Archive for the ‘SPORTS NEWS’ Category

Michael Beasley rejoined his Miami Heat teammates Monday following a monthlong stay in a rehabilitation facility to address substance abuse and other issues.

Beasley took part in a voluntary offseason workout and quickly drew rave reviews from coaches, many of whom were able to visit and work with him during the rehab stint. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra personally saw Beasley three times in the past month, and someone from the Heat staff was with the second-year forward daily.

“We want to bring him back to the family, bring him back in here,” Spoelstra said. “We’re 100 percent behind him. We’ve invested in him, not just financially but emotionally. We’ve spent a great deal of time with him this summer, trying to develop him on the court but also off the court. He’s ready. He was excited to be back here.”

Beasley, who starred at Kansas State for one season before jumping to the NBA, was not available for comment Monday. No specifics of his treatment have been offered, with both the Heat and people close to Beasley citing privacy concerns.

The No. 2 pick in the 2008 draft will be with the team when training camp opens officially on Sept. 29. Players kept in touch with Beasley through text messages and Twitter over the past month.

“I have no concern at all,” Heat forward and captain Udonis Haslem said last week when asked about Beasley. “He’s working out, he’s staying in shape, he’s keeping himself sharp. It’s not like he doesn’t know the plays and with Beas, if all else fails, he’ll shoot it. So he’ll be fine when he gets back.”

Beasley entered an in-patient Houston facility sometime around Aug. 20. A series of posts on his Twitter account around that time sparked concern for his well-being, including entries that said “Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done” and “I feel like the whole world is against me I can’t win for losin.”

He also was fined $50,000 last year for being a hotel room where the scent of marijuana was detected during the league’s rookie symposium.

The 49ers have filed tampering charges against the New York Jets regarding top San Francisco draft pick Michael Crabtree, Jets coach Rex Ryan confirmed Monday.

“My understanding is they filed charges with the league,” Ryan said. “I’m saying my response is it’s not true. I mean, it’s not accurate. It’s not true, but, hey, we’ll let the league figure this out.”

When asked Monday if his team filed charges, 49ers coach Mike Singletary said it’s a situation “the league is going to handle internally.”

“I’m not going to get into that. We’ll let that play out, the process,” Singletary said. “I’m not even going to go there. We’ll let the league handle that and go from there.”

The 22-year-old Crabtree, selected No. 10 overall by the Niners in April’s draft, is the last draft pick not signed. The wide receiver is seeking money comparable to higher picks and hasn’t accepted the 49ers’ offer for approximately five years and $20 million, with a reported $16 million guaranteed.

The tampering charges were first reported by the New York Daily News.

What helped draw the 49ers’ attention to the issue was when Deion Sanders said he knew two teams that were willing to pay Crabtree what he wanted. The 49ers organization grew alarmed at the comments, investigated and decided to report its concerns to the league.

Among the organization’s biggest concerns would be that, if indeed another team had told Crabtree it would meet his asking price, it would greatly impede the 49ers’ chances of signing their first-round pick. San Francisco was alarmed that another team — perhaps the Jets — had inflated Crabtree’s expectations and compromised its chances of signing him. It is why San Francisco filed the tampering charges.

Jeff Garcia is back with the Philadelphia Eagles. The team has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Garcia, a 10-year veteran who played for Philadelphia in 2006 and went 6-2 in eight starts — including the playoffs — while McNabb was injured.

The Eagles needed a backup quarterback in case McNabb, who suffered a broken rib in Philadelphia’s 38-10 win over Carolina in the season opener, is not able to play this week against the New Orleans Saints.

Third-year pro Kevin Kolb filled in for McNabb and will start if McNabb is out, coach Andy Reid said.

“Whether it’s a week or two weeks or the entire season, I’m excited about the opportunity,” Garcia said in a conference call. “As far as a team I can go to and blend right in, this is the team for me to do that.”

Garcia, who was signed by Oakland in the offseason to push JaMarcus Russell and serve as a mentor to the former No. 1 overall draft pick, was released by the Raiders on Sept. 5 after playing little in the preseason. He said he could’ve stayed with Oakland, but didn’t think it was the right fit. But he also wasn’t ready to call it a career.

