Soccer Sports News & Betting

Current baseball contracts worth $100 million or more. Figures were obtained by The Associated Press from player and management sources and include all guaranteed income but not income from potential incentive bonuses. There is no distinction for money deferred without interest:

Player, Club Years Total

Alex Rodriguez, NYY 2008-17 $275 million

Derek Jeter, NYY 2001-10 $189 million

Mark Teixeira, NYY 2009-16 $180 million

CC Sabathia, NYY 2009-15 $161 million

Miguel Cabrera, Det 2008-15 $152.3 million

Todd Helton, Col 2003-11 $141.5 million

Johan Santana, NYM 2008-13 $137.5 million

Alfonso Soriano, Cubs 2007-14 $136 million

Barry Zito, SF 2007-13 $126 million

Vernon Wells, Tor 2008-14 $126 million

Carlos Beltran, NYM 2005-11 $119 million

Carlos Lee, Hou 2007-12 $100 million

Albert Pujols, StL 2004-10 $100 million

The names that top the list of NHL scoring leaders are about as expected as a Zamboni cleaning the ice between periods.

Malkin. Crosby. Ovechkin.

The league’s top goal scorer isn’t nearly as familiar. Don’t worry if Jeff Carter doesn’t ring a bell. The Philadelphia Flyers center isn’t even on the All-Star ballot, but he’s suddenly in the mix as one of the fastest rising stars in the NHL. Only don’t expect the quite standout to tout his All-Star credentials.

“It would be nice for it to happen, but I’m not too worried about it,” Carter said. “I haven’t really thought about it. I’ve got a lot of hockey games before that, so we’ll see.”

The 23-year-old Carter might not want to talk about playing in his first All-Star game, so the Flyers will push the message that he belongs with the likes of Pittsburgh’s star duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin in Montreal for the Jan. 25 game.

Every time Carter scores a goal at home, the Flyers scoreboard flashes a bright and bold message to fans.

“Write Him In!”

“He deserves it,” Flyers forward Simon Gagne said.

Carter has enough goals to make the game - he scored his league-best 26th goal in Philadelphia’s 6-4 win over Ottawa on Tuesday night, helping the Flyers move within two points of the Rangers for the Atlantic Division lead. He just won’t have enough votes to earn a starting spot for the Eastern Conference. Carter had received 30,972 as a write-in candidate as of Dec. 23, not enough to even make a dent in the forward category when a player like Crosby has a record total of more than 1,000,000 votes.

Carter will likely be picked for the team as a reserve.

“He’s a great player. He’s still a young guy but he’s figured out the game,” Ottawa coach Craig Hartsburg said. “He’s using his skill, his speed. He’s one of the best two-way players in the league.”

A first-round pick in the 2003 entry draft, Carter has played in stretches of his career like he could blossom into a regular goal-scoring threat. When the Flyers lost All-Star center Mike Richards to a hamstring injury last February, Carter picked up the scoring slack. He had eight goals in the nine games Richards missed, helping the Flyers go 5-2-2.

Carter played in all 82 games last season and had a career-high 29 goals and 53 points, and scored six more goals in the playoffs as he helped the Flyers reach the Eastern Conference finals. The Flyers rewarded Carter with a $15 million, three-year deal in the summer - a contract that suddenly looks like a bargain for Philly.

His 26 goals this season are two more than Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek and his 40 points place him behind Malkin (58) Crosby (47) and Ovechkin (46). Only Reggie Leach with 61 goals in 1975-76 has led the league with the Flyers. With the way he’s playing, Carter feel he can join Leach on the elite list.

“The way things are going, I feel good out there and I get lots of chances,” Carter said. “I’m playing against other teams’ top lines a lot of the nights, so I’m just really worried about not getting scored on, and the other stuff takes care of itself.”

Carter, 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, said there were no special offseason workouts, no new tricks added to his game that suddenly made his numbers skyrocket. He credits a fast start that boosted his confidence that allowed him to feel like he could stick the puck in the net every time he fires a shot.

“You can tell right now he’s got high confidence,” Gagne said. “He’s a big guy using his size and he’s got speed, too. He takes those great wrist shots, and every time you see him shooting the puck, you get the feeling it’s going to go in. He’s on a great streak right now.”

Earlier this month, coach John Stevens made Carter the center on a line that includes Joffrey Lupul and Scott Hartnell and the trio has turned the Flyers into one of the hottest teams in the league. Carter’s been rewarded with more ice time, he has great speed, a quick wrist shot, and hits the net hard and with purpose.

“Lup’s is a real finesse guy; he has a lot of speed, which helps my game out, too,” Carter said. “Hartsy just crashes and bangs, gets to the net, creates a lot of space for myself and Lups. So it’s going well.”

Carter has 10 goals this month and has helped the Flyers earn a point in the standings in 12 straight home games. His teammates expect Carter, a Canadian and a NASCAR fan, to keep chipping away at the scoring title.

“I don’t see why not, it’s not like we’re only 10 games in,” Lupul said. “We’re over 30 games in now and it’s not like he’s getting one or two chances a game. He’s getting five or six chances a game so I don’t see why he can’t keep it up.”

Defenseman Jassen Cullimore sat out Tuesday’s game against the Predators with a hand/wrist injury, but should be ready to play in the Panthers’ next game Friday, coach Pete DeBoer said.

“He had an MRI and it doesn’t look like they see anything on it,” DeBoer said. “But we figured we’d give him the break. It’s still pretty sore.”

With Cullimore out, Noah Welch was in the lineup for the second time in three games since going down to AHL Rochester and playing seven games. DeBoer said Welch has improved.

“He has realized what we need in order for him to get in the lineup and be effective, and that’s for him to be simple and safe and physical,” DeBoer said. “When we’ve stuck him in lately, even before the two-week conditioning, he has played that way.”

Belak returnsRight wing/enforcer Wade Belak made his first appearance at BankAtlantic Center since the Panthers traded him to the Predators on Nov. 27. Belak entered Tuesday’s game with one assist in 11 games. Winger Nick Tarnasky, who came from Nashville in exchange for Belak, was a healthy scratch. Anthony Stewart took Tarnasky’s spot in the lineup.

Fateful moveThe Panthers went 7-2-2 immediately after trading Belak, who was “a casualty of the circumstances and the way we started the season,” DeBoer said. “We needed at that point of the season to shake up the team somehow.

“Everybody on our team needed to be put on notice that status quo wasn’t good enough and nobody’s job was safe.”

Holiday memoriesDeBoer’s best Christmas gift? Winning the gold medal during the holidays at the 2005 World Junior Championship with Sidney Crosby, Dion Phaneuf and Team Canada against Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and the Russians.

Others he remembers?

“When I was 5, I got a Denis Potvin autographed stick,” DeBoer said, laughing. “My kids always get me something great. Usually ties that I’ll never be seen in public with, but I wear to all the family functions.”

Borussia Moenchengladbach plans to sign Canada captain Paul Stalteri and Belgian goalkeeper Logan Bailly.

The Bundesliga club said Monday that 31-year-old defender Stalteri will join next month on a 2 1/2-year contract after leaving on a free transfer from English club Tottenham.

Stalteri played in the Bundesliga from 1998 to 2005, winning the title with Werder Bremen in 2004. He joined Tottenham in 2005 and spent the second half of last season on loan at Fulham.

The 23-year-old Bailly, who played for Belgium’s Olympic team at the Beijing Games in August, will join Moenchengladbach on a 4 1/2-year contact from Belgian club Genk. Moenchengladbach didn’t give financial details of the transfer.

Newly promoted Moenchengladbach - a five-time German champion - went into the winter break in last place in the 18-team league.

The club has already signed Czech defensive midfielder Tomas Galasek from Banik Ostrava.

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari left Goodison Park seething Monday and refused to talk to the media after captain John Terry was sent off for a one-footed diving lunge on Leon Osman in the 35th minute of the 0-0 draw with Everton.

Scolari’s only reported reaction, according to Setanta TV’s touchline reporter, was to shout, “Are you afraid? Are you afraid?” at referee Phil Dowd as the pair departed down the tunnel at halftime of the Premier League match.

The Brazilian coach seemed to be questioning whether Dowd had been influenced by the 35,000 home supporters - an issue goalkeeper Petr Cech eluded to later.

“It is hard for the referee to see because he just has a split second and he has the crowd behind with a lot of noise,” Cech said. “So then it makes it more difficult for the referee. He made a decision and we have to leave it at that.”

Terry now faces a three-match ban, which will rule him out of league matches against West Bromwich Albion and Fulham, and the FA Cup third-round game against third-tier Southend on Jan. 3.

Clearly, Scolari knew he risked Football Association sanctions of his own if he vented his anger publicly.

“None of the Chelsea management is coming up to talk to you,” Chelsea media chief Steve Atkins told reporters. “The Chelsea management have a number of issues with a number of the decisions during the game and they feel it is better not to say anything that gets them into trouble.”

Chelsea’s Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack were also booked for dissent as the Blues squandered a chance to leap above Premier League leader Liverpool in the standings.

But Everton manager David Moyes backed the referee, despite his side being denied a late winner when Steven Pienaar bundled the ball into the net. The midfielder was adjudged to have been offside before stealing the ball out of Cech’s hands.

“My first reaction from the side was that it (Terry’s tackle) was reckless and I thought it was going to be close,” Moyes said. “In my day, I would have enjoyed a tackle like that but I don’t think you are allowed it now.

“And did he get the decision right leading up to the goal that we scored? Yes he did.”

Everton’s media room has become used to unresponsive Chelsea managers, after a bizarre performance by Avram Grant following the Blues’ 1-0 win at Goodison Park last season in April.

Grant refused to discuss his team’s performance or title chances in the post-match news conference, giving mostly monosyllabic answers.

Grant eventually lost the title to Manchester United - plus his job - and Scolari, who coached Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, also appears under pressure. While only one point behind Liverpool, Chelsea has taken just six points from its past five matches.

Real Madrid defender Christoph Metzelder underwent surgery on Monday to repair a broken nose.

The Germany international was injured during Saturday’s 1-0 win over Valencia. He was elbowed by Valencia defender Raul Albiol as the two battled for the ball.

Metzelder is expected to play with a specially fitted protective mask for at least a month.

Fifth-place Madrid trails Spanish leader Barcelona by 12 points going into the two-week Christmas break.

Japan’s Gamba Osaka secured a third-place finish at the Club World Cup with a 1-0 win over Mexico’s Pachuca on Sunday.

Striker Masato Yamazaki scored the winner in the 30th minute when he volleyed a superb pass from fellow forward Ryuji Bando past goalkeeper Miguel Calero.

Manchester United takes on Ecuador’s Liga de Quito later Sunday in the final.

Gamba, 5-3 losers to United in the semifinals, kept Calero under constant pressure from the opening whistle. Set-piece specialist Yasuhito Endo had two free kicks denied before Calero pulled off the save of the match when Bando sprung free inside the area in the 32nd minute.

Bando thought he had the experienced Colombian goalkeeper beaten with a half volley, but Calero managed to get a leg to the shot at the last moment.

For the third match at the tournament, Pachuca saved its best football for the second half, but despite enjoying the bulk of possession and creating a number of chances, the CONCACAF champions rarely looked capable of tying the score.

Instead, it was Asian champions Gamba that appeared more likely to reply on the counterattack, and defender Akira Kaji almost doubled the lead when he curled a shot from the edge of the area just wide in the 73rd minute.

Midfielder Tomokazu Myojin spurned a glorious opportunity to put the game out of reach when he failed to head into an open net six minutes from time. Seconds later, Satoshi Yamaguchi’s header hit the post with Calero clearly beaten.

Gamba survived a few nervy moments and a red card to Takahiro Futagawa for a reckless challenge in added time to hold on for a well-deserved victory. In finishing third, Gamba matched the performance of compatriots the Urawa Reds in last year’s Club World Cup.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will be out for at least a week after hobbling off during Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Liverpool with a knee ligament injury.

Fabregas’ Spain teammate, Xabi Alonso, inflicted the damage with a tackle at the end of the first half at Emirates Stadium.

“It’s a medial knee ligament injury,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “I don’t know how long he will be out. It is difficult to assess; it could be one week or three weeks.

“Of course it is a blow, but we have to cope with it.”

Arsenal travels to Aston Villa on Friday before hosting Portsmouth next Sunday.

It’s a long way from the CashCall Futurity to the Kentucky Derby, but the road there looked a little shorter for Pioneerof the Nile following his hard-fought victory over I Want Revenge in the Grade 1, $750,000 Cash Call Futurity on Saturday at Hollywood Park.

Pioneerof the Nile ($4.80), the favorite, prevailed by a nose over I Want Revenge in the 1 1/16-mile race, but it was the prospect of what he had done to date, and what the future holds, that had his connections so excited after the race.

“He’s a May foal by Empire Maker. He’s not supposed to be running this well as a 2-year-old,” said Ahmed Zayat, who bred and owns Pioneerof the Nile.

Bob Baffert, who now trains Pioneerof the Nile, said the 2-year-old colt is “a big, one-paced horse who covers a lot of ground.”

“A mile and a sixteenth, hes not going to quicken with them,” Baffert said. “A mile and an eighth and longer, he’s just getting in gear. He was just getting started.”

Pioneerof the Nile got a perfect stalking trip under jockey Garrett Gomez, who was able to ride despite a suspension because the Futurity is a designated race. As Ventana and Frumious set off early and dueled through fractions of 23.42 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 47.08 seconds for a half-mile, Pioneerof the Nile settled into third, outside and in the clear.

Gomez began shoving on Pioneerof the Nile on the turn, and Pioneerof the Nile gradually advanced on the leaders. He took over just inside the furlong pole, then bravely held off I Want Revenge, who rallied menacingly heading into the stretch but never could get past Pioneerof the Nile.

“When he makes the lead, he pulls himself up,” Baffert said. “As soon as he saw the other horse, he dug in.”

Chocolate Candy finished another 1 1/2 lengths back in third. Of the other fancied runners, Bittel Road was fourth and Azul Leon fifth in the field of 11. Mr. Rod was scratched.

Pioneerof the Nile completed 1 1/16 miles on Cushion Track in 1:41.95. He gave Baffert his fourth win in this race, following Captain Steve, Point Given, and Real Quiet, all of whom proved to be major stakes winners.

Bill Mott trained Pioneerof the Nile for his first four starts. He was turned over to Baffert following the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, in which he finished fifth.

“He came to me in really good shape,” Baffert said. “This is a pretty good gift.”

‘Tis the season.

Quarter Horse jockey Sam Thompson was in critical condition at Los Alamitos Medical Center on Sunday evening after being thrown from his mount in a one-horse spill on Saturday, according to Los Alamitos track officials.

According to a friend of Thompson’s, the 35-year-old jockey suffered a neck injury. Members of his family were flying to Southern California on Sunday to be at his side. The extent of Thompson’s injury was not immediately known.

The accident occurred in Saturday’s eighth race. Thompson was riding Harems Dynasty who suffered an injury after a 300-yard race for maidens. Thompson was unseated, and may have been struck by Harems Dynasty while he was on the ground.

Harems Dynasty was believed to be injured during the running of the race, according to Cody Joiner, an assistant to his father, trainer Mike Joiner.

Sam realized that something was wrong but he probably did not know exactly what, Cody Joiner said in a statement released by the track. He tried to pull the horse up.

Sam is one of my best friends in the world. We play golf every Monday. We never miss a Monday golf outing. Sam was excited to ride this filly. That’s all he talked about (Saturday) morning. He didn’t want any other rider to get on her in the mornings. We are all hoping for the best for Sam.

Thompson, 35, was sidelined earlier this year with a broken foot. He has won several major races at the Quarter Horse track in the last decade. Thompson was regular rider of the millionaire Corona Kool in the late 1990s and earlier this decade, and has won the Los Alamitos Million Futurity twice.

For many years, Thompson has been closely allied with former champion trainer Donna McArthur. This year, Thompson has won 28 races from 210 mounts that have earned $499,484.