2010 EPL Transfer Rumors, Transfer Rumours, and Transfer News

Call it what you like, transfer news impacts fantasy EPL. Don't worry, head over to the January 2010 EPL Transfer Center for all the latest news, rumors, or rumours.

Such as:

+ Defender Alan Hutton a target of Stoke City and Fulham?
+ Stoke City target Liverpool's Ryan Babel - EPL Transfer Rumours
+ Birmingham City's Sebastian Larsson happy with club - Transfer Rumours
+ Inter Milan's Ivan Cordoba would 'think about' a move to Manchester City -- Transfer Rumours

Fantasy EPL News - Transfer Rumours - Manchester City FC's Craig Bellamy could be off to Tottenham Hotspur

Looks as if Craig Bellamy could potentially move from Manchester City to Tottenham Hotspur -- Manchester City FC's Craig Bellamy going to White Hart Lane? -- and if this does in fact happen, it will alter the production of Bellamy, who has been one of the most consistent contributors this campaign.

If you are in the French fantasy football league, it might be time to move towards Bordeaux

Lyon? No. Marseille? Bordeaux? Yes!

Bordeaux is nine points clear of second-place Lille in France's Ligue 1 table.

25-year-old Marouane Chamakh and 23-year-old Yoann Gourcuff lead les Girondins attack.

Chamakh has made over 50 appearances for his native Morocco and he was a key contributor on last year's Bordeaux club that captured the 2008-09 league title.

Yoann Gourcuff, Ligue 1's Player of the Year (2008-09), deserves your attention ... check out the YouTube video from his time with AC Milan.

Fantasy Baseball's 2009 All-Surprise Team

Fantasy Baseball Insiders, a new site on the scene, takes a look at each position and passes judgement on the players who came through when your squad needed them.

From Joe Mauer to David Aardsma, it's the -- 2009 All-Surprise Team

MLB Rumors: Pittsburgh Pirates to bring in two more from the free agent scrap heap?

MLB.com's Mark Sheldon sums up the news of the day: the Pirates continue to honor their fans with yet more futility by selecting two more from the scrap.

Pirate fans, say hello to Kevin Gregg and Octovio Dotel.

And I thought Javier Lopez was the answer!

Maple Leafs' Mikhail Grabovski joins Belarus Olympic roster along with three other NHL players

Toronto Maple Leafs center Mikhail Grabovski, along with current NHLers - brothers Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn of the Montreal Canadiens as well as Ruslan Salei of the Colorado Avalanche, join a the Belarusian squad which is comprised of players mainly from the Continental Hockey League (KHL) on the country's Olympic roster.

Next up, Russia will announce its Olympic hockey roster on December 25th.

NFL Media at it again with their love/hate tactics, especially when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys

Media bias in the NFL?
By: Charles Bowen

A year ago today the football-media world would not shut up about how bad Terrell Owens was for the Dallas Cowboys (not sure what he did, but he was bad); now you hardly ever hear about him, and the media loves the Cowboys.

A year ago today the media believed in the New York Giants, now they question this once mighty franchise. The Cowboys have a one game lead over the Giants, but the Giants have the tiebreaker. The Cowboys have to play the Eagles Week 17, which will not be an easy game and they could very well lose, in fact I believe most pick them to lose.

So the media is questioning the Giants ability to win out, and it sets up a very interesting double standard. How can the media switch their position on two teams so much in one year?

Ironically enough the Giants have to play the same two teams they did last year while they were sitting pretty at 11-3, the Carolina Panthers and the Minnesota Vikings. Last year the Giants beat the Panthers 34-28 to clinch home field throughout the NFC playoffs. This year the Panthers have nothing to play for, while the Giants have their playoff hopes on the line.

The obvious advantage has to go to the Giants, but the media is picking Carolina in an upset. The reason why they are so high on the Panthers is their big 26-7 win over the Vikings last week and ironically enough the Vikings will be the Giants opponent in Week 17.

Unless you have been sleeping for the last six months you know that Vikings made the huge offseason move to, as Chris Carter of ESPN said, "Go get that boy off the farm in Mississippi." While the Vikings were 10-1, the Arizona Cardinals and as previously mentioned Panthers have whipped the Vikings in the last two weeks. Last year the Brett Favre lead New York Jets were 8-3 after Week 12, and finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs.

Has the question been asked, can Brett Favre hold up? No, instead the media has decided to make the Carolina Panthers, with Matt Moore at QB, some kind of superstar team. Another irony of this whole situation is the Vikings will more than likely have nothing to play for Week 17 when they play the Giants, and when the situation was reversed last year Giants backup QB David Carr played the whole second half for the Giants in a 19-20 loss.

I personally don’t understand how most of the ESPN “experts” think the Giants won’t make the playoffs, unless you really believe in Dallas.

As for Dallas, well they are still Dallas with or without T.O. With Tony Romo at QB there is never a dull moment. They have basically the same team, same coach; really the biggest change is they play in "the house that Jerry built."

We will see what happens but after watching the Cowboys get destroyed 42-6 by the Eagles last year with a playoff spot on the line, I question whether they can win it or not, especially since Romo is horrible under pressure.

As Denny Green once said: "If you want to crown their asses then crown them, but the Bears are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"

I think you can fill in the word "Bears" with the word "Cowboys" because I see no reason why I should pick the Cowboys to beat the Eagles.

The First Overall Selections in every NFL Draft from this Decade

2009 - Matthew Stafford QB Lions
2008 - Jake Long OT Dolphins
2007 - JaMarcus Russell QB Raiders
2006 - Mario Williams DE Texans
2005 - Alex Smith QB Niners
2004 - Eli Manning QB Chargers *traded to Giants
2003 - Carson Palmer QB Bengals
2002 - David Carr QB Texans
2001 - Michael Vick QB Va Tech
2000 - Courtney Brown DE Browns

Seven quarterbacks, two defensive ends, and an offensive tackle make up the list. Out of the seven QB only Manning, Palmer, and Vick have found any measure of success. Defensive end Mario Williams has been a productive player for the Texans.

New addition Javier Lopez on Pirates, 'it was a really good fit for me' --- Really?

Really? I wasn't sure any MLB free agent would consider the minnows of Major League Baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates a good fit. Here is to you, Javier Lopez!

Tottenham Hotspur forward Jermain Defoe is playing on a different pitch

Seriously! Anyone who scores 13 goals in 15 Premier League appearances is playing in "their own" league. Granted he had a five-goal game against lowly Wigan Athletic, which alone is an impressive feat, but we certainly still like him heading into the second half of the 2009-10 Premiership season.

If you don't have Dafoe in your EPL fantasy squad, now is the time to make a roster move.

Prediction: No less than seven more goals for at least 20 on the campaign.

Notorious W.H.I.P. - John Lackey could be "wicked" bad in 2010

Each Saturday (or in this case late Friday night), Fantasy Drafts, showcases a major or minor league pitcher. And yes, we even touch upon the notorious WHIP.

John Lackey: The newly minted Boston Red Sox pitcher really has no idea what he is getting himself into. Sure, sure, sure. I am not debating that A) he is a tremendous pitcher and B) he has been impressive in the postseason throughout his career. No.

Sadly, fantasy baseball ends with the regular season. Sadly, Mr. Lackey now has several potential games against the greatest offense in the game (Yankees), a young and talented offense (Rays) and two up-and-coming offensive squads (Jays and Orioles).

This is a major change from the days of the A's (odd, low-power offense), Rangers (if away from Texas a controllable offense), and the Mariners (usually weak offense with a great pitcher's park).

Toss in games against some of the top AL clubs plus the occasional interleague start and we have issues.

Not to mention Lackey's recent injury track...24 games in 2008 and 27 in 2009....down from 5 straight 33 game seasons.

Prediction:

The signing is what it is...a signing for the postseason. Lackey will be solid but not elite. And most Sox fans want elite. 29 starts 13-7, 3.71 ERA, 150 Ks. 1.30 WHIP.

The Spoils of Juan Pierre

The White Sox sent right-handed pitchers John Ely and Jon Link to the Los Angeles Dodgers which now finalizes the Juan Pierre deal.

The Dodgers sent Pierre $10.5 million on Tuesday.

Allen Iverson Returns to the Streets of Philadelphia

Long-Time Friends Lewis and Schwartz Meet This Weekend

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and Lions first-year coach Jim Schwartz, long-time friends, have known each other since Schwartz served as Lewis’ defensive assistant during Lewis' stint as the Baltimore defensive coordinator.

When Schwartz became the coach in Detroit, guess who he reached out to for advice.

"He’s been a good friend for a long time and I think he’s an excellent football coach," Lewis said when speaking with media prior to the game. "We talked once he got the job and as he was putting his staff together and some things he was looking to do and he asked a couple questions. He’s really a smart, smart person. We’d be on vacation and Schwartzie would have his laptop out and he’d be working on an opponent while he was with the Titans. So, he’s a hard working guy and you can see as I talk about him it brings a smile to my face. Just in every way, I was very fortunate enough to have him."

Tony Washington at 2010 East-West Shrine Game

Abilene Christian University OT Tony Washington will compete for the West side at the 2010 East-West Shrine Game according to the preliminary roster released at the All-Star game's website (East-West Shrine Game)

Abilene has become somewhat of a pipeline to the NFL with Bears WR Johnny Knox and Bengals RB Bernard Scott members of the 2009 NFL rookie class and Abilene alum.