“I didn’t want it to be over,” Garcia said. “I feel there’s a lot of quality football left in me.”

A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Garcia played well in his previous stint with the Eagles three seasons ago, throwing 11 touchdown passes against two interceptions in eight starts. In the process, he also became very popular with fans.

“I know the circumstances are different,” Garcia said. “I’m OK with whatever helps the team.”

Finally healthy after two years of neck and back problems, Brian Urlacher gave everyone a blast from the past during the regular season opener when he lowered his shoulder and plowed over Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers .
His 10th season was off to a good start. And then, it was over.

The Chicago Bears’ star linebacker underwent surgery Monday to repair a dislocated right wrist and will not be back this season — a major blow for a team with high expectations.

Team spokesman Jim Christman confirmed the bad news for the Bears. There was no immediate word from Urlacher other than a text message to the Chicago Tribune that said simply: “season is over.”

The injury occurred in the first quarter of Sunday night’s 21-15 loss at Green Bay, though it was not clear when. Urlacher briefly shook his wrist after tackling Packers running back Ryan Grant late in the period, though he might have already been hurt.

He played in the second quarter, but left on the Packers’ first drive of the second half.

“Talk about a guy that’s a great leader,” said Hunter Hillenmeyer, who replaced Urlacher at middle linebacker. “First, he plays an entire half of football with a dislocated wrist. I don’t think there’s many people who can do something like that.”

While the arrival of Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler sent expectations in Chicago soaring, the Bears were also counting on a healthy Urlacher to help them get back to the playoffs after missing postseason the past two years.

The six-time Pro Bowler, now 31, appeared to be in better shape after being limited by a bad back and neck the past two years, and he was off to a good start on Sunday.

The lead negotiator and spokesman for NBA referees announced Thursday that the referees expect to be locked out when exhibition play starts Oct. 1 after contract negotiations with the league broke down this week.

Lamell McMorris, in a press release, also asserts that the NBA has begun to contact replacement referees to work in the preseason and perhaps the early part of the regular season.

NBA lead negotiator Rick Buchanan, in response, said Thursday that talks collapsed because the referees’ union changed its mind after agreeing to accept the league’s proposals on retirement benefits. Buchanan added that “all the union has offered to us is minimal concessions that are neither consistent with economic reality nor with the information it is currently distributing to the media.”

The statements were issued in the wake of an ESPN.com report Tuesday, when the latest negotiating session between the referees and league executives came to an abrupt end in New York, significantly increasing the possibility that replacement refs will be needed in the NBA for the first time since the 1995-96 season.

“We understand that everyone in the country is facing tough times, but the NBA is continuing to make money, sign large marketing and television contracts and expand their business internationally,” McMorris said. “We have attempted to negotiate in good faith and give substantial cuts to get the referees back to work.”

In Thursday’s editions of the New York Times, McMorris said he was “frustrated and disappointed at the unprofessional and disrespectful manner in which Mr. Stern ended what was a productive negotiating session” on Tuesday. McMorris also echoed the growing belief that Stern is taking a hard line with referees “to send a message to the players,” whose own labor contract with the NBA expires during the 2010-11 season.

In a separate interview with the Times, Stern told the newspaper that negotiations with the referees have “nothing to do with the player negotiations” and insisted that Tuesday’s talks, as Buchanan said, collapsed because McMorris’ union reneged on previously agreed-upon facets of a new contract.

Said Buchanan on Thursday: “Everyone at the NBA has a great deal of respect and admiration for our referees. With that said, the actions and statements of their union over the past 24 hours have been extremely disappointing. Personal attacks and inaccurate assertions in the media are hardly constructive methods of bridging differences or ultimately making a new agreement.

“It is and has always been our goal to reach a new collective bargaining agreement with the referees that is fair and appropriate, and we remain hopeful this can still be accomplished prior to the start of what promises to be another exciting NBA season.”

The NBA’s contract with its referees expired Sept. 1, but no further talks are scheduled between the sides with only 20 days before the league’s Oct. 1 exhibition opener (Denver at Utah).

Asked if the dispute can be resolved before the season starts, Stern told the Times: “Right now, I’m not optimistic.”

ESPN.com reported Aug. 25 that the league is seeking an across-the-board reduction of 10 percent to a referee budget that costs an estimated $32 million. In his statement Thursday, McMorris said that the referees have proposed a reduction to the budget of $2.5 million, which includes freezing salaries for the 2009-10 season in addition to reducing travel costs by 15 percent and per diem by 7 percent.

“In our proposal, we sought reductions in the NBA’s referee program expenses consistent with cuts we have made in other areas of our business — all in response to the current economic climate,” Buchanan said. “At the same time, we sought to soften the impact of these changes on the referees by preserving their existing levels of salary and playoff compensation and agreeing to a two-year term that would provide them with another opportunity to negotiate in the near future if the economy improves.”

One source with knowledge of the league’s thinking has openly questioned the referees’ leverage, telling ESPN.com last month and reiterating this week that he expects the refs — in this depressed economy — to ultimately accept the additional reduction from $2.5 million to $3.2 million when faced with the reality of not working.

The referees have scheduled a meeting in Chicago next week to discuss their next steps, with their annual training camp in New Jersey — scheduled to start Sept. 20 — on hold.

It appears more likely that the league will be setting up a training camp for replacement referees for the first time since the 1995-96 season, when refs were locked out for more than two months before reaching an agreement to return to work in December 1995.

Two current vets refs, Bill Kennedy and former NBA player Leon Wood, are notable examples of 1995 replacement referees who wound up working in the league full time.

The referees have argued against the severity of a 10-percent budget cut by insisting that the late hours they work and difficult travel conditions they endure — in addition to the injury risks and daily scrutiny they’re subjected to — make them unlike any other group of NBA employees. The refs’ union has also protested the reductions by questioning the raises it says have been awarded to three senior league officials in New York — Ron Johnson, Bernie Fryer and Joe Borgia — who oversee the referee program.

McMorris also represents Major League Baseball umpires, whose labor contract expires Dec. 31. But the baseball negotiations, in the words of president of the umpires’ union Joe West, are on track “to get a deal done well in advance of that date.”

SOURCE: espn

The Harrah’s Lake Tahoe worker who claimed in a lawsuit that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger raped her has offered to settle the case if he admits raping her, apologizes, and gives $100,000 to the Committee to Aid Abuse Women.

Andrea McNulty’s lawyer, Cal Dunlap, said the offer was designed to quash claims by Roethlisberger’s lawyers that she was only after his money.

“McNulty’s only interest has been and is to regain the dignity that was taken from her,” Dunlap said in a motion asking the letter be added to the court record.

In the letter to the quarterback’s lawyers, Dunlap said they “have a total misconception of what motivates our client,” adding she “is a victim of sexual assault who, as with all such victims, was violated in every sense of the term.”

He accused the Roethlisberger lawyers of “intentionally concealing evidence of this and other wrongdoing by Mr. Roethlisberger while making unfounded and malicious accusations and unwarranted threats against our client and against this law firm.”

Roethlisberger’s lawyer, David Cornwell, said they would not accept her offer.

Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford had just been helped to the sidelines with an injured shoulder when Oklahoma’s players headed in for halftime of their game against BYU.

Bradford was being checked out by the team’s medical staff, which would later determine he had a sprained shoulder and would be out for a while. Fellow team captain Brody Eldridge was getting fluids after his first ever start as the Sooners’ center. And star tight end Jermaine Gresham was already hobbled with an injured right knee.

The Sooners were a somber group Saturday night.

It’s been a difficult start for Oklahoma, which plummeted 10 spots to No. 13 in The Associated Press’ college football poll Tuesday after that game, a 14-13 loss to BYU.

