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

UFC

– UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar (4-1) will face Shane Carwin (11-0) at UFC 106 on November 21 in Las Vegas. It was originally rumoured that Carwin would fight Cain Velasquez (6-0) at UFC 106 with the winner getting a shot at Lesnar next year. However, Valasquez will now fight an unnamed opponent and there’s talk of him getting a shot at the winner of Lesnar-Carwin. For those unaware, Carwin is almost a mirror image of Brock. Should be a dandy.

MLB

– The Cardinals have signed RHP John Smoltz. Smoltz, 42, is 2-5 with an 8.33 ERA in eight starts for the Red Sox this season. Great add for the playoff run. GM John Mozeliak said Smoltz would likely start Sunday at San Diego, and would probably get at least a few turns in the rotation.

– The Astros have placed SS Miguel Tejada on waivers, but pulled him off when another team made a claim. The Astros did the same thing with former C Ivan Rodriguez, and a similar fate is expected to happen with RHP Jose Valverde. For some reason, owner Drayton McLane and GM Ed Wade continue to state that they are still in it for this year and aren’t building for next year.

– The Mets have released RHP Livan Hernandez. The 34-year-old Hernandez was 7-8 with a 5.47 ERA,  and had allowed 18 earned runs in 14 1-3 innings. He allowed six runs in a 10-1 loss to San Francisco on Monday, and the Mets went 2-10 in his last 12 starts.

Speaking of the Mets, they have placed LHP Billy Wagner on waivers, and according to ESPN, he is apparently ready to waive his no-trade clause. Anybody who takes Wagner will have to shell our about $2.7M for the rest of this season, in addition to a $1M buyout for next year. Wagner will be in tough for a job, though, as he has an $8M option for next season. It’s unlikely anyone will claim him off waivers, so the Mets will probably try and work out a trade. Wagner is coming off Tommy John surgery and hasn’t pitched in the bigs since last September, so his trade value is rock bottom. Still, Wagner doesn’t want to finish his career this way and apparently would like to get up to the 420-save mark or thereabouts. He’s at 385 now.

Still with the Mets, they had placed OF Gary Sheffield on waivers last week, and pulled him later on. It’s now believed that Sheff won’t last the season with the team. If the Mets place him on waivers again, they lose the ability to pull him off or negotiate a trade. Sheffield, 41, says he wants to go somewhere with a strong lineup, but thus far, only the Marlins and Rangers have shown interest.

According to the NY Post, Sheffield asked for a contract extension from the Mets Thursday and was denied, and is now threatening to leave the team and might soon be released outright. Things had been running smoothly in New York until Sheff made a couple of curious comments on Tuesday night in reaction to trade rumors. “Based on what I know now, no, I do not think I will be here. But if I am sent to a team that I don’t want to play for, I would go home.” He was scratched from the lineup Thursday night.

– The Brewers have traded 3B Bill Hall to the Mariners for P Ruben Flores. Hall hit 35 home runs in 2006 and was rewarded with a four-year/$24M contract, but he was hitting only .201 with six homers and 24 RBIs in 76 games when the Brewers designated him for assignment last week.

– The Orioles have claimed RHP Chris Lambert off of waivers from the Tigers. The 26-year-old Lambert was 0-1 with a 14.85 ERA in two relief appearances with the Tigers this season. He was 6-7 with a 3.55 ERA in 21 starts with Triple-A Toledo.

– D’Backs RHP Jon Garland has cleared waivers. Arizona will likely have to part with some cash to make up for the $4M left between his contract and his 2010 buyout, but there’s a chance that a contender in need of pitching depth may decide to take their chances and deal for him. Stay tuned.

– The Reds have placed RHP Johnny Cueto (arm) on the 15-day DL. Cueto is 8-10 with a 4.61 ERA in 24 starts.

– The Dodgers have signed RHP Vicente Padilla.

