TUF 14 finale: Michael Bisping versus Jason Miller confirmed for The Palms, LV, on Dec 3

Michael Bisping's fight with rival TUF coach Jason Miller, and the TUF finale, has been confirmed for December 3 at the Pearl, Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

There has been a bitter rivalry simmering for several months between the opposing coaches.

Bisping said: “Jason is one of those guys that you either love him or you hate him,” Bisping said. “I definitely don’t like him. I think most people around him find him very, very annoying. I know people on The Ultimate Fighter did and I was no different. On Dec. 3, I’m going to kick his ass.”

Miller retorted: “I definitely got under his skin during the season,” Miller, who owns a record of 34-8 with one no contest, said. “We hate each other’s guts at this point and on Dec. 3, we’re going to get in the cage across from each other and settle it. I’m excited for this fight.”

The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller is on FX every Thursday at 11pm

Rangers Waive an Agitator Who Stirred Up Opponents and Headlines

The latest chapter for one of New York’s most colorful and controversial professional athletes may have come to an end Tuesday when the Rangers placed
Sean Avery on waivers.

If no other N.H.L. team claims him by noon Wednesday, Avery will probably be assigned to the Rangers’ A.H.L. farm team in Hartford or be lent to a European club.

In his two stints with the Rangers, Avery was by far their most visible player, a fixture not only on the ice but also in the fashion world and in celebrity gossip columns. He was also a fan favorite at Madison Square Garden, though much of the rest of the hockey world did not hold him in such high esteem.

The Rangers’ decision to waive Avery, 31, was announced by Pat Morris, his agent, and confirmed by the team. Morris said in an e-mail that Avery would “look at all options,” including playing in Europe.

Avery arrived in Sweden on Tuesday with the Rangers ahead of their season opener on Friday in Stockholm. A spokesman said he would stay with the team until the Wednesday waiver deadline.

In the end, Avery fell victim to a numbers game and to his fraught relationship with Coach John Tortorella, who chose the shootout specialist Erik Christensen over Avery as the team’s 13th forward.

For all of his popularity in New York, Avery was widely reviled in hockey circles. In a 2007 poll of 283 N.H.L. players, 66 percent said Avery was the most hated man in the league. He came by that judgment honestly, sucker punching opponents on the ice and insulting them off it. But he also earned admiration in many quarters for his public support of same-sex marriage legislation in New York State.

Avery’s final significant, characteristically controversial moment came Sept. 26 in a preseason game in Philadelphia, where he accused the Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds of directing a homophobic slur at him. Simmonds and some of his teammates countered that Avery had provoked the incident and then made it public, considered bad form among players.

There seemed to be video evidence to support Avery’s claim against Simmonds. And an audio feed captured Avery saying he might have to “kill” Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux in response to what he saw as cheap shots by the Flyers. Neither player was disciplined by the league.

Until the incident, Avery had kept relatively aloof from reporters this preseason after an eventful summer in which he seemed to threaten a reporter who asked him about his breakup with his girlfriend and was charged with shoving a Los Angeles police officer — incidents believed to have alienated Garden management, even though the battery charge was later dropped.

Avery’s career was filled with incident — and with unsavory public remarks — as he played the role of an agitator who tried to draw penalties, often by excessive means.

He played a marginal role with Detroit and Los Angeles after breaking into the league during the 2001-2 season, but after a French-Canadian player injured a Kings teammate with a body check, Avery said it was “typical of most French guys in our league with a visor on, running around and playing tough and not back anything up.” The Kings later suspended Avery after he argued with an assistant.

Avery was traded to the Rangers in February 2007 and played well as an energetic third-liner for two seasons. But controversy was never far behind. When the Rangers beat the Devils in the 2008 playoffs, he stood in front of Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, waving his stick to distract him. It was a bit of gamesmanship not explicitly against the rules, but it forced the N.H.L. to issue an ad hoc clarification forbidding it.

Afterward, when Brodeur ignored Avery on the handshake line, Avery said, “Fatso forgot to shake my hand.”

