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Mark Cuban calls Phil Jackson a ‘boy toy’

January 6, 2011 / John Paulsen

If one loudmouth calls another loudmouth a name, is it news?

After Phil Jackson commented on the loss of Mavs forward Caron Butler…

“He just leaves a vacuum that’s going to be very hard for them to fill,” Jackson said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

…the hypersensitive Cuban fired back…

“I love that Jeanie Buss’ boy-toy had something to say about us,” Cuban said while sweating on the stair-stepping machine in the Mavs’ workout room. “I don’t know if it was his thought or Jeanie’s thought, but it’s nice to know that she lets him speak in public about other teams.”

I’m happy Cuban is in the league because if nothing else, he’s entertaining. I prefer his brash and energetic style over the stodginess of most NBA owners. It’s better to have an owner sitting behind his team’s bench cheering his fool head off than to have him up in a luxury box sipping a glass of Merlot.

But if Jackson wants to make a comment about the Mavs, Cuban shouldn’t get so defensive. Doing so only confirms that Jackson got under his skin. And I’m not even sure that was Jackson’s intention with these comments about Butler. He was asked about the injury and responded with a completely valid opinion. Cuban resorted to a personal attack about Jackson’s love life.

Bush league.

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Dolphins the new front-runners for Harbaugh?

January 6, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Just when it appeared that the 49ers were the front-runners in the Jim Harbaugh derby, the Dolphins have pulled ahead according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

It’s believed that Miami offered Harbaugh $7-8 million and San Francisco is unwilling to go that high. The 49ers don’t want to get into a bidding war for Harbaugh’s services, so they may drop out of the race entirely.

If the reports are true and the Dolphins have offered Harbaugh $7-8 million a year, it would make him the richest head coach in the NFL. Considering he has zero head coaching experience in the pros, that would make the Miami Dolphins’ brass legally insane.

It appears that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross would rather not breathe than bring Tony Sparano back as his head coach. He’s already traveled cross-country to pitch the job to Harbaugh and according to the NFL Network, he offered Jon Gruden $7 million a year as well. (Gruden turned down the offer.)

If these reports are true, then Ross should do the respectable thing and fire Sparano immediately. If he’s going through all of this trouble to replace him, then obviously he doesn’t believe that Sparano is the right fit for the Dolphins. It’s not fair for Sparano or his staff to stay in limbo while Ross runs around the country trying to find their replacements. (Then again, that’s the business, right?)

If Miami does wind up with Harbaugh, Ross better hope that he can work with GM Jeff Ireland. How many times do we see a hotshot college head coach fail in the NFL because he’s overwhelmed from the start? The first-year head coaches who have had success always have two things: a good quarterback and a GM that knows what he’s doing. Recent examples include Baltimore’s John Harbaugh, Atlanta’s Mike Smith and St. Louis’ Steve Spagnuolo. I guarantee you Harbaugh and Smith wouldn’t have had the success they’ve had the past three years if it weren’t for Joe Flacco and Ozzie Newsome, and Matt Ryan and Thomas Dimitroff. And where would Spagnuolo be if it weren’t for Sam Bradford (who was chosen by GM Bill Devaney)?

Granted, it helps that Harbaugh and Smith were NFL assistants at some point too, but Jimmy Johnson did just fine in Dallas and he was a “college coach.” He couldn’t work with Jerry Jones but at the very least, he had Troy Aikman. Jim Harbaugh won’t succeed with Chad Henne, I don’t care how much money the Dolphins throw at him to fix their situation.

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Cavs offer golden-voiced homeless man a job

January 5, 2011 / John Paulsen

Via Image CPR:

Ted Williams became an Internet sensation after the Columbus Dispatch posted a video of him online. It took off. Millions of people watched it. His story is everywhere and job offers are rolling in. He was interviewed on The Early Show on CBS Wednesday morning.
During another interview on Columbus radio station 97.9, a spokeswoman for the Cavs called in and offered Williams full-time voiceover work with the team and Quicken Loans. The team also offered to pay the mortgage on a home.

Williams is currently weighing his options. Here’s the aforementioned video.

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Touching story about Mark Sanchez and 11-year-old cancer victim

January 5, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

I don’t know how many times I’ve sat with a group of people and someone starts complaining about how the media doesn’t focus on the positive stories in sports. It’s always about arrests, sex scandals and contract holdouts.

If you’re in the mood for a positive sports story, I stumbled upon this one at ESPN.com about Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez. A couple of weeks ago he struck up a relationship with an 11-year-old boy named Aidan Binkley, who was suffering from a rare form of cancer. Aidan only had two wishes: for his two brothers to stay healthy and to meet Sanchez.

Here’s the story:

Aidan visited the Jets’ training facility Dec. 15, and he received the VIP treatment, as if he were a big-name player making a free-agent visit. He watched practice and was escorted to owner Woody Johnson’s second-floor office, where he met Antonio Cromartie, Dustin Keller, Mike Devito and others.
And, finally, Sanchez. The people who were there say Aidan’s face lit up like Broadway at night.
Sanchez was deeply touched by Aidan, who battled rhabdomayosarcoma, according to a 2008 New York Daily News article. There was a lemon-sized tumor that spread from his pelvis to his lungs, and he required 60 weeks of chemotherapy.
The celebrity quarterback and his new friend became texting buddies and, one day, he surprised Aidan by showing up at his house. The boy was sleeping when Sanchez arrived, but Sanchez stuck around until he woke up. They ended up having a long conversation, like a couple of old friends. To this day, Sanchez still wears a wristband that Aidan gave him.
“My man, Aidan … breaks my heart,” Sanchez said Tuesday during his weekly spot on “The Michael Kay Show” on 1050 ESPN Radio. “He’s so tough.”
Sanchez, choked with emotion, paused several times as he talked about Aidan, whom he met through the Teddy Atlas Foundation. Atlas, the boxing trainer and ESPN analyst, was a Jets special assistant under former coach Eric Mangini.
“He brought me so much inspiration. … It’s hard to talk about him,” Sanchez said. “He meant the world to me. I felt like I’ve known him forever. … I saw his personality. I saw his competitive spirit. I saw him fighting every day.

Read the rest of the story.

As the article points out, Aidan lost his battle with cancer and passed away last Thursday. Being such a huge football fan, all I can think about is the playoffs coming up this weekend. But after reading a story like this, it reminds you that there are much, much bigger things in life than sports.

Well done Mark, and RIP Aidan.

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