Asomugha and Fitzpatrick released; Preds Stars Brawl

1. Nnamdi Asomugha, a former pro-bowl cornerback has been released by the Philadelphia Eagles after two years with the team. Both sides were trying to restructure their contract but were not able to agree to a deal before free agency. The 31 year old was expected to make $15 million this year and there has been no word on where Asomugha may land. The Eagles have signed cornerback Bradley Fletcher, tight end James Casey, safety Patrick Chung, linebacker Jason Phillips, and defensive lineman Isaac Sopoaga.
2. Ryan Fitzpatrick may have signed a six-year, $59 million extension in 2011 but he has been cut by the Bills. The Bills had switched coaches which was a big sign that Fitzpatrick wasn't coming back and at the same time they have freed up cap space. Fitzpatrick is currently third on Buffalo's touchdown list and fourth on the yard list with 11,654.
3. Mike Wallace, the former Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver, has agreed to a 5 year, $60 million contract with the Miami Dolphins. Wallace's 836 yard season last year was a disappointment considering he had 1,100+ seasons the two years prior.
4.FC Barcelona hosted AC Milan with Milan up 2-0 on aggregate after their first-leg match in Italy. Barcelona proved capable of a comeback with a 4-0 win to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Messi scored twice in the game.
WBC Recap
Chris Colabello's three run home run in the first netted three of Italy's (0-1) four runs in the first in a game that saw them almost upset the Dominican Republic. Hanley Ramirez tied things up in the 7th with a sacrifice fly that scored Erick Aybar and then Nelson Cruz's RBI single plated Robinson Cano has the Dominicans won 5-4.
Gio Gonzalez allowed three hits in five innings of scoreless ball as the US cruised to a 7-1 victory over Puerto Rico. David Wright had 5 RBIs on 2 hits for the US.
NBA Recap
I didn't believe this when I saw it but the Bobcats destroyed the Celtics 100-74. Gerald Henderson went off for the Cats scoring 35 points while only four Celtics scored in double-digits with Jordan Crawford and Jeff Green scoring 14 each.
Dwight Howard returned to Orlando for the first time and played probably his best game all season scoring 39 points and grabbing 16 boards. Jameer Nelson scored 21 points and dished out 7 assists for Orlando in the 106-97 loss.
John Wall got the double-double with 27 points and 14 assists but it was not enough as the Cavs won 95-90 sans Irving against Washington. Dion Waiters led the Cavs with 20 points.
Brook Lopez scored 26 points as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Hornets 108-98. The matchup featured Brook's twin Robin who starred along side each other at Stanford.

Rubio

The Miami Heat won their 15th game in a row thanks to Dwayne Wade's 23 points. Josh Smith scored 15 for the Hawks in the 98-81 loss.
Vince Carter dropped 23 points and Dirk Nowitzki grabbed 11 rebounds as the Mavericks beat the Bucks 115-108. Monta Ellis scored 32 points and had 9 assists for the Bucks.
Ricky Rubio got a triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists as the Timberwolves shocked everyone beating the Spurs 107-83. The win could be contributed to a huge 29-10 second quarter for the T-Wolves.
The Grizzlies were led by Zack Randolph (19 P, 10 R) and Marc Gasol (20 P, 5 A) as they defeated the T-Blazers 102-97. Damian Lillard had 30 points for the Blazers.

All NBA 3/12/13
Pos	Player	Note
G	WAS- John Wall	Scored 27 points by shooting 7-15 from the field and 13-14 from the line. Also had 14 assists and 7 rebounds.
G	MIN- Ricky Rubio	Had a triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists.
F	POR- LaMarcus Aldridge	Shot a perfect 8-8 from the line on his way to 28 points. Also had 10 rebounds and 4 blocks.
F	DAL- Dirk Nowitzki	Had 19 points but it was his 11 rebounds that put him on the list.
C	LAL- Dwight Howard	Was at the line a ridiculous 39 times and converted on 25 of them. Had a total of 39 points and 16 rebounds.

NHL Recap
Marcus Foligno scored twice for the Sabres as they defeated the Rangers 3-1. Andrej Sekera assisted twice for Buffalo and their backup Jhonas Enroth saved 32 of 33 shots.

