Sports update 12/13/11

Miami Dolphins fire Tony Sparano. Todd Bowles named interim head coach.

Kansas City Chiefs fire Todd Haley (he guided team to AFC West title in 2010). Romeo Crennel named interim coach.

Proposed trade sending Chris Paul to the LA Clippers has apparently "collapsed" due to high asking price as of Monday afternoon. As of Monday evening/early Tuesday it appears there might still be life in the deal. Will address it again, as things change.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby out indefinitely (again) with concussion-like symptoms.

Dallas Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray suffered broken right ankle vs Giants, ending his rookie season.

LA Lakers trade forward Lamar Odom (Kardashian) and 2nd-rd pick to Dallas Mavericks for 1st-rd pick and a trade exception.

Houston Texans earned their 1st playoff berth in 10-year history of the franchise, clinch AFC South title.

Tim Tebow wins again, improves to 7-1 as starter for the Broncos. The Broncos have now won 6 straight games. People can hate all they want on him but the guy just wins. Gotta love that and his team oriented approach to his success.

All-Star forward David West leaves the Hornets, signs with Pacers (2-year, $20 million deal).

Free agent 3B Aramis Ramirez agrees to 3-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

New Jersey Nets owner says he will enter Russian presidential election.

New York Jets starting safety Jim Leonhard out for season with knee injury.

J.J. Barea (formerly of the Dallas Mavericks) agrees to 4-year, $19 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Minnesota Timberwolves finalize contract with forward Derrick Williams (No. 2 pick in draft).

Syracuse new No. 1 in ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Ohio State 2nd, Kentucky drops to 3rd. Louisville and Duke round out the top 5.

Cincinnati Bengals starting RG Bobbie Williams to miss rest of the season with fractured ankle.

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony day-to-day after hyperextending knee in practice Monday.

National League MVP, Ryan Braun (Brewers), tested positive for PED's, it was revealed over the weekend.

Suspensions handed down by Xavier and Cincinnati teams following on court brawl near the end of rivalry game between the two schools. After the brawl ensued the game was ended with 9 seconds remaining. Each school's conference can tack on suspensions as well and an Ohio prosecutor is mulling the idea of criminal charges from the fight.

Kevin Sumlin introduced as new Texas A&M head football coach. Sumlin comes to A&M from the Houston Cougars.

Robert Griffin, III won the Heisman Trophy. RG3 is the first Baylor Bear to win the Heisman. Stanford QB Andrew Luck finished 2nd for the second-straight year.

Former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno fractures pelvis after fall at his home.

Pittsburgh Pirates trade RP Jose Veras to Milwaukee Brewers for 3B Casey McGehee.

NHL: Kings fire coach Terry Murray. Name John Stevens interim coach. 

Seattle beats St. Louis on Monday Night Football, 30-13.

Green Bay Packers WR Greg Jennings out 2-3 weeks with knee sprain.

San Diego State will join Big West in all sports, except football (Big East), for 2013.

Miami (FL) RB Lamar Miller will enter NFL Draft.

LA Clippers claim PG Chauncey Billups off waivers.

LA Clippers match 4-year, $43 million offer sheet that C DeAndre Jordan signed with Warriors.



Andy's comments:

No surprises in the coaching firings.

The Chris Paul situation is sad for Chris Paul and for the Hornets. The Lakers trade offer (with Houston attached) returned a lot to the Hornets. As does the Clippers offer. Regardless, Paul has said he won't sign an extension with the Hornets so they stand to lose him at the end of the season either way. The travesty is that the league decided to step in and block the original Lakers/Rockets/Hornets deal. Sure, part of the lock-out focused on trying to keep star players in the smaller markets but when said market will lose the star anyway it was extremely petty for the league owners to protest the trade. Especially given that the Lakers gave up two of their top three players in the proposal - and Chris Paul has well-known knee issues, already. Funny, no one argued when the Lakers then turned around and traded Lamar Odom to the Mavericks for a trade exception and a draft pick. Point is that having the league running the Hornets is hurting the Hornets and the league. Either the Lakers deal or the Clippers deal are both fair trades (except to a small minority of whiny owners/GMs) that gave the Hornets a lot in return (quality and quantity) and the fact that BOTH deals have had such a hard time going through shows you that the "asking price" is way too high (and that there are ulterior motives at play) - when you see the Lakers/Rockets/Hornets and Clippers/Hornets deals on paper. But it is what it is...as they say. It appears now that the Clippers/Hornets deal may be back on again which is fine but frustrating from a Lakers fan perspective that the Lakers deal only didn't happen because owners like Dan Gilbert (Cavs owner that caused that huge fuss over LeBron as well) and Mark Cuban (who ironically then received Odom from the Lakers - and is a known whiner in his own right) didn't get Chris Paul (or the players they wanted - Lebron staying in Cleveland for Gilbert) and thus didn't want the Lakers to restock their shelves. Which is dumb as well because the Lakers can just sign whomever they want in the summer anyway.

Sidney Crosby often gets the "soft" label from fans of other teams (especially Caps fans) but you can't be too cautious with concussion or head issues. As we've seen with boxers just one too many blows to the head can cause permanent damage. This setback for Crosby has to be frustrating for him, even more so than for the fans. I'm getting tired of it, but again they're better off being overly-cautious so we'll see when (or if) he comes back this season. The Pens were winning without Crosby so they'll probably continue to do so without him, again. Hopefully, he can get over these issues though because, regardless of what haters will tell you, Crosby is a great draw for the NHL and is just great for the NHL, in general, as well.

Congrats to the Houston Texans on their first playoff berth!

Hats off to Tim Tebow for again helping lead the Broncos to a come-from-behind win against Chicago. The Broncos vs Patriots match-up next weekend should be entertaining...to say they least. Couldn't find two QBs that get more attention than Brady vs Tebow.

Not sure why the Lakers turned around (after failing to complete the Chris Paul deal) and basically gave away Lamar Odom to the team that knocked them out of the NBA Playoffs. Obviously, part of it was because of Lamar Kardashian...I mean Odom crying on the radio when asked about possibly leaving the Lakers. Sure, he gave the Lakers several really good years and had a good season last year but 1) it's a business - you have to realize that and 2) the Lakers LOST in the playoffs so someone was bound to move on. Not sure why Odom would be overly surprised. And I don't buy that it had ANYTHING to do with him being on reality TV. That sounds like something the Kardashians cooked up - you know because they don't accept responsibility for anything, either.

I guess you could say that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has "Put-in" to run for President - bad joke going around the internet. 

The Pirates trade of Veras for McGehee is a surprisingly good deal for the Pirates (not "great" but good). Veras probably would have been "non-tendered" by the Pirates and this way they get a return for Veras. Not only that but in McGehee they received a nice insurance policy for Pedro Alvarez (in case he doesn't perform, again, at 3B). 

Never been a fan of the Brewers (well at least since they joined the NL Central) so I wasn't sad or disappointed that Ryan Braun tested positive for PEDs. Actually, knowing the history between Braun and the Pirates (production wise and whining from Braun) I rather enjoyed the news. Braun swears he's innocent - man, where have we heard that before? Not like other accused baseball players have said that...oh wait. I always heard that steroids (or whatever performance enhancer) made certain parts of your body change, like your head, bigger. This FINALLY explains why Ryan Braun's eyes are always about to pop out of their sockets!

But just when I thought the Brewers might come back to earth they went and signed former Pirate (and more recently Cub) Aramis Ramirez. At least they won't have Prince Fielder and probably won't have Braun for the first 50 games.

Updated 12/13/2011 5:45AM