RAY RICE STAYING IN BALTIMORE

Ravens just beat the deadline, sign Ray Rice to long-term deal

Twitter: @LogannRobertt

Ray Rice can now afford all the Muscle Milk he wants. (Getty Images)There were two franchise-caliber running backs hoping to get long-term contracts for themselves before Monday's 4 p.m. ET deadline, and both of them — Chicago's Matt Forte and Baltimore's Ray Rice — wound up with success.

We've already reported the Forte deal, and the Ravens came in just under the deadline by signing Rice to a five-year contract worth $40 million maxed out; $17 million in the first season, $25 million over the first two seasons and the first $24 million guaranteed.

"This is another example of [team owner] Steve Bisciotti's commitment to the team and to our fans to retain our core players," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said in the press release announcing the deal. "Ray has been an integral part of us earning the playoffs in each of his four seasons, and that includes helping us get to two AFC championship games. His production on the field speaks for itself, and his leadership in the locker room is outstanding.

"I should say something about his community efforts; I think they are almost unmatched by any player in the NFL. You'd have a hard time finding a player who does more or is as serious about helping others as Ray is. He is one of those players you can proudly say, 'He's on our team.'"

The deal puts Rice in line with the NFL's best-compensated backs, including Adrian Peterson (seven years, $100 million, $30 million guaranteed), Chris Johnson (four years, $53.5 million, $30 million guaranteed), LeSean McCoy (five years, $45.6million, $20.8 million guaranteed), and Arian Foster (five years, $43.5 million, $20.8 million guaranteed). It's also quite a bit pricier than Forte's four-year, $32 million deal with $18 million guaranteed, but Rice has earned every bit of his new agreement.

It's a crucial move for the Ravens, because Rice has grown into the fulcrum of their offense. It's not what was expected out of a "too short, too small" back selected in the late second round of the 2008 draft out of Rutgers. Rice had a chip on his shoulder from Day 1, and he proved as soon as he was able that he could do anything and everything expected of an elite NFL back.

Rice started just four games in his rookie campaign as the man behind Le'Ron McClain and Willis MaGahee, but from his second season through his fourth, he's been a model of consistency. From 2009 through 2011, Rice has averaged 1,308 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 284 carries per season, and has added an average of 72 catches per season for 654 yards and three touchdowns.

LINSANITY, WILL IT HAPPEN NEXT YEAR, AND 


FOR HOW MUCH?

Follow me on twitter: @LogannRobertt

The Knicks would match any offer sheet for restricted free-agent guard Jeremy Lin from the Houston Rockets — became quite unclear Saturday night, after the Knicks agreed to terms with free-agent guard Raymond Felton in a sign-and-trade deal with Portland. The Knicks also received forward/center Kurt Thomas from the Blazers for a second tour of duty in New York. In exchange, the Knicks sent forward Jared Jeffriesand center Dan Gadzuric to Portland.

Felton reportedly signed a three-year, $10 million contract with New York, a hefty deal for someone that wasn’t going to play very much as a third point guard. The Knicks already signed Jason Kidd to a three-year, $9.5 million deal earlier this month, and also have Argentinian guard Pablo Prigioniunder contract. Bringing back Lin, the undrafted guard out of Harvard who electrified crowds in New York in a three-week stretch in early February that was quickly dubbed “Linsanity,” seemed a formality. But unless the Knicks are planning to play Kidd much more at shooting guard next season, it would appear they have at least one point guard too many around.

The Rockets, according to a source, thought there was a chance Saturday that the Knicks wouldn’t match the offer sheet. New York will have three days from when it receives the sheet to decide whether to match it or not. If it matches the offer sheet, it can’t trade Lin until next July.

The Rockets signed Lin to a three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet Friday, reworking the terms of the key third year of the contract from earlier proposals they had made in the week. In the offer sheet Lin signed, after getting $5 million in the first year of the contract and $5.225 million in the second, he’ll be paid $14.898 million in the third. Houston could do that because for cap purposes, the value of his deal is averaged for the team that signs a restricted free agent to an offer sheet and offers him a raise larger than the normal average in the third year. That means Lin would count for a little more than $8 million each year on Houston’s cap, even though he’d be paid less than that in each of the first two seasons and more than that in the third year.

