This would be a huge upset if the U.S. men can pull out a win in this semifinal match in the Confederations Cup. Spain has won a record 35-straight matches.
The match is in the middle of the second half and is being broadcast on ESPN. You can also see the MatchCast here.
Update: USA won, 2-0, and will move on to the final. And a correction on the Spain streak — they hadn’t lost in 35-straight matches. There were a few ties during that run.
Rajon Rondo is available. Wait, no he’s not.
While there has been talk around the NBA from several scouts that the Celtics have been shopping guard Rajon Rondo, he isn’t expected to be dealt. While unlikely, one Eastern Conference executive said the latest trade rumor included Rondo and forward Brian Scalabrine going to Memphis for guard Mike Conley and swingman Rudy Gay. On the flip side, one NBA GM said that he asked Celtics president Danny Ainge about Rondo and Ainge said he didn’t want to trade him.
Chad Ford had this to say…
I’m more persuaded by what several league sources told me about Doc Rivers’ relationship with Rondo. They say Rivers has told them Rondo is “impossible to coach” and “stubborn.” The worry is that if the Celtics give him a big contract extension next year, he’ll be even more unmanageable in the future. So the Celtics are trying to trade him now, while his trade value is high, to avoid a very difficult decision a year from now.
While it’s true that his stock has never been higher, the proof is in the pudding. If the Celtics can keep their core — Garnett, Pierce, Ray Ray and Rondo — healthy for the playoffs, they have a great shot at winning another title. Why break that up?
The wait is finally over for the Panthers, as defensive end Julius Peppers will sign his tender on Wednesday according to the team’s official website. He’ll earn $16.683 million this season.
The Panthers could still try and trade him, but it’s doubtful that they find any suitors who will be willing to give up draft picks and long-term money. It’s more likely at this point that the Panthers sign Peppers to a long-term deal than trade him. Carolina wants to win now and with John Fox and GM Marty Hurney’s jobs seemingly on the line every year, draft picks for future years don’t help them in the present.
Peppers wanted to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. The Panthers hired Ron Meeks to replace Mike Trgovac as defensive coordinator and while Meeks isn’t necessarily a scheming genius, Dwight Freeney excelled under him in Indianapolis so Peppers could thrive in Carolina’s new scheme.
It’ll be interesting to hear what Peppers says once he reports to training camp in a month. If he’s going to be bitter all season about the Panthers franchising him, then it’s going to be a long year. But if he shows up hell bent on having a great year so he could hit the market and prove his free agent worth, then maybe both he and the team can get what they want out of the situation.
An Iowa high school football coach who helped get current pro players Casey Wiegmann, Jared DeVries, Brad Meester and Aaron Kampman to the NFL was shot and killed in the weight room of the school on Wednesday morning by a former player.
Ed Thomas, who has produced four NFL linemen as the football coach at tiny Aplington-Parkersburg High, was shot and killed Wednesday inside the school’s weight room, authorities said.
The gunman, identified by authorities as 24-year-old Mark Becker, shot Thomas multiple times just before 8 a.m. local time, authorities said. About 50 students were in the school, including several in the weight room, at the time. School was not in session, and no one else was injured in the attack.
Thomas, the 2005 NFL High School Football Coach of the Year, was airlifted to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, where he died, his family said in a statement. He was 58.
Becker, a former student and football player at the school, was arrested shortly after the shooting and charged with first-degree murder, authorities said. He is being held in Butler County jail.
“No kids were hurt, we’re thankful for that,” superintendent Jon Thompson told KOEL radio. “They did witness this and so we have counselors at the site to talk with the kids.”
Thomas made national headlines last year when he insisted that the high school’s football field, named in his honor, be rebuilt as a way to help restore community pride in Parkersburg after it was hit by a powerful tornado in May 2008 that killed six people and destroyed the high school.
“A lot of people know coach Thomas for his success as a football coach, but a lot of people here locally know him as a person, as a dad and grandfather, and that’s where our thoughts are right now, with Coach Thomas,” Thompson said.
It’s sad that a man who obviously had such an impact on so many lives was lost this way. Thankfully no students were harmed, but a man lost his life for absolutely no reason.
My heart goes out to Thomas’ family.
Chad Ford, DraftExpress and NBADraft.net all updated their mocks today, so it’s a good time to come up with another consensus. NBA.com has their own consensus, but it’s only updated through yesterday. (I expect they’ll update it today.) They’re using some old mocks and since I’m unfamiliar with a few of those sites, I can’t speak to their quality.
(To see my most recent mock draft, click here.)
A few random thoughts:
– DraftExpress backed off their prediction that Harden would go #2. He’s a great fit in OKC and Russell Westbrook didn’t seem too thrilled with the idea of moving off the ball. I don’t think the Thunder will take a point guard.
– Ford has Jennings going #19 to the Hawks. Atlanta would have to be thrilled to get him there, but I don’t think he lasts that long. On the whole, his workouts have reportedly been very good. Maybe he’s not polished but everyone seems to be saying that he has a ton of upside, maybe the most of any player in this draft. How does a guy like that slip into the late teens? In Ford’s defense, DE has him going #17 to the Sixers. Again, Philly would have to be thrilled to get him there.
– DE has James Johnson going #9 to Toronto, which is a bit of a surprise. The Raptors and DeMar DeRozan have been linked for weeks now, but Jrue Holiday has impressed the franchise as well. Toronto already has Jose Calderon, so I doubt a point guard is high on their list of priorities, but that’s definitely the position of strength in this draft.
– NBADraft.net has Holiday going #18. They’ve been down on him for this entire process, but considering that he’s working out for mainly lottery teams, I don’t see him falling that far. He was rumored to be a Sacramento favorite at #4 early on, but he has had some inconsistent workouts since then. I think he’ll probably go to the Knicks at #8 or the Bucks at #10 unless players slip that those teams can’t pass up (i.e. Curry for the Knicks and Hill for the Bucks).
– There is a lot of fluidity in picks #4 through #8, which makes sense considering there are so many point guards jockeying for position. Rubio is the biggest unknown and has only worked out for Sacramento, Curry really saw his stock climb after the season and appears to be a favorite of Minnesota, Golden State and New York, Evans reportedly dominated in the Minnesota and Sacramento workouts, and Jennings has turned in a couple of great workouts for Golden State and New York.
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