Blogging the Bloggers: Isiah Thomas, Joakim Noah & the NHL
Posted by Thomas Conroy (05/17/2009 @ 11:49 pm)
-UNCOACHED welcomes Isiah Thomas to the campus of Florida International with a video of their on-field fight against Miami at the Orange Bowl a few seasons ago.
-SPORTSbyBROOKS has a nice photo essay of Chicago Bulls Joakim Noah’s vacation in the Caribbean with a topless woman.
-THELOVEOFSPORTS has an interesting story on the NHL’s new marketing plan to attract fans to their games.
-DEADSPIN offers a video report on the roving street party known to Bay Area residents as the 98th annual Bay to Breakers marathon race.
Isiah Thomas takes head coaching job at FIU
Posted by John Paulsen (04/14/2009 @ 11:25 am)
In an effort to revive his career, Isiah Thomas has signed a five-year deal with Florida International University.
Thomas has been out of basketball since an unsuccessful five-year run as president of the New York Knicks, spending his last two seasons as coach before being fired in April 2008. He was 56-108 as Knicks coach and 187-223 overall, including a stint with the Indiana Pacers. Thomas still had two years and $12 million remaining on his Knicks contract after this season.
“Coming back to the college game has always been a dream of mine, and I didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to go somewhere where we can build a basketball legacy together,” Thomas said in a statement. “A lot of people don’t know that FIU is one of the 25 largest universities in the country, with a tremendously strong alumni community standing behind us. Most important, I think we can get good players from across Florida and around the country to buy into our plan to make this a top-tier basketball program. I’m committed to growing something here, and strongly believe that over time, we’ll put a team on the floor that everyone at FIU can be proud of.”
It’s good to see Thomas focus on one of his strengths — coaching. For all of his trouble as general manager of the Knicks, he has a reputation for being a pretty good coach. At FIU, he’ll have an opportunity to grow in that area while utilizing his eye for talent in the recruiting game. Thomas was responsible for a few good draft picks while guiding the Knicks. It was the trades that he had trouble with.
