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Filed under: Red Sox , AL East , MLB Transactions , MLB Hot Stove , MLB Free Agency When the Boston Red Sox were shopping third baseman Mike Lowell this winter, the name Adrian Beltre kept popping up as a possible replacement at third base. The Red Sox finally found a taker in Lowell with the Texas Rangers , but after Lowell failed a physical the deal was killed. What didn't die? Boston's interest in Beltre. The Red Sox have signed Beltre , according to SI.com. The deal is reportedly for one year and $9 million and includes a player option for $5 million in 2011. MLB Network's Peter Gammons first reported the terms, which others have since confirmed. There's also a $1 million club buyout in the deal, and it's all pending Beltre passing a physical.

Filed under: USC , Heisman NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Many believe that Southern California's decision to impose sanctions on its men's basketball program was simply a preemptive strike to protect football, the Trojans' cash cow. San Diego attorney Brian Watkins thinks so, too, but he remains hopeful USC 's move means the truth could also soon be revealed in the NCAA's ongoing investigation against USC's football program. Watkins represents former sports marketing investor Lloyd Lake in his lawsuit against former Trojans running back Reggie Bush . "I understand what they are doing but I also think they see what's coming down the pike and know exactly what the truth is," Watkins told FanHouse Monday afternoon.

Filed under: Boise State , TCU , BCS , Mountain West , WAC , Bowl Games GLENDALE, Ariz. -- So much of the focus during tonight's Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will be on the No.1-ranked TCU defense against Boise State's No.1 scoring offense: The classic strength-on-strength matchup. But what about the matchup of the third-ranked Horned Frogs' offense against the sixth-ranked Boise State defense? That seems be where this game will be decided.

Filed under: Team USA , International Hockey , Olympic Hockey U.S. Olympic team general manager Brian Burke (pictured) and head coach Ron Wilson were gracious and loquacious enough to turn what would normally be a ho-hum media conference call on Monday into a tidy session of news, notes and fun quotes. Building up the excitement to the Olympic Games in mid-February, Team USA should do this once a week. Hey, it's still ice hockey in America, gentlemen. Some highlights: 1. Saying "This isn't manufacturing underdog status," Burke is embracing the role for the young Americans. He cited his club's lack of size and inexperience. The general manager -- also of the underdog big-market Toronto Maple Leafs (sorry, couldn't resist) -- said the teams to beat are Canada, Russia and Sweden. "Go to Vegas a week before the Olympics," said Burke, "and there won't be a penny bet on us."

Filed under: Connecticut , Oklahoma , Stanford , Tennessee , ACC , Big 12 , Big East , Big Ten , Pac-10 , Georgia , Women's Basketball Brittney Griner dunked twice in a basketball game on Saturday, a rare accomplishment. Only the second time in the history of the women's game it has ever happened. It should be a moment to be admired, to be appreciated and highlighted. But the score keeps getting in the way. Baylor 99, Texas State 18. Griner's dunks came in the second half of a game that was already an uncomfortable mismatch. They came on plays run specifically to give her the opportunity to dunk. Baylor 99, Texas State 18.

Filed under: Wizards , NBA Police Blotter After speaking with law enforcement officials Monday, Gilbert Arenas put out a statement through his attorney. In the statement, which Mike Jones has in full on his blog , the Wizards guard admits to using his firearms, which he has said he stored in his locker at the Verizon Center, during a practical joke gone awry. Arenas maintains that he never pointed the guns at or threatened anyone, and that the weapons were always unloaded. Over the last 24 hours or so, sourced accounts of the incident, which involved Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton, focused on an alleged prank gone bad , in which following a gambling dispute between the Wizards Arenas laid out his guns on a chair in front of Crittenton's locker with a note which read "Pick one." Arenas's Monday apology seems to nod to this version of the confrontation, especially as Gil continues to deny he ever pointed a gun at Crittenton, as the New York Post initially reported Friday. There's no word on whether District of Columbia prosecutors will move forward with charges, though TMZ reported early Monday that authorities planned to bring Arenas before a grand jury . D.C. has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. Interestingly enough, Wizards fan Jack Kogod points out that Arenas's law firm, O'Melveny and Myers, assisted the District during the Supreme Court's hearing of D.C. vs. Heller , in which D.C. attempted to defend those strict gun laws under the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If this case does go before a jury, I imagine the Gil defense team is going to be making some points which won't quite match up with the firm's very recent arguments in Heller.

