Friday afternoon news conference at the team's spring training complex in Florida.
The 45-year-old will leave the game after recording his 200th win last September. He was the oldest active player in the major leagues last season.
The Red Sox had invited Wakefield to spring training, but were not guaranteeing him a roster spot

Wakefield, who bedeviled hitters throughout his career with a dancing knuckleball, won World Series titles with the Red Sox in 2004 and 2007 and made his first All-Star team in 2009.
His departure leaves Mets righty R.A. Dickey as the only knuckleball pitcher in MLB.
Wakefield's 186 victories for Boston ranks third in franchise history behind Cy Young and Roger Clemens, who both won 192 games. He pitched the most innings in Red Sox history at 3,006.
For his career, Wakefield finished with a record of 200-180 with a 4.41 ERA. He went 7-8 with a 5.12 ERA in 23 starts last season.newscore source

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Gary Carter Dead At 57

Gary Carter, the Hall of Fame catcher with an endearingly exuberant personality that earned him the nickname "The Kid," died today. He was 57. Carter was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2011, and last month his daughter revealed that new tumors had been discovered. In his 19-year career, Carter hit 324 home runs and was an 11-time All-Star; he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003. The signature moment of his career came during Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, when his single in the 10th inning sparked the rally that would eventually lead the New York Mets to a championship.

Miller Suspended



 
 

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St. Louis Rams wide receiver Nick Miller has been suspended for the first four games of next season for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.Under NFL Rules . Miller can take part of offseason workouts and preseason games with his suspension begining before the regular season
 
Miller returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the 2011 season. He averaged 16 yards on eight punt returns.
Rams wide receiver Austin Pettis will miss the first two games of next season after being suspended for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. He sat out two games last season .by aaron wilson
 

Tebow Tutored?

Tim Tebow is working on his throwing motion and mechanics with an old friend, new UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, in Los Angeles.

tim tebow 

Mazzone told ESPN he's been working with Tebow twice a day since last weekend and keeping in contact with Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach Adam Gase.
Mazzone has worked with Tebow before. He helped him work on his fundamentals coming out of Florida.
Broncos boss John Elway has said he'll work with Tebow this offseason, but he won't be able to do that for a few more weeks.
Tebow completed less than half his passes but posted a series of dramatic comebacks last season in leading the Broncos to the playoffs, where he threw an 80-yard TD pass to Demaryius Thomas in overtime to beat Pittsburgh.

Randy Moss Give It Up!

After apparently talking about the idea with friends for about a month, wide receiver Randy Moss celebrated his 35th birthday Monday by announcing his intentions to return to the NFL. One big question is whether Moss can reignite the passion with the team he has so openly adored over the years.
Yes, the New England Patriots could use Moss in a serious way. In addition, according to a source close to Moss, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets are at least curious and the San Francisco 49ers could look to fill a hole if they let go of Josh Morgan in free agency. A source with one of those teams conveyed via text it would be “intriguing” to see what Moss has left in the tank after a year away from the game.
But just as it was a year ago, when most teams showed passing interest but not enough to excite Moss, those clubs will take their cue from him. Does he really want to do this bad enough to make it work? Or is Moss, who conveyed during his internet announcement Monday that he had some issues to sort out, just saying he wants back in for the sake of some attention?
Randy Moss was known for leaving DBs in his wake.
(US Presswire)
If the answer to the first question is yes, don’t be surprised if New England takes a chance on Moss, who was reportedly open to rejoining New England in-season last year. Anyone who watched the Patriots fall to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI (or even the AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens) knows how badly the Patriots need Moss’ field-stretching ability. In addition, coach Bill Belichick spoke glowingly about Moss less than a month ago. It was prompted by a question about Deion Branch, who Belichick praised alongside Moss for their intuitive understanding of how to make things work as the circumstances of a play change.
“[Branch] almost always does the right thing,” Belichick said. “You can run a play, you can practice it all year, and then something can come up in the season that it’s just not the way you talked about it, it’s not the way you practiced it. Then what the player does, you look at it and say, ‘That was the right thing to do,’ and the quarterback saw it that way and the receiver did it that way and you have it.
[ Gallery: Randy Moss’ first 13 years in NFL ]

