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2B – Daily News – Wednesday, August 18, 2010 Brett Favre is back in Minnesota GIANTS Continued from page 1B EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Brett Favre is back in Minnesota, right on schedule. For the second year in a row, the quarterback who spends his summers on the verge of retirement was driven to Vikings headquarters on the Tues- day following the team’s first presea- son game. Just like last August, news helicopters followed his vehicle from a local airport and dozens of fans and media gathered at the entrance to Win- ter Park to greet him. ‘‘Circus in Winter Park,’’ tight end Visanthe Shiancoe tweeted. Nothing the Vikings haven’t seen before. On Aug. 18, 2009, Favre boarded a private plane from Hattiesburg, Miss., and arrived in Minnesota. Coach Brad Childress picked him up and brought him to the team facility. He practiced the same day and suited up for a pre- season game three days later. This time around, the Vikings sent three of Favre’s closest friends on the team — Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell and Steve Hutchinson — to Hatties- burg to bring him back for one more shot at a Super Bowl. Longwell filled the role of Favre’s chauffeur and three local television stations broke into programming to show the kicker’s black BMW SUV rolling down the road. ‘‘Helicopters acting like they are following O.J.,’’ Shiancoe tweeted. ‘‘Where is the bronco.’’ Longwell pulled into the team complex as the fans cheered and pho- tographers snapped pictures, whisking him to a back entrance. GORE Continued from page 1B with the things he sees that I can carry over on the field.’’ Singletary didn’t rule out the possibility of ‘‘Brett Favre for President!!’’ receiver Bernard Berrian tweeted. Favre’s website posted a message earlier saying ‘‘stay tuned for breaking news from the Minnesota Vikings today on Brett Favre’s possible return.’’ Presumably, Favre did not make the trip just to tell the Vikings he was retir- ing, but the team issued no formal con- firmation that the star quarterback was taking back his starting job. He is, however, under contract — the second season in a two-year, $25 million deal. The Vikings instead issued a media schedule for Wednesday, announcing that coach Brad Childress will hold his regular news conference following practice. The team also said that a ‘‘media availability with QB Brett Favre is to be determined.’’ Favre will turn 41 in October and has flirted with retirement for years, while playing for the Green Bay Pack- ers, the New York Jets and now the Vikings. He threw 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions last season to help Minnesota reach the NFC title game. The three-time MVP had been thinking about hanging it up again this year after injuring his ankle in Janu- ary’s NFC championship loss to New Orleans. He had surgery on his left ankle in June, and told teammates and some team officials earlier in August that it hadn’t healed enough for him to return for a 20th NFL season. Yet no one in the organization fully bought into that — partly because they went through a similar ordeal in 2009. Last year, Favre told the team on the eve of training camp that he was using both Gore and Westbrook in the same backfield. In addition to 5,995 career rushing yards, Westbrook also has 426 receptions for 3,790 yards in eight seasons. Gore, who already ranks fourth on the 49ers’ going to stay retired only to return the Tuesday after their first preseason game. The Vikings played their first exhibition game of 2010, a 28-7 win over the Rams, on Saturday and will visit San Francisco on Sunday night this week. Not to mention, soon after Favre showed signs of waffling this year, his agent said he’d play if he was healthy. Tarvaris Jackson was in line to be the starting quarterback if Favre had not returned, and he said after practice that he wasn’t bothered by hearing that some of his higher profile teammates flew to Mississippi to try to woo Favre. ‘‘I feel like if my number’s called I’m going to be ready,’’ Jackson said after practice. ‘‘And I’m going to con- tinue to try to work hard and get better. That’s all I can do.’’ If Favre proved anything last year, it’s that skipping training camp is no big deal for him. He delivered one of his finest seasons and brought the Vikings to the brink of the Super Bowl. He took a beating at the Super- dome, yet still threw for 310 yards and a touchdown. But he also threw two interceptions, the last one in Saints ter- ritory at the end of regulation that cost the team a chance a game-winning field goal try. Now, after another summer of inde- cision and another (classic) rock star- like arrival, it appears that Favre is back for one more shot at a second Super Bowl title. ‘‘That’s def(initely) a sign,’’ Shian- coe tweeted, ‘‘that the 2010 season is here!’’ career rushing list with 5,561 yards, is averaging more than 52 catches over the past four sea- sons. The potential explo- siveness that he and Westbrook present should pose a significant chal- lenge for defenses. ‘‘A lot of weapons,’’ Gore said. ‘‘We do have personnel like that, with two halfbacks in the game. Both running backs out of the backfield can catch the ball well and I think that’s going to be great.’’ Notes: K Joe Nedney came to the plate in the first inning. Burrell tipped his helmet to fans before stepping into the batter’s box. But those cheers turned into boos while he circled the bases. Utley also received a standing ovation when he came up in the first. He was expected to miss at least eight weeks after tearing a ligament in his right thumb. Zito baffled the Phillies over four innings with an assortment of offspeed pitches, including a slow curve clocked at 70 mph. But the lefty couldn’t get out of the sixth. BEST (Continued from page 1B) ‘‘Some of it has to do with him maybe lining up on the best receiver.’’ Asomugha has matched up against oppo- nents’ top receivers peri- odically throughout his career. Last season he held Denver’s Brandon Mar- shall without a catch in the first half before the Raiders altered their cov- erages in the second half. He also held Baltimore’s Derek Mason to one catch kicked on his own but it’s still uncertain if he’ll play in this week’s preseason game against Minnesota. ... TE Vernon Davis (strained knee) rode a sta- tionary bicycle but did not take part in any team work. ... WR Michael Polanco led off the inning with a single and Jayson Werth lined a dou- ble to left. Shane Victori- no followed with a two- run double to left-center, putting the Phillies up 4-2. Guillen crushed a solo shot to left to cut it to 4-3 in the seventh. Carlos Ruiz hit a two- run double off Chris Ray during a five-run eighth that put the game out of reach. Giants manager Bruce Bochy was ejected for arguing a balk call by Ramon Ramirez that allowed the eighth run to score. Jimmy Rollins lined a two-run single to center to tie it at 2 in the fifth. in their season-ending matchup. The Raiders hope he can do more of that this season now that he’ll be shadowing opponents’ top receiver. ‘‘We’re doing more things, and I love it,’’ Aso- mugha said. ‘‘I’ve been inside, I’ve been outside, both sides. It looks like it won’t be a thing that’s selective based off who we’re playing. It’s just going to be a thing that we can do whenever we want ... and that’s great. It gets me more involved.’’ Crabtree (neck) did some light work during individ- ual position drills. ... WR Ted Ginn Jr. is still being looked at as a possible punt returner but Single- tary said he prefers Ginn focus on returning kick- offs. Scoreboard American League At A Glance By The Associated Press East Division MLB WL Pct GB New York 73 46.613 — Tampa Bay 73 46.613 — Boston 68 52.5675 1/2 Toronto 63 55.5349 1/2 Baltimore 42 78.35031 1/2 Central Division WL Pct GB Minnesota 68 50.576 — Chicago 65 53.551 3 Detroit 58 61.48710 1/2 Cleveland 49 69.415 19 Kansas City49 69.415 19 West Division WL Pct GB Texas 67 51.568 — Los Angeles6060.500 8 A’s 57 60.4879 1/2 Seattle 47 73.392 21 ——— Monday’s Games Detroit 3, N.Y. Yankees 1 Baltimore 5, Seattle 4, 11 innings Tampa Bay 6, Texas 4 Toronto 3, Oakland 1 Tuesday’s Games N.Y. Yankees 6, Detroit 2 Seattle 4, Baltimore 0 Boston 6, L.A. Angels 0 Tampa Bay 10, Texas 1 Chicago White Sox at Minnesota, late Cleveland at Kansas City, late Toronto at Oakland, late Wednesday’s Games Texas (D.Holland 2-1) at Tampa Bay (J.Shields 10-11), 10:10 a.m. Toronto (Rzepczynski 1-1) at Oakland (G.Gonzalez 10-8), 12:35 p.m. Detroit (Bonderman 6-8) at N.Y. Yan- kees (Moseley 2-2), 4:05 p.m. Seattle (Pauley 1-4) at Baltimore (Guthrie 7-11), 4:05 p.m. L.A. Angels (Kazmir 8-10) at Boston (Lackey 10-7), 4:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Floyd 8-9) at Min- nesota (Liriano 11-7), 5:10 p.m. Cleveland (Carmona 11-10) at Kansas City (Chen 7-6), 5:10 p.m. Thursday’s Games Detroit at N.Y. Yankees, 10:05 a.m. Texas at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. L.A. Angels at Boston, 4:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox at Minnesota, 5:10 p.m. Cleveland at Kansas City, 5:10 p.m. Tampa Bay at Oakland, 7:05 p.m. National League At A Glance By The Associated Press East Division WL Pct GB Atlanta 70 49.588 — Philadelphia67 51.5682 1/2 New York 59 60.496 11 Florida 58 60.49211 1/2 Washington51 68.429 19 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 67 51.568 — St. Louis 65 51.560 1 Milwaukee 55 64.46212 1/2 Houston 52 66.441 15 Chicago 50 69.42017 1/2 Pittsburgh 40 79.33627 1/2 West Division WL Pct GB San Diego 70 47.598 — Giants 67 53.5584 1/2 Colorado 61 56.521 9 Los Angeles6059.504 11 Arizona 47 72.395 24 ——— Monday’s Games Pittsburgh 7, Florida 1 Atlanta 4, L.A. Dodgers 3 N.Y. Mets 3, Houston 1 San Diego 9, Chicago Cubs 5 Tuesday’s Games Florida 6, Pittsburgh 0 Philadelphia 9, San Francisco 3 Atlanta 10, Washington 2 Houston 4, N.Y. Mets 3 San Diego at Chicago Cubs, late Milwaukee at St. Louis, late Cincinnati at Arizona, late Colorado at L.A. Dodgers, late Wednesday’s Games Milwaukee (Ra.Wolf 9-9) at St. Louis (Wainwright 17-6), 11:15 a.m. San Diego (Richard 10-5) at Chicago Cubs (Coleman 0-0), 11:20 a.m. Florida (Jo.Johnson 10-5) at Pittsburgh (Ohlendorf 1-9), 4:05 p.m. San Francisco (M.Cain 9-9) at Philadel- phia (Blanton 4-6), 4:05 p.m. Washington (L.Hernandez 8-8) at Atlanta (T.Hudson 14-5), 4:10 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Dickey 8-5) at Houston (Myers 8-7), 5:05 p.m. Cincinnati (Volquez 3-1) at Arizona (R.Lopez 5-11), 6:40 p.m. Colorado (Hammel 8-7) at L.A. Dodgers (Kuroda 8-11), 7:10 p.m. Thursday’s Games Washington at Atlanta, 10:05 a.m. San Diego at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m. Florida at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. San Francisco at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. N.Y. Mets at Houston, 5:05 p.m. Cincinnati at Arizona, 6:40 p.m. Colorado at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. Golden League At A Glance By The Associated Press North Division WL Pct. GB Calgary 20 7 .741 — Victoria 16 14.5335 1/2 Chico 13 12.520 6 Edmonton 12 13.480 7 St. George 7 15.31810 1/2 South Division WL Pct. GB 14 3 .824 — Maui Orange County19 5 .792-1 1/2 Yuma 11 14.440 7 Tucson 12 19.387 9 Tijuana 2 23.080 16 ——— Tuesday’s Games Chico 8, Victoria 3 Yuma at Maui, 9:35 p.m. Tucson at Edmonton, 6 p.m. St. George at Calgary, 6:05 p.m. Wednesday’s Games No games scheduled Thursday’s Games Calgary at Edmonton, 6 p.m. Tijuana at Tucson, 7 p.m. Victoria at St. George, ccd., cancelled Yuma at Orange County, 7:05 p.m. Maui at Chico, 7:08 p.m. BASEBALL’S TOP TEN By The Associated Press AMERICAN LEAGUE GABR H Pct. Hamilton Tex114 448 82 161 .359 MiCabrera Det116421 80 142 .337 Mauer Min 10339368 130 .331 ABeltre Bos11644962 147 .327 Cano NYY 11845778 147 .322 DeJesus KC9135246 112 .318 DelmYoung Min11040555 128 .316 ISuzuki Sea12049750 154 .310 Podsednik KC 95 390 46 121 .310 Butler KC 11643753 135 .309 Home Runs JBautista, Toronto, 37; Konerko, Chica- go, 29; MiCabrera, Detroit, 28; Hamil- ton, Texas, 26; DOrtiz, Boston, 26; Teix- eira, New York, 26; Quentin, Chicago, 24. Runs Batted In ARodriguez, New York, 97; MiCabrera, Detroit, 96; JBautista, Toronto, 89; Guerrero, Texas, 87; Teixeira, New York, 86; DelmYoung, Minnesota, 84; ABel- tre, Boston, 80; Hamilton, Texas, 80; Konerko, Chicago, 80. Pitching Sabathia, New York, 16-5; Price, Tampa Bay, 