But that won’t be the case for the Knicks. New York will have to absorb that entire $14.898 million in year three, which is the same year the Knicks are already on the tab for $24.3 million for Carmelo Anthony, $23.4 million for Amar’e Stoudemire and $14.5 million for Tyson Chandler. Those four salaries alone would put New York above the salary tax threshold of $70 million this season. By then, the more punitive penalties of the new collective bargaining agreement for taxpaying teams would kick in, with teams paying $1.50 in tax for every dollar they exceed the threshold up to $5 million. They would pay $1.75 in tax for every dollar they exceeded the threshold by $5 million to $10 million, $2.50 per dollar from $10 million to $15 million above the threshold and $3.25 per dollar they exceeded the threshold from $15 million to $20 million. And if a team is a “repeater,” having exceeded the threshold three straight seasons, those rates would increase by a dollar per $5 million above the threshold–to $2.50, $2.75, $3.50 and $4.25 per dollar over.

Those amounts of tax could quickly become prohibitive, even for a team like New York, perhaps the biggest revenue producing team in the league. It would be a key test of the new CBA, which was designed to discourage the league’s highest-spending teams from hoarding good players.

Still, letting Lin walk would be a surprise, given his impact both on the court and in terms of potential merchandising opportunities in New York. Lin jerseys and t-shirts flew off the shelves in the heyday of Linsanity, which ended quickly after Lin suffered a knee injury late in the regular season and missed the Knicks’ first-round series with Miami. Lin didn’t mesh with Anthony, who’d been injured when Lin first got his opportunity, when Anthony returned.

Felton, the former first-round pick of the Bobcats, played well in his first run in New York after signing as a free agent in 2010. Playing for then-coach Mike D’Antoni, Felton averaged 17.1 points and 9.3 assists in 54 games before being sent to Denver as part of the trade that brought Anthony to New York. Felton then was traded to Portland, where he had a disastrous season. He reported to camp out of shape after the lockout, and never meshed with former coach Nate McMillan, shooting just 40 percent from the floor.

Houston is continuing to try and amass assets as it looks to add a star player. The Rockets have long coveted Dwight Howard from Orlando, even though Howard has indicated he wouldn’t sign a contract extension if traded there, and would become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Houston is expected to give Bulls reserve center Omer Asik a three-year deal similar to Lin’s.

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7 Things That Kind Of Suck About The New Facebook

Posted By: Desi Jedeikin on 09.21.11

The new Facebook is here and if you don't have it yet I'm sure you're well aware about it from the panicked status updates of your close friends and acquaintances. It's so bad people are begging Justin Timberlake to hurry up on that MySpace revamp. So what's the big deal? Here's a look at some of the suck.

Facebook Decides What's Important To YOU!

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Remember how you used to have that tab with a choice for 'top news' and 'recent news' and you would always just ignore the top news one? Now you can't choose anymore. Facebook knows what you want and what's important to you. It's true. They have algorithms. I can barely spell that word. I had to quadruple check the spelling and it still doesn't look right to me.

It Looks Uglier

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Facebook was pretty boring before but at least it was kind of soothing with its simplicity and its calming blues. Now I feel like a need to pop a Ritalin when I'm looking at it. There is SO much going on! The only agitation I wanna feel from looking at Facebook is when my cousin posts the umpteenth picture of her newborn baby's weird mustard-colored poos.

Subscribe Button? More Like Stalker Button!

(source)
This works for people in the public eye...but seriously? There is only one reason you'd wanna follow someone without having to go through the rigmarole of having them approve you first. And it probably involves Edward Cullen-like behavior without the sparkle. The subscribe button is the equivalent of standing outside someone's window and watching them sleep. But still less creepy, so subscribe away!

Real Time News Ticker

(source)
This is kind of like Facebook's ode to Twitter, only instead of witty bon mots, you get to see things like your 13-year-old cousin spending an hour liking and commenting on everything Justin Bieber posts. Remind me to take her off my family list until she grows out of this phase.

Huge Photos

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I guess this is kind of a good thing? The thumbnail ones were kind of annoying, but at least if it wasn't something you wanted to see it wasn't so in your face. Remember when I mentioned the mustard-colored poo pics ? Not so bad in a teeny thumbnail.

Awkward Group Decisions

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I don't get the groups. I don't have time to sort people or time to even figure out HOW to sort people. And I certainly don't want to be grouped together with my family. This is supposed to make it easier to decide who gets to see what I post? Sounds like too much work. And Facebooking is what I do instead of work.

News Feed Now Clogged With Complaints About Facebook

(source)
Perhaps the most annoying new feature is the prolific amounts of status updates threatening to go back to MySpace or Friendster. Even worse... the smug invitations to join someone on Google+. SIDE NOTE: Do the Google+ lovers just keep their Facebook account to taunt us? Come on Zuckerberg! Get your act together. These whiners' "stories" are not important to me! You're going DOWN, algorithms!
Do you have the new Facebook? What do you think? Are you sick of the complaining already like me? Let me know @desijedeikin or in the comments below!

Jones comes out on top UFC 135

DENVER -- It was nearly 18 years ago that the first UFC was held in Denver. And on the day it came back to the Mile High City, one of the sport's pioneers fought in his last bout. The company’s sweet homecoming turned into a sayonara of sorts.

Maybe, that is.

 




Chuck Mindenhall
ESPN.com
Archive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR2IPKFwaCQ

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Matt Hughes did what he could against Josh Koscheck. It didn’t go the way he had hoped, but it ended up how many expected. He lost. Hughes was game, but in the end he didn’t have the speed or athleticism to match Koscheck’s. The two-time welterweight champion/current UFC Hall of Famer went down via a first-round knockout. This part of was fairly predictable.

What he’ll do next isn’t. It was only the ninth loss in a career that spans 54 fights. Nearly five years ago to the day -- Sept. 23, 2006 -- Hughes defended the 170-pound belt for the last time against B.J. Penn. Not long after he came to from being knocked out Saturday -- the second time in a row, the last against none other than Penn at UFC 123 -- he smiled, shook his head, and treated it as he has everything in his career.

As a professional who left it out there.

Yet with the microphone in his face, just when everyone expected him to announce his retirement and give the “it’s been a crazy run” speech, he went all anticlimactic in front of the 16,000 people on hand at the Pepsi Center.

“I’m not retiring,” he said. “I’m going to tell the UFC to put me on a shelf and we’ll see what happens after that.”

Koscheck-Hughes By The Numbers

Stats	Koscheck	Hughes
Total Strikes Landed/Att	29/54	14/53
Takedowns	0/1	0/0

Leading up to the fight, Hughes talked about retirement as a virtual certainty. He said his wife was the one pushing the notion, and he didn’t have much defense left to fight that fight. Yet at an obvious moment to walk away, he kept the door slightly ajar. It might be that he wants to take time and think about it. Or it might be that he wants to just sort of fade out without all the hoopla. That would be Matt Hughes’ style.

And that’s what UFC president Dana White said at the postfight newser.

“I think he’s going to retire,” he said. “I just don’t think that Hughes wants to say the word 'retire.' There was a lot of talk that this was the last fight of his contract, and I don’t know whether that’s true or not. He’s a guy I’ve never worried about, last fights or whatever. I was just talking to him out in the hallway and he’s going to fly out to Vegas in a month or so and sit down and talk. I’m pretty sure he’s going to hang it up ... without saying ‘retiring.’”

If Hughes does choose to call it a career, it will go down as one of the most storied in the UFC’s history. Hughes defended the welterweight belt seven times between 2002 and 2006. The Fertitta brothers and Dana White bought the UFC in 2001. Hughes and Zuffa’s UFC are synonymous. They have been linked together the whole way, through thick and thin (Hughes fought twice under the UFC banner prior to Zuffa). He’s an old school carryover. And therefore, if he wants to fight again -- and remember, he won three out of four heading into the bout with Koscheck -- he will be granted a fight.

It’s easy to imagine him going either way. With Royce Gracie asking for a rematch against Hughes for a swan song of his own, there will be dangling carrots out there for him to look at. He’s still a fan favorite, he can still fight, and the UFC can still market him.

And if this does happen to be it the country boy?

Matt Hughes will always be apart of the scaffolding that made the UFC what it is today, and all the fighters he helped pave the way for -- including Koscheck, who was very grateful in victory -- should doff their caps for the service.

New Team looks alot like old team....

