July 11 2009
Sports Bites

NBA talk is the talk in the sports world now! Trades, moves and thankfully no one is whining, yet! Let’s take a bite into the sports world and see what’s good, bad and happening in the world of sports.

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Ron Artest, making official a deal agreed to last week. The team announced the signing early Wednesday but did not release the terms. The Los Angeles Times reported that Artest, who was an unrestricted free agent, agreed to a three-year deal worth $18 million when he decided to join the team on Thursday. The 6-foot-7 forward earned $7.4 million in his only season with Houston, averaging 17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Nice numbers but how will he and Kobe co exist?

Fans at Citi Field booed the free-falling New York Mets even more loudly than they jeered Manny Ramirez - before he got ejected. Ramirez drove in three runs with two singles, then was ejected for throwing equipment following his second called strikeout. That was the highlight as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat what's left of the Mets 8-0 Tuesday night. "It's OK, I was coming out in the fifth inning," Ramirez said playfully.

Real Madrid's huge summer spending spree may be over after they admitted defeat in their pursuit of Franck Ribery and balked at the prices quoted for Maicon and Xabi Alonso. The France playmaker was tipped to be the next mega-money arrival at the Bernabeu after the captures of Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema. But Madrid's Director General Jorge Valdano now says the 26-year-old is likely to remain at Bayern Munich.

Calling his team "simply awesome," Lance Armstrong was nearly decked out in yellow again.The seven-time champion surged from third place to second at the Tour de France on Tuesday after his Astana squad won a team time trial in a dramatic finish. Armstrong erased all but a sliver of his 40-second deficit to leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland in the fourth stage. The only thing separating him from the yellow jersey now is a fraction of a second.