In July 2008, Avery, a free agent, signed a four-year contract with Dallas. That December, he walked up to reporters before a game against Calgary and said, “I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the N.H.L. for guys to fall in love” with his former girlfriends, though Avery substituted a vulgar term. He was referring to the Flames’ tough-guy defenseman Dion Phaneuf, who was dating Avery’s former girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert, a Canadian actress.

Avery was suspended by the N.H.L. and ordered to undergo anger-management treatment.

Tortorella, working then as a commentator on the Canadian network TSN, said that Avery “embarrassed” himself, and “doesn’t belong in the league.”

Still, after the Stars put Avery on waivers, the Rangers picked him up — partly because Dallas would be on the hook for half his salary — to reprise his role as a third-line pest. Tortorella had been named the team’s new coach a little more than a week earlier.

Tortorella played Avery but often noted that he took too many penalties — even though statistics showed that he drew significantly more penalties than he took. The often short-tempered Tortorella occasionally snapped at reporters when they asked him about Avery in postgame news conferences.

Last season, Avery hit a new low for on-ice behavior, seeming to decline a challenge to fight by Edmonton’s Ladislav Smid, then suddenly delivering a right to Smid’s jaw, giving him a concussion.

“It looked to me like he suckered him — I’m not going to deny it,” Avery’s teammate Christensen said afterward.

If Avery clears waivers, it will open $1.9 million of salary-cap space for the Rangers. He has played 249 games as a Ranger, scoring 42 goals and 120 points, with 35 fights and 580 penalty minutes. Revealing though they are, however, the numbers represent little more than a chapter in Avery’s complex New York tenures.

Ducks win final preseason game

 

Corey Perry scored two goals in the first period and provided the assist on Ryan Getzlaf's overtime winner as the Ducks beat Finnish league leader Jokerit, 4-3, in their final preseason warmup Tuesday at Helsinki.

Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle was satisfied with Perry, Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan in the top line, but still felt there was room for improvement faces the Buffalo Sabres in Helsinki when the season gets underway on Friday.

"They were on the ice for the two goals in the third period, where there were a couple of overzealous rushes, too many odd man rushes, and we turned over pucks in the neutral zone,"Carlyle said.

"But on Friday we'd like our big guys to score three goals again, that would be the first thing. And we'd like our goaltender to play as strong as he did tonight and give us a chance to win the hockey game."

On Friday, Buffalo plays the Kings in Berlin, while the Ducks play the New York Rangers in Stockholm.

--Houston Mitchell

ALSO

Should Hank Williams Jr. remain the voice of Monday Night Football?

Joe Girardi defends CC Sabathia

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: Teemu Selanne, right, was greeted as a returning hero during Tuesday's game in Finland. Credit: Ducks.

Kings defeat Hamburg Freezers, 5-4

Ethan Moreau's third-period goal lifted the Kings to a 5-4 preseason win over the Hamburg Freezers on Tuesday at Hamburg, Germany.

Justin Williams got the Kings going when he scored in the first minute. Serge Aubin tied it for Hamburg, but Alec Martinez restored the Kings' one-goal lead. Kevin Schmidt tied it 2-2 before the first period ended.

Aubin gave Hamburg a 3-2 lead in the second period, but Anze Kopitar and Brad Richardson scored to put the Kings back in front.

Moreau pushed the Kings' lead to 5-3 in the third, and Hamburg's Canadian forward Brendan Brooks gave the home fans reason to cheer with 29 seconds remaining when he brought the Freezers back within a goal.

ALSO

Should Hank Williams Jr. remain the voice of Monday Night Football?

Joe Girardi defends CC Sabathia

--Associated Press

 

NBA scraps rest of preseason, first two weeks of season in danger

 

NBA Commissioner David Stern, after a four-plus-hour labor meeting with the players' union Tuesday closed with no deal, cancelled the last two weeks of the preseason and said he could scrap the first two weeks of the regular season if a deal doesn't get done by Monday.

"We're disappointed," Stern said.

Stern said the league will suffer a $200-million loss without exhibition games, and his deputy Adam Silver said "the damage is enormous," as Stern said, "We're looking down the barrel of an extraordinary hit to the owners and players" by missing the first two weeks of the season.

