07/03/2009 - Stoke-on-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stoke City midfielder Salif Diao is close to agreeing a new contract to remain at the Britannia Stadium.
The 32-year-old Senegal international is out of contract and had been interesting several unnamed European clubs, according to his agent.
However, representative Gary Mellor now claims the former Liverpool midfielder is ready to accept a new deal to stay with the Potters.
"I have had long discussions with (chief executive) Tony Scholes, (manager) Tony Pulis and Salif and we are 99 percent there," Mellor told The Sentinel.
"Salif loves playing for Tony Pulis and has a great respect for him.
"He has had offers from Italy and France, but Tony Pulis has made it clear that Salif is a big part of his plans.
"Salif is very close to committing himself to a further year."
Diao made 20 Premier League appearances for the Potters last season after bouncing back from injury.
(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)
<< All expected Haskell favorites at Monmouth
Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two days after Arkansas Derby winner Papa
Clem arrived at Monmouth Park for next month's Haskell Invitational. Belmont
Stakes champ Summer Bird settled into his stall at the Jersey shore track.
With th
<< Bremen hopeful of Pizarro stay
Bremen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Werder Bremen have confirmed their interest
in re-signing Claudio Pizarro on a permanent basis.
The Peruvian striker spent last season on loan at the Weserstadion from
Chelsea and scored 26 goals in
<< Wenger: Adebayor going nowhere
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsene Wenger is confident that Emmanuel
Adebayor will start the new season as part of his Arsenal squad.
The Togo striker has been mentioned as a possible transfer target for AC Milan
for the second ye
<< Pavlyuchenko unsure over Spurs future
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is
seeking talks over his future when he returns for the start of preseason
training.
Pavlyuchenko scored 14 goals in 32 games in his first season in the Pr
Pens bring back Fedotenko for one more year >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins signed forward
Ruslan Fedotenko to a one-year contract on Friday.
The 30-year-old tallied 16 times with 39 points in 65 regular-season games for
Pittsburgh last season a
Primus gets new deal from Pompey >>
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defender Linvoy Primus will extend his
nine-year association with Portsmouth after agreeing to a new 12-month
contract.
The 35-year-old defender has been at Fratton Park since 2000 and has
Federer, Roddick land in Wimbledon final >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time champion Roger Federer
and two-time runner-up Andy Roddick will do battle in Sunday's men's final at
Wimbledon. The iconic Federer will appear in a men's record seventh straight
Wimbled
Braves' Johnson hits DL with wrist tendinitis >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves have placed second
baseman Kelly Johnson on the 15-day disabled with right wrist tendinitis.
Johnson has struggled thus far in 2009, hitting just .214 with five home runs,
20 runs b
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting