Sergei Federov to become GM of Russian hockey club

According to a report in Sovetsky Sport, former Detroit Red Wing star Sergei Federov will retire from the game of hockey and concentrate on being a general manager for CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Federov will play in one more game before assuming the duties of general manager next season.

"It's a great possibility that CSKA's first home game of the new season will be Sergei's farewell. It will be sort of a farewell celebration and he will concentrate on the management work at the club."



The highly skilled Fedorov defected from the Soviet Union in 1990 and helped the Red Wings win three Stanley Cup championships in 13 seasons in Detroit. He ranks fourth on the club's career list for goals (400) and fifth in points (954).


He is the last Red Wing to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1993-94 and is a two-time winner of the Selke Trophy as the league top defensive forward.


CSKA hasn't yet confirmed the report and Federov has yet to make his retirement official.

Osi Umenyiora tells LeSean McCoy Happy Mother's Day

Two players on rival teams that don't get along have a lot in common with each other. They both feel they're being mistreated by their front office and are looking for a new contract form their respective teams. They also don't like each other.

New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora and Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy have had a beef with each other since last season after McCoy called Umenyiora overrated and soft. Umenyiora responded by calling McCoy "Lady Gaga" and "she".

Umenyiora has fanned the flames once again via Twitter by telling McCoy to have a Happy Mother's Day.

“Happy Mothers Day Lesean Mccoy (sic)! Enjoy your special day!!”


Umenyiora then said that "the beef is never over". We'll have to see if McCoy can come up with a clever response to Umenyiora's taunts.

Frank Vogel fined for trying to get the refs on his side

Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel tried to take the Phil Jackson approach and plant a seed in the referees' heads before the Pacers' second round series against the Miami Heat. Vogel told reporters that he felt the Heat were the biggest floppers in the NBA and now he's $15,000 lighter for the comments.

“It’ll be very interesting to see how the referees officiate the series and how much flopping they reward. . . . Every drive to the basket they have guys not making a play on the ball, but sliding in front of drivers. Often times they’re falling down even before contact is even being made. It’ll be interesting to see how the series is officiated.”


He's hoping that he can get some favorable whistles going his way and not falling victim to any superstar calls that benefit the Heat. I see him working and I can understand why, but in the NBA you can't comment the officiating without getting fined.

Next time don't read the Phil Jackson playbook of coaching.

Derrick Rose might miss the start of the season

When Derrick Rose tore his ACL in Game 1 of the playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers the Chicago Bulls' championship hopes took a big hit. The final result was a six game series loss to the Sixers and an off-season wondering what if.

Today Rose underwent surgery to repair his ACL and will possibly miss the start of next season.

Of course this isn't what the Bulls had in mind when they locked up the best record and homecourt advantage for  the duration of the playoffs. The front office will have some work to do, namely trying to improve via trade or fee agency.

Hopefully Rose can come back stronger and have the same explosiveness he had before injuries took their toll this season.

University of Michigan president says they shouldn't have hired Rodriguez

Rich Rodriguez is like the head that won't die around the University of Michigan. Somehow, someway his name always comes up in conversation regarding the football program even though he's been gone for almost two years.

While talking to a crowd in Flint, university president Mary Sue Coleman admitted what a lot of Michigan fans already knew. It was a mistake hiring Rodriguez. And she also told the crowd water was wet.



"We though, OK, well let's go hire the guy who invented the spread offense," Coleman said.


And it was the wrong call, she told members of the Rotary Club of Flint following a question on the topic from the crowd.


"He was a hot, young coach with a different approach," Coleman said of the decision to hire Rodriguez.


It could have worked if Rodriguez didn't have to deal with defections and taking knives out of his back. They screwed up the coaching search to begin with that led them to Rodriguez.

I'm not defending the guy but he never had a chance from the start.

Titans rookie Kendall Wright says Baylor had no playbook

Tennessee Titans rookie receiver Kendall Wright will be learning to do something that he never learned in college. Reading a playbook. Not that he has a learning disability or anything like that, it's just that he never had to read on while he was at Baylor.

Wright says Baylor coach Art Briles never used a playbook and they didn't huddle, opting for signals instead.

“At Baylor we didn't huddle. Everything we did was coming off of signals and off the sideline,” Wright said. “We didn't huddle at Baylor and we didn't have a playbook. If we had a new play or something, we'd just draw it and go out there and run it.



“I think I memorized over 300 plays at Baylor. … We had a lot of plays. We just didn't have a playbook. Coach Briles is a very smart man,” Wright said. “It was the same system. We were in that system for four years. It's kind of a different kind of learning deal. We'd see it visually and we'd just go run it. It just sticks with us when we keep running it a lot.


“We'd watch film and go over a lot of it in our meetings that we had. We'd have a lot of plays on the board, and have different signals. Whatever the signal was would tell us the play.”


Wright knows he'll have to adjust to offensive coordinator Chris Palmer's complex playbook but with the memory he has it might not be as bad as the adjustment some rookies have.


“We didn't have paper at Baylor. We have paper now. There's a lot of different wordings that tell you what to do differently for things like that,” Wright said. “I think we're the only team that didn't have a playbook.”

Brother of Vernon and Vontae Davis declared incompetent in murder case

The younger brother of San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis and Miami Dolphins cornerback Vontae Davis has been declared incompetent to stand trial in a murder case. 19 year old Michael Davis is charged with first-degree murder in the April death of 66-year-old Gary Dederichs.


Police say Dederichs was walking alone in a residential neighborhood when he was struck on the head with a hammer or similar weapon.


Davis has also been charged in two nonfatal attacks and is suspected in two additional assaults. All occurred over three days less than a mile from his home.


D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Morin declared Davis incompetent to stand trial Friday based on a psychiatrist's recommendation. Davis will be treated at a psychiatric hospital in hopes of restoring his competency.