ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith dropped a nugget of information Thursday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000 that surely caught the attention of plenty of Chicago Bulls fans. Smith said as soon as the lockout ends veteran swingman Tracy McGrady will sign wth the Bulls. If that happens, I doubt McGrady in a Bulls uniform gets them that much closer to a title whenever the new season begins. McGrady will be 33 in May and has been through the grind of 14 NBA seasons. He’s coming off a season with the Detroit Pistons in which he averaged just eight points. Granted, he played in 72 games, but he is a shell of the player he used to be. Cheap Jerseys He’s dealt with knee injuries over the past few years, including enduring the pain and rehabilitation that comes with microfracture knee surgery. He’s never been a great defender so how would that mix with Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau who preaches defense first, second and third? McGrady has a working relationship with Thibodeau from his days in Houston while Thibodeau was working on Jeff Van Gundy’s staff. But that didn’t make it any easier for McGrady to find a job on Thibodeau’s Bulls last season. They passed on McGrady after he openly campaigned to come to Chicago. “This was a great team, a pretty good team, without adding myself and Carlos Boozer, and some of the key players that they added this offseason,” McGrady said last summer. “You bring a coach in like [Tom] Thibodeau, who’s very defensive-minded, very smart and knows the game, knows what to get out of his players. “I think we can be really good, I really do.”
The organization wasn’t convinced that McGrady was totally healthy after all of his setbacks, and they weren’t sure how he would respond to playing a reserve role after so many years of being the go-to guy.Wholesale cheap jerseys  The Bulls loved their team chemistry a season ago and they weren’t sure how McGrady’s addition to the locker room would change things. So what’s the difference now? Is McGrady really the two-guard who can help the Bulls get past the Miami Heat? Is he a solid backup who could give them a spark off the bench and a jolt of offense when needed? I don’t think there’s much question that he’s a lot more of the latter. Either way, I don’t see how McGrady is much of an upgrade over Ronnie Brewer or Kyle Korver, the two guys he’d most likely be taking minutes from. Whether McGrady ends up with the Bulls, it still doesn’t get them much closer to the ultimate goal of winning a championship. The Bulls need a dynamic two-guard who can take some pressure off Derrick Rose, create his own shot and play solid defense.

With the prospect of a lockout-ending deal taking place next week, there’s no better time for the Raptors to prepare their annual roster makeover.While the Raptors were actually rather quiet last season, I’m willing to bet that won’t be the case again this year. Toronto’s got a lot of talented pieces but still has a ways to go before it fills the holes on the roster.Cheap NFL jerseys  With a talent log jam at power forward, expiring contracts and plenty of cap space, Bryan Colangelo and Ed Stefanski have plenty of tools to help them renovate the team.Toronto has already taken a head start in the offseason with the addition of general manager Stefanski, new head coach Dwane Casey and a number of other house cleaning duties such as picking up player options, drafting Valanciunas and retaining key guard Leandro Barbosa. Still, despite this the Raptors would do themselves a favor by being proactive in improving the roster instead of giving other teams an opportunity to grab the best free-agent/trade targets.There are a number of possible trades for Toronto, but there are few which really stood out to me. Here I’ll share these ideas and include a short summary for each, enjoy and remember to comment!The Minnesota T-Wolves have a log jam at the three slot with the addition of this June’s second overall draftee, and since Wesley Johnson (last year’s lottery prospect) struggled playing out of position as a two-guard last season. The Wolves’ biggest hole in the roster is the shooting guard position, and Barbosa would be a perfect fit. The Wolves are hoping to put together a winning season next year, as Kevin Love could decide to leave the team for more attractive options next summer, and there’s no use in holding onto Beasley, who will likely ask for a pay raise at season’s end.
