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| Leach talks about firing, relationship with James family in first public interviews Making his first public comments after being fired by Texas Tech, former coach Mike Leach went into detail about his actions against Adam James ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
NFL Talkboard: Make your picks for Wildcard weekend Have your say on all the week's upcoming games and post your predictions for the first round of the play-offs below the lineWelcome to this week's NFL talkboard. For those of you who have stumbled upon it for the first time, this is the dedicated place on the sportblog where people can talk about American football.As with last season, we will be carrying on our predictions game into the play-offs. Last year we treated this as a completely separate competition to the regular season Pick Six – with everyone starting on zero in the standings. I propose we do the same again. Then at the end we can always have a check on the "overall" standings by adding regular-season records to post-season ones.In the meantime the regular-season winner is TommyCarcetti, who rather impressively picked six on the final weekend to move ahead of BobbyRobson at the top of the table. Props to DowFC, who also predicted all six games correctly. The final regular-season standings are at the bottom of this blog.New York Jets @ Cincinnati BengalsWildcard weekend looks awfully like a repeat of last weekend for six of the eight teams involved, and the Bengals will remember all too well that last week they were on the receiving end of a 37-0 pasting from the Jets. That result isn't to be taken too seriously, given that the Bengals had nothing, and the Jets everything, to play for, but New York will fancy their chances after finishing the season with the league's top-ranked defence.They also happen to have the league's best rushing offence, a recipe that would make them a serious Super Bowl contender were it not for the fact they also have the rookie Mark Sanchez at quarterback. Cincinnati will be a lot better with defensive tackle Domata Peko and end Robert Geathers back in the line-up, as well as Cedric Benson at running back. It's going to be close, and I would be surprised if either team manages more than 20 points, but I'll go with …Jets to winBaltimore Ravens @ New England PatriotsThe impact of losing Wes Welker cannot be overstated for the Patriots. Welker led the league in receptions – his total of 123 catches was 14 clear of his closest rival, Steve Smith – and was second in the league for receiving yards. New England may still have their home run hitter in Randy Moss, but Welker is the man who has kept them ticking along all season, the man Tom Brady looks to in a bind, the glue that holds it all together.Without him the Patriots will not win it all, but that is not to say they can't beat a Ravens team who haven't been that impressive at any point this season and who have repeatedly contrived to shoot themselves the foot, giving up a league-leading 1,094 yards on penalties. New England don't have a great pass rush, but I still wouldn't back Joe Flacco to put up great numbers against their defence, so much will rest on how well the Patriots can stop the run. They allowed 116 yards on 17 carries during a 27-21 win over the Ravens back in week four, but I think they'll do a better job this time around.Patriots to winPhiladelphia Eagles @ Dallas CowboysOf the three repeat match-ups, this is the only one that was played out at full intensity last weekend. Knowing that a win would give them home-field advantage, the Cowboys thumped the Eagles 24-0 and while I don't think the scoreline will be as lopsided this time it's hard to see Philadelphia winning after seeing their offence so comprehensively shut down. The Eagles have long been over-reliant on the big play, and Dallas's secondary seem to have a pretty good handle on how to force Donovan McNabb to keep checking down to his underneath receivers. With head coach Andy Reid neglecting the running game as much as ever, McNabb is not consistent enough to win that way.Cowboys to winGreen Bay Packers @ Arizona CardinalsLike the Jets-Bengals game, this one was a blow-out last weekend, but can be expected to play out very differently this time around. The Cardinals pulled their starters early in a 33-7 defeat, yet still lost their cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to a knee contusion – on the third play of the game – and receiver Anquan Boldin to a combination of an ankle sprain and sprained cruciate ligaments. Boldin would be missed if he can't play on Sunday but Arizona are deep at receiver and could cope. Rodgers-Cromartie, however, has been the team's top cover man this year, and would be a massive loss against a team as pass-happy as the Pack.Green Bay have momentum behind them after going 7-1 in the second half of the season – a stretch during which they have worked out how to keep Aaron Rodgers upright. The Packers