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      Marvin Harrison has no plans to retire

      May 8, 2009 /

      Remember Marvin Harrison? Well, apparently the 37-year old receiver is healthy, has no plans to retire and wants to play in 2009.

      “I played in 15 games last year and a playoff game, and I intend to play again this season,” Condon said Harrison told him in a conversation Thursday afternoon.

      Harrison, who turns 37 in August, was released by the Colts after the 2008 season, in large part for salary-cap relief. Harrison, who didn’t agree to a restructured contract, was scheduled to count more than $13 million against the Colts’ 2009 cap.

      Last season, Harrison had just 60 catches for 636 yards and five touchdowns — the lowest full single-season totals of his career. He missed 11 games in 2007 because of a knee injury, catching just 20 passes and scoring one touchdown.

      There hasn’t been much interest in Harrison at this point, but Condon said he expects his client to sign with a team close to the time that training camps open later this summer.

      The knock on Harrison is that he won’t play for a veteran’s minimum salary, but considering no teams have showed interest in him to this point, he might change his tune once the season draws near. One would think that a receiver-needy team would have interest in a receiver of Harrison’s stature, but nobody wants to overpay for a 37-year old with knee issues.

      NFL

      D’Backs fire manager Bob Melvin

      May 8, 2009 /

      The Diamondbacks fired former 2007 Manger of the Year Bob Melvin and are expected to replace him with A.J. Hinch, who is the club’s vice president of player development.

      The 47-year-old Melvin’s firing comes after a disappointing start by the Diamondbacks, who entered Thursday 8½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Melvin, who went 337-340 in four-plus seasons, had one year left on a contract he received after being the 2007 NL Manager of the Year.

      Melvin’s stock rose when he guided a youthful but talented group to the NL West title two years ago. He was dismissed because many of the same players have failed to live up to expectations based on that season, when the Diamondbacks posted an NL-best 90-72 record despite being outscored by 20 runs across the season.

      Speculation about Melvin’s future grew with every 1-2-3 inning by the Diamondbacks’ hitters. Arizona entered Thursday with a .225 batting average, by far the worst in baseball.

      Arizona’s offense was a major question mark coming into the season, but as long as the pitching came through the D’Backs were expected to compete in a weak NL West. But Brandon Webb’s shoulder injury (and subsequent trip to the DL) was a crushing blow to the club’s starting pitching and the offense has been even worse than expected.

      Melvin can’t do anything about Webb’s injury, Conor Jackson hitting .191 or Eric Byrnes averaging a paltry .139. But the reason he was inevitably fired is because the club has lost all emotion. It’s only May and the D’Backs are playing like it’s August and they’re 15 games out of first. Maybe the 34-year old Hinch can breathe some life into a club that certainly has talent, but is currently lacking any kind of desire.

      MLB

      NBA reviewing actions of Kobe, Fisher, Artest and Alston

      May 7, 2009 /

      Update: The NBA suspended Fisher and Alston one game each. Kobe wasn’t suspended — shocker!

      Stu Jackson is a busy man today. He’s responsible for reviewing the tape and doling out the suspensions and fines, if necessary. Apparently, he’s looking at four different plays from last night’s action: Rafer Alston’s slap to the back of Eddie House’s head, Derek Fisher’s premeditated shoulder block on Luis Scola, Kobe Bryant’s flying elbow to the neck/chest of Ron Artest, and Artest’s subsequent confrontation with Kobe when he was (somehow) called for the foul.

      From the replay, it looked to me that Alston was responding to an elbow from House as House celebrated his made shot. House is a pretty annoying player — in fact, my buddy LaRusso pretty much despises him — and the little elbow to the gut was like salt in Alston’s wounds. Technically, he didn’t throw a punch, which is why there’s a question about whether or not he’ll be suspended, but you can’t go around slapping people in the head. If they do suspend him, I hope they fine House for instigating the event with the elbow. It was bush league.

      I wrote about the Rockets/Lakers “chippiness” last night, and my feelings haven’t changed much. I think Fisher should be suspended for a game due to the premeditated nature of the hit he laid on Scola. Jackson should also take a hard look at Kobe’s elbow because it looked intentional and up in the neck area. As for Artest, I don’t think he should have been ejected as he didn’t throw any elbows or punches, and the decision to eject him probably cost the Rockets any chance they had at winning the game. Between the foul call on Artest and his ejection, it wasn’t the best moment for that officiating crew.

      One thing is for sure — the Rockets and Lakers are already sick of each other, and we’re still very early in the series. If this thing goes six or seven games, expect a lot more of this kind of action.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Source: Favre turns down Vikings and will stay retired

      May 7, 2009 /

      According to a report by Yahoo! Sports, Brett Favre has turned down the Vikings’ attempts to sign him and will now stay retired.

      In a phone call that took place sometime in the last day, the source said Favre told Vikings coach Brad Childress that he wanted to remain retired. Favre is expected to publicly explain his decision soon.

      Favre, who announced his first retirement in March 2008 after spending 16 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, decided to resume his career last summer and was traded to the New York Jets in August. After one season in New York, Favre retired again and was subsequently released by the Jets on April 29.

      Just days after his release from the Jets, speculation began that the Vikings were interested in bringing in a veteran to compete with Sage Rosenfels(notes), who was acquired this offseason from the Houston Texans. Rosenfels is atop the depth chart heading into training camp, with Tarvaris Jackson and John David Booty(notes) also on the roster.

      The moment the Vikings step onto the field in Week 1 of the new season and I don’t see a No. 4 jersey with Favre on the back, then I’ll believe Brett isn’t coming back. For now, I’m just going to assume that he’s upset that Childress has asked him to show up to minicamp and he’s going to bide his time until most of the padded workouts are complete.

      I’m not going to believe anything until it comes out of Brett Favre’s mouth. And even then I’m going to question the hell out of what he says.

      NFL

      What kind of point guard is he?

      May 7, 2009 /

      We hear it all the time. NBA analysts call one point guard “pass-first” and another “shoot-first.” Or they say one guy is “turnover-prone” while another “takes care of the ball.” But really, what makes a player a “pass-first” point guard? How carefree must he be with the ball to be considered “turnover-prone”?

      Taking an analytical approach to these questions, I decided to bust out an Excel spreadsheet and try to come up with some answers. Below you’ll see a graph that attempts to classify the top point guards in the league. But first, a little background…

      I chose to categorize each player based on two stats. First, to determine if he’s “shoot-first” or “pass-first,” I calculated the shot-to-assist ratio for each player. The bigger the number, the more of a “shoot-first” mentality the player has. Second, to determine whether or not a player is “turnover-prone,” I calculated each player’s assist-to-turnover ratio. I thought about using turnovers per 48 minutes, but I like the idea of including assists so that playmakers are rewarded for the positive as well as the negative. Next, I calculated each player’s Efficiency Per Minute (EPM) to see if there is any correlation between these other statistics and the overall efficiency of the player in question.

      Continue reading »

      NBA

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