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According to Brian Windhorst on Twitter, LeBron James is expected to make his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, while teammate Antawn (pronounced Antwan, although we don’t know how) Jamison is likely to sit.

“LeBron set to play tomorrow in Philly. Antawn Jamison likely to sit with sore knee,” he tweets.

LeBron had been bothered by quad, ankle and back issues, but most don’t think it will be a problem, mainly because they aren’t the ones who have to deal with the pain. He’ll have had a full seven days of rest and should be good to go as the Cavaliers battle the Philadelphia 76ers for first place in the conference.

With the playoffs not far, the Cavaliers are clearly not taking any chances with Jamison’s knee. It’s not expected to be serious, but he does have a cyst in there that’s been bugging him a bit. He should be ok to go against the Celtics on Sunday.

The Philadelphia Eagles have signed former Air Force playmaker Chad Hall to a three-year contract. The 23-year old spent the last two years serving his country as a second lieutenant in the Air Force.

Hall was Mountain West Conference offensive player of the year as a senior in 2007, and is a threat as a running back, receiver and returner. Anyone that watched Eagles football last year knows that they need someone to return kickoffs. Talk about dreadful.

So, here is some video of what the Eagles just signed. If he is able to do this every time he touches the ball, he has a legitimate shot of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day.

In Denver, the jury has reached a verdict in the case of murder against Willie Clark. They have found him guilty of killing Denver Broncos CB Darrent Williams and guilty of attempted murder of all the other passengers in the limo.

Clark, 26, was involved in an altercation with wide receiver Brandon Marshall and others at a club on New Year’s Eve in 2007. The fight escalated and Clark apparently decided that it was a good idea (he was keeping it real) to get a firearm and start popping off shots into the players’ white Hummer limo. Williams supposedly had nothing to do with the fight in the club, but he’s the one that paid the price.

Clark was staring down the barrel of 21 charges, 21 charges, including two counts of first-degree murder – one for murder after deliberation and one for murder with “extreme indifference.” This miserable piece of crap is still being held in a Denver jail while he awaits trial for murder in a 2006 incident.

We don’t mean to seem too old, but how can anyone not see something like this as a potential outcome of messing around with guns. It is beyond retarded (yes, that is an actual word to describe someone who is slow. It’s not a slur unless it’s used as one) for someone to think that a disagreement between people who don’t even know each other requires a firearm. He wasn’t even sure he was shooting the right person. You have to be a real piece of Samsonite to think that this was the right course of action in this situation.

Good, you win. You kept it real. Now you can keep it real in prison for the rest of your life you douchebag.

Kids Alert!: Kids, what did Willie Clark do wrong? Yes, murdering someone is bad and you shouldn’t do it. But what did he do really wrong? As we mentioned before, he shot and killed someone he didn’t even know when he could have just walked away. What was the upside there? If you have to kill someone, you should do it when you are the beneficiary of a large sum of cash like a life insurance policy or a will. Watch plenty of TV, this is how it’s done. Oh, and don’t clean up blood with soap, they can identify that with Luminol. Oh and if you are going to stage someone’s suicide (always protect yourself, the money is useless when you are in jail) with a gun, make sure you know where the gun powder residue should end up. They check for that stuff.

The New York Mets have awful luck. Call it karma for dancing around and acting like fools on the playing field or call it catching bad break after bad break. According to the team and his agent, Mets SS Jose Reyes will start the season on the DL.

“He was very disappointed because the initial results said that he could possibly be back in a matter of days,” agent Peter Greenberg said. “… We’re guilty of speaking a little bit too soon, unfortunately.”

“He’s just going to have to rest,” Minaya said. “There’s not a specific time frame when it will get back to normal, but our doctors will be testing that on a regular basis.”

Recent tests revealed that Reyes’ thyroid is hyperactive. He did some controlled physical activity on Monday and Tuesday and that caused his levels to spike. He can’t have any physical activity now until those are under control. That could take anywhere from two weeks to two months. This is not what the Mets were hoping for.

“Jose obviously is a little bit disappointed that it’s going to be a matter of weeks as opposed to days,” Greenberg said. “But it’s a completely curable, treatable situation. I think we all view it as good news. He’s supposed to rest and watch his diet. He’s not supposed to do anything that is going to raise the heart level so that the irritation can go down. … That’s why he’s staying at home—to just rest and relax and spend time with his family and watch a lot of movies. … He’ll be tested on a weekly basis and hopefully the levels will start down. The doctors told us this was the best possible diagnosis and that there is no intervention or medication necessary.”

With Carlos Beltran out for a couple months, it seems like the Mets are just picking up where they left off in 2009.

Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette goes off on Steelers WR Limas Sweed. He makes a very convincing case of why Sweed simply needs a fresh start. After being selected in the second-round in 2008, two slots ahead of Ray Rice, he has done nothing but drop passes and cause the coaches to have no faith in him.

Cook spotlights the AFC Championship game in 2008 against the Ravens, when Sweed dropped what was certainly a touchdown pass. He then compounded the problem by faking injury and forcing the team to waste a timeout. Yeah, that’s bad.

Sweed also dropped a potential touchdown pass in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in September. After that game, he was publicly called out by head coach Mike Tomlin in an attempt to get his butt in gear.

It didn’t happen and Sweed was shut down for the year in December for what was described as “personal issues.” The team still hasn’t elaborated and only leads to guys like Cook speculating that Sweed is battling severe depression. If that’s the case – and it very well could be – it’s time for Sweed to go elsewhere and see if he can get a fresh start.

With the Steelers signing Arnaz Battle and Antwaan Randle El, there probably isn’t room for him in Pittsburgh anyway.

Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse reports that the Colorado Rockies and 1B Todd Helton have agreed on a two-year extension.

“#Rockies and 1B Todd Helton agree to 2-year extension, thru 2013. He also agreed to defer a portion of his contract to 2014-23,” he tweets.

2023? That’s a long time to defer money, but we kind of like it. Long after you are done playing baseball and all the hard work is over, you still collect a check. We have no idea how much was deferred, but the checks will probably be in the OTR range in terms of weekly checks.

Look for the Rockies this year to stink up the joint well into late July. Then, they’ll fire their manager and rally for about 22 wins in a row. They will enter the playoffs on fire and give some team all they can handle in a best-of-five Wild Card series but ultimately lose because they were overachieving during the entire winning streak.

KDKA investigator Andy Sheehan reported some interesting tidbits on the alleged sexual assault story involving Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

He reports:

“Sources tell us that Ben Roethlisberger did speak with police in Milledgeville that night and told them there was no sexual intercourse between himself and the alleged victim.

“The same sources say that Ben has told police and others he did not force himself on this young woman, but afterwards the woman did slip and fall, injuring her head.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Got a little Captain in ya?

The KDKA report also confirmed that sources say Roethlisberger conceives that he did have ’sexual contact’ that was not consummated and the defense might have a difficult time because after the woman slipped and fell, she immediately went straight to a local hospital and alleged she was sexually assaulted.

PHOTO CAPTION: Someone has Roethlisberger’s back.  Maybe?

Furthermore, investigators are also requesting DNA samples from Ben Roethlisberger presumably to match some substance found on the victim.  However, Big Ben’s defense attorney has not agreed.

In conclusion, things are not looking good for the two-time Super Bowl champ.  Pittsburgh fans might need to start getting used to seeing Dennis Dixon behind center.

The Baltimore Ravens have decided to retain wide receiver Derrick Mason and have signed him to a two-year contract, according to Jamison Hensley and his Twitter account.

The two parties were trying to reach an agreement before free agency, but they were not able to get anything in writing.

Mason will now lineup on the other side of Anquan Boldin, who the Ravens traded for last Friday, giving quarterback Joe Flacco some nice weapons to rely on.

The details of the deal have not been released yet or maybe I just wasn’t able to find them on the internet.

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Torii Hunter spells his first name with two ‘i’s.’  The extra ‘i’ is for ‘ignorant.’

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale posted an article on Tuesday regarding a round table discussion he had with Torii Hunter that took place about two weeks ago.  They discussed how fans might see a dark-skinned player and assume they are African-American; although, an increasing amount are Dominican, Puerto Rican, or Venezuelan.

The conversation is fair, but it’s how Hunter explained it that has stirred up some controversy.

“People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they’re African American,” Hunter says.  “They’re not us. They’re impostors.

“Even people I know come up and say, ‘Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero?  Is he a black player?’  I say, ‘Come on, he’s Dominican. He’s not black.’ ”

PHOTO CAPTION: Torii Hunter hangs out with a bunch of non-blacks

Impostors?  Come on, Torii.  Obviously, ‘imposters’ is not a racist thing to say, but clearly the wrong word to use for a USA Today round table discussion.

