Irvin Ready to Play

 

After the final preseason game in late August against Oakland, linebacker Bruce Irvin didn’t want to remove his jersey and shoulder pads, knowing it would be sometime in October before he would be back in a Seahawks uniform.

No wonder Irvin wore a huge smile Wednesday when he finally got back on the practice field after serving a four-game suspension for using a banned substance.

”My smile explains everything. It feels great,” Irvin said. ”It was tough watching these guys for four weeks but you know I had to pay my debt to society. Now it’s time to get back to work.”

The Seahawks didn’t hesitate in throwing Irvin back into practice on Wednesday, but have not made a determination if he will be ready to go when Seattle heads to Indianapolis to face the Colts. Not only has Irvin missed the first month of the season, he has yet to play a regular-season game in his new role as a linebacker.

”This is a bit of a transition for him. He still hasn’t really cemented himself in that position with the limited amount of work he got in the preseason,” coach Pete Carroll said. ”We have to wait and see what it looks like.”

Irvin, the Seahawks’ first-round pick in 2012, spent most of his four-week suspension in West Virginia, where he went to college. Irvin said he tried to stay in football shape and to pass along the message to college players not to take their opportunities for granted. Irvin was scheduled to make $814,645 in base salary for the 2013 season but lost a quarter of that total.

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Alabama Suspends Star Player…No Laughing Matter

 

Alabama suspends S Clinton-Dix indefinitely for team violation

Alabama coach Nick Saban has suspended star safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix indefinitely for violating unspecified team rules.

Saban announced the suspension of one of the top-ranked Crimson Tide’s top defensive players after Wednesday’s practice. Saban wouldn’t say what Clinton-Dix did wrong.

”I want to be consistent,” he said. ”When guys get suspended, I never, ever say what it’s for. So I’m not going there. So don’t ask me. It’s the way it always happens. Every guy. If they do right, they wouldn’t be getting suspended. I don’t know for how long this will be, so don’t ask me that either. ”

Clinton-Dix is second on the team with 24 tackles and is a projected first-round NFL draft pick.

Tampa Bay Rays…Making a Run??

 

 

They shut off the lights, cranked up the music and turned their clubhouse into a nightclub.

As Pitbull’s ”Don’t Stop The Party” boomed off walls covered by plastic sheets, the Tampa Bay Rays sprayed each other with Silly String and emptied bottles of champagne as quickly as they could open them.

This road trip isn’t ending anytime soon.

”Nobody wants to go home,” pitcher Alex Cobb said.

Next stop: Boston.

Dodging trouble for nearly seven innings, Cobb and the Rays pitched their way to another must-have win on the road, beating the Cleveland Indians 4-0 Wednesday night in the American League wild-card game.

James Best Selling Jersey in the World?!

 

 

LeBron tops NBA’s global jersey sales list

LeBron James has the world’s best-selling NBA jersey.

The Miami Heat star and four-time league MVP tops the NBA’s global list of jersey sales for this past season, according to numbers released Tuesday. James, who also has the top-selling jersey in the United States, outsold Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Heat teammate Dwyane Wade for the No. 1 spot.

James said having the world’s top-selling jersey “means everything” to him.

“To know that so many people look up to me, so many kids, that’s what means more than anything, that I continue to inspire the youth and they look at me as a role model,” James said after learning the news at Heat training camp in the Bahamas. “I understand, when you wear someone’s jersey, you actually like believe in them. You believe they can do supernatural things. It’s like an extension of our family and I really appreciate that.”

The league unveiled the rankings, based on Adidas’ global sales for the past season, just three days before the start of NBA Global Games 2013, which include eight preseason games in seven different countries, then regular-season games in Mexico City on Dec. 4 and London on Jan. 16.

Many of the top names on the global-sales list — including Rose, Bryant and Durant — are on teams taking part in this season’s international matchups.

Carmelo Anthony is sixth on the global-sales list, followed by Dwight Howard (his now-former Lakers jersey), Deron Williams, Blake Griffin and Rajon Rondo to round out the top 10. In spots 11-15 on the global list are Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Garnett (his now-former Celtics jersey) and Joe Johnson.

In U.S. sales, James is followed by Rose, Bryant, Durant, Anthony, Wade, Howard, Williams, Griffin and Rondo.

Despite missing all of last season with a knee injury, Rose had the top-selling jersey in China, Latin America and Europe. James had the top-seller in the Philippines.

To James, finishing atop these rankings further signified how things have changed since he made his decision to sign with Miami in 2010 after spending the first seven seasons of his career in Cleveland.

“I’ve come a long way,” James said. “I’ve come a long way. I’ve grown as a basketball player and as a person off the floor in every aspect since 2010. I’m definitely humbled by it, appreciative. You always hear me say that I’m just a kid from Akron, and to be able to have this stature and that accomplishment, I think that’s pretty cool.”