Good for her...

Associated Press

DUBLIN, Ireland — Tiger Woods’ wife has filed a libel lawsuit against an Irish magazine over a satirical article that included fake nude photos of her and claimed she appeared on porn Internet sites.

A Dublin law firm acting for Elin Nordegren filed the lawsuit in the Irish High Court on Nov. 16, the court’s principal registrar, Ciaran Kelly, confirmed Friday.

Read it and weep…

Source: Astros ‘closing in’ on deal with Rangers’ Lee
ESPN.com news services

Carlos Lee is staying in Texas, but not with the Rangers.

A source told ESPN’s Jayson Stark on Friday that the Houston Astros are “closing in” on a deal with the free-agent slugger. Contract terms were not available.

The Astros are one of several teams bidding for Lee, joining the Philadelphia Phillies, who failed to land Alfonso Soriano; Baltimore Orioles, who Stark previously reported had made serious overtures to Lee; and San Francisco Giants.

Jayson Stark of ESPN is running with it

——————–

***Update***

MLB.com is reporting a six-year deal…

HOUSTON — Free-agent slugger Carlos Lee has agreed to terms on a six-year contract with the Houston Astros, according to a Houston television station.

KRIV-TV, citing Major League Baseball sources, reported Friday morning that the outfielder had agreed to a six-year contract worth an unspecified amount of money and would be flying to Houston from Panama on Friday evening to sign the contract.

————

***Update***

It’s a $100MM deal….

Rocky Mountain News has an article about a possible swap of OFer Brad Hawpe for P Paul Maholm.

Here’s a teaser from Rotowire…

The Pirates and Rockies have reportedly discussed swapping Brad Hawpe and Paul Maholm.

Apparently, it’s the Rockies who want more, even though they seemed thrilled with Jeff Baker in September. The Pirates aren’t going to give up Zach Duke, but they could part with Tom Gorzelanny for Hawpe. The Rockies would be getting more upside in return, but Gorzelanny is also at greater risk for arm problems.

Inside Hockey provides it’s rankings through a newsletter sent out via e-mail. The rest of the teams are after the jump.

1. Buffalo Sabres (1): The high-flying Sabres have no obvious weakness; on Monday night, they absolutely torched the Lightning, coming away with a one-sided 7-2 victory. Then they matched that output with a 7-4 triumph over the division rival Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

2. Dallas Stars (3): First Marty Turco was chased after just five shots, then captain (and leading scorer) Brenden Morrow went down with a groin injury. But the Stars still emerged victorious over the Avs on Monday night, then came away with a hard-fought 1-0 shutout win over the Predators on Wednesday.

3. San Jose Sharks (4): Vesa Toskala and Evgeni Nabokov have both played well in goal, but the team performs far better (11-2 versus 5-5) when Toskala�s between the pipes. And so it�s only a matter of time before Toskala is anointed as the official starter.

4. Nashville Predators (7): The Predators wasted little time putting Wednesday night’s shutout loss to the Stars behind them. They absolutely trounced the Vancouver Canucks last night by a devastating 6-0 score, with Paul Kariya tallying three assists in the victory.

5. Anaheim Ducks (5): The Ducks lead the Pacific Division despite having a lower winning percentage than the Sharks or Stars. If they maintain their lead because of overtime losses, it will expose the need to remove that column from the standings.

More after the jump »

Not a lot today due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but as Olney points out, this weekend may be very busy…

��The Mariners are taking a close look at local guy Adam Eaton and his medical reports, writes Geoff Baker, as they try to recover from the sticker shock they are feeling over the prices this off-season.

��Peter Schmuck doesn’t get the Gary Matthews contract, and can’t see O’s owner Peter Angelos approving a whopper deal for Carlos Lee.

��There are persistent rumors, writes Steve Bisheff, that the Angels may trade Chone Figgins for White Sox third baseman Joe Crede. That would make sense for both teams.

��The Yankees’ new hitting coach has already begun his work for next season, writes Anthony McCarron. Kevin Long’s situation might be difficult, because a lot of the Yankees’ hitters know and trust Don Mattingly, and when times are tough, they might well turn away from Long and start relying Mattingly, who is now the bench coach. Mattingly’s ego-less nature will probably make this work — he will undoubtedly do everything he can to help Long, while allowing him to do his job — but there is reason for concern. I’ve seen this kind of structure crumble before. Long’s reputation is as a good teacher who knows mechanics.

Check out the rest on INsider�

By Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com

Miami fired football coach Larry Coker on Friday, a day after the Hurricanes beat No. 18 Boston College 17-14 to salvage a 6-6 season to become eligible to play in a postseason bowl game.

Coker was informed of the decision by athletics director Paul Dee early Friday. Coker has three years remaining on a contract that pays him nearly $2 million annually, and the school will owe him between $2.4 million and $3 million in a buyout.

“The university has made a decision to change head coaches for our football program,” Dee said at a news conference.

If Miami is invited to a bowl game, Coker will coach the team.

� 2006, The Buried Lead

Not long ago in 2004, a debate erupted between who was the better quarterback: Eli Manning of Ole Miss or Phillip Rivers of North Carolina State. Having the number one pick of the draft, the San Diego Chargers had a tough decision to make: take Manning or Rivers.

The credentials for the two stalwarts were outstanding.

More after the jump »