And do people really come up and ask Torii what ‘color’ people are?  What are the actual colors people can be, according to Torii?  Black, white, and Dominican?  Is Dominican really a color?  What about Spanish, is that a color?  The next time someone comes up to me and says ‘What color is Pao Gasol’ is it alright to answer ‘He’s the color Spanish?’  Cause people ask me that all the time.

In response to his own words posted in the USA Today, Hunter commented on his Angels-sponsored blog on Wednesday:

“What troubles me most was the word “impostors” appearing in reference to Latin American players not being black players.  It was the wrong word choice, and it definitely doesn’t accurately reflect how I feel and who I am.

“What I meant was they’re not black players; they’re Latin American players.  There is a difference culturally. But on the field, we’re all brothers, no matter where we come from, and that’s something I’ve always taken pride in: treating everybody the same, whether he’s a superstar or a young kid breaking into the game. Where he was born and raised makes no difference.”

I don’t think Torii is racist based on his comments.  That word is thrown around too loosely.  However, it’s quite clear that Hunter is very ignorant and needs to learn the difference between ‘color’ and ‘nationality’, and then sticking to just talking about nationality during these types of discussions.

Philadelphia Phillies fans who were worried about Cole Hamels this year (everyone) may be able to relax a bit. So far this spring, Hamels has been sharp even has he’s worked on his curveball and cutter. Hamels was back to old form today when he retired the first nine batters he faced before giving up a solo home run. That sounds like the Hamels we know and love.

Hamels went 3 2/3 innings in a 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon. He allowed one run, one hit and two walks in throwing 47 pitches (32 for strikes).

Most everyone agrees that Hamels is the lynch pin to the Phillies season. If he returns to 2008 form, the Phils will be by far the favorites to represent the National League in the World Series. If he doesn’t, they’ll have to rely on Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer to pitch much better than Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer.

Jocklife.com is reporting that the Cincinnati Bengals and free agent WR Antonio Bryant have agreed to a four-year contract. Under the terms of the contract, Bryant will run fast and catch footballs when they are thrown to him.

Jocklife is an agent-run site that does have some credibility, but this is by no means official. Bryant had a rebirth recently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after sitting out a year from football. He was originally a 2002 draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys.

Photo Caption: Bryant and his butt once played for the San Francisco 49ers.

The Philadelphia Eagles will hold a 4pm press conference on Wednesday to announce the signing of free agent DB Marlin Jackson. The club signed him to a two-year deal and he’s expected to be in the mix at free safety.

This makes perfect sense for the Eagles. They love players coming off of major knee injuries (see Jack Ikegwuonu, Stacy Andrews and Cornelius Ingram) and they also love players who they can play out of their normal position. Jackson is a cornerback by trade, but the Eagles don’t give a flying rat’s petute. They will play him at left tackle if they want to.

Jackson has twice shredded his ACL at the pro level, but the Eagles aren’t concerned about that. They actually love players coming off of major injuries because they are cheaper.

Sources tell Philly.com’s Kate Fagan that Comcast-Spectacor, the company that owns the Philadelphia 76ers, is planning on firing head coach Eddie Jordan. This is a complete shocker. Why would they just fire a coach who has a system that doesn’t work, with players that can’t run that system even if it did work? How can you let go of a guy who can’t come up with a half-way decent starting lineup and who makes awful in-game decisions? Is it Jordan’s fault that he routinely blasts his team’s heart after every game? Sheesh. We are baffled.

What could more telling, is that sources tell Fagan that the company is also going to “seriously evaluate” the job of General Manager Ed Stefanski. Another head scratcher. OTR is going to wonder aloud how you can get rid of a guy for signing players to huge, untradeable contracts when they aren’t worth it. How can you just dump someone who brought in yet another head coach who doesn’t know what he’s doing and then give him players that aren’t remotely a fit for his “system?”

Photo Caption: One of Jordan’s patented coaching techniques is to yell “Stop playing like women!!” during random intervals throughout games.

Is it Stefanski’s fault that Elton Brand got way too much money? Is it Stefanski’s fault that the team hasn’t made any significant moves to get better? Talk about heaping blame on a guy just for making 98% of the team’s decisions.

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