Posts tagged Breaking News at FanHouse

Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that veteran Pittsburgh defenseman Darryl Sydor will make his first post-season appearance in tonight's Stanley Cup Final Game 3 against the Detroit Red Wings. The move comes at the expense of rookie Kris Letang.

The 36-year-old defenseman appeared in 74 games for the Penguins this past season, posting 13 points in the process. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, he spent most of his time on the ice with Ryan Whitney.

He has played 151 playoff games and been to the Finals four times over the course of his career. He won a Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999 and again with Tampa Bay in 2004.

The fact that Sydor has not played since March 31st is probably a concern for Penguins fans, but he sounds ready. He told the Macomb Daily's Bruce MacLeod,

"Yah, I've got butterflies and I'll have them tonight. That's when you know your time is done when you're not nervous any more. It's a good nervousness. I'm excited to be back and helping out."

Sydor's insertion into the lineup will certainly give the Penguins a boost in the experience department.

To refresh your memory, Letang was the Penguin victimized by Detroit's Valtteri Filppula in Game 2 as the latter got behind the young defenseman and scored a highlight reel goal (video) in the third period.

Mike D'Antoni is apparently, like most people, a big fan of lots and lots of money.

After tweaking the Bulls and Knicks into a two-way race, and after a late-night conference call with Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf that apparently dissolved the need for further talks, D'Antoni has made a verbal agreement to become the next head coach of the New York Knicks.

Apparently the sticking point between the two was, predictably, the matter of cold hard cash. The Bulls were rumored to be willing to extend the same amount of control to D'Antoni as the Knicks were, but were hesitant to dish out a huge sum of money to acquire his services. The Knicks, of course, have never really shown such restraint. At least with Donnie Walsh at the helm, the Knicks appear to be committed to throwing around money for the right reasons.

The Knicks deal will play D'Antoni $24 million over 4 years, making him the third highest coach in the league behind Los Angeles' Phil Jackson and San Antonio's Greg Popovich. While the Chicago roster is obviously in better shape than New York's, D'Antoni will be able sleep on a bed of money and still have more control than he would have had in Phoenix.

According to a report by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Mavericks have their man. The paper is reporting that a verbal deal is in place with Rick Carlisle to become the new head coach of the Mavericks. It will be his third head coaching job in the NBA, this time succeeding Avery Johnson who was fired after another disappointing first round exit.

The deal outlined by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by a source close to the situation is a four year contract that will pay Carlisle a little over $4 million per year, which, if you're keeping score at home, is more than Johnson made. Carlisle has long been considered the front runner for the deal, and today was the expected day of deliverance. He brings with him a 281-211 lifetime coaching record, and a .484 playoff career winning percentage.

Known for coaching a balanced offense-defense philosophy and a strict offensive structure, Carlisle's first priority will be to form some sort of cohesion from the semi-chaotic-chaotic mess the Mavericks devolved into at times after the acquisition of Jason Kidd. Figuring out what to do with Josh Howard after his comments regarding offseason drug use and late-year shooting slump might also be up there. Either way, Mark Cuban got the guy he wanted, the Mavericks have a new head coach, and it's Rick Carlisle.

Score one for the internets and the folks at DumpDorrell!

Brian Dohn, UCLA beat reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News reported this morning that UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero has fired Karl Dorrell.

A press conference is scheduled for later this afternoon, but the release is already in the public domain. Guerrero remarks that, "at the end of the day, the focus has to be on results and I felt that a change was in the best interest for the future of our program."

In his official reaction, Dorrell politely thanked Guerrero for the opportunity and adds, "I am proud of what the program accomplished during my five years, especially in the areas of academics, citizenship and recruiting."

This is what you call an equal value trade, except in this case, the value on both sides is incredibly low. In fact, this trade is probably only noteworthy because it involves two of the more noticeably awful pitchers in Major League Baseball this year.

The Marlins and the Rockies exchanged horrible pitchers today, as the Marlins gave up a psychologically rattled Jorge Julio and the Rockies dealt an extremely displeased Byung-Hyun Kim, resulting in a total trade ERA of 22.00+. That's, um, really bad.

On the bright side, things couldn't get any worse for either pitcher in their former locales, so a trade might be best for everyone at this point. Kim gets a chance to work on his mechanics with a new, less hostile coaching staff, and Julio can work on whatever mental demons have caused him to struggle so mightily in Florida. Maybe the clean mountain air will clear his head, or something like that.

Neither team's fortunes are going to be changed by this trade, but at least it gives both players a chance at a new start. Whether they make the most of that new start, and lower those ridiculous ERAs, is up to them.

Previously on the FanHouse:
Jorge Julio Needs to Talk It Out
Byung-Hyun Kim's Whining On His Way to the Pen

I wish I could tell you I'm joking, but I'm not. Brett Favre, the biggest name in Green Bay sports, had asked the team to trade him two or three days after the NFL Draft.

Favre, who is currently at home and does not plan on attending mandatory minicamp, has not hidden his disappointment with the Packers this offseason. He's been specifically vocal and upset over the Packers inability to land Randy Moss, who eventually went to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round draft choice.

"I don't know if I've lost faith, and I think everyone in the organization wants to win. I just don't know if it includes me. If it's going to be five years from now, I'm not going to be here. This is 17 years for me and I want to win," Favre said in an exclusive interview with Biloxi Sun Herald.

