MySports Today

That was quick – just days after Stephon Marbury and the New York Knicks parted ways, Marbury agreed to terms with the Boston Celtics, passed his physical and helped the Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers in a closer than expected game on Friday night in Boston.  The Celtics needed a 9-0 run in the 4th quarter to pull away from the Pacers and Marbury was right in the middle of it, scoring 6 of 8 points during that span.  Marbury played 12 minutes – scoring 8 points, dishing out 2 assists and committing 3 turnovers.  Celtics teammates and Celtics fans both seemed to welcome the controversial guard with open arms.  Let’s see how long the honeymoon actually lasts.

Our prediction is that Marbury acts professionally for the Celtics the rest of the season.  A good showing with no issues or problems, could set Marbury up for a nice payday from some stupid NBA GM for the 2009-2010 NBA season.  It should be fun to see how this all plays out.

As for the rest of the game. Troy Murphy (20 points and 13 rebounds) and T.J. Ford (23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists) led the way for a solid effort by the Indiana Pacers.  Ray Allen led the Celtics with 30 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.  Rajon Rondo was a one-man assist machine – dishing out a stellar 17 assists.  Paul Pierce chipped in 16 points, Glen Davis added 18 points and Leonard Powe knocked in 14 points off the bench.

WOW – - show Albert the money!

The Washington Redskins – playing in the toughest division in the NFL with the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles – signed the biggest name in free agency to a lucrative 7-year, $100 million deal.  Albert Haynesworth, an All-Pro Defensive Tackle who played for the Tennessee Titans for the first 7 years of his pro career, signed the long-term deal with the Redskins which included an NFL-record $41 million fully guaranteed signing bonus.  Although Haynesworth only has 24 career sacks, 14.5 of those have come in the last 2 NLF seasons, with a career high 8.5 sacks in 2008.  During the 2008 NFL season, Haynesworth also had 75 tackles, 22 quarterback pressures, four forced fumbles and 7 tackles for losses.  The 27-year old lineman is 6-foot-6 and 320 pounds, so he has had his share of injury problems in his career – he hasn’t played in all 16 games in a season since his rookie 2002 season.  Haynewsworth has also been known to take a play off here or there, but those concerns were not enough to prevent Redskins Owner Dan Snyder from loosening those purse strings to land the big man in the middle.

Snyder didn’t stop there.  He also re-signed free agent cornerback DeAngelo Hall to a 6-year, $54 deal.  The Redskins acquired Hall after the Oakland Raiders released him during the course of the 2008 NFL season and he had 25 tackles and 2 interceptions in the Redskins’ final 7 games.  Hall passed Carlos Rogers on the depth chart and even started the last 4 games of the season.  Hall’s deal includes a $22.5 guaranteed signing bonus – this after the 25-year old earned a whopping $24 million signing bonus from the Raiders in the off-season preceding the 2008 NFL season.

The Redskins’ moves will send shivers down the spines of NFC East opponents.  Now the likes of Eli Manning, Tony Romo and Donovan McNabb will have to deal with the Haynesworth Affect in the middle of the defensive line twice each year.  You better believe that those 3 teams are already watching film and coming up with counter-measures to try to offset the havoc Haynesworth tends to create for other team’s offensive units.

Alex Rodriguez allegedly told one taunting fan to “Kiss My Hot Ass” during the Yankees first spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday…

Just kidding – although that would have been pretty funny.

Taunting and boos aside, Alex Rodriguez had a comfortable 1st spring game against the Blue Jays.  A-Rod hit a 2-run home run and walked twice in the Yankees 6-1 victory. He left the game after his walk in the 5th inning and he signed autographs for fans for about 5 minutes before departing the facilities.

In pre-game introductions and during his 1st few at-bats, the fans showered A-Rod with a mix of boos and cheers.  Some fans taunted A-Rod, asking him where his cousin was and where Madonna was.  This was A-Rod’s first public appearance since his admission that he took performing enhancing drugs while a member of the Texas Rangers from 2001 through 2003.

We’ll keep you posted with more A-Rod updates as the 2009 MLB season progresses.

Good news Knicks fans – - you won’t have to see this image anymore at the Garden during Knicks games.  The New York Knicks and disgruntled guard Stephon Marbury finally agreed to part ways this week.  The 2 sides agreed upon a buyout of his contract which was set to expire following the 2009-2010 NBA season.  He was set to make $20.8 during the 2009-2010 NBA season.

Marbury’s last official games was January 11, 2008.  Marbury took a leave of absence from the team in December 2007 following the death of his father.  He returned for a short time thereafter, but had season-ending ankle surgery after that January 11, 2008 contest.  Marbury reported to training camp and was present on the Knicks bench during the early part of the season, but refused to play for the Knicks.  He did not log any minutes during the current season, and Knicks President Donnie Walsh finally ordered Marbury to stay away from the team in early December.

It brings a sad end to an awful display of sportsmanship by the troubled Marbury.  The Brooklyn-born Marbury could have made his stay in New York City a memorable.  Instead, because of feuds with coaches and his refusal to practice or play in games, Marbury leaves the Knicks a bitter man and an NBA pariah.  There are rumors that the Celtics are set to pounce on Marbury once he clears waivers, but if I was the Celtics (or any other NBA team for that matter), I would run away as fast I could.

