NHL
– According to TSN, the Atlanta/Winnipeg situation has narrowed to a point where we could see an announcement as early as tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. as speculated. There is still considerable legal work being done, however, which may require another day or two to clean up. If there is no announcement Tuesday, the next likely target would be Thursday. Stay tuned.
– Updating a previous item, Oilers’ F Ryan Jones 2-year deal is worth $3M at $1.5M annually.
UFC
– Updating a previous item, former UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar recently suffered another bout of the intestinal disease diverticulitis, which caused him to pull out of next month’s UFC 131 main event against Junior Dos Santos. Lesnar underwent surgery on Friday and had 12 inches of his colon removed. UFC President Dana White revealed on Saturday:
“Brock Lesnar actually had surgery yesterday. They removed about 12 inches of his colon, repaired it, he feels great. He said he’s a little sore, but the operation was a huge success.”
Lesnar debated whether or not to have the surgery or treat the disease with antibiotics. While no timetable has been set for his return, White says he hopes to have Lesnar back fighting during the “first part of 2012.”
NFL
– Colts’ WR Austin Collie (concussion) has “summarily dismissed” speculation that he has “thought long and hard” about retiring from football after three concussions last season. ”I didn’t even entertain the thought of not coming back. I think the media made their own stories as far as what I was going to do. But I always knew I was going to come back.” After working out with QB Peyton Manning this offseason, Collie insists he’s had “no problems, none” with concussion-like symptoms.
MLB
– Former Expos’ C Gary Carter is believed to be suffering from inoperable Grade 4 glioblastoma, as confirmed by his daughter in an online journal entry on Saturday. Doctors are “99%” certain that her father has the disease, Kimmy Bloemers wrote. Glioblastoma affects the brain and central nervous system, and is characterized by a fast-growing malignant brain tumour (or tumours). ”We will find the absolute/definite prognosis on Tuesday, so we are hanging tight for possibly other news,” Bloemers wrote. Doctors discovered four separate tumours during an MRI scan of Carter’s brain, performed last week. According to a report from the Associated Press, a biopsy on one of the tumours showed that it appeared to be malignant. “Dad’s tumour is not operable, as it is like a snake of tumours that are connected across the back of the brain. The biggest tumour is on the left side of the brain.”
Despite the bleak outlook, Bloemers maintained that her father is ready to fight. Carter, the first player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame under an Expos cap, played with the team from 1974 to 1984, then for the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers before one last season with Montreal in 1992. During his career, he hit .262 with 324 home runs and 1,225 RBIs. He also won three Gold Glove awards and five Silver Slugger awards.
WWE
– Former WWE superstar Chris Jericho was recently interviewed by the UK’s Sun newspaper .. Jericho spoke about his recent stint on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars and why WWE should be fully supportive of him doing the show, negotiations he had with WWE to appear at WrestleMania 27, when he’ll return to WWE and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Dancing With The Stars Getting WWE Exposure: “Why wouldn’t Vince McMahon be 100% behind it? Because every week, twice a week, you have 22 million people hearing the name WWE. And you have 22 million people seeing this guy Chris Jericho, and even though I’m not wrestling there right now, I always will be a WWE guy and will be associated with that in one way, shape or form. I think it helped their perception because they are trying to get in the mainstream as well. And there’s nothing more mainstream than Dancing with the Stars. It’s the number one show in the country. It raises your recognition factor right off the bat.”
“Five million people watch Raw, but 22 million people watch Dancing with the Stars, so there are obviously people who don’t have any idea what wrestling is. I went a long way to changing the perceptions and changing the stereotypes of what wrestlers do. I kind of feel I was a pioneer. I guarantee I won’t be the last WWE superstar that does the show. I bet they’ll look for other guys to do it over the next little while.”
Returning To WWE & What Will Be Different This Time Around: “I’ve always been of the mind-set that you are going to do it, you’ve got to go all the way with it. Just doing TV and not doing house shows is almost like playing the games but you don’t want to do the practise. I haven’t put much thought to it. Right now I’m busy with other stuff, with the band and things like Dancing with the Stars, going back to wrestling is the last thing on my mind right now.
“I still love watching wrestling, I still dig the shows. The only reason I left was that I had so much going on, my contract was up and I thought I’m just not going to re-sign because I’m definitely not short of work right now.
“This time, I won’t come back to wear a suit and use long words and talk slowly. Everybody does that now. It would have to be something different to really interest me enough to want to come back.”
– John Cena drew criticism on Twitter on Saturday after posting a pro-America remark. He wrote,
“CeNation. I know most have a long weekend this week. While you’re having fun remember those who have kept this country free.”
Hours later, Cena retweeted an expletive-laden remark directed towards him. He wrote in response,
“CeNation. Welcome to my life. You don’t love it…leave it man. I damn proud of all those men and women. On memorial day weekend. Classy. Very classy. Sorry guys. We all have our limits. That sent me over the line.”
He then retweeted another one of his follower’s remarks:
“@shmikemike You’re pathetic. You’re right John Cena sucks big time and is a ****** performer, but no need to insult our troops like that.”
Cena self-deprecatingly wrote in response,
“You see. That is the way to insult someone. Not bad mr knight. I’ve heard much worse but not bad.
”
– Updating a previous item,masked Mexican professional wrestler Averno has signed a contract with WWE. He’ll join WWE as an unmasked heel to work with Sin Cara on the SmackDown brand. His unmasking is expected to happen on June 17 when he faces La Mascara at CMLL’s next big event. Averno had a tryout match with WWE last October and performed well, but was not signed due to concern over his age (34 years old). A deal was completed recently when company officials asked Sin Cara who he would most like to work with, and he suggested Averno. WWE asked for his advice since most of the organization’s talent haven yet to adapt to his style of wrestling, thus, not performing up to par. Averno, his longtime rival in CMLL, has worked his style, and is capable of showcasing his strengths and working well with the fellow luchador. WWE is also reportedly considering signing two other young CMLL luchadors. Stay tuned.