NHL
– Bruins’ F Marc Savard (grade 2 concussion) is expected to miss the rest of the season. Savard had 10 goals and 23 assists on the season
NFL
– The Seahawks have been contacting the Eagles “non-stop” about QB Donovan McNabb and QB Kevin Kolb, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio said during a Tuesday radio appearance. Paolantonio, a former Eagles beat reporter, said that he firmly believes McNabb will be traded at some point this offseason. The link to Seattle will be a loud wake-up call to incumbent Matt Hasselbeck, who new coach Pete Carroll gave a vote of confidence to back in January. The Seahawks probably are more interested in Kolb as their quarterback of the future, but he’s less likely to be dealt than McNabb. Stay tuned.
–The Chiefs have signed RB Thomas Jones to a two-year/$5M deal. Jones will receive $3M this season, $2M next season and another $500K in incentives. He’ll back up RB Jamaal Charles and could be used in short yardage roles.
– The Broncos have signed NT Jamal Williams, formerly of the Chargers, to a three-year/$16M contract with $7M guaranteed. Denver set out to beef up both lines, and they’ve succeeded beyond their expectations on the defensive side. Williams provides a massive upgrade to the run defence.
NBA
– The Detroit News reports that Pistons’ G Rodney Stuckey (collapse) is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
– FanHouse reports that the Magic are interested in Clippers’ G Steve Blake. Current Magic G Jason Williams and G Anthony Johnson are both UFAs at season’s end, and the Magic do not see bringing them back next season. “I have a lot of respect for the Magic and their coach (Stan Van Gundy). But I’m not going to worry about that until this summer. I take pride in being able to give a team what it needs in any role.”
– The Sixers are expected to fire coach Eddie Jordan at season’s end, if not before, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Team owner Comcast-Spectacor’s chairman, Ed Snider, wanted to fire Jordan earlier this season, but didn’t because he had already fired Flyers’ coach John Stevens.
MLB
– According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, the Twins and Cubs have expressed interest in Jays’ RHP Jason Frasor. Frasor looks to be the odd man out in Toronto’s ninth-inning competition and would probably love the chance to close in Minnesota. He had a 7-3 record, 2.50 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 11 saves in 14 chances last season.
– Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com hears from multiple sources that 1B Nomar Garciaparra will announce his retirement Wednesday morning. The Red Sox have a press conference scheduled for 10:30am EST, so we’ll find out the truth shortly. Garciaparra, 36, had a .281/.314/.388 batting line in 160 at-bats for the A’s last year, but was unable to convince teams this winter that he is still a viable backup. If the report is true, the former All-Star would leave behind a .313/.361/.521 career line over 5,596 major league at-bats.
WWE
– WWE Raw drew a 3.4 cable rating (down from last week’s strong 3.7) and averaged 5,091,000 viewers. TNA iMPACT! drew a 1.0 cable rating (down from Thursday’s 1.1 rating) and averaged 1,361,000 viewers.
More details are coming in shortly.
– Jim Ross has updated his blog. The highlights:
RAW vs. iMPACT!: I am not going to analyze the Monday night wrestling sagas of last night for many reasons. One, I’m not unbiased and two, there is PLENTY of analyzing going on from wrestling websites that do that sort of thing for a living. It can be said, however, that those fans who are yearning for longer matches and more matches in general on TV are likely still yearning. Plus, and finally, some people forget apparently that they are producing ‘episodic’ television.
Women’s Wrestling: We’re still getting emails from peeved fans about my stance on women’s wrestling. For those who love to rant, not read and not pay attention to what I have said, let’s try this again. I am a fan of women in wrestling. I hired some major, female stars in my time. You can ask any female that ever worked on our roster and they will tell you that they were never disrespected by me. But, still, it is what it is. Women are currently positioned in the wrestling biz in a support role and one could easily make an argument that women in the wrestling biz, as a whole, are somewhat underutilized.
WWE’s New Shawn Michaels DVD: Fans of HBK or wrestling in general should grab the new Shawn Michaels DVD that is available today (Tuesday). I’ve seen it, I love it and it brings back a truck load of memories. I only wish I had been available to be the one interviewing Shawn for this project but that apparently wasn’t an option. Buy the DVD and I promise that you will love the amazing array of bouts that, arguably, the best in the biz today, performed in on a high level even when he was a hot headed kid. I remember Shawn from his first territory and even remember the big Cowboy fining Shawn right after Shawn made his Mid South debut for inadvertently missing a TV taping because he did not know that EVERYONE came to TV whether their name was on the booking sheet or not.
VoV
- Email – captaincharisma [at] hotmail.com
– Twitter – @VoiceofValeri