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Basketball News from NBA Noise

“One game does not make a season, but a few players have made some surprising debuts for their teams. Fantasy owners take note!

Yi Jianlian, New Jersey Nets - The Nets gave up Richard Jefferson for the future investment that is Yi Jianlian. After opening night, the Nets are hoping that his contributions will be making a positive impact on the team sooner than later. Yi posted a line of 17 pts., 6 rebs. and 2 blks. while shooting 2 for 2 from behind the arc…

Mario Chalmers, Miami Heat - Despite how much we’ve loved Chalmers’ offseason incident, and how I’ve openly criticized the HEAT’s personnel at the point guard position, Super Mario came to play in his season debut…

Jason Thompson, Sacramento Kings - Thompson is a highly athletic power forward who should be a cornerstone of the Kings for quite some time to come. In only 22 minutes of play, Thompson had a monster contribution of 18 points and 10 rebounds. This is a guy to definitely keep your eye on…

Of these guys, do you see this trend continuing this year? Who else have you been surprised with in this two-day-old season?”  Read the rest at NBA Noise

Great stuff from NBA Noise on Halloween Friday.  In addition to the players here, some others to keep an eye on include: Darrell Arthur, Michael Pietrus, Danny Granger, John Salmons and Wilson Chandler.

Great start to the season so far… good match-ups, star players and plenty of action.

Check out the Top 10 Plays in the NBA for 10/30/08:

Football News from NFL.com

As starters Bob Sanders, Joseph Addai and Kelvin Hayden were all cleared to
practice for the second straight day, the Colts announced cornerback Marlin
Jackson will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.  Continue reading on NFL.com

Add insult to injury for the Indianapolis Colts, who get good news on Bob Sanders and Joseph Addai, but lose another player to a season-ending injury.  The Colts are in serious trouble in the AFC playoff run and can ill afford any setbacks as they attempt to get back in the hunt.

Baseball News from L.A. Times

Brad Lidge and the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-inning sprint to win a suspended Game 5 nearly 50 hours after it started.

PHILADELPHIA — From losingest team to longest game, the Philadelphia Phillies are World Series champions. Continue reading on L.A. Times

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies for the longest Game 5 in World Series history!  The 5th game, stretching more than 2 days to complete, finally ended Wednesday in quick, 3-inning finish, as the Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win MLB’s championship.

Cole Hamels was named World Series MVP, but quite a few players were responsible for the great run that Philadelphia enjoyed.  Namely, Ryan Howard, Brad Lidge, Chase Utley and Shane Victorino, not to mention all the other Philly role players and pitchers.

Philadelphia Phillies World Series Video - Ya Gotta Believe:

The Portland Trail Blazers were high on most basketball analysts lists this year as a team on the rise, but the only thing we know after one game, is that their most heralded player is already on the bench for 2-4 weeks.

2nd year rookie Greg Oden injured his ankle in the first game of the NBA season against the Los Angeles Lakers. This, after a full 2007-2008 season in which Oden didn’t play a single game for Portland. Fans have to be on edge, as this former #1 NBA Draft pick continues to struggle and has not shown anything on the basketball court to-date. Against the Lakers, Oden was scoreless and only finished w/ 4 rebounds… hardly the performance everyone expected.

Football News from NFL.com

St. Louis coach Jim Haslett was optimistic early in the week about Steven Jackson’s return, but now it looks like the running back’s thigh injury is healing more slowly than the team hoped.  Continue reading on NFL.com

Baseball News from L.A. Times

Center fielder’s frustration level remains high as he watches the World Series and thinks back on the botched bunt that helped bring a premature end to Angels’ playoff run.

“Truth is, for me as a player, I probably would have let him hit.”  Continue reading on L.A. Times

Football News from NFL.com

The San Diego Chargers announced Tuesday that Inside linebackers coach Ron Rivera has been named the team’s new defensive coordinator following the termination of Defensive Coordinator Ted Cottrell.  Continue reading on NFL.com

This move should really be no surprise for San Diego Chargers fans, since the team’s defense has been less than spectacular.

The Dallas Cowboys’ Zach Thomas had a great quote the other day after the Cowboys squeaked out a win vs. the Bucs - the coaches make great calls, but the players are the ones who execute.  Fault the players for at least part of the poor performance - bench some players… whatever needs to be done.

Not sure that Rivera will have a better chance of succeeding than Cottrell did, but perhaps they will see an improvement.  If they don’t, the playoffs and Super Bowl go out the window for one of the preseason favorites.

Baseball News from L.A. Times

Ryan Howard connects for two home runs and winning pitcher Joe Blanton hits one as well in a 10-2 rout in Game 4.  Even their pitcher socked a ball into the seats. Continue reading on L.A. Times

The Philadelphia Phillies took a huge step Sunday night to becoming the next World Series champion in MLB.  Having escaped Game 3 w/ a late rally, the home run hitters for Philly left no doubt in Game 4 that they mean business.  The Tampa Bay Rays were simply no match for the power of Ryan Howard and even the pitcher, Joe Blanton.  The Rays pitcher had won 2 straight “Game 4″ playoff games, but this would not be his night.