Leandro Barbosa averaged 13.3 points in only 24 minutes last season. Barbosa struggled with a nagging wrist injury and a shoulder injury all season, but his numbers were still very impressive. Barbosa averaged 20 points per game per 36 minutes and could have lead the Raptors in scoring had he seen the opportunities that Bargnani and DeRozan saw. wholesale nfl jerseys Barbosa will be healthy next season and in his prime, with a contract year ahead you can count on Barbosa to put up career numbers starting next season.While Barbosa is loved by Raptors fans, the team is lacking a true starting small forward. Michael Beasley would be a great fit for Toronto’s young core. Beasley has had a number of off-court issues and confrontations, but there’s no doubting he’s got the swagger and talent that Toronto’s been missing ever since losing Bosh. Both Barbosa and Beasley will be upcoming free agents and have similar salaries.There have been rumors that the Atlanta Hawks are looking to move forward Josh Smith when the season starts. Josh Smith is a very talented player and has helped the Hawks establish themselves as a perennial 50-win NBA team. Still this may not be enough. While no one in Atlanta denies that Smith is an All-Star talent, the $25.6 million owed to him over the next two years might be too expensive for the small-market Hawks team. The Hawks already run the risk of losing Jamal Crawford this offseason while Joe Johnson and Al Horford have only just began to cash in on their bloated contract extensions.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky has been approached by an American company interested in purchasing a majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, owners of hockey team the Toronto Maple Leafs and NBA squad the Toronto Raptors.The Great One, known as one of the greatest National Hockey League players ever, is being courted by Providence Equity Partners, an American equity firm said to be interested in buying a stake in MLSE, according to a report from Sportsnet. In some way, the firm wants Gretzky to join their purchase.wholesale jerseys Gretzky was asked about the interest from the Providence group, and he told Sportsnet: “Yes, I’ve been approached by multiple firms considering the purchase of MLSE.”
There was no other information about Gretzky expressing interest in the purchase. He hasn’t had the best luck with owning teams: Sportsnet writes the last team he owned, the Phoenix Coyotes, still owe more than $8 million in deferred money, due to an ongoing bankruptcy tie-up with the NHL.Earlier this year, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund, the majority owner of MLSE, announced they were interested in selling their $1.5 billion share in the sports behemoth.One NHL executive told the Toronto Star said the league “would love to have Wayne back in the game” but he added it was unfair to link him to the Leafs.Gretzky retired from hockey in 1999 after decades of dominating the stat board. He won a Stanley Cup with both the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings.
Team Up Foundation executive director Mike Bartlett said the three courts have unique needs and were identified as being in need of upgrades by leaders in the communities in which they are located.”One thing we do is we go through a consultation process with each community to find out what their unique requirements are,” he said. Wholesale soccer uniforms “The indoor court (at the CYC) needs a new floor, 100 per cent and needs a lot of TLC around the outside of the court.”Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said he and the rest of his coaching staff were excited to lend their time to CYC youth. He added that the refurbishment of the three courts would help make them more usable – a definite need in the at-risk communities in which they are located.”We’ve been young players looking for a place to go that’s safe,” he said. “This, for me, is very exciting because I would have loved to have a place like this to play.”The refurbishment of the court will include new flooring to replace the worn floor currently in use, replacement of the rims and backboards and the addition of padding around the walls to help make the court safer for youngsters.For 13-year-old youngster Isiah Samlal, the refurbishment will definitely add to the enjoyment of the facility. Some improvements have already been made to the court, but the Team Up Foundation’s investment will improve the standards at the CYC’s court immensely.

Josh Colle and Michael Thompson are concerned about the NBA lockout and its potential impact on the city’s economy. Sure, it’s easy to forget, but the Toronto Raptors actually rake in a lot of money. Cheap Jerseys The Globe and Mail reports that the Raps “are one of 10 NBA teams that average more than $1 million a game in gate receipts,” and that the Air Canada Centre adds roughly $2.4 billion annually to Toronto’s economy. But we have to wonder—like some of the commenters on the Globe story—how significant that impact really is. Sports teams don’t actually create new capital, so the money that isn’t being spent on the Raptors is likely being redistributed elsewhere in the local economy. Of course, from a sports perspective, it’s no secret that teams often struggle to rebuild their fan bases after a cancelled season. Just ask the poor Montreal Expos.
