Spurs guard Ginobili out 10-14 days with injury

(Reuters) - San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili is expected to miss 10-14 days due to a strained left hamstring, the National Basketball Association team said on Monday.
The third-leading scorer on the Southwest division-leading Spurs was injured in the final minute of the first half of San Antonio's 106-88 victory over Minnesota on Sunday.
Ginobili, 35, who has already dealt with back spasms, a left quadriceps bruise and a thigh bruise this season, is second on the Spurs with an average of 4.6 assists per game.
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Read More..

UPDATE 6-NBA results

Jan 15 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the NBA games on Monday (home team in CAPS)
WASHINGTON 120 Orlando 91
BOSTON 100 Charlotte 89
CHICAGO 97 Atlanta 58
LA Clippers 99 MEMPHIS 73
DALLAS 113 Minnesota 98
UTAH 104 Miami 97
Oklahoma City 102 PHOENIX 90
SACRAMENTO 124 Cleveland 118

Read More..

NBA standings

Jan 15 (Infostrada Sports) - Standings from the NBA on Monday
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. NY Knicks 24 13 .649 -
2. Brooklyn 22 15 .595 2
3. Boston 20 17 .541 4
4. Philadelphia 16 22 .421 8 1/2
5. Toronto 14 23 .378 10
CENTRAL DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. Indiana 23 15 .605 -
2. Chicago 21 15 .583 1
3. Milwaukee 19 17 .528 3
4. Detroit 14 24 .368 9
5. Cleveland 9 31 .225 15
SOUTHEAST DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. Miami 24 12 .667 -
2. Atlanta 21 16 .568 3 1/2
3. Orlando 13 24 .351 11 1/2
4. Charlotte 9 28 .243 15 1/2
5. Washington 7 28 .200 16 1/2
WESTERN CONFERENCE
NORTHWEST DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. Oklahoma City 30 8 .789 -
2. Denver 23 16 .590 7 1/2
3. Portland 20 17 .541 9 1/2
4. Utah 21 19 .525 10
5. Minnesota 16 19 .457 12 1/2
PACIFIC DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. LA Clippers 29 9 .763 -
2. Golden State 23 13 .639 5
3. LA Lakers 16 21 .432 12 1/2
4. Sacramento 14 24 .368 15
5. Phoenix 13 27 .325 17
SOUTHWEST DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. San Antonio 29 11 .725 -
2. Memphis 24 12 .667 3
3. Houston 21 17 .553 7
4. Dallas 16 23 .410 12 1/2
5. New Orleans 11 26 .297 16 1/2
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16 FIXTURES (GMT)
Indiana at Charlotte (0000)
New Orleans at Philadelphia (0000)
Toronto at Brooklyn (0030)
LA Clippers at Houston (0100)
Portland at Denver (0200)
Milwaukee at LA Lakers (0330)

Read More..

Judgment day for Bonds, Clemens, Sosa at Hall

NEW YORK (AP) — Judgment day has arrived for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa to find out their Hall of Fame fates.
With the cloud of steroids shrouding many candidacies, baseball writers may fail for only the second time in more than four decades to elect anyone to the Hall.
About 600 people are eligible to vote in the BBWAA election, all members of the organization for 10 consecutive years at any point. Results were to be announced at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, with the focus on first-time eligibles that include Bonds, baseball's only seven-time Most Valuable Player, and Clemens, the only seven-time Cy Young Award winner.
Since 1965, the only years the writers didn't elect a candidate were when Yogi Berra topped the 1971 vote by appearing on 67 percent of the ballots cast and when Phil Niekro headed the 1996 ballot at 68 percent. Both were chosen the following years when they achieved the 75 percent necessary for election.
"It really would be a shame, especially since the other people going in this year are not among the living, which will make for a rather strange ceremony," said the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser, president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Three inductees were chosen last month by the 16-member panel considering individuals from the era before integration in 1946: Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, umpire Hank O'Day and barehanded catcher Deacon White. They will be enshrined during a ceremony at Cooperstown on July 28.
Also on the ballot for the first time are Sosa and Mike Piazza, power hitters whose statistics have been questioned because of the Steroids Era, and Craig Biggio, 20th on the career list with 3,060 hits — all for the Houston Astros. Curt Schilling, 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in postseason play, is another ballot rookie.
The Hall was prepared to hold a news conference Thursday with any electees. Or to not have one.
Biggio wasn't sure whether the controversy over this year's ballot would keep all candidates out.
"All I know is that for this organization I did everything they ever asked me to do and I'm proud about it, so hopefully, the writers feel strongly, they liked what they saw, and we'll see what happens," Biggio said on Nov. 28, the day the ballot was announced.
Jane Forbes Clark, the Hall's chairman, said last year she was not troubled by voters weighing how to evaluate players in the era of performance-enhancing drugs.
"I think the museum is very comfortable with the decisions that the baseball writers make," she said. "And so it's not a bad debate by any means."
Bonds has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs and was convicted of one count of obstruction of justice for giving an evasive answer in 2003 to a grand jury investigating PEDs. Clemens was acquitted of perjury charges stemming from congressional testimony during which he denied using PEDs.
Sosa, who finished with 609 home runs, was among those who tested positive in MLB's 2003 anonymous survey, The New York Times reported in 2009. He told a congressional committee in 2005 that he never took illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
The BBWAA election rules say "voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."
"Steroid or HGH use is cheating, plain and simple," ESPN.com's Wallace Matthews wrote. "And by definition, cheaters lack integrity, sportsmanship and character. Strike one, strike two, strike three."
Several holdovers from last year remain on the 37-player ballot, with top candidates including Jack Morris (67 percent), Jeff Bagwell (56 percent), Lee Smith (51 percent) and Tim Raines (49 percent).
When The Associated Press surveyed 112 eligible voters in late November, Bonds received 45 percent support among voters who expressed an opinion, Clemens 43 percent and Sosa 18 percent. The Baseball Think Factory website compiled votes by writers who made their opinions public and with 159 ballots had everyone falling short. Biggio was at 69 percent, followed by Morris (63), Bagwell (61), Raines (61), Piazza (60), Bonds (43) and Clemens (43).
Morris finished second last year when Barry Larkin was elected and is in his 14th and next-to-last year of eligibility. He could become the player with the highest-percentage of the vote who is not in the Hall, a mark currently held by Gil Hodges at 63 percent in 1983.
Several players who fell just short in the BBWAA balloting later were elected by either the Veterans Committee or Old-Timers' Committee: Nellie Fox (74.7 percent on the 1985 BBWAA ballot), Jim Bunning (74.2 percent in 1988), Orlando Cepeda (73.6 percent in 1994) and Frank Chance (72.5 percent in 1945).
Ace of three World Series winners, Morris finished with 254 victories and was the winningest pitcher of the 1980s. His 3.90 ERA, however, is higher than that of any Hall of Famer. Morris will be joined on next year's ballot by Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, both 300-game winners.
If no one is elected this year, there could be a logjam in 2014. Voters may select up to 10 players.
The only certainty is the Hall is pleased with the writers' process.
"While the BBWAA does the actual voting, it only does so at the request of the Hall of Fame," said the Los Angeles Times' Bill Shaikin, the organization's past president. "If the Hall of Fame is troubled, certainly the Hall could make alternate arrangements."

