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lingzi
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Oct 29 2012, 09:56 AM
Post #1
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METAIRIE, La. Jason Worilds Jersey . -- Embattled Saints general manager Mickey Loomis had plenty to discuss before Thursday nights NFL draft, even if his club had no first-round pick. Topics on the table included wiretapping, Drew Brees contract talks and New Orleans bounty system. Loomis candidly addressed them all, and more. .He was "angry" about the recent wiretapping allegations. He was empathetic to fans concerns over prolonged contract negotiations with Brees. He was prepared to deal with the consequences of the NFLs bounty investigation. And no, he wasnt discouraged by all the recent bad publicity or the fact that head coach Sean Payton has begun serving a suspension that wont end until after the Super Bowl. Rather, he was confident that the Saints will remain a good team in 2012. "Obviously, weve had a lot of things happen," Loomis said. "Yes, Sean is missing and we miss him, but we are not unstable. ... We have had 41 wins in the last three years. We are not down. If we are down, Im happy to be down. We have a good team here and we have great leadership on our team. We have great players." The Saints have been dealing with the fallout from the NFLs bounty probe since March 2, when the league announced it had found that New Orleans had an improper cash bonus system in place to reward defensive players for hits that hobbled targeted opponents. As a result, suspensions were handed down to Payton, Loomis and assistant head coach Joe Vitt. The Saints also were docked second-round draft choices this season and next. Because they had already traded this years first-round pick, they were not slated to draft a player until late in Friday nights third round, 89th overall. This week, yet another, unrelated allegation of wrongdoing surfaced when an anonymously sourced ESPN report said Loomis Superdome booth was wired to allow him to eavesdrop on opposing coaches radio conversations from 2002 to 2004. "I have never asked for the capability to listen to an opposing teams communications," Loomis said. "I have never inquired as to the possibility of listening in on an opposing teams communications. And Ive never been aware of any capability to listen in on an opposing teams communications at the Superdome or at any NFL stadium. "I dont know who made the allegation. Im angry about it, frankly," Loomis continued. "Its not true. I have clear conscience. Thats all I can say. And look, the people that know me and know me the best have all come to my defence. Theyve stated to me thats not true. And maybe that has to be good enough." The Louisiana state police and the FBI have begun a joint investigation of the matter to determine if any state or federal wiretapping laws might have been broken. Loomis, who said he is not sure how else he can clear his name beyond a public denial, said he welcomed authorities involvement. While Loomis denied wiretapping allegations, he evaded questions about whether he truly agreed with the NFLs findings in its bounty investigation, saying that the team is moving forward and looking forward to co-operating with Commissioner Roger Goodells goals to promote player safety. "The NFL, they made their findings. They made their ruling and theres nothing I can do to change that," Loomis said. "It doesnt really matter if I agree or disagree. We have these penalties that we have to deal with and we are dealing with them." For failing to put a stop to the bounty program after he was first warned the NFL was looking into it in 2010 Loomis will serve an eight-game suspension that will in fact span nine weeks because the Saints bye falls in Week 6. Loomis said most of his work in a typical season is usually done by opening day and that his staff should be able to absorb his responsibilities during his suspension because "they know exactly how I think." Loomis added he has offered to spend his half-season absence from the Saints working with the NFL on developing policies to further promote player safety. "I think I would have some valuable contributions in that regard," he said. Vitt, who also oversees linebackers, must serve a six-game suspension in connection with the bounty probe. Despite his suspension, Vitt has been tapped to take over Paytons head coaching duties, meaning someone will then have to step in for him in Week 1. Who that will be has yet to be decided. "We are going to let probably most of our training camp unfold and I think the right person will kind of reveal itself," Loomis said. "Well make a good decision for those first (six) games." The Saints are now two weeks into voluntary off-season workouts, and Brees, their star quarterback and unquestioned leader, has stayed away while contract negotiations continue. Loomis smiled and said the ideal time to get a deal done would be "tomorrow or maybe an hour from now." Then he tried to explain the holdup. "No one understands better than I how important Drew and (his wife) Brittany have been to the city of New Orleans, our fans and the New Orleans Saints," Loomis said. "His contributions to our success have been invaluable. Unfortunately, I have the task of putting a value on it. But my goal and Drews goals are the same. Its to get him a contract that he feels good about and gives our team the best opportunity to compete for a championship. It will get done." Leonard Pope Jersey . LOUIS - The Tampa Bay Lightning have figured out how to win on the road. Antonio Brown Elite Jersey . -- McMaster University has rewarded head