Thursday, August 27, 2009 A look at offseason changes in the NFL that could affect fantasy football rosters, with rookies designated by ( R) : _ ARIZONA: ADDED: RB Chris Wells ( R) , RB Jason Wright, C Melvin Fowler, Mike Miller promoted from receivers coach to passing game coordinator, assistant head coach and offensive line coach Russ Grimm also made running game coordinator. GONE: RB Edgerrin James, offensive coordinator Todd Haley, RB J. Arrington, C Donovan Raiola, C Alex Stepanovich. _ ATLANTA: ADDED: TE Tony Gonzalez, WR Marty Booker, WR Robert Ferguson, RB Verron Haynes, C Brett Romberg. GONE: WR Harry Douglas ( season- ending knee injury) . _ BALTIMORE: ADDED: TE L.

Smith, WR Kelley Washington, QB Cleo Lemon, C Matt Birk, T Michael Oher ( R) . GONE: QB Kyle Boller, QB Todd Bouman, T Willie Anderson, C Jason Brown, T Adam Terry ( out for season with knee injury) , K Matt Stover. _ BUFFALO: ADDED: WR Terrell Owens, RB Dominic Rhodes, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, OL Geoff Hangartner, OL Seth Mc. Kinney, C Eric Wood ( R) , G Andy Levitre ( R) . GONE: QB J. Losman, TE Robert Royal, G Derrick Dockery, G Duke Preston, OL Melvin Fowler, T Jason Peters. _ CAROLINA: ADDED: G Justin Geisinger.

GONE: WR D. Hackett, RB Nick Goings, OL Geoff Hangartner, OL Frank Omiyale, G Jeremy Bridges, G Toniu Fotoni. _ CHICAGO: ADDED: QB Jay Cutler, TE Michael Gaines, T Orlando Pace, OL Frank Omiyale, G Kevin Shaffer.

GONE: QB Rex Grossman, WR Marty Booker, WR Brandon Lloyd, T John Tait, T John St. Clair. _ CINCINNATI: ADDED: WR Laveranues Coles, RB Brian Leonard, QB J. O' Sullivan, FB Dan Kreider, T Andre Smith ( R) , K Sam Swank.

GONE: WR T.

Houshmandzadeh, RB Chris Perry, RB Kenny Watson, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, OL Stacy Andrews, T Levi Jones, G James Blair, C Eric Ghiaciuc. _ CLEVELAND: ADDED: WR David Patten, WR Mike Furrey, TE Robert Royal, WR Brian Robiskie ( R) , WR Mohamed Massaquoi ( R) , RB Noah Herron, T John St. Clair, OL Floyd Womack, OL Fred Weary, C Alex Mack ( R) , coach Eric Mangini, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll ( former Jets QBs coach) . GONE: TE Kellen Winslow, WR Donte' Stallworth ( suspended for the season) , RB Jason Wright, WR Joe Jurevicius, QB Bruce Gradkowski, T Kevin Shaffer, OL Seth Mc. Kinney, coach Romeo Crenell, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski. _ DALLAS: ADDED: QB Jon Kitna.

GONE: WR Terrell Owens, QB Brad Johnson, TE Tony Curtis. _ DENVER: ADDED: QB Kyle Orton, RB Knowshon Moreno ( R) , RB La. Mont Jordan, RB Darius Walker, RB Correll Buckhalter, WR Jabar Gaffney, WR Brandon Lloyd QB Chris Simms, TE Richard Quinn ( R) , coach Josh Mc. Daniels ( the former New England offensive guru) , offensive coordinator Mike Mc. Coy ( Carolina offensive assistant for past 9 years) .

GONE: QB Jay Cutler, RB Selvin Young, RB Ryan Torain, TE Adam Bergen, QB Patrick Ramsey, coach Mike Shanahan, G Russ Hochstein. _ DETROIT: ADDED: QB Matthew Stafford ( R) , RB Maurice Morris, WR Bryant Johnson, WR Dennis Northcutt, WR Billy Mc. Mullen, WR Dane Looker, TE Brandon Pettigrew ( R) , FB Terrelle Smith, T Ephraim Salaam, T Jon Jansen, G Matt Lentz, coach Jim Schwartz, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan ( former coordinator in Minnesota and Miami before coaching Rams) . GONE: QB Jon Kitna, WR Shaun Mc. Donald, WR Mike Furrey, QB Dan Orlovsky, QB Drew Henson, TE John Owens, TE Michael Gaines, T George Foster, T Damion Cook ( out for season with injury) , coach Rod Marinelli, offensive coordinator Jim Colletto. _ GREEN BAY: ADDED: None. _ HOUSTON: ADDED: RB Andre Hall, QB Rex Grossman, QB Dan Orlovsky, G Adrian Jones. GONE: QB Sage Rosenfels, RB Darius Walker, RB Ahman Green, TE Courtney Anderson, C Bryan Pittman, T Ephraim Salaam. _ INDIANAPOLIS: ADDED: RB Donald Brown ( R) , coach Jim Caldwell, longtime offensive assistant Clyde Christensen promoted to offensive coordinator.

GONE: WR Marvin Harrison, RB Dominic Rhodes, coach Tony Dungy, offensive coordinator Tom Moore, offensive line coach Howard Mudd ( though Moore and Mudd will remain as consultants) . _ JACKSONVILLE: ADDED: WR Torry Holt, TE Zach Miller, QB Todd Bouman, T Tra Thomas, T Eugene Monroe ( R) , T Eben Britton ( R) . GONE: RB Fred Taylor, WR Jerry Porter, WR Dennis Northcutt, WR Matt Jones, TE George Wrighster, QB Cleo Lemon, OL Tutan Reyes, T Khalif Barnes. _ KANSAS CITY: ADDED: QB Matt Cassel, WR Bobby Engram, WR Amani Toomer, WR Terrance Copper, WR Ashley Lelie, TE Tony Curtis, G Mike Goff, C Eric Ghiaciuc, coach Todd Haley ( offensive coordinator Chan Gailey was retained) , K Ryan Succop ( R) . GONE: TE Tony Gonzalez, QB Damon Huard, QB Quinn Gray, OL Andy Alleman, G Ike Ndukwe, G Adrian Jones, coach Herman Edwards, K Connor Barth. _ MIAMI: ADDED: QB Pat White ( R) , C Jake Grove.

GONE: QB John Beck, C Samson Satele. GONE: WR Ernest Wilford, OL Andy Alleman, G Ike Ndukwe. _ MINNESOTA: ADDED: QB Brett Favre, QB Sage Rosenfels, WR Percy Harvin ( R) , T Phil Loadholt ( R) . GONE: C Matt Birk, T Marcus Johnson. _ NEW ENGLAND: ADDED: RB Fred Taylor, WR Joey Galloway, WR Greg Lewis, TE Chris Baker, TE Alex Smith, QB Andrew Walter, G Russ Hochstein, T Sebastian Vollmer ( R) . GONE: QB Matt Cassel, offensive assistant and guru Josh Mc.

Daniels, RB La. Mont Jordan, WR Jabar Gaffney, WR Kelley Washington, FB Heath Evans, G Billy Yates. _ NEW ORLEANS: ADDED K John Carney, FB Heath Evans, C Nick Leckey. GONE: WR David Patten, WR Terrance Copper, FB Mike Karney, C Kevin Houser, K Garrett Hartley suspended for first 4 games of season. _ NY GIANTS: ADDED: WR Hakeem Nicks ( R) , TE George Wrighster, OL Tutan Reyes, T Will Beatty ( R) .

GONE: WR Plaxico Burress, RB Derrick Ward, WR Amani Toomer, RB Patrick Pass. _ NY JETS: ADDED: QB Mark Sanchez ( R) , RB Shonn Greene ( R) , coach Rex Ryan. GONE: QB Brett Favre, WR Laveranues Coles, TE Bubba Franks, K Mike Nugent, TE Chris Baker, coach Eric Mangini ( but offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer retained) . _ OAKLAND: ADDED: QB Jeff Garcia, WR Darrius Heyward- Bey ( R) , RB Gary Russell, QB Bruce Gradkowski, QB Charlie Frye, FB Lorenzo Neal, C Samson Satele, T Khalif Barnes, T Marcus Johnson ( coach Tom Cable will call plays in conjunction with assistants Ted Tollner and Paul Hackett) . GONE: RB La. Mont Jordan, WR Ronald Curry, QB Andrew Walter, FB Justin Griffith, T Kwame Harris, offensive coordinator Greg Knapp. _ PHILADELPHIA: ADDED: WR Jeremy Maclin ( R) , RB Le.

Sean Mc. Coy ( R) , QB Michael Vick, FB Leonard Weaver, TE Tony Curtis, OL Stacy Andrews, T Jason Peters.

GONE: RB Correll Buckhalter, TE L. Smith, WR Greg Lewis, T Tra Thomas. _ PITTSBURGH: ADDED: WR Shaun Mc. Donald, C Alex Stepanovich. GONE: QB Byron Leftwich, WR Nate Washington, RB Gary Russell, T Marvel Smith, G Kendall Simmons, G Matt Lentz. _ SAN DIEGO: GONE: G Mike Goff, C Jeremy Newberry. _ SAN FRANCISCO: ADDED: WR Michael Crabtree ( R) , RB Glen Coffee ( R) , WR Brandon Jones, longtime NFL assistant Jimmy Raye named offensive coordinator, QB Damon Huard, T Marvel Smith.

GONE: Offensive coordinator Mike Martz, WR Bryant Johnson, QB J. O' Sullivan, T Jonas Jennings, OL Damane Duckett. _ SEATTLE: ADDED: WR T. Houshmandzadeh, RB Edgerrin James, TE John Owens, FB Justin Griffith, C Bryan Pittman, C Max Unger ( R) , coach Jim Mora, former Oakland, Atlanta and San Francisco offensive coordinator Greg Knapp ( known for powerful run- oriented offenses) . GONE: WR Bobby Engram, RB Maurice Morris, RB T.

Duckett, WR Billy Mc. Mullen, QB Charlie Frye, FB Leonard Weaver, OL Floyd Womack, C Steve Mc. Kinney, coach Mike Holmgren. _ ST. LOUIS: ADDED: QB Kyle Boller, WR Ronald Curry, C Jason Brown, T Jason Smith ( R) , coach Steve Spagnuolo, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur ( the Eagles' QBs coach for the past 7 years) . GONE: WR Torry Holt, RB Brian Leonard, QB Trent Green, T Orlando Pace, C Brett Romberg, C Nick Leckey. _ TAMPA BAY: ADDED: RB Derrick Ward, TE Kellen Winslow, QB Byron Leftwich, QB Josh Freeman ( R) , K Mike Nugent, coach Raheem Morris, offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski ( former Boston College coach) .

GONE: Coach Jon Gruden, QB Jeff Garcia, QB Brian Griese, RB Warrick Dunn, WR Joey Galloway, WR Ike Hilliard, TE Alex Smith, RB Noah Herron. _ TENNESSEE: ADDED: WR Nate Washington, QB Patrick Ramsey, WR Kenny Britt ( R) .

GONE: WR Brandon Jones, WR Roydell Williams, QB Chris Simms. _ WASHINGTON: ADDED: WR D.

Hackett, WR Roydell Williams, OL Derrick Dockery, G Jeremy Bridges. GONE: WR James Thrash, T Jon Jansen, G Pete Kendall, G Justin Geisinger, G Jason Fabini. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The NBA champion Dallas Mavericks will open the season & mdash; if it begins on time & mdash; at home on Nov. 1 against MVP Derrick Rose and Chicago, then host Miami in a finals rematch Christmas Day. The NBA champion Dallas Mavericks will open the season & mdash; if it begins on time & mdash; at home on Nov. 1 against MVP Derrick Rose and Chicago, then host Miami in a finals rematch Christmas Day.

The NBA released its complete 2011- 12 schedule Tuesday despite being in a lockout that could last months and cause it to be scrapped. Owners and players are still well apart in negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expired June 30, and there is a fear that regular- season games could be lost to a work stoppage for the second time in league history.

If not, Utah will host Houston in the Rockets' first game under Kevin Mc. Hale and without Yao Ming , and Oklahoma City will visit new coach Mike Brown and the Lakers to conclude the opening- night schedule. Most teams begin Nov. 2, with Le. Bron James , Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh starting their second season together on the Heat and facing a Knicks team led by Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire .

Also, Golden State hosts the Laker. . .

A scientific branch of the Vatican is touting a climate- change report that fears for the fate of the world' s glaciers, appearing to support an erroneous conclusion from the ' climate panel that skeptics have loudly debunked. But the Vatican' s authors are some of the same people responsible for the U. N. error, even including Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the U. N. ' s climate group and the man behind the 2007 report that feared " the likelihood of [ the Himalayan glaciers] disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner. " The facts behind that assertion quickly melted away, with that " poorly substantiated estimates" had made it into print.

But like his 2007 U. N. study, , titled " Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene, " again frets over the fate of the glaciers - - and it cites his U. N. report as evidence.

The new report, commissioned by the Vatican' s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, notes that " thousands of small glaciers in the Hindukush- Himalayan- Tibetan region continue to disintegrate, " and states that " robust scenario calculations clearly indicate that many mountain ranges worldwide could lose major parts of their glaciers within the coming decades. " Noted climate skeptic Don Easterbrook, an emeritus professor of geology at Western Washington University, is one vocal critic of these and other conclusions on the fate of the world' s glaciers. " The [ U. N. ] - predicted warming of 1 degree between 2000 and the present has not happened - - instead it' s gotten cooler! " he told Fox. News. com. " As a result, some glaciers in the Himalayas have begun advancing, and glaciers in Alaska, , and South America have also begun to re- advance. " " Pachauri is very intolerant of any point on climate change that isn' t his, " Patrick J.

Michaels, a contributing author on the U. N. report and a senior fellow with the conservative CATO Institute, told Fox. News. com. " He makes statements that are just wrong, because he' s not a climate scientist, " he said.

Pachauri did not respond to Fox. News. com requests for more information, sent through his U. N. climate group. Neither did the climate group itself nor the Vatican' s return Fox. News. com requests.

But a Vatican spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, did tell the Associated Press that the document was " important, " although it was not a piece of the church' s key teachings. Other climate scientists agreed with the new report.

Graham Cogley, geography professor with Trent University, agreed that the 2007 prediction that Himalayan glaciers might disappear by 2035 was flat wrong - - but not the current claims. " It is a dire prediction to say that mountain glaciers are ' lethally vulnerable' to climatic change, but it is literally and unquestionably correct, " he told Fox. News. com. Michaels was more skeptical. " Why resources collected from parishioners were used for this is beyond me, " Michaels told Fox. News. com. " There has been an increasing tendency over the years for churches to insert themselves into the global warming thing, " he added.

Well- known climate scientist Michael Mann thought the report may indicate shifting beliefs within the church.

I actually attended a meeting of the Pontifical Academy ( World Federation of Scientists) in Erice, Sicily, back in late August 2003, " Mann told Fox.

News. com. " At the time, the president of the organization, , was a climate- change skeptic. " " Zichichi has the ear of the Vatican on all matters of science and science policy. So I interpret this as, perhaps, a change of heart on his part, " Mann told Fox. News. com. " In any case, this is indeed a significant ( and in my view auspicious) development. " The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a Vatican advisory panel, was founded under a different name in Rome in 1603, and claims to be the first exclusively scientific academy in the world. The Pontifical Academicians are eighty women and men from various countries nominated by the Supreme Pontiff. ( The exact relation between the World Federation of Scientists and the Pontifical Academy was unclear. ) The Academy hosted the conference last month on the causes and consequences of retreating mountain glaciers.

Its final report, dated May 5 and signed by a group of climate scientists, hydrologists, chemists, lawyers and mountaineers, was posted on the Vatican website Tuesday. The group also noted that another major risk to glaciers is the threat of nuclear war, and advocated a reduction in nuclear arsenals.