Read More..

Baseball-No players voted to Hall of Fame, Bonds and Clemens snubbed

Jan 9 (Reuters) - No one was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, with all-time home run leader Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens snubbed over suspicion they used performance enhancing drugs.
Bonds was named on 36.2 percent of the ballots, and Clemens 37.6, well short of the 75 percent of ballots required in voting by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Closest to winning election was former Houston Astros player Craig Biggio, who received 68.2 percent of the vote, falling 39 votes short of election. (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Read More..

No players voted to Hall of Fame, Bonds and Clemens snubbed

(Reuters) - No one was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, with all-time home run leader Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens snubbed over suspicion they used performance enhancing drugs.
Bonds was named on 36.2 percent of the ballots, and Clemens 37.6, well short of the 75 percent of ballots required in voting by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Closest to winning election was former Houston Astros player Craig Biggio, who received 68.2 percent of the vote, falling 39 votes short of election. (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Read More..

Alabama's Saban shoots down talk of move to NFL

MIAMI (Reuters) - University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, showered with acclaim after a fourth national title, said on Tuesday he has no desire to return to the National Football League and that the college game is where he belongs.
Saban's Crimson Tide won their second successive national title on Monday and third in four years with a 42-14 hammering of Notre Dame.
The win confirms the 61-year-old as the most successful active coach in college football -- he captured his maiden title with Louisiana State University in the 2003 season.
Then came an unhappy two seasons with the NFL's Miami Dolphins that ended in 2006, but despite his well documented disappointment there has remained speculation that Saban could be tempted back into the pro game.
With five NFL teams currently having vacancies for a head coach that speculation, not surprisingly, re-emerged following Alabama's second consecutive championship.
"How many times do you think I've been asked to put it to rest? And I've put it to rest, and you continue to ask it. So I'm going to say it today, that you know, I think somewhere along the line you've got to choose," he said.
"You learn a lot from the experiences of what you've done in the past," added Saban, before reflecting on the two seasons he spent in Miami after being tempted out of the college game by then Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga.
"I came to the Miami Dolphins, what eight years ago for the best owner, the best person that I've ever had the opportunity to work for? And in the two years that I was here, had a very, very difficult time thinking that I could impact the organization in the way that I wanted to or the way that I was able to in college," he said before highlighting some of the reasons he prefers working with student athletes.
"It was very difficult for me, because there's a lot of parity in the NFL, there's a lot of rules in the NFL. People say you can draft the players that you want to draft; you can draft a player that's there when you pick. It might not be the player you need, it might not be the player you want.
"You've got salary cap issues. We had them here (in Miami) You've got to have a quarterback. We had a chance to get one here; sort of messed it up," he said, referring to the missed opportunity to sign Drew Brees, later a Super Bowl winner with New Orleans.
Saban enjoys a huge amount of personal control over the entire football program at Alabama and clearly did not enjoy the more devolved power structure in the NFL.
"I didn't feel like I could impact the team the same way that I can as a college coach in terms of affecting people's lives personally, helping them develop careers by graduating from school, off the field, by helping develop them as football players, and there's a lot of self gratification in all that, all right," said Saban.
"I kind of learned through that (Dolphins) experience that maybe this (college) is where I belong, and I'm really happy and at peace with all that. So no matter how many times I say that, y'all don't believe it, so I don't even know why I keep talking about it."

Read More..

Donald to make Malaysian Open debut in March

(Reuters) - World number two Luke Donald will make his debut at the Malaysian Open this year, organizers said on Tuesday.
The tournament, co-sanctioned by the Asian and European tours, is to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club from March 21-24.
"Donald's presence, like many other top players we have had in the past, will not only draw the crowd but also strengthen Malaysia's standing on the global golfing map," said Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohamad Nor, chairman of sponsors Maybank, in a statement.
Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer and Charl Schwartzel are among the leading golfers who have played in previous editions of the tournament which this year will have an increased prize fund of $2.75 million, up $250,000 on 2012.

Read More..

Norwegian kicker dreams of NFL after viral video

Aside from his ability to boot the ball through the uprights from almost kind of angle or distance, Havard Rugland is a complete stranger to the American version of football.
And yet the 28-year-old Norwegian, without having played a single game at any level of the sport, is suddenly pursuing a shot at making it to the NFL. And it's all because of a YouTube video.
Sound incredible? Well, so are some of the kicks and tricks Rugland can pull off with his powerful left leg.
That's why the video he put together for some friends has turned him into an Internet sensation, with 2 million views and counting. And that's why the same video turned into an inadvertent auditioning tape — earning him a tryout last month with the New York Jets.
At a time when people are increasingly taking to social media to showcase their talent, Rugland might be on the verge of going from viral-video-of-the-week to pro athlete.
"I never would have thought it would come to this," he said during a recent phone interview from his home in southern Norway. "I put the film up mostly for friends and family. But as it turns out, there were a lot more people who liked it. It's overwhelming."
Must be, for someone whose only previous experience with football was the European soccer version, and who has only a sketchy familiarity with the rules of the American game. Living in Aalgaard, a town with less than 10,000 people, he started kicking for fun about a year ago after his local soccer club shut down and he needed another outlet.
Having seen other online videos of people doing tricks with Frisbees and basketballs, he figured he'd make one with footballs to showcase his booming leg. He posted it online in mid-September, and three months later he was auditioning for the Jets.
So what is it about his four-minute video — "Kickalicious" — that has people so impressed? Well, the footage of him kicking field goals from 60 yards and soccer-style volleys through the uprights is the least of it.
His more spectacular repertoire includes kicking the ball into a basketball hoop — nothing but net — and into the arms of people in moving cars, floating down a lake in a boat, or atop a hill. For his grand finale, he casually punts one football into the air, then kicks a second ball off a tee so it hits the first one in midair.
"I'm probably the most satisfied with the last kick, which is the one I've received the most compliments about," Rugland said. "I needed eight tries before I pulled it off."
He insists there was no trickery with the actual filming — done with two brothers and a friend — but said he needed several attempts to pull off some of the other kicks as well. When local media picked up his story, a Norwegian broadcaster reviewed the video to make sure it was real, silencing some skeptics who believed it must have been doctored.
And unlike so many other posted videos, interest in Rugland's kicks only grew.
While it was racking up hits in the hundreds of thousands, Rugland received an email from Scott Cohen, assistant general manager of the Jets, who was interested in giving him a workout.
Rugland wondered if he was being scammed.
"When I received that, obviously I was excited, but I had to check out the name and email address to make sure it was genuine, and not some friend who was pulling a prank," he said.
It was real. The Jets were genuinely interested — on the condition that Rugland spend some time with a kicking coach first to hone his skills. So the week after Thanksgiving, the Norwegian traveled to California to spend a few weeks with Michael Husted — a former NFL kicker who now runs a training camp in San Diego and had reached out to Rugland after seeing his video on a Facebook page.
Husted said he's often approached by soccer players interested in trying their hand — or foot, rather — at kicking field goals, hoping to become the next Sebastian Janikowski. But he had seen enough of Rugland in the video to know he was special.
"He's definitely the most impressive nonfootball kicker that I've worked with," Husted said by phone. "When he hits it, it's going to go. He hits it just as high, just as far as a lot of the NFL kickers, if not further."
In fact, Husted sees a lot of similarities between Rugland and Janikowski, the Oakland Raiders kicker from Poland. They're both left-footed, more than 6 feet tall and have the same kind of leg strength.
Rugland's video shows him hitting field goals from 60 yards with ease. The NFL record — shared by Janikowski and three others — is 63 yards.
Rugland thinks he could hit one from "well beyond" 60, and Husted said that's very possible.
"Heck, if he's in Denver he can probably hit it from 65," Husted said.
The Jets liked what they saw enough to invite Rugland back for a second audition in March.
Meantime, he wants to spend more time with Husted to refine his technique and consistency, and he's looking for a sponsor to help pay for another stay in San Diego since he would need to take an unpaid leave of absence from his job as a youth counselor for the local child protective services.
Training on his own isn't so easy these days, given the winter climate in Norway.
"It's hard to get better when you're practicing in the snow," he said.
Husted has put him in touch with an agent, Jill McBride Baxter, who is trying to get him back in the U.S.
"It's not easy," said the Los Angeles-based McBride Baxter, whose other NFL clients include Jets punter Robert Malone and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Marlon Moore. "He's got a life in Norway. He works with youth. He's got a job. He's got a dog."
He also still has a lot to work on. Power is one thing, but getting timing and technique right is equally important. Before working with Husted, Rugland had never kicked with a snap and hold.
And, of course, it remains to be seen whether Rugland can perform as well in a game situation. Some current NFL players, who had watched his video online, weren't so sure.
"It's a cool video," Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely said, "but I don't know if it necessarily translates to kicking field goals consistently in a timed, pressurized environment."
New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford agreed.
"I think he's talented, but there's a different dynamic when you have a video camera and 1,000 chances versus when there's 80,000 people screaming at you (at a game) and you only have one shot," Weatherford said. "You can't teach that skill."
Rugland, though, said he thinks his Scandinavian nerves can handle the pressure.
"It's hard to say before you've experienced it," he said. "But I imagine it will be a bit like a penalty kick in soccer. I was under a lot pressure during the (Jets) tryout, and a lot of people would freeze up at something like that because there's a lot of people watching you. But that went well, so I think I have good chances of handling it."
The Jets may not be Rugland's only hope of making the NFL. Husted said the Raiders, Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles have also contacted him for scouting reports. He said the "ideal situation" for the Norwegian may be to get picked up on the practice squad by one team and spend a year honing his skills — the same route taken by Australian punter Darren Bennett in the 1990s.
Bennett was an Australian Rules football player who was given a workout by the San Diego Chargers during his honeymoon in California, and ended up becoming one of the top punters in the NFL.
Rugland thinks he can make a similar journey.
"If you have the quality that's required, you'll get the chance," he said. "I probably have to prove a bit more than others, and impress people a bit more. Those I'm competing against have played in the NFL for several years, or at least played in high school and college. But I believe in it myself, that if everything goes perfectly then it is a realistic chance. Although it's still a long way to go."
And if things don't work out with the NFL. Rugland's YouTube video may at least turn into a different kind of film.

Read More..

NHL owners to vote on contract Wednesday

NEW YORK (AP) — NHL owners will vote Wednesday on the tentative labor agreement reached with the players' union.
If a majority approves, as expected, the NHL will move one step closer toward the official end of the long lockout that began Sept. 16.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a memorandum of understanding of the deal hadn't been completed, so the union has yet to schedule a vote for its more than 700 members. A majority of players also must approve the deal for hockey to return to the ice.
"We continue to document the agreement," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press in an email Tuesday.
If there are no snags, ratification could be finished by Saturday and training camps can open Sunday if approval is reached on both sides. A 48-game regular season would then be expected to begin on Jan. 19.
"(We) don't need a signed document to complete ratification process," Daly wrote, "but we do need a signed agreement to open camps. The goal is to get that done by Saturday so that we can open camps on Sunday."
The NHL has yet to release a new schedule. The regular season was supposed to begin on Oct. 11.
The deal was reached Sunday on the 113th day of the lockout and seemingly saved the season that was delayed for three months and cut nearly in half. It took a 16-hour final bargaining session in a New York hotel for the agreement to finally be completed at about 5 a.m.
The lockout led to the cancellation of at least 480 games. That brings the total of lost regular-season games to a minimum 2,178 during three lockouts under Commissioner Gary Bettman.
The damage is significant. Perhaps $1 billion in revenue could be lost this season, given about 40 percent of the regular-season schedule won't be played. Players will also lose a large part of their salaries, not to mention time lost in their careers.
Hockey's first labor dispute was an 11-day strike in 1992 that led to the postponement of 30 games. Bettman became the commissioner in February 1993. He presided over a 103-day lockout in 1994-95 that ended with a deal on Jan. 11, then a 301-day lockout in 2004-05 that made the NHL the only major North American professional sports league to lose an entire season. The NHL obtained a salary cap in the agreement that followed that dispute and now wanted more gains.
The NHL's revenue of $3.3 billion last season lagged well behind the NFL ($9 billion), Major League Baseball ($7.5 billion) and the NBA ($5 billion), and the deal will lower the hockey players' percentage from 57 to 50 — owners originally had proposed 46 percent.
This was the third lockout among the major U.S. sports in a period of just more than a year. A four-month NFL lockout ended in July 2011 with the loss of only one exhibition game, and an NBA lockout caused each team's schedule to be cut from 82 games to 66 last season.

Read More..

