NHL
– Lightning’ F Vincent Lecavalier (upper body) is out indefinitely. He suffered the injury Saturday against Washington. Lecavalier recalls taking a hit late in the game, but is not sure if that was when his injury was incurred. Surgery is not required, rather time to heal. Lecavalier has 21 goals and 46 points in 58 games this season.
– Oilers’ F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder) took part in Monday’s practice. ”I was cleared for contact, but we didn’t have a lot of contact drills (Monday). But I feel good, I feel close and I think the training staff feels the same way. I’m not too sure if I’ll be able to play (Tuesday), though.” RNH has 13 goals and 35 points in 40 games this season.
– Red Wings’ F Pavel Datsyuk (knee) will miss the next 2 weeks. Head coach Mike Babcock noted the injury was related to an “old” problem that had been nagging the star center. Pasha lead the team with 59 points.
– Blues’ F Jamie Langenbrunner (broken left foot) has been placed on the IR and will be re-evaluated in 4 weeks. Langenbrunner has four goals and 21 points with a +9 rating in 57 games.
MLB
– The Yankees have signed OF Raul Ibanez to a 1-year/$1.1M contract. Ibanez passed his physical on Tuesday in New York and will travel to the Yankees’ spring complex in Tampa, Florida on Thursday to begin workouts. The deal also comes with around $2.9M worth of performance-based incentives. Ibanez, 39, will function as a part-time DH and backup outfielder in 2012.
– Dodgers manager Don Mattingly confirmed Tuesday that RHP Javy Guerra is likely to open 2012 at closer. ”I’m going into camp thinking Javy is the guy.” Guerra posted a 2.38 ERA and 38/18 K/BB ratio in 46 2/3 frames.
– A’s OF Manny Ramirez will arrive at camp on Friday. Ramirez signed a minor league contract with Oakland on Monday that carries a $306K prorated major leauge salary. He’s allowed to be a full participant in spring training and can play in Cactus League games, but he’ll have to sit out the first 50 dates on the Athletics’ regular-season schedule due to last year’s failed PED test.
– Astros’ GM Jeff Luhnow acknowledged Tuesday that he’s been monitoring Cuban OF Jorge Soler. ”I have seen him before. He’s still not at the point where he’s a free agent yet, but we’re keeping tabs on him.” The Cubs, Phillies, White Sox, Indians and Yankees are also thought to have interest in the 19-year-old, who is attempting to establish residency in the Dominican Republic. He must do so before being granted MLB free agency.
– The Red Sox acquired RHP Chris Carpenter from the Cubs as compensation for general manager Theo Epstein. The situation is finally resolved after close to four months. Carpenter, 26, was a 3rd-round pick in the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft. He can touch 100 mph with his fastball, but posted a poor 5.91 ERA in 42 2/3 minor-league innings last season. The Sox will also get a PTBNL and will send the Cubs a PTBNL at some future date.
– Mets manager Terry Collins predicted Tuesday that LHP Johan Santana (shoulder) will start on Opening Day. ”I’m my mind, in my heart, he’ll be ready.” Santana has been throwing bullpen sessions since last week without any lingering pain or discomfort. The hope is that he’ll be able to make around 25 starts this season.
NBA
– Wizards’ F Andray Blatche (calf) is expected to return shortly after the All-Star break. Blatche has been out since tearing his left muscle on January 28. He still hasn’t done any on-court work, but that should be coming very soon. In 13 starts this season, Blatche is averaging 11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
– Sixers’ F Elton Brand (thumb) will be sidelined through the All-Star break.
NFL
– According to the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain, Texans’ GM Rick Smith and VP of football administration Chris Olsen are working to create cap space for an offer that free agent LB Mario Williams will find hard to turn down. The Chronicle’s John McClain insists the front office realizes they will have to “knock his socks off” to get his attention before March 13. The Texans will surely get outbid if Williams opts to test the market. The pass rusher has stated his desire to return to Houston, but NFL players rarely pass up the highest offer.
