In lieu of recent allegations made against the German team for having what many have claimed to have been an unfair advantage is using the official World Cup ball for practice, Adidas has come out to deny the validity of any such statements and to testify to the fairness for all in the World Cup competition.

The ball in question was released last December 4th and premiered in Munich, thus helping to fuel the claim that Germans have had far longer to practice with the official ball than any other global team. At that time, however, the Munich competition where the World Cup’s official ball debuted had been attended by players from around the world, and since then the ball has been used in global competitions ranging from FIFA’s Club World Championship in Qatar to the matches being held in South Africa today. Continue Reading…

The Washington Redskins have gone through some drastic changes this offseason, but despite acquiring a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback in Donovan McNabb and a future hall of fame head coach in Mike Shanahan, the Skins seem to be on the verge of another big change by trading away arguably their best defensive player in Albert Haynesworth.

Before last season, the Washington Redskins were thought to have landed a really big fish in free agency by signing arguably the best defensive player in the league in Albert Haynesworth. Even though the Tennessee Titans had one of their best seasons in franchise history, they weren’t willing to sign Haynesworth to the kind of money he was demanding and the Redskins took advantage. Continue Reading…

Thursday, the Colorado Avalanche announced that they have traded their forward T.J. Hensick in exchange for the St. Louis Blues forward Julian Talbot.

In addition to the trade of Hensick and acquirement of Talbot, the Avalanche has also re-signed two other forward including Kevin Porter and Philippe Dupois as well as defenseman Ray Macias.  All three of these men have signed a contract amounting to one-year. Continue Reading…

Thursday, the Baltimore Ravens confirmed that they have given a one-year contract deal to safety Ken Hamlin.  No specific details of this deal have been confirmed or released as of yet, but it is clear that he’ll take a pay deduction.

Hamlin is a former Dallas Cowboy, who he has been with since they acquired him as a free agent back in 2007 after sporting a Seattle jersey for the previous four years.  He only received a cost effective and short-term one-year contract with Dallas. Then a year later, Hamlin received a six-year contract deal that compared to Bob Sanders valued at $39 million, which also included a guaranteed $15 million. Continue Reading…

Wednesday night, the Texas Rangers took on the Florida Marlins.  Rangers had to take out a right-handed player in the third inning of the game – Tommy Hunter.  He had to leave the Rangers versus Marlin game due to some discomfort that he was experiencing in his right hip.

In the 2 1/3 innings that he pitched, he allowed no hits. In the third inning with one out, he walked Florida Marlins pitcher Anibal Sanchez.  He went on to throw three consecutive straight balls to Marlins’ Chris Coghlan.  It was then he departed from Wednesday’s game.  Left-handed Matt Harrison took Hunter’s spot on the mound and threw the fourth ball, which ended with a walk that went to Hunter. Continue Reading…

No other franchise in the NBA has been surrounded by more speculation during these NBA playoffs than the Cleveland Cavaliers. As if it wasn’t bad enough that the Cavs were knocked out in convincing fashion by the Boston Celtics in the second round, Cleveland has really started to clean house moving forward starting with the firing of five-year head coach Mike Brown.

Even though many people believed that someone had to take the blame for another earlier exit in the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the firing of Mike Brown was a bit surprising to some. Continue Reading…

Safety of the St. Louis Rams, Oshiomogho Atogwe, also known as O.J. Atogwe, is apparently planning a visit in Seattle sometime next week.  He is at the top of the list when it comes to free agents right now.

While 28-year-old, almost 29, Atogwe is planning to visit Seattle that does not mean that the Seahawks have any interest in the safety.  Actually, according to various media reports and team sources, they have shown no interest thus far. Continue Reading…

The Oakland Athletics have been in some serious need of a right-handed batter especially after letting go of one less than 48 hours ago.  The Oakland A’s just previously designated Jake Fox for assignment, which allowed the team to look for a more proficient, quality, and dependable right-handed batter.

The door seemed to open up at the right time for outfielder Conor Jackson as he has now been acquired by the Oakland A’s.  Jackson definitely has the power at bat when it comes to offense.  The A’s ultimately hope that Jackson will come in and get the job done. Continue Reading…

Ian Snell, pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, has now been selected for assignment.  To take his place, the Mariners recalled right-handed Brian Sweeney from AAA Tacoma.  Sweeney signed as a free agent for the Minor Leagues just two months on April 16.

Prior to being designated for assignment, Snell went 0-5 and had a 6.41 ERA.  And for the second time this year, Snell was sent to the bullpen on Monday with Luke French taking over his spot in the rotation.  His career record is 38-52 with an ERA of 4.80. Continue Reading…

Five players have signed their one-year tender deals with the Cleveland Browns according to the team announcement made today.  Of the five restricted free agents was running back Jerome Harrison.  Apart from RB Jerome Harrison was linebackers Matt Roth and veteran D’Qwell Jackson, safety Abram Elam as well as fullback Lawrence Vickers that signed one-year tender deals.

These five restricted free agents had until one minute before the clock struck midnight on Tuesday to sign these deals.  If they did not sign the one-year tenders by that time Tuesday night, the team would be allowed to reduce each of their 2009 base salaries by up to 10 percent. Continue Reading…