Cleared Duke lacrosse players aren’t ruling out lawsuit against Nifong (AP/Yahoo! Sports)

The three Duke lacrosse players that were cleared in an investigation by North Carolina’s attorney general this week have not ruled out suing Michael Nifong, the district attorney who led the case after an exotic dancer accused the men of rape last year.

Nifong is currently under an inquiry by the state’s bar association regarding potential disbarment for his role in the scandal.

Prior leaves game with sore shoulder (ChicagoSports.com)

Mark Prior had to leave his first extended spring training game due to a sore shoulder, chicagosports.com is reporting.

Water is wet, sky is blue…oh forget it.

Denzel’s son poised for NFL Europe debut (AP/SI.com)

John David Washington, the son of Oscar winner Denzel, is out to prove the St. Louis Rams wrong that a 5-foot-9, 200-pound running back can play in the NFL.

More after the jump »

According to an Associated Press report, CBS Radio has fired disc jockey Don Imus.

More in a bit…

***UPDATED at 4:55 PM EDT***

MSNBC now has the story on its website.

Yahoo! close to acquiring Rivals.com; price could reach nine figures (paidcontent.org/DanShanoff.com)

Dan Shanoff of danshanoff.com blogs (via paidcontent.org) that Rivals.com may be scooped up by Yahoo! in a deal that could top out at $100 million.

NCAA approves timing changes for 2007 (AP/Yahoo! Sports)

The NCAA announced today that they will heed the recommendations of the American Football Coaches Association — they’ll revert back to the rules they had in place prior to 2006 (stopping the clock on possession changes and not starting it on kickoffs until the receiving team touches the ball).

More after the jump »

Nifong apologizes to Duke Lax players (AP/ESPN)

Current district attorney for Durham County N.C. Michael Nifong apologized for his investigation into the allegations of rape related to a Duke lacrosse team party last year that proved to be false after charges were dropped on Wednesday due to lack of evidence and inconsistencies.

More after the jump »

Rutgers women to appear on Oprah (AP/SI.com)

Amid the swirling controversy that is the ‘Don Imus 24/7 News Watch 2007′, another item runs across the news wires today — the women’s basketball team that was the target of Imus’ affection (Rutgers) will appear on the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’ Thursday.
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Silver’s third annual ultimate mock draft (SI.com)

Michael Silver of Sports Illustrated conducts his third annual, super duper Ultimate Mock Draft.  The premise of the draft is that every player in the NFL is available for drafting. Thus, the draft follows the current 2007 draft order with the Oakland Raiders taking the first pick.
More after the jump »

Twins unveil new stadium renderings (BizofBaseball.com)

The Minnesota Twins unveiled the rendering to their new ballpark that’s expected to be built and opened by 2009.

Here are some shots, courtesy of the Minnesota Twins’ website –

More after the jump »

Houston Nutt’s wife write long, rambling letter defending hubby (HHSEC/Deadspin)

Last week we mentioned that Houston Nutt, the embattled coach of Arkansas’ football program, had his phone records released under the Freedom of Information Act. In those records, some juicy bits of details were buried in them, including text messages to an Arkansas news anchor.

Thanks to the folks The Hog, The Hill and the SEC (and Deadspin), Nutt’s wife Diana wrote a long, rambling missive that can be found in the above link.

Sorenstam diagnosed with ruptured, bulging disk (ESPN)

LPGA golfing great (and living legend) Annika Sorenstam has been diagnosed with a ruptured disk in her back,  ESPN’s Ron Sirak is reporting.

She is expected to miss a minimum of a month.

Imus begins charity fundraiser despite future being in doubt (AP/ESPN)

Don Imus, the radio show host embroiled in a controversy related to alleged racial slurs against the Rutgers University women’s hoops team, has begun his annual charity fundraiser for Tomorrows Children’s Fund, CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch.

And no, it wasn’t for his retirement fund.

Reds’ Narron benches Encarnacion for not hustling (AP/ESPN)

Cincinnati Reds manager Jerry Narron benched third baseman Edwin Encarnacion for not hustling on a pop fly early in Wednesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Our spies tell us that Encarnacion looked as if he didn’t know the ball was going to be in play and stood there.  They also told us Encarnacion wasn’t very happy by his manager’s actions, sitting on the end of the bench with his hat sideways and a quizzical look on his face.

When in doubt, run Edwin.  You’re not Ken Griffey, Jr. yet.

Stroke of fortune, but same ‘ol Zach (DesMoinesRegister/TheBigLead)

Sports Ilustrated elected to go with a picture of Tiger Woods behind a tree trying to save an errant shot rather than going with Zach Johnson, the Iowa native who came out of nowhere to hold on for his first major victory.

Fan falls from upper deck at Shea
Colangelo to meet potential investors for Cubs

From the BizofBaseball, a double-shot: a fan falls from the upper deck at Shea Stadium during a ball game, lands on woman below and injures her vertebra and he leaves the scene.
More after the jump »