News and notes while anticipating a lack of action during this year’s MLB trade deadline…

From the start, Bill Walsh did it his way (The Fanhouse) One of numerous remembrances of the legendary San Francisco 49ers coach who passed away of leukemia on Monday at age 75.

Bill Walsh: 1931-2007 (Niners Nation) Remembering the coaching legend, from a fellow fan’s perspective. Be sure to check out the coaching tree.

Niners’ Gore breaks hand (AP/SI.com) The running back is likely to miss the pre-season after breaking his hand during a non-contact ball-handling drill.

Umenyiora: Strahan ‘50-50′ on returning to Giants (AP/ESPN) In yet another display of leverage in sports, Michael Strahan’s friend on the New York Giants, Osi Umenyiora, tells the press that there’s a even chance his buddy will come back.  Boy, way to commit on that.

Celtics on verge of acquiring Garnett (SI.com)  SI.com’s Ian Thomsen writes that with Boston’s trade for Kevin Garnett should land the club in contention in the NBA’s Eastern conference.  Garnett joins Paul Pierce and Ray Allen as a nice troika for the organization’s hopes to build.  Thomsen mentions that the team needs to land a center and a veteran point guard to complement the parts they already have on the squad.

2007 MLB trade scorecard (ESPN) When I want trades evaluated, I want the guy [Keith Law] that forked over a five-year, $14.75 million to bust Eric Hinske while he was BlueJays assistant general manager.  By the way: Toronto is still paying $2,812,500 while he plays in Boston…sparingly.

Royals talking to Braves about trading Dotel for Kyle Davies (KC Star)

The Royals appear to be ready to trade veteran closer Octavio Dotel to the Atlanta Braves on Monday afternoon for right-handed starter Kyle Davies.

Schools to continue series through 2031 (AP/USA Today)

Michigan and Notre Dame, which played each other in football only twice from 1909 to 1977, agreed Monday to continue to play each other annually through 2031.

“The Notre Dame-Michigan game has been a red-letter date on the football schedule for a long time, so it made perfect sense to make certain the rivalry continues annually long into the future,” Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White said.

Phillies nab Lohse in deal with Redlegs (AP/USA Today)
Mets land Castillo from Twins (FOX Sports)

The Philadelphia Phillies have made an attempt to shore up their starting rotation by dealing minor-leaguer Matt Maloney to the Cincinnati Redlegs for starting righthander Kyle Lohse.

The 28-year-old Lohse is 6-12 with a 4.58 ERA in 21 starts this season, going 4-3 with a 2.57 ERA at home but 2-9 with a 6.42 ERA in the road.

In another pre-deadline day deal, the New York Mets have landed second baseman Luis Castillo from the Minnesota Twins for two minor-leaguers.

Mets Class AA catcher Drew Butera and Class A outfielder Dustin Martin are among the players the Twins are considering, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Castillo is set to replace the injured Jose Valentin, who suffered a season-ending broken shin after fouling off a pitch that careened off his leg.

Legendary 49ers coach Bill Walsh passes on at 75 (my58.com)

Legendary San Francisco 49ers coach and architect of the “West Coast” offense Bill Walsh has passed away after a long battle with leukemia.

He was 75.

Walsh guided the San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl championships and six NFC West division titles in his 10 years as head coach.

Sources: National Guard vies to sponsor Dale Jr. (ESPN.com)

Sources tell ESPN.com’s Marty Smith that an announcement should be forthcoming in the next few weeks on who will be sponsors on Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s team at Hendrick Motor Sports.  Rumors abound that since PepsiCo. will no longer be the NASCAR’s official soft drink, Pepsi-branded Mountain Dew will climb on board to take over a prominent racer’s car for what is perceived to be more visibility for the soft drink maker. 

But there’s an interesting candidate lurking in the weeds: the National Guard.

As Smith reports:

It is widely speculated that PepsiCo. is the leading candidate to sponsor Earnhardt through its Mountain Dew brand, but sources with knowledge of negotiations say National Guard is also a top candidate as part of a split sponsorship package.

National Guard currently sponsors Hendrick’s No. 25 car, driven by Casey Mears.

Sources say the combined deal will be the richest team sponsorship in NASCAR history, somewhere between $25 million and $30 million annually.

Earnhardt said last week that Navy will continue its sponsorship of JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Busch Series entry in 2008, but sources said that would not conflict with a potential National Guard association in the Sprint Cup Series.

Sources say Garnett deal to Celtics is done (Boston.com)

Sources tell Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald that the deal to send power forward Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics is essentially done.

From the blog posting:

Sources this morning are confirming that the Celtics’ deal for Kevin Garnett is essentially completed.

One involved source said the final package will have the Celts sending Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a No. 1 pick to Minnesota to acquire Garnett.

Further word is that the Celts and Garnett have reached an agreement in principle on a contract extension. You may recall a report here that Danny Ainge would not do the deal without such a guarantee of Garnett’s presence, and it appears now that the perennial All-Star is willing to forego the opt-out in his current deal for next summer and cast his lot with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the Celtics.

***UPDATED at 5:28 PM ET***

The Associated Press reports that the deal is officially completed.  The Celtics will ship Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff and an unspecified draft pick for Garnett.

Tip o’the cap to The FanHouse for the informational link.

News and notes while still laughing from last night’s Entourage…

Rabobank to open Rasmussen probe (AP/USA Today) When we said upcoming weeks and months earlier Monday on cycling news, we didn’t mean hours.
Quickie: Ripken, Bonds, NFL camping, Iraq, more! (danshanoff.com) Dan Shanoff’s daily riffs on the sports news of the day.