football coach Stefan Ptaszek for delivering the school its first-ever Vanier Cup title. http://www.steelersroom.com/lamarr-woodley-jerseys . But whether or not he chases the real Cup with the Edmonton Oilers wont be known until the NHL draft later this month. James Harrison Jersey . Hes married now, with four kids, another on the way and enough money to buy a house in place of the tiny apartment he once had. Brandon Johnson Jersey . The Red Sox starter has been plagued most of the season by rocky first innings and it wasnt any different in Bostons 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Mike Napolis three-run homer put the Texas Rangers ahead to stay. The catcher also blocked the plate to prevent a run and was in sync with pitcher Matt Harrison all night. Not a bad all-around effort. Nelson Cruz added a homer of his own and two outfield assists, combining with Napoli to deny Brendan Ryan an inside-the-park homer in the eighth inning, and Texas beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Monday night. "That was awesome," said Harrison, who tossed eight strong innings. Napoli and Cruz homered before Michael Saunders singled in the eighth for Seattle. Ryan followed with a liner to right-centre that bounced over the glove of a diving Craig Gentry and rolled to the wall. While Saunders scored easily, Cruz ran down the ball and threw to second baseman Ian Kinsler, who made a perfect relay to the plate. Napoli tagged out the sliding Ryan. "Im never going to forget that as long as I live," Ryan said. "I dont even know where to start with that. ... I never had the opportunity before. Loss aside and all that, it would have been pretty sweet. Kind of a baseball bucket list thing." Except Ryan never touched the plate because of the block by Napoli after the heads-up play by Cruz. "The play was really made by Nelson Cruz backing up that play when Gentry dove for the ball," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Kinsler made a really tremendous relay throw and Mike blocked the plate, but Nelson Cruz was the one that saved that run by backing up. He could have been watching what was going on, but instead was where he was supposed to be." Cruz homered in the second to tie the game at 1. Napoli went deep for the second game in a row when he hit a tiebreaking shot in the sixth. Napolis ninth homer came off reliever Steve Delabar (1-1), who gave up three runs while facing only four batters. Napoli was mired in a career-long 24-game homerless drought before his two-run shot Sunday. "That was a huge hit for Mike, to give the team a boost like that," Kinsler said. "It was kind of like we were waiting all night for the offence to just kind of explode and we could never do it, really. ... For Napoli to come up with that big hit, it was huge for the team and pretty much won the game." Harrison (6-3) struck out five and allowed two runs, less than a week after holding Seattle to one run over seven innings. "I was just trying to hit Napolis glove and make them put the ball in play. We were on the same page pretty much the whole game -- shoook him off twice," Harrison said. Lawrence Timmons Jersey. "The defence was outstanding, and we ended up scoring some runs late." Cruz also got an outfield assist in the fifth after Kinsler misplayed Alex Liddis popup in short right. Cruz picked up the ball and fired to first baseman Mitch Moreland to catch Liddi off base, and the runner was tagged out in a rundown. Joe Nathan worked the ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances. The right-hander had retired 17 consecutive batters before Jesus Montero reached on a one-out error by shortstop Elvis Andrus. Justin Smoak then grounded into a game-ending double play. The Rangers (31-18) have the best record in the American League, but only one winning streak longer than four in a row -- an eight-gamer in April. After Kevin Millwood was replaced by Delabar to start the sixth, the reliever walked Adrian Beltre and gave up a single to David Murphy before striking out Cruz. With Rangers fans chanting "Nap-o-li!, Nap-o-li!", the catcher hit a 401-foot homer that ricocheted off the facade of the second deck of seats in right field for a 4-1 lead. The 37-year-old Millwood struck out five and allowed only one run, but was done after throwing 97 pitches on a warm night in Texas, his home park from 2006-09. "He really had to work for it and they made him work for it," manager Eric Wedge said. "With the heat and how hard he worked, we werent going to push him another inning. Hes been pitching really well and you dont want one inning to affect his next start or next couple of starts." Millwood has allowed only two earned runs over 27 innings (0.67 ERA) in his last four starts. He matched his career-high streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 18 after getting through the first, but Cruz ended that an inning later with his one-out homer to right. Seattle led 1-0 in the first after an RBI single by Montero. NOTES: Mariners LF Chone Figgins snapped a 0-for-24 slide with a first-inning double, his first hit since April 29. ... Rangers RHP Scott Feldman (0-2) gets another start Tuesday, his second in a row against the Mariners since Neftali Feliz went on the disabled list. Feldman gave up a grand slam and lost at Seattle last Wednesday. ... Mariners lefty Jason Vargas (5-4, 3.39 ERA) starts Tuesday. ... Rangers right-handed reliever Alexi Ogando has a bruised right hand. Washington said Ogando was just sore. ... Washington said RHP Yu Darvish was getting treatment for back stiffness, but said the pitcher is fine. ' ' '
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