gave up a league-leading 51 sacks in the regular season, but only seven in the last six games and a big part of that is because Rodgers has finally started releasing the ball quicker. This should turn into a shoot-out between him and Kurt Warner, and, with Rodgers-Cromartie out, I'd give Rodgers the edge.Packers to winFinal regular-season standingsFull standings, as always, can be found in the comments section of last week's blog1st TommyCarcetti – 65 correct picks2nd RobbyBobson – 623rd Percinho – 604th skipperD – 565th kennbry – 546th donwendyagain, grafhamboy, participationworks – 539th ECFC, tompll – 52NFLUS sportPaolo Bandiniguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Aston Villa frustrated as dogged West Ham hold firm Aston Villa failed to cash in on slip-ups by their rivals as West Ham United earned a share of the spoils at Villa Park to move out of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Scotts to offer Reds-branded seed Cincinnati Reds fans will be able to buy team-branded grass seed and fertilizer this year based on the products used at Great American Ball Park. (SMG) feeds.bizjournals.com |
Today in Sport: Have your say on the day's news Discuss the day's big issues, send us your favourite links, follow us on Twitter and take a look at our 2010 sport calendar8.10am: Good morning and welcome to our daily sports news blog. Throughout the day we will update this page with news, links, and what's expected to happen in the hours ahead. Time permitting, we'll try to wade in below the line, answering your questions and comments. We'll have an update on how we expect the news to develop after our morning meeting but in the meantime here's what has happened while you've been snoozing:Marin Cilic has just beaten the Andy Roddick in a five-set thriller on the Rod Laver Arena, with the Croatian prevailing 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3. Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal will have a hard act to follow - they're next up on court and Paolo Bandini will be bringing you a game-by-game report as soon as that gets underway. Justine Henin has won her way through to the semi-finals of the women's singles where she'll play Zheng Jie, the first Chinese woman ever to reach the last four in Melbourne. Henin beat Nadia Petrova 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, while Zheng saw off Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-3. In the girls' singles, Great Britain's Laura Robson qualified for the third round with a win over Yulia Putintseva. The 16-year-old defeated the Russian 11th seed in three sets: 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. There was also success for Great Britain's No1 boys' singles player Oliver Golding, who came from a set down to beat Ireland's Sam Barry 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, 6-4. [BG]8.19pm: In an interview that's so moving it would bring a tear to a glass eye, Donald McRae meets John Hartson and discusses the former Celtic legend's brave ongoing battle against the cancer that, left unattended, spread from his testicles to his lungs and brain. [BG]8.38am: It's been confirmed that the South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has announced his resignation from the position with immediate effect. South Africa are due to leave for a tour of India within the next few days, but Arthur, who has been in charge since May 2005, will not be going with them.9.29am: If you haven't already, why not join Paolo for game-by-game coverage of Murray v Nadal. They've already traded breaks early on, with Murray currently 3-2 up on serve in the opening set.Today's Rumour Mill is also available for your reading pleasure, today featuring update No999 on Arsène Wenger's search for a new striker. KM9.50am: We've had our morning meeting and here's a taster of what you can look forward to later today ...• There are Manchester United and Manchester City press conferences ahead of tomorrow night's Carling Cup semi-final second leg. • Chelsea and Arsenal are also giving press conferences ahead of their Premier League matches against Aston Villa and Birmingham City respectively.• We'll be providing minute-by-minute coverage of tonight's Premier League encounter between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham. Kick-off at White Hart Lane is pencilled in for 8pm. • We'll be keeping you posted on the reaction to Mickey Arthur's resignation from the post of South Africa cricket coach. • Fifa president Sepp Blatter's been shooting his mouth off again - we'll have the story up on our football website very shortly. • In boxing, there's a press conference scheduled for later today in which David Haye and John Ruiz will try get trash-talking in order to drum up business ahead of their bout in Manchester's MEN Arena on 3 April, Haye's first defence of the WBA World Heavyweight title he won from Nikolay Valuev in November. [BG]10.08am: The Gallery is now up on the site, as Fergie cashes in his spare