Stern said Tuesday's meeting stalled after NBA players failed to express interest a 50-50 split of basketball-related income. The players, calling the offer "unacceptable," according to Silver, earned 57% of BRI in the 2010-11 season. 

Union President Derek Fisher, the Lakers point guard, told reporters after the bargaining session in New York that he anticipated the exhibition games would be cancelled, and that the scheduled Nov. 1 regular season opener is "in jeopardy."

"Today was not the day for us to get this done," Fisher said. "As of this moment, we've broken off negotiations." Fisher was uncertain when either side would initiate contact again.

With players willing to agree to decrease their share of basketball-related income from 57% (approximately $2.15-plus billion in 2010-11) to 53%, Fisher told reporters that owners would move from their prior 46% request to only 47% Tuesday. He didn't disclose the 50% offer.

Hearing the 47% ended the meeting, Fisher told reporters.

Experts following the lockout have speculated owners believe the players will be more willing to bargain once they start missing paychecks, which will start in mid-November.

Union Executive Director Billy Hunter was grim with how long that silence may last: "Maybe a month," he told reporters, adding the union will establish "workout centers" for the players as the owners-imposed lockout of players extends toward its 100th day this week.

Standing alongside Fisher after sitting in on the meeting, Lakers star Kobe Bryant told reporters, "The development here is that I have time to play overseas."

Bryant is mulling an offer to play pro basketball in Italy.

MORE:

Sides far apart after lengthy negotiations

Arenas and their workers can afford lengthy lockout

Kobe Bryant to play in Italy? Not so fast

--Lance Pugmire 

Photo: David Stern. Credit: Michael Cohen / Getty Images.

 

Adrian Beltre hits three homers as Rangers eliminate Rays

 

Former Dodger Adrian Beltre hit three straight home runs and the Texas Rangers earned their second straight berth in the AL Championship Series, beating the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, Tuesday at St. Petersburg, Fla., to win their AL division series playoff matchup, 3-1.

Beltre became just the seventh player to homer three times in a postseason game. Texas ended the Rays' remarkable run to the AL wild card spot, and will play for the pennant against the Tigers-Yankees winner.

Ian Kinsler led off the game for Texas by homering on the second pitch from rookie Jeremy Hellickson.

Matt Harrison, who made a relief appearance in the Rangers' loss in the series opener, pitched five innings to get the win in his first postseason start. Neftali Feliz gave up a run in the ninth inning before closing for his third save of the series.

Postseason three-homer games

AL division series

Game 4, 2011: Adrian Beltre, Texas at Tampa Bay

AL championship series

Game 5, 2002: Adam Kennedy, Angels vs. Minnesota

Game 3, 1978: George Brett, Kansas City at New York

NL championship series

Game 2, 1971: Bob Robertson, Pittsburgh at San Francisco

World Series

Game 6, 1977: Reggie Jackson, New York Yankees vs. Dodgers

Game 4, 1928: Babe Ruth, New York Yankees at St. Louis Cardinals

Game 4, 1926: Babe Ruth, New York Yankees at St. Louis Cardinals

ALSO

Should Hank Williams Jr. remain the voice of Monday Night Football?

Joe Girardi defends CC Sabathia

 

--Houston Mitchell

Photo: Adrian Beltre hits one of his three homers. Credit: Pierre Ducharme / Reuters.

Avery Waived by Rangers

The Rangers career of Sean Avery has been colorful (and more than occasionally, off-color), controversial and confounding to both his coaches and many of his opponents, whom he has managed to goad into losing their composure. It has never, however, matched the promise of his first weeks with the Rangers, when he arrived at the trade deadline in 2007 and helped catapult an underachieving team to a scintillating playoff run.

So when Avery’s agent, Pat Morris, confirmed the Rangers were placing him on waivers Tuesday afternoon, it came as no great surprise. He had never worked his way into the heart of Rangers Coach John Tortorella, who seemed at best to tolerate Avery and all that came with him. And by the time the Rangers made him a healthy scratch for two preseason games in Europe, it seemed the end had finally arrived.

The Rangers have not yet announced the move.