– The Nationals have named Mike Rizzo as their next GM. Rizzo was acting in an interim role this season following the firing of Jim Bowden.

– The Rangers have placed RHP “Everyday” Eddie Guardado (knee) on the 15-day DL.

– The Mariners have transferred LHP Erik Bedard to the 60-day DL. His season is over.

– The Reds have placed OF Willy Taveras (quad) on the 15-day DL.

– The Dodgers have placed RHP Hiroki Kuroda (head) on the 15-day DL, retroactive to August 16.

– The Royals have released 3B Travis Metcalf.

– The White Sox have placed OF Dewayne Wise (shoulder) on the 15-day DL.

– The Mets have placed SS Alex Cora (thumbs) on the 60-day DL.

– The Astros have placed LHP Mike Hampton (torn rotator cuff) on the 15-day DL.

– The Rangers have placed 2B Esteban German (groin) on the 15-day DL.

NBA

– According to sources, F Amare Stoudemire is playing his last year with the Suns this season. Amare was reportedly very unhappy when Shaq was dealt to Cleveland, and was unhappy with being put on the trade block last February when he was supposedly in talks with the Warriors. He’s putting his odds of staying with the team after next summer at 50/50, though, as he can decline a $17.6M salary for 2010-11 next summer and become a free agent. Stay tuned.

– Bucks F Andrew Bogut still hasn’t participated in contact drills as he continues to recover from a lower back stress fracture that ended his season early last year. Bogut’s main goal is to be ready for training camp, but he’s been working on a limited schedule since July and the fact he hasn’t had contact drills yet is a concern.

– Nets F Yi Jianlian may be allowed to skip the rest of the Stankovic Cup in China and return to New Jersey earlier than expected in order to prepare for the start of the season. Yi has been playing very well for Team China, but the Chinese media is reporting that team officials are considering his request to return to the states early.

– According to the Arizona Republic, Cavaliers F Shaquille O’Neal’s new reality show, “Shaq Vs.” apparently was an idea that Shaq stole directly from Suns G Steve Nash when Shaq was originally traded there in February of 2008. Nash talked to a lawyer and now he’s listed as executive producer on the show.

– Knicks G Nate Robinson was arrested Tuesday after officers pulled him over in the Bronx at about 5:30 p.m. and discovered he had a suspended license. According to the NY Post, the 25-year-old RFA was apparently a complete jerk to the cop who pulled him over for driving with an unfastened seat belt. He turned up the volume pretty loud when the cop walked back from Robinson’s SUV to the police cruiser to check his license and then kept singing the words to the rap song when the officer returned to the window. As soon as he heard he was being arrested, Robinson apparently pulled out the I’m-A-Celebrity-card and tried to sway the officer to let him go. KryptoNate was taken to the 52nd Precinct and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and issued a summons to return to court at a later date.

– The Magic have signed G Jason Williams. Williams, who sat out last year, will back up G Jameer Nelson and probably immediately move in front of G Anthony Johnson on the depth chart.

– G Desmond Mason will not return to the Thunder next season.

– The Grizzlies continue to look into G Jamaal Tinsley, G Flip Murray and G Tarence Kinsey.

WWE

– Unless things change at the last minute, Jeff Hardy’s last day with WWE will take place at either SummerSlam or the following SmackDown! taping. WWE is still trying to get him to stay, though. As a result, it pretty much goes without saying that he will be dropping the World Heavyweight Championship to CM Punk next week. Matt Hardy tweeted the following message to Jeff Hardy yesterday morning: “The time is near for the Hardy Empire to begin.. Starting with the Charismatic Enigma.. 8/25/09″ Hmm…

Also, WWE released the first-ever “WWE Kids Poster Book” special edition on Tuesday, which features individual posters of practically every male star on the roster. One glaring omission is that of Jeff Hardy, who is not featured on the poster. You can see the giant poster here.

