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Polamalu Questionable for Sunday's Game Against the Browns

The Pittsburgh Steelers probably won’t know until Friday whether safety Troy Polamalu can play in Sunday’s final regular-season game at Cleveland.
Polamalu hasn’t played or practiced for two weeks because of an injured right Achilles’ tendon. Coach Mike Tomlin said he won’t practice Wednesday or Thursday.
“Troy is improving,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “We’re going to look at him and watch him move. It’s not out of the realm of possibility he could play. If he’s healthy, he will.”

If Polamalu can’t go Friday, he won’t play against the Browns (5-10), who upset the Steelers 13-6 in Cleveland last season.
While the Steelers aren’t ruling out Polamalu, linebacker James Farrior said Monday it didn’t look good for Polamalu being ready by this weekend—despite what will be a 10-day break since Pittsburgh beat Carolina 27-3 on Thursday.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s broken nose isn’t considered a problem, even though it was bloodied by a hit in the Carolina game.
Tomlin also said running back Mewelde Moore is questionable because of a sprained right knee. Linebackers LaMarr Woodley and Jason Worilds have knee swelling, and cornerback Bryant McFadden  has a hip injury.
While last season’s loss in Cleveland to a one-win Browns team eventually prevented the Steelers from returning to the playoffs, they didn’t know it at the time. There will be no such uncertainty this year.
While the Steelers (11-4) have secured a playoff spot, they will win the AFC North, earn a first-round bye and ensure themselves of at least one home playoff game if they beat the Browns (5-10). Should they lose in Cleveland and Baltimore (10-5) beats Cincinnati (3-12), the Ravens would win the division and the Steelers would be forced to go on the road next week for a wild-card game.
If both the Steelers and Ravens lose, Pittsburgh would win the division based on a better divisional record.
Tomlin said last season’s loss won’t necessarily prove motivational when the Steelers resume practicing Wednesday. Pittsburgh has won 13 of its last 14 against Cleveland.
“What’s at stake right now and right here is enough motivation,” he said. “We’re trying to secure the AFC North title. In order to do that, we have to go into an AFC North city and do the job—and I’m sure they’re not for us doing it. So it’s going to make it interesting and exciting.”
Woodley said the Steelers haven’t forgotten last season’s loss in Cleveland, when Roethlisberger was sacked eight times for 60 yards in losses. That loss was the Steelers’ fifth in a row, but they bounced back to win their final three and have won 14 of 18 since.
“We have to take care of Cleveland,” Woodley said. “Last year, when we played Cleveland down there, they took care of business on us. We have to make sure that doesn’t happen this year.”

Louisville Basketball's Peyton Siva Named Big East Player of The Week

University of Louisville sophomore guard Peyton Siva has been named the Big East Conference Player of the Week.

Siva scored a career-high 29 points and had eight assists in a 114-82 victory at Western Kentucky in the Cardinals’ only game last week.
He hit 8-of-13 shots from the field, 4-of-7 three-pointers, 9-of-10 free throws and added two steals.
Siva was the first Louisville player of the week selected this season.

The Passion For The 7s Rugby

The most symbolic sporting moments of 2010 - perhaps the Superbowl winning New Orleans Saints as a metaphor of the rebirth of their city after Hurricane Katrina, the Ryder Cup as an emblem of European golf's rise, Rafael Nadal's three tennis Grand Slam wins as possibly the end of the Federer era - trip almost instantly off the tongue.