The Phillies lead the series 3-1 w/ Game 5 tonight.

Football News from NFL.com

Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson has been charged with simple assault after allegedly spitting his drink in a woman’s face.  Continue reading on NFL.com

Football News from NFL.com

The Browns have agreed to rescind Kellen Winslow’s one-game suspension, but the Pro Bowl tight end will still miss Cleveland’s game on Sunday.  Continue reading on NFL.com

The pseudo-suspension of TE Kellen Winslow didn’t hurt the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, as they won against the Jacksonville Jaguars, 23-17.  Winslow has been more of a distraction than anything for the Browns, so I’m sure it was a relief for them to go out and get the victory over a tough AFC opponent.

Winslow, as evidenced by his behavior the past few years since being drafted, is quickly putting himself into the “spoiled ass” football player category, joining fellow players Terrell Owens, Plaxico Burress, Chad Johnson and Jeremy Shockey.

Baseball News from L.A. Times

Left-hander, at 45 the oldest player in the major leagues, is scheduled to start in front of a hometown crowd Saturday against Tampa Bay. He recalls watching the victory parade in Philadelphia in 1980.  History lives on every corner in this city, and in the home clubhouse too. Jamie Moyer is living history, witness to the last championship parade in honor of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Continue reading on L.A. Times

Football News from NFL.com

A staph infection in a bursa sac in Peyton Manning’s left knee led to the surgery that kept him out of much of the Indianapolis Colts’ preseason training camp, the team confirmed Friday.  Continue reading on NFL.com

For whatever reason, National Football League teams are “covering up” the fact that their players are suffering from staph infections at a steady rate.

First, we have Kellen Winslow of the Cleveland Browns being hospitalized for an undisclosed reason.  Several days later, after the team continued to keep quiet about the reasons, Winslow himself comes out and says the team tried to hide and didn’t have any compassion towards him (they didn’t even come visit :(  ).  The Browns retaliated by suspending the pompous tight end for this week’s game, which Winslow will protest… after all, he’s losing a paycheck.

The announcement by the Indianapolis Colts, comes only after the issue w/ Kellen Winslow, so had that incident not unfolded, we still might not know why Peyton Manning’s required knee surgery earlier this year.  Manning has struggled to open the season and his team is floundering in the AFC, but the team will surely rebound before the end of the season and make the playoffs.

STAPHGATE sits patiently waiting to take it’s next victim… Until then, let’s just hope that we get to continue watching TO and Chad Johnson make a mockery of the NFL.

And in case you’re wondering (according to WebMD):

Anyone can develop a Staph infection, although certain groups of people are at greater risk, including newborn infants, breastfeeding women, and people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer, vascular disease, and lung disease. Injecting drug users, those with skin injuries or disorders, intravenous catheters, surgical incisions, and those with a weakened immune system all have an increased risk of developing Staph infections.

What gets me, is why players in the NFL are hanging out w/ breastfeeding women and requiring intravenous catheters…OUCH!  Is this the new trend in strip clubs these days?

Baseball News from L.A. Times

Philadelphia gets seven strong innings from its starting pitcher, and Utley hits a two-run home as Tampa Bay fails to win the opener at home.  Cole Hamels, Chase Utley and the rest of the Philadelphia Phillies shook off a week’s worth of waiting and turned it into a World Series victory.  Continue reading on L.A. Times

Football News from NFL.com

The Patriots offered their continued support for injured quarterback Tom Brady on Thursday, denying a report that they are upset that he opted against the team’s preferred doctors.  Continue reading on NFL.com

Football News from NFL.com

Saying he was “kind of disgusted with myself,” a nervous-looking Larry Johnson apologized Wednesday for behavior that’s led to an NFL investigation and to his benching for a second straight week.  Continue reading on NFL.com

Larry Johnson’s behavior is simply ridiculous and doesn’t help to reflect the poor choices and values that many young men in his situation have.  “Kind of disgusted with myself”… this from a guy who has reportedly had issues w/ 4 women since being drafted into the NFL.  Spitting on women, hitting women, etc… that only makes him “kind of disgusted”? I’m “kind of disgusted” that the NFL allows him to keep playing and that the police are allowing him to roam the streets freely.

Once again, the NFL commissioner should extend his powers and suspend this idiot for additional games and require him to undergo counseling and get help for his consistently poor decision making.

To cover the other side of the Chiefs story today… both quarterbacks Damon Huard and Brodie Croyle have suffered season ending injuries, leaving Kansas City in an extremely tough situation.  Top running back out and the #1 and #2 quarterbacks out, not to mention their porous defense and disastrous record the past two seasons.  You never want to see a team pack it in, and it won’t happen here either, but you’ve gotta feel for Herm Edwards, one of the NFL’s best coaches.