NFL
49ers sign former Bengal to 6-year extension
SF Chronicle
In a move that shows the Niners willingness to put their money where their mouth is, the team signed outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks to a six-year contract extension today. Financial terms were not released, but ESPN’s Josina Anderson reported, via Twitter, that the deal has a maximum value of $44.5 million.
The deal is evidence that San Francisco is confident Brooks’ career-best season in 2011 was a harbinger of things to come. Brooks, who will turn 28 on March 14, played in all 16 games for the first time in his six-year career and posted 50 tackles and seven sacks, both career-bests. Brooks has 18 sacks since 2009, ranking second on the team to defensive tackle Justin Smith (22) over that span. He set a franchise record with five forced fumbles in 2009.
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Reds
More on Votto's future
Chicago Tribune
Jocketty will have to decide whether to trade first baseman Joey Votto for a package of prospects (the Blue Jays have amassed a war chest of talent with the idea of getting him) or let him enter 2013 with the likelihood of leaving as a free agent. The price to sign Votto long term is somewhere around $200 million for nine or 10 years and that’s not exactly in the economic wheelhouse for the Reds.
Fay: Notes on Latos, Francisco and Bray
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College basketball
SI: UC 11-seed, XU last four in
The Sporting News: UC 10-seed, XU-11 seed
Jerry Palm: UC 12-seed, XU 10-seed
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Show preview
7:05, Sports Talk
Guest
Hal McCoy, Dayton Daily News
John Thornton, back from the combine, 8:05
Topics
Reds
Your breakout candidate for '12 is? _______
Twitter: Are you following?
Follow for show and guest updates, breaking news and my random thoughts.
I'll also retweet the stuff from around Twitter that I think you might find interesting.
Follow @lancemcalister.
Did you miss them?
(CBS Sports photo)
(CBS Sports photo)
CBS college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg and Reds reliever Sean Marshall joined me on Sports Talk. Listen to the podcast HERE.
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Blast from the past
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Happy Birthday
Aroldis Chapman is 24
Neftali Soto is 23
Brian Reith is 34
The Reds aquired Reith in July of 2000, along with Jackson Melian, Drew Henson (Michigan QB) and Ed Yarnall, in exchange for Mike Frank and Denny Neagle.
Reith made his ML debut May 16, 2001 vs Arizona and Curt Schilling. He took a no-hitter 2 outs into the 6th inning before Steve Finley singled. He then allowed back to back HR's to open the 7th to Luis Gonzalez and Matt Williams.
Reith went 0-7 7.81 in 2001. He was 4-12 5.92 in 73 games over three years with the Reds.
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Bengals
Adding Richardson could make Bengals ''scary''
Dayton Daily News
The addition of Richardson would make the Bengals’ offense even more explosive.
In fact, one team general manager made the comment that adding a talent like Richardson could put Cincinnati’s young offense over the top, calling it “scary.” He’s a violent runner much like Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and a threat to take it the distance. Cincinnati hasn’t had that type of bell-cow runner since Corey Dillon.
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Reds
Reaction to the Marshall extension
Baseball Prospectus
The Reds didn’t waste long, hammering out a pact that will extend their relationship with Marshall for four seasons rather than one. This extension still looks like a victory for Cincinnati, which now gets four years of Marshall for around $20 million. Is it ideal to spend that much on a late-inning reliever? Maybe not, but Marshall seems to be cut from good cloth. It is worth noting that Marshall could earn an extra $1 million per season if he closes for the Reds. Alternatively, he could earn an extra $1 million based on games started—hey, laugh all you want, but credit Marshall’s agent for showing creativity and foresight.
Reds retool, look to tak NL Central
The Sporting News
The Reds were 29-33 in one-run games last season, the most one-run losses in the majors, and pitching was a big reason as the staff ranked 12th in the league in ERA (4.16) and the bullpen was tied for the league lead with 227 walks. In 2010, the team was 27-27 in one-run games.
“That’s what was different there. In 2010, we won a lot of one-run games and last year one-run games haunted us,” Baker said. “That’s one of the things that I tell these guys in the beginning of spring: The teams that win the one-run games are the teams that win.
(AP photo)
Votto inherits NL Central spotlight
Fox Sports
The Reds understand the peril of committing too much of a midsized payroll to one star: They went 0-for-9 in postseason appearances with Ken Griffey Jr. Of Votto’s future in Cincinnati, former Reds right-hander Aaron Harang said, “Few markets can keep that type of player.”
The Rangers, Dodgers and Nationals — competitive clubs with long-term questions at first base — are sure to monitor Votto’s status closely. The Blue Jays will be under intense pressure to pursue Votto if he hits the open market, since he was born and raised in Toronto. But Votto seemed unmoved by the local-boy-makes-good-and-comes-home narrative when I mentioned it to him. “I want to play for a good team,” said Votto, who now makes his offseason home in Florida. “Cincinnati has a good team right now.”
