There Will Be Football.....

Source: AP

Finally, the NFL and its players association agreed to a settlement to end its 4½-month lockout. The NFLPA executive committee and 32 team reps voted unanimously to approve and signed the terms of the deal. "It's been a long time coming. Football is back and that's great news for everybody," commissioner Roger Goodell said outside the NFLPA's headquarters. And, Smith stepped outside of the group's headquarters earlier to announce that players approved the pact.

As he spoke, Smith was flanked by NFLPA president Kevin Mawae, Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Colts center Jeff Saturday and Ravens defensive back Domonique Foxworth, key members of the players' negotiating team. Brees is one of 10 plaintiffs in the antitrust lawsuit that players filed against the league.

Moments later, Goodell walked into the building, joined by owners Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, John Mara of the New York Giants and Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, one of the 10 named plaintiffs in the players' antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, said in a statement, "I want to get back to work."

According to the timeline for league business to begin, trades can be made beginning Tuesday and free-agent signings can be filed with the league office Friday at 6 p.m. ET.

Teams may begin negotiating with unrestricted free agents beginning Tuesday or even as early as Monday afternoon.

Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl Champions

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and the Pacific Beach resident, Aaron Rodgers for winning the Super Bowl.

Capping one of the greatest postseasons for any quarterback, Rodgers led the Pack to their first NFL championship in 14 years, 31-25 over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for their legendary coach who won the first two Super Bowls is coming home to "Titletown".

Rodgers, the game's MVP, thrilled all Cheesehead fans with a spectacular six-game string that should finally erase the bitterness of the Brett Favre separation in Green Bay. After sitting for three long years before Favre left in 2008, Rodgers is now equal with Favre in Super Bowl wins, and he extended the Packers' record of NFL titles to 13, nine before the Super Bowl era.

Bubba Watson wins the Farmers Insurance Open

Bubba Watson made clutch putts on the final two holes to hold off Phil Mickelson and win the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday at Torrey Pines to earn the second win of his career.

Watson holed a 9-foot par putt on the 17th hole and a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish off a 5-under par 67. He completed four rounds at 16-under 272, one shot better than Mickelson.

Mickelson, the Rancho Santa Fe resident nearly completed a miraculous comeback on the 72nd hole, trying to slam-dunk a wedge shot from 73 yards away in the fairway. His shot landed less than a foot from the hole, bounced several feet past, then rolled to within 4 feet.

Mickelson made the putt for a birdie that gave him a 3-under 69 and four-round total of 15-under 273. He beat Dustin Johnson (66) and Jhonattan Vegas (68) by two shots.

NFC routed the AFC, 55-41

Source: ESPN

The game was not nearly as interesting as the score of 55-41 NFC win would indicate and it did nothing to repair the tattered image of the Pro Bowl.

The AFC quarterbacks including our own Philip Rivers along with Peyton Manning and Matt Cassel each threw first-half interceptions to help the NFC blow open a 42-0 lead in a performance ugly even by the historically low standards of Pro Bowl.

Tiger Back to Torrey Pines

Tiger Woods’ first appearance at Torrey Pines since winning the 2008 U.S. Open here will include a reunion with his playoff rival, Rocco Mediate, when the Farmers Insurance Open commences Thursday.

Tiger is part of the threesome with Mediate and Anthony Kim. Woods beat Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in the second hole of the Monday playoff after the two tied after 18 holes. They tee it up at 9 a.m. on the North Course’s 10th tee on Thursday and 10 a.m. on the South Course’s first tee on Friday.

Tiger's new swing was taking shape towards the end of last season and looks like he's had plenty of time to practice his putting during the offseason. I am very excited to see how he plays this season. Will we again see that dominating Tiger of old? We'll just have to wait and see...

Roberto Alomar in the Hall of Fame

Former Padre 2B Roberto Alomar became a Hall of Famer on Wednesday, the two-time World Series champion easily elected after narrow misses last year.

Alomar was picked on 90 percent of the ballots by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The 12-time All-Star won a record 10 Gold Gloves at second base, hit .300 and helped the Toronto Blue Jays win titles in 1992-93. Alomar drew 73.7 percent last year in his first try on the ballot.

"Robbie was an incredible player. He was a pleasure to watch play the game and I am not saying that because he was my brother. He had all the tools and put them all into play," former Cleveland teammate Sandy Alomar Jr. said.

Alomar got his first major league hit off Nolan Ryan in 1988. Ryan was the last pure starting pitcher elected to the Hall by the BBWAA in 1999.

Although former Blue Jays Paul Molitor and Dave Winfield also are in the Hall of Fame, they went in representing the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres, respectively. Alomar told reporters he wants to wear a Blue Jays cap on his plaque in Cooperstown.

"It would be a great thrill to be the first Hall of Fame member to go in under the Blue Jay hat," Alomar said, according to the Toronto Sun. "I hope the Hall of Fame will give me a chance to give Toronto that gift."