Nash

The Hurricanes destroyed the Capitals 4-0 as Riley Nash scored twice and Patrick Dwyer scored once and assisted on another. Justin Peters made 26 saves in the shutout.
Mason Raymond scored the only goal of the shootout at the Canucks downed the Jackets 2-1. Mark Letestu of Columbus and Jason Garrison of Vancouver each scored in the second to force overtime. Luongo got the win for the Canucks (he really deserves starting job) and Sergei Bobrovsky made 37 saves for the Blue Jackets.
Brandon Sutter scored two of the Penguins three goals in the third as they overcame a 2-0 deficit for the win. The Bruins were limited to only 16 shots on the night.
Steven Stamkos scored five minutes into the third period to break 2-2 tie between the Lightning and Panthers. Martin St. Louis also scored for the Bolts and assisted on the Bay's other two goals in the 3-2 win.
Blake Wheeler scored twice for the Jets as they defeated the Maple Leafs 5-2. Nik Antropov also scored for the Jets in addition to his two assists while Phil Kessel scored two goals for Toronto.
Pat Marroon tied things up for the Ducks and Luca Sbisa scored to give them the lead against the Wild after entering the third period down one. Jonas Hiller made 30 saves in the 2-1 win.
Jake Allen saved 39 of 41 shots for the Blues and teammate Chris Stewart scored twice as they beat the Sharks 4-2.
Pekka Rinne made 32 saves as he blanked the Stars and his team provided 4 goals for a 4-0 win. There were over 80 penalty minutes in this game with most coming from this incident.
It was another blowout but they didn't have a brawl as the Oilers handed the Avalanhce a 4-0 loss. Devan Dubnyk made 36 saves for Edmonton and Sam Gagner got two points off a goal and an assist.
Mikkel Boedker scored twice for the Coyotes and Shane Doan had a goal and an assist as Phoenix beat LA 5-2. Mike Smith made 31 of 33 saves for the Coyotes.

All NHL 3/12/13
Pos	Player	Note
F	PHO- Mikkel Boedker	Scored twice including once on the powerplay. Had two takeaways and 4 hits.
F	WPG- Nik Antropov	Had a goal and two assists in addition to two blocks.
F	BUF- Marcus Foligno	Scored two goals and had three assists. Finished at +2.
F	CAR- Riley Nash	Had two goals and finished at +3.
D	WPG- Dustin Byfuglien	Had three assists including one on the powerplay and forced two turnovers.
D	STL- Barret Jackman	Had two assists, three hits, and two blocks. Finished at +2.
D	NAS- Shea Weber	Scored a powerplay goal and blocked 5 shots.
G	EDM- Devan Dubnyk	Got the shutout on 36 shots.
G	NAS- Pekka Rinne	Perfect 32 saves on 32 shots.

World Baseball Classic; Heat win 15th in a row

Catching You Up on World Baseball Classic
Chien-Ming Wang led four Chinese Taipei (1-0) pitchers in a 5 hit performance against Australia(0-1). Stefan Welch scored the only run for the Australians in there 4-1 defeat. Cheng- Min Peng went two for three with two RBIs for Chinese Taipei.
Japan (1-0) scored three runs in the top of the eighth to get on top of Brazil (0-1) in the latter's WBC debut.Tiago Magalhaes and Paulo Orlando (also stole a base) went two for four in the 5-3 loss. Japan's effort on the mound was through five men with Tadashi Settsu getting the win throwing 3 innings and letting up one run.
The Netherlands (1-0) were able to get 10 hits for 5 runs in their 5-0 shutout of the Koreans. Andruw Jones went 2-4 with a double in the DH spot while his teammate Andrelton Simmons had 3 hits and two doubles. Diegomar Markwell pitched 4 scoreless innings and got credited for the win.

Bell

In Brazil's (0-2) second game on March second they fell to Cuba (1-0) 5-2. Cuba's Guillermo Heredia and Alexei Bell RBI'd in the 5th to give the All Reds a 2-0 lead. Cuba Scored twice more in the sixth but Brazil answered back with two of their own. That was all Brazil got on the night. Ismal Jimenez pitched 4 and 2/3 innings of scoreless ball to start the game and teammate Raciel Iglesias got the save with 3 scoreless innings of his own. Frederich Cepeda went two-for-four for Cuba.
Japan (2-0) beat their longtime geographic and political foe China (0-1) 5-2. China's only runs came in the top of the second with neither coming on a hit (fielder's choice and dropped third strike). Seichi Uchikawa had two hits on four at bats with an RBI for Japan. Kenta Maeda led Japan's five pitcher army only allowing 1 hit in five innings (he was credited with win).
The Netherlands (1-1) got off to a 3-0 lead against Chinese Taipei (2-0) when Dashenko Ricardo's two run single drove in Xander Bogaerts and Curt Smith. It was Chinese Taipei who dominated the rest of the game scoring one in the second, four in the fourth, and three in the sixth. Dai- Kang Yang had a sacrifice fly in the 4th and then in the sixth he had a two-run homer. Wei- Lun Pan pitched 4 and two/thirds scoreless innings of relief of Yao-Lin Wang and got the win by walking one and only allowed one hit in the 8-3 win.
The mercy rule came into effect with Cuba destroying China (0-2 12-0. China only had 3 hits in seven innings thanks to the pitching of four Cubans with Danny Betancourt leading the way striking out 8 in 4 and 2/3 innings. Alexei Bell hit a two run homerun fourth and Jose Abreu hit a grandslam in the fifth along with a RBI double in the second.
Despite Keunwoo Jeong leaving 6 runners on base Korea (1-1) was able to defeat Australia (0-2) 6-0 nothing last night. Seung Song allowed two hits and struck out five in four innings starting for Korea and picking up the win. Hyunsoo Kim hit in two RBIs for Korea on a single.