Sale rumors surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and the rest of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment have come and gone before, but they’re popping back up with news that an American-based investment firm is interested in the company.According to a report in the Toronto Star, Providence Equity Partners is interested in purchasing the large stake of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment owned currently by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. NFL Wholesale JerseysThey currently hold a 79.5 percent stake in the company, which owns the Maple Leafs, the Raptors, the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies, MLS club Toronto FC and several facilities, including Air Canada Centre. Part of the interest certainly comes from the fact that MLSE is a company with ridiculously valuable assets such as the Leafs, but the investment firm seems interested also in the potential. Via the Star report.In the case of an offer made by the Providence, R.I.-based company, current MLSE minority owner Larry Tanenbaum would have the right to match. Of course, the ongoing NBA lockout and the uncertainty with the NHL’s labor situation a year from now is likely to complicate all matters. executive director Spiros Papathanasakis noted the refurbishment of the court would be the final step in the facility’s $1 million renovation, much of which was completed in the summer. The site, which offers child care and youth programming for thousands of youngsters in the downtown core was once an old garage that now includes programming space in which CYC staff run numerous programs. The CYC’s main site at 2 Lancaster Ave. is home to the basketball court, with other programs running out of satellite locations in the Cabbagetown and St. James Town communities.

On the heels of the Cincinnati Bengals telling Hamilton County Commissioners they’re willing to live within a budget, Cincinnati Reds CEO Phillip Castellini today informed the county the Reds would do the same.wholesale jerseys Instead of spending an expected $24 million on repairs to Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park between 2011 and 2015, the county asked the teams to spend $8 million.Under the county’s proposal, the Bengals would be allotted $6 million; the Reds $2 million.The deal was outlined in an Oct. 3 letter to the teams from Hamilton County Administrator Christian Sigman. It does not mention giving the teams anything in return for the commitment. But, the Bengals have said the county promised that if the sales tax performs above projections over the next four years, the extra cash would be split between the teams and put into in a capital reserve fund.
The teams didn’t have to comply with the request. The county – which owns the stadiums – is legally obligated to pay for the improvements under the terms of the team leases.
The Cincinnati Reds announce their 2012 Cactus League exhibition schedule, which opens with three games against the Cleveland Indians on March 3-5 at Goodyear Ballpark.The Reds play 33 exhibition games during the Spring Training season including 19 at Goodyear Ballpark. Cactus League opponents will include the American League Champion Texas Rangers,NFL Wholesale Jerseys  division winners Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers and perennial spring favorites such as the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners.
The Reds play all homes games at the 10,000 seat Goodyear Ballpark at the Goodyear Recreation Complex, which also includes the Reds Player Development Complex and the Indians Development Complex.The Reds will close out the 2012 exhibition schedule on April 2 against the Indians before traveling back to Cincinnati to face the Miami Marlins on Opening Day.Spring Training Ticket Information.Deposits are currently being accepted for 2012 Spring Training season ticket plans, which offer preferred pricing advantages, access to great seat locations and many other account holder amenities. Full season Reds and Indians and half season Reds ticket plans are available. Visit reds.com/goodyear or call the Goodyear Ballpark Ticket Office at (623) 882-3130 for more information.Three game “Mini Plans” and group tickets go on sale Monday, November 28 at 10 am Mountain Standard Time (MST). With Mini Plans, fans are able to combine Reds and Indians home games to make up the perfect Spring Training getaway.Individual Spring Training game tickets go on sale Saturday, December 17 at 10 am MST.Goodyear Ballpark offers ticket options for all fans, from $8 tickets on the outfield “Berm” to premium seating areas complete with all-inclusive food and non-alcoholic beverages. Special discounted tickets for kids will be offered again this spring. Outfield Box, Outfield Reserved or Berm tickets will be half-price for children with the purchase of a regularly-priced ticket in the respective section.