Garland signed with the Dodgers

Former Padres right-hander Jon Garland signed a one-year contract with the Dodgers with a base salary of $5 million on Friday. Garland will be the Dodgers' fifth starter, giving them five pitchers who each won 10 or more games last season.

Garland will also be eligible to earn up to $3 million in performance-based incentives this season. The contract includes an $8 million club option for 2012, which would vest if he pitches more than 190 innings in 2011.

Garland pitched well last year for the Padres, setting career-best marks with a 3.47 ERA and 136 strikeouts in 33 starts. We sure will miss you Jon, won't wish you luck though, because we'll end up having to play you.

Shawne Merriman is claimed by Bills

Source: ESPN

The Buffalo Bills have claimed former  Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman on waivers, according to league sources.

Merriman must report to the Bills within the next five days or he'll be placed on the Reserve/Left Squad list and would not be able to play the rest of the season, at which point his status would be determined by the next collective bargaining agreement. At the moment, Merriman plans to report to Buffalo, sources told Schefter. He is not, however, expected to play Sunday against theChicago Bears.

San Francisco Giants win the World Series

This is a little hard to swallow, since the Padres owned these guys all year long, winning 12 out of 18 games they played. But I love Bruce Botchy and Tim Flannery, so I got to give them their dues.

Congratulations to Botch, Flan and the Giants for winning the World Series.

Junior Seau drove off a cliff hours after getting arrested

Source: AP

Just hours after being arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, former Chargers great Junior Seau drove his car off a 30-foot cliff in Carlsbad and sustained injuries in the wreck.

Seau was arrested Monday morning after an alleged incident with his 25-year old live-in girlfriend. Police say Junior assaulted her during a verbal altercation late Sunday night.

Junior left the house before police arrived, but was arrested later when he returned. Seau was briefly booked in a detention center on charges of felony spousal assault and was released after posting bail.

Six hours later, his car drove off a road near Carlsbad and landed at the bottom of a hill a few feet from the Ocean. Junior was taken to a local hospital. Reports say he emerged from the car with only minor cuts and bruises.

Mr. Padre diagnosed with cancer

Source: Associated Press

"Mr. Padre" Tony Gwynn, the prolific-hitting Hall of Fame outfielder who spent his entire 20-year career with the Padres, has been diagnosed with cancer of a salivary gland. He has had three procedures since 1997 to remove non-cancerous tumors to the largest salivary gland, but the latest operation last month discovered a malignant growth.

"They took out three lymph nodes and did all the tests and the results showed cancer in the parotid," Gwynn told the AP Friday.

T. Gwynn faces radiation and chemotherapy treatments. He says doctors have told him they feel they caught the cancer early and "there was not much of it there." The doctors told him that this is a slow-moving but aggressive form of cancer. "I'm going to be aggressive and not slow-moving in treating this", Gwynn said.

Gwynn said he thought the cancer was most likely related to his use of chewing tobacco throughout his career.

Came across this article that was very touching, very true and very well written. Just wanted to share it with you.

"Sports need dignitaries like Gwynn, whose achievements are not commensurate with his ability to tweet his latest sneaker deal. People like Gwynn help others without the backup of a PR machine, or use their kindness as an embellished form of foxhole prayer. Forgive the cliché, but he’s someone you want your daughter to date and your son to emulate.

Built like Ralph Kramden while he hit like Ted Williams, Gwynn crouched low in the batter’s box as if to hide his baby fat. But there was no baby in his bat. An All-Star 15 times, Gwynn might be the greatest hitter since Williams never to win a World Series title (with all due respect to Ernie Banks and the like).

He fit the montage of our pastime: a man who looked like a boy and swung like a savant, his high-pitch monotone reflecting someone who grew up just enough to make a living at playing a game. In reality, he was alarmingly articulate and studious before the convenience of computers.

In the epoch of Internet, ADD reportage when a story 12 hours old is too old, Tony Gwynn is a time portal for those of us straddling 40, when our knowledge of a player was limited to the back of his baseball card, often coated with the sugary dust of the pink gum that came with every pack.

While Brett Favre struts back to New York, the scene of some unseemly deeds on and off the turf, it would be easy to stomp a man whose self-absorption is so thorough he’d make Narcissus blush. It is a story that folks and fools like me would normally use for literary target practice. He’s not worth it. Gwynn is."

Good luck, Mr. Padre, we will all be thinking of you.

Kassim Osgood, Woman Held at Gunpoint

Former Chargers' wide receiver Kassim Osgood and a woman friend were held at gun point while watching tv, apparently with the woman ex-boyfriend.

Kassim was at the home of Mackenzie Rae Putnal, when her ex-boyfriend walked into the house weilding a gun with a plastic bag covering his face. Putnal eventually ran downstairs to her parents home and grabbed a gun then exchanged gunfire with the ex-boyfriend while Kassim jumped out of a second story window and ran to the neighbor to call the cops.

Kassim escaped with minor bruises, and the ex-boyfriend was arrested for aggravated battery, false imprisonment, armed robbery, burglary and violation of an injunction.