– There is a lot of talk within WWE about having DX vs. Legacy in the main event position at SummerSlam, even though it would go against the tradition of ending with a title match. The feeling is that if CM Punk is going to beat Jeff Hardy for the World Title, which there’s a good chance of that, it’s better to end SummerSlam on a happy note. This would also indicate that John Cena isn’t planned to take the WWE Title from Randy Orton but that’s not confirmed.

– As of last week, there was a rumour that WWE was planning a major swerve at SummerSlam that would involve either Triple H or Shawn Michaels turning heel at SummerSlam. WWE is now advertising DX vs. Legacy in a steel cage match for the SmackDown and ECW tapings on September 1 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. This could be a sign that plan was changed or it could be a way to keep a possible heel turn a surprise.

– WWE.com has announced that ECW Champion Christian will defend the gold against #1 contender William Regal at Summerslam this Sunday.

– Former WWE superstar and Hollywood heavyweight Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently spoke to the UK’s The Sun. Some highlights:

His Troubled Teen Years: “I had a very checkered past. I got into trouble a lot and had multiple arrests. For a lot of years I struggled to stay on the right path. I had multiple arrests by the time that I was 17. The last time I was arrested, my parents came down to the police station to get me. My parents were struggling at that time, even to put food on the table. That was a lot of stress at that time and I was adding to it. When they came to the police station I remember their disappointment. For years the disappointment had never bothered me but for some reason this time the disappointment in their eyes moved me. And that was when I realized that I was causing a lot of pain for my parents and I did not want to continue to do that.”

His father’s reaction to ‘The Wrestler’: “He didn’t take it very well. We lived the life that you saw in the movie, The Wrestler. That essentially was my dad. The character that Mickey Rourke played so wonderfully was my dad. So when I graduated from college and had an opportunity to play pro football, naturally it was easy for my father to say he did not want me to wrestle. He had nothing to show from a wrestling career. We lived in a one-bedroom apartment and he did not want that life for me. But instinctively I thought I had something to offer that world of entertainment. It took a little of convincing him but eventually we worked together. But being a parent I now understand where my dad was coming from.”

Getting Into Acting: “Ten years ago I knew that I wanted to be a good actor as I wound down my wrestling career. There is a great amount of acting in wrestling and wrestling is a great form of entertainment. For me that training ground was really invaluable because I did not go to school for acting. I went to school for football and studied criminology. I knew it was going to take time and 10 years went by pretty quickly.”

– Former WWE star Ken “Mr. Kennedy” Anderson’s no-compete clause with WWE is set to expire within the next 2 weeks. He will therefore be able to work for any wrestling promotion that wants to hire him. He now goes under the name Mr. Anderson and TNA is said to have high interest in signing the former WWE star.

– As announced Friday afternoon on WWE.com, Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore was released from his WWE contract. According to several sources, the feeling is that he showed up at last week’s RAW taping looking terribly out of shape and Vince McMahon made the decision right then and there to cut him loose. He had just been hired back about a month ago. McMahon is pretty big on first impressions. For instance, his first impression of Takeshi Morishima following a tryout match a year ago this week killed any possible interest in signing him.

An issue of Power Slam noted the following: “August 19: Still on the warpath, Vince claims two more victims: he basically says Morishima looks like a giant, fat girl and that Laurinaitis was wasting his time by hyping such a s colourless and podgy wrestler. Vince also sagely notes that because fellow Japanese name Kenzo Suzuki tanked in WWE, obviously Morishima was likely to be a failure as well – solely on the basis of their shared ethnicity.”

Reportedly, the creative team wanted to get Eugene on television very quickly, so the fact that he was released after his first appearance adds further credence to the theory given.

– This week’s edition of WWE Monday Night RAW drew a 3.8 rating, which is down from last week‘s 3.9 rating. The first hour did a 3.58, while the second hour finished off with a 3.99.

NHL

– Blackhawks F Patrick Kane, 20, and his cousin James Kane, 21, pleaded not guilty during a brief arraignment before Buffalo judge Thomas Amodeo. The appearance came a day after the two were indicted by a grand jury. The Kanes are facing misdemeanor assault, theft and harassment charges that he and his cousin beat up a cab driver over a fare. The panel dismissed a more serious felony charge of second-degree robbery.

– The Sharks have removed captaincy from F Patrick Marleau. Yeesh, about time.

– The 2-month-old son of Capitals G Jose Theodore has died. The goalie’s sister-in-law made the announcement Thursday during her show on a Montreal-area radio station. Theodore also has a 3-year-old daughter, Romy. My condolences go out to the Theodore family.

– The Hurricanes have signed F Stephane Yelle to a one-year/$550K deal. The 35-year-old had seven goals and 11 assists with Boston, and has won the Stanley Cup twice with the Avalanche.

– The Sabres have signed F Jeff Cowan to a one-year deal. Cowan is an eight-year NHL veteran but spent last season playing for Peoria of the AHL. He previously played two years with Vancouver, where he combined for seven goals and four assists, and 203 penalty minutes in 88 games.

– The Ducks have re-sogned D Brett Festerling to a two-year contract. Festerling played 40 games with Anaheim as a rookie last season, recording five assists and 18 penalty minutes. He also played extensively for the Ducks’ top minor league affiliate in Iowa.

– Mark Messier was not offered the head coaching job with the Oilers last season when Craig MacTavish was fired.

– Stars owner Tom Hicks is not putting the team up for sale. Forbes says the team is worth about $405M, but one suspects somebody could get the team for less than that. Hicks’ HSG has until August of 2010 to satisfy his debts before any kind of movement by creditors could be made to take over the teams. He dug himself a hole, though, when his HSG defaulted on a $10M interest payment at the end of March on $525M in loans.

NFL

– WR Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges in a Manhattan court Thursday and received a two-year prison sentence. This could easily end the 32-year-old’s career. NY State still must approve Burress’ plea deal – if it doesn’t, Plax could stand trial for two counts of second-degree criminal weapons possession and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment, and face even more prison time. Plax has probably played his last NFL down.

– The NFP is reporting that Raiders assistant Randy Hanson will turn over medical records, and he’s expected to cooperate with Napa, California police. Police, as well as NFL Security, have been attempting to get Hanson to talk since the story of his fractured jaw emerged earlier this week. It’s believed that he will now cooperate because the Raiders will not allow him to return to his former position. The next step is likely an investigation and a possible felony charge against head coach Tom Cable. Cable has declined to comment.

– The Chiefs have signed WR Ashley Lelie.

TNA

– TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle spoke with WTAO in Pittsburgh. Here’s what he said: “I don’t like confrontation, so I kind of back away from it. This is really hard for me. I spent nine hours in jail and it was the lowest point of my life,” Angle said as he started to break down crying pleading for his reputation. “I was sitting there in a county jail thinking about why I even started dating this girl. I don’t even know when I’m allowed back in my own home. I just hope that the hearing goes okay and I can move back into my home. I just want my life back.”

F1

– YouTube co-founder and CEO Chad Hurley has confirmed his involvement with the new Team US F1. US F1 will be joined on the 2010 starting grid by Manor Grand Prix and Campos Meta 1.

– F1 teams will go back to qualifying on low-fuel for the final session next season. According to FIA , the final 10 cars involved in the Q3 qualifying session will not have to declare their fuel levels due to the fact there will be a ban on refueling next year.

That should bring back the days of a real qualifying shootout in which the fastest car is actually the one on the pole. That was not always the case under the current system as teams were forced to declare their race day fuel levels before Q3, meaning different strategies forced teams to use different fuel levels.

