NHL

– The Russian Olympic team has announced their roster with 14 NHLers on it. G Evgeni Nabokov, G Ilya Bryzgalov and G Semyon Varlamov will tend the nets for the Russians, while other notables include the great F Alex Ovechkin, F Evgeni Malkin, F Pavel Datsyuk, F Alexander Semin and F Ilya Kovalchuk up front and D Sergei Gonchar on the blueline. The Russians are definitely one of the favourites to mine Olympic gold. It will be one great tournament to watch.

MLB

– Buster Olney of ESPN says that RHP Joel Pineiro looks to be the Mets’ top target as pitcher. New York has been held up in their free agent shopping by OF Jason Bay, although a resolution should be forthcoming in that area, good or bad, at some point this upcoming week. The 31-year-old Pineiro was 15-12 with 3.49 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 32 starts in ’09. He would be a durable option for the club and may have seen his price come down to an acceptable range for the Mets.

– John Harper of the NY Daily News thinks free agent OF Jason Bay is “lukewarm” to the idea of playing for the Mets. The Mets so far have offered Bay the longest and most lucrative deal, but there’s speculation out of Boston that the Red Sox might make a late bid. And perhaps he’ll accept a discount to return to Fenway. Bay, 31, hit .267/.384/.537 this past season with 36 home runs, 119 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 531 at-bats. Harper writes, “It’s looking more and more as if Bay very much wants to play for [Boston] as opposed to the Mets.”

WWE

– There are mixed feelings on WWE champion Sheamus among those in the locker room. While some feel his friendship with Triple H has been blown out of proportion, others are accusing him of being a “shameless suck-up.” The word going around the company continues to be that Sheamus and new Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre are the favorites of Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

– According to FWOnline, WWE updated its Wellness Policy last week to officially note that any positive test for marijuana will result in a $2,500 fine. Previously, it was a $1,000 fine. The levied fine was in response to pot usage running rampant throughout the company. With that being said, usage is said to be way down among those on SmackDown, but still reportedly “out of control” among Raw talent. In the case of alcohol, the policy states that WWE performers are prohibited from “using or consuming alcohol at any time within a twelve hour period prior to any WWE event or WWE scheduled performance.”

TNA

– A local newspaper in Johnstown, Pennsylvania recently conducted an interview with Jeff Jarrett to promote TNA’s live event in the city on January 14th. Jarrett spoke at length about how TNA Wrestling can compete with World Wrestling Entertainment.

“They [WWE] are sports entertainment; we are professional wrestling. Our in-ring product takes priority over other facets of the business. The product that has drawn millions and millions of fans over the years, going back to the ’60s, is professional wrestling … (TNA) is fresh and modern, but it is in the essence of what has always been done.”

Jarrett knows what it takes to build a successful wrestling promotion and thinks TNA goes an extra step to make sure their fans are satisfied.

“We recognize the fact that we’ve got to earn our fans one at a time. I have been a part of wrestling my entire life, but I’ve never seen this kind of excitement generated by the backstage access, the autograph sessions, and the opportunities to get up close and personal with the TNA stars at the merchandise table.”

With TNA firing their “first shot” at WWE on January 4 with their first live 3-hour Monday night edition of TNA iMPACT!, Jarrett explains what’s ahead on TNA’s path to truly competing with WWE.

“Things are getting bigger and better. With the addition of Hulk Hogan, skies are very blue for TNA. Are we going to come right out of the gate and beat them? Are we claiming that? Absolutely not. But we’re in the game, and competition is good. We are very optimistic that by the end of 2010, it’ll be a different game.”

– According to Sean McCaffrey of DOIWrestling.com, who also runs the women’s wrestling promotion, Wrestling Superstars Uncensored, Angelina Love is expected to make her return to TNA during the company’s live three-hour iMPACT! broadcast on Monday, January 4, 2010.

Regarding the legitimacy of McCaffrey’s claims, he personally deals with the former Women’s Knockout Champion as she appeared on his most recent WSU show and also has her booked for events throughout 2010. Furthermore, the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer is also saying that TNA is looking to bring Love back early next year.

As noted earlier, Love’s successor in “The Beautiful People,” Lacey Von Erich is not expected to last much longer with TNA as she said is to be on “thin ice” with management. Reportedly, officials have given up on her as she has been resistant to suggestions to further her formal wrestling training. Her perceived negative attitude has also been a source of contention among those in the company as Von Erich has been living her persona to a hilt backstage at the Impact Zone instead of just keeping it on screen.

Love, whose real name is Lauren Williams, was released from TNA this past September due to visa issues. Soon after, Williams’ agent posted a blog entry on her MySpace account stating she would return to the organization once the issues with hervisa had been resolved.

VoV

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