15-5; Pavano, Minnesota, 15-7; CBuchholz, Boston, 14-5; PHughes, New York, 14-5; Lester, Boston, 13-7; Verlander, Detroit, 13-8. BASEBALL’S TOP TEN By The Associated Press NATIONAL LEAGUE GABR H Pct. Polanco Phi91388 60 126 .325 Votto Cin 11040482 130 .322 CGonzalez Col105436 78 140 .321 Prado Atl 10244378 141 .318 Pujols StL 11643880 138 .315 Byrd ChC 11644064 135 .307 Holliday StL11443569 132 .303 Werth Phi 11540673 123 .303 Zimmerman Was 110 397 70 120 .302 Ethier LAD 99 381 56 115 .302 Home Runs ADunn, Washington, 31; Pujols, St. Louis, 31; Votto, Cincinnati, 28; Uggla, Florida, 27; Reynolds, Arizona, 26; Fielder, Milwaukee, 25; CGonzalez, Colorado, 25. Runs Batted In Pujols, St. Louis, 87; Howard, Philadel- phia, 81; CGonzalez, Colorado, 79; Votto, Cincinnati, 79; ADunn, Washing- ton, 78; Hart, Milwaukee, 78; DWright, New York, 78. Pitching Jimenez, Colorado, 17-3; Wainwright, St. Louis, 17-6; Halladay, Philadelphia, 15-8; THudson, Atlanta, 14-5; Nolasco, Florida, 14-8; CCarpenter, St. Louis, 13-4; Latos, San Diego, 12-5. By The Associated Press BASEBALL American League BOSTON RED SOX—Activated 2B Dustin Pedroia from the 15-day DL. Recalled OF Daniel Nava from Paw- tucket (IL). Placed INF-OF Eric Patter- son on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Aug. 16. Optioned LHP Dustin Richard- son to Pawtucket. DETROIT TIGERS—Agreed to terms with 3B Nick Castellanos, RHP Chance Ruffin and LHP Drew Smyly. MINNESOTA TWINS—Activated INF Nick Punto from the 15-day DL. SEATTLE MARINERS—Extended their affiliation agreement with MOVES Tacoma (PCL) through the 2014 season. TEXAS RANGERS—Agreed to terms with INF Alex Cora on a minor league contract. National League ATLANTA BRAVES—Activated INF Martin Prado from the 15-day DL. Assigned INF Brandon Hicks to Gwin- nett (IL). Signed SS Matt Lipka, 3B Thomas Cunningham, RHP Andrelton Simmons, 3B Joseph Leonard, RHP David Filak, 2B Philip Gosselin, 1B Joseph Terdoslavich, RHP Matthew Suschak, OF Kurt Fleming, 3B David Rohn, RHP Matthew Lewis, LHP Chasen Shreve, SS Barrett Kleinknect, SS Brandon Drury, RHP Richard Tate, C Cory Brownsten, RHP Daniel Winnie, RHP Tyler Hess, OF Jason Mowry, 1B William Beckwith, C James Gattis, RHP Evan Danieli, RHP Daniel Jurik, RHP Jonathan Burns, RHP William Kempf, RHP Kyle Mertins, OF Kenny Fleming, C Ryan Delgado, LHP Mathew Fouch, OF Jarred Frierson, LHP Stephen Fos- ter, RHP Clark Ian Marshall, SS Joseph Lucas and RHP Francois LaFreniere. CINCINNATI REDS—Designated RHP Micah Owings for assignment. COLORADO ROCKIES—Recalled RHP Jhoulys Chacin from Colorado Springs (PCL). Placed RHP Taylor Buchholz on the 15-day DL. MILWAUKEE BREWERS—Extended their player development contract with Helena (Pioneer) through the 2012 season. NEW YORK METS—Placed RHP Fran- cisco Rodriguez on the disqualified list. Recalled RHP Ryota Igarashi from Buf- falo (IL). PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES—Reinstat- ed 2B Chase Utley from the 15-day DL. Designated INF Greg Dobbs for assign- ment. WASHINGTON NATIONALS—Trans- ferred RHP Luis Atilano to the 60-day DL. BASKETBALL National Basketball Association ORLANDO MAGIC—Announced the retirement of C Adonal Foyle. FOOTBALL National Football League NFL—Fined Cincinnati LB Rey Maualu- ga two game checks and will forfeit a two-week share of his 2010 signing bonus for a drunk driving violation. ATLANTA FALCONS—Signed DE Mau- rice Lucas.Waived DE Rajon Henley. CLEVELAND BROWNS—Placed P Dave Zastudil on injured reserve. Signed TE Joel Gamble. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS—Signed S Ter- rell Skinner. Placed S Jamie Silva and CB Donye’ McCleskey on the waived- injured list. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS—Signed RB Ladell Betts to a one-year contract. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS—Released RB Adrian Peterson and LB Alvin Bowen. Signed PK Clint Stitser. TENNESSEE TITANS—Waived RB Stafon Johnson. Signed RB Samkon Gado. HOCKEY National Hockey League MONTREAL CANADIENS—Traded G Cedrick Desjardins to Tampa Bay for G Karri Ramo. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING—Signed LW Sean Bergenheim to a one-year con- tract.