By: Steve Kelly

Catch me up. I've been out of commission, out of the loop, on the DL after eye surgery. What's happening? What's the buzz? What have I missed? How are the new-look Mariners?
Remember the old-look M's?
You're kidding. That bad? I thought they were going to be more together, more engaged, more focused.
Well, you know that eye you just had repaired? They've been about as focused as your eye before surgery. Same old lack of attention to detail. Same old lack of production with runners in scoring position.
Come on, man, now that you're seeing clearly again, you should turn on your TV and watch. Misery loves company.
I'll be watching. I promise. By the way, what's the new name of their television network?
It's called ROOT Sports.
Well judging from what you've told me about the Mariners, maybe it should be called Root Canal Sports.
I did take the bandages off the other night just in time to see Milton Bradley at the plate. What's that stuff in his ears?
He's wearing ear plugs to muffle the hecklers.
Can he hear anything?
Well, apparently he was able to hear plate umpire Dan Bellino call him out on strikes, when Milton was pinch-hitting with one out and the tying run on second in Wednesday's loss to Detroit.
But seriously, Milton's been one of their most productive hitters. Can't blame him for the 6-13 start.
Well, I'm guessing now that he's back at third base, where he feels most comfortable, Chone Figgins is back to being the old Chone Figgins.
Not exactly. He came into Thursday's game against Oakland hitting .176.
But certainly the Mariners are hitting more long balls, right? They finally have a legitimate designated hitter in Jack Cust.
Remember Casey Kotchman? Cust came into Thursday's game still homerless and hitting .194. He has struckout 22 times in his first 75 plate appearances. In fact, four of the Mariners' veterans — Cust, Figgins, Jack Wilson, Miguel Olivo — are hitting below .200.
Ugh!
What about the kids? How's the rookie Michael Pineda throwing? Probably struggling a little bit, huh? Control problems? Getting rocked the second time around the lineup?
Are you kidding me? He's been the feel-good story of April. Two wins. A 2.33 earned-run average. He's been electric. Throwing three pitches, including a 97 mph fastball.
The Mariners are promoting his starts as if he's the next Roy Halladay. He's been Felix II. In fact, he's been better than Felix Hernandez.
What's wrong with Felix Hernandez?
Same old story. No run support. Bad fielding behind him. I'm betting he feels like he has to throw a perfect game every time out. But don't worry about him. Just like last season, pitching's not the problem with this team.
So you're saying Hernandez and Pineda are going to be the reasons to return to Safeco Field this summer?
I'm saying I wouldn't be surprised if the Mariners aren't already commissioning about six different Pineda bobbleheads, with six different poses. Wait until the Royals come to town. There could be Pineda bobbleheads, T-shirts and glove giveaways every night.
But otherwise, you're telling me, the Mariners still are the Mariners.
Of course. I've been trying to tell you since February that they are building for 2013 and beyond. You go to games this season because you want to say you were there when first baseman Justin Smoak found his stroke.
And you were there when Pineda found his off-speed pitch. And when second baseman Dustin Ackley found his way from Tacoma to the big leagues and started spraying line drives all over Safeco.
So there's hope?
Look, all I'm saying is that going to a Mariners game never has been easier than it is in 2011. I've gotta take you to a game this weekend.
Who's in town?
Doesn't matter. Going to a game this season is trouble-free. It's great. Only about 12,000 people are there. There's no waiting at the concession stands. No lines to the restrooms.
You can easily sneak down to the box seats — and here's the best news — you're out of the parking lot and onto the freeway 10 minutes after the last out. The Mariners definitely have made this season more fan-friendly.
Well, I guess that's a start.
Source: seattletimes.com

Snooki's Crazy Weight Loss!!

Snooki's been hitting the gym and the results are paying off. The pint-size "Jersey Shore" star posted some amazing photos showing off her new slimmed-down bod. Looking good, Snooks! Plus, Jessica Alba will be having an eco-friendly Easter and Gerard Butler might be giving David Beckham a run for his money.

NFL LOCKOUT! No Football Next Year?

 

Three days and 20 total hours of court-ordered mediation between the NFL and its locked-out players have shown little signs that the two sides are making progress toward a settlement. So owners and players are headed back for a fourth day of negotiations. The league and attorneys representing current, former and future players are scheduled to resume mediation on Wednesday, with the federal judge who ordered them back to the table expected to decide soon on the players' request to half the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987.
The two sides resumed their meetings on Tuesday after a three-day break, with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones seated at the table for the first time.
Some have questioned whether the two sides were committed to negotiating while awaiting U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson's ruling on the players' request to lift the lockout. Michael Hausfeld, the lead attorney for a group of retired players, said both sides are working hard to reach a settlement, as was Nelson's hope when she ordered the mediation on April 6.
Players including MVP quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning filed the request for the injunction along with the antitrust claim. The lawsuit has been combined with two other similar claims from retirees, former players and rookies-to-be, with Hall of Famer Carl Eller the lead plaintiff in that group.
Nelson said at the initial court hearing that she would take "a couple of weeks" to rule on the injunction request. Wednesday marks exactly two weeks from that statement, and the decision could significantly sway the leverage.
Jones joined Commissioner Roger Goodell, Packers CEO Mark Murphy, Falcons President Rich McKay and owners Pat Bowlen of Denver and Jerry Richardson of Carolina on the NFL side of the table on Tuesday.
Named plaintiffs Ben Leber, Mike Vrabel and Eller were there for the players on the same day the NFL released its regular season schedule for a 2011 year that is in jeopardy if the labor fight continues to drag on in the court system. Hopefully this all gets resolved so we can have or Sunday football next year.