There are higher profile underdog stories such as Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid, Francesca Schiavone claiming the French Open as a 29-year-old 17th seed or Louis Oosthuizen winning the Open Championship at the home of golf by a mile, but perhaps the greatest against-the-odds triumph of 2010 was the miniscule Pacific island of Samoa being crowned champions of the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series.
Located halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, you could fit the 180,000 population of Samoa into Twickenham and the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the adult male population of a sports-playing age wouldn't fill either one of the pitches.
Yet, on 30 May at Murrayfield, the home of Scottish Rugby, captain Lolo Lui scored a drop-goal penalty in the 14th energy-sapping minute of extra-time to win their Edinburgh Sevens Cup semi final against England and secure the title for Samoa.
Given the size of their nation, that in itself would be enough. Add in the fact that Samoa weren't using any of their legions of overseas-based professional rugby players and it becomes remarkable. Consider the fact that Samoa's entire delegation of athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics totalled six, that five of them didn't even get past the first phase in their events and in seven visits into the five-ring circus not one Samoan has returned with a medal, and it becomes exceptional.
Welcome home
"Before this year our greatest sporting triumph was winning the 2007 Hong Kong Sevens ... before that? I have no idea. I guess there hadn't been any major achievements," said Samoan coach Stephen Betham, who oversaw a remarkable transformation as his side won four of the season's last five events in Las Vegas, Adelaide, Hong Kong and, eventually, Edinburgh.
When they flew back from Scotland seemingly the entire population came out to greet them.
"It was unbelievable! When we arrived home we had to have a police escort from the airport into town. We were mobbed by people at the airport and for the 30-35 minutes drive into town there were people lined up on both sides of the road all the way into town. It was great to see; old people and young children lining the road waving and cheering the team," Betham recalls.
It almost goes without saying a national holiday was declared.
One of the primary factors in the triumph were the funding and the expertise that the IRB's high performance initiative has ploughed into the so-called Tier 2 and 3 rugby-playing nations, which as well as driving the development of the Game in the Pacific Island has also been helping the national teams in countries like Canada, Georgia, Namibia and Russia become more competitive.
Single greatest achievement?
"It is one of the great 'little-engine-that-could' stories in any sport anywhere in the world this year. It is proof that passion and planning, coupled with ability and opportunity, can help even the smallest of nations find their place in the sporting world.
"The fact that Samoa proved that emerging nations can not only compete but can also triumph against the traditional giants of the sport and the IRB's determination to give them every opportunity is one of the things that sealed our deal to sponsor the HSBC Sevens World Series," said Giles Morgan, HSBC Group Head of Sponsorship.
Mark Egan, the International Rugby Board's Head of Development and Performance, went one further, describing Samoa's triumph as a milestone for the sport.
"In terms of cup winning in global competition, it might be the single greatest achievement in the history of the sport," he said.
"You might think of Fiji, but they've about five times the Samoan population. No other country of such a small size and with such limited resources has achieved what they have done. With the right strategic investment small countries can compete, especially in Sevens."
Becoming a family
Repeating their success in the 2010/11 season will not be easy, however. Their star and IRB Sevens Player of the Year - 26-year-old winger Mikaele Pesamino - is bound for Sale Sharks in England's Aviva Premiership and may be lost to Samoan Sevens.
This follows hot on the heels of legend Uale Mai, the most capped player in Sevens history, whose move to Club de Rugby El Salvador in Valladolid, Spain, at the start of the year denied them another star player.
To make matters worse, captain Lolo Lui tore an anterior cruciate ligament in Dubai in the first event of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series and will be out for around six months.
Whatever happens, nothing can take away what the team achieved. In Samoa, they will be treated the way the bigger countries treat their Rugby World Cup or FIFA World Cup winning sides.
"We've become one family. After winning the World Series we've all become really close. This was our third year together and I knew they had all of the potential and the talent; it was about getting them a focus in their life and what their targets were and achieving their targets," Betham explained.

"We had an idea and we pulled in the senior players and convinced them of what needed to be done and they filtered it down to the younger players. They followed it through and we ended up at the top!" - IRB

Speed Thrills of Rugby Pacific Islanders

2009/2010 IRB Sevens World Series Player of the Year, Mikaele Pesamino is likely to lead a very powerful Samoan team to next month's Uprising International Sevens in Suva.

Uprising tournament organiser Randall Kamea said he had spoken to Samoan team officials and they had confirmed they would send their main team to the two-day tournament. "I have talked to the Samoa team coach and he has confirmed that all his top players will be coming and that includes the likes of Pesamino and others who have been playing for Samoa in the IRB series," Kamea said.
Kamea said Samoa's participation was going to make competition more interesting, especially with the Digicel Fiji team also in it.
"We will have the Iliesa Tanivula-coached side in the tournament, so fans surely can expect to see some top sevens action," Kamea said.
"I believe Tonga will also be sending a very powerful side." Kamea said they had confirmed 11 teams and the other five would be finalised within the next 24 hours. "At the moment we have Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand Maori, Samurai International, US Grizzlies, Les Bleu, Ponsonby and New Caledonia confirmed to participate," he said.
"We have also named the two local teams that will participate and that is the Uprising team as they are the hosts and Nadroga.
Kamea said the tournament would help Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and France to test themselves before they move to the Wellington Sevens. The Uprising International Sevens Tournament will be held at the tfl National Stadium on January 21-22, 2011.

The Day the Cleveland Browns Passed Haloti Ngata

I just read an article from Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun in which he detailed the 2006 draft and how two organizations that will forever be tied to each other function oh so differently. Obviously, the original Cleveland Browns were moved to Baltimore to form what we now know as the Ravens. The Cleveland Browns that exist today were created by the NFL as an expansion team in 1999 and the two franchises could not be more polar opposites.
The Ravens have enjoyed incredible success and are nearly a perennial playoff (if not SuperBowl) contender, while the Browns are a perennial bottom feeder in the NFL and AFC North. The story of the 2006 draft points out a bit of inside perspective as to why these organizations are what they are.
As Hensley details, in the 2006 NFL Draft which was headed up in Cleveland by Phil Savage (ironically a successful member of the Ravens' front office prior to his stint in Cleveland), the Browns held the 12th overall pick.
They were speaking with defensive monster, Haloti Ngata. According to the article, the Browns were on the phone with him advising him that unless a trade happened they would be selecting him at #12. Consistent with the Browns since their return, they just all of a sudden hung up. No explanation, nothing. They just hung up on the young man.
The Ravens immediately called and informed him that they traded a 6th round pick to move up to the Browns spot and they would be selecting the defensive tackle. The Browns selected Kamerion Wimbley from Florida State instead. Wimbley is just one of the multitude of 1st round picks that are no longer on the Browns roster including Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow, Brady Quinn to name a few of the more recent disasters.
Ngata, on the other hand, has turned into a key component of the Ravens defense and has emerged as one of the best defensive players in the entire NFL. Who can say what directly Ngata's career would have taken if he were selected by the Browns and what direction the Browns team may have taken.
Obviously, hindsight is always 20/20, but there have just been far too many occurrences like this to give the Browns the benefit of the doubt. Everyone misses once in a while, but the successful teams like Baltimore and Pittsburgh hit far more often than they miss. The Browns had a Ravens-esque type draft last season hitting (or at least appearing to hit) on multiple starters and impact players in Colt McCoy, Joe Haden, T.J. Ward, Shawn Lauvao when healthy and potentially Monterio Hardesty. If the Browns are able to duplicate this type of "hit rate" for another draft or two, they will be legitimate contenders in the AFC North.
Ngata is an incredible player, but I don't think he's that great of a player that he would've significantly altered the course of the Browns franchise. There have been far too many mistakes similar to this draft day blunder that one player simply cannot erase. No matter how great he may be.

Kawika Mitchell is The Newest New Orleans Saint

Kawika Mitchell, an 8-year NFL veteran who won a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants, became the newest member of the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday, December 8.
The team signed the linebacker to an undisclosed deal after he impressed in a workout and a roster spot became available because the Saints put running back Ladell Betts on injured reserve, ending his season. The Saints did not need another running back because Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush are back from injuries and both are expected to play Sunday against the St. Louis Rams.
"He had a good workout the other day," Coach Sean Payton said. "With the injury to (Stanley) Arnoux, we were able to bring in (Ramon) Humber as a special teams player; Kawika is a player that has a lot of experience and will number one give us depth and we'll look to see as we move forward how we can work him into our various packages. But he's someone with a lot of experience and we felt like his workout was very good."
Mitchell, 31, a South Florida product, was greeted at practice with the traditional new guy's welcome: 40 up-downs while the rest of the defense milled around him hurling invective until, upon completion of the grueling initiation, the defenders transform into a congratulatory mob.
"That's the first time I've been a part of something like that but it's alright," Mitchell said. "They've been giving it up for 12 weeks so I figure I can give them 40 up-downs."
Mitchell said he's ready for anything.
"I'm fortunate to be given this opportunity and I'm ready to do whatever is needed to help defend the title," Mitchell said. He did not return to the Giants in the 2008 season after they won the Super Bowl, and he said it's been instructive to see how serious the Saints are about their business after claiming their first NFL championship.
"It's good to be around and see what it's like the year after winning a championship," he said. "They're serious about getting another one."
Payton said Mitchell's ability to be an immediate contributor in special teams was a big plus and he left little doubt that is where the Saints expect to see him first. At the same time, Payton said the Saints won't hesitate to mix Mitchell into the defense as they enter the season's critical final four games.
In other personnel moves on the practice squad, the franchise signed running back Chris Taylor and released quarterback Sean Canfield.