Should Avery, 31, not be claimed by another team on waivers, the Rangers will send him to their American League team in Hartford to minimize his salary cap impact. They are already only on the hook for half his $4 million salary, having claimed him on re-entry waivers from the Dallas Stars after his disastrous tenure there in 2008-09. No matter where Avery goes, the Stars have to pay him $2 million this season.

Avery’s high-water mark as an N.H.L. player came in his first days as Ranger, when he scored eight goals and had 12 assists in 29 games after the trade deadline, when the Rangers made up a huge gap in the standing to make the playoffs. In 2007-08, he was somewhat less effective, but still enough of a pest to make himself valuable and had one of his most memorable moments in the playoffs with a power play goal against the Devils. To distract Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, Avery waved his stick and arms in front of Brodeur and when a shot got through, Avery put in the rebound for a goal. The N.H.L. then announced such a move would be penalized as goalie interference in the future.

Avery never had as big an impact after returning to the Rangers in 2009. Playing a diminishing role in Tortorella’s rotation, Avery had just 24 points in 76 games last season.

This summer, Avery taped a video supporting the push for same-sex marriage in New York. This became on-ice news when Avery claimed Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds called him an anti-gay slur during a preseason game. Simmonds was not punished by the N.H.L. despite the slur being captured on video.

Later, Tortorella indicated Avery was fighting for the 13th forward spot on the team with Erik Christensen.

Teams have 24 hours to claim players placed on waivers.

LeGarrette Blount, Curtis Painter find redemption on Monday night

LeGarrette Blount looked a lot better in prime time Monday night with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers than he did in his first big-time national TV appearance. Curtis Painter looked a lot better as the Indianapolis Colts' starting quarterback than probably most people expected.

As an Oregon Duck back in 2009, Blount punched out Boise State's Byron Hout at the end of a nationally televised game, earning a suspension for his final collegiate season and sabotaging his own draft status.

He was eventually signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent and was picked up off waivers by the Bucs in 2010. He proved himself to Tampa fans by rushing for 1,007 yards and six touchdowns last season and showed another national audience what he could do Monday night, rushing for 127 yards and the game-winning touchdown in a 24-17 victory over the Colts.

"I had doubts for a long time," said Blount, who has 294 yards and three touchdowns this season. "Actually, I have no idea when I felt like I'd get the chance again. I eventually got it, and now it's time to run with it like never before."

Monday night also provided redemption of sorts for Painter, a third-string quarterback who looked solid in his first NFL start for a team that has grown used to legendary performances at the position. He completed 13 of 30 passes for 281 yards and two long touchdowns to Pierre Garcon.

“It's always a little easier when you know you're going to get some playing time,” Painter said. “We got off to a good start and put some points on the board. But obviously we have to find a way to put more points on the board and move the ball a little bit better.”

ALSO:

NFL's first month brings huge surprises

For NFL coaches, the trick is avoiding risk

-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: LeGarrette Blount breaks away from the Indianapolis Colts defense for a 35-yard touchdown run Monday night. Credit: John Raoux / Associated Press

MLB playoffs: Who will stave off elimination Tuesday? [Poll]

It's going to be a fun day of Major League Baseball postseason play Tuesday, with all four series in action and three of the four featuring elimination games.

In the American League, the Detroit Tigers have a 2-1 series lead over the New York York Yankees, and the Texas Rangers have the same advantage over the Tampa Bay Rays. In the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers are up, 2-0, over the Arizona Diamondbacks. So there's a possibility that the St. Louis Cardinals-Philadelphia Phillies series, tied 1-1, might be the only one still undecided by Wednesday.

Which teams do you think will stave off elimination? Vote in the poll (you can pick more than one team) and leave a comment letting us know why you voted the way you did.

-- Chuck Schilken

ALSO:

A.J. Burnett: Like it or not, Yankees fans, he's your last hope

Texas Rangers take it away in Florida, beat Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3

Photo: Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher David Price in the dugout after leaving the game in the seventh inning Monday. Credit: Kim Klement / US Presswire

Different but Brilliant: Wes Welker and Calvin Johnson

There may not be two distinctly different players in the league, but somehow, they play the same position.

