Carlos Zambrano’s long wait paid off. The Chicago Cubs’ talented and emotional ace agreed Friday to a $91.5 million, five-year contract extension that features a 2013 option that could make the deal worth $110.75 million over six seasons. Zambrano skipped a shot at free agency and its lucrative payday to stay with the only club he’s ever known.
The Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos are done practicing against each other. Now they have a preseason game to play. So can there really be any surprises Saturday night after the teams banged against each other during four workouts over two days this week? “It will be pretty much the same. We’re looking at the basics,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.
It’s up to Michael Vick now. His last two co-defendants pleaded guilty Friday and implicated Vick in bankrolling gambling on dogfights. One of them said the Atlanta Falcons quarterback helped drown or hang dogs that didn’t do well. With his NFL career in jeopardy and a superseding indictment adding more charges in the works, that left Vick with a hard choice: Cutting his own deal to hold jail time…
Falcons owner Arthur Blank accused Michael Vick of lying to him and the NFL after one of the NFL star’s co-defendants said Friday that the quarterback took part in drowning and hanging dogs that didn’t perform well. “What’s suggested in those statements of fact don’t match up with what the league was told, even our organization and certainly not what was said to the commissioner,” Blank told The…
River’s Prayer beat Strong Faith by a half-length Friday in the $200,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at Del Mar. Ridden by Clinton Potts, River’s Prayer covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.85, fastest at the distance at Del Mar’s summer meeting. River’s Prayer paid $6.20, $3.20 and $2.80. Strong Faith returned $4 and $3.20, while Lady Gamer was another 4 3/4 lengths back in third and paid $3.40 to show.
If Amare Stoudemire wasn’t preparing for the FIBA Americas championship, he might be far from a basketball court this week. “Right now, I’d probably just be on a vacation with my family,” the All-Star center said. LeBron James said he would probably be back home “working out and playing video games all day.” But both NBA stars are in Vegas, along with the rest of Team USA, practicing for the…
The Boston Red Sox put backup catcher Doug Mirabelli on the 15-day disabled list after he strained his right calf in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, the biggest in a series of moves to bolster the team for the pennant race. Outfielder Wily Mo Pena was traded to the Washington Nationals for a player to be named.
In a bold move during a tense pennant race, the Detroit Tigers called up touted prospect Cameron Maybin on Friday and cut slumping outfielder Craig Monroe, a key member of their World Series team last season. The 20-year-old Maybin, with only six games of experience at Double-A, was set to make his major league debut Friday night against the New York Yankees — weather permitting.
Former New York Giants receiver Mark Ingram is accused of breaking into a garage and stealing a purse from a car. Genessee County Prosecutor David Leyton said Friday that his office issued an arrest warrant charging Ingram with a felony count of breaking and entering of a building and a misdemeanor larceny charge.
Green Bay released Robert Ferguson on Friday, a day after coach Mike McCarthy said the receiver’s career with the Packers was over. The Packers drafted Ferguson in the second round in 2001. He played in 60 games for Green Bay, catching 116 passes for 1,577 yards and 12 touchdowns. “We thank Robert for everything he has given to the Packers,” general manager Ted Thompson said.