Cordemans

Australia (0-3) had to play again yesterday and were defeated by the Netherlands (2-1) 4-1. Robbie Cordemans got the win for the Netherlands pitching 5 scoreless innings where he struck out 3, gave up two hits, and walked none. The loss was credited to Dushan Ruzic of Australia who allowed four runs off of 6 hits in two innings. Jonathan Schoop of the Baltimore Orioles hit a two run homer for the Netherlands in the second.
China (1-2) defeated Brazil (0-3) in a game that meant nothing but pride for the two teams. China used three pitchers throughout the game with Tao Bu getting the start and allowing 1 run on 2 hits and Jiangang Lu coming in in the seventh to relieve Quinyuan Meng; Lu was credited with the win. Ray Chang, a member of the Twins organization, went 3-4 with a double and two RBIs. Brazil was up 2-0 headingi into the eight when China unleashed a 5 run rally. Both teams are eliminated from the competition after the 5-2 Chinese win.
Chinese Taipei is currently up 2-0 on Korea in the top of the sixth.

WBC Standings - Updated: Mar 5, 2013
Pool A	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Japan (advanced)	2	0	-	10	5
Cuba (advanced)	2	0	-	17	2
China (elliminated)	1	2	1.5	7	19
Brazil (Eliminated)	0	3	2.5	7	15
Pool B	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Chinese Taipei	2	0	-	12	4
Netherlands	2	1	.5	12	9
Korea	1	1	1	6	5
Australia (eliminated)	0	3	2.5	2	14

NBA Recap
The New York Knicks (36-21) won their first game in 10 tries with a fourth quarter comeback against the Cleveland Cavaliers (20-40). Amare Stoudemire led the Knicks with 22 points and Raymond Felton chipped in 10 assists. Marresse Speights had 23 points for the Cavs in the 102-97 loss.
It took overtime for the Monta Ellis led Bucks (30-28) to defeat the Utah Jazz (32-28) 109-98. The Jazz outscored the Bucks by 10 in the fourth to force overtime while Ellis scored 34 in the winning effort. Derrick Favors got the double-double for the Jazz with 23 points and 15 rebounds.
The Orlando Magic (17-44) were led by Aaron Afflalo in their fourth quarter comeback to defeat the Hornets(21-40) 105-102. He scored 26 and also had five rebounds. Anthony Davis outdid him despite his team losing with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Wade

Dwayne Wade had 32 points and 10 assists in the Heat's(44-14) 15th straight win at Minnesota (20-37). Lebron James pitched in 20 points and ten rebounds in 97-81 win .
The Denver Nuggets (39-22) destroyed the Atlanta Hawks (33-26) 104-88 in Denver thanks to Corey Brewer's 22 points. Al Horford led the Hawks with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
The Bobcats (13-47) continue to lose as the Trail Blazers (28-31) dominated them 122-105. Lamarcus Aldridge scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to grab the double-double while Kemba Walker dropped 15 points and dished out 11 assists, sad that that is their top performer.
David Lee scored 29 (and 11 rebounds) and Stephen Curry had 26 (and 12 assists) as the Warriors (34-27)beat the Raptors (23-38) in an alright slugfest. The final score was 125-118 and it only took four quarters. Andrea Bargani and Rudy Gay each scored 26 points for the Raptors.

