lucylily's blog: "ght"

EDMONTON -- It was an emotional return for Jerome Messam. There were plenty of handshakes and welcome-back hugs all around as the six-foot-four, 248-pound tailback returned to the Edmonton Eskimos on Thursday after being released Saturday by the NFLs Miami Dolphins. Messam had 10 days following his release from Miami to sign with another team south of the border but opted to return early to the CFL club. The leagues top Canadian last season signed a new deal on Saturday that will see him play through to 2014. "Were very pleased to reach a contract extension with Jerome through the 2014 season," Eskimo General Manager Eric Tillman said. "Hes happy to be back in green and gold, and Im sure our fans will welcome Jerome with great enthusiasm." Messam took to the practice field Thursday and declared hes ready to resume his pro career in Canada. "I want to play Monday," said Messam Thursday, referring to the Eskimos next game in Calgary. "I feel like Im ready, physically ready. "My body feels great, my knee feels good. It was a gruelling off-season (in Miami), I went through training like I never did before so I feel Im in the best shape of my life. "But as far as getting back into the swing of things, being comfortable with the offence, my protection responsibilities and all that stuff, if not this week definitely be next week." Messam enjoyed a breakout 2011 campaign with Edmonton, rushing for 1,057 yards to be named the CFLs outstanding Canadian. Messams arrival creates a logjam at tailback for Edmonton, which already has Hugh Charles and newcomer Cory Boyd to go with versatile Canadian Calvin McCarty. However, head coach Kavis Reed didnt sound like he was ready give Messam a roster spot for Edmontons Labour Day showdown against arch-rival Calgary. "Jerome is going to have to reintegrate himself into our system, work his way back in," Reed said. "We have every intention of giving him the opportunity to work his way back into the fold, but right now were going to focus on Hugh Charles and Cory Boyd as our guys. "Weve already built our gameplan and Jerome wasnt a part of that gameplan so were going to see if hes able to work in. If he wows us at practice, if hes that guy who picks up where he left off prior to the knee injury last year, thats a consideration. But right now Hugh Charles and Cory Boyd are the guys." Reed wants to make sure Messam is game ready. He said although Messam was in the Miami camp he didnt get significant reps or enough work to get his cardio into game condition. "The secondary part is he hasnt played football for almost a calendar year so theres a lot of things we need to look at," Reed said. The 27-year-old Toronto native, who grew up in Brampton, Ont., suffered a torn meniscus cartilage in his knee in the West Division semifinal. He had surgery in Edmonton and an additional operation in Miami, where he got only limited playing time. "When I got there I was coming off the injury," Messam said after assuming his spot in Edmontons dressing room. "I was practising so quick and going to hard I had to have another surgery while I was down there and didnt really get to do too much where they could evaluate me." Reed did say the team has the flexibility to add Messam to its roster if it saw fit. Its more likely hell dress for the return game against Calgary next Friday in Edmonton. However Messam fits into the equation, he would improve an Eskimos backfield that just three weeks ago featured Charles and McCarty. Edmonton added Boyd hours after his shocking release from Toronto on Aug. 12 despite being the CFL rushing leader at the time. Charles and Boyd currently rank third and fourth in CFL rushing. "This is a very good dilemma," said Reed. "We went from not having anyone behind Hugh Charles to moving Calvin McCarty to fullback . . . to now having three very viable options." Messam, Charles, Boyd and Reed all agreed Messams return creates a highly competitive situation, but a healthy one. "And thats good," said Reed. "As long as its healthy competition, competitiveness is very good. "Based on the character of these individuals and the fact Im going to be very up front and forthright with them, let them all know this organization is relying on them to provide quality depth at that position and our offence is morphing more into a run offence so we want to make certain were fair to everyone and they have to be pros about the way things are being handled." Charles, who leads the team with 504 rushing yards, said Messams return doesnt change his own status or put added pressure on the players. "It is going to put a lot of pressure on Kavis and (offensive co-ordinator) Marcus (Crandell) to see where everyones going to fit," he said. "What we have going now, its a great combination but I feel like theres more pressure on the coaches then there is on the players. "It"ll be interesting to see how that plays out." cheap jerseys . Still, Stewart never officially retired. Not even after landing on his feet by getting a football analyst gig at ESPN in 2008. cheap jerseys us . Former UFC middleweight title contender Patrick Cote likely had the roughest go Saturday as he suffered a unanimous decision loss to action movie star Cung Le in his first bout since getting cut by the UFC in October 2010.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Major League Baseball has denied the Los Angeles Angels protest of their extra-inning loss at the Chicago White Sox last week, although it still hasnt convinced manager Mike Scioscia the call was correct. On the play Friday night, Chicagos Paul Konerko grounded to third with the bases loaded and no outs in the first inning. After getting an out at home, catcher Chris Iannetta fired wide to first, pulling Albert Pujols off the bag. Scioscia argued that Konerko was not within the baseline for the last 45 feet, as is required. The umpires upheld the safe call and Scioscia played the game under protest. A.J. Pierzynski hit a three-run homer with two outs for a 4-1 lead. The White Sox wound up winning 8-6 in 10 innings. Speaking before the Angels opened a three-game series at Oakland on Monday night, Scioscia said he accepts the decision by MLB executive vice-president Joe Torre announced earlier in the day. He just doesnt agree with the decision. "The league gave weight to the fact of still having judgment of umpires being part of the play." Scioscia said. "I see some of the things theyre saying, but I also feel strongly in the stances that we took on it. If theres aa trash can in the middle of the lane and youre driving and you veer off into a ditch and crash your car, the insurance company is going to say, Well, the trash can was in the middle of the road.dddddddddddd. But were not going to pay because youre the one who veered off the road. "I think its the same thing," Scioscia continued. "In my opinion, theres no way from a fixed point of home plate to first base in a lane that a catcher has to throw a ball at a runner whos a solid 3 feet inside the lane on the grass can possibly not impair the ability of a catcher to make that throw. Its just physically impossible to say that it does not impair that. But, still, the judgment of the umpires is the second part of the equation and well live with that." Scioscia said he hadnt talked with Torre about the decision and had no plans to do so. He also said he has never won a postgame protest as a manager. "You never know what theyre going to do, but we wouldnt have appealed it, we wouldnt have protested it, if we felt there was (not) some solid ground," Scioscia said. "This wasnt frivolous. This was certainly something that needed to be looked at, and the leagued looked at it." ' ' '