NBey6's Blog

Updated: May 2, 2010, 3:11 PM ET

Henin wins Stuttgart final in 3 sets

Associated Press

STUTTGART, Germany -- Justine Henin won her first title since coming out of retirement, defeating Samantha Stosur 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 Sunday in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix.

 

The former No. 1's victory on clay will give her a boost three weeks before the start of the French Open.

"It means a lot to me on clay," Henin said.

Four of Henin's seven Grand Slam titles have come at Roland Garros. Watching Roger Federer win the title last year inspired Henin to end her 18-month retirement.

"It brought back the fire," she said Sunday at the victory ceremony, after taking a brief ride in the Porsche sports car that goes to the winner.

Henin reached her third final since resuming her career in January.

The Belgian player was runner-up in Brisbane and at the Australian Open.

Stosur, the seventh-seeded Australian, came into the final with an 11-match winning streak on clay. Henin also won in Stuttgart in 2007.

Henin had a lapse in the second set but otherwise controlled the big points against Stosur, who was a semifinalist last year at the French Open and since has compiled a 16-2 record on clay.

"It's very emotional to be back here because one year ago at this time I never expected to be back," Henin said. "It's been a fantastic week, everything was just perfect."

A wild-card entry, Henin will return to the top 20 when the latest rankings come out next week, and she may go as high as No. 18. Stosur is projected to move up two places to No. 8.

"Getting to the final was really good, it's been a great week," Stosur said. "She just got very aggressive in the third set, she put me under a lot of pressure and broke my serve three straight times."

Saturday, May 1, 2010
Updated: May 2, 8:11 AM ET
Mayweather notches unanimous victory

---

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. is usually content to just win a fight. This time, though, Money Mayweather wanted to earn his cash.

 

Fighting more aggressively than usual, Mayweather overcame a near knockdown in the second round Saturday night to dominate the rest of the way and win a lopsided 12-round decision over Shane Mosley in their welterweight showdown.

 

"I wanted to give the fans what they wanted to see, a toe-to-toe battle," Mayweather said. "It wasn't the same style for me but I wanted to be aggressive and I knew I could do it."

 

Boxing's biggest box office draw remained undefeated in 41 fights, but not before giving his fans and his corner a scare when a right hand to the side of his head buckled his knees a minute into the second, and he had to grab Mosley to avoid going down. Mosley landed another right later in the round, but the rest of the night belonged to Mayweather.

 

 

If he didn't please everyone, it was because he couldn't knock out Mosley. But Mayweather won every minute of every round after the second and the normally defensive-minded fighter kept after Mosley until the final bell in a masterful performance that earned him every dollar of his guaranteed $22.5 million payday.

 

"I think we could have pressed the attack a lot earlier, and then we could have got the knockout," Mayweather said.

 

Fighting before a star-studded crowd that included Muhammad Ali, Mayweather never came close to dropping Mosley, but landed so many more punches that the outcome wasn't in doubt past the middle rounds. He had an answer for everything Mosley tried to do, landing right hands to the head seemingly at will as the fight progressed.

 

By the end of the night, Mayweather had put so many rounds in the bank that the only question was whether he would stop Mosley or be content to win a lopsided decision. Mayweather kept moving forward and continued to press the issue in a fight that wasn't in doubt.

 

Two ringside judges scored it 119-109 for Mayweather, while the third had it 118-110. All had him winning every round past the second.

 

 

The Associated Press had Mayweather winning 117-110.

 

Ringside punch statistics were as one-sided as the scorecards. They showed Mayweather landing 208 of 477 punches to 92 of 452 for Mosley.

 

Mayweather made Mosley look every bit his 38 years as he landed sharp punches to his head, dominating a fighter who had vowed to turn the bout into the fight of the decade. Mosley tried his best, but couldn't match the speed of the 33-year-old Mayweather, who grew more comfortable with each passing round.

 

Mosley was a substitute for Manny Pacquiao, who was all but signed to meet Mayweather until a dispute over drug testing derailed the megafight. Instead, Pacquiao beat Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Dallas and is campaigning for a seat in congress in his native Philippines.

 

"If Manny Pacquiao can take a blood and urine test then we have a fight," Mayweather said. "If not, no fight."

 

Pacquiao, who watched the fight in the Philippines, told Manilla radio station DZBB that he would agree to blood testing, but only if it is not taken within 24 days of the fight. That is basically the same stance that derailed the fight the first time around.

 

"For me, as long as the drug test is not done close to the match, I'll agree because if they'll get blood from me close to the match, it will be a disadvantage for me because I'm smaller and he's big," Pacquiao said.

 

Past unbeaten,
undrawn opponents

Opp W-L Result

Sat. vs Floyd Mayweather 40-0 L, UD-12

2007 vs Miguel Cotto 30-0 L, UD-12

2002 vs Vernon Forrest 34-0 L, UD-12

2002 vs Vernon Forrest 33-0 L, UD-12

 

Mosley almost ruined a lot of Mayweather's best-laid plans when he landed the big right hand in the second that brought the fans at the MGM Grand Arena to their feet. They chanted "Mosley! Mosley!" as he followed Mayweather around the ring, landing another good right hand before the bell rang to end the round.

 

"It's a contact sport, and you're going to get hit," Mayweather said. "But when you get hit, you suck it up and keep on fighting. That's what I did. I'm happy we finally had a chance to fight. This is a fight the fans have been looking forward to for a long time, and they deserve it."

 

Mosley's second-round flourish was his last hurrah. Mayweather came out in the third and began landing some shots of his own, while Mosley couldn't find his mark.

 

"I caught him with my big right hand and I tried to move around but by that time he was too quick and I was too tight," Mosley said. "After the right hand I thought I needed to knock him out and I needed to do it sooner than later. But I couldn't adjust and he did."

 

Mosley said he thought the 15-month layoff since his last fight hurt him, as did a stiff neck. But Mayweather had a lot to do with his ineffectiveness, too, fighting his fight and refusing to allow Mosley to dictate the pace.

 

Mosley's corner kept imploring the fighter to throw his jab more and fight his way inside, but Mosley was content to try to load up to hurt Mayweather with a big punch that didn't come.

 

"You can't wait for one big shot, you've got to wake up," Mosley's trainer told him after the seventh round.

 

By the 10th round, Naazim Richardson was even more frantic, telling Mosley he needed a knockout.

 

Mayweather, who earned $2,500 in his pro debut 14 years ago, was guaranteed $22.5 million but probably will end up with much more once the final pay-per-view buys are added up. Mosley was guaranteed $7 million, and also had a share in the television revenues.

Updated: May 1, 2010, 7:46 PM ET

Leyland vows to abide by smoking ban

ESPN.com news services

Facing the Angels, Jim Leyland turned toward the angel on his shoulder Saturday.

The Tigers manager, a devout cigarette aficionado, took on the specter of Michigan's public smoking ban for the first time when Detroit hosted Los Angeles at Comerica Park, a 3-2 victory thanks to Johnny Damon's ninth-inning solo home run.

 

“

I'm a law-
abiding citizen, so it's just the way it is.

” -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland

 

The law took effect at 6 a.m. ET and applies to nearly all public workplaces in the state.

"I'm a law-abiding citizen, so it's just the way it is," Leyland said Friday, according to The Grand Rapids Press. "We're not supposed to smoke here, and I won't do it. I'll try to find someplace outside somewhere, I guess, but I think you're not supposed to smoke at all in the park."

Camacho Cigar Bar inside the stadium's Tiger Club will be among cigar bars and tobacco specialty shops that are exempt.

But Leyland, 65, who also smokes cigars, said he won't have a problem fighting that urge.

"It's hard to go down there in the sixth inning," he said, according to the Grand Rapids newspaper.

Updated: May 1, 2010, 8:13 PM ET

Payton denies allegations in lawsuit

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- Less than three months after their thrilling victory in the Super Bowl, the New Orleans Saints have been accused by their former security director of trying to cover up the theft of prescription pain pills from the club's drug locker.

One of those involved was head coach Sean Payton, two people familiar with the case told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the suit. Payton and the Saints denied the allegations, and Payton was not named in court papers.

The lawsuit, filed Friday by Geoffrey Santini, a former FBI agent who resigned from the club in August 2009, alleged one senior staff member stole Vicodin pills while another was given an amount large enough to constitute abuse.

The suit did not name the staff members. However, the two people familiar with the case said Payton allegedly was allowed to take a large quantity of pills from the team supply, and another staff member allegedly stole pills. No allegations were made against any Saints players, the two people said.

Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said the allegations are false and the club will aggressively defend itself in court. And Payton, who was at his vacation home in Watercolor, Fla., on Saturday, denied any wrongdoing.

"I have reviewed Geoff Santini's lawsuit and the unwarranted publicity it has received," Payton said in a statement released by the team. "I have never abused or stolen Vicodin or any other medication and I fully support the Saints' position in this matter."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said that while the league had not read the complaint, "we are aware of the lawsuit and that the Saints reject the claims as false."

The theft of Vicodin, a narcotic used to relieve moderate to severe pain, is a state and federal offense. Any attempt to cover up such a theft also could constitute a state or federal crime. Failure to report a felony also is a federal crime.

Santini's attorney, Donald Hyatt II, said he was not aware if any criminal charges had been filed. He said if there was a sealed indictment it would not have been made public.

Santini reported the possible violations to federal authorities on June 23, 2009. He resigned from the Saints on Aug. 16, 2009, and first alerted the Saints of his intent to sue the club on Sept. 14, Hyatt said.

Santini worked 31 years for the FBI. His lawsuit says he resigned from the Saints because of a disagreement over the team's handling of the Vicodin episode.

Santini is seeking damages and back pay.

TIW 5-1-10 SC Midday

Winning Numbers: 084 & 2462

196, 289, 521, 593, 568, 632, 704, 813
9306, 8937, 0548, 7653, 7128, 6892, 6702
1590, 1497, 1486, 1803, 5942, 3402, 2531

 

289, 390, 401, 512, 623, 734, 845, 956, 067, 178

8930, 8931, 8932, 8933, 8934, 8935, 8936, 8937, 8938, 8939

0937, 1937, 2937, 3937, 4937, 5937, 6937, 7937, 8937, 9937

 

34 and/or 89 pair

Updated: May 1, 2010, 7:08 PM ET

Borel dominates Derby on Super Saver

Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Jockey Calvin Borel steered Super Saver through the mud to win his third Kentucky Derby in four years. The win ended trainer Todd Pletcher's Derby drought.

Pletcher came into the race 0 for 24, but Borel put him in the winner's circle at Churchill Downs with a perfect ride along the rail and through the slop.

Super Saver covered the 1 1/4-miles in 2:04.45 as the second-choice behind favorite Lookin At Lucky. He paid $18, $8.80 and $6 to win.

Ice Box paid $11.20 and $8 after nipping Paddy O'Prado at the wire for second. Paddy O'Prado paid $7.40 to show.

Borel won a shocker last spring with 50-1 long shot Mine That Bird and took his first Derby in 2007 aboard Street Sense.

The rider nicknamed "Bo-rail" for his rail-hugging rides at his hometown track did it again. He stalked the leaders early then moved forward in the stretch to win going away.

Pletcher let out a whoop and slapped his hands together after his colt crossed the finish line, snapping a dubious skid that the Eclipse Award winning trainer was eager to end.

Lookin At Lucky started on the rail and finished sixth for three-time Derby winning trainer Bob Baffert.

"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

- C.S. Lewis -

Anger over Ariz. immigration law drives US rallies

By SOPHIA TAREEN, Associated Press Writer

Sophia Tareen, Associated Press Writer

36 mins ago

CHICAGO – Angered by a controversial Arizona immigration law, tens of thousands of protesters — including 50,000 alone in Los Angeles — rallied in cities nationwide demanding President Barack Obama tackle immigration reform immediately.

 

"I want to thank the governor of Arizona because she's awakened a sleeping giant," said labor organizer John Delgado who attended a rally in New York where authorities estimated 6,500 gathered.

 

From Los Angeles to Washington D.C., activists, families, students and even politicians marched, practiced civil disobedience and "came out" about their citizenship status in the name of rights for immigrants, including the estimated 12 million living illegally in the U.S.

 

Police said 50,000 rallied in Los Angeles where singer Gloria Estefan kicked off a massive downtown march. Estefan spoke in Spanish and English, proclaiming the United States is a nation of immigrants.

 

"We're good people," the Cuban-born singer said atop a flatbed truck. "We've given a lot to this country. This country has given a lot to us."

 

Public outcry, particularly among immigrant rights activists, has been building since last week when Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the legislation last week. Supporters say the law is necessary because of the federal government's failure to secure the border, but critics contend it encourages racial profiling and is unconstitutional.

 

"It's racist," said Donna Sanchez, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen living in Chicago whose parents illegally crossed the Mexican border. "I have papers, but I want to help those who don't."

 

Organizers estimated about 20,000 gathered at a park on Chicago's West Side and marched, but police said about 8,000 turned out.

 

 

Updated: April 30, 2010, 7:32 PM ET

Nadal turns back Wawrinka in quarters

Associated Press

ROME -- Rafael Nadal overcame a slow start and defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-1 on Friday to reach the Rome Masters semifinals and stay unbeaten on clay this season.

Aiming for his fifth title at Foro Italico in six years, Nadal had trouble finding his range off Wawrinka's powerful serve. But he finally managed to break the 26th-ranked Swiss player to close the first set before cruising from there.

Nadal improved his record on clay this year to 8-0, having won the Monte Carlo Masters two weeks ago.

"I played well, but I was definitely playing better in Monte Carlo," Nadal said.

Nadal's only loss at this French Open warm-up came against fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in the opening round two years ago, when he was bothered by a foot blister.

Nadal will next play Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, who prevented an all-Spanish quartet in the semifinals by beating Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (6), 6-1.

Fernando Verdasco made another strong showing on clay with a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 win over Novak Djokovic. The match, featuring long baseline rallies, was played under a glaring sun and lasted 3 hours, 18 minutes. In the semifinals, Verdasco will face David Ferrer, who cruised past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-1.

Roger Federer and Swiss Davis Cup teammate Yves Allegro were eliminated from the doubles tournament by American pair John Isner and Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4. Federer lost his opener in singles to Gulbis on Tuesday.

Wawrinka, the 2008 runner-up, dropped only two points in his first four service games.

"The first set was level for a long time. He was holding serve much easier than me. All the games on my serve were harder than his," Nadal said. "But at 5-4 I started to play really well with some good drop shots."

Nadal then began approaching the net in the second set.

"I am going to the net more," he said. "You can go to the net more when you're dominating the points."

Verdasco has reached the final of his last two events -- losing to Nadal in Monte Carlo and winning last week's Barcelona Open. The first set of the Verdasco-Djokovic match went nearly 1½ hours. Verdasco, seeded sixth, closed the match with an ace down the middle.

"When you face someone who always makes you play one more shot on every point it's not easy to play a quick match," Djokovic said. "So I knew it was going to be a long match today."

Verdasco also beat Djokovic in the Monte Carlo semifinals, winning 6-2, 6-2. The turning point this time didn't come until Verdasco won a marathon game on his sixth break point to lead 2-1 in the third set, running down a drop shot from Djokovic and forcing the exhausted Serb to hit into the net.

Djokovic committed 46 unforced errors to Verdasco's 40.

"My backhand wasn't at the level I wanted it to be at today, and I struggled a little with my serve, but I'm happy more or less with the way I played," Djokovic said. "If there was one different thing I could've done I would have liked to play better on the important points."

Updated: May 1, 2010, 3:08 AM ET

Sources: Johnson to talk with Hornets

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Archive

The New Orleans Hornets will interview ESPN analyst Avery Johnson about their coaching vacancy next week, according to NBA coaching sources.

 

 

Sources told ESPN.com that Hornets officials will travel to Houston to meet with Johnson on Tuesday, one day after Johnson's sitdown in Houston with the Philadelphia 76ers about their vacancy.

 

 

The Philadelphia Daily News reported earlier this week that Johnson will be the first candidate formally interviewed by the Sixers, despite persistent speculation in recent weeks that Philadelphia wants to rehire Larry Brown away from the Charlotte Bobcats.

 

 

The Sixers and Hornets, sources say, have some of the same candidates in mind, most notably Johnson and TNT analyst Doug Collins.

 

 

The Hornets have had preliminary contact with Johnson, Collins and ESPN analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson to gauge their interest and are also expected to consider several assistant coaches.

 

 

Two of those assistants -- Dallas' Dwane Casey and Portland's Monty Williams -- were working in the playoffs until Thursday night, when their teams were eliminated in the first round. Yahoo! Sports reported earlier this month that former New Jersey Nets coach Lawrence Frank and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Mike Budenholzer are also on the Hornets' radar.

 

 

Although the proposed sale from longtime Hornets owner George Shinn to minority owner Gary Chouest has not been completed, as expected, sources close to the situation maintain Shinn is far down the line in negotiations. It remains likely the sale to the locally based Hornets part-owner will happen despite their reported "impasse."