Some may have seen it coming: The Sooners had to replace four starting offensive linemen this season, only to see projected starter Ben Habern and backup Brian Lepak both get injured at the center position. Eldridge was moved to center from his spot as backup tight end and then Gresham was hurt four days before the season opener.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Matthew Stafford won the Lions’ quarterback derby. Daunte Culpepper didn’t lose the job.

That’s what Detroit’s new coach, Jim Schwartz, emphasized Monday when he made the No. 1 overall draft pick the starter for Sunday in New Orleans, when the Lions try to win for the first time in 21 months.

“I’ve had a lot of very tough decisions in the last few days — guys making the 53-man roster or not making it — but none more difficult than at quarterback,” he said. “We announced to our team this morning that Matt Stafford is going to be our starting quarterback.”

Schwartz felt Stafford and Culpepper played well in training camp and the preseason, as did third-stringer Drew Stanton before sustaining a knee injury.

“I’m very, very comfortable with the quarterback position here, not just one and two, but also three,” Schwartz said. “What made this decision difficult was that I think we can win with Daunte Culpepper, I think we can with Matt Stafford, and I think we can win with Drew Stanton.”

One of the factors that helped Schwartz make his decision was the 21-year-old rookie’s chemistry with Detroit’s biggest offensive weapon, Calvin Johnson.

“I think he had 15 snaps in the preseason with Calvin, and you could already see what was possible there,” Schwartz said. “The big plays were always there.”

Stafford said that while he always believed he would win the job, he didn’t know for sure until Monday morning.

“I definitely thought I was going to be the guy, but as competitive as Daunte is, I’m sure he thought he was going to be the guy, too,” he said. “Coach Schwartz called me in this morning and told me, and I went out and practiced with the first team. That was exciting.”

NORMAN, Okla. — Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford is not expected to need surgery on his sprained right shoulder and the quarterback could play again for No. 3 Oklahoma in two to four weeks.

“Everyone’s different in how they heal, the soreness, how they handle it and how quickly it dissipates where he can move and be comfortable again throwing the ball,” coach Bob Stoops said after the Sooners’ practice Monday. “Anywhere from two to four weeks is what we’re anticipating.”

Stoops said the initial evaluations by doctors showed that Bradford did not suffer any damage to his collarbone, rotator cuff or other parts of his shoulder when he sprained his AC joint just before halftime in Oklahoma’s 14-13 loss to No. 20 BYU on Saturday. Those evaluations also did not suggest surgery, although another doctor’s opinion is due in on Tuesday.

“In my mind, that’s completely out. That’s probably a little biased because obviously I want to be out there playing,” Bradford said. “After that opinion does come in, I probably will have to sit down with the coaches and my family one more time just to make sure that getting back out there is the right decision for me.”

Stoops said he expected to make an announcement Tuesday on the status of second-team All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham, who missed the BYU game with cartilage damage in his right knee.

Stoops said doctors were consulting with Gresham, a top NFL prospect, before determining a treatment plan.

“It affects us in a big way, there’s no denying that,” Stoops said. “Jermaine’s a major presence and player and a go-to guy. It changes the complexion of our offense significantly, but you deal with it.”

Serena Williams joined her sister in the U.S. Open’s third round with a dominating victory.

The second-seeded Serena was pretty close to perfect in beating 51st-ranked Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour Wednesday night.

Serena is seeking her fourth U.S. Open championship and 12th Grand Slam singles title overall. The American is trying to become the first woman to win consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows since older sister Venus in 2000-01.

The siblings could play each other in the semifinals. Third-seeded Venus Williams won earlier Wednesday, eliminating Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States 6-4, 6-2.

Former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters also won, continuing her impressive Grand Slam comeback with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory over French 14th seed Marion Bartoli in the second round.

Serena played Czink at a hard-court tournament in California in July, and things were much more competitive until Serena eventually prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (7).

Why was Wednesday’s encounter so different?

“I definitely made adjustments,” Serena said. “I knew her game better today.”

Czink simply couldn’t handle Serena’s power, like a baseball hitter whose swing is too slow to get around on a fastball and keeps fouling off pitches.