Rockies sending Matt Holliday to Oakland?

ESPN is reporting that the Oakland A's and Colorado Rockies have agreed to send Matt Holliday to Oakland. What the Rockies will get in return hasn't been confirmed and the deal is in the process of being finalized.

"Talks are continuing. They're very fluid and at this point, everything's speculation," Rockies spokesman Jay Alves said, speaking on behalf of general manager Dan O'Dowd.

Some of the players being discussed in the trade for Holliday are pitchers Greg Smith, Huston Street and Brett Anderson as well as outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Ryan Sweeney.

"I don't know how official everything is," Smith said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "All I know is I've been called, and I'm flying to Denver probably tomorrow."

"They just called me a little while ago and told me the deal's in place," Gonzalez said, according to USA Today. "It surprised me, but that's how baseball works. You're always subject to be traded."

In the past 3 seasons, Holliday has posted much better splits at home (Coors Field) than on the road. At home, Holliday hit .361 with 62 HR and 219 RBI in 908 AB and, on the road, he hit .296 BA with 33 HR and 120 RBI in 869 AB.

Arizona rejects Jeff Withey's request to transfer

Arizona Freshman Center Jeff Withey requested to transfer from Arizona, but the Wildcats denied his request.

"My very simple reason is I firmly believe, as the letter of intent states, that he needs to stay a full academic year," Livengood said to the Arizona Daily Star. "At the end of [the year] -- as I told him last night -- I would gladly release him if he wanted."

Abdul Gaddy, Mike Moser, and Solomon Hill, all commitments for 2009 withdrew within days of Lute Olson's resignation announcement.

He can transfer without permission from the school. However, he would have to sit out this season, he would lose eligibility for a season and the new school wouldn't be able to offer him financial aid.

Larry Johnson accused of spitting drink in woman's face

Larry Johnson, already serving a one-game suspension from the Chiefs, now may find himself serving a suspension under the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy. Larry Johnson spat in the face of Ashley Stewart at a club in Kansas City on Oct. 10th. According to the article, LJ tried to buy Stewart a drink the previous week.

Johnson got close to Stewart while swinging his arms belligerently, then said, “All I wanted [to] tell you is I’m going to kill your boyfriend,” the report said.

LJ also a December court date in a case accusing him of pushing the side of a woman’s face. Considering LJ’s not-so squeaky clean past, it wouldn’t surprise me that he spat in someone’s face. But to threaten to kill someone? I doubt that part of the accusation.

Johnson has 417 rushing yards on the season through 5 games.

NBA Laying Off 80 Due to Economy

Who isn't feeling the effects of the economy? Not only are individuals and companies feeling the pinch, but sports leagues are too.

The NBA is eliminating about 80 jobs in the United States, the first major American sports league to announce layoffs because of the worldwide economic turmoil.

Commissioner David Stern told The Associated Press last month the league would cut staff in anticipation of the downturn. He said Sunday the figure would be about 9 percent of the American work force, and the league confirmed the number of jobs the next day.

It will be interesting to see if other leagues and/or individual teams follow suit.

Rod Marinelli insulted by thought of quitting

After leading the Lions to an 0-4 start, Rod Marinelli was offended when asked about the possibility of quitting.

"Just you saying that to me, I would take that as a personal insult,"Marinelli said to a reporter.

"I won't change," he said. "I believe everything I'm doing in the game of football and how it's being taught. I have 100 percent belief in it.

"I respect authority, which a lot of times that doesn't happen in this country," said Marinelli, a Vietnam veteran. "I look at authority and I take my marching orders from there."

Marinelli isn't the only reason why the Lions are off to such a bad start. Fired GM Matt Millen hasn't provided him with enough talent to win football games. However, it's unlikely that Marinelli is on the Lions sideline come this time next year.

Ford Jr would fire Millen

In 2007, Jon Kitna made a 10-win guarantee and everyone thought he was crazy. After a 6-2 start, some thought it might have happened until they fell apart in the 2nd half to finish the year 7-9.

In 2008, Kitna slightly softened his "guarantee" by saying he would be "disappointed" if Detroit didn't win 10 games. After picking up where they left off at the end of 2007, the Lions have started 0-3 and have given up 113 points in 3 games, 2nd worst only to St. Louis (116 points).

Now, Bill Ford Jr. says he would fire GM/President Matt Millen:

It didn't take long for things to get ugly in Detroit. Today's brutal public comments from vice chairman Bill Ford Jr. -- who said he would have fired president/general manager Matt Millen today if he had the authority -- opens up a can of worms no one thought would be exposed this early in the season.

Ford Jr.'s father, William Clay Ford, runs the team and has been intensely loyal to Millen through seven losing seasons. The younger Ford, however, has made several strong comments this year about his expectations for the team -- making clear he believes Millen and coach Rod Marinelli have been given everything they asked for to build a winner.

I agree with Ford Jr. And they only Kitna and the Lions win 10 games in 2008 is if the NFL intervenes and modifies the 2008 schedule so that the Lions play the Rams every week for the rest of the year.

Bulgaria loses 82-0 in womens ice hockey

Sportsmanship is alive and well. In a pre-qualifying match, the Slovakian womens ice hockey team shut out the Bulgarian team. But it wasn't a defensive struggle. The Slovaks scored 82 times on their Bulgarian opponents after leading 31-0 at the first intermission.

Bulgaria trailed 7-0 after 5 minutes, 19-0 after 10 and 31-0 at the end of the first period.

The drubbing capped a woeful showing for the Bulgarian women, who also lost 30-1 to Croatia and 41-0 to Italy in earlier games.

If it's any consolation, the article said that Thailand once lost 92-0.