 

 

Yet it's unclear what effect ongoing delays in the sale negotiations will have on the Hornets' coaching search, given that high-profile candidates such as Johnson and Collins are unlikely to consider taking the job unless Chouest has secured control of the franchise.

 

 

Hornets president Hugh Weber recently told local reporters the team was willing to pay top dollar for a new coach and said: "I think we'd gravitate towards someone's who had success on the pro level."

 

 

Johnson is a New Orleans native who has been working for ESPN since leaving the Dallas Mavericks in May 2008 with a coaching record of 194-70 over three-plus seasons.

 

 

Collins, 58, last coached in the NBA in 2003 but has been approached by several teams in the intervening years, most recently Milwaukee and Chicago in the summer of 2008 and Philadelphia and Detroit in 2009. He has chosen to stay in TV, which keeps him connected to the game but also enables him to stay close to his family.

 

 

Brown, who turns 70 in September, said Friday at an end-of-season media session in Charlotte that he doesn't want uncertainty about his future to "drag on" and insisted that "I still want to coach," but not for anyone else besides Bobcats owner Michael Jordan.

 

 

Speaking at a pro-am golf tournament earlier this week, Jordan was quoted as saying: "I'm not going to let [Brown] go so easily. There are rumors out there, but right now they are rumors. Until he comes to me and says anything otherwise, it's business as usual."

 

 

The Los Angeles Clippers, New Jersey Nets, Sixers and Hornets have the league's four current coaching openings.

TIW 4-30-10 SC Midday

Winning Number: 912 & 1696

518, 601, 765, 714, 780, 846, 329, 054
3749, 2371, 4582, 1957, 1062, 9236, 9146
0534, 0831, 0829, 0247, 5386, 7846, 6570

 

846, 957, 068, 179, 280, 391, 402, 513, 624, 735

0846, 1846, 2846, 3846, 4846, 5846, 6846, 7846, 8846, 9846

7840, 7841, 7842, 7843, 7844, 7845, 7846, 7847, 7848, 7849

 

13, 19, 39 pairs

Census workers get ready for door-to-door count

By DEEPTI HAJELA, Associated Press Writer

Deepti Hajela, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 58 mins ago

NEW YORK – It sounds simple enough. Knock on some doors, ask some questions, get some answers.

But for the more than 600,000 people going door-to-door to reach those who haven't mailed in their census forms, it's not.

When census enumerators set out this Saturday, they could encounter a range of responses at the 48 million addresses they need to check. People who never seem to be home. People who don't speak English. People who say they're too busy. People who swear they mailed in their responses. People who want to know what business is it of the government how many people live in their house, anyway. People who question what will happen to the information that gets collected.

Census workers around the country have spent most the last week getting trained in all the things they need to know to get the job done, from how to deal with people who are reluctant to answer to what to do at homes with guard dogs.

They've been taught the big things: All the information is kept confidential. (That means they can't talk about anything they've seen with anyone, either.) That it's important to answer because census information is needed for many things, such as Congressional representation and federal funding for programs. If someone says they're too busy at that moment, ask for a specific time to come back.

They've also been taught the smaller things: Wear comfortable shoes. Make sure your pencils are nice and sharp to fill out the forms (and yes, they have to be No. 2 pencils). If there's a dog, ask if the householder would mind moving the animal away. Don't ask to enter someone's home. Smile and be confident.

"We did a lot of practice role-playing all week," said Lesley Rubinger, 61, a Manhattanite who will be leading a crew of census workers in her first door-to-door count. "What to do if somebody gets hostile, or they refuse to answer your questions."

The Census Bureau tries to encourage as many people as possible to mail in their responses — this year's response rate was 72 percent, the same as in 2000. That's because door-to-door canvassing is the most expensive part of the count, as well as the most vulnerable to mistakes.

The more than 600,000 workers who will canvass residents around the country earn between $10 and $25 an hour, working until mid-July.

Enumerators have very specific rules about how they're supposed to work, to ensure consistency, said Tim Olson, assistant division chief in the Census Bureau's Field Division.

That means the same rules for everyone, from the number of contact attempts per address (up to six) to how to properly canvas a block (start at one place, then move clockwise.)

Olson said for the most part, census workers don't meet with extremely negative responses to their visits.

"What our enumerators will encounter, by and large, are households that simply have forgotten or misplaced their forms or just were too busy," he said.

