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NEW YORK: Johan Santana is a contract extension and physical away from going to the New York Mets.

After months of deliberation, the Twins reached a tentative agreement Tuesday to part with the two-time Cy Young Award winner for outfielder Carlos Gomez, and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey, two people familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

”If it’s true, obviously, you’re getting arguably the best pitcher in the game,” Mets third baseman David Wright said.

The next step is for the Mets to negotiate a contract extension with Santana, who is eligible for free agency after this season. The three-time All-Star is owed $13.25 million this year and likely will seek an extension of five-to-seven years worth at least $20 million annually.

New York and Santana have until 5 p.m. Friday to reach an agreement, a baseball official told the Associated Press, also on condition of anonymity. If the Mets and Santana strike a deal, the players would have to pass physicals and the pitcher would have to formally waive his no-trade clause.

The Mets emerged as the top candidate for a trade after the winter meetings, when the New York Yankees withdrew their offer, which included pitchers Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, and the Red Sox refused to improve their proposals, which would have sent pitcher Jon Lester or outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury to the Twins along with prospects.

Minnesota General Manager Bill Smith called teams last weekend and asked them to make their best offers. Smith informed the Mets on Tuesday that he was accepting their proposal, which included their Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 7 prospects, according to Baseball America’s ranking. New York did not include its top farmhand, outfielder Fernando Martinez.

A left-hander who turns 29 in March, Santana gives the Mets a replacement for Tom Glavine, who left New York to return to the Atlanta Braves.

Santana is 93-44 with a 3.22 ERA in eight major-league seasons, winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2004 and 2006. He has been less successful in the playoffs, going 1-3 with a 3.97 ERA.

Mike James, for those who don’t know, is from Amityville, and he is a horror when it comes to basketball this year, which means he is a great short for us. <any think he is only a 52% short. But, I think he has the potential to be much more.

He has played in 29 games, averaging about 17 minutes per game. He hits 1/3 of his 3 pointers. He averages only 1.7 rebounds per game. James also has a 78% FT percentage. And this is my favorite one, he averages 2.7 points per game!

The bottom line is, he does earn $PT! He hasn’t played in that many games, only 29 of his team’s 41.

So, if he continues on his average, he will end at 58 games. James averages about $.58 per game, but that is hard to achieve when he’s not playing, and it it terrible anyway so it doesn’t matter whether he plays or not.

So, my main point is:

$.58 x 58 games = $33.64

Woo hoo! So it turns out Mike James is a better short than PT says he is huh?

Mike James would be a 53% short to the floor.

Now, I know that doesn’t pass the other great shorts, but he should at least be mentioned in the same sentence when there are posts about NBA’s great shorts.

Mike James: 53% Short

Short: Mike James!

HEATH Ledger’s shocking demise is not only a terrible loss for his daughter Matilda, his Perth-based family and his many fans, it also throws into disarray two movies.

Ledger was in production with the next instalment in the Batman series, The Dark Knight, in which he was starring opposite Christian Bale as a macabre joker.

Early photos from the set suggest Ledger was taking the series into a new darker chapter.

Also on Ledger’s slate was the new Terry Gilliam film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, about a travelling theatre company. It was due to start filming in London shortly.

Ledger was one of Australia’s true international acting stars. His American breakthrough role came with the teen hit 10 Things I Hate About You, but real global respect came with his Oscar nominated turn in the moving gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain.

He met his now ex-partner Michelle Williams on the set of the film. The pair had a baby, Matilda, but broke of their engagement and split recently.

Gossip has since linked him with troubled young actor and party girl Lindsay Lohan.

Ledger had a troubled relationship with the media in his home town of Sydney. Paparazzi photographers squirted Ledger and Williams with water pistols at the premiere of Brokeback Mountain.

He later angrily denied reports he had spat on the photographers.

“It was just silly and unnecessary. It really hurt our feelings and it hurt my feelings to suddenly have a quick title above my name now, that we’re a gang of spitters,” he told the Herald Sun later.

But he said he regretted flicking the finger at photographers.

“Pulling finger signs at photographers, it’s not representing who I am, it’s representing the panic that occurs when you turn around and there’s a camera staring in at you. You see red, or I do.

“I’m a young guy and I’ve grown up with this in the younger years when you’re more passionate and protective and you’re more explosive during that time of your life and it felt like a natural reaction for me.

“I didn’t feel that I was rebelling against anything. Obviously it’s not the most polite way of dealing with things, but I didn’t feel they were being polite. I forget that when I do that I’m not pulling a finger sign at a guy holding a camera, I’m pulling a finger sign in a newspaper that everyone reads.”