All good things must come to an end.   As widely reported earlier this week, the Indianapolis Colts made it official on Tuesday, releasing wide receiver Marvin Harrison after an amazing 13-year run with the Colts.  Colts owner Jim Irsay met with Harrison one more time today in an effort to convince Harrison to re-work his contract to fit within the team’s financial budget for the 2009 NFL season.  But when Harrison refused to accept a pay cut, the Colts decided to release the veteran.  Harrison has the highest salary-cap hit of any NFL wide receiver – sitting at a whopping $13.4 million for the upcoming campaign. The move will save the Colts around $6 million in salary cap space for the 2009 NFL schedule.

Harrison turns 37 years old in August.  He is the Colts all-time receptions leader with 1,102 career receptions.  But in 2008, Harrison had his least productive year with the Colts in a season in which he was not injured.  Harrison only had 60 receptions for 636 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Harrison has the 2nd most career receptions in NFL history.

The Colts will move on with Peyton Manning leading the charge.  Manning’s primary receivers will continue to be Reggie Wayne, Anthony Gonzalez and Dallas Clark.

A judge in San Francisco has ordered Barry Bonds personal trainer to court to find out whether he intends to testify next month at Bonds trial. Judge Susan Illston scheduled the hearing for Wednesday morning and ordered U.S. Marshals to tell Anderson and provide him with transportation, if needed.  The same judge barred prosecutors from using key evidence in the case, such as positive tests that showed Bonds used steroids. The evidence could be used if Anderson does testify. Anderson a long time friend of Bonds has said through his attorney that he will refuse to testify, and he may be sent to prison on contempt charges because of this. Trail is set to start on March 2nd.

Good timing or bad timing?

After numerous trade rumors swirled surrounding Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire last week, the Phoenix Suns and GM Steve Kerr elected not to trade the NBA all-star stud. The non-move looked like a good one for the Suns as he poured in 42 points in Phoenix’s 142-129 blowout victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. But in that game, a blow to the head may have aggravated an existing injury to Stoudemire’s right eye that caused the partial detachment of his retina. Stoudemire underwent surgery on Friday and he cannot resume physical activities for 8 weeks. Stoudemire originally injured the eye in training camp when he suffered a partially torn iris, with no damage to the retina. Stoudemire and the Suns had been monitoring the condition all season long with monthly eye doctor visits, but it appears something that happened during Wednesday’s game made the injury even worse.

The Suns are on the outside looking in right now. At 31-23, the Suns are the 9th seed in the Western Conference. They already traded Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, so the loss of Stoudemire stings even more. It will be interesting to see if the Suns will be able to catch the teams ahead of them in the playoff race – Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Hornets , Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers – all within 3 games of the Suns.

Other NBA teams clearly averted disaster by not being able to complete a deal for Stoudemire – those teams include the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors. Just goes to show you how sometimes the best trade is the trade you don’t make.

WOW!

Another amazing performance from King James. Lebron James scored 55 points on 16 of 29 shooting – 8 of 11 from 3-point range, dished out 9 assists and grabbed 5 rebounds against the Bucks on Friday night. The Cavs needed his entire effort as the Cavs trailed by 6 at halftime and had to ride James’ coattails in the 3rd quarter to take a 4-point lead heading into the 4th quarter. James hit a 33-foot heave at the buzzer before halftime to give him 25 points before the break. Then James went nuts at the start of the 3rd quarter – 16 points scored in the quarter’s 1st 3 minutes of play.

The Bucks are still looking to find a groove after losing their 2 best players – center Andrew Bogut and guard Michael Redd. Carlos Villanueva led the Bucks with 26 points and 13 rebounds, while Richard Jefferson chipped in 17 points in the loss. The Bucks hold on the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference is slipping – they now lead the Bulls by only 1/2 game.

As for the Cavs, they have played 3 less games than the top seed Boston Celtics, so they are sitting pretty. Will they have what it takes to take the #1 East Seed away from the defending NBA Champion Celtics? We’ll find out soon in the season’s final 29 games…

After pulling off a nice trade the day before (Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni, Cedric Simmons and Michael Ruffin to the Sacramento Kings for Brad Miller and John Salmons) Chicago Bulls GM John Paxson made a “what are you thinking” trade just before the trading deadline on Thursday. The Bulls sent disgruntled guard Larry Hughes to the New York Knicks for Tim Thomas. The Bulls acquired Larry Hughes at the trading deadline last year in a move to unload Ben Wallace. Hughes has never fit in on the Bulls roster (often refusing to pass the ball to Derrick Rose while in the game), which forced Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro to bench Hughes since January 12th. Hughes is averaging 12.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. Tim Thomas is averaging 9.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in about 20 minutes of play per game. This will be Thomas’ second stint as a Bull. Back during the 2005-6 NBA season, the Bulls acquired Thomas from the Knicks. Thomas played only 3 games and 30 total minutes for the Bulls before the Bulls sent him home that December for not fitting in with the team.

One positive on the deal – Del Negro has played with Thomas in Milwaukee and was familiar with him as an executive while in Phoenix. Del Negro will clearly spell out Thomas’ role with his new team and expects Thomas to be professional and contribute to the team on a nightly basis. Good luck with that Vinny…