gold, BenÃtez goes begging to Obama and Ali al-Faraj enters the Dragons' Den ... why it must be Premier League teams in the red. And if you have a spare minute or two, next we'd like to see your takes on the Madchester derby. As for Murray, he's taken the first set 6-3 against Nadal. Ricky Hatton is apparently watching on in Murray's box. Not sure what the connection is there ...? KM10.30am: Bad news for Australia, Japan and the USA. England's hopes of staging the 2018 World Cup have been given a lift by the news that Fifa is planning to restrict bids for the event to countries from Europe. England, Russia and joint bids from Spain and Portugal, and Belgium and the Netherlands are currently competing to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. [BG]11.26am: Sky Sports News are reporting that Fulham have accepted a bid from Manchester United for defender Chris Smalling. Fulham haven't confirmed or denied the story yet, but we'll bring you confirmation as soon as we have it. The 20-year-old signed for Fulham from Kent non-league side Maidstone United in 2008 and was recently linked with Arsenal. [BG]11.32am: Meanwhile in Melbourne, Murray is doing really rather well. He's now two sets to love up against Nadal and also leads the defending champion by a break in third. You can follow (what will hopefully be) the closing stages of the match here. KM11.35am: Well I think I gave Rafa the kiss of death. No sooner did I write that, he quit injured, the world No2's dodgy knees once again letting him down. Murray was leading 7-6, 6-3, 3-0 at the time. So Murray's through to his first Australian Open semi-final, where he'll face Croatia's Marin Cilic, who beat him at the US Open last year. We'll have a report from our man in Melbourne, Kevin Mitchell, up on the site soon. KM12.53pm: Here's Kevin Mitchell's report on Murray's victory over Nadal. Even Kevin seems to be getting a bit excited that Murray could be about to go where no British man has gone since Fred Perry in 1936. Elsewhere, Sir Alex Ferguson has shrugged off suggestions he should warn United's players about their discipline heading into part two of the Manchester derby and David Haye will make the first defence of his WBA heavyweight title against John Ruiz at the MEN Arena on 3 April. KM2.20pm: OldDivision4, the Football League blog has just gone live. This week Louise Taylor looks at how lower league teams fared in the FA Cup fourth round. Also on the sportblog: Andy Bull's weekly delivery of the Spin.A couple of pieces of breaking news too: Portsmouth's transfer embargo has been lifted and Rio Ferdinand could miss Manchester United's game at Arsenal on Sunday after being charged with violent conduct for lashing out at Craig Fagan. Talking of Arsenal, they could provide United with a bit of competition for the signature of Chris Smalling. KM3.25pm: We've now got some video highlights of Murray's quarter-final win against Nadal above. Of course it's a great achievement for Murray, though it's not nice to see Nadal in pain. You have to wonder whether Nadal's aching knees will ever allow him to be the force he once was. KM4.08pm: United have just confirmed they have agreed a deal to sign Chris Smalling. Not bad for a defender who was playing non-league football with Maidstone two years ago. This is the statement on the club's website:"United have agreed terms with Fulham to sign young central defender Chris Smalling.The 20-year-old Greenwich-born defender will join the Reds from the start of the 2010/11 season. He will remain at Fulham until the end of the current season." Sure Ferguson will be happy to get one over on Arsène Wenger, who as mentioned earlier was also tracking Smalling. KM4.30pm: Another Premier League player on the move: Craig Gardner will make the short trip across the Second City after Birmingham agreed a fee of £3m for the midfielder. He has joined from Aston Villa on a four and a half-year deal. While in the Championship the Peterborough chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, has blamed a whole host of nefarious forces 'within' the club for their 'disasterous' season:"The team spirit from the last two years has nearly been destroyed by greed, skulduggery, tapping up and disloyalty from within and this has all occurred over the last 120 days or so, non stop and is eating away at our inner core." GR5.22pm: That's about it for the blog today, but before we go there's some bad news for Crystal Palace fans: the club have gone into administration, triggering the Football League's automatic 10-point deduction. On a brighter note, be sure to stay tuned for tonight's Tottenham v Fulham minute-by-minute, with Barney Ronay the man on duty. The other Premier League matches this evening are Bolton v Burnley, Portsmouth v West Ham and Wolves v Liverpool, while there's an (almost) full programme in the lower leagues. Thanks for your comments today and see you tomorrow. KMBarry GlendenningKaty Murrellsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |