Cotto-Margarito weigh-in

Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito World WBA Welterweight Championship July 26, 2008 MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada Photos By Tom Hogan

Eye on Lehigh; Eagles day at camp

NEW BIRD JOINS THE NEST…

The Eagles placed guard Shawn Andrews on the Reserve/Did Not Report List and filled the roster spot vacated by Andrews by signing guard Cameron Stephenson.

Stephenson (6-3, 314) was originally drafted by Pittsburgh in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft with the 156^th overall selection. He went on to spend the 2007 season on Green Bay’s practice squad, only to be released earlier this week.

The Hawthorne, CA, native starred collegiately at Rutgers after spending two seasons at Los Angeles Harbor College. Stephenson earned all-conference honors as a defensive tackle at HarborCollege, and played both offense and defense at RutgersSydney, Australia. before settling in on the offensive line in 2006. He went on to earned second-team All Big East at guard that year.

PLAY OF THE DAY…

QB Kevin Kolb connected with WR Reggie Brown on a 50-yard flea-flicker TD pass, one of a handful of impressive catches by Brown on the day.

This past offseason, Brown incorporated swimming into his workout regimen. He also used underwater boxing to help improve his hand speed which he feels will help him to get off the line of scrimmage in games.

DO YOU BLEED EAGLES GREEN?

Saturday, July 26^th from 6:00 am–2:00 pm the Eagles will host the first annual Eagles/American Red Cross Blood Drive at Lehigh’s Stabler Arena. The blood drive aims to benefit areas around the country in need of blood supply. Each donor will receive an Eagles gift bag, and 150 randomly selected donors will receive two VIP Sideline passes to watch Saturday’s morning/afternoon sessions. Six grand prize donors will win a pair of tickets to a home game this season. The Eagles contact on-site will be Erica Seidner. The American Red Cross contact person is Chris Englerth (215) 275-3017. Blood drive location:

Stabler Arena

Lehigh University

124 Goodman Drive

Bethlehem, PA 18015

· Tomorrow's practice times – 8:15 am and 2:45 pm

Eagles may be fed up with Andrews

WIP's Anthony Gargano reported Friday the Eagles discussed the possibility of trading disgruntled guard Shawn Andrews.

Andrews, who is signed through 2015, is an unexcused absence from training camp.

"Shawn Andrews has been put on the reserve/did not report list," coach Andy Reid said at camp today. "I don’t have any update for you. It is what it is, there. Again, I mentioned that he was not excused and that’s as far as I’m going with it."

When pressed if he knew Andrews would not arrive at camp Reid said: "No. He’s not here and he wasn’t excused and that’s as far as I’m going with it."

Andrews will be fined for his absence. The NFL CBA permits daily fines in excess of $15,000.

By placing Andrews on the resrve/did nor report list, it opened up a roster spot and the Eagles filled it by signing guard Cameron Stephenson.

Stephenson (6-3, 314) was originally drafted by Pittsburgh in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft with the 156th overall selection. He went on to spend the 2007 season on Green Bay’s practice squad, only to be released earlier this week.

The Hawthorne, CA, native starred collegiately at Rutgers after spending two seasons at Los Angeles Harbor College. Stephenson earned all-conference honors as a defensive tackle at Harbor College, and played both offense and defense at Rutgers before settling in on the offensive line in 2006. He went on to earned second-team All Big East at guard that year. The 25-year-old was born in Sydney, Australia.

St. Joe's names Arnold assistant basketball coach

-Courtesy of St. Joseph's University

PHILADELPHIA - Geoff Arnold has been named assistant men's basketball coach at Saint Joseph's University, it was announced by head coach Phil Martelli. Arnold returns to his alma mater and Martelli's staff after spending the past seven seasons as associate head coach at Drexel University.

Arnold was instrumental in Drexel's recruiting efforts that helped them reach the postseason four times in seven seasons, including a 23-9 record in 2006-07.

"The search was extensive and intensive and the quality of candidates was extraordinary," said Martelli. "Geoff Arnold was, is and will be a part of the fabric of Saint Joseph's basketball. I'm delighted that he is rejoining the staff and know that every day, and in every way, he will be working to maintain and surpass our level of excellence. I do appreciate Bruiser Flint's cooperation in allowing Geoff to be part of the process."

The 1986 SJU graduate previously served as an assistant coach with the Hawks from 1993 to 1996. That stint included one year with Martelli, who was in his first season (1995-96) as head coach. During that season, the Hawks went 26-6 and reached the NIT Championship game.

Arnold left Saint Joseph's in 1987 to join former Hawk teammate Bruiser Flint at the University of Massachusetts, serving on Flint's staff for five years. He then returned to Philadelphia in 2001 when Flint was named head coach at Drexel.

"I'm excited at the opportunity to come back to Saint Joseph's. I've worked for three coaches in my career and have learned alot from each of them. I'm looking forward to working again with Phil," said Arnold. "In my 16 years of coaching, I've always tried to do the best job that I can do, and will continue to do that at Saint Joseph's. I feel that I've been able to form many good relationships over the years and will hopefully use that to our advantage."

Arnold, originally from Sharon Hill, Pa. and Darby Township High School, was a senior tri-captain for the 1985-86 Saint Joseph's team that won the Atlantic 10 Championship, recorded 26 wins and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. During his senior season, which was Martelli's first as an assistant coach at SJU, he averaged 8.9 points and led the team with 134 assists. He was inducted into the Saint Joseph's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.

Upon graduation from Saint Joseph's in 1986, Arnold played for the Wildwood Aces of the United States Basketball League and then served as an assistant coach for one season. After one year out of basketball, he became a full-time assistant with the Hawks in1992-93, working on John Griffin's staff for three seasons.

Arnold replaces Doug Overton, who left SJU to become assistant coach with the New Jersey Nets.

EliteXC returns to CBS

The head-to-head battle between the fledgling Affliction promotion and the UFC last week spurred some of the most intensive media coverage in mixed martial arts history.

Now, MMA's third major promotion, EliteXC, gets back in the mix with their second live prime time special set for Saturday on CBS from Stockton, Calif. It's a major test for the group which lacks the star power of its competitors but has the plum network television deal with "The Tiffany Network."

EliteXC's first effort on May 31 was an unqualified success behind the drawing power of heavyweight Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and the fetching Gino Carano in the women's division. In fact, the ratings were so good in the coveted 18-to-35 male demographic that CBS wanted the second special moved up to July.

Despite being wanted, EliteXC wasn't exactly thrilled and would have preferred to wait until October when Kimbo and Carano, who doubles as "Crush" on NBC's American Gladiators, would be available to fight again.

Now the promotion must sink or swim with its lesser stars. The CBS portion of the show is headlined by a rematch between Scott Smith (13-4) and Robbie Lawler (15-4) for Lawler's EliteXC middleweight crown.

The first bout between the two on the CBS debut show went to a no-contest after a controversial stoppage. Lawler dominated the opening round but Smith came out surprisingly strong in round 2 and got back into the fight.

An accidental eye poke in the third round by Lawler caused doctors to stop the action and declare the no contest. The decision was booed vociferously by those in attendance at The Prudential Center in Newark, NJ but officials had no other option since Smith was clearly heard saying "he couldn't see" while being examined.

That's an old fighters trick that tells the doctor to stop the fight while also enabling him to save face. The fact that Smith protested the stoppage after telling the ringside physician that he couldn't see did not go over well with seasoned fight fans.

Nevertheless, Smith gets his second shot at Lawler, the more talented and well-rounded fighter, and he hopes to take advantage.

"Robbie is a great fighter and I'm honored to fight him a second time," Smith said at a recent press conference. "In the first fight I got hit way too much. In training camp we worked on some things that will remedy that.

"I can't let Lawler find any kind of rhythm because once Lawler gets rolling, he's hard to stop. I have to keep him off balance."

Locally, the main event is the charismatic Nick Diaz (17-7), who is from Stockton, taking on 37-year-old journeyman Thomas Denny (26-16) at 160 pounds.

Diaz means little to the mainstream fight fan right now but his natural star power along with a major CBS promotional blitz could turn him into a player rather quickly, turning a potential rematch with K.J. Noons into a much anticipated one.

"Fighting in Stockton is going to be great for me," Diaz said. "There's a little bit more pressure for this fight because it's in my hometown. I'll have a lot of familiar faces in the audience. I don't mind the pressure though. It will just make me mentally stronger."

Noons, the current ElieXC lightweight king who beat Diaz by TKO in November of 2007, got into an altercation with the high-strung Diaz after a recent title defense against Yves Edwards in Hawaii.

During the post-fight interviews, Diaz was brought into the cage with his brother Nate Diaz. After Nick made some unflattering remarks to Noons, Karl Noons, K.J.'s father, lunged at him prompting Nate Diaz to throw a water bottle at him.

The Diaz brothers were quickly escorted out of the cage by security and a natural rivalry was reborn.

Munsey headed back to Big Easy

The Philadelphia Soul’s Head Coach Bret Munsey’s first ArenaBowl weekend couldn’t have started any better, as his wife, Yvette, gave birth to the couple’s first child on Thursday.

Yvette gave birth to a boy of 7 lbs and 10 ounces, which the couple named Graden Thomas Munsey. Graden is Yvette’s maiden name.

Munsey, who arrived in New Orleans for Virgin Mobile ArenaBowl XXII on Wednesday, left immediately to be with his wife after receiving news that she was in labor. He left Philadelphia for New Orleans again late Thursday night.

Fedor to take on Arlovski?

Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole is reporting that the next Affliction show will take place on October 11 from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski for the WAMMA heavyweight crown. Tom Atencio of Affliction responded that that match announcement is premature, however.

Westbrook shows, Andrews stays away

Notes from Camp

Only one player did not show up on time for the mandatory 7:00 pm (et) team meeting and it wasn't Brian Westbrook. As reported earlier by Pro Football Talk, . Pro Bowl guard Shawn Andrews stayed away and was the only player not to report to camp.

*Eagles linebacker Omar Gaither, who is set to move to the weakside this season, was one of the first to arrive this afternoon talked about camp:

“I’m excited to get the ball rolling this year," Gaither said. "We got a lot of people coming back and it feels good to get up here to training camp and get it over with. "This is the best part. Getting back and seeing everybody. Meeting back with everybody after the break.”

*Andy Reid has installed a new policy for this year’s training camp allowing players over the age of 30 to rest every third day of practice. Left tackle Tra Thomas arrived this afternoon with this reaction to Reid’s idea: “I like it. I like it a lot…I think it’ll have a big impact on us. Being at training camp is tough. It’s a lot of full contact. That day of rest will be good…Three years ago, I wish he would have done that.” Tra Thomas turned 33 last November.

*Teammates and reporters were all a little surprised to see offensive lineman Todd Herremans arrive in a black van that closely resembled the 1983 GMC G-Series (G-15) van from the famous American action adventure television show, The A-Team.

“I just got it yesterday. It’s something I’ve wanted to put together for a while,” Herremans said. But don’t be fooled by the outward appearance of this seemingly ordinary van. His new set of wheels features a HDTV, play station, lifted suspension, automatic car starter, a supped up stereo system and much more.

*Tomorrow's practice times is 3:30 pm only and closed to fans.

Rollins benched for tardiness

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins was benched for this afternoon's 3-1 loss to the New York Mets after he arrived to Shea Stadium late..

Rollins arrived an an hour before the 12:10 p.m. start time. He did pinch hit in the ninth and grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game.

Soul coach departs New Orleans to be with pregnant wife

NEW ORLEANS – Philadelphia Soul head coach Bret Munsey has temporarily left New Orleans to be with his pregnant wife, Yvette. The couple, who were married in August 2007, is expecting their first child.

Having arrived here with his team yesterday afternoon, Munsey departed again late last night. His return date is currently unknown. The third-year coach expects to be back in time for Virgin Mobile ArenaBowl XXII, which will take place Sunday, July 27 at 3 p.m. ET at New Orleans Arena.

Andrews may holdout

Pro Football Talk is reporting that Eagles All-Pro guard Shawn Andrews may be a holdout.

Citing a league source, the Web Site reported there are rumblings that Andrews might not show up for camp due to displeasure with his contract.

Andrews is one of a host of Eagles players who signed an early-career contract that extends into the next decade.

Andrews, who is signed through 2015, is set to earn a base salary of $2.98 million in 2008. His base salary then drops to $750,000 in 2009.

Sixers reach agreement with Ivey

The Sixers have reached an agreement with former Milwaukee guard Royal Ivey, according tp Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Ivey, a 6-foot-4 defensive specialist, will not officially sign a minimum-salary contract until Monday, which is believed to be for two years with a significant guarantee.

