FanNation - The Republic of Sport

So Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner met this week with "Dawg Pound Mike" and his buddy, no doubt hoping to get the two fans to call off the kickoff protest planned for Monday night, Nov. 16, when the Baltimore Ravens visit Cleveland Browns Stadium. And here's the Browns' luck: Lerner chats with these guys for about two hours and, after all that blabbing, "Dawg Pound Mike" announces he's still going through with this demonstration that figures to embarrass the organization even more than some of its draft picks. The big scoop "Dawg Pound Mike" came away with is that Lerner seemed sincere in saying he actually wants to win (he saw it in his eyes) and that the Browns do not take a back seat to the billionaire's Premier League soccer team, as some have surmised.

Dayton Daily News

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Former baseball player and current celebrity boxer Jose Canseco said he would like to fight Yankees star Alex Rodriguez. Speaking Thursday at a weigh-in for his upcoming fight in Massachusetts, Canseco was asked which current player he most would like to box? His response: "Who I would love to fight the most, if I could pick a baseball player? Alex Rodriguez, get your [butt] in the ring, I'll beat you to a pulp. That lying little idiot, I'd like to get him in the ring."

New York Post

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CC Sabathia told The Post last night that he absolutely would like to see his friend LeBron James in New York, and said he would tell the future free agent that New York is a one-of-a-kind city to play in. Sabathia, the Yankees ace and former Cleveland Indians star, was honored with five of his Yankees teammates at a star-studded Knicks-Cavaliers game at Madison Square Garden. Sabathia just finished the first year of his seven-year, $161 million contract with the Yanks.

New York Post

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If Dion Phaneuf wants to go looking for Sean Avery on the ice tonight, he had better be alert, with the winger unaccountably banished by coach John Tortorella to the bottom of the food chain on the Rangers' three-game western tour that concludes against the Flames. "It's not just about Sean. Other guys are playing well," the coach said yesterday morning after giving Avery eight shifts for a total of 5:56 of ice in Thursday's 4-2 victory in Edmonton. "There's accountability involved here."

New York Post

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Michael Dyer, one of the top-ranked tailbacks in America, committed to Auburn on Friday. Dyer (5-foot-8, 200), from Little Rock Christian in Little Rock, Ark., is considered the No. 1 running back in the country by ESPN, and No. 3 by Scout.com and Rivals.com. He chose the Tigers over Arkansas, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Florida and Alabama.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

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Portuguese daily A Bola reports that league leaders Braga are in talks about a loan-plus-purchase-option deal for U.S. Under-20 defender Gale Agbossoumonde...

soccer365.com

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Whether Dan Henderson will have a signed Strikeforce contract when he appears to work the corner of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou is another matter entirely. A source close to the situation told Yahoo! Sports on Monday that Henderson had signed with Strikeforce, spurning the Ultimate Fighting Championship, for whom he has fought since 2007. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker on Tuesday admitted to having talks with Henderson, but denied he has been signed. Enter into the fray UFC president Dana White, who had been personally involved in the negotiations with Henderson. White said Wednesday, "I guarantee you 1,000 percent that Dan Henderson is signed by Strikeforce."

Yahoo! Sports

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Jeff Gordon on Friday admitted he was one of the Sprint Cup drivers who approached NASCAR officials last weekend and urged them to prohibit bump-drafting in the corners at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. "I was one of them," Gordon said at Texas Motor Speedway. "Bump-drafting through the corners is ridiculous. I don't think that had anything to do with the race you saw last week."

Charlotte Observer

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To cut back on her heavy workload and give a bit more stability to her life, two-time major winner Dottie Pepper has chosen to leave the Golf Channel and focus solely on her NBC job. It's an understandable move, given that in 2009 Pepper worked 35 tournaments between the Golf Channel and NBC. That's a lot of airports, security lines and hassles -- and too little time at home -- which is where Pepper would like to be more often now that she's moved back to the upstate New York area.

Golf Week

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Serena Williams spent a productive week in Doha -- seizing the season-ending World No. 1 ranking and emerging as tennis first six million dollar woman. By winning the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships -- Doha 2009, Williams has set a new single-season prize money record for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour by earning $6,545,586. Williams has eclipsed the previous record set by Justine Henin in 2007 ($5,429,586). Prize money totals include Grand Slam prize money earned. "It's incredible how much women's tennis has grown in the last few years and that the Tour has increased our prize money so significantly," said Williams. "We are very fortunate to have an opportunity to be so well rewarded for doing something we love." Though Williams won only three titles this season, compared to the 10 championships Henin claimed in setting the previous prize-money record, each of the three -- the Australian Open, Wimbledon and Doha -- were among the most lucractive paydays in tennis.

Tennis Week

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