ALl NBA 3/5/2013
Pos	Player	Injury Note
G	Dwyane Wade (PON)- MIA	Scored 32 points with 10 assists in 7 rebounds against the T-Wolves. Shot 15-23 from the field.
G	Brandon Jennings- MIL	Shot 8-14 on FG and 4-5 from long range for 20 points. Had 17 assists compared to 3 turnovers and also had 3 steals.
F	Lamarcus Aldridge- POR	Led the Blazers with 23 points and 14 rebounds and shot 7-9 from the FT line. Had 5 assists and 3 blocks.
F	David Lee- GS	Shot 12-21 from the field and 5-5 from the line for 29 points while also grabbing 11 boards.
F	Al Horford- ATL	Scored 18 points while grabbing 13 points. His points came easy due to his 5 offensive rebounds.

NHL Recap
Nazem Kadri scored his ninth goal of the year to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 advantage in the first period which was ripped from them in the second as Marek Zidlicky scored twice for the Devils in the second. The Maple Leafs then had a strong third period with goals by Jay McClement to open the period and Clarke MacArthur to break the tie. Phil Kessell added the insurance with 10 minutes left to secure a 4-2 win despite the Leafs only having 23 shots.

Crosby

The Penguins needed a three goal third period to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3. Chris Kunits gave the Penguins a lead int the first but Steven Stamkos and Tom Pyatt swung things around in the second. Entering the third down 2-1, the Penguins scored three unanswered including a goal for Sidney Crosby which gave him a 2 goal night in addition to his assist earlier. Steven Stamkos scored with eight seconds left but it meant nothing. Evgeni Malkin had one goal and one assist in the game. Mathieu Garon was replaced by Anders Lindback after 22 minutes due to a lower body injury.
The Ducks and Coyotes entered the third period tied 2-2 and the third period did nothing to settle things with both teams scoring two and the game was headed into overtime at 4-4. Again, overtime did nothing and the game was off to shootout. And once in shootout, it took five rounds before Oliver Ekman- Larsson broke the 1-1 tie scoring on Jonas Hiller. Ekman- Larsson had two assists in regulation in addition to the shootout winner. Jonas Hiller was extremely busy facing 40 shots during regulation + overtime in the 5-4 loss.
Finally a game that wasn't close with the Kings smashing the Predators 5-1. Pekka Rinne had a pathetic performance in net letting in five goals on only 13 shots before being replaced by Chris Mason after 50 minutes. Mason was perfect in the last 10 minutes plus overtime and only allowed one puck in the net during the shootout. Jeff Carter (former Flyer) had a hat-trick and his teammate Jarret Stoll had 2 assists.

All NHL 3/5/2013
Pos	Player	Injury Note
F	Steven Stamkos- TB	Scored two goals on four shots on net. On defense he had four hits and 2 blocks.
F	Jeff Carter- LA	Recorded a hat trick for the Kings with one goal on the powerplay.
F	Corey Perry- ANA	Had one goal on the PP and an assist for a two point night. Blocked three shots on defense.
F	Ryan Getzlaf- ANA	Ducks have two players on the list despite the loss, Getzlaf scored once and assisted on two others while recording two hits.
D	Victor Hedman- TB	Had an assist but made his mark on defense recording two hits, blocking 3 shots, and forcing a turnover. Finished at +2.
D	Carl Gunnarsson- TOR	Blocked 2 shots, had 2 hits, and two takeaways in addition to an assist.
D	Michael Stone- PHO	Had a goal for the Coyotes plus he had three hits and 2 takeaways.
G	Jonathan Bernier- LA	Saved 18 of 19 shots on a slow night for an easy 5-1 win.
G	Marc- Andre Fleury	Faced 28 shots and saved 25 of them for .893 SV% which isn't overly impressive.

Eagles Sign Dennis Dixon

Chip Kelly has added another option to his quarterback list with the signing of Dennis Dixon. The former Pittsburgh Steeler will join Michael Vick and Nick Foles for the quarterback job. Dixon was the quarterback at Oregon from 2004 to 2007 and was the starter in 2006 in 2007. Hi senior year also happened to be Kelly's first year as offensive coordinator at Oregon. He threw for over 2,000 yards both his junior and senior year but his senior year was much better than his junior. During his junior campaign Dixon had a not so hot 12:14 TD/INT ratio but dramatically improved to 20:4 his senior year. Dixon was also a running threat for the Ducks rushing over 90 times his junior and senior years. He rushed for his 1208 yards in 4 years. He was named Pac-10 offensive player of the year in 2007 and was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award and Maxwell Award. Not only was 2007 a big year for Dixon the gridiron; he also played minor league baseball in the Atlanta Braves system. That really didn't work out too well as he hit .176 with a .322 OBP in 28 games at rookie level. DIxon's NFL career started in 2008 when he was drafted by the Steelers in the 5th round. He appeared in one game his rookie year completing one pass for three yards and compiling -3 rushing yards. He made one start in his sophomore season completing 12-26 passes for 145 throwing one TD and one interception. 2010 was his last year of competitive play starting in two games for the Steelers and winning both. He had a 68.8 % passing percentage in those two games but then finished the season on the IR. He did not appear in any games in 2011 for the Steelers and in 2012 he was signed briefly to the Ravens' practice squad but was cut early on in the season. Dixon had a lot of success under Kelly so it will be interesting to see if he is able to win the Starting job this year.