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos has been rescued from kidnappers after Venezuelan police swooped in to save him in a flurry of gunfire and arrested five alleged abductors.Cheap Jerseys The 24-year-old said he was happy and thankful to be alive, and that the final moments had been hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy fire in the remote mountainous area where he was being held.”The truth is I’m still very nervous, but thanks to God, everything turned out well,” Ramos told Venezuelan state television, speaking by telephone after arriving at a police station in his hometown of Valencia early Saturday.He thanked the police and National Guard commandos who rescued him, saying “the boys did a great job.”Ramos had not been seen or heard from since he was seized at gunpoint outside his home Wednesday night and whisked away in an SUV. It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, and the abduction set off an outpouring of candlelight vigils and public prayers at stadiums as well as outside Ramos’ home.Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami announced on Friday night that Ramos was “safe and sound” after the rescue. He didn’t say whether anyone had been wounded in the gunfire.Five men were arrested in the kidnapping, including a Colombian “linked to paramilitary groups and to kidnapping groups,” El Aissami said.”Three guys grabbed me there in front of my house,” Ramos said. “…they took me to another SUV and from there they took me into the mountains,” in central Carabobo state.He said his abductors spoke little to him. “They simply told me to cooperate, that they were going to ask for a ton of cash for me.”
The Washington Nationals’ search for a veteran starting pitcher to anchor their staff has led them to free-agent left-hander Mark Buehrle. According to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo will meet with Jeff Berry, Buehrle’s agent, before leaving GM meetings.Buehrle is the third starter to draw Washington’s interest, following Roy Oswalt and C.J. Wilson. NFL Wholesale Jerseys As Kilgore notes, “it is believed that their top priority is Buehrle.”Buehrle, who will turn 33 during Spring Training, has spent his entire 12-year career with the Chicago White Sox, compiling a 3.83 earned run average and a 161-119 record. He’s also earned four All-Star appearances and three Gold Glove awards. He might be most famous for throwing a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009.Buehrle is a workhorse: in his 11 seasons as a full-time starter, he has never appeared in fewer than 30 games or pitched fewer than 201 innings. In his most recent season, the St. Charles, MO native went 13-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 31 starts.

NEW YORK When Mike Krzyzewski won the first game of his coaching career, the player who would deliver him his 903rd was still almost 16 years away from being born.Andre Dawkins was born on Sept. 19, 1991, years after Army beat Lehigh on Nov. 28, 1975, to inaugurate a coaching career that still rolls on 36 years later and when, on a Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, Dawkins scored 26 points to help Duke to a 74-69 win over Michigan State that meant nothing and everything.Cheap Jerseys It moved Duke to 3-0 on the season, gave the Blue Devils a second quality win over an NCAA tournament-caliber team, and secured Krzyzewski’s place in basketball history, not that he wasn’t there already, in front of his own coach at Army, the man who until Tuesday night held the record with 902 wins, Bobby Knight.When it was over, Krzyzewski shook hands with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, then headed straight across the court to Knight, who was working as an analyst for ESPN.Krzyzewski and Knight shared a prolonged embrace as his players donned ’903′ hats.After a presentation at midcourt with NCAA president Mark Emmert, it was on to his wife Mickie, sitting behind the Duke bench, and then a huddle with his team before he was ushered off the court, with more celebration to come later in the night.But, this 903rd win is just another win for a coach who has won hundreds.
