Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl XXV Ring Sells for $230,401

Bidding is now closed for Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl XXV ring, and the hammer price came in at $230,401 (which includes buyers premium). Unfortunately, New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora was unable to reach 500,000 Twitter followers by midnight on Saturday and did not cast the final of 30 bids.

"Good Morning people! Well i guess we didnt make it to 500k for LT. But i appreciate the people who tried. #respect you can now unfollow me," Umenyiora tweeted.

Umenyiora managed to amass only 54,879 followers -an increase of over 35,000- in support of Taylor's ring. Meanwhile, former Big Blue running back Brandon Jacobs saw his Twitter followers climb to only 2,659, an increase of less than 600.

Each player had pledged to purchase the ring and have it returned to LT if they were able to eclipse 1,000,000 Twitter... Read at Giants 101

New York Mets 50th Anniversary: Top First Basemen in Mets History

Current New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis has shown a lot of promise in his brief career. Davis exploded onto the scene with a bang in 2010, hitting 19 home runs and driving in 71 runs. Davis' career has hit a bit of a snag as he suffered a season ending ankle injury in 2011 and has come out of the gate in a slump this year. While his 2012 season hasn't gone as he has hoped, Davis still has a promising career in front of him. If he can turn it around, someday he might find himself on this list of top first basemen in Mets history. While Davis still has a ways to go to crack the top five, let's take a look at our top five first basemen in Mets history:

5. Lee Mazzilli- Lee Mazzilli checks in at number five on our list of top first basemen in Mets history. The Brooklyn native was always a fan favorite when he played in Flushing, and even made the All Star Team in 1979. Mazzilli could have been number one on this list if his career wasn't hampered by injuries. He was eventually traded to Texas in a deal that brought then minor leaguer Ron Darling to New York. Mazzilli eventually returned for the stretch run of the 1986 season and won a World Series ring with the Mets. Mazzilli retired in 1989.

4. Dave Kingman- Dave Kingman qualifies as a first basemen for this list, and he was an interesting part of the mid 70's New York Mets. Kingman was a prototypical slugger, slugging 154 homers in his six seasons in Flushing. Kingman had his first three homer game as a Met when he went deep three times against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kingman was well traveled in his career, as he left the Mets in 1977 only to return from 1981-1983. Kingman may have been a one trick pony, but he did play very well in his Mets career.

3. John Olerud- John Olerud may not have been the flashiest first baseman around, but he sure knew how to hit. Olerud played only three years in New York (from 1997-1999) but it was long enough to make his mark. Olerud set a team record for batting average when he hit .354 in 1998. Olerud also was a tremendous defender, as he was part of a 1999 Mets... Read at Mets 101

Chicago Bulls Offseason: Where Do They Go from Here?

All right. I won't spend much time recapping this depressing Chicago Bulls season, because we'll be doing that more substantially over the coming weeks prior to the NBA Draft in June. Regular season was great, playoffs stunk, yada yada yada. Let's just get to the plan for the offseason. 

Let's start with the guys already on the team. We've already discussed Carlos Boozer in detail (I maintain he should be amnestied even though he won't be), but that leaves the four guys who have expiring contracts in Omer Asik, John Lucas III, Mike James and Brian Scalabrine, and the guys who either have team options or unguaranteed final years in Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson and Ronnie Brewer.

I really would like Asik to return, especially if Boozer takes a hike, and he's a restricted free agent, so there's a pretty good chance he will. And if he doesn't, the Bulls should be able to get some kind of asset for him. JL3 and Scalabrine also seem like safe bets to return, but I doubt we see Mike James again. Well, unless...actually, we'll get to that in a minute.

If Asik doesn't return, finding another big man becomes a priority. I don't see any way both Omer and Boozer are gone, but if they are for some reason, then finding at least one big man becomes a necessity and finding two big men becomes a priority. As fellow Bulls101-er Avi Saini has pointed out, Kevin Garnett's contract expires this offseason, and although it's still hard to get a read on how the Boston Celtics want to play things going forward, it's not unreasonable to think KG would be on the open market. I have no idea if he'll want to keep playing, if he'll want to play in Chicago (although he is from there, so it would be a decent place to end his career) or how much money he would want and if that would work with the Bulls' budget/cap. But with his recent resurgence, I'd love to see it happen.

Some other names on the market include Carl Landry, Kris Humphries, Jason Thompson and JaVale McGee. I'd be intrigued by what Thibs could do with JaVale, and Thompson would be ideal, but I'm pretty sure Thompson is restricted and McGee figures to command a fairly hefty salary on the open market. The status quo seems the most likely option going forward.

Korver is a pretty safe bet to return for next year, unless some major upheaval occurs, as is Brewer, at least for now. Watson, on the other hand, is a different story. Much like with Boozer, I've been attempting to defend C.J. for most of his Bulls' tenure, and he was pretty good filling in for Rose for much of the regular season. Then he went into full on Caleb Hanie mode and now I would just as soon have him join Boozer in taking a hike. I don't have a great feel for how the Bulls feel about him, but it wouldn't be shocking if he was let go (especially with his plantar faciitis condition). And that might leave an opening for Mike James as the backup point guard until Rose gets back. But again, the status quo seems the most likely.

This brings up an important question. With Rose almost certainly out until January and possibly beyond, not to mention likely hobbled once he comes back, what happens with the Bulls' point guards?

Steve Nash will be a free agent, and it doesn't seem totally out of the question that he and Rose could play together once Rose is back, but he honestly seems like a pipe dream. With the playoffs still going on  and without anything concrete to work with, it's not like I really know anything about where he wants to go, but South Beach really does seem like the most likely possibility, as awful as that would be for those of us who find the Miami Heat distasteful. I would love to have Nash on the Bulls, though. That would really be amazing. 

Former Bull Kirk Hinrich has also surfaced as a potential option. He hasn't really been all that impressive since leaving Chicago, but he was much better down the stretch and in the postseason this year, so he might be viable. And we know he and Rose can play together once Rose is back.

Beyond that, options are... Read at Bulls 101

Work in Progress: Washington Capitals Free Agent Targets and Draft Prospects

This is part three (of three) of a series of articles featuring Capitals 101's thoughts on the Washington Capitals offseason plan. Part one concerns the selection of a new bench boss, and part two takes a look at the restricted and unrestricted free agent situation.

After selecting a new head coach and figuring out what to do with the RFA's/UFA's, Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee will be faced with the task of finding the right pieces to finish off the puzzle of his 2012-13 roster.

There will be two ways in which GMGM will be able to improve the overall look of the Capitals' roster: he has two chances to find bona-fide prospects at picks number 11 and 16 in the upcoming draft, and a free agency pool to draw from. 

Sure, it's extremely difficult to find immediate impacts during the middle of the first round. However, the Philadelphia Flyers' found a gem at the eight spot in 2011 in Sean Couturier,  as the 19-year-old recorded 13 goals and 14 assists in his rookie campaign. Of the 30 first round picks last June, Couturier and three others had notable NHL seasons (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog, Adam Larsson).

Capitals 101 won't speculate on which diamonds in the rough are to be had without serious film study, but here is a list of NHL.com's rankings for the top players in the 2012 draft. Another intriguing aspect of the draft is that McPhee will have the ability to trade away one of his picks in a package deal for a notable player. (This player would most likely have to be facing an expiring contract following next season.)

Trading one of the two picks would be especially interesting as the free agency pool is relatively slim-pickings compared to recent seasons. Feel free to browse through Capgeek's comprehensive list of 2012 unrestricted free agents.

If we go by Capitals 101's previous two articles, this would be what the lineup would look like without the missing pieces of the 2012-13 Caps team. This is also assuming a first round pick won't make the team immediately.

Head Coach: Bob Hartley/Paul Maurice

Forwards (need 12 and keep in mind many players can play center):

Nicklas Backstrom

Brooks Laich

Jay Beagle

Alexander Ovechkin

Troy Brouwer

Jason Chimera

Marcus Johansson

Joel Ward

Matt Hendricks

Mathieu Perreault

(???)

(???)

Defensemen (need 6):

Karl Alzner-John Carlson

Mike Green-Roman Hamrlik

Dmitry Orlov-(???) (Jeff Schultz and John Erskine will be in contention)

Goaltenders:

Braden Holtby

Michal Neuvirth

Basically what we're looking at is a battle for the last two forward spots and the sixth defensive position. With no Evgeny Kuznetsov, it will be interesting to see how McPhee reshapes his roster.

Washington already has plenty of prospects in-house that could secure these open positions. Stanislav Galiev, a third round pick in 2010, has registered 16 goals and 18 assists in just 17 games while winning the President's Cup for the Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL). The 20-year-old winger even recorded a hat-trick in the series clinching Game 4 victory on May 10.

Mattias Sjogren, a Swedish... Read at Capitals 101

Chelsea Defeat Bayern Munich in Champions League Final

Chelsea have won their first ever European Cup (Champion's League) after defeating Bayern Munich 1-1 (4-3 on penalties). Didier Drogba scored the winning penalty to deliver owner Roman Abramovich his long awaited Champion's League glory.

For much of the match, Bayern Munich were the better team, peppering Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech's goal. The breakthrough that they desperately sought finally came in the 83rd minute when Thomas Muller finally buried the ball in the back of the net with a superb header that sailed over Cech. The German team was perhaps celebrating too soon when Chelsea's ever-reliable striker Didier Drogba produced a stunning header of his own from a corner kick to equalize with two minutes left to play in regulation. Over-time saw a... Read at Manchester United 101