NBA Recap
Only two games last night but they were marquee matchups between the Heat and Thunder and Clippers and Lakers.
In Oklahoma City the Heat held onto their lead despite the Thunder winning the 4th 31-22 for a 110-100 Miami victory. The two stars of the night did not disappoint with Lebron James scoring 39 points and 12 rebounds while Kevin Durant went for 40 and 8.
In a very high scoring affair the Clippers beat the Lakers 125-101. Kobe Bryant led the Lakes with 20 points and 11 assists while Chris Paul did something similar for the Clippers coring 24 points and dishing out 13 assists.

All NBA
With only two games there has to be some repeat teams.

Guard- Chris Paul- LA Clippers As mentioned before he scored 254 points and had 13 assists. His 3 turnovers were a little high but not too bad. He shot a perfect 5-5 from the line and 3-5 from 3pt land.
Guard- Russell Westbrook- OK City He did commit a costly 6 turnovers but he made up for it in other parts of the game. He finished the game with 26 points and 10 assists. He was a below average 7-19 from the field but his 12-13 from the line almost makes up for it.
Forward- Lebron James- Miami *Player of the Night* Hard to argue with this one as he led his team to victory against the Thunder in a repeat of last years Finals as well as a matchup between two teams that don't have an S in their name. He shot 58.3% from the field including 4-8 from long range. HE also dished out 7 assists and grabbed 12 rebounds in addition to his 39 points.
Forward- Kevin Durant- OK City Should be mentioned that he played all but 28 second of the game and he put them to good use. He committed a high 5 turnovers but his 40 points made up for it. He was an incredible 15-15 on free throws.
Center- Chris Bosh- Miami I really don't care for him too much but Bosh played a good game last night. He was 10-14 from the field but he failed to make it to the free throw line (and that is troubling for a big man). He finished the night with 20 points (you could probably have figured that out from the last sentence) and 12 rebounds.

NHL Recap
Three of the six games last night went to overtime last night and we will start with a shootout in New York.
The Rangers defeated the Islanders 4-3 thanks to goals by Frank Nielsen and John Tavares in the shootout. Tavares also scored in the second period.
The Hurricanes picked up their third straight win with a 3-1 Jussi Jokinen's goal in the second put the Hurricanes up 2-1.
Eric Fehr scored two goals in the Capitals 4-3 defeat of the Lightning. This is the 6th straight loss for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Rene Bourque scored two minutes into overtime to give the Canadiens a 1-0 win in Florida.
The Predators handed the Coyotes a 3-0 defeat. Pekka Rinne made 19 saves for his second straight shutout.
In Minnesota, the Wild and Avalanche decided things with a shootout.Milan Hejduk and Matt Duchene both converted for the Avs in the shootout on their way to a 4-3 victory.

All NHL
Forward- Zach Parise- Minnesota Minnesota's newest addition netted one goal on his 9 shot attempts. Finished the game with a +2 rating and 4 hits.
Forward- Eric Staal- Carolina Dished out an assist but made his mark defensively with 4 takeaways.
Forward- Matt Duchene- Colorado Similar to Staal in that neither of them are strangers to this list. He scored one goal last night in addition to 2 blocks, 2 hits, and one takeaway.
Forward- John Tavares- NY Islanders Scored one goal in regulation and one goal in the shootout to lead the Islanders to victory.
Defense- Dan Girardi- NY Rangers In 26 minutes of ice time Girardi scored a goal, had three takeaways, two hits, and 2 blocks.
Defense- Tyson Barrie- Colorado Got a powerplay assist in the second period for the Avs and also blocked 3 shots.
Defense- Joe Corvo- Carolina Recorded two points on a goal and an assist, both in the second period.  Finished the game with a +2 +/-.
Goalie- Carey Price- Montreal Made 26 of 26 saves in his team's 1-0 defeat of the Panthers.
Goalie- Jose Theodore- Florida The former Hab was against his former team and despite the loss he saved 31 of 32 shots. His .969 SV% was the highest last night of any non-shutout performance. (Pekka Rinne had a shutout but only faced 19 shots)