All posts by Payne Insider

ST. LOUIS — Just before Rick Ankiel barreled headfirst into the wall, the thought flashed through his mind…My career is finished.

“I thought that might be it,” the St. Louis Cardinals’ outfielder said Tuesday. “When you don’t get a chance to put up your hands to protect yourself, I’m lucky to be walking today. Anything from here is a plus.”

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The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to trade perennial Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez to the Atlanta Falcons for a second-round pick in the 2010 draft.

Gonzalez owns NFL career records at his position with 916 receptions, 10,940 receiving yards, 76 receiving touchdowns and 26 100-yard receiving games. He also leads the tight end category in most trips to Hawaii with 10.

Gonzalez had asked the Chiefs for a trade in early March if the right deal came along. However, recently he thought trade talks had all but been dead and anticipated playing the upcoming season with Kansas City.

That all changed today, and he will now become one of Matt Ryan’s favorite new targets.

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DAVIDSON, N.C. – After three seasons at Davidson and plenty of records, Stephen Curry is taking his game to the NBA.

The nation’s leading scorer announced at an on-campus news conference Thursday that he’s skipping his senior season to enter the NBA draft.

Curry said he will hire an agent, ending any chance that he’ll return to campus and perhaps break Pete Maravich’s NCAA Division I career scoring record.

Cury said. “I think I’m mentally and physically ready to make that jump, This is a dream of mine since I was a little kid.”

It’s believed Curry will be selected somewhere between seventh and 20th overall.

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina junior guards Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington have decided to enter the NBA draft, ending their college careers a few weeks after leading the Tar Heels to the national championship.

Lawson and Ellington announced their plans at a news conference this afternoon.

Last year the two of them put their name in the draft but never signed with an agent making them eligible to return for their Junior seasons.

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Torry Holt agreed to a three-year deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday that could be worth as much as $20 million

The 32-year-old Holt agreed to a creative contract that grows financially based on the way he plays. The base salary of this contract is for 3-Years, 13-Million. The interesting part of this contract is the lack of signing bonus; however the first year of the contract is guaranteed.

Holt chose the Jaguars over the Tennessee Titans, among other teams that were interested.

Holt certainly boosts the Jaguars’ wideout position. The seven-time Pro Bowler ranks 11th on the NFL’s career list with 869 receptions. He caught 64 passes for 796 yards and three touchdowns for St. Louis last season.

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When you don’t have a legitimate star and your having issues selling jerseys what do you do? Change your logo and uniforms of course. In efforts to sell more jerseys and increase revenue the lowly Detroit Lions have unveiled it’s new Logo and uniforms for the upcoming 2009-2010 season.

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On Thursday John Madden, a fixture in NFL broadcast booths for 30 years, and current Hall-Of-Famer has decided to retire.

Madden said. “It’s time. I’m 73 years old. My 50th wedding anniversary is this fall. “I have two great sons and their families and my five grandchildren are at an age now when they know when I’m home and, more importantly, when I’m not.”

The NFL has been Maddens life for over 40 years both coaching and in the booth.

“It’s still fun and that’s what it makes it hard and that’s why it took me a few months to make a decision. I still love every part of it — the travel, the practices, the game film, the games, seeing old friends and meeting new people… but I know this is the right time.”

Madden has worked as lead analyst for all the major networks broadcasting NFL games, forming tandems with Pat Summerall at CBS and Fox, Al Michaels at ABC and NBC. He has won 16 Emmy awards for outstanding sports analyst/personality and nominated for many more.

Madden has also been the face and voice of the best selling sports video game ever with EA Sports’ “Madden NFL Football.”

His last game announcing was the most recent Super Blow XLIII between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Kevin Garnett isn’t ready to start the playoffs, and Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Thursday that there’s a strong possibility that he will miss the entire postseason.

When asked to clarify, Rivers said there was a chance Garnett could be out for the rest of the season.

Rivers said this morning “He’s not going to be ready. After watching him practice, there’s no way. The way I saw him move today, I don’t know if he’ll be ready.”

The Celtics begin the best-of-seven first round series against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

Garnett injured his right knee Feb. 19 and missed the next 13 games before returning for four, but never playing as many as 18 minutes. With the Celtics assured of a high playoff berth, Rivers then held Garnett out with an eye toward bringing him back for the last three games of the regular season; that became the last two, then the last one, but he never made it back.

Rivers said Thursday he watched Garnett run at the team’s practice facility and said he had to shut him down after 20 minutes.

“If he can’t get through biking and working out without swelling and his leg locking, I don’t know how you can play in the playoffs. “This was an honest run today, you couldn’t make your way through it. The guy’s a warrior, you see him try to mask his way through it. But after 20 minutes of running, I don’t see it. After today, there’s no way he can play.”

Boston was 18-7 without Garnett this year and finished the season 62-20 but, without Garnett, what had seemed like an easy road to the Eastern Conference finals to meet the Lebron and the Cavs has gotten more difficult.

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On Tuesday Oscar De La Hoya’s biggest fight came to an end. It was with himself as he went back and forth for months on whether to hang up the gloves or not.

With Oscars retirement it ends a career as one of the most famous boxers of all-time and 10 world titles in six divisions.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s over inside the ring for me.” Oscar said Tuesday evening.

With the realization he wasn’t himself anymore De La Hoya finally came to this decision four months after he was thoroughly beaten by Manny Pacquiao, which was his fourth loss in his last seven fights. He hasn’t beaten a worthy opponent since Fernando Vargas way back in 2002.

Old age and diminished skills led to losses in recent years to Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“This is the love of my life, boxing is my passion, boxing is what I was born to do, and when I can’t do it anymore, when I can’t compete at the highest level, it’s not fair. It’s not fair to me, it’s not fair to the fans, it’s not fair to nobody.”

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