This all seems like a bit of a dream nightmare. Is there such a thing as Brett Favre without the Green Bay Packers? Is there such a thing as the Green Bay Packers without Brett Favre? Well, if he gets his wish there certainly will be.

I'm sure the Packers will do everything they can to make this blow over, but things sure have gone South in a hurry.

Previously on Fanhouse:
Brett Favre Says Randy Moss 'Wanted to Play in Green Bay'
Favre, Rodgers Will Miss Packers Minicamp
Packers Passed on Moss Because of a Pick, Not Money
Report: Brett Favre 'Certain' Randy Moss Will Be a Packer

Not that anyone should ever expect anything but racism or sexism from Don Imus, but this seems like a new low, even for him. In describing the Rutgers women's basketball team Imus managed to squeeze both racism and sexism into one sentence (story and video available here). Such efficiency.

He's marveling at the tatoos on some of the Rutgers plays (Gasp! Women with tatoos!), when someone off-camera calls them "some hardcore hos." Imus follows it up with, "That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm gonna tell you that now."

Yeah, Rutgers battled from a 4-seed to make it all the way to the NCAA championship game ... the best response to that is probably to belittle them for their crazy hair (it's not blonde, brown, or straight ... the nerve of these girls) and call them whores. Perfectly reasonable. ESPN should have changed their graphic to read, "TENNESSEE 59, WHORES 46."

It didn't stop there, though. Of the Tennessee players, he said, "they all look cute," before someone else off-camera says the game was a matchup of "jiggaboos vs. wannabes." Jiggaboos ... perfect. I see no reason why that should ever offend anyone.

Imus defended himself by saying that people need to relax and shouldn't worry about "some idiot comment meant to be amusing." Oh, okay. So people just need to learn that racism is funny when it comes from Don Imus? Got it. We'll get right on that.

UPDATE: Who's Worse, Don Imus or Billy Packer? Watch the video and tell us what you think. Also see video of Imus's apology on his show Monday and his appearance on Al Sharpton's show.

Team Red Bull started their day with a moment of silence for mechanic Jimmy Sprinkle, 44, who was gunned down outside his farm in Love, N.C. Sprinkle had been with the #83 team for about a year and previously worked for former NCTS Champion Ted Musgrave's team.

Sprinkle had seen someone coming down his driveway Saturday night and went outside to investigate. He was shot once in the chest and died at Iredell Memorial.

Alexander County investigators and State Bureau of Investigation agents will not comment on motive are are believe to have found the shooter's vehicle, a white 1980s model Monte Carlo with a dark blue top.

Sprinkle's wife, Sylvia, said he had another life outside of racing, "We live in the farming community, he helped plow many gardens, he's out with fertilizer, anything they need to do with cattle and horses."

Statement from the #83 Red Bull Team
"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the unfortunate loss of Jimmy Sprinkle's life. We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to Jimmy's family and friends. Jimmy was one of those hard-working crew guys with great personality that don't come around very often. Jimmy will be sorely missed at the race shop and at the track."

Hard to believe this guy had enemies. I guess everyone does, just most of them don't lead to murder. Glad to hear they have a lead.

Our condolences to the Sprinkle family.

Update: Police have identified a suspect

While he may also do things like complain about the season's length or try and get all psy-ops with the media, Phil Jackson is also a pretty good coach. Sure, he had Jordan, he had Pippen, he had Shaq, and he still has Kobe. But for some reason, he's getting some of the credit for those nine rings.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Jackson will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this coming September. Big Chief Triangle sounded relatively excited when the Lakers nominated him, so he might even smile for more than ten seconds when he comments on this latest news:

"It's an honor," Jackson said at the time. "I've always said these types of things are a reflection of a lot of things - the system that we've run, the influence of the people that have been on my staff, and the players we've been lucky enough to have coached."

This won't be official till Monday, but count on hearing plenty of "how good is Phil, really" talk over the next few days. It certainly fits nicely with the "do the Lakers have a team," "is Kobe better than MJ," and "is Kobe out of control" debates currently raging.

If you played Little League, you've likely dealt with Creepy Old Baseball Guy. He's the guy that has no tangible tie to the team but still shows up to every practice and game, sits in the dugout chawing, yelling at 12 year-olds and occasionally recording game stats. You assume he's someone's grandpa or uncle or something ... but you never really know for sure.

Well, with the exception that he's respected and well-liked, Johnny Pesky is Creepy Old Baseball Guy to the Boston Red Sox ... and now Major League Baseball is asking him to vacate the dugout:

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said the team was told by the commissioner's officer it will enforce the rule that limits uniformed personnel in the dugout to players, managers, and six coaches. Francona said the Red Sox received a stern letter from baseball threatening substantial fines.

"They warned us so many times, I think they got tired of it," he said Friday before the Boston's exhibition game against the Philadelphia Phillies. "I've seen the letters in the past."

Pesky took the news hard when Francona told him this week.

"I sat down with him and talked with him about, and he was hurt," Francona said. "I understand. But the rules are what they are."

Like the time your real Little League coach asked Creepy Old Baseball Guy to stop berating the opposition, this has to be a major blow to Pesky. And unless they can find some reason to keep him in the dugout -- fire DeMarlo Hale and let Pesky coach third, maybe? -- Mr. Red Sox is going to have to find a seat with the yuppie Fenway masses. Ouch.

But hey, this isn't all bad: Manny Ramirez was getting really tired of "that weird old dude" trying to give him fielding tips.

(Via Baseball Primer Newsblog)