Wes Welker is one of the shortest, smallest players in the N.F.L. He was a star high school football player in Oklahoma, but he couldn’t even get a scholarship from Tulsa. Despite a great career at Texas Tech, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Welker was never invited to the N.F.L. scouting combine. He was not drafted. He was signed as a free agent by the Chargers, then cut after one game.

Calvin Johnson might be the most physically gifted player in a league full of them. At 6-5, 240, Johnson is a defense’s  nightmare. He was the talk of the scouting combine, where he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds. His vertical leap of 45 inches means no one can match him when the ball is in the air. There’s a reason he’s nicknamed Megatron.

Each is dominating the league in his own way. And after four weeks, Johnson and Welker are putting themselves in position to overtake three of the game’s greatest wide receivers. For Johnson, this was the sort of future that seemed preordained, that is, until the Detroit Lions drafted him with the second overall pick in the 2007 draft. The Lions were picking in the top 10 of the draft for the sixth straight season, and the previous five selections — Ernie Sims, Mike Williams, Roy Williams, Charles Rogers and Joey Harrington — had been monumental busts. Those drafts laid the foundation for the team that went 0-16 in 2008.

For Welker, it was always more about survival. After signing with the Dolphins following his cup of coffee in San Diego, he didn’t catch a single pass in his rookie season and fumbled four times as a returner. But he earned more playing the time the following year, then burst onto the scene by catching 67 passes in 2006. In a game in New England, Welker grabbed nine passes — and Bill Belichick’s attention. The following March, just weeks before the Lions drafted Johnson, the Patriots traded two draft picks to acquire Welker.

In 2007, Welker led the league in receptions. In 2008, Johnson led the league with 12 touchdown catches. In 2009, Welker again led the league in receptions; in 2010, Johnson again caught 12 touchdown passes. This year, the two are tormenting secondaries even by their lofty standards.

Welker has 40 catches and 616 receiving yards. Not only does he lead the league in both categories, but they’re also the highest marks after any team’s first four games in N.F.L. history.  Johnson has scored two touchdowns in every game. His eight receiving touchdowns are the most by any player after four games, and he just became the second player to record four consecutive games with multiple touchdown grabs (tying Cris Carter, 1995). Welker caught a 99-yard touchdown pass. Johnson caught two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to help the Lions rally past the Cowboys.

Both players have been as valuable as any non-quarterback in the league. The Lions and the Patriots each have scored 135 points this season, trailing only the Green Bay Packers. The teams are a combined 7-1, with the only loss coming in a game in which Welker caught 16 passes for 217 yards, both of which have been unmatched by any other player this season. And together, they seem to be taking aim at all of the league’s single-season receiving records.

Both players have endured injuries in their careers, but assuming good health, can either of them make 2011 a record-breaking season?

Receptions: Marvin Harrison, 143, 2002

Welker would need 104 catches over the next 12 games to break Harrison’s record. But it may not be as unreachable as you might think. In 2009, an injured Welker missed two games early in the season, but caught 122 passes over his first 13 games, for a remarkable 9.4 receptions per game average. In the season finale in Houston, Welker  tore his ACL and MCL on his first reception of the game. A brutal knee injury can take more than a year to heal, and in 2010 Welker did not look like the same player he had been during his first three seasons with the Patriots. But with a 10-catch-per-game average in 2011, it’s safe to say he’s back. With the way the Patriot offense and defense have looked this season (more on that, below), Welker could make a legitimate run at the receptions mark.

Trivia: Since 1960, eight players have caught 40 or more passes over a four-game span: Brandon Marshall (45), Marvin Harrison (43), Wes Welker (43), Jerry Rice (42), Cris Carter (41), Andre Johnson (41), Jimmy Smith (41) and Kellen Winslow Sr. (40)

Receiving Yards: Jerry Rice, 1,848 yards, 1995

The San Francisco 49ers ran 1,092 plays in 1995, more than any team ran in 2010. The 49ers also passed 644 times, a number bested by only the Colts and Saints last year. The Patriots are fourth in the league in pass attempts, but it goes without saying that Welker is no Jerry Rice. Welker has always been a possession receiver, more likely to rack up high catch totals instead of big yards. He gained 1,175 yards in 2007 and then 1,165 in 2008. He had just 848 yards last year, despite 86 catches. The most optimistic outlook? In his first 13 games in ‘09, he gained 1,336 yards, for an average of 102.8 yards per game. If he averaged that over the next 12, he’d finish with 1,849 receiving yards. Unless everything goes perfectly, this mark is unlikely to be challenged by Welker. Carolina’s Steve Smith has 530 receiving yards through four games, and is probably a better bet to lead the league in receiving yards this year. Once Aaron Hernandez returns, Welker’s share of the Patriots pie will decrease.

