Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Army Needs New Trophies

When I saw the picture of this trophy, my inner juvenile humor kicked in.

It's the third place trophy for the 2010 Army National Guard Combatives Championships. This is just wrong from all angles. It's funny and highly suggestive at the same time. Only if you have the humor of an 8th grader.

Timberwolves Fire Kurt Rambis

In what was a no-brainer to most, the Minnesota Timberwolves fired Kurt Rambis according to a report by Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski.  

Timberwolves general manager David Kahn won't announce the decision until after the draft. Kahn had been uncommitted to Rambis after the season leading to speculation whether he was going to come back. Rambis was 32-132 in his two years as head coach. He left Rambis twisting in the wind, holding draft workouts and probably knew he was going to 86 him anyway.

Minnesota Timberwolves general manager David Kahn has decided to fire coach Kurt Rambis, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.



Kahn isn’t expected to announce the decision until after Thursday’s NBA draft, but he’s already begun collecting information on prospective replacements for Rambis, sources said…


Rambis has two years left on his original four-year contract. With the Timberwolves in the midst of a major rebuilding project, he went 32-132 as their coach, including a league-worst 17-65 this season.


Kahn told reporters he’d made the unusual request of asking Rambis to file a written report to him on changes Rambis would make if he returned as coach. He also said Rambis won’t attend the Timberwolves’ draft on Thursday night.


Kahn had wanted Rambis to become a better communicator with players. He also wanted him to design an offense away from the triangle and toward the open-court talents of rookie point guard Ricky Rubio. Rambis’ relationship with key young players, especially Kevin Love, had been frayed, at best.

I know anyone who has ever coached has wanted to be at the helm of their own operation, but Rambis had to know what he was getting into when he signed up for this. I'm not saying this is all his fault because Kahn has proven to be inept as a general manager. Rambis should've bolted out the door when he drafted the "point guards of the future" in one draft. The triangle wasn't going to work in Minnesota. You have to have special and disciplined players for that offense. It's not for everyone. Rambis didn't get a fair shake, but this marriage was doomed to fail.
 
      

Steelers Lobbying For Burress

A long shot for Plaxico Burress' services might be the Pittsburgh Steelers. It might be highly unlikely but it seems that there have been some unnamed coaches lobbying for Burress' return to the Steel City. Of course they don't have final say on personnel nor do they cut the checks around there so wo knows if the Steelers front office will take a chance on Plax after the lockout.

In addition to the unnamed coaches that would like to have Plax back, Hines Ward would like him back as well and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger stopped short of saying he wants Plax at his youth football camp. 


"I've talked to Plax a number of times in the last couple of weeks," Roethlisberger said. "I told him, 'Hey, if you came back here that would be awesome, but I'm just happy to see you playing again' because he's a good guy."

Keep in mind that Big Ben and Plax were neighbors when they were teammates.

If the Steelers do happen to add Burresss that would likely mean the end of Antwan Randle-El. It would also cut down the playing time for promising youngsters Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders.