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2B – Daily News – Tuesday, July 6, 2010 Armstrong joins spills in Tour’s 2nd stage GIANTS SPA, Belgium (AP) — On a day of chaos and crashes, riders tumbled like dominoes in the rain and littered the road in a scene Lance Armstrong called ‘‘surreal.’’ The seven-time champion did not escape the mayhem at the Tour de France on Monday. He was left search- ing for his bike, nursing scrapes and bruises to his hip and elbow and joking about the decision to come out of retirement. He was in good company, joining dozens of riders who hit the asphalt on a slippery downhill run some likened to ice skating. Sylvain Chavanel of France was among few to avoid trouble. He sped to victory after breaking away early in the 125-mile trip from Brussels to Spa and taking the yellow jersey from Switzer- land’s Fabian Cancellara. With the pack banged-up, he finished nearly four minutes ahead. With so many riders down in crash- es, organizers said they briefly consid- ered canceling the stage altogether. But under the race rules, the spills were too spread out to warrant a cancellation. Armstrong returned to the RadioShack team bus with his team outfit torn and a bloody scrape on his thigh. His team said he also injured his elbow but otherwise was all right. ‘‘You had people everywhere. It was surreal. When I got back on my bike ... I saw crash, after crash, after crash,’’ Armstrong said, noting riders laid out on the ground. ‘‘It was like war.’’ Chavanel began the stage in 87th place and knocked everyone on the leaderboard down a notch: Cancellara dropped to second, 2 minutes, 57 sec- onds behind. Germany’s Tony Martin is third, 3:07 back. Armstrong sits fifth, 3:19 back, and defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain is seventh, 3:24 behind. The Spanish two-time Tour winner bruised his right hip, knee and elbow but was expected to start Tuesday. Some riders believed a motorcycle crash in the race caravan before the pack passed left oil on the road, creat- ing an especially slick mix with the rain. On the descent from the midlevel Stockeu Pass, Armstrong, Contador and 2009 runner-up Andy Schleck all went down. Armstrong said he knew he was not badly hurt, but he did have other concerns. ‘‘I knew I was fine,’’ he said. ‘‘My first thought was: ’Where is my bike?’ I tried to find my bike. You know in the rain these guys are very good downhill. I’m not one of them. But even the good ones, with something like that: No chance. Absolutely no chance.’’ Everybody finished, except French rider Mickael Delage, who slammed into a road barrier early in the stage. The Omega Pharma-Lotto rider was taken to hospital with a concussion, a broken bone in his face and shoulder, knee and hand injuries. Scrapes and bruises were reported by the dozens, and nearly every team was affected. Some riders estimated at least half the 194-rider peloton had fall- en. A post-stage medical report listed 23 as at least slightly injured during the day. On the Garmin-Transitions team alone, Americans Tyler Farrar and Christian Vande Velde and Julian Dean of New Zealand were taken to a hospi- tal for evaluation. ‘‘Riding downhill was almost like ice skating,’’ said Johan Bruyneel, the RadioShack manager and Armstrong’s longtime mentor. Teammates Andreas Kloeden and Levi Leipheimer fell. ‘‘Almost half of the peloton crashed today,’’ Bruyneel said. The spills wreaked havoc on orga- nizers and riders alike. Some took longer to rejoin the race than others. After Schleck dropped several min- utes back of the pack — threatening his Tour title ambitions — the main bunch appeared to slow down, with his Saxo Bank teammate Cancellara at the front. Between Schleck, under an escort from his older brother and teammate Frank, and Chavanel’s group at the front, confusion broke out in the pack about how to respond in a sporting and competitive way. ‘‘There was a group up the road, we didn’t know what to do,’’ Armstrong said. ‘‘The Schlecks were behind, some other guys were behind. It was sort of a conflict about what to do then.’’ Contador said he ordered his Astana team to wait. With so many riders downed in the crashes, the thought of canceling the stage altogether briefly crossed the minds of race organizers, the course director said. But under the race rules, the spills were too spread out to war- rant a cancellation. Cancellara, who as race leader can act as spokesman for the pack, asked Tour organizers not to award points for a final sprint out of respect for the fall- en riders, course director Jean-Francois Pescheux said. Tour organizers called it a show of good sportsmanship. That request, made with just 1.2 miles left, was honored by the race jury and, in effect, slowed the finish. The decision will have deprived some sprinters of points in the competition for the green jersey, which is awarded to the race’s best sprinter. ‘‘There was no reason to not contest the sprint today,’’ said two-time green jersey winner Thor Hushovd of Nor- way.’’ Everyone made a gentleman’s agreement not to sprint, but I lost an important opportunity to try to win the stage and gain points.’’ Armstrong was already lucky to have avoided six crashes in Sunday’s first stage. The mishaps have injected drama into the first week of racing even before its most dreaded test: Tues- day’s run on seven patches of cobble- stones. The third stage takes the pack over the bone- and bike-jarring cobbles dur- ing the 132-mile ride from Wanze Arenberg to Porte du Hainaut. Armstrong has predicted ‘‘carnage’’ on his Twitter account — and that was before the disorder of the last two days. Armstrong, who returned to the Tour last year after a 3 1/2-year retire- ment, got a handy reminder of the treachery that often lurks early in the three-week race. Many sprinters are eager to win a stage, and the pack can get antsy and nervous. It’s all a far cry from Armstrong’s easier life as a retiree. ‘‘Almost all day, I wondered why I came off the beach,’’ Armstrong cracked, reiterating that this Tour will be his last. ‘‘But I’ll be back at it tomor- row.’’ Stoudemire agrees to sign with Knicks NEW YORK (AP) — Amare Stoudemire is head- ed to the New York Knicks, and both sides are hoping he’s not coming alone. The Knicks said Monday they intend to sign Stoudemire to a contract later this week when the free agent moratorium period ends. Stoudemire’s agent, Happy Walters, said the deal is for the maximum allowed, which would be nearly $100 million over five years. Wearing a blue Knicks hat, Stoudemire said he looked forward to rebuilding a franchise and bringing the Knicks back to the top — maybe with a player such as LeBron James or Dwyane Wade with him. ‘‘I feel great about being a pioneer and showing my leadership,’’ he said at Madi- son Square Garden, where signs throughout the entrances showed the player pictured in a Knicks uni- form and reading ‘‘Wel- come, Amare Stoudemire.’’ The deal can’t be signed until Thursday, after the salary cap for next season has been set. It was a des- perately needed score in free agency for the Knicks, who spent two seasons clearing enough cap space to afford two top players. They met with James, Wade and Chris Bosh last week and believe they could still land one of them. Stoudemire has already started recruiting, saying he spoke to James’ people and directly to Wade last week. And he said he won’t be affected if those players say no to New York. The move reunites Stoudemire with Mike D’Antoni, his former coach in Phoenix. Scoreboard WORLD CUP Semifinals Today’s match Uruguay vs. Netherlands, 11:30 a.m. Wednesday’s match Germany vs.Spain, 11:30 a.m. MLB West Division Texas American League WL Pct GB Angels 46 39 .541 3.5 A’s WL Pct GB New York 50 31 .617 — Tampa Bay 49 33 .598 1.5 Boston 49 34 .590 2 Toronto 41 42 .494 10 Baltimore 25 57 .305 25.5 Central Division Detroit WL Pct GB 44 37 .543 — Minnesota 44 38 .537 .5 Chicago 43 38 .531 1 Kansas City 36 46 .439 8.5 Cleveland 33 49 .402 11.5 ——— Monday’s results New York at Oakland, late Chicago 9, Los Angeles 2 Cleveland 9, Texas 3 Detroit 12, Baltimore 9 Tampa Bay 6, Boston 5 Kansas City at Seattle, late Today’s games New York (Sabathia 10-3) at Oakland (Cahill 8-2), 7:05 p.m.,CSNC Baltimore (Arrieta 2-2) at Detroit (Galarraga 3-2), 4:05 p.m. Minnesota (Pavano 9-6) at Toronto (Litsch 0-3), 4:07 p.m. Boston (Undecided) at Tampa Bay (Niemann 6-2), 4:10 p.m., MLBN Cleveland (Masterson 3-7) at Texas (C.Wilson 6-4), 5:05 p.m. Los Angeles (Jer.Weaver 8-3) at Chicago (Peavy 7-6), 5:10 p.m. Kansas City (Greinke 4-8) at Seattle (Bedard 0-0), 7:10 p.m. West Division National League WL Pct GB Padres 49 33 .598 — Dodgers 45 37 .549 4 Colorado 44 38 .537 5 GIANTS 42 40 .512 7 Arizona 32 51 .386 17.5 East Division WL Pct GB Atlanta 48 35 .578 — New York 46 37 .554 2 Philadelphia 43 38 .531 4 Florida 39 43 .476 8.5 Washington 36 47 .434 12 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 48 36 .571 — St. Louis 45 37 .549 2 Milwaukee 37 46 .446 10.5 48 34 .585 — 41 42 .494 7.5 Seattle 34 47 .420 13.5 East Division Chicago 36 47 .434 11.5 Houston 32 51 .386 15.5 Pittsburgh 30 52 .366 17 ——— Monday’s results San Francisco 6, Milwaukee 1 Chicago 9, Arizona 4 Cincinnati 8, New York 6 Florida 6, Los Angeles 5 Philadelphia 3, Atlanta 1 Today’s games San Francisco (Bumgarner 0-2) at Milwaukee (Wolf 6-7), 5:10 p.m.,CSNB Atlanta (Jurrjens 1-3) at Philadelphia (Hamels 6-7), 4:05 p.m. San Diego (Richard 6-4) at Washington (L.Hernandez 6-4), 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati (Tr.Wood 0-0) at New York (J.Santana 5-5), 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (B.Lincoln 1-2) at Houston (W.Rodriguez 5-10), 5:05 p.m. St. Louis (Hawksworth 2-5) at Colorado (Francis 2-3), 5:40 p.m. Chicago (Silva 8-2) at Arizona (Enright 1-0), 6:40 p.m. Florida (Volstad 4-7) at Los Angeles (Padilla 2-2), 7:10 p.m. North Division GOLDEN Golden League WL Pct. GB OUTLAWS 30 9 .769 — Edmonton 22 16 .579 7.5 Calgary 20 18 .526 9.5 Victoria 18 20 .474 11.5 St. George 14 25 .359 16 South Division Maui Yuma WL Pct. GB 22 15 .595 — 22 17 .564 1 Tucson 19 20 .487 4 Orange Co. 17 20 .459 5 Tijuana 7 31 .184 15.5 ——— Monday’s results Yuma at Tucson, late Tuesday’s games Chico at Tucson, 7 p.m. Tijuana at Edmonton, 6 p.m. St. George at Yuma, 6:30 p.m. Calgary at Orange County, 7:05 p.m. Victoria at Maui, 9:35 p.m. WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Atlanta 13 5 .722 — Washington 12 5 .706 .5 Connecticut 10 6 .625 2 Indiana 9 6 .600 2.5 Chicago 8 9 .471 4.5 New York 7 8 .467 4.5 WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Seattle 15 2 .882 — San Antonio 5 9 .357 8.5 Phoenix 6 11 .353 9 Minnesota 5 11 .313 9.5 Los Angeles 4 12 .250 10.5 Tulsa 3 13 .188 11.5 ——— Today’s games New York at Seattle, Noon Indiana at Chicago, 5 p.m. Connecticut at San Antonio, 5 p.m., ESPN2 Phoenix at Los Angeles, 7 p.m., ESPN2 NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1.Kevin Harvick 2. Jeff Gordon 5.Denny Hamlin 6.Kyle Busch 7. Matt Kenseth 8. Jeff Burton 9.Tony Stewart 10. Greg Biffle 2,684 2,472 3. Jimmie Johnson 2,459 4.Kurt Busch 2,439 2,400 2,376 2,322 2,319 2,251 2,234 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,177 12. Carl Edwards 13. Mark Martin 14. Clint Bowyer 15.Ryan Newman 2,090 16. Kasey Kahne 17.David Reutimann 2,000 18. Joey Logano 2,170 2,131 2,121 19. Jamie McMurray 1,945 20. Martin Truex Jr. 1,847 1,765 27. Marcos Ambrose 1,660 28. Elliott Sadler 29.Sam Hornish Jr. 1,604 30. Regan Smith 31.Bobby Labonte 32.Robby Gordon 33.Travis Kvapil 34.David Gilliland 35.Kevin Conway 36. Brian Vickers 37.David Stremme 38. Mike Bliss 1,709 1,650 1,496 39.Joe Nemechek 40.Max Papis 41.Dave Blaney 42. Casey Mears 43. J.J.Yeley 1,391 1,334 1,233 1,193 1,169 1,158 770 759 729 699 622 556 491 44. Michael McDowell 471 45. Bill Elliott 46. Boris Said 448 399 47. Reed Sorenson 353 48. Robert Richardson Jr.249 49. Michael Waltrip 50.Todd Bodine 200 169 Upcoming schedule July 10 — LifeLock.com 400, Joliet, Ill. July 25 — Brickyard 400, Indianapolis Aug. 1 — Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, Long Pond, Pa. Nationwide Points Leaders 1. Brad Keselowski 2. Carl Edwards 3. Justin Allgaier 4.Kyle Busch 5.Kevin Harvick 6.Paul Menard 7. Joey Logano 8. Steve Wallace 2,806 2,529 2,318 2,291 2,163 2,077 1,933 1,922 9. Brendan Gaughan 1,895 10. Jason Leffler 11.Trevor Bayne 12. Michael Annett 13.Tony Raines 1,839 1,803 1,722 1,704 2,016 1,997 1,930 21. Juan Pablo Montoya 1,924 22. A J Allmendinger 1,900 23.Paul Menard 24. Scott Speed 25. Brad Keselowski 1,721 26.David Ragan 14. Brian Scott 15. Reed Sorenson 1,645 16.Kenny Wallace 17. Mike Wallace 18. Mike Bliss 1,676 1,564 1,525 1,486 19. Michael McDowell 1,421 20. Eric McClure 1,398 Upcoming schedule July 9 — Dollar General 300 Powered By Coca-Cola, Joliet, Ill. July 17 — Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, Madison, Ill. July 24 — Kroger 200, Indianapolis July 31 — U.S. Cellular 250, Newton, Iowa GOLF FedExCup Leaders Rank Pts Money 1. Ernie Els 2. Justin Rose 3. Phil Mickelson 4. Jim Furyk 5.Ben Crane 6. Anthony Kim 7.Tim Clark 8. Dustin Johnson 9. Robert Allenby 10.Bubba Watson 11. Matt Kuchar 12. Camilo Villegas 13. Jeff Overton 14. Steve Stricker 15. Rickie Fowler 16.Bo Van Pelt 17. J.B. Holmes 18. Bill Haas 19. Zach Johnson 20. Ricky Barnes 1.Tiger Woods 2. Phil Mickelson 1,751 $3,941,028 1,542 $3,159,748 1,521 $3,199,838 1,479 $2,883,915 1,222 $2,396,357 1,215 $2,518,521 1,195 $2,729,064 1,137 $2,312,724 1,129 $2,471,868 1,124 $2,072,761 1,114 $2,331,955 1,091 $2,330,936 1,063 $2,286,341 1,061 $2,171,122 1,045 $2,083,691 1,036 $2,069,004 973 $1,881,498 949 $1,585,320 931 $1,833,899 892 $1,704,668 World Golf Ranking USA 10.35 USA 9.62 3.Lee Westwood ENG 8.04 4. Steve Stricker 5. Jim Furyk 6. Ernie Els 7. Luke Donald 8. Ian Poulter 9. Rory McIlroy 10.Paul Casey ENG 5.20 MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy 11 1 3 36 25 5 Salt Lake 8 3 3 27 27 11 Colorado 6 3 4 22 16 12 FC Dallas 5 2 6 21 16 12 QUAKES 54 4 19 16 15 Houston 5 7 3 18 21 22 Seattle Chivas USA 3 9 2 11 15 21 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Columbus 8 2 3 27 20 12 New York 8 5 1 25 18 17 Toronto FC 5 4 4 19 16 15 Chicago 4 4 5 17 18 18 Kansas City 3 7 3 12 11 17 Philadelphia 3 7 2 11 15 23 New England 3 9 2 11 13 26 D.C. USA 7.03 USA 6.82 SAF 5.97 ENG 5.51 ENG 5.44 NIR 1. Rafael Nadal 2.Roger Federer 3. Robin Soderling 4.Tomas Berdych 5. Andy Murray 6.Novak Djokovic 7. Andy Roddick 10. Jurgen Melzer 1. Serena Williams 2.Venus Williams ATP Money Leaders $5,506,278 8.Fernando Verdasco 9.David Ferrer $2,887,135 $1,872,145 $1,709,841 $1,696,422 $1,507,962 $1,393,333 $1,318,712 $1,221,532 $1,087,130 WTAMoney Leaders $4,266,011 3.Francesca Schiavone $1,830,946 4. Jelena Jankovic 5. Sam Stosur 6. Justine Henin 7.Vera Zvonareva 8. Aravane Rezai 9. Kim Clijsters 10. Caroline Wozniacki $957,977 CYCLING Tour de France Monday 5.31 4 8 3 15 16 23 At Spa, Belgium — Second Stage A 124.9-mile hilly leg from Brussels to Spa 1. Sylvain Chavanel, France, Quick Step, 4 hours, 40 minutes, 48 seconds. 2. Maxime Bouet, France, AG2R La Mondi- ale, 3 minutes, 56 seconds behind. 3.Fabian Wegmann, Germany, Team Milram, same time. 4.Robbie McEwen, Australia, Katusha, same time. 5. Christian Knees, Germany, Team Milram, same time. 6. Jurgen Roelandts, Belgium, Omega Phar- ma-Lotto, same time. 7.Thor Hushovd, Norway, Cervelo Test Team, same time. 8.Linus Gerdemann, Germany, Team Milram, same time. 9. Matthieu Ladagnous, France, Francaise des Jeux, same time. 10. Bernhard Eisel, Austria, Team HTC- Columbia, same time. 11. Daniel Moreno, Spain, Omega Pharma- Lotto, same time. 12. Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland, Team Saxo Bank, same time. 13. Karsten Kroon, Netherlands, BMC Rac- ing Team, same time. 14.Johan Van Summeren, Belgium, Garmin- Transitions, same time. 15. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain, Caisse d’Epargne, same time. 16. Serge Pauwels, Belgium, Sky Pro Cycling, same time. 17. Jeremy Hunt, Britain, Cervelo Test Team, same time. 18. Stijn Vandenbergh, Belgium, Katusha, same time. 19. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic, Liquigas-Doimo, same time. 20. Martijn Maaskant, Netherlands, Garmin- Transitions, same time. 3 9 2 11 11 25 $2,223,556 $1,587,133 $1,504,745 $1,401,960 $1,248,558 $1,117,316 $1,032,348 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. TENNIS Overall Standings (After second stage) 1. Sylvain Chavanel, France, Quick Step, 10 hours, 1 minute, 25 seconds. 2. Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland, Team Saxo Bank, 2 minutes, 57 seconds behind. 3.Tony Martin, Germany, Team HTC-Colum- bia, 3:07. 4. David Millar, Britain, Garmin-Transitions, 3:17. 5. Lance Armstrong, United States, Team RadioShack, 3:19. 6. Geraint Thomas, Britain, Sky Pro Cycling, 3:20. 7. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, 3:24. 8. Levi Leipheimer, United States, Team RadioShack, 3:25. 9. Edval Boasson Hagen, Norway, Sky Pro Cycling, 3:29. 10. Linus Gerdemann, Germany, Team Mil- ram, 3:32. 11. Brent Bookwalter, United States, BMC Racing Team, same time. 12. Janez Brajkovic, Slovenia, Team RadioShack, same time. 13. Michael Rogers, Australia, Team HTC- Columbia, same time. DEALS Major League Baseball BASEBALL American League OAKLAND—Placed OF Conor Jackson on the 15-day DL. Optioned RHP Clayton Mortensen to Sacramento (PCL). Selected the contract of OF Matt Watson and recalled OF Matt Carson from Sacramento. Trans- ferred OF Travis Buck to 60-day DL. BOSTON—Placed RHP Clay Buchholz on the 15-day DL. Recalled LHP Felix Doubront from Pawtucket (IL). National League CHICAGO—Recalled RHP Justin Berg from Iowa (PCL). Optioned RHP Jeff Stevens to Iowa. NEW YORK—Placed INF/OF Fernando Tatis on the 15-day DL.Recalled LHP Raul Valdes from Buffalo (IL). PITTSBURGH—Assigned LHP Zach Duke to Altoona (EL) on a major league rehab assignment. Golden Baseball League CALGARY—Acquired INF Shane Cronin from Victoria for INF Matt Edgecombe Women’s National Basketball Association WNBA—Suspended Phoenix G Ketia Swanier one game for leaving the bench dur- ing an altercation in a July 3 game against New York. Major League Soccer- SEATTLE—Announced F Blaise Nkufo will join the team on July 13. National Hockey League COLUMBUS—Named Bob Boughner assis- tant coach. EDMONTON—Signed LW Taylor Hall to a three-year contract. TAMPA BAY—Signed D Brett Clark to a two- year contract. College GEORGIA—Announced the resignation of athletic director Damon Evans. SOUTH FLORIDA—Signed men’s basket- ball coach Stan Heath to a three-year con- tract extension through 2015. (Continued from page 1B) play and we didn’t do it,’’ Macha said. Buster Posey added the final run with a solo homer in the eighth for San Fran- cisco, which won for the second time in 10 games. Jonathan Sanchez (7-6) struggled with his com- mand, issuing six walks and throwing three wild pitches, but managed to go six innings to help his tired bullpen. He allowed five hits while throwing 115 pitches. ‘‘He got out of a lot of tough situations. He got better as the game went on with getting ahead of hit- ters,’’ Posey said. ‘‘That’s going to be huge for him because he’s got as good of stuff as anybody, but you can’t really use it when you’re behind in the count.’’ Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the second when Rickie Weeks walked to force in a run. Santiago Casilla, Chris Ray and Dan Runzler fol- lowed Sanchez with a scoreless inning apiece. San Francisco used eight reliev- ers in Sunday’s 15-inning loss to the Rockies that last- ed a Coors Field-record 5 hours, 24 minutes. ‘‘After all the losses we had an especially the game we had last night, it’s pretty tough to keep battling,’’ Sanchez said. ‘‘We battled the whole game and finally we got the win.’’ The Giants are trying to move up from fourth in the NL West standings. Pat Burrell told Huff before the game that San Francisco should work to try and gain one game in the division race per week. The Giants are 6 1/2 games behind San Diego. ‘‘That makes sense, man,’’ Huff said. ‘‘One game a week. That way it doesn’t seem so over- whelming.’’ Escobar committed con- secutive errors with two outs in the third inning of Sunday’s 7-1 loss to St. Louis that paved the way for five unearned runs. Worse, ace Yovani Gallardo ended up straining a muscle in his left side in the extend- ed inning and likely will not be available to pitch in his first All-Star game. The 23-year-old Esco- bar, who was booed in his final at-bat in the eighth, has a team-high 14 errors this season. ‘‘He’s got to be focused on every play,’’ Macha said. ‘‘Every play is important. Every out is important.’’ Russell arrested MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell has been charged with possession of a controlled substance — codeine syrup — after being arrested at his home in Alabama on Monday, authorities said. The 24-year-old former LSU star and the No. 1 draft choice in 2007 was arrested as part of an undercover narcotics investigation, said Mobile County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Lori Myles. She would not say what led to his arrest. She said he did not have a prescription for the codeine. Russell, who graduated from high school in Mobile, was booked into the city jail and released soon afterward on $2,500 bond, online records show. The Raiders released Russell, considered one of the NFL’s biggest draft busts, in May after he won only seven of his 25 starts and was benched. He completed just 52.1 percent of his passes in his career with 18 touchdowns, 23 interceptions, 15 lost fumbles and a passer rating of 65.2. Oakland paid Russell about $36.4 million through the 2009 season. Since the start of the common draft in 1967, only one other No. 1 pick was released this quickly in his NFL career. Indi- anapolis cut 1992 top pick Steve Emtman after three seasons, but that was more because of injuries than production. Russell and his agent did not immediately return calls for comment.