Friday Tidbits - 2/27/09

NBA

Amare Stoudemire could miss the rest of the season with an eye injury. 

LeBron James dropped 55.  Dwyane Wade dropped 50. 

Monta Ellis (ankle) will miss a week or two. 

The Knicks bought out Stephon Marbury’s contract.  Mikki Moore signed with Boston.  Dwight Howard had a 20-20 game. 

The NBA has a bailout plan ($200 million) for its struggling franchises.

NHL

Carolina’s Justin Williams (hand) went on the I.R.  Tampa Defensemen Paul Ranger (how cool is that name?) and Andrej Meszaros are set to have shoulder surgery next week. 

The Islanders sent Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli to Ottawa for Dean McAmmond. 

The Rangers fired Ccach Tom Renney and replaced him with John Tortorella.  They also grabbed Mark Bell of waivers. 

Anaheim traded Chris Kunitz to Pittsburgh for Ryan Whitney.  Martin Brodeur returned from injury with a Shutout.  Dallas sent Doug Janik to Montreal for Steve Begin.

Shutouts:  NY Islanders’ Yann Danis vs. New Jersey, Florida’s Tomas Vokoun vs. Boston, Nashville’s Pekka Rinne vs. St. Louis, San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov vs. Dallas, Montreal’s Jaroslav Halak vs. Vancouver, Philadelphia’s Martin Biron vs. LA, Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury vs. NY Islanders, Boston’s Tim Thomas vs. Anaheim, New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur vs. Colorado, Columbus’ Steve Mason vs. Edmonton.

Hat Tricks:  Phoenix’s Olli Jokinen  vs. L.A., Carolina’s Matt Cullen vs. Colorado

 

MLB

Brian Roberts signed a four-year extension worth $40 million.  Ryan Zimmerman signed a one-year deal.  Orlando Hudson signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers. 

Jason Isringhausen signed a Minor League deal with Tampa.  The Twins signed Joe Crede.  The Pirates gave Manager John Russell an extension.  Garrett Anderson signed a one-year deal with Atlanta.  Washington released Odalis Perez. 

Vernon Wells hurt his hamstring.  He’ll miss two weeks.  Jeff Francis had shoulder surgery.  Boof Bonser will miss the season with a shoulder injury.  Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum signed a one-year deal with the Giants. 

The Dodgers made a signing.  No, it wasn’t Manny, but Doug Mientkiewicz.

 

NFL

Right Tackle Vernon Carey signed a six-year deal with Miami.  Michael Crabtree has a stress fracture in his foot.  Pittsburgh signed Max Starks. 

The Colts released Marvin Harrison.  Atlanta released Lawyer Milloy.  Oakland cut Kwame Harris and Justin Griffith.  Kansas City cut LB Donnie Edwards, Damon Huard, and Patrick Suratin.  The Rams cut QB Trent Green and WR Drew Bennett.  Channing Crowder re-signed with Miami.  The Jets cut Laveranues Coles. 

Roger Goodell actually did something decent and took a 20 percent pay cut. 

Brandon Jacobs signed a four-year extension with the Giants.  Tampa Bay cut Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn, Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard, and Cato June.  Miami signed S Gibril Wilson.  Buffalo cut G Derrick Dockery and TE Robert Royal.  The Skins re-signed DeAngelo Hall.  The Colts re-signed Jeff Saturday.

 

NCAA Basketball

Washington State beat No. 15 UCLA.  Maryland upset No. 3 UNC as Greivis Vasquez had a triple-double (35 points, 11 Rebounds, 10 assists).  St. Marys beat No. 23 Utah State.  Texas beat No. 2 Oklahoma.  No. 14 Villanova beat No. 24 Syracuse.  No. 9 Duke beat No. 8 Wake Forest. 

Arkansas-Little Rock kicked leading scorer Steven Moore to the curb. 

No. 3 Oklahoma, without Blake Griffin, fell to No. 15 Kansas.  Providence beat No. 1 Pitt.  Marquette’s Dominic Jones (foot) will miss the rest of the year.  Jim Calhoun won his 800th game as No. 2 UConn beat No. 10 Marquette.  Virginia Tech beat No. 13 Clemson.  Michigan beat No. 16 Purdue.  No. 21 Washington State beat No. 11 Arizona State.

 

NCAA Football

Illinois suspended DT Josh Brent after he got picked up for a DUI.  Nebraska QB Patrick Witt is transferring.  Washington State QB Marshall Lobbestael was suspended after getting arrested for drinking underage.

 

Other Sports

Phil Mickelson won the Northern Trust Open.  Danny Lee won the Johnnie Walker Classic.  Loren Roberts won the ACE Group Classic on the Champions Tour.  Tiger Woods won his Accenture Play Match against Brendan Jones.  Tim Clark beat Tiger in his second match.

Kyle Busch won Nationwide’s NNS at California.  Earlier in the day he won the the Camping World Truck’s San Bernardino County 200.  He became the first driver ever to win two events on the same day.  Matt Kenseth won the Sprint Series race at the Auto Club Speedway.  Busch had to settle for third.

Andy Roddick beat Radek Stepanek to win the ATP Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.  Tommy Robredo beat Juan Monaco to win the ATP Copa Telmex.  Victoria Azarenka beat Caroline Wozniacki to win the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup.  Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beat Gisela Dulko to win the WTA Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas.

 

That concludes the Tidbits. As always feel free to add any stories you liked this week in sports or discuss any of the stories I mentioned.  Be sure to check out my Links Page for some great sites.