“Branch is great at that, he’s great at that. As was Troy [Brown], as was Kevin [Faulk], those guys were, and Randy [Moss]. Those guys just knew where they could go, how long they had to get there, how to do it and it was, 99 percent of the time, as the coach if you said, ‘OK, this situation, this is what we want you to do,’ that’s what they would do … Deion and Kevin and Troy and Randy, in a lot of ways, I would put those guys at an exceptional level. I mean rare.”
What obviously differentiates Moss within that small group is his speed. He is perhaps the greatest, most consistent deep threat in football history. If that deep speed, or even some semblance of it, still exists, the Patriots could use it.
Over the final two games of the season, the Patriots’ offense went from explosive to electric, as in resembling one of those classic Electric Football games where completing a deep pass was akin to finding peace in the Middle East. Over the final two postseason games, New England’s longest completion was for 23 yards. In the Super Bowl, the longest passing gain was 21 yards on a rare reception by Chad Ochocinco. The Patriots hadn’t been held without a pass gain of at least 23 yards in another other game all season.
The Giants and the Ravens suffocated the Patriots, particularly after tight end Rob Gronkowski suffered a high ankle sprain in the Baltimore game. By the time that game was over, New England was playing offense in a shoebox. Against the Giants, the only time the Patriots were successful consistently is when they caught New York with a bad personnel matchup.
Randy Moss and Bill Belichick have continued to express a high regard for one another.
(AP Photo)
[ Report: Eagles to franchise WR DeSean Jackson ]

That’s where Moss comes in. Again, all of this is dependent not only on his frame of mind (first), but whether he can actually run anymore. Sure, he’s 35, but physically Moss is in a class of few human beings, even by professional athlete standards. Actually, there may be no one else ever in his class as a deep threat. Over the first dozen years of his career, Moss had least one catch of longer than 50 yards every year. In fact, he had one of 60 yards or better in 11 of those 12 and one of 70 or longer in seven of them. And he had catches of longer than 70 yards in 2008 and 2009.
No one in NFL history – not Jerry Rice, Cris Carter, Lance Alworth or anyone else – has accomplished that kind of game-breaking consistency. In 2010 the streak ended, but the question is whether that was because Moss slowed down or whether he was completely distracted. During the 2010 offseason and into the early part of the regular season, Moss groused about his contract. As a result, Belichick had to trade him to maintain order in the locker room.
As Moss meandered from New England to the Minnesota Vikings and finally to the Tennessee Titans, he finished with 28 catches for a paltry 393 yards and five touchdowns. Moss, fifth all time in NFL receiving yards (14,858), walked away from the game last offseason when nobody wanted to pay him his price.
Like most athletes, Moss found there aren’t greener pastures in regular society. Friends say he doesn’t need money, but there is always a fuzzy line between need and desire when it comes to cash. Furthermore, for as counterculture as Moss is, he’s not some Dennis Rodman-esque icon willing to sell space on his body to make a buck, even in retirement. Moss is every bit the living embodiment of James Dean, a singularly talented rebel for the sake of rebellion, not for someone else’s amusement.
That’s why, even when Moss announced in 2009 that he wanted more endorsement opportunities, nobody really knocked down his door to offer him ad money. Moss doesn’t play the media game with people. He doesn’t smile big for the cameras or wax eloquently about nothing of substance. He’s just Moss.
That’s why so many times, Moss ends interviews by abruptly leaving the dais. He did one press conference without taking questions in 2010. He often ended interviews by saying, “I’m out, homey.”
Well, now he wants back in. If he wants it bad enough, he’ll get his way.