– The Boston Herald reports that Patriots’ LT Matt Light is considering retirement, and that the “expectation” is he won’t be back with the team in 2012. Light hasn’t commented on his future since the Patriots’ Super Bowl loss. Including the playoffs, he allowed just 2.5 sacks in 18 starts last season.
– Free agent LG Carl Nicks told SiriusXM NFL Radio Tuesday that he’s seeking a deal worth more than RG Jahri Evans’ 7-year/$56.7M contract. He also revealed Tuesday that he’s yet to have any discussions with the Saints about a new contract.
WWE
– On Monday’s RAW, we saw a full-on heel turn from WWE diva Eve, who admitted to the Bella Twins that she is nothing more than a manipulating bimbo. Eve said she was never interested in Zack Ryder – she used him to climb the social ranks and get to the biggest fish in the pond – John Cena, who overheard the entire conversation. Eve tried everything she could do to convince John Cena that it was all a big misunderstanding, but she was carried away from Cena crying hysterically when he wanted nothing to do with her. With Eve’s evil intentions exposed, there is talk of pairing Eve with a heel WWE superstar and have them feud with Zack Ryder and a babyface Diva, possibly Layla.
– Mick Foley posted a few messages on Twitter this week revealing his top 3 career regrets:
Not wrestling Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 17
Not wrestling on the first Eddie Gilbert memorial show
Not writing the foreword to the Lou Thesz autobiography when asked.
Regarding his decision to not wrestle Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 17, Foley said that back in 2001, he truly believed that he was retired for good, so he turned the match down.
– Michael Cole apologized on Twitter for messing up Kofi Kingston’s name on RAW. Cole tweeted:
“I want to apologize for messing up @TrueKofi Kingston’s name tonight. So here goes: Sorry you aren’t more memorable, Kofi. #Raw”
Kingston, who has been teaming with R-Truth as of late, responded:
“@MichaelCole MayB i cld b as memorable as ur stellar commentary. U learn the dif btw a figure 4 of the head and the Anaconda Vice yet? Dunce”
– JBL wrote the following on Twitter about former tag team partner and longtime friend Ron Simmons going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year:
“Words can’t describe how happy I am about my best friend and former tag team partner Ron Simmons going into HOF! Well deserved, CONGRATS!”
JBL then wrote this on Facebook when asked about who will induct Simmons:
“As far as who is inducting Ron into the HOF-I would consider one of my greatest lifetime honors if I am chosen. However, it hasn’t been announced-SO, if I knew who was I couldn’t say. And, if I don’t know I couldn’t say either obviously. So, I wait on the announcement like everyone else.
The main thing is not who is announcing or inducting Ron but that a great, great man is being put into the HOF-congrats to Ron, my best friend and former tag partner!!!”
– Triple H has received a lot of praise backstage for his promo work, according to f4wonline.com. Triple H has been strong on the mic in recent weeks building interest in his match with the Undertaker at WrestleMania, but you can insert your own joke about the “boss” getting praised by his colleagues.
– John Cena re-tweeted a fan’s comment predicting what The Rock’s promo on next Monday’s RAW would sound like:
“prediction 4 rock promo – 1999 catchphrase, insult Cena, catchphrase, sniff the air, eyebrow, say electrify – leave till mid march”
Cena followed up with the following:
“Im pretty sure that’s close to accurate. Prove me wrong movie star. Ill be waiting in nike town.”
– As we saw on RAW, WWE has licensed the Metallica song “The Memory Remains” to hype the The Undertaker and Triple H match at WrestleMania 28.
– Speaking of the Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania, there is a lot of speculation about how WWE is going to set up the structure, considering there is no roof on the stadium to hang the massive cage from. Jim Ross Tweeted the following about how WWE will make it happen:
“One can assume WWE is going to erect a massive structure outdoors at WM28 to not only hang the ring lighting but also the Hell in a Cell.”