Pagano back to coach Colts after cancer treatment

 Chuck Pagano stepped to the podium Monday, hugged his team owner, thanked his family for its support and wiped a tear from his eye.
He might, finally, turn out the lights in his office, too.
Nearly three months to the day after being diagnosed with leukemia, the Colts' first-year coach returned to a team eager to reunite with a boss healthy enough to go back to work.
"I told you my best day of my life was July 1, 1989," Pagano said, referring to his wedding date. "Today was No. 2. Getting to pull up, drive in, get out of my car, the key fob still worked. I was beginning to question whether it would or not. When I asked for Bruce to take over, I asked for him to kick some you-know-what and to do great. Damn Bruce, you had to go and win nine games? Tough act to follow. Tough act to follow. Best in the history of the NFL. That's what I have to come back to."
The comment turned tears into the laughter everyone expected on such a festive occasion.
For Pagano and the Colts, Monday morning was as precious as anyone could have imagined when Pagano took an indefinite leave to face the biggest opponent of his life, cancer.
In his absence, all the Colts was win nine of 12 games, make a historic turnaround and clinch a playoff spot all before Sunday's regular-season finale against Houston, which they pegged as the day they hoped to have Pagano back. If all goes well at practice this week, Pagano will be on the sideline for the first time since a Week 3 loss to Jacksonville.
Pagano endured three rounds of chemotherapy to put his cancer in remission.
That Pagano's return came less than 24 hours after Indy (10-5) locked up the No. 5 seed in the AFC and the day before Christmas seemed fitting, too.
"I know Chuck is ready for this challenge. In speaking to his doctor multiple times, I know that the time is right for him to grab the reins, get the head coaching cap on and begin the journey," owner Jim Irsay said. "It's been a miraculous story. It really is a book. It's a fairytale. It's a Hollywood script. It's all those things but it's real."
The reality is that he's returning to a vastly different team than the one he turned over to Arians, his long-time friend and first assistant coaching hire.
Back then, the Colts were 1-2 and most of the so-called experts had written them off as one of the league's worst teams. Now, they're ready to show the football world that they can be just as successful under Pagano as they were under Arians, who tied the NFL record for wins after a midseason coaching change.
Pagano also has changed.
The neatly-trimmed salt-and-pepper hair and trademark goatee that were missing in November have slowly returned, and the thinner man who appeared to be catching his breath during a postgame speech in early November, looked and sounded as good as ever Monday.
He repeatedly thanked fans for their prayers and letters, the organization and his family for their unwavering help and promised to provide comfort and support to other people who are facing similar fights. During one poignant moment that nearly brought out tears again, Pagano even recounted a letter sent to him by a 9-year-old child who suggested he suck on ice chips and strawberry Popsicles in the hospital and advised him to be nice to the nurses regardless of how he felt — and he never even paused.
"I feel great, my weight is back, my energy is back and again, it's just a blessing to be back here," Pagano said.
In the minds of Colts players and coaches, Pagano never really left.
He continually watched practice tape and game film on his computer, used phone calls and text messages to regularly communicate with players and occasionally delivered a pregame or postgame speech to his team.
"He texted me and called me so much, it was like he was standing there in my face every day," said receiver Reggie Wayne, who has been friends with Pagano since the two were working together at the University of Miami.
But the Colts found plenty of other ways to keep Pagano's battle in the forefront.
They began a fundraising campaign for leukemia research, calling it Chuckstrong. Players had stickers with the initials CP on their locker room nameplates, and Arians wore an orange ribbon on his baseball cap during games. Orange is the symbolic color for leukemia. At one point, nearly three dozen players shaved their heads to show their ailing coach they were with him.
That's not all.
Arians and first-year general manager Ryan Grigson decided to leave the lights on in Pagano's office until he returned. Pagano noted the team even installed plastic clips to make sure those lights were not mistakenly turned off while he was gone. Those clips were removed when Pagano arrived Monday morning.
And Arians said nobody sat in the front seat of the team bus.
"He's always been our head coach," Arians said.
So after getting medical clearance from his oncologist, Dr. Larry Cripe, to return with no restrictions, Pagano couldn't wait to get to the office Monday morning.
Arians arrived at 7 a.m., three hours early for the scheduled team meeting. By then, Pagano had already driven past the inflatable Colts player with the words "Welcome Back Chuck" printed on its chest and was back in his office preparing for the Texans.
Players showed up a couple of hours later, and when the torch was passed from Arians back to Pagano, players gave their returning coach a standing ovation that Wayne said was well-deserved.
All Pagano wants to do now is emulate the success Arians and his players have had this season.
"I asked him (Arians) if he would lead this team and this ballclub and this organization and take over the reins," Pagano said. "What a masterful, masterful job you did Bruce. You carried the torch and all you went out and did was win nine ballgames. You got us our 10th win yesterday and you got us into the playoffs. You did it with dignity and you did it with class. You're everything that I always knew you were and more.

Read More..

Pagano joins playoff bound Colts after battle with cancer

The Indianapolis Colts and their fans got an early Christmas gift when head coach Chuck Pagano returned to work on Monday, three months after being forced to the sidelines to battle cancer.
Diagnosed with leukemia in late September, Pagano spent the last three months undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy, while his inspired team led by rookie quarterback Andrew Luck battled on the field earning an unlikely playoff spot.
"Circumstances don't make you, they reveal you," an emotional Pagano told reporters after reporting for work at the teams Indianapolis training facility. "The way I look at it is, my job has just begun.
"Besides my job here...my job now is to give back everything I can possibly give back to everyone out there who's fighting some type of illness, some type of disease, some type of cancer."
The Colts, who tied for the NFL's worst record last season at 2-14, improved to 10-5 with their win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday clinching an AFC wild card.
After three games into a rebuilding season, the Colts learned Pagano would take indefinite leave to fight his cancer and was replaced by assistant coach and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.
The goal of the Colts became to keep playing until Pagano could return to work.
Indianapolis went 9-3 under Arians, who will hand over the head coaching job back to Pagano for the regular season finale this Sunday against the Houston Texans.
"It's a fairy tale," said Colts owner Jim Irsay. "It's a Hollywood script. But it's real.

Read More..

Ryan says Tebow would have done wildcat if asked

 Tim Tebow would have done whatever Rex Ryan asked — if the New York Jets coach had asked him.
Ryan acknowledged Monday that Tebow wasn't happy when the coach chose Greg McElroy to start for the benched Mark Sanchez, but insisted Tebow was willing to play in any role Sunday against San Diego — including the wildcat.
"He was disappointed, there's no question," Ryan said Monday. "He was disappointed that he was not named the starter, but with that being said, I'm not going to get into private conversations that I have with players, but it was my decision to use Jeremy Kerley in the wildcat, without question.
"But I'll say this: I believe if Tim's number was called, he would've went in and played. I don't think there's any doubt about that."
A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that Tebow asked out of his wildcat offense duties last week after hearing that McElroy, the third-stringer, would get his first NFL start over Tebow, listed as the No. 2 quarterback.
Another person, also familiar with the situation, said that wildcat plays involving Kerley instead of Tebow were added before practice last Wednesday.
Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because the Jets do not disclose personnel discussions.
ESPN New York first reported that Tebow opted out of running wildcat plays. ESPN also reported that Tebow said his relationship with Ryan was "strained" for a few days, but they smoothed things over. Ryan had all three quarterbacks active for Sunday's 27-17 loss, but Tebow never got onto the field in any capacity.
Ryan did not deny that Tebow asked out of running wildcat plays, but also refused to go into any details of what happened.
"I've been transparent and all that stuff without question, but I'm not going to give you a private conversation that I would have with a player," Ryan reiterated. "That's between him and I. If he wants to share whatever the conversation is, Tim or anybody else, then that's up to him."
Ryan was also asked if it could be considered "insubordination" if a player refuses to play in a role designed for him.
"You guys are assuming something's a fact or whatever, and that's fine," Ryan said. "If I would have asked Tim to play in anything, Tim would have gone into the game and done that."
After the game, Tebow would say only that "it just happened" that he didn't play in the wildcat package. He has done his best to hide his frustration throughout what he could consider a lost year on the playing field.
"Well, it's been disappointing," Tebow said of the season. "Obviously, it didn't go as we thought, as I had hoped, but sometimes in life you have that. Sometimes you have setbacks and you just have to look at them as another opportunity for you to step back up and keep working and figure out what to do."
New York will either trade or release Tebow after the season, a disappointing and frustrating one-year stint with the Jets that just seems to get worse. Tebow was asked after the game if he could remember the last time he had played so little.
"Three or 4 years old, probably," Tebow said. "Since I started."
Tebow has not played a single snap in four of the last five games, although some of that inactivity was due to him breaking two ribs at Seattle on Nov. 11. He has been cleared to play, and got a full offensive series at quarterback last Monday night at Tennessee, but Ryan confirmed that Tebow "still has two cracked ribs."
The Jets (6-9) were eliminated last week with their loss to the Titans, and Ryan announced after the game against San Diego that McElroy — despite being sacked 11 times — would start in the season finale at Buffalo. Whether Tebow actually plays in that game or has taken his last snap with the Jets remains to be seen.
Tebow was acquired from Denver in a stunning trade last March and expected to be a major contributor to the offense. He has been only a role player — whenever he actually plays.
"I thought we'd do some better things out of that wildcat," Ryan said. "It hasn't happened. I'm not blaming it on Tim Tebow. I'm sure there's multiple reasons, but for whatever reason, it has not had the results that I envisioned for it."
Some reports have Jacksonville interested in bringing Tebow in to compete for its quarterback job next season. The Jaguars were the only team other than the Jets that tried to trade for Tebow last year, plus it would be a homecoming for Tebow if he played in Jacksonville.
"I'm not pulling the tampering thing," Ryan said. "Tim's under contract with us and that's all I know."
Jaguars coach Mike Mularkey told Jacksonville reporters that he wasn't aware of reports that his team looked into pursuing Tebow before the trade deadline earlier this season.
"I am not going to talk about that," he added. "I don't talk about other players on other teams right now."
NOTES: Ryan was still disgusted by how many times McElroy was sacked by the Chargers on Sunday. "The 11 sacks and all that, that's as poor as I can ever remember as far as the pass protection was concerned," he said. It was the most a Jets QB was sacked since David Norrie in 1987 against Dallas — a game played by replacements. ... The Jets waived WR Mardy Gilyard, who had two catches for 15 yards in three games for New York.

Read More..

Column: Seattle isn't just sleepless, it's loud!

That dull roar still rumbling between your ears a day later is not your imagination.
It's the echo from the 49ers-Seahawks game Sunday night, when an already notoriously loud hometown crowd outdid itself. How?
Start with CenturyLink Field, a U-shaped stadium with cantilevered roofs extending over most of the 67,000 seats in the grandstands, a configuration designed to bounce back sound. Then throw in some fans presumably hopped up on espresso and, thanks to a later starting time, some more who stopped at Safeco Field on the way over to quaff 24-oz. beers offered through a promotion at a mere $4.50 each.
Next, mix in their dislike for a nasty NFC West rival and especially coach Jim Harbaugh, who smacked the Washington Huskies every chance he got when he was at Stanford and has been tormenting Seahawks coach Pete Carroll ever since.
Finally, throw in that early, unexpected lead and — voila! — a near-perfect sound storm.
Just know it could have been worse.
"Obviously, they were jacked up last night," said Fred Gaudelli, the innovative producer of "Sunday Night Football" on NBC. "But in my mind, it's one of the underrated sports towns in America. Actually, the special challenge there is always to convey how loud it actually is.
"We knew that going in, plus we knew the 49ers were the team their fans hate the most. So at Wednesday's regular 'brainstorming session,' we turn to our head audio engineer and said, 'How do we make viewers understand you can't hear the person next to you most of the time, even if he's yelling?' We wanted to be ready."
Gaudelli knows what can happen to a team that ventures into Seattle without preparing for the wall of noise.
In 2005, the visiting New York Giants collected 11 false-start penalties in a single game, the start of a five-year span when opponents piled up league-leading totals, averaging twice as many there as the Seahawks. The Carolina Panthers once practiced for a game there by dragging loudspeakers down to the practice field and simulating the sound of a jet engine. If that sounds over the top, it is, by about 18 decibels. Jets are routinely measured at around 130, Century Link's best is only 112.
Gaudelli and his crew hatched a plan to demonstrate that by having sideline reporter Michele Tafoya speak into a microphone as the sound reverberated, then take a step back and try again. When they ran through it before the game, he had a stadium staffer simulate the crowd noise over the PA system. At the point Tafoya's words were drowned out the system was cranked to 50 percent of volume.
"So I asked the guy, is it really going to be that loud? He looked at me," Gaudelli chuckled into the phone, "and said, 'Double it.'"
The guy was right. That much was apparent at the start of the broadcast, when Tafoya interviewed Carroll — remember, the game hadn't even begun — and didn't dare stand anywhere but uncomfortably close.
Uncomfortable might be the right word to describe the 49ers as well, at least in the early going, when they had to burn timeouts as relatively inexperienced quarterback Colin Kaepernick was having trouble getting the play calls from his sideline. Right about then, he probably wished the 49ers had devoted more time to mastering their silent snap counts.
"The crowd's explosive, it really is," Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson said. "They love us so much, and it brings so much energy to our football team. They keep us in the game, obviously, and they keep us alert."
Experts have been arguing over the worth of home-field advantage for decades. Most concluded that in those places where it's statistically significant, it's usually because of a number of factors and not just one, such as noise. Since CenturyLink opened up in 2002, Seattle is 58-29 at home, a 67 percent winning clip that ranks the Seahawks sixth in the NFL over that span. That's a far cry from New England's league-best 72-15 record (83 percent).
But the Seahawks haven't had Tom Brady at quarterback, and their road record is dismal enough (33-55) that the boost the fans at CenturyLink have provided might be best measured by their last four playoff appearances. If that's not exact enough, try this: After a 2001 earthquake shook a viaduct that runs along the water and near the stadium, the University of Washington set up a lab to track future "seismic events." One of them actually occurred during Marshawn Lynch's thundering, winning, 67-yard touchdown run in a memorable upset of the then-defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints on Jan. 9, 2011.
Yet while we know how Seattle fans make so much noise, why remains the subject of much speculation. Gaudelli, like a lot of people, blames coffee. But I'm going with a theory advanced Sunday night by announcer Al Michaels, who suggested the locals roar non-stop because showcase games gives them a rare chance to remind the rest of the country they're there.
"For media people on the East Coast," he said half in jest, "Seattle might as well be Bulgaria.

Read More..