Instant analysis on plea in Vick case (Hashmarks)  ESPN’s Hashmarks has instant analysis on the Tony Taylor plea agreement.

China and the 2008 Olympics: Greeting from Beijing (CNBC) Sports biz reporter for CNBC Darren Rovell reports from China all things Beijing Games-related as we approach the one-year-out anniversary to the Summer Games of ‘08.

NFL Network censors Sanders (The Big Lead) The network refused to run Deion Sanders’ commentary from The News-Press.

Mayweather, Jr. skips out on charity event — his own (SPORTSbyBROOKS) The boxing star skipped out on a charity event that he was headlining.

Hancock family withdraws wrongful death suit (STL Today)

The family of deceased St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock has withdrawn its wrongful death case against multiple parties.

The suit named Mike Shannon’s Steaks and Seafood, where the player drank earlier in the night; restaurant manager Pat Shannon Van Matre; the tow truck driver; the tow truck company; and the driver of a disabled car on the highway whom the tow truck driver had stopped to help.

King: Goodell didn’t foresee issues coming his way in first year (SI.com)

Peter King of SI.com penned his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column that features a sit down interview with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.  The interview highlights Goodell’’s impending one-year anniversary on the job as the league’s head and all the issues he’s faced during his short tenure.

As expected, the Michael Vick situation takes center stage during King’s interview.  The following is an exchange between King and Goodell.
More after the jump »

Texas to trade Teixeira to Atlanta (FOX Sports)

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that the much-anticipated Mark Teixeira deal to the Atlanta Braves has been completed, pending the review of medical records.

Teixeira and left-handed reliever Ron Mahay are expected to be dealt to Atlanta for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Class A shortstop Elvis Andrus and two pitching prospects. 

Williamson fires caddie (AP/ESPN)

Jay Williamson, who gagged away a victory at Hartford earlier this year with a bad putt in a playoff, fired his caddie Mike Mollet after a misplaced shot on the 14th hole at the Canadian Open Thursday. By the next tee, Williamson canned his caddie.

The caddie responded by tossing a handful of Wiliamson’s golf balls into the lake and stomped off to the clubhouse in disgust.

Williamson then picked out a random person in the gallery who just happened to be a former Canadian amateur who qualified for the same tournament back in 1962.

From that AP via the account from The Toronto Star:

“At the 14th hole, Williamson hit it over the green and he and his caddie started having words. It got hotter and hotter and hotter. I was talking to the caddie’s girlfriend and she started giving me the background music and I thought, ‘Uh-oh. This isn’t good.’ “

A “Shooter McGavin moment” on the PGA. Awesome.

Watson wins third Open Championship in five years (AP/ESPN)

Three weeks ago, Tom Watson thought he had the U.S. Senior Open wrapped up until he unexpectedly (when is it ever expected?) crashed-and-burned on the back-nine at Whistling Straits.

Despite launching a tee shot into a bunker and double-bogeying, the five-time PGA Tour British Open champion took home his third British Open title in five years with a two stroke win (E) over Stewart Ginn and Mark O’Meara (+2).

Watson, who also won two Masters titles and one U.S. Open, captured his fifth senior major with an even par total of 284 to earn $324,531 for the victory. He finished one ahead of O’Meara (72) and Ginn (75).  Seven of his eight British titles have been accomplished on Scottish links.

‘Stongest Man’ competitor Marunde dies of heart attack (Seattle Times)

According to a report in The Seattle Times, “World’s Strongest Man” competitor Jesse Marunde died of an apparent heart attack while working out.

He was 27.

Mr. Marunde made an international splash in the weightlifting world with a second-place finish in the World’s Strongest Man competition in China in 2005. He won a local strongman event this spring in Sequim, and won the 2001 Washington Strongman contest, among many other events. He was 6 feet 5 and weighed about 300 pounds.

Tip o’the cap to The FanHouse for the informational link.

Vinokourov fired by Astana after positive test (Reuters/ESPN)

Alexandre Vinokourov has been fired by the Astana team following his positive test for blood doping during the Tour de France, the team announced Monday.

Vinokourov, winner of last year’s Tour of Spain, denies doping. If found guilty he faces a two-year ban, and according to the International Cycling Union’s anti-doping charter will have to pay a fine equal to a year’s salary.

We have this feeling that we’re going to see more of this over the next few weeks and months.

Vick co-defendant pleads guilty to federal charges (AP/ESPN)

Tony Taylor, a co-defendant in the Federal indictment against Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick, has officially plead guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges in Richmond, Va. on Monday.

Taylor, of Hampton, entered his plea in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture.

What’s this mean for Vick?

A whole helluva lot more trouble as Taylor is added to the four established witnesses already prepared to testify against Vick.  As a result of this agreement, it’s conceivable that additional charges could be added against the Atlanta quarterback’s case and the additional information that Taylor provides might thrust Vick into being the centerpiece of the impending trial.

In related news to this case, the NAACP has arrived to the party two weeks too late, as the civil rights organization has news conference underway calling for the trial to run its course and to withhold judgment until a verdict is issued.

If PETA and the Humane Society can express their outrage from the initial days of the case with such passion on an issue important to them, why did the NAACP wait two weeks to do the same thing?

As ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith stated on First Take Monday morning: “They’re just looking for camera time.”

***UPDATED at 12:26 PM EDT***

The Smoking Gun has the details of the plea agreement and co-defendant claims that Vick subsidized the gambling funds staked by the kennel named “Bad Newz Kennels”.  Should this shake out as being remotely truthful, Vick is screwed in the eyes of the NFL as the league strictly prohibits gambling.

Tip o’the cap to The FanHouse for the informational tip.