– Santino Marella recently thanked the fans for supporting him as of late:
“I just want to say grazie to all the fans of late, it’s amazing what u can accomplish with the supports and couragement”
According to a WWE source, Santino’s recent “underdog” push is actually inspired by NBA breakout star Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks.
– Diva Dirt spoke with former WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus. The highlights:
What she would have booked for WrestleMania 28: “Personally, I would’ve loved to see Natalya and Beth go and run towards ‘Mania. If you’d asked me a year ago what I would book for ‘Mania this year, I would’ve had Beth and Nattie run together as a team and I would’ve done the Triple H/Batista angle where I would’ve had [Natalya] turned and at the end, we’d have those two at WrestleMania. To me that would’ve been an epic moment. Maybe that would’ve been a good time for Nattie to win the championship back or something like that.”
John Morrison’s “cold shoulder” following WrestleMania 27: “It probably blew up more than it did between us. It was one of those moments where he was straight up saying, ‘I just really a fan of you coming in’, and that’s fine, everybody’s entitled to their opinion. It’s just unfortunate that his personal feelings translated to our match and that’s where I had the problem.
“We had that moment after Raw where that cold shoulder happened and I said to him, ‘It’s too bad that that happened’. I shook hands, I said, ‘It was a pleasure working with you. Personally I’m a fan. I love the idea of John Morrison and Trish Stratus as a team. I think it would’ve been cool’.”
“If I go back, if we had been on the same page with things, we could’ve created some awesome moments between us. Like when Carlito and I were a tag team, we had similar styles and we got some really neat, memorable moments. I think John Morrison and I — that’s what I was excited about doing, something like this. To me, it’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t get on the page. I wish I had known he was totally on the other side of the page and maybe [there] would’ve been a different approach altogether, rather than finding out live on Raw. [Laughs] But we’re all entitled to our opinions, it’s one of those things – you don’t miss what you never had.”
Whether there was a double standard because she was a female and if he’d have done the same thing with a male legend like Stone Cold or The Rock: “Maybe he thought he could do that a little bit more to me than he could to one of the male Superstars. Maybe there is a double-edged sword there. But who knows? It’s fine. We move on.”
On Natalya flatulence gimmick: “I haven’t seen it so I can’t comment on it directly, but hopefully it’s one of those things where it just gets people talking and it’s kind of like the Molly Holly thing where [we had] the ‘junk in the trunk’ [storyline]. People were like, ‘I can’t believe they’re doing that to her,’ but at the end of the day, it got people interested, it got people invested, it got people into what they’re doing and you have something to talk about.”
– WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart appeared on Busted Open, which airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Sirius 92 and XM 208 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Highlights from the interview are as follows:
WrestleReunion: “I jumped on about 5 or 6 years ago—it’s kind of a different type thing. I didn’t really know what to expect on anything, but you know once you get there, nobody rushes you through the line, it’s not like everybody’s sitting down and not paying any attention to the fans that come by to get their autograph or take pictures of everybody. And that’s what I love about it. They let the wrestlers know: Look, if you’re gonna be involved with this, then you’ve gotta definitely take your time with the fans because if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing now.”
WrestleMania coming to New Jersey: “When I heard about that I thought Holey moley! That might be a little chilly for a WrestleMania 29 coming up there around the Northern area. But we spent so much time back in the day up there, and I think for people in New York, they’re a different breed there, and New Jersey and that whole area up there. They’re more used to the cold than we are down here in Florida now. But I’ll tell you why I like it: because people ask me today ‘Jimmy, you’ve done so many things for the wrestling business.
“You hit the Hall of Fame ring in 2005, 93 thousand plus people in Detroit up there with the Honky Tonk Man… and of course the Harts against The Bulldogs.’ But WrestleMania I is still the most important thing to me because whoever was on WrestleMania I, we were kind of the pioneers back then because we didn’t know if this was gonna work or not. It was on closed-circuit TV’s and movie theaters, and if it had not been successful, we probably wouldn’t be talking on the phone now.”
WrestleMania being at stadiums instead of arenas: “Here’s what I think happens: We’re gonna be on course for Miami for this upcoming WrestleMania 28…65 or 70,000 have already been sold I think. So I think so many people (82 thousand) wanna go see this now you almost have to have it in the arenas outdoors that can hold that many because the pay-per-views do so well around the country and everything else, and—I don’t care where you go—if you drive by one of the local establishments, all the PPV’s are held there, the WrestleManias, they just have everything there. It’s such a big thing because a lot of people can’t drive down this year to Miami because I’m sure it’ll be sold out in no time.”
Vince Russo: “He was OK with me. When he first came to WCW he made an announcement, and said: “Hey look, you’re gonna see wrestling like you’ve never seen it before because I don’t think you really care too much about the wrestling part.” (Which if that’s the way you feel, that’s the way you feel) And so I think that’s what he really wrote about. I have nothing bad against him one way or another. I did my little stuff down there, he had set a few little matches this, that, and the other…
“I think it’s hard to be a writer, especially when you’re by yourself like that. You’ve gotta worry about people going and coming and quitting, and some of the bigger stars not wanting to do this thing, or not wantin’ to be part of this. Also, there’s always someone who’s got a friend of a friend who wants to be involved. Maybe a guy’s wife wants to be on TV or a girlfriend, and, if there’s enough pressure on you, then you gotta work them in because the strongest force in the world is a woman! I’m sure he had to run through a lot of things that went up against him. I guess they were successful all these years ‘cause, if not, I’m sure he would’ve been gone years and years ago, so I have nothing bad to say about him.”
Hulk Hogan and TNA: “I love Hulk Hogan. I spoke to him 3 days ago. I think he went up to do the Wendy Williams Show. He asked me: “Can you do me a favor? Can you watch the TNA show?” I said: ‘Sure.’ And so I watched the one from London and he said, ‘Give me your opinion.’ So I said, ‘You packed on a few pounds.’ He goes ‘Jimmy Hart you always tell me the truth. You were right, I gotta slim down a bit.’ He said, ‘What else?’ I said, ‘To me everybody wearing blue jeans and their t-shirts hanging out…this doesn’t look professional. If you’re a major company trying to get 50 or 60 bucks from your fans…’If you dress like the audience, one day you’re gonna wind up sitting in the audience!’ And so that’s why I still wear the crazy flashy jackets and carry the megaphone because you wanna stand out, and think that’s what’s helped me be around 30 years in this crazy business doing music and doing this. I told Hulk, I said, ‘AJ Styles and all these guys are phenomenal…and Christopher Daniels, I love those kids. For him to go out in blue jeans, it’s just not professional.’
– WWE interviewed more than 75 Superstars, Divas, and Hall of Famers in anticipation of WrestleMania XXVIII, asking them all one question: “What is your WrestleMania moment?” Kelly Kelly, however, says she’s still waiting for her’s.
“I’ve never contested a singles match at ‘Mania—I’ve always been in either Lumberjill bouts or a Battle Royal. I’m praying that, in years to come, I will have that tag bout or singles match or whatnot.”
“At The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, we had Torrie Wilson, Jackie Gayda and Molly Holly come in. They’re Divas I used to watch when I was younger, so it was really cool just to be in the same ring with them. I’ve rewatched the match, but I’m still waiting for that moment.”
“I make sure to keep all of my outfits, though; they’re in a big suitcase. But they’re little outfits, so they don’t take up much room.”
TNA
– Dixie Carter released the TNA Lockdown 2012 PPV poster on Tuesday, featuring Bobby Roode and James Storm. The two will battle inside a steel cage on April 15th when Lockdown invades Nashville, TN. Here’s the poster:
