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msnbc.com News — Cavaliers might fire Brown, hire Riley
You stick with a good thing, right? Well, Cleveland could be ditching heed coach Mike Brown even though he won Coach of the Year this past season. The Cavs had the league’s best record, but the front office has been on a mission to improve since the team lost to Orlando in the playoffs. And some of them reportedly seem to think they’d improve without Brown, who these same people apparently think was not as good as his counterpart in Orlando, Stan Van Gundy. Rumor has it the execs were just as disappointed in the team’s wins over the Magic as its losses and said Brown’s game plan for the series was “junk.” Some are saying Pat Riley could be coming to Cleveland to save the day. Or at least keep a couple of hairdressers employed there. (ProBasketballNews)
Spurs saying no to Ginobili offers
San Antonio is apparently getting some offers for Manu Ginobili and so far the team is saying ixnay to all offers, partially because he’s a great player but also because he apparently sells a lot of tickets. The Wizards supposedly made an offer for the Argentine but were apparently shot down. (San Antonio Express News)
Is Houston scared of Curry?
Soon-to-be first-round draft pick Stephen Curry had an impressive workout for the Knicks the other day. Curry apparently really wants to play in Coach Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo system, but it isn’t clear if he’ll still be available when New York’s turn to pick at No. 8 comes around. But there appears to be another reason he doesn’t make it onto the roster in the Big Apple. Former Knick player Allan Houston, who is now assistant to the president of basketball operations with the Knicks, apparently let D’Antoni know during Curry’s workout that he didn’t want to become the second-best shooter in Knicks history. (New York Times)
A-Rod and Teixeira ganging up on Sutcliffe?
A couple of weeks ago, the Yanks’ Mark Teixeira hit a homer against the Rangers and Rick Sutcliffe was broadcasting from the ESPN booth. The 1984 Cy Young award winner suggested that it was possible that Teixeira had gotten signals from Alex Rodriguez to let him know where the catcher was setting up. Well, Tex and A-Rod apparently did not like that very much, especially after an off-season in which Rodriguez was accused of tipping off opponents to pitches when the game was a blowout. The pair supposedly confronted Sutcliffe on Tuesday night. No fisticuffs occurred. (New York Daily News)
White Sox getting ready to unload players?
Things aren’t going well for the Chicago White Sox. The South Siders have lost seven of the last nine and are more than five games out of first place. Lot of season left, you say. Well, manager Ozzie Guillen isn’t expecting Carlos Quinton back before the All-Star break, which would likely help stem the tide. GM Kenny Williams is still holding off but he’s already saying he’s “going to have do some things that maybe aren't going to be the most popular but in the best interests of the club." Ouch. (Chicago Tribune)
Ibanez outraged by PED rumor
A guy can’t just have an incredible year anymore. Raul Ibanez, who the Phillies added in the off-season to replace Pat Burrell in left field, is having an incredible season so far: Before last night’s game, he already had 20 homers, 47 runs, and 55 RBI with a .327 average. So the Midwest Sports Fans blog is saying that he must have taken some kind of performance enhancer. And Ibanez is not happy about it; he’s going right ahead and saying he’ll “go after people” who say such things. So be careful what you say around Ibanez because this guy is clearly good with a bat in his hands. (MLB.com)
Birds and McNabb closing in on deal
The Eagles and quarterback Donovan McNabb are apparently close to signing a new deal that supposedly isn’t actually an extension past the 2010 season that he’s already signed for. However, the 32-year-old will apparently get a honkin’ signing bonus and a raise for this year and next. Apparently it pays to have career years in yards (3,916) and touchdowns (23). (Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia)
Childress: Favre never had a deadline
It’s been a lot of tea-leaf reading to guess what’s been going on between the Minnesota Vikings and currently retired quarterback Brett Favre. The other day a rumor surfaced that the Vikings had set a deadline for Favre to fill them in on whether he was coming back or not but Childress is now being very clear and saying no deadline ever existed and still doesn’t exist. He does propose that perhaps Favre’s wife set a deadline for his decision but Minnesota isn’t setting any kind of deadline, which must make Tarvaris Jackson feel pretty good. ESPN, by the way, is sticking with its story that a deadline existed. (St. Paul Pioneer Press)
Ochocinco has new tats – on his face?
You already thought Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco was crazy? Well, he’s apparently started to really crack up. There is word now that he’s gotten three tattoos on his face. And one of them is supposedly the letters “OC” on his forehead. Another is a cross on one cheek and the third is a tattoo of the state of Florida on his other cheek. Perhaps he’ll add a state each year? (ProFootballTalk)
