MLB
– Cardinals’ 1B Albert Pujols acknowledged Sunday that he is dealing with discomfort in his left elbow, but said that he has no plans to miss any time. “It’s bothering me every day, but this is no time to blame and look for excuses. It’s time to play the game. There’s no DL in September. You need to play the game and do everything that you can to push and hopefully have the opportunity to be in a good spot in the next couple of weeks here.” This isn’t the same elbow that has given him problems in the past. Pujols went 9-for-28 (.321) with four home runs and eight RBI on the Cards’ recent 7-game roadtrip and hit two homers in Sunday’s win over the Braves, so he seems fully recovered.
– Angels’ RHP Joel Pineiro (oblique) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in his rehab start with High-A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday. He gave up two runs on three hits over six innings. He’s on schedule to return to the Angels and face the Rays on Saturday.
– The Athletics have signed INF Akinori Iwamura. Iwamura will be in uniform on Monday in Kansas City. Iwamura should see playing time at third base until Kevin Kouzmanoff returns. The 31-year-old veteran hit .182/.292/.267 in 54 games for the Pirates.
NFL
– The Eagles believe it will be a few days before they know if Kevin Kolb (concussion) will be cleared to play against the Lions on Sunday. Coach Andy Reid said that Kolb will start if he’s healthy. Michael Vick will start is Kolb is unable to go, which is starting to fire up a QB controversy in Philly.
– Cardinals’ coach Ken Whisenhunt said that WR Larry Fitzgerald’s (mild MCL sprain) knee started bothering him late in Sunday’s win over the Rams and it “slowed him down some.” So it’s giving him problems four weeks after it was reported? He caught just three of the 15 passes his way on Sunday, but that shouldn’t be blamed on his knee. Fitz says that he’s not where he wants to be health-wise and the Cardinals had to change some of their plans because of it. Stay tuned.
– Steelers’ LT Max Starks (high ankle sprain) is expected to be out about one month. They Steel were already weak at tackle with RT Willie Colon (Achilles) out for the year and this kicks them again.
NBA
– The Warriors have signed F Louis Amundson to a 2-year/$4.7M contract. The second year will be a player’s option.
– Blazers’ GM Rich Cho said that F Greg Oden (microfracture surgery) is running and healing well, but might not be cleared for basketball activities for a few more weeks.”We’re going to ease him into it … maybe do some two-on-two or three-on-three. We’re being cautious. The longer you wait for the bone to heal, the better.” It’s too early to tell, but Oden may miss part of the preseason and isn’t a lock for opening night.
WWE
– Former ROH Champion Tyler Black, who is expected to start at WWE developmental any time now, spoke with The Sun in the UK about signing with the company. Here are some highlights:
Which Superstar encouraged him to sign: “I’ve spoken a lot to Evan Bourne and he has encouraged me to make the move.”
Picking WWE over TNA and ROH: “To be honest, and no disrespect meant, but it wasn’t a hard decision to make. You have to want to test yourself against the best and WWE is the pinnacle of our industry. They were actually the last to make me an offer. I was renegotiating with ROH and TNA had made an offer, but when WWE came in it was no contest.”
What’s Next for Him: “I understand that I may have to sacrifice a little artistic integrity — and I don’t know if I’ll have to change my name — but I’m so excited about the challenge that lies ahead. If I knew exactly what I was doing I’d probably try to keep it from you, but the truth is I don’t know. All I know is I will report to Tampa (WWE developmental territory FCW) and go from there. I wouldn’t be averse to starting on NXT. I think it’s a really great concept. It’s a chance to get your character to stand out.”
– Responding to online reports that he was sent home early from WWE’s tour of Europe, Matt Hardy said on his Twitter account Sunday night that he’s still in the U.K. He tweeted,
“Oh Yeah! Hello World, hope everyone is doing great! Just checked the headlines in my hotel room in the UK-how the dirt-sheets entertain me..”
Furthermore, Hardy posted a video blog entry of himself in England. Though Hardy claimed in a video blog entry late last night that he was still in the U.K. in spite of online reports of him being sent home following an apparent backstage incident the day before, he did not work the final event of the European tour, which took place in Skegness, England. He did not offer a response to that portion of the report. Additionally, in his video he blamed “a stooging punk” for the story hitting the net.
In regard to his health, Hardy said he has never felt better. He claimed to have dropped over twenty pounds since changing his diet to eliminate red meat. Apparently, he managed to drop seven additional pounds during the international tour as he wrote on Twitter Thursday night that he was planning a YouTube entry concerning his recent health breakthroughs as he had dropped thirteen pounds at the time.
“Definitely gonna do a YT entry soon about my recent health breakthroughs concerning my digestive process. In 3 weeks, I’ve dropped 13 lbs.”
VoV
Marc Valeri – captaincharisma@hotmail.com
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