Other changes to the rules will see eight cars knocked out in both Q1 and Q2 to take into account the expected increase to 26 cars next season on the starting grid. The current point system will also be maintained for at least one more season. There have been recommendations to go to an Olympic-styled medal system in which the driver with the most wins would be declared the world champion. Even though the FOTA-based teams have agreed not to use the KERS system next year, the FIA rules have increased the weight of the cars to 620kg to take into account the additional weight of the energy recovery system. Tire warmers, which were also expected to be banned along with refueling, will remain – at least for one more season.

MMA

– Kim Couture, the wife of UFC legend Randy “The Natural” Couture, has responded to Lisa Marie Varon’s (a.k.a. Victoria) comments about a potential MMA bout. “I think that with my name I have a target on me. That’s fine. I don’t imagine that’s going to go away any time soon I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me. If she can make my weight – she seems from the picture a lot taller, a lot bigger than me. But if she can make 135 pounds, if (Strikeforce CEO Scott) Coker wants to put it together then so be it.”

MLB

– The Phillies remain the frontrunners for Jays RHP Roy Halladay ($14.25M this season and $15.75M next season), with the Brewers, Angels, Giants and Dodgers all still very interested, with the Dodgers/Angels/Phillies being very serious. The Phills, however, are beginning to look at other options outside of Doc. Jays GM JP Ricciardi told Yahoo! Sports‘ Tim Brown that some of the teams talking to the Jays have enough to acquire Halladay, but may be reluctant to give up their talent. The Yankees are all but officially off the list of candidates. The Angels remain interested, but are unwilling to part with prospects. Halladay supposedly wants to go to a team that trains in Florida, where he lives, which, among other reasons involving the return price/prospects, crosses off the Brewers as candidates. The Cardinals have also appeared to have dropped out of the race, while many believe that the Red Sox won’t acquire him since Toronto won’t deal within the division. The Tigers and Twins, although they are not serious, did scout him recently.

The Jays offered Halladay for a list of prospects; OF Fernando Martinez, RHP Bobby Parnell, LHP Jon Niese and SS Ruben Tejada, to which the Mets rejected. In LA, the Jays are believed to be wanting a base price of LHP Clayton Kershaw and SS Devaris Gordon, the latter of which has been deemed untouchable. Outside of Doc, the Dodgers are still shopping for some bullpen arms.

In all liklihood, if Doc is eventually traded, it will most likely be in the offseason as opposed to this year’s trade deadline. Personally, I don’t believe that he will be traded at all. Sources tell me that Doc would accept a trade to the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals or Phillies. Blue Jays C Rod Barajas told MLB.com that Halladay’s the best pitcher he’s ever caught. High praise, considering Barajas has caught LHP Randy Johnson and RHP Curt Schilling in Arizona.

– The details in Phillies RHP Pedro Martinez contract have been revealed. The deal is a prorated $2M base salary, which will ultimately be worth less than $1M for the rest of the season; he has incentives to pitch as both a starter and a reliever; bonuses are awarded for every start Pedro pitches after his fifth. He’s also getting paid a $15K bonus for every fifteenth day he’s on the active roster; incentives are included for postseason awards and the Comeback Player of the Year award; ultimately, Pedro could receive an additional $1.275M next to his salary.

– Mets COO Jeff Wilpon has assured both GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel that their jobs are safe for the remainder of this season. The “votes of confidence” apparently took place in a closed-door meeting last month. The Mets are playing awful baseball right now, but that has more to do with injuries than it does management. Minaya has a three-year extension that kicks in at the end of this season, and Manuel inked a two-year contract last October.

– According to sources, about half the league has contacted the D’Backs regarding the availability of RHP Chad Qualls. While he is unlikely to be moved, a starting pitcher would be the return price. Qualls, 30, becomes a free agent after next season.

– As reported here earlier, the Tigers and Mets are expected to be quiet at the deadline. The Mets have also ruled out rental players, crossing off A’s OF Matt Holliday. For those who are unaware, the non-waiver trade deadline is July 31.