Tweet, tweet
After Reds signed Marshall is Votto nxt? NO..Reds have been told he'll need between Fielder&Pujols so no serious discussions are on-going
--Jim Bowden, on Twitter, @JimBowdenESPNxm
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Daytona 500
(US Presswire photo)
(US Presswire photo)
Well, that was interesting.
Last night was so weird, so different, so bizarre that I could not stop watching.
It became must see TV. 36 hours after the original Sunday start time they started just past 7pm last night. The raced ended at 12:56 AM. There was fire. There was rain. There was a wreck on Lap 2. Juan Pablo Montoya's car spun out and hit a drying truck with a jet engine onboard. That led to a fiery explosion as 200 gallons of jet fuel spilled onto the track. The race was delayed over two hours. Box after box of Tide detergent was poured onto the track and used to scrub the track clean. Not a bad two hour commercial for Tide. During the delay drivers were standing around on the track checking weather reports on Brad Kezelowski's phone. Brad was tweeting pictures of the scene. He went from 65,000 followers to 200,000+. I wanted to go to bed. But I didn't want to miss anything else. It became comical. I joked if they had simply started racing to Phoenix (next NASCAR stop) how far would they have gotten by around 1am when the race finished?
I joked I was hoping it would turn into a combo of Cannonball Run and Smokey and the Bandit. It seemed the only thing missing was Dom DeLuise as Captain Chaos.
A twitter follower joked it was like watching Reds/Phillies in the 19 inning game. Another follower wondered when Carlos Fisher was coming in? And another suggested the drivers just get out and finish with a footrace
Matt Kenseth was the winner. Kelly won our family pool and collects a major prize purse of $8. I can't wait to see what the TV ratings were. I'd love to see the hourly breakdown as word spread on Twitter about the explosion and fire on the track. I love night time racing. Why not run the Daytona 500 on Sunday night each year? It feels and looks bigger under the lights.
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NCAA basketball
High drama for St Louis and Xavier tonight
St Louis Post Dispatch
What's at stake? A win over Xavier would pretty much cement an NCAA tourney berth for SLU and keep alive its slim hopes of being conference co-champions with Temple. A win also would assure the Billikens would finish no worse than second in the league and give them a first-round bye in the conference tournament, though a win Saturday at Duquesne would do the same thing.
A loss, however, would be another hit to SLU's NCAA hopes, though probably not a fatal one since the Billikens have built up a little bit of a cushion. That cushion, though, would shrink and the pressure on SLU increase for the Billikens' regular-season finale at Duquesne.
SLU won the first meeting against Xavier this season, snapping the Musketeers' 43-game home conference winning streak.
As for Xavier, a loss could put its NCAA hopes in jeopardy. A win could put Xavier in.
North Carolina AD backs 128-team NCAA tournament
Charlotte Observer
"I think the first 64 games should be played at on-campus sites, but I think it could come about eventually," he said.
"When you have 348 teams trying to get what is now 68 places in the tournament, the odds are pretty long for a lot of teams. There are teams that don't have a great deal of hope."
Huggins questions his player's effort, courage
The Charleston Gazette
"This is as frustrated as I've been since my first year at Walsh College, when I went home and asked my wife, 'You think I could sell insurance because I can't do this?' '' Huggins said. "I can't lose like this. It just eats me up. I can't do it. And these guys, it doesn't seem to bother them much.''
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Check it out!
From Cal Poly Ponoma Athletics
"Wow. Double overtime. Regular season finale. Playoff seeding on the line. Buzzer beater from beyond halfcourt. What more can you ask for?
Cal Poly Pomona topped Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday with a Mitchel Anderson three-quarter court shot at the buzzer in double overtime lifting the Broncos to the 60-58 victory on Friday, Feb. 24, 2012."
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Sad story
Family 'hopeful' CHS athlete injured in crash will recover
Cullman Times
The Cullman community has been shaken by news of Winfrey's crash, taking to various forms of social media to offer support for he and his family. A #PrayForAndrew hash tag was used in numerous tweets by current and former Bearcat athletes and students.
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MLB
Guillen not a fan of Marlins' alcohol ban
Orlando Sun-Sentinel
"Most of the time they get in trouble it's not because of the clubhouse," Guillen said. "The game is over at 12 and they get in trouble at 3 o'clock in the morning. I have to go by what the Marlins want. [Players] will drink somewhere, somehow. When you have rules like that, the organization is not responsible for what happens out there. They're just protecting their butt and I don't blame them.
"I don't pay anybody in this place. When you pay, you have the power to make your own rules."
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Yonder talks
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