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The field is wide open this year, and anybody can take home the trophy on April 6th. Our good friends at Pinnacle Sports released the latest odds for the 16 remaining teams fighting it out to be crowned Champions.

1. Louisville +558
2. North Carolina +341
3. Connecticut +671
4. Pittsburgh +670
5. Duke +1669
6. Michigan State +2211
7. Memphis U +818
8. Oklahoma +2493
9. Kansas +2854
10. Missouri +3140
11. Syracuse +2476
12. Villanova +2724
15. Gonzaga +2991
16. Xavier +5526
18. Purdue +6500
45. Arizona +7000

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BOSTON — Curt Schilling, the 42-year-old right-hander decided to retire from baseball Monday after a career in which he won World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Schilling said on his blog he’s leaving after 23 years with “zero regrets.” The hard throwing righty missed all of last season with a shoulder injury after signing a one-year, $8 million contract with the Red Sox.

Curt said in his blog “The things I was allowed to experience, the people I was able to call friends, teammates, mentors, coaches and opponents, the travel, all of it, are far more than anything I ever thought possible in my lifetime.”

He was drafted by the Red Sox in the second round of the 1986 draft, but was traded to the Baltimore Orioles before playing for the big league club. He pitched for the Orioles, Houston, Philadelphia and Arizona before returning to the team that drafted him.

Schilling, one of the sport’s hard throwers, finishes his career with 3,116 strikeouts, 14th most in baseball history, a 216-146 record and a 3.46 ERA.

He was even better in the postseason, with an 11-2 record, the best of any pitcher with at least 10 decisions, and 2.23 ERA in 19 career starts.

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Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler said Sunday night that he will not report to the team’s first meeting on Monday and has formally asked to be traded.

“I went in there with every intention of solving the issue, being a Bronco, moving forward as a Bronco,” Cutler said. “We weren’t in there but about 20 minutes, [McDaniels] did most of the talking and as far as I’m concerned, he made it clear he wants his own guy. He admitted he wanted Matt Cassel because he said he has raised him up from the ground as a quarterback. He said he wasn’t sorry about it. He made it clear that he could still entertain trading me because, as he put it, he’ll do whatever he feels is in the best interest of the organization.

“At the end of the meeting, he wasn’t like, ‘Jay, I want you as our quarterback, you’re our guy.’ It felt like the opposite. He basically said that I needed to tell him if we can’t work this out, to let him know,” Cutler added. “I thought he was antagonizing me and that was disappointing because I was ready to move on, committed as a Bronco. Really, I figured we’d hash things out, shake hands, laugh a little and move forward. What happened was the last thing I expected. If I didn’t think it could be fixed, I never would have come back to Denver. It was painfully obvious to me it’s not something they wanted to fix.”

Consequently, Cutler instructed Cook, who also attended the meeting, to formally request a trade. The quarterback said he left town late Sunday and would skip McDaniels’ first team meeting on Monday as they begin their off-season program.

Bus Cook, Cutler’s agent said that he was “totally in shock” that it has gotten so ugly.

“I would have bet my house going into Saturday’s meeting that everyone would be shaking hands and smiling,” Cook said. “I thought it was going to get worked out. But it was very clear to me that Jay Cutler is not their choice to be quarterback of that team.”

Yet Cook admitted that when he called Sanders to request a trade on Saturday night, the team’s general manager said it wasn’t going to happen and that “Jay should show up Monday.”

Jay showing up Monday isn’t going to happen, either.

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The Rams announced Friday they have released wide receiver Torry Holt.

Holt had a $1.25 million roster bonus due March 17, and the Rams didn’t plan to keep him at his $8 million salary. As they did earlier this week with left tackle Orlando Pace, the Rams parted ways with Holt.

Rams owner Chip Rosenbloom said. “He is an All Pro in every sense of the word. Over the past 10 seasons, Torry has proven himself to be one of the finest wide receivers in league history. This is a difficult decision because Torry has meant so much to the organization. In my mind and for all Rams fans, Torry will always be a Ram and we wish him and his family nothing but the best as they move forward.”

The releases of Holt and Pace cleared out $14 million of cap room for the Rams. Holt, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, ranks 11th on the league’s all-time reception list with 869 catches. He started 147 games in 10 seasons.

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LaDainian Tomlinson and the San Diego Chargers have been in talks for weeks. Finally they came to an agreement on Wednesday restructuring the final three years of his contract. This will give the team some needed cap room as well as secure Tomlinson’s job for the next few seasons.

According to a source, Tomlinson won’t take a pay cut from his $6.725 million salary in 2009 but the deal was restructured to give the team a cap break in 2009. Tomlinson’s cap number in 2009 was scheduled to be $8,791,666.

In addition to not taking a pay cut in 2009, Tomlinson receives an unspecified guaranteed amount of money in 2010. The amount might not be large enough to guarantee Tomlinson can’t be cut next year, but it gives him some security for the 2010 season.

A trade off, Tomlinson reduced his salaries in 2010 and 2011. He was scheduled to make $8 million next year and $9.275 million in 2011. The final three years of his old contract was worth $24 million over three years.

Tomlinson said, “I love San Diego and being a part of this team with my teammates. My No. 1 priority was to stay here in San Diego. I truly believe this is the place that gives me the best chance to be successful and win a championship. I want to finish the job we started when I got here eight years ago. My heart has always been in San Diego. I couldn’t imagine putting on another uniform.

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Terrell Owens has agreed to a one-year, $6.5 million deal with the Buffalo Bills and the entire contract is guaranteed.

The Bills called a 6:15 p.m. news conference Saturday to announce the signing.

Owens’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said in a text message Friday that his client wouldn’t be out of work for too long.

“There are several teams that are interested in signing Terrell,” Rosenhaus said. “I have been in negotiations with these teams. I will not identify the teams at this time. Terrell and I expect to have a deal in place by the end of next week if not sooner.”

It looks as if Drew wasn’t bluffing about this.

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Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will hold off on having surgery on his torn labrum and cyst from his right hip.

There had been talks originally that he would be out 10-12 weeks after surgery had finished. However, with rest and rehab players have played through this injury before. It looks as if A-Rod will attempt to do the same now.

The development also means that A-Rod will not be able to participate with the Dominican Republic team in the World Baseball Classic.

Rodriguez felt tightness in his right hip this spring and was examined by team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad on Saturday and an MRI exam revealed the cyst.

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