SPORTS N STUFF

CBSSports.com wire reports
Aug. 31, 2010

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The New York Jets have waived backup quarterback Kevin OConnell, likely clearing the way for Kellen Clemens to make the team.

OConnell was acquired last September from Detroit in a trade. He was competing with Clemens for the No. 3 job behind starter Mark Sanchez and backup Mark Brunell. Clemens outplayed OConnell in the preseason, and coach Rex Ryan said Monday that Clemens had a “pretty strong chance” of making the opening day roster.

The move Tuesday puts the Jets at 74 players — one below the limit teams need to reach by the end of the day.

OConnell was a third-round draft pick by New England out of San Diego State in 2008. He was cut last offseason and claimed off waivers by Detroit.

The New York Giants decided they couldnt wait for backup quarterback Jim Sorgis injured right shoulder to get better.

Sorgi, veteran receiver Sinorice Moss and rookie linebacker Adrian Tracy were placed on injured reserve Tuesday as the Giants reached the 75-man roster limit.

Moss has been sidelined most of training camp with groin problems, while Tracy, the teams sixth-round draft pick, dislocated an elbow Saturday in a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Giants also moved veteran offensive lineman Kevin Boothe from the active physically unable to perform list to reserve PUP and waived rookie free agent receiver Nyan Boateng.

Sorgi, Moss and Tracy will miss the rest of the season. Boothe must sit out at least the first six weeks.

Sorgi, who was signed in the offseason to back up Eli Manning, tore an anterior capsule in his right shoulder Aug. 16 in the preseason opener against the Jets. He has been unable to throw and has not practiced. He indicated on Monday that he knew his season was in trouble.

“I dont know if their patience is wearing thin, but Im sure it is,” Sorgi said. “Its just a numbers game and getting to be that point. Like I said, its a tough position for me to be in, and a tough position for them to be in. I dont really have much else to say.”

Sorgi came to the Giants after backing up Mannings brother, Peyton, for six seasons in Indianapolis. His last season with the Colts also ended with a shoulder injury, but not the same one.

With Sorgi gone for the year, the backup job falls to second-year pro Rhett Bomar, unless the team signs a veteran.

Moss, who has been with the Giants since 2006, had surgery Tuesday to repair a sports hernia. The operation was performed by Dr. William Meyers at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Moss played in one of the Giants first three preseason games and had one catch. He played in eight games in 2009 and 37 in his first five seasons. He has 39 career receptions for 421 yards and three touchdowns.

Tracy had surgery Monday to repair ligament damage. The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Hotchkiss at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

The Giants have lost two of their seven draft choices this season. Safety Chad Jones, the third-round pick, was seriously injured in an automobile accident in New Orleans on June 25 and is on the reserve-non-football injury list.

Boothe underwent surgery in the spring to repair a torn pectoral muscle suffered while he was lifting weights.

Boateng caught one pass in three preseason games.

Sept. 1 – Active rosters expand to 40 players.

Oct. 6 – Playoffs begin.

Oct. 27 – World Series begins, city of National League champion.

November – Free agent filing period, first 15 days after World Series ends.

Dec. 1 – Last day for teams to offer salary arbitration to their former players who became free agents.

Dec. 7 – Last day for free agents offered salary arbitration to accept the offers.

Dec. 6-9 – Winter meetings, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Dec. 12 – Last day for teams to offer 2011 contracts to unsigned players.

2011

Jan 5-15 – Salary arbitration filing.

Jan. 18 – Exchange of salary arbitration figures.

Feb. 1-21 – Salary arbitration hearings.

Feb. 13 – Voluntary reporting date for pitchers, catchers and injured players.

Feb. 18 – Voluntary reporting date for other players.

March 1 – Mandatory reporting date.

March 2-11 – Teams may renew contracts of unsigned players.

March 14 – Last day to place a player on unconditional release waivers and pay 30 days termination pay instead of 45 days.

March 28 – Last day to request unconditional release waivers on a player without having to pay his full 2011 salary.

March 30 – Opening day, active rosters reduced to 25 players.

July 12 – All-Star game, Phoenix.

July 31 – Last day to trade a player without securing waivers.

Aug. 15 – Last day to sign selections from 2011 amateur draft who have not exhausted college eligibility.

Sept. 1 – Active rosters expand to 40 players.

Dec. 5-8 – Winter meetings, Dallas.

Dec. 11 – Collective bargaining agreement expires.

Dec. 12 – Last day for teams to offer 2011 contracts to unsigned players.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Aug. 31, 2010

LOS ANGELES — Frank McCourt is expected to testify as early as Tuesday in a divorce case where he and his estranged wife are fighting over who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Attorneys for Frank and Jamie McCourt fired off their best salvos during their opening statements on Monday, giving conflicting accounts of what the couple intended when they signed a postnuptial marital agreement in March 2004.

Frank McCourt believes the pact gives him sole ownership of the storied franchise. Jamie McCourt contends the agreement should be thrown out and those assets should be split evenly under Californias community property law.

Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon will decide if the 10-page document is valid.

CBSSports.com The Phoenix Coyotes have re-signed right wing Lee Stempniak to a two-year contract.