Manning, Peterson, Pagano: 2012 a year to remember

From Peyton Manning overcoming four neck surgeries to Adrian Peterson's rebound from a shredded knee to Chuck Pagano's fight with leukemia, this has been the Year of the Comeback in the NFL.
A season besmirched by tragedies, replacement officials and a bounty scandal also will go down as one in which some of the game's greats not only regained their old form but somehow surpassed it.
There are always feel-good stories about those who overcome long odds and broken bodies to regain at least a sliver of their past glory. This season provided an abundance of them.
When the season started, who could have expected Manning to recapture his MVP play so quickly with a new team? Or for Peterson to come back less than nine months after shredding his left knee. Or for Jamaal Charles to return better than ever after suffering a similar injury.
Then there's Pagano beating the biggest opponent of his life.
A year ago, Manning was in the midst of four neck operations to fix a nerve injury that had caused his right arm to atrophy and had sidelined him for an entire season. Soon, he would say a tearful farewell to Indianapolis, a city he'd put back on the NFL map, and hook up with John Elway in Denver.
Peterson's left knee was still swollen after he'd shredded it on Christmas Eve, an injury similar to the one Charles suffered earlier last season. Yet both would defy medicine and conventional wisdom alike to rebound as better runners than they were before getting hurt.
Pagano's fight started three months ago when it was disclosed he had cancer, forcing the first-year Colts coach to take time off for chemotherapy treatments. He returned to work this week, taking the reins from assistant Bruce Arians, who guided the team to a surprising playoff berth in his absence.
"When I asked for Bruce to take over, I asked for him to kick some you-know-what and to do great. Damn Bruce, you had to go and win nine games?" Pagano said. "Tough act to follow."
If all goes well at practice this week, Pagano will be on the sideline for the regular-season finale against Houston. That's a final tuneup for the AFC wild-card playoffs that nobody saw coming for the Colts so soon after cutting ties with Manning, who switched teams, coaches, cities and colors and didn't miss a beat in 2012.
Despite a new supporting cast and a 36-year-old body he insists continues to confound him, the quintessential quarterback has had one of the best seasons in his storied career. Manning set franchise or NFL records just about every week while completing 68 percent of his passes for 4,355 yards with 34 TDs and just 11 interceptions.
And yet, he insists he's not anything close to what he used to be, that all he can do is maximize what's left in a body that's been slowed by so many surgeons' scalpels, and trips around the sun.
"I know you don't believe me when I say this; I'm still learning about myself physically and what I can do, it's still the truth," Manning said after guiding Denver to its 10th straight win. "I still have things that are harder than they used to be, so (there's) things I have to work on from a rehab standpoint and a strength standpoint. That's just the way it is and maybe that's the way it's going to be from here on out, I don't know."
Maybe Manning's being modest, maybe he's suckering opponents into blitzing him more often so he can burn them again. Either way, it's a remarkable rebound for a man whose right arm was so weakened after one of his neck surgeries that he could hardly throw the football 15 yards.
Long before Manning ever dreamed he'd be wearing the orange-mane mustang on his helmet instead of the blue and white horseshoe, Manning met up with college buddy Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies for a workout during last year's NFL lockout. They retreated to an indoor batting cage at Coors Field with a trainer in tow, and Manning's first pass nose-dived so badly that Helton told him to quit goofing around.
Manning wasn't messing with him. He was dead serious. His arm was shot, his future in football in doubt. A few days later, he underwent spinal fusion surgery and would miss the entire 2011 season.
If doctors had told him that was it, Manning said he would have called it a career without regret. But they gave him a bit of hope and that's all he needed to embark on his comeback in Colorado.
Coach John Fox, never one to lobby for awards, suggested this week that Manning deserves a fifth MVP honor for the numbers he's put up, the obstacles he's overcome, the shift of culture he's engineered.
Manning isn't interested in talking about MVPs or comeback awards. He just wants enough wins to get a shot at hoisting another Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans in six weeks.
Peterson, on the other hand, is unabashedly clear in his desire for some recognition after overcoming torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee, requiring the kind of reconstructive surgery that usually turns dominant players into ordinary ones.
There's a long, long list of players who had shortened careers because of such injuries. But Peterson returned to the Vikings lineup less than nine months after his operation, and with a league-high 1,898 yards, he's 207 yards shy of Eric Dickerson's single-season record. He can topple it with another big game Sunday when Minnesota faces Green Bay with a playoff berth on the line for the Vikings.
With typical unflinching confidence, Peterson said in a recent interview with The Associated Press he's expecting to win the comeback award.
"I kind of have that in the bag, especially how I've been telling people I'm going to come back stronger and better than ever," he said.
Carrying the Vikings to the playoffs without a potent passing game in a league dominated by strong-armed, accurate quarterbacks would only burnish the credentials of this thoroughbred throwback.
In any other year, the zenith of comebacks might be that of Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis, who battled back from three torn right ACLs — in 2009, 2010 and 2011 — to be a major contributor to the Panthers this year. No player in NFL history has returned after tearing the same ACL three separate times.
Charles missed nearly all of 2011 with a torn left ACL. Yet the former All-Pro running back has run for 1,456 yards, the seventh-best season in franchise history. He can break his single-season-high set in 2010 with 12 yards against the Broncos on Sunday.
Charles ran for 226 yards last weekend, when he surpassed 750 career carries, which also qualifies him for the NFL record for yards per carry. Charles is averaging 5.82 yards on 770 attempts, which far surpasses the 5.22 yards that Hall of Famer Jim Brown averaged in 2,359 attempts from 1957-65.
Charles, Peterson and Davis are all better than ever. Manning might be, too, but he'll never say it.
"I'm trying to be as good as I can at this stage," Manning said. "A 36-year-old quarterback coming off a year and a-half off, playing on a new team, I'm trying to be as good as I possibly can in this scenario.
"It's a different kind of body I'm playing in and just a different kind of quarterback play for me."
Yet, as transcendent as ever.
"If he's lost anything, I can't see it," said Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley, who played with Manning in his prime in Indianapolis. "I'm sure in some ways he's better than he ever was. And he's always been great.

Read More..