It doesn’t secure a 12th trip to the Final Four.It doesn’t win a fifth national title.It doesn’t win another Olympic gold medal.”I don’t know yet,” Krzyzewski said. “I just play every game, coach every game the same. They just start adding up. wholesale nfl jerseys I think it’ll mean a lot when it’s all over. I don’t know when that will be.”It doesn’t set the bar, because Krzyzewski is nowhere near finished.It’s a nice nonconference win on a November night that gets the record out of the way so Krzyzewski can move on to the real business at hand: getting a very young Duke team ready for ACC play, ready to win games like this in March and April when they matter for reasons nothing to do with the coach and how long he’s been around.And oh, how he’s been around – long enough to watch his players become pros, become broadcasters, become coaches.Many of them were at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, and not just sitting beside him on the Duke bench – Grant Hill, Shane Battier, Bobby Hurley, Mike Dunleavy and Jay Bilas, just to name a few – along with a few of his Olympic players who didn’t go to Duke.At this point in his career, with the record and the national titles and the Final Fours and the gold medal, it’s fair to ask, what’s next? The answer, as always, is another game, another win, another step forward toward the goals that really matter – ACC championships, Final Fours and national titles.He won’t be happy with the way the Blue Devils played late, as a 20-point lead dwindled down to five. It’ll be a learning moment for Krzyzewski, once the 903 hats his players wore Tuesday have been cleared out of the locker room.

The euro slipped to a fresh one-month low against the dollar and the yen on Wednesday as the euro zone debt crisis threatened to engulf top-rated members such as France, as government bonds of core countries came under pressure.The common currency fell as far as $1.3460, its lowest level in more than a month, after the French bond yield spread over benchmark German bunds hit euro-era highs.Italian yields shot back above the critical 7 percent level as the appointment of former EU Commissioner Mario Monti to head a new government failed to quell concerns over the country’s long-term political and economic future.wholesale jerseys “It’s not clear if a new government in Italy can carry out measures that would satisfy the market. I would not be surprised if the euro falls to around $1.30 within two weeks,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief strategist at Barclays.With the currency bloc caught in a vicious cycle of falls in government bonds hurting the region’s big banks, further undermining confidence in the area, the euro is coming under heavy pressure.Funding strains among European banks are evident with euro/dollar three-month cross currency basis swap spreads widening to a level not seen since late 2008.The next immediate target for euro/dollar is seen at $1.3405-10, the bottom of the weekly Ichimoku cloud and a 76.4 percent retracement of the pair’s rally last month. A break there would open the way for a test of the Oct. 4 low of $1.3145.Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, said the debt crisis that started in Greece two years ago may be festering even Germany.”In the past, the spreads of periphery countries rose as their bond yields rose while German bund yields fell. But these days bund yields hardly fall. What this means is that the debt domino is almost reaching Germany,” said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank.”I think the ECB is likely to take policy action, probably buying more government bonds and cutting rates, even before the next policy-setting meeting on Dec. 8,” Uno added.
A turnaround on Wall Street, which closed in positive territory on the back of stronger-than-expected U.S. data, did not do much to ease fears.”While it is clear that the data in the U.S. is improving, European concerns far outweigh at present,” said David Scutt, a trader at Arab Bank Australia in Sydney.”Markets are clearly expecting a circuit breaker to alleviate pressure on periphery bond yields. Wholesale soccer uniforms If no announcement is forthcoming in the days ahead, one suspects that situation could unravel fairly quickly.”Political developments in two euro zone hot spots were mixed. In Rome, Prime Minister designate Monti will meet the Italian president on Wednesday to present a new government.But in Athens, Greek conservatives said they would not bow to “dictates from Brussels” over a bailout designed to save their country from bankruptcy and safeguard the euro.The wobbly euro lifted the dollar index to one-month high of 78.33, well off week’s low of 76.751.Broad risk aversion also hit commodity currencies hard, with the Australian dollar falling more than one percent to $1.0074.

If there was any time for the Calgary Flames to come away with a much needed victory to turn their season around it was Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche as the Flames raced out to an early lead and never looked back and looked like the team people thought they could be from start to finish. Cheap Jerseys The Flames look to keep rolling as they host the Senators who are coming off an impressive win of their own against the Maple Leafs and look to continue their ascent up the Eastern Conference standings with another key road victory.
