I love Yahoo! Sports. I can find all of my breaking news and up to the minute scores in just seconds. I love the photo galleries of annoucements, events, signings, etc.

I did start laughing out loud when I saw they had 7 pictures from the Seattle Mariner’s press conference announcing the signing of former Tigers pitcher Jeff Weaver to a 1-year contract.

7 pictures? For a average starting pitcher who signed just a 1-year deal? 8.325 million for Weaver?

Here’s his stats from last year…

Weaver was 3-10 with a 6.29 ERA with the Angels before being traded to the Cardinals. He finished the season with an 8-14 record with a 5.76 ERA

I know he did have a great playoff and World Series, but still…

7 pictures!

View Jeff Weaver Photos at Yahoo! Sports

Nick Edson of the Leelanau Enterprise is asking for your votes and opinions on the top 10 boys and girls basketball players in the history of Leelanau County. You can also vote for the Top 5 county coaches of All-Time as well.

The ballot is available in the January 25th edition of the Leelanau Enterprise or you can send Nick an email with your choices. Please include the players/coaches names and schools. Ballots are due by Friday, February 9th.

Now I have to start compiling my list, but here’s my #1 for each team…

Boys Basketball All-Time Top 10
1. Sander Scott - Northport

Girls Basketball All-Time Top 10
1. Julie Polakowski - Leland

Coach All-Time Top 5
1. Larry Glass - Leland

Let the debating begin…

The Lions didn’t let Mike Furrey getaway, and that’s wonderful news for Lions fans. Furrey was easily the most surprising Lions player this past year, grabbing 98 receptions for 1,086 yards and six touchdowns. Not bad for a former safety, who Mike Martz converted to wide receiver. Rod Marinelli likes players who work hard and play the game the right way, which is why it was imperative to keep Furrey.

“This is a great day,” Marinelli said. “You want to reward men for performing for the Detroit Lions, so this contract sends a strong message to all of our players. Mike earned this, not just because of his play on the field, but because of his work ethic and character.”

With Martz looking like he will be around for at least one more year, expect another big year from Furrey, Roy Williams and the rest of the Lions offense. If quarterback Jon Kitna can cut down the turnovers, the Lions could make strides towards respectability again. Yes, I did say it.

Read Lions agree to terms with free agent WR Mike Furrey at Yahoo! Sports

It’s also the time we are going to start seeing NFL mock drafts coming from every direction, and here’s one from Yahoo! Sports John Murphy, and he has the Lions picking someone at #2 that might shock alot of fans…

Read Accelerating to Mock 1 at Yahoo! Sports

Mitchell becomes 8th Wildcat to reach milestone
Senior Drew Mitchell scored 31 points to pass the 1,000 career point mark in a 66-53 win over Boyne Falls. Mitchell also pulled down 13 rebounds, grabbed 4 steals, and made 2 blocks. He now has 1,002 career points. Cody Brown added 17 points and Nathan Scherrer 10 as Northport evened it’s record at 5-5. Congrats Drew!

Photo by Anne Marie Mitchell

In other games…

Leland improves to 9-3
Marcus Whittaker led Leland with 21 points to help lift the Comets to a 72-57 win over Manistee Catholic in a non-conference matchup. Matt Lichty scored 16 and Jordan Gibson added 10.

Lakers fall to Elks
Glen Lake fell below .500 with a 46-39 loss to Elk Rapids. Ryan Dyksterhouse led the Lakers with 14 points as Glen Lake’s record falls to 5-6.

Read Prep Roundup in the Record Eagle

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See us for Lions tickets, Pistons seats, Tigers game tickets and Detroit Red Wings tickets. We have Detroit entertainment tickets including concert tickets and theater tickets such as Billy Joel tickets, Coldplay tickets, Rolling Stones tickets and Queen tickets. We have NCAA Football tickets, Michigan Wolverines tickets, Michigan State Spartans tickets, Super Bowl tickets, NFL tickets, NASCAR tickets, NHL tickets, MLB tickets and all your Michigan event tickets.

CoasttoCoastTickets.com

I haven’t been there in a couple of years, but Nothing But Sports in Traverse City is a sports card collectors dream. Lots of packs and boxes to be found. Check out Rich Bannatyne’s shop in the Record Eagle article below…

Read Store for the ultimate sports fan in the Record Eagle

My View: I always love sports card shops. I worked at Cardboard Heroes in Dayton, Ohio, for a couple of years and loved it. I still get very excited on the occasion of opening a pack of baseball cards, just that part of me that hasn’t grown up yet!

Here’s a look at the 2006 Lions season, which can be described by a couple of words - inconsistent and injuries. Those were the two things that stood out in my mind as I followed the Lions in a season which has seen them claim the #2 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Coach Rod Marinelli is the right man for the job. I believe that even more after watching how the Lions played this season and especially finished. They never gave up.

Some offensive numbers were put up in pass-happy Mike Martz’s offense and that should continue next season as well.

Read Season in Review: Wrap-Up at DetroitLions.com

Photo by Gavin Smith, DetroitLions.com

Central Michigan found someone very familiar with CMU football and the state of Michigan to take over it’s football program after Brian Kelly stepped down at the end of the regular season. Former CMU assistant Butch Jones will take over, after coaching the last two seasons at West Virginia and helping the Mountaineers gain national attention.

“Growing up in Michigan, going to school in the state, and now being the head coach at Central Michigan, it’s obviously very exciting,” Jones said. “The last two years working for Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia have completely prepared me for this position.”

Jones coached at CMU from 1998 to 2004, most recently serving as the runningbacks coach.

Read Central Michigan hires Butch Jones as head coach at ESPN.com

This is one event I wish I could have been at. Steve Yzerman’s jersey was retired by the Detroit Red Wings last night, as family, friends, fans, teammates and club officials honored “The Captain” one last time.

Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images

The ceremony lasted around an hour and a half and afterwards the Wings defeated the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 to move into a tie for first place in the Central Division.

Steve Yzerman is many fans favorite All-Time Red Wing, for many different reasons. My reasons are his work ethic and leadership. He was a quiet leader, who led by example, and always did whatever was asked of him. Even after years of being the top scorer he adjusted his game for the better of the team. Not just anyone would do that.

Yzerman is currently learning the ropes of the business side of hockey and about running a team, and hopefully will remain with the Wings for a long time.

You can view some of Yzerman’s top moments and more here.

Read Red Wings honor Yzerman, beat Ducks 2-1 at Yahoo! Sports

Thanks again for all the memories.