Trivia: Since 1960, 16 receivers have topped 600 yards over a four-game span, most recently Chad Ochocinco in 2006.

Receiving Touchdowns: Randy Moss, 23, 2007; Jerry Rice, 22, 1987

Moss set the record with receiving touchdowns in ‘07, but Rice scored 22 touchdowns in the strike-shortened 1987 season. At this pace, Johnson might beat both. Johnson has been hamstrung by less than stellar quarterbacks, but there’s no doubt that he clicks with Matthew Stafford. He caught a touchdown in each of Stafford’s last three starts as a rookie in 2009. In 2010, Stafford only started three games: Johnson caught a touchdown in the first game of the season, but officials overturned it on questionable grounds. Megatron caught three touchdown passes in his next game with Stafford. In Stafford’s third and final start of the ‘10 season, Johnson was marooned on Revis Island. But with 8 touchdown catches this year, Johnson and Stafford look unstoppable. With his combination of size, leaping ability and hands, he’s as dominant a red zone target as exists in the N.F.L. With an ineffective running game, it stands to reason that Stafford-to-Johnson might be the Lions’ first, second and third play-calls once they get inside the 10 for the rest of the year.

As productive as Jerry Rice and Randy Moss were at catching touchdowns, both only topped 17 touchdowns once in their careers. Johnson will need more than one touchdown per game the rest of the way to break Moss’s mark; in fact, if he catches two touchdown passes in his next four games, he would still need to average a touchdown per game for the remainder of the season to set the new record. As good as Johnson is, this record requires too many things to go perfectly to give any receiver anything more than a puncher’s chance this early in the season.

Trivia: Only three players in history have caught more than eight touchdown passes over a four-game stretch: Sterling Sharpe (9), Art Powell (10) and Jerry Rice (10).

Patriots setting all kinds of records, on both sides of the ball

New England scored over 30 points in each of the last eight games of the 2010 regular season. And while the offense floundered in memorable fashion against the Jets in New England’s only postseason game last season, the Patriot offense has again topped 30 points in every game in 2011. By doing so, New England became the first team to score over 30 points in 12 straight regular-season games. The 1999-2000 Rams were the previous record holders, with 11 straight. Drop the requirement to 30 or more points, and those Rams teams are the record-holders with 14 straight games. For now.

How good has New England’s offense been? The Patriots are the first team in league history to gain over 2,000 yards in the opening four games. The only offense that might be able to match New England’s? Whatever offense is on the other sideline. The Patriots are the first team in league history to allow over 1,900 yards to opponents in the first four games. Tom Brady has thrown for 1,553 yards on 163 passes so far. Pretty good, but Chad Henne, Philip Rivers, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jason Campbell threw for 1,475 yards on 168 passes against the Patriots’ defense. Bill Belichick probably gets treated for whiplash after every practice.

Meanwhile, the Patriots return to Foxborough for the next three weeks. Things have been good there for New England, at least in the regular season. The win over the Chargers in Week 2 of this season was New England’s 18th straight home victory during the regular season. From 1971 to 1974, the Miami Dolphins won 27 straight regular-season home games, so the Patriots can’t break that record this season. But Tom Brady already owns the record for consecutive home victories as a quarterback. Brady has won an incredible 29 straight at home. His last home loss? In 2006, against the Jets. This week, the Patriots host the Jets, with both home streaks on the line. In the Patriots’ last 42 home games, New England is 4-3 against the Jets and 32-3 against the rest of the league.

Chase Stuart contributes to the Pro-Football-Reference.com blog and to Footballguys.com.