Dutch website reports daughter of Phil Esposito has died

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 11:22 PM

According to Dutch web site IJshockey.com Carrie Selivanov has passed away at the age of 43 due to ilness. Selivanov is the daughter of Lightning founder and NHL Hall of Famer Phil Esposito who married former Lightning winger Alex Selivanov, a player/coach for Dutch hockey club Hague.

No details were immediately available.

Below is the translation from Google, with the original in Dutch below that:

“The wife of player / coach Alexander Selivanov Hague is deceased. Reported that the organization in The Hague.

Details about the death are still missing. It is also not clear what the tragedy will mean for The Hague. Selivanov has gone home to Germany. His wife is a daughter of hockey legend Phil Esposito.

Alexander Selivanov IJshockey.com wishes, his family and friends lots of strength with the loss.’‘

Original:

“De echtgenote van speler/coach Alexander Selivanov van Den Haag is overleden. Dat meldt de organisatie in Den Haag.

Details over het overlijden ontbreken nog. Ook is nog niet duidelijk wat de tragedie gaat betekenen voor Den Haag. Selivanov is naar huis in Duitsland vertrokken. Zijn echtgenote is een dochter van ijshockeylegende Phil Esposito.

IJshockey.com wenst Alexander Selivanov, zijn familie en vrienden heel veel sterkte met het verlies.’’

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Leto’s Smith receives offer from Ridgewater

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 11:30 PM

You have to start promoting your athletes for college scholarships somewhere and for Leto head football Matt Kitchie, it could start with senior running back Alex Smith.

Monday, Smith received the Falcons’ first college scholarship offer since Kitchie took over the football program last fall. The pitch was from a two-year school in Minnesota, Ridgewater College, one of the most successful junior college programs in the upper-Midwest.

“Anytime you can get colleges interested in your athletes, it’s a good thing for your program,” Kitchie said. “It’s only an offer and he hasn’t accepted, but, hopefully, things like this will pave the way for more in the future.”

Kitchie says the Falcons likely will not have any players involved on National Signing Day on Wednesday. What he’s more focused on is the upcoming Recruiting Fair, which this year will be held Feb. 18 at Jefferson High.

There, Kitchie hopes to find college teams for some of his top academic achievers, including defensive end Garrick Pimienta, quarterback Michael Serra and right guard Robert Asphall. All of three players, Kitchie said, have a grade point average of 3.8 or better.

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Price of Rally Squirrel variation card soaring

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 07:12 PM

Wow, this is insane. Or, given that it’s about the Rally Squirrel card, kind of nuts.

With Topps Series 1 hobby boxes coming out on Feb. 1, and with retail packs already in some stores, the quest for the Skip Schumaker/Rally Squirrel card variation (card No. 93) has begun.

Already, there is a card up for auction on eBay. As of 6:30 p.m. Monday, there have been 31 bids, with the top bid at $631.99. The auction ends on Jan. 31 at 4:35 p.m. EST. Can it break $1,000? Should it break $1,000?

There is always that early season flurry to grab the hot variation cards.

I can see the folks at Topps rubbing their hands with glee. If the price of this card keeps soaring, or even maintains a high number in the hundreds, then it stands to reason that more people will buy hobby boxes and retail boxes, hoping to find the card and perhaps make a quick turnaround sale.

Yes, I am feeding the publicity machine here also, but I do find it fascinating that this card has become such a darling among investor/collectors. I am using the same photo I used last week, which appeared on the www.beckett.com site.

The eBay seller with this card has a 100 percent rating with 5,996 positive comments (and more than 2,300 over the last 12 months), so he is definitely not a fly-by-night guy. I think he is rubbing his hands with glee, too, especially since he apparently has 30 hobby boxes on order from Topps.

Now, for the bidders. The lead bidder as of 6:30 EST Monday has bid five times on the Rally Squirrel card. In the last month, he has bid on six items. This is the only sportscard-related bid. The others? One smartphone, two different bids on women’s vintage clothing, two bids on a pair of jeans, and two bids on a laptop/netbook.

Can you spell “speculator”?

Want my advice? Buy your own box, or get some packs, and see if you get lucky first before jumping into bidding wars. But if you pull the card, well, it’s up to you to decide whether to sell or keep it. No telling what the cost could be a month from now.