– The Indians are shopping for pitching as a return price for any of their players, assuming they do make a deal. The Indians are expected to be open-minded about LHP Cliff Lee and C Victor Martinez in case a team wows them with an offer. Because fewer teams can spend money, more players are expected to clear waivers, which will likely lead to more trades than usual in August. Players like RHP Kerry Wood and OF Jamey Carroll could clear waivers, which would allow the Indians to consider trades until the end of next month.

– Royals OF Jose Guillen told reporters Monday that he is “embarrassed” by the way he’s playing and the salary he is earning in the process. Guillen is batting .243 this season with nine home runs and 37 RBI, all well below his career average pace. “I’m embarrassed by the money that I’m making and playing the way I’ve been playing. I’ll swear that on my kids’ (lives). I feel very embarrassed… I hate making excuses. If I suck, then I suck. And I suck. That’s the way I’m playing.”

– Nationals LHP Scott Olsen will have surgery on his right shoulder Thursday and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Dr. Wiemi Douoguih said, “What it appears is that he’s got a small tear of the labrum. The rotator cuff looks to be in good condition. Nine times out of ten this is just a clean-up procedure, with the idea that they’re back to being competition-ready in three months. And that’s the goal here.” Olsen will work toward being ready for spring training in 2010.

– Mets LHP Fernando Nieve has a torn muscle in his right thigh and will miss at least six weeks. Nieve was 3-3 with a 2.95 ERA in 36 2/3 innings over seven starts and one relief appearance.

NBA

– As there is an official press conference to be held today, the Pacers have decided against matching G Jarrett Jack’s four-year/$20M offer sheet signing with the Raptors. G Earl Watson was signed to replace him, which signalled the end of Jack’s one-year tenure in Indy where he played in all 82 games, averaging a career-high 13.1 points.

– The Magic are still reportedly close to signing Warriors G C.J. Watson to an offer sheet. Watson has turned down a one-year offer from the 76ers and spent Monday working on a deal with the Magic. Watson would become G Jameer Nelson’s backup, and is a big upgrade over G Anthony Johnson.

– The Magic have signed FA F Matt Barnes to a two-year deal. Barnes could start at small forward, but it depends on whether they choose to go with F Brandon Bass or F Rashard Lewis at power forward.

– The Knicks are zeroing in on Bucks RFA G Ramon Sessions. The Knicks are working up a long-term offer worth $26M. G Andre Miller remains an option, but the Knicks only want him under contract for one year, whereas Miller wants a three-year deal.

– The Nets are interested in Celtics RFA F Glen Davis. The Nets still have their $5.8M mid-level exception to spend as they search through their options from a pool of free-agent power forwards that also includes F Lamar Odom and F Drew Gooden. The Nets also are interested in Jazz F Carlos Boozer. The Celtics have said they would match any reasonable offer for Davis. The Pistons, Hornets and Blazers tried to work a sign-and-trade deal for Davis only to be turned down by the C’s.

– With F Paul Millsap locked up, the Jazz are turning their sights to F Ronnie Brewer. The Jazz have an exclusive negotiating window through October 31 to sign Brewer to a contract extension.

NHL

– The Thrashers are expected to intensify contract extension talks with F Ilya Kovalchuk this week. Kovalchuk has just one year left on his current deal and GM Don Waddell wants to lock up his star player to a long-term contract.

– Devils F Travis Zajac appears to be heading for salary arbitration. His hearing is scheduled for Friday if a deal cannot be reached. Zajac recorded 20 goals and 62 points in 82 games and is in store for a substantial raise from the $984K he made last season.

– The Bruins have signed D Matt Hunwick to a multi-year extension. Hunwick scored six goals with 21 assists as a rookie last season. The 27 points placed him third among Bruins defensemen. He played in one postseason game before having his spleen removed and missing the rest of the playoffs.

– The Canadiens have signed G Curtis Sanford to a one-year deal. Sanford, 29, went 11-11-1 last season with a 2.69 goals against average for the Canucks. He had one shutout in 35 regular-season games.

– The Thrashers have signed first-round pick (No. 4 overall) F Evander Kane to a multiyear deal. The team did not include financial terms of the deal Monday with the 17-year-old forward. The 6’1″, 185lb Kane had 48 goals and 48 assists in 61 games for his junior team, the Vancouver Giants.

– Yankees’ COO Lonn Trost wants Yankee Stadium to host the 2011 NHL Winter Classic outdoor game. A Rangers spokesman declined comment, but Trost is talking with the NHL about the matter. The Bruins will host the Flyers at Fenway Park in 2009-10′s Winter Classic contest.

WWE

– Cavaliers F Shaquille O’Neal has been announced as the celebrity guest host for next week’s RAW. The four-time NBA champion is a longtime pro wrestling fan and has a new reality show on ABC to promote called “Shaq vs.” that pits him against top athletes in their own sports.

NFL

– The lawyer for Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger denies allegations from a civil suit that his client was involved in a sexual assault of a Harrah’s Casino employee in Nevada. The civil suit, rooted out by our own Gregg Rosenthal, alleges that Big Ben sexually assaulted Andrea McNulty after asking her to come to his hotel room to fix the television. The incident in question was in July of 2008. “Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone; especially Andrea McNulty,” attorney David Cornwell said. Roethlisberger faces several civil charges, including assault, sexual assault and battery, and false imprisonment. It’s unknown if McNulty has pursued criminal charges yet.

– CompleteColorado.com reports that Broncos RB Brandon Marshall’s court case to face two charges of misdemeanor domestic battery will begin on August 13. The Broncos have a camp break from August 12-16, so Marshall won’t miss any practice assuming his hip is recovered and he makes good on his vow to not hold out. He’ll likely miss Denver’s first exhibition game, but wouldn’t have played in it anyways. The case stems from a March 2008 incident with ex-girlfriend Rasheeda Watley. Marshall, suspended for Week 1 last year for other domestic issues with Watley, is in danger of further NFL discipline.

TNA

– It would appear that there is something to the anonymous TNA employee’s claims on last Wednesday’s episode of Bubba the Love Sponge‘s satellite show that Karen Angle and her children were living together with Jeff Jarrett. It is now coming out that TNA president Dixie Carter ordered Jarrett to go home as soon as she found out about the person’s claims, which has been described publicly as him agreeing to take a leave of absence.

At Saturday night’s TNA house show in North Carolina, Kurt Angle was telling people that he is going to end up with the booking control of the company that Jarrett had and that he won’t sign a new contract with TNA if Jarrett remains in power. No one really know how things will transpire from this point. Angle’s contract with TNA is set to expire in September and he has not yet agreed to a new one.

Jarrett was booked in segments on Sunday’s PPV that were either tweaked or removed. The direction of the booking for last night’s show was planned before all of this stuff went down, as is television for the next few weeks. However, everything involving Jarrett will obviously have to be tweaked and/or removed as he was slated to further his program with Eric Young at this week’s slate of television tapings.

For the most part, the wrestlers are more sympathetic to Kurt Angle on the matter, aside from those who have close ties with Jarrett.

TNA personnel are playing the tape from Wednesday’s episode of Bubba over and over in hopes of figuring out the person who disguised his voice and started this messy situation. Before the mystery person in question went on the air, he or she asked for Bubba to disguise his voice with some sort of distorted audio. Bubba did, so there is probably no way of telling who it was that called in.

– The Wrestling Observer reports that it was actually Dixie Carter’s decision for Jeff Jarrett to step away from his duties in TNA, not Jarrett’s. “It was not Jeff’s decision. It was Dixie’s decision. Very complicated issue. In fact, more complicated than anyone would believe.” It should be noted that there was a rumor going around among TNA personnel backstage at last night’s show saying Jarrett was suspended.

– Former booker Paul Heyman said on his Twitter that he will never work for TNA. I wish he would come back to WWE…