Watch list honors keep piling up for Oregon football players. A day after Marcus Mariota, De’Anthony Thomas and Ifo Ekpre-Olomu were named to watch lists for prestigious postseason awards (Maxwell Award for Mariota and Thomas; Bednarik for Ekpre-Olomu), tight end Colt Lyerla was added to the initial list for the 2013 John Mackey Award.

Lyerla, a junior, is one of 37 tight ends in the nation on the watch list for the award, which is given each year to the best tight end in college football. The award is named after the late John Mackey, who was just the second true tight end in history to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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On Sunday, former Ducks pitcher Jimmie Sherfy signed a contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who selected him in the 10th round of last month’s MLB draft. Baseball America’s Jim Callis reported the deal is worth $100,000.

The long-haired closer was one of six Oregon players drafted in June, but only he, first baseman Ryon Healy and reliever Cole Wiper have signed with the teams that selected them. Sherfy was one of the best closers in the nation last season, posting a 2.25 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 40 innings.

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Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant wasn’t too happy after reports surfaced yesterday that the Lakers plan to waive forward Metta World Peace with the amnesty clause. Bryant posted two tweets regarding the World Peace decision, saying he would’ve kept the player formerly known as Ron Artest and that the Lakers wouldn’t have won Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals without him.

Bryant also made news by unfollowing former teammate Dwight Howard on Twitter after Howard signed with the Houston Rockets. Bryant sent out a tweet saying, “I wish d12 the best honestly. I just find it hard to follow players that wanna kick my teams ass #thatsjustme.” Right after posting those three tweets about former teammates, Bryant tweeted his support of new teammate and Howard replacement Chris Kaman. However, Bryant has since deleted the tweet from his feed.