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Ruggiano declines assignment to Durham, opts for free agency

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Roger Mooney

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 05:42 PM

ROGER MOONEY

Justin Ruggiano cleared waivers Monday and declined an assignment to Triple A Durham, opting instead for free agency.

“I think I served my time there,” Ruggiano said. “I think it’s time for some fresh eyes to see me if I ever have a chance at a big league career.”

The 29-year-old outfielder came to the Rays from the Dodgers organization in July 2006 as the player to be named later in the trade involving Toby Hall and Dioner Navarro.

He appeared with the Rays in parts of four of the past five seasons, batting a combined .226 with six home runs and 23 RBIs in 98 games with the big club. Ruggiano was recalled in September 2010 but did not see any action.

He is Durham’s all-time hits (531) and RBIs (300) leader.

Ruggiano was DFA’d last February when the Rays signed Johnny Damon, cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Durham, where he began the 2011 season. He was recalled May 20 and spent the rest of the season on the major league roster, playing in 46 games. He hit .271 with four home runs and 12 RBIs in the games he started.

Accepting this assignment would have meant another Opening Day with the Bulls.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Ruggiano said. “It was definitely a fun group to be around up and down the organization.”

 

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Topps touting trio of golden relic subsets

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 04:35 PM

As Topps gets closer to its Feb. 1 release for its Series 1 baseball card set, the company continues to send out a news release each day touting something different about its product. No complaint from me, since it gives me a chance to write about it.

But soon, expectations will be done, and the time to see the actual product will be near.

Gold continues to be a theme for the 2012 set, and there will be three special themed relic subsets collectors will be looking for.

The first will be Golden Great coin cards. This will feature 15 different legendary players (like Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Tom Seaver and Mickey Mantle)
with a coin embedded into the player’s card. These limited pieces will be sequentially numbered to the player’s jersey number.  Since Babe Ruth wore No.3 and the Mick was No. 7, we can guess which will be the rarer cards.

The second set will be Golden Retired ring cards. These will be interesting, as the card will show off the tops of golden rings.  Each ring is engraved with a legendary player’s jersey number that has been retired. Players in that class include Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Cal Ripken Jr. and Don Mattingly.

Golden World Series Champion Pin cards is the final set. A World Series pin will be imbedded into a card, and 20 Fall Classics will be honored. Players like Lou Gehrig, Tim Lincecum, Sandy Koufax and Dustin Pedroia will be featured.

Topps sent me a nice collage of photos to illustrate these upcoming inserts, plus that short-printed, airbrushed card of Albert Pujols.

One more news release tomorrow before the hobby boxes are released, so stay tuned.

*GOLDEN WORLD SERIES CHAMPION PIN CARDS – These eye-catching cards included a specially designed World Series Pin embedded into the card and include 20 different Fall Classic standouts.  Find cards of Tim Lincecum, Lou Gehrig, Sandy Koufax and more.

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It’s mango time on wrecks, Pipe

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Tribune Sports

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 03:57 PM

BY RANDY ROCHELLE

Well, thanks to high winds and rough seas, red grouper season was shut down a few days early. The next couple of days aren’t looking much better, but by the end of the week the winds may lay down.

Mangrove snapper will be a target species for the next couple of months. While the bite has been very hit or miss, they are out there. You may just have to work at it a bit. Two places come to mind when targeting snapper this time of year: wrecks and the Pipe. Both hold good numbers of snapper, but both also hold amberjack, cobia and perhaps a stray kingfish or wahoo.

Chumming will not only stir the snapper up, but also any other fish that are within sniffing range. Let the chum work for 15 to 30-mintues before you start fishing. Giving them time to feed will allow the fish time to ball up, making it less likely to spook them scattering them out.

For the next couple of months, grouper will be off limits. However, even though it’s catch and release only, this is a good time to do a little scouting. Head out to an area you don’t fish or don’t have numbers in and slowly cruise around while watching the bottom machine. Watch for any kind of break, hard bottom or just about any kind of structure. Once you find something, mark and make a couple of drops. If you catch a good fish or two, log the number and move on to the next spot. I found some of my very best numbers this way.