Andersen changes directions, heads to Wisconsin

Gary Andersen publicly pledged his allegiance to Utah State not long ago. Now he's on the verge of becoming Wisconsin's coach.
Wisconsin reportedly will hire Andersen to replace Bret Bielema, who left the Badgers earlier this month to take the Arkansas job.
The news about Andersen broke Tuesday night and neither Utah State nor Wisconsin had anything official to announce about Andersen on Wednesday. The delay is at least in part tied to laws in Wisconsin that require a state job to be posted for at least two weeks before it can be filled. The two-week posting was up at the end of business on Wednesday.
The school was expected to introduce Andersen at a news conference Thursday, but a snowstorm might change those plans.
The 48-year-old Andersen just completed his fourth and best season at Utah State. The 18th-ranked Aggies finished 11-2 with a bowl victory against Toledo and won the Western Athletic Conference.
It's been a remarkable rise for a program that had been near the bottom of major college football for years, and stuck in distant third in its own state behind BYU and Utah. The Aggies won nine games in the previous four seasons before Andersen took over. The last football coach to finish his tenure in Logan, Utah, with a winning record was Phil Krueger who went 21-12 from 1973-75.
Andersen drew interest from California, Colorado and Kentucky last month, but decided to pass on those opportunities and received a contract extension from Utah State.
"The interest I have received is a compliment to the quality young men in this program," Andersen said in the statement released Nov. 30. "I love Cache Valley, this university and these young men, and I am humbled and excited to continue to be the coach here. The leadership of President (Stan) Albrecht and Mr. Barnes, as well as the support from the fans and community, are big reasons why this is the right place for myself and my family at this time."
That was before Wisconsin had an opening. Bielema announced he was leaving on Dec. 4, three days after the Badgers won their third straight Big Ten title and trip to the Rose Bowl.
As late as last week, before Utah State played in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Andersen was saying he was committed to the Aggies.
"I love the kids I get to coach here. ... The kids I have in the program, it just was not time. I look them in the eye and I need to be where I'm at," he told the Idaho Statesman newspaper.
When Wisconsin called, Andersen changed his mind.
It's a tough spot in which many coaches find themselves. It's imperative for recruiting purposes to show unwavering commitment to your current school. But when a coach does jump to another job, he looks like a liar.
"If you can, it's good to not say anything," former Arkansas and Mississippi coach Houston Nutt said. "It's almost now impossible because there's so much information out there."
Washington State coach Mike Leach said he felt his only obligation was to his employer and his team.
"I think you handle it honestly with the people you work for, but by the same token you don't let the media or public into your personal business," he said.
Apparently, many in Utah were caught off guard by the Andersen-to-Wisconsin news.
"I can't believe this..." Utah State receiver Alex Wheat posted on his Twitter account when word started to spread.
"I hate rumors.." tight end DJ Tialavea tweeted.
A few hours later, that changed.
"Coach A just called me. Explained the situation. No hard feelings. I have nothing but respect for the man. We must fight on. (hash)AggieNation," Wheat posted.
"Just got that phone call always have and always will love ya coach!" Tialavea tweeted.
The Wisconsin State Journal, which first reported that the Andersen would be the next Badgers' coach, reported Wednesday that Andersen spent Tuesday night calling his Utah State players.
The should buy plenty of good will for Andersen as he heads from his old job to his new one.

Read More..

Cowboys trusting Bryant to make call on finger

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys couldn't trust receiver Dez Bryant to even run the right routes less than two months ago.
Now they're letting him dictate whether he plays with a broken left index finger. They are also drawing inspiration from Bryant's insistence on waiting until after the season for a surgery serious enough for owner Jerry Jones to startle his emerging star by mistakenly saying it would involve taking bone from his hip.
"Finding a way to play shows a lot of toughness because that's not easy to do," said tight end Jason Witten, who would know because he once ran 30 yards downfield without a helmet before getting tackled and played in the opener this season with a lacerated spleen. "He earned my respect."
Bryant broke the finger on a catch against Cincinnati two weeks ago. He scored a critical touchdown in the 20-19 win after the injury and made it clear early last week that he would play against Pittsburgh.
Playing with a padded glove that exposed the tip of the broken finger, Bryant looked like a decoy in the first quarter because Tony Romo kept throwing to Miles Austin, but he still scored a touchdown for the sixth straight game — catching a ball away from his body, fingers first — and finished with four catches for 59 yards.
The Cowboys (8-6) beat the Steelers 27-24 in overtime last weekend and emerged with control of their playoff hopes. Dallas moves on with wins over New Orleans (6-8) at home on Sunday and at Washington in the finale.
"I just wanted to be out there and I felt like I needed to," Bryant said. "Miles came up to me and said, 'We're all really inspired by you playing.' I can tell from the guys that it meant a lot."
Seven weeks earlier — in that same locker room — Bryant had to acknowledge that his route-running wasn't precise enough, and that it cost Romo one of four interceptions in a 29-24 loss to the New York Giants. He also botched a punt return so badly that coach Jason Garrett took those duties away from him.
Bryant did have 110 yards receiving that day — a season high at the time — and made a spectacular catch that appeared to win the game in the final seconds. But a replay showed that his fingers came down first out of bounds, so he still had just two touchdowns through seven games.
The third-year pro was on his way to another mediocre season, and still didn't know whether Dallas County prosecutors would pursue family violence charges against him over an altercation with his mother during the summer. That incident came after his first two years were marred by lawsuits over unpaid bills for tickets and jewelry and a scene at the mall for wearing sagging pants.
Just as his career-best touchdown streak started, though, Bryant got word that a deal had been reached that could lead to dismissal of the family violence charges. He celebrated by having the same career high in receiving yardage twice — 145 against Cleveland and Washington. With eight touchdowns in six games, Bryant is now tied for the among NFL receivers with 10 scores.
"I'm proud of him," Witten said. "You talk about him dealing with all the stuff he's dealt with the three years he's been here. He's almost like a little brother. You keep offering him support and encouragement. He's a good kid. It kind of seemed like he's put it all behind him."
Jones, ever the optimist, has been guarded as Bryant kept stringing together good games. He gushed about the receiver after beating the Steelers, but scared Bryant a little by offering the possibility of a bone graft involving Bryant's hip ("You're not touching my hip," Bryant told reporters Sunday after hearing the Jones diagnosis). Turns out Jones just misunderstood the doctors. The bone will come from the hand. But Jones' point was clear: the injury is serious.
"He certainly is playing with some risks, but he was inspirational out there to everybody involved in the organization," Jones said. "He meant it because we were still playing for all the marbles, and he wanted to give everything he could."
While Dallas coach Jason Garrett said medical opinions did factor in the decision, Bryant said his reasoning was simple: The Cowboys were still in the playoff hunt. Had Dallas been eliminated, he said he might have gone ahead with surgery. There's some personal incentive, too. Two more 100-yard games would give him six for the season and probably push him past 1,300 yards. With that kind of production, he could end up leading the league in touchdowns. He might go to his first Pro Bowl.
"I know that you go by catches and yards and touchdowns, but I go by how many times he does the right thing, makes the right choice, runs the right route, the depth that he's at, the timing that he came out, his ability to read the coverage," Romo said. "You know there's a lot of stuff involved and he didn't do as well in the beginning of the year, but he's really come on as of lately."
Bryant's come so far, the Cowboys are trusting him to call the shots.

Read More..

Red Sox look for innings in Dempster

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox have the reliable starter they sought in Ryan Dempster.
He's pitched at least 200 innings in four of the past five seasons, impressive to general manager Ben Cherington but not so special to Dempster.
"That's your responsibility as a starting pitcher in the big leagues," Dempster said Wednesday at a news conference after his $26.5 million, two-year deal was finalized. "The norm used to be 300 and somehow we worked it down to like 200. Even 180 seems to suffice."
He said he works hard to stay in shape "so that I can take on that workload."
Boston had just one starter reach the 200-mark this year, with Jon Lester pitching 205 1-3 innings.
"It's important," Cherington said. "Ryan's got a history of being very effective and a really good pitcher. The consistency he's shown in taking the ball every fifth day was important to us. I think as a team when you start having to fill in for guys, if we don't have a reliable rotation and you start filling in with guys from down below or guys from the bullpen or whatever, it's not so much that move but you've inevitably weakened another area of your team."
Dempster gets $13.25 million a year and would earn an additional $250,000 each season for pitching 190 innings.
"We went into this offseason wanting to add a proven starter to the rotation, someone that has a history of success, reliability and someone who we thought would embrace coming to Boston and everything that comes with pitching and playing in Boston, on and off the field," Cherington said. "We think Ryan is the perfect fit for that."
The 35-year-old right-hander adds experience to a rotation that underachieved this year as the Red Sox went 69-93 and finished last in the AL East in their only season under manager Bobby Valentine. He was fired and replaced by John Farrell.
"Obviously there's a lot of room to go up," Dempster said. "Ben and the organization have done an incredible job of adding a lot of really good players and good baseball guys. So we're just going to go into spring training and work as hard as we can and go out there every day and leave it all on the field and play as hard as we can to get the best out of each other."
Lester and Clay Buchholz had disappointing years and John Lackey returns after missing the season following elbow-ligament replacement surgery. Left-hander Felix Doubront was in the rotation for most of the season.
Dempster reached the major leagues in 1998 with the Florida Marlins and has a 124-124 record with a 4.33 ERA. A Canadian, he said he is undecided about playing in the World Baseball Classic.
But he is confident the Red Sox can reach the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
"That's why we play," he said. "The money and things like that in baseball are great. But I came here because I believe this team has a chance of winning as much as anybody else. I've always believed that should be your mentality going into any season. Because it's proven day in, day out every team's going to win 50 games, every team's going to lose 50 games. It's what you do with the other 62 that matter."
He went 12-8 with a 3.38 ERA this year. After starting 5-5 with a 2.25 ERA in his ninth season with the Chicago Cubs, he was traded to the Texas Rangers and went 7-3 with a 5.03 ERA. That was his first stint in the American League.

Read More..

Angels swap hitting for pitching with Mariners

(Reuters) - The bulked-up Los Angeles Angels swapped some hitting for pitching on Wednesday by sending first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales to the Seattle Mariners for starting pitcher Jason Vargas.
The Angels, who signed power-hitting Josh Hamilton to a free agent contract last week, sent some much-needed punch to Seattle to add lefthander Vargas to a rotation that includes Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Tommy Hanson and Joe Blanton.
"We have been focused on adding offense this offseason, and feel that Kendrys will be a middle-of-the-order bat for us," Seattle General Manager Jack Zduriencik said in a report on Major League Baseball's website.
"He's a switch-hitter with power who has played - and hit - in the AL West. He's familiar with the teams and parks and is a proven run-producer."
Seattle was last in the American League in runs scored with 619, 148 fewer runs than third-best Los Angeles.
The Cuban-born Morales, 29, hit .273 with 22 home runs and 73 RBIs last year in 134 games in his first season back after missing all of 2011 with a broken left leg.
Before his injury, suffered when he landed awkwardly while jumping into a group of team mates after hitting a walk-off grand slam homer, Morales was one of MLB's emerging sluggers after hitting .306 with 34 home runs and 108 RBIS in 2009.
The trade of Morales freed up some lineup space for 26-year-old Mark Trumbo, who hit 32 home runs with 95 RBIs for the Angels last season bouncing between the outfield, first base, third base and designated hitter.
Vargas, also 29, pitched the last four seasons with Seattle, posting a 36-42 record with a 4.09 ERA. The lefty, who went 14-11 with a 3.85 ERA last season, was a Mariners workhorse, logging more than 200 innings in each of the last two years.
He has pitched well in the past at Angel Stadium, registering a 3-1 record with a 2.27 ERA in seven career outings in the ball park.
The deal involved two players entering their final season of arbitration eligibility, with both set to become free agents after the 2013 season.

Read More..

RB Richardson thinks Saban will stay at Alabama

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Trent Richardson would be surprised if Nick Saban followed him from Alabama to the Cleveland Browns.
Saban, who will lead the Crimson Tide against Notre Dame in the BCS national championship game in Miami on Jan. 7, has been mentioned as returning to the NFL, perhaps with the Browns if second-year coach Pat Shurmur is fired at season's end.
"I can't see him coming to the NFL," Richardson said Wednesday. "I would be very shocked."
And Richardson knows the coach quite well. After all, he was a standout running back for Saban at Alabama before being selected in the first round by Cleveland in April. Richardson ran for 1,679 yards last season for the Crimson Tide.
"How can you get tired of winning," Richardson asked. "He's got so much going there. He has no reason to leave. He gets what he needs and he treats his program like the NFL (anyway). He makes sure his players are prepared for the game and prepared for the next level when the time comes."
Any exit to the NFL wouldn't be foreign to Saban, who led Alabama to national titles in 2009 and 2011. He left his post at LSU, in fact, to become coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2005. After going 15-17 in two seasons there, he went back to the SEC, this time in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
"I can see him staying at Alabama," Richardson said, "and retiring at Alabama."
Saban, who played and coached at Kent State, has Cleveland roots, as well. He was the Browns defensive coordinator from 1991-94, which has helped to spark the speculation.
"I don't believe it," Richardson said. "Rumors are rumors. I don't buy into it and that's one thing he taught me to do — not buy into rumors."
Richardson is more concerned with playing the playoff-bound Denver Broncos (11-3) on Sunday. The No. 3 overall pick is 46 yards shy of surpassing Hall of Fame standout Jim Brown's 55-year-old team rookie rushing record of 942 yards for the Browns (5-9).
"I'm ready for a big day," Richardson said. "Anytime Jim Brown's name is mentioned, it is big for me. Huge."
Richardson, who missed all of training camp after having minor surgery on his left knee in July, has already set a new franchise rookie mark with 11 rushing touchdowns. Overall, he has 258 carries for 897 yards.
"I'm good to go," he said. "No issues with the knee. None. With the ribs, I am not going to stop playing ball. I am going to keep on going no matter what."
All that said, he did reveal for the first time that he occasionally had trouble breathing in his first few games with the injury. He has adjusted his mindset to ignore the pain. He doesn't anticipate difficulty in Denver's mile-high thin air.
"I've never played there, but I'll be OK," he said. "If I need oxygen, I'll take it and go play."
Shurmur has not considered resting Richardson, either.
"He'll play," he said. "None of us are 100 percent right now. I think that's fair to say at this time of year. Guys are playing through things."
___
NOTES: DB Dmitri Patterson, released by Cleveland on Monday, landed with Miami. Shurmur declined to say why Patterson was cut: "I'm not going to talk about the whys or what-fors there. I will say this though, I'm happy for him that he's going to be able to finish out the year in Miami. That will be great for him." ... TE Jordan Cameron (head) and DL Frostee Rucker (groin) did not practice. ... WR Jordan Norwood practiced for the first time since sustaining a foot injury Oct. 7. He's not on the active roster. ... TE George Bryan was signed to the practice squad. He played at N.C. State (2008-11) and was in camp with Dallas last spring. ... The Browns are 3-0 vs. the AFC West, with the first-place Broncos on deck.

Read More..