Vai's View: Jimmer and Jazz could net perfect match

I had an interesting conversation with two NBA GMs this week about Jimmer Fredette following the rookie combine in Chicago last weekend. One told me Jimmer will be a scorer in the NBA because of his unique range, will likely play point guard at the next level, and in his opinion, will definitely be a lottery pick.

As for his defensive liabilities, the other GM told me most of his colleagues were impressed with Jimmer's athleticism, quickness and strength — that Jimmer is probably a better defensive player than he's been given credit for. Certainly, he has the tools to improve his defensive skills, but given his size he can still be exploited — especially if he's a two. At 6-foot-2, he's better suited to play the one than the two, just as the other GM suggested.

Of course, no one knows where he'll go or when or if he'll play the point, shooting guard, both or come off the bench.
Frankly, I want to see him go to the Jazz at 12. I admire the Millers, but I'm not a Jazz fan.

I follow the 76ers, but not because I work in Philly. I was a 76ers fan as a kid because I loved their backcourt of Maurice Cheeks at point and Andrew Toney at shooting guard, with a front court that included Julius "Doctor J" Erving at small forward and Moses Malone at center. My favorite player was Toney, because he tortured the Celtics — my least favorite team — earning the nickname, "The Boston Strangler."

I have a different reason for wanting to see Jimmer stay in Utah, and it has nothing to do with Jimmermania helping ticket sales or whether he can replace Deron Williams as the team's next great point guard.

Utah will probably use their third pick on a big man, their greater need as it's likely Jimmer will still be there at 12.

The reason I'd like Jimmer to remain in Utah is simple: he's still single. I'm told he's in a serious relationship with a BYU co-ed who will be a cheerleader next year. Good for him.

All of us who are LDS and played professional sports understand the challenges he'll face. If you're married, the transition is much easier to the jet-set life of a seven-figure salary, first-class travel, five-star hotels, team security by former FBI agents and unscrupulous women who await in lobbies, restaurants and stadiums.
If you're single, it's a treacherous minefield. Jimmer may have gotten a glimpse of it this year as the national player of the year, but the NBA life will be an entirely different thing. Unlike politics, professional sports forces you to declare and define your faith. A locker room full of type-A alpha-males WILL NOT allow room for wavering. Do you go to strip clubs with the guys or go home? Do you go to bars for beers with the fellas or go wander the mall? Do you succumb to women who throw themselves at you or go to the Institute building and play ping-pong?
If you're married, you always have someone to go home to, but if you're an LDS single trying to stay worthy, well, it's easy to feel lonely — even in the Big Apple or in Beantown, where everyone knows your name.

Personally, I never quite understood how an LDS athlete at a Utah school — BYU, Utah, Weber State, Utah State or SUU — can leave for the pros without a wife at his side. I mean, who has more opportunities to date marriage-eligible, temple-worthy college co-eds than a jock? Seriously. If a knucklehead like me could do it ...

Of course, no one should feel sorry for Jimmer. Most people would trade places with him in a New York minute.

Perhaps the most notable of the LDS athletes to enter professional sports as a bachelor was Steve Young. Dale Murphy was a 19-year-old convert, nonetheless, found himself a young single adult in pro baseball.

What Steve and Dale had in common besides their movie-star looks, priesthood worthiness and unlimited earning power, was they both returned to Provo in the off-season.

Both took classes at BYU — Steve as a law student and Dale as an undergraduate — while looking for Mrs. Right.

The city where you play may have a strong YSA program or local colleges with Institute programs, but none of them match the pool of eligible young women available in Utah. Hence, many of the LDS bachelor pros continue to return to Utah. Some, didn't even play college ball in Utah schools.

Jimmer could go to Milwaukee at 10 or Phoenix at 13, if the Jazz pass on him at 12. I played in both towns as a Packer and a Cardinal — there are more Saints in Phoenix so more YSA wards, and there is a vibrant Institute at ASU. But neither Milwaukee nor Phoenix have as many YSAs as Utah.

I've come across scores of handsome, wealthy, smart and, of course, athletic LDS members, just here in Philadelphia — current Eagles linebacker Stewart Bradley and former Eagles receiver and returned missionary Kevin Curtis among them. Shawn Bradley was single when he was drafted by the Sixers in the early '90s, but he found his wife in a singles' ward in Philly. Bryan Kehl was a bachelor in New York when he arrived as a rookie and while he played with the Giants. He found his eternal companion and is now married.

Former NBA player Mark Madsen, former NFL player/analyst Trevor Matich, Denver Broncos lineman Shawn Murphy, Rockies pitcher Matt Lindstrom, Washington Redskin DL Ma'ake Kemoeatu, Oakland Raider David Nixon and recent Eagles draftee Stanley Havili are just some of the LDS pros who were single when they left college. I know some but not all of them, so if any have since married, it hasn't been long.
Once you leave college, it gets harder, not easier to find a spouse, and it's the same if you're headed to the NBA or IBM. I've talked to dