US PresswireOn the first play of the final game of last season, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall went down with a torn ACL. The word from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is that Mendenhall could end up missing the entire 2012 season as a result. Not the way most players like to spend the final year of a contract.

"I never feel good about an ACL until [after] a year," Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said, according to the Tribune-Review. "I'm not a doctor, but that's just my mindset. If he gets back before that, it's a bonus."

That would be a big loss for the Steelers since Mendenhall has been the team leader in rushing for the past three years.

Mendenhall, a first-round draft pick in 2008 out of Illinois, rushed for 928 yards and nine touchdowns last season.

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US PresswireThe Memphis Grizzlies have been without 6-9 Zach Randolph since Jan. 3 due to a torn right medial collateral ligament.. He and teammate Tony Allen could be found Monday night hosting a party for women and children from a local homeless shelter in honor of Valentine's Day.

"I come from a single-parent home. My mother was on welfare. It's really important for me to give back," said Randolph, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "These people probably don't have one special person in their lives to help them out."

Of course, the Grizz would like to also see Randolph back on the court. It looks like that is about to happen. The Commercial Appeal reported Monday that Randolph has been cleared to begin non-contact basketball drills on the court. That puts him on pace to return in early March.

There is no target date set, but the paper theorizes that Randolph could be back for the March 7 game against the Golden State Warriors.

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US PresswireThe New York Knicks expect Amar'e Stoudemire to be back in the lineup Tuesday night when the team takes on the Toronto Raptors after a week off to mourn his brother's sudden death. Fellow forward Carmelo Anthony, though, will miss a few more games and return toward the end of the week, according to ESPN New York.

Anthony, who has been out with a strained right groin, does not expect to have any effect on the play of second-year point guard Jeremy Lin, who has shockingly led the team to five straight wins.

"When I get back, Jeremy will have the ball in his hands and I'm playing off of that," Anthony said Monday, according to the site. "I know there's questions about, 'Can I fit in?' and stuff like that, but this is like a dream come true to me. It takes some pressure off of me. I don't have to play point guard. I don't have to try to get Amar'e 20 points, try to get this guy 20 points, me try to go out there and get 25-30 points a night, play defense, rebound do the whole thing."

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US PresswireFour-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning is still a member of the Indianapolis Colts, but that's not stopping plenty of other teams from salivating over the possibility that the folks in Indy are going to let him loose soon.

Houston Texans fans suddenly have the idea that Manning could be coming their way due to a report from KTRK Houston. "Someone … who is close friends with the Manning family says Peyton is definitely interested in possibly coming to the Texans," the station reports. "The person who knows the Mannings says Peyton wants to play on a team that has a chance of going to a Super Bowl, and the Texans fit that description."

The fact that the Texans play in the same division as the Colts is said to be a plus, KTRK reports, since Manning already knows all of the teams involved well.

The Texans won the division last season while the Colts went 2-14 without Manning, good enough to be worst in the league and qualify the Colts for the top overall draft pick this year, which will likely

US PresswireNew Orleans Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon has only been in two games this season because of a bone bruise and now won't be back for another six weeks due to arthroscopic surgery on his right knee that he's undergoing Tuesday, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Gordon said his knee was sore when he started playing in the team's season opener and then he knocked knees with Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns to make it worse, the paper notes.

"After consulting with our medical staff, we concluded that surgery was the best route and in the best interest of Eric for the long term," general manager Dell Demps said in a release Monday, the paper reports. "We had hoped with rest and rehab, Eric's knee would have healed. Eric is eager to return to the court and we are confident Hornet fans will get to see him soon." You can bet the Hornets, the Western Conference's worst team with a 5-23 record, would like to see Gordon as soon as he is able.

The 23-year-old Gordon, who was picked

US PresswireJon Garland twice won 18 games in a season back in 2004 and 2005 when he was with the Chicago White Sox. That 2005 season also marked his lone visit to the All-Star Game and a World Series title.

In 2010 he won 14 games for the San Diego Padres and then signed on with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year. His season was cut short, though, by shoulder surgery and he finished with a disappointing 1-5 record with a 4.33 ERA.

Now he's looking to revive his career a bit and the word is that the 32-year-old is headed back to the division where he spent the first eight seasons of his career: the American League Central: The word is that he is working on a deal with the Cleveland Indians, according to Fox Sports.

The Indians, who 15 games behind the Detroit Tigers for second place in the A.L. Central last year, have already added Derek Lowe and Kevin Slowey this offseason.

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US PresswireAt the start of this offseason, Jose Canseco was supposed to face off against Lenny Dykstra in a pay-per-view fight (that Dykstra thankfully didn't show up for) and now he's back in the news as he attempts to return to baseball.

The 47-year-old Canseco, who hasn't played pro ball for 11 years, is going to try out for the Mexican League's current champs, the Quintana Roo Tigers, according to the Chicago Tribune.

"Back in baseball I knew I would play this year you just gotta believe in your dreams," Canseco tweeted Sunday. "Leave on redeye tonite to start spring training."

Canseco, of course, was the American League MVP back in 1988 but sealed his spot in baseball's history in 1995 when he released his book, "Juiced," which chronicled his steroids use and claimed that 85 percent of major leaguers used performance-enhancing drugs.

In his 17 years in the majors, Canseco hit 462 homers, 340 doubles, and maintained a batting average of .266.

The Tigers, by the way, play their home games in

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The reigning two-time American League champion Texas Rangers spent about $94 million last year on payroll salaries. This year, after the team signed Mike Napoli to one-year, $9.4 million deal, the payroll is up around $120 million, according to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram. And the Rangers claim to be done spending.

The team will be taking 58 players, including new signings Yu Darvish and Joe Nathan, to camp, and not adding any more, GM Jon Daniels said Sunday, according to the paper.

"As far as any flexibility, we don't have any right now," Daniels said, the Star-Telegram reports. "You never want to shut the door. There's a level of interest in [Roy Oswalt and Mike Gonzalez], but as far as a fit and payroll-wise, it's not as easy as otherwise."

While the team is done with its current roster, the team will continue to try and work out some long-term extensions with a few players, though Josh Hamilton is not one of them, Daniels told the paper. "We've had varying discussions with a