"People want to part be of the census," he said.

Of course, there are some differences in what gets emphasized in training sessions around the country. At a New York City training, it didn't make sense to discuss the section on evaluating mobile homes and trailer parks in depth, Rubinger said.

"The manual is very much written for the whole country," she said. "So they talk about mobile homes and RVs and knocking on doors. Our big problem is doormen and brownstones, so it's a whole other little piece.

"That's what we've been emphasizing all week, what to do when someone says 'No, you can't come in this building.'"

The door-to-door count has its challenges — in some immigrant communities, limited English proficiency could hamper responses and in some rural communities, people are spread out and hard to reach.

The stakes are high. The results of the decennial census are used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives. Census officials this week said New York, California, Texas, Arizona and Florida were in danger of losing Congressional seats because of poor participation.

Observers said the Census Bureau had made strides in getting ready for this year's count, and that includes efforts for the door-to-door canvassing.

The agency has reached out to community groups, to help spread the message that people should fill out their questionnaires and shouldn't be wary of census workers knocking on their doors, as well as to help recruit people who speak other languages for those householders who don't speak English.

Some immigrant advocates still expressed their concerns about whether the census would be able to effectively deal with language barriers.

Seema Agnani, executive director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, said her group had gone out to some Queens neighborhoods to talk to people about the census and had dealt firsthand with the language challenges some enumerators will face.

Even though her members speak a number of languages, it still wasn't enough to talk to all the people they met.

"I can't imagine that the census enumerators will have more languages available than we do," she said.

But still, she praised the agency for the steps it has taken since last decade.

"It's so much better than it was 10 years ago," she said.

TGIF 4-30-10

053, 263, 186, 667, 513, 822, 126, 605

713, 813, 893, 792, 709, 052, 687, 784

322, 384, 293, 222, 333, 555, 777, 888

1250, 1216, 1051, 8501, 4323, 1030

Friday, April 30, 2010
Giants' Feagles retires; NFL mark intact

---

Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The oldest active player in the NFL has retired.

 

New York Giants punter Jeff Feagles announced his retirement on Friday after 22 seasons and a league-record 352 consecutive games.

 

Jeff Feagles

#18 P
New York Giants

2009 STATS

 Punts64

• Avg = 40.7
• Blk = 0 Long = 59

 

"As an undrafted free agent in 1988, I would never have thought I could have played this wonderful game for 22 seasons," Feagles said. "I appreciated all the National Football League has given me. One thing I never did was take anything for granted in my career. I was always grateful to have a job and to be able to take care of my family.

 

"I always had a fear of losing my job and tried to always work harder than the next guy," he said. "I always wanted to be the best at my position and do everything I could to help the team win."

 

The 44-year-old Feagles signed a contract earlier this month to play another season, but he changed his mind in the past week or so after experiencing some physical problems while getting ready for next season.

 

"I just can't do it anymore," Feagles said. "My body is not letting me respond to it. It's time to move on."

 

Feagles insisted he has taken his last swing at the football, adding he is not about to pull a Brett Favre -- who holds the consecutive games record for a position player. He might punt with his four children, but that will be the extent of it.

 

Feagles has never missed a game in his career. He holds most of the NFL's significant punting records.

 

A member of the Giants for the past seven seasons, Feagles also has played for New England, Philadelphia, Arizona and Seattle. One of a remaining few directional punters in the league, he had a 41.6-yard career gross average and a 35.9-yard net average.

 

"Jeff Feagles has been a tremendous Giant," said coach Tom Coughlin, who called Feagles one of the greatest Giants of all time. "He was a guy I always knew I could count on, always knew exactly what was to be expected."

 

The Giants drafted East Carolina punter Matt Dodge in the seventh round on Saturday as an insurance policy. Dodge averaged 45.8 yards this past season. He was the first punter drafted by the Giants since 1997, when they took Brad Maynard in the third round.

 

The Giants also have former Australian rules football player Jy Bond under contract.

 

Feagles also is the Giants' holder on extra points and field goals.

 

Recently signed backup quarterback Jim Sorgi has experience holding and Coughlin said he would get the first shot at taking over those jobs.

 

Feagles was the NFL's second oldest player this past season, behind New Orleans' kicker John Carney. The now 46-year-old Carney was replaced late in the season by Garrett Hartley and now serves the Saints as a kicking consultant.