Details of the contract were not released.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Stempniak, 27, arrived in Arizona in a trade deadline deal with Toronto last season and gave the Coyotes a playoff-run boost with 14 goals and four assists in 18 regular-season games. He wasnt quite as effective in the playoffs, managing two assists in seven games.

Stempniak had a career-high 28 goals and 20 assists in 80 games with Toronto and Phoenix last season. He has 96 goals and 113 assists in a six-year career that includes a stop in St. Louis.

CBSS Former West Virginia star DaSean Butler has signed with the Miami Heat, becoming the teams 18th player under contract going into training camp.

Butler was the 42nd pick in this years draft. He was projected as a potential lottery choice before he tore a ligament in his left knee during the Mountaineers Final Four loss to eventual NCAA champion Duke.

The Heat ranked Butler as the 21st-best player in the draft, after he averaged 17.2 points for West Virginia as a senior.

Doctors believe the torn ACL in Butlers left knee should be fully healed in time for the NBA season, and the team expects him to be ready to participate in at least some aspects of camp when formal workouts begin in late September.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Aug. 30, 2010

BEREA, Ohio — Browns safety Nick Sorensen sustained a concussion while covering a kickoff in Detroit and will miss Clevelands final exhibition game against Chicago.

Sorensen was immobilized and taken to a hospital after a violent helmet-to-helmet collision in Saturdays loss to the Lions. Coach Eric Mangini said initial tests on Sorensen were negative but the 10-year veteran and special teams standout will be “resting for awhile.”

Sorensen was blocked by Caleb Campbell and Andre Fluellen on the kickoff.

Browns defensive back Ray Ventrone said Sorensens injury “gave us a scare” but the team was relieved to learn he was doing better.

Sorensen appeared in all 16 games for Cleveland last season. He also plays on the kickoff return unit, which was the NFLs best in 2009.

Browns safety Nick Sorensen sustained a concussion while covering a kickoff in Detroit and will miss Clevelands final exhibition game against Chicago.

Sorensen was immobilized and taken to a hospital after a violent helmet-to-helmet collision in Saturdays loss to the Lions. Coach Eric Mangini said initial tests on Sorensen were negative but the 10-year veteran and special teams standout will be “resting for awhile.”

Sorensen was blocked by Caleb Campbell and Andre Fluellen on the kickoff.

Browns defensive back Ray Ventrone said Sorensens injury “gave us a scare” but the team was relieved to learn he was doing better.

Sorensen appeared in all 16 games for Cleveland last season. He also plays on the kickoff return unit, which was the NFLs best in 2009.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Aug. 30, 2010

LOS ANGELES — Who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers?

Thats what attorneys for Frank and Jamie McCourt will argue Monday as their non-jury divorce trial begins.

A Superior Court judge must decide the validity of a postnuptial marital agreement that gives Frank McCourt sole ownership of the baseball team.

Jamie McCourts lawyers say the former Dodger CEO would never give up her stake in the team and theyve suggested copies of the agreement were altered to give Frank McCourt sole control of the Dodgers, the stadium and surrounding land.

The McCourts married in 1979. Frank McCourt booted his wife from the front office after the playoffs last year, accusing her of having an affair.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Aug. 30, 2010

WASHINGTON — Seven-time Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens arrived Monday in the nations capital to face charges of lying to Congress about whether he used steroids or human growth hormone.

Clemens showed up early at a federal courthouse just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

The 48-year-old ex-major leaguer was being arraigned later Monday on three counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of Congress.

Clemens is expected to only be in Washington for a short time. The reports that Clemens and his wife, Debbie, planned to play in the Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship in the Myrtle Beach, S.C., area later Monday.

In what should be a short court appearance, Clemens will stand before U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton. If convicted on all charges, he could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, though under U.S. sentencing guidelines, he would probably face no more than 15 to 21 months in prison.

All signs point toward him fighting. He came to Congress after being mentioned repeatedly in the Mitchell Report — the damning breakdown of the sports steroid problem released in 2007.

In front of a House committee the next year, Clemens said: “Let me be clear. I have never taken steroids or HGH.” Before his indictment was handed down Aug. 19, Clemens was offered a plea deal that he turned down, and afterward, he showed no signs of backing down.

“I look forward to challenging the Governments accusations, and hope people will keep an open mind until trial,” Clemens wrote on Twitter after the indictment. “I appreciate all the support I have been getting. I am happy to finally have my day in court.”

His day in court figures to be one of many in the near future for some of baseballs biggest names — now sullied by steroid-related accusations. All-time home run king Barry Bonds is scheduled to go on trial in March on charges of lying to a federal grand jury when he said he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

At the hearing in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Clemens former trainer, Brian McNamee, said the pitcher did, in fact, use steroids and HGH. Former teammate Andy Pettitte also told congressional investigators that Clemens told him he had used HGH.

Clemens told Congress that Pettitte “misremembers” the conversation.

All that testimony figures to be rehashed in a trial that could irrevocably tarnish the reputation of one of the most dominant pitchers in history. Over 23 seasons, Clemens recorded 354 wins, 4,672 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.12 — Hall of Fame numbers that might not land him in the Hall of Fame.