Capt. Randy Rochelle runs the “Gotta Go” out of St. Petersburg and can be reached at (727) 365-3218.

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TC’s Armatas accepts Stetson offer

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 10:13 PM

Over the weekend, Tampa Catholic wide receiver Calvin Armatas received an offer to play for Stetson University, which is re-starting its football program in 2013 after a 57-year hiatus. Monday afternoon, the senior standout accepted the Hatters’ pitch, TC coach Bob Henriquez announced.

The Stetson football program will be competing in the Pioneer Football League, where most of the schools are private. The league, however, will be played at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) as a non-scholarship program.

The Pioneer Football League consists of teams in the East, Midwest, and California of the United States. Member schools range from New York, North Carolina, and Florida in the east to California in the west. The league includes Butler, Campbell, Davidson, Dayton, Jacksonville, Drake, Marist, Morehead State, the University of San Diego and Valparaiso University. Stetson and Mercer join in 2013. All incoming players at Stetson and Mercer will earn redshirt status this fall.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Armatas had 11 receptions last season for 174 yards. He also had offers from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., and Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill.

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Schiano big on discipline

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Ira Kaufman

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 03:00 PM

BY IRA KAUFMAN

TAMPA—Greg Schiano believes in truth and consequences.

The new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers takes over a very young club that has been beset by a series of troubling off-field incidents in recent years. At his opening news conference in Tampa, Schiano stressed accountability and trust between both players and coaches.

In a subsequent meeting with print media, Schiano was asked how tolerant he would be in dealing with off-field transgressions.

“We’ll have one unified message as an organization,’’ he said. “Accountability doesn’t work unless it’s consistent. You give a very clear vision and a clear expectation. Most anger and frustration comes out of unmet expectations. If you can give clear vision and expectations, it’s up to the players and coaches. It doesn’t work unless there’s consequences ... that’s human nature.’‘

Schiano said he expects the franchise’s code of conduct to be honored.

“As a kid, I was always best when I knew where the boundaries were,’’ said Schiano. “When you don’t know where the boundaries are, you just start drifting and all of a sudden, you’re in a bad place and you don’t know how you got there. When they hit the boundaries, there’s a consequence. Sometimes that consequence can drive someone away. That’s the unfortunate part of it.’‘

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Bishop McLaughlin’s Valdespino signs with Nicholls State

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Mike Camunas

Updated Feb 8, 2012 at 03:32 PM

Three-sport athlete Spencer Valdespino signed her letter-of-intent with Nicholls State for soccer Tuesday.

Also the school’s top girls golfer who has advanced to the region tournament the past three seasons and an impressive outfielder who batted .333 for region semifinalists softball team, Valdespino has been a legitimate scoring threat for the Hurricanes’ since scoring six goals and 14 assists as a freshman.

Valdespino’s finishes her soccer career at Bishop with 61 goals, 53 assists, 175 points and 268 shots, including leading the 13-5-2 Hurricanes to a region quarterfinal berth with a team-high 18 goals. Bishop McLaughlin advanced to the region tournament three of the four years Valdespino played soccer for the Hurricanes.

Nicholls State is a a Division I university in Thibodaux, La. that is 16-33-4 in the past three seasons while competing in the Southland Conference.

Correspondent Mike Camunas contributed to this report.

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FHSAA investigating altercation at Freedom-Crest boys basketball game

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 02:03 PM

An altercation that occurred during Friday night’s boys basketball game between Freedom and Strawberry Crest resulted in multiple player ejections from both squads and is under investigation by the Florida High School Athletics Association, Strawberry Crest athletic director Melvin Williams confirmed Monday.

Williams said referees from the game have filed a report to the FHSAA and that if players left the bench during the altercation, those players could be suspended for this week’s district tournaments or even for the remainder of the season.

Strawberry Crest plays in the Class 6A-District 11 tourney at Sickles that starts next Monday and Freedom is in 7A-9 starting next Tuesday at Chamberlain.

FHSAA spokesperson Corey Sobers says the association has received the report on the incident but has not made a final ruling. Williams said video tape of the game is still in review to see exactly what happened and if any players left the bench or committed other violations.

“It could be detrimental to us,” Williams said. “But it’s still too early to tell.”

Stay tuned to TBO as this story unfolds.

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