Filed under: Redskins , NFL Coaching ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Redskins no longer have to wait to hire Mike Shanahan, if they can lure him. But while nothing has happened to quell speculation that Shanahan will be the next head coach, the "if'' still looms large. So, as new general manager Bruce Allen (pictured) officially announced the firing of Jim Zorn Monday afternoon, he did not have his replacement with him at the Redskins ' headquarters, nor did he hint about when that replacement would be there. Allen did talk about immediacy -- "Today starts the 2010 season,'' he said -- and about what the Redskins need in their next head coach, and more than anything else, he repeated variations of the statement he made earlier in the morning, hours after telling Zorn upon the team's pre-dawn return from the season finale in San Diego: "The status quo is not acceptable.''

Filed under: UFC , News A clearer picture of the future of Brock Lesnar's MMA career should emerge this week when the champion is admitted to the hospital again for further examination, UFC president Dana White told the press Saturday. "This is the week," White said. "This week Brock Lesnar is going back to the doctor, getting fully checked out by one of the best doctors and hospitals in the world. So this week I'll know -- hopefully."

Filed under: Carl Edwards , Roush Fenway Racing , Sprint Cup THE SEASON: Just as fellow 2008 frontrunner Kyle Busch did, Carl Edwards was nowhere near what most expected par to be for driver No. 99 in 2009. But unlike Busch, Edwards still managed to earn a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup -- though it didn't amount to much. Edwards began 2009 as the driver that annoyed Jimmie Johnson the most. After racking up a series-high 9 race wins in 2008, most of the motorsports media looked to Edwards as the guy that would play out 2009 as the championship favorite, dethroning Johnson after three straight titles. Obviously, such predictions were nothing but off. Aside from the two wins teammate Matt Kenseth lined up to start the 2009 season, Edwards and the rest of Roush-Fenway Racing team failed to earn another checkered flag for the organization that came the closest to topling Johnson in 2008. Such struggles were a big surprise. A seven-race stretch in the spring of 2009 starting at Bristol watched Edwards manage a best finish of 10th just twice -- noticeably different from his runner-up 2008 performance. After Bristol in 2008, Edwards picked up a win, 3 top-5s and 4 top-10s in the next seven races. The tide seemed to have turned after the early season slump as he then rattled off four straight top-10 finishes. Consistency didn't stick around though, and Edwards limped into the Chase where he was never much of a factor. In fact, Edwards finished in the top-10 just three times during the final ten race run and, when compared to last season, such stats are a polar opposite. Johnson beat Edwards by just 69 points in 2008 after Edwards had 8 top-5s in the Chase. Another stat to recognize how far Edwards was off from 2008? He led over 1,000 less laps in 2009 compared to 2008. THE STATISTICS: Best Finish - 2nd, Pocono Worst Finish - 39th, twice Top-5s - 7 Top-10s - 14 Total Laps Led - 164 Percent of Laps Completed - 97.4 THE FUTURE: The stats didn't lie for Edwards in 2009. Compared with 2008, the 1,000 less laps led, 12 less top-5s, 13 less top-10s and -- most notably -- 9 less wins made a marked difference on Edwards postseason competitiveness. He just wasn't a factor. 2010, though, needs to be a huge step forward for the No. 99 team. Edwards has been rumored to have one of the steepest sponsor costs in the sport -- something that's easy to pull when you're winning 9 races a year. But AFLAC certainly is going to want to see a little more bang for its buck and Edwards -- naturally one of NASCAR's hottest driver commodities with his marketability and driving talents -- will need to see improvement from his Roush team. Jamie McMurray's race team will no longer exist within the confines of RFR to due NASCAR's limit on team numbers coming to fruition, which should shift a few of RFR's better resources to the remaining four cars in the operation. One would think such a move would help in an era of extremely limited track testing. Expect Edwards to be a Chase driver once again, but we should know early on in 2010 if he'll be a championship contender again.

Filed under: Cubs , MLB Hall of Fame , MLB Milestones Jim Rice 's lengthy Hall of Fame snub? Actually, that made sense. His personality was about as pleasant as slurping whatever sits at the bottom of Boston Harbor. Many of those that he offended were voters. So, since he was a marginal candidate anyway for Cooperstown, he wasn't going to make it, or he barely was going to cross the city limits. He was elected during his 15th and final year of eligibility, which happened in 2009 by the slimmest of margins. Andre Dawson ? This makes no sense. As a player, Dawson had the numbers and the personality. In fact, nobody of any stature was classier during his baseball career than Dawson, a gentle warrior, who joins Willie Mays and Barry Bonds as the only folks with more than 400 home runs, 1,500 RBIs and 300 stolen bases. Lou Gehrig . Ted Williams . Jimmie Foxx. Reggie Jackson . Well, Dawson has more career hits than all of them. Just like Dawson has more career home runs than Johnny Mize, Joe DiMaggio , Ralph Kiner and Yogi Berra . And Dawson has more RBIs than Willie Stargell , Al Kaline and Mickey Mantle .

Filed under: Boise State , TCU , BCS , Mountain West , WAC , Bowl Games SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- As far TCU coach Gary Patterson is concerned, the landscape of college football was changed forever the day the TCU-Boise State Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was announced last month. Not one, but two programs from non-automatic BCS qualifying conferences meeting on the grand stage of the BCS on Monday night at the University of Phoenix stadium. No. 3 TCU hails from the Mountain West , while sixth-ranked Boise State comes in from the WAC . Patterson calls that progress. Others with less a vested interest consider this Fiesta Bowl a huge cop out.

Filed under: Texans , AFC South As reported by John McClain in the Houston Chronicle , Texans owner Bob McNair said that head coach Gary Kubiak definitely will return to coach in 2010 -- the final year on his current contract. McClain noted that Kubiak may end up getting an extension, and that decision will be made at the end of the month. Though there was much speculation about Kubiak's job, those who follow the Texans closely knew that McNair would keep Kubiak unless there the team suffered a complete collapse this season. McNair likes and respect Kubiak -- Houston's owner has expressed on numerous occasions his deep appreciation for the way that the Steelers conduct their business, and in an effort to follow that model, doesn't want to be a meddling owner that changes coaches and philosophies every few years.

Filed under: Bills , NFL Coaching The Bills have informed all coaches on their staff that they are free to pursue positions elsewhere, according to a statement released by the team Monday. The status of each coach, the statement reads, will be determined by the Bills new head coach. Fox Sports' Jay Glazer first reported on Twitter that the Bills had fired their entire staff (the Buffalo News also reported this), meaning that Black Monday got off to a rip-roaring start. It also means that the most recent over/under on coaching firings was incorrect, because it failed to take Buffalo into account. Perry Fewell 's dismissal -- and the likely termination of all coaches -- should be no surprise, though. Fewell did a good enough job as interim head coach after replacing Dick Jauron, but if Buffalo wants to bring in a big name like Bill Cowher, whom they're rumored to have met with last week, then they need to clean house ASAP.

Filed under: Sports Media , Current Events , Golf Brit Hume retired from Fox News in 2008, although he regularly appears on the network as a political analyst. The new title allows him to do more than just report the news in a fair and balanced manner; it allows him to actually weigh in with opinion. And that's exactly what happened this weekend when Hume, appearing on Fox News Sunday, offered Tiger Woods , who had been out of the news for 15 minutes, this advice: "Turn to the Christian faith."

Filed under: Redskins , NFL Coaching Jim Zorn has, finally and/or officially, been fired by the Redskins. In a move that should surprise no one, GM Bruce Allen announced that the team would be going in a different direction next season. Zorn was given the news at a 4 a.m. meeting upon the team's return from San Diego. "The status quo is not acceptable," Allen said in a statement. "I felt it was necessary to not waste a moment of time to begin building this team into a winner." Zorn has been on the hot seat for several months -- and more or less considered all but fired for the last few weeks -- and the Redskins are now free to pursue the available candidates out there.