News & Notes

MLB

- A potential deal between the Toronto Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks has hit a snag, according to the Toronto Star. The deal would have sent 1B Lyle Overbay to Arizona in exchange for C Chris Snyder. The Jays are weary about making the deal because of Snyder's injury history. Stay tuned for more on the situation.
- The Philadelphia Phillies have declined the 2010 contract option for 3B Pedro Feliz. The team has not ruled out the possibility of bringing Feliz back into the fold next season.
- According to the agent of former-Jay P Victor Zambrano, the mother of the former major leaguer was kidnapped today in Venezuela. She was taken by eight armed men from Zambrano's farm in Villa de Cura.

NBA

- The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that Memphis Grizzlies G Allen Iverson is contemplating retirement. He left the team last week to deal with personal issues. The announcement came after he complained for a week about his role on the team and the coaching staff. As history goes to show, Iverson isn't great at dealing with these type of situations. It will be interesting to see if he returns to the NBA.
- Mark Stevens, the agent for G/F Stephen Jackson, lashed out at the Golden State Warriors and specifically head coach Don Nelson today. He attacked the coaches character and credibility. "No one trusts Don Nelson," he told ESPN magazine. Steven wants his client out of Golden State and is struggling to get Nelson and the Warriors to comply with his request.
- The Los Angeles Lakers have decided to bring in long-time basketball guy Chuck Person as a consultant to work with SF Ron Artest. Person spent some time with Artest while in Indiana and could be a good influence on the infamous "bad boy". Artest nearly had a blow-up already this season against the Houston Rockets when he got into an altercation with Rockets SF Trevor Ariza. "I wanted to grab his throat because he hit me with an elbow, but I didn't," Artest told the New York Daily News. "It was a thought, you know, but then I thought about David Stern, and said 'OK, I'm not going to do this."

NFL

- The Kansas City Chiefs have released RB Larry Johnson today. He concludes his career with the Chiefs finishing with 30 100-yard rushing games and two 100-yard receiving games.
- According to TMZ.com, NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident on Sunday. Surprisingly, Taylor was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of his arrest. Taylor has a long history of drug and alcohol abuse. This is not his first run in with the police.
- Chicago Bears DT Tommie Harris was ejected from Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals after throwing a punch at Cardinals RG Deuce Lutui. It will be interesting to see what kind of disciplinary action will be taken by the NFL.
- Tony Dungy thinks that Eagles QB Michael Vick could end up in Buffalo by next season. During last night's broadcast of Sunday Night Football, Dungy mentioned that Vick had spoken with the Bills before deciding to sign with Philadelphia. "There are some teams looking for quarterbacks: Cleveland, St. Louis, Washington," Dungy said. " But I think the dark horse is Buffalo. They talked originally. There was some communication there. I think that could be a great spot."

NHL

- The Carolina Hurricanes have signed veteran G Manny Legace to replace the injured G Cam Ward. The Associated Press broke the story early today. The deal is worth $500k for 1-year. Ward is expected to miss up to six weeks to recover from a cut on his leg he suffered on Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
- Minnesota Wild RW Petr Sykora suffered a concussion during Saturday's win over the Dallas Stars. He will be out of the lineup indefinitely.
- According to the New York Post, the Rangers have been scouting Peter Forsberg in Sweden. He has been testing his chronic foot injury in the Karjala Cup tournament.

MMA

- The much-anticipated match-up between Fedor Emilianenko and Brett Rodgers took place on Saturday night. The fight lived up to expectations. Fedor proved once again that he is the best in the world and defeated the younger, larger opponent via knockout in the second round. Rodgers was very heated at the conclusion of the fight. Most likely because of the dejection of taking his first loss. Although he lost, he looked impressive, winning the first round decisively. Fedor's explosiveness proved to be the difference. Both fighters mentioned after the fight that they would accept a re-match.
- Strikeforce announced over the weekend that middleweight champion Cung Le will return to the ring to defend his title against Scott Smith on December 19th.
- The UFC has announced that Stephan Bonnar will meet Canadian Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia. The two will fight at light-heavyweight.
- Dana White posted his first entry for his UFC 105 blog today. Go to the Featured Videos section to check it out.