Ledger later sold his Sydney dream house, claiming the paparazzi had driven him out, and moved to Brooklyn in New York where he lived with Williams and Matilda before the split.

Ledger can be seen in cinemas now in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There.

Gemma Atkinson has been evicted from I’m a Celebrity

Actress and model Gemma Atkinson became the seventh celebrity to be evicted from the jungle on Wednesday night as the public voted her out.

The 23-year-old from Manchester shouted “Yes!” and threw her arms in the air as the result was announced, before hugging her fellow I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here campers.

Speaking afterwards with Ant and Dec, she said: “I feel great. Thank you everyone for getting me out.

“Do you know what, I’ve had enough. When you’re cold and hungry the whole time…”

“The whole thing’s been great and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. There’s no stress, nothing… but you get used to it and you miss the hustle and bustle.”

Asked about the explosive arguments that have characterised the reality show this year, she said: “I think it’s just a clash of characters, it’s weird because it was all the older people rowing. It was quite funny and you knew it was going to explode. I think Janice liked to wind people up, but it was kind of in a funny way.”

Asked who she hoped would win the series, she replied “Biggins or J”.

Former supermodel Janice Dickinson shocked her fellow campmates by insisting she had never had a one night stand - despite previously boasting of having 1,000 lovers.

Dickinson, 52, has previously been giving glamour model Gemma Atkinson advice on how to spice-up her sex life.

But she made the latest of a string of revelations about her private life after the campmates had to guess whether the percentage of people who had had one night stands was 44% or 63%. The contestants correctly guessed 44%, but Janice, with a straight face, added: “Well I’m 63%.”

“The Midwest Teen Sex Show,” whose self-declared mission is Sex Ed 101, aims to discuss the pros and cons of teen sexuality and is intended and targeted toward teens, not adults.
 

The podcasts have sparked mixed reactions from parents.

“I would like for them to keep themselves pure and wholesome and abstain from sex and not look like a geek,” said Plano mother Rhonda Cochran.

Jennifer Kauffman, of Dallas, found only one episode appropriate for her 11-year-old son, Mitchell, — the one dealing with abstinence. Still, some of the dialogue was over his head, she said.

“I think they are appropriate for older kids. I think it’s going to take some explaining for younger kids if they do get their hands on it,” said Kauffman’s mother Jennifer.

But, doctor Richard Honaker, a family practice physician said the show isn’t blunt enough.

“I think it’s real. You gotta hit them over the head. Parents are naive about what their young people know and they’re naive about what their young people are willing to participate in,” said Honaker.

Hokaker said children 13 and older should absolutely see the skits.

“I think it needs to be more blunt and say, ‘Here is a picture of venereal warts. do you want these warts?’,” Honaker said.

In an e-Mail to NBC 5, one of the creators of the show defended the podcasts: “I know some teens who are not ready for this type of content, but I know many more who see a lot worse than ‘Midwest Teen Sex Show’ on a regular basis.”

Children under the age of 18 are required to get permission from a parent to listen to the show, and as always, parents can decide for themselves if they show is something that is appropriate for their child. But the show is leaving no doubt that the podcasts are attention grabbing no matter the verdict.

Channel 46 weekend news anchor Cari Champion says she was fired last week following an off-color comment that made it on the air.

According to this report by Richard Prince, the station thinks Champion uttered the “MF” word as she and co-anchor Mike Moore bantered during a commercial break. What the anchors didn’t know was that their conversation was being broadcast over the air.

Champion has appealed her dismissal to the station’s corporate headquarters, saying she didn’t drop the “MF” bomb. Instead, she says, she used the word “Mothasucka.” Kind of like saying “heck” instead of “hell.”

It had to have been an absolutely fascinating conversation between Champion and her bosses the next day. Imagine them dancing around the distinctions between “Mothasucka” and “Motha-…” well, you know.

I’m reminded of what George Carlin once said about middle-class housewives who shriek out the word “Shoot!” when they drop the casserole dish: “You can’t fool me. Shoot is shit with two O’s.”

Meet Adult Star and Exotic Dancer Angelique Morgan - Friday Only! Signing for Free! You Heard it Right! Happy Birthday on Saturday 9/22 Angelique!

Angelique has been seen on Dr 90210 on E!, Criss Angel; Mind Freak, Beauty and Geek, Casting Premiere 18 September, Howard Stern, TV host interview Rev TV on #25 local Las Vegas channel, Playboy Radio, Club Jenna DVD, Playboy TV and more!

Check me out on that side for time and location! See Ya There!

XOXO
Angelique