"He's a very tough kid who is better offensively than people think," said Keith Glass, Ivey's agent. "His defense and aggressiveness tend to overshadow his offense, but he's gotten better offensively each year."

Lacy-Mendoza boxing highlights

Former World Super Middleweight Champion Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy (right) lands a right to the head of Epifanio Mendoza (left) on his way to a ten round decision victory at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on July 23, 2008.

Heavyweight prospect Seth Mitchell (left) lands a right in his fight with Henry Namauu (left) on his way to a first round knockout victory at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on July 23, 2008.

Lightweight contender Jose Armando Santa Cruz (right) lands a right to the head of Miguel Angel Munguia (left) on his way to a fifth round knockout victory at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California on July 23, 2008.

Eagles must keep Westbrook happy

Thursday is a big day for the Philadelphia Eagles.

That's when the team will learn if disgruntled running back Brian Westbrook will show up for training camp.

Westbrook, the Eagles' top player and lone big-play threat on offense, recently fired Fletcher Smith, his now-former agent, in favor of Todd France. Westbrook, a Villanova product who's in the third season of a five-year deal worth $24.9 million, remains one of the most underpaid and underappreciated players in the NFL, and he's intent on changing that.

Westbrook is believed to be seeking a guaranteed $30 million over three seasons.

If LaDainian (Tomlinson) got paid $25 million guaranteed in 2003 and now it's 2008, the next person needs to be paid $30 million guaranteed," Westbrook told the Philadelphia Inquirer . "It works its way up. You can't sit here and say, 'I'm as good as LaDainian right now and I'm getting paid five years after him...so I'll take $15 million. That doesn't make any sense."

Things certainly have changed; heck, Westbrook even undervalued himself a couple years ago. More>>

The Steve Lienert Show

After stumbling out of the blocks, Episode 14 of The Steve Lienert Show has exploded on the internet.

The Phanatic Magazine's Steve Lienert and co-host Mark 'The Pickleman' Mitten expound on Chase Utley's F-bomb, the Joe Blanton trade and why Charlie Manuel keeps benching Pat Burrell in the late innings.

They also delve into Brian Westbrook's contract woes, John Stevens' award and a certain 76ers' happiness with mediocrity. They also kick off the media frenzy leading up to the Soul's appearance in ArenaBowl XXII.

Flyers sign D Marshall to entry level deal

The Philadelphia Flyers have signed 6’1”, 195-pound defenseman Kevin Marshall to an entry-level contract, according club General Manager Paul Holmgren.

“Kevin is a good, solid prospect and we are happy to have him under contract,” said Holmgren in making the announcement.

“I was surprised a little bit, but happy,” said Marshall. “At the end of last season, I practiced with the Phantoms. They said that they liked my work ethic. They were thinking about it (signing Marshall to a contract), but I was thinking that they have another year to sign me. When my agent called me, I was very happy because it shows me that they think that I am a good prospect for the Flyers, which makes me very proud.”

Marshall, 19, recorded 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points and 143 penalty minutes in 66 regular season games for the Lewiston MAINEiacs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this past season. He was second on the team in penalty minutes (143) and was first among Lewiston defensemen in goals (11). He was named to the QMJHL Second All-Star Team following the 2007-08 season.

A native of Boucherville, Quebec, Marshall has been invited to participate in the Canadian National Junior Team development camp in preparation for the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championships. He will play this upcoming season for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL

Over three seasons in the QMJHL with Lewiston (2005-06 through 2007-08), Marshall registered 17 goals and 61 assists for 78 points and 396 penalty minutes in 196 regular season games. He was selected by the Flyers in the second round (41st overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Temple graduates populate local media

The new Temple University Alumni magazine has a report on the dozens of Temple graduates working in the local media.

The articles mentions David Murphy of 6ABC, Mike Strug of NBC10, John Clark of NBC10, Cathy Gandolfo of 6ABC, Mark Zumoff of the Sixers, Vince Hill of KYW-AM, Dorothy Krysiuk of Fox29, Merrill Reese of the Eagles, Michael Klein of The Inquirer, Paul Gluck of Drexel, Ray Didinger of Comcast SportsNet and WIP, Tara Facenda of the Mid-Atlantic Emmys, Marc Rayfield of WIP-AM, Steve Butler of KYW-AM, and more.

Fedor shuts down his critics

If you blinked Saturday, you missed the best heavyweight in all of mixed martial arts.

Critics of the pedestrian-looking Fedor Emelianenko have been trying to poke holes in his aura for years.

Since the industry leader, the UFC, wouldn't meet Emelianenko's asking price, the Russian star has spent most of his time overseas, destroying inferior competition.

In fact, Emelianenko (28-1) hadn't even faced a ranked heavyweight since downing Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in August of 2005. Since then, he's faced a middleweight in Matt Lindland, an aging veteran in Mark Coleman and freak show attractions like Mark Hunt and Hong Man Choi.

The lack of competition gave Emelianenko's doubters, most notably UFC president Dana White, carte blanche to hurl "overrated" charges against the Russian.

You can forget that now.

Emelianenko's performance against former two-time UFC champion Tim Sylvia erased any of those doubts. It took Fedor all of 36 seconds to submit the overmatched Sylvia at Affliction's "Banned" event Saturday.

From the opening bell, Emelianenko put on a clinic, showcasing his fast and accurate hands along with his unparalleled submission skills.

Emelianenko pounced on his 6-foot-8 opponent, stunning Sylvia with a sharp, right uppercut. The sambo specialist kept pouring on punches from there, chopping Sylvia down to the canvas.

Once on the ground, Emelianenko outclassed Sylvia with his extraordinary quickness, and quickly locked on a rear naked choke to end things.

"I was very pleased with my performance. Everything I wanted to do I was able to do," Emelianenko said. "You never know how short or long the fight will be, but I just wanted to end it as quickly as possible."

Even the experts who were convinced of Emelianenko's vaunted skills were stunned by his startling efficiency.

After all, Sylvia (24-5) was coming off a tough loss to interim UFC heavyweight champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira during his last match with the company in February. After winning the first two rounds on most scorecards, Sylvia got caught in a guillotine choke by Nogueira.

In other words, the big man was still at the top of the UFC's heavyweight division, and Emelianenko made him look like an amateur.

"He got off first and then I had so much going through my mind. He got off first, landed the big punch, jumped on me, and got the submission," Sylvia said after the fight.

"I was amazed at how good he is," Sylvia added. "The guy's a stud. I don't think he's human. He's incredible. I don't think anybodys going to beat him for a while."

Most agree with Sylvia's assessment, but Emelianenko would like veteran Randy Couture - the reigning UFC heavyweight champ in name only - to try.

White has continued to call Couture his champion for legal reasons after the veteran "retired" with the belt over money issues. He still has two more fights left on a four-fight deal set to expire in October of 2008.

"I would be very honored to fight Randy Couture," Emelianenko said.

The courts will have to decide if that dream matchup can take place and Couture certainly wants it...

Until he steps into the ring.

Laws to PUP list

The Philadelphia Eagles placed DT Trevor Laws (foot) and DE Bryan Smith (hamstring) on the Physically Unable to Perform list, and CB Jack Ikegwuonu (knee) on the Physically Unable to Perform list with a non-football injury.

According to Eagles head coach Andy Reid, Laws and Smith are scheduled to return to practice in the next few days, while Ikegwuonu is expected to miss the entire 2008 season due to a knee injury suffered during a workout prior to the NFL draft.

Eagles sign Laws

The Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to terms with defensive tackle Trevor Laws on a four-year contract.

With the addition of Laws, 27 rookies and selected veterans have reported on time to training camp, including all 10 draft picks. The remaining veterans are scheduled to report to Lehigh on Thursday night.

A second round draft choice of the Eagles in 2008, Laws (6-1, 304) was a third-team All-America selection in 2007 after leading Notre Dame with a career-high 112 tackles and 4.0 sacks, while adding three blocked kicks on special teams. His 112 tackles were the most by a defensive lineman in the major college ranks, and one shy of Notre Dame’s single-season record among defensive linemen (Steve Niehaus, 113 in 1975). He appeared in 49 games (25 starts) during his collegiate career, recording 224 tackles, 22.5 tackles for a loss, 10 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 1 interception, and six blocked kicks.

A native of Apple Valley, MN, Laws earned USA Today and ESPN first-team All-America honors as a defensive lineman at Apple Valley HS, after recording 87 tackles (17 for a loss) and 11 sacks as a senior. Laws also finished 49-0 as a state champion super-heavyweight wrestler as a junior and was ranked the #1 high school wrestler in the nation.