The Senators dominated the Maple Leafs in Tonto on Saturday night and with a win tonight they can move to .500 omn the season and draw within 3 points of the Leafs in the northeast division. Ottawa had little expectations coming into the season but a nice combination of veteran presence with youth energy and this team has come up with some big victories against some pretty respectable competition. Jason Spezza continues to be an offensive producer for this team and if he can get some continued support the Sens could very well continue their surprising season and maybe with a little help crack the final playoff spot in the East. Craig Anderson goes for the Sens tonight as he should match up against Miikka Kiprusoff of the Flames.
  Calgary has had an up and down season but the victory in Colorado could be the spark to turn things around as they currently sit in last place in the Northwest division and 13th overall in the Western Conference. Wholesale cheap jerseys However a few victories in a row could change the aura surrounding this team and they definitely have the offense to pull it off. Jarome Iginla, Curtis Glencross, Rene Bourque and Alex Tanguay lead the Flames up front and if they can match the type of performance they had in Colorado they should have no problems disposing of a Senators team who isn’t very deep. Kiprusoff needs to string together some victories to get his confidence back but the first game back at home after a huge road win will always ignite a fire under the players. Take Calgary in a rmp.Craig Hartsburg, fired by the Ottawa Senators about 2 1/2 years ago, could be inching toward another head-coaching job – if, of course, speculation is to be believed, and that’s always a dangerous thing to do.Now an associate coach with the Calgary Flames, Hartsburg is thought to be the heir apparent when his good buddy, Brent Sutter, is fired. Sutter is in the final year of his contract and so far there has been no talk of an extension.

Nothing has been easy for Anderson this season. Signed to a four-year, $12.75 million last spring, he’s struggled to reach the level that saw him go 11-5-1 record with a 2.05 GAA and a .939 save percentage with Ottawa after he was acquired in a trade with the Avalanche.The 30-year-old Anderson, who is 7-6 with a 3.52 GAA in 16 appearances this season, has been pulled three times. His win/loss record is better than .500, but his save percentage is .887, which has him ranked No. 42 in the league.Cheap JerseysThe fact MacLean went back to Anderson in Toronto after the disaster in Buffalo Friday when he allowed two goals on six shots didn’t go unnoticed.The explanation by MacLean at the morning skate was simple: “He’s our No. 1 goalie.”“It’s a good start. Something to build off of. I’ve just got to move forward and dwell on the positives,” said Anderson. “When called upon, you have to do the job. You play well, you’re going to be rewarded.“When you don’t play well, you don’t play. It was kind of fight or flight (vs. Toronto). You either get in there and do the job or they’ll find someone else who will.”Anderson said he had a talk with MacLean about Friday.“It’s a huge confidence lift when the coach comes to you and says you weren’t very good the night before, we need more out of you, and you respond,” Anderson said. “It’s a huge emotional lift knowing that he’s got confidence in me and that makes my confidence go higher and higher.”
Now, Anderson can’t be blamed for everything that has gone wrong on the nights the Senators have lost. Ottawa hasn’t done a very good job defensively and it’s no accident that MacLean switched his blue-line pairings in Toronto.Not only was Brian Lee in for rookie David Rundblad to play with Jared Cowen, veterans Chris Phillips and Sergei Gonchar were reunited, while Filip Kuba played with Erik Karlsson.NFL Wholesale Jerseys  Kuba and Karlsson were both minus-3 in Buffalo.Reimer was off to a 4-0-1 start to the season, but he hasn’t played since sustaining head and neck injuries on Oct. 22 in Montreal. The team has yet to reveal a timetable for Reimer’s return to the crease.Mike Komisarek is expected to play tonight after the Leafs defenseman took a slash on the wrist from St. Louis forward Jason Arnott.The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season by posting a shootout victory Thursday in St. Louis. The 3-2 win came on the heels of back-to-back losses that saw Toronto get outscored by a combined 12-1 margin. Both of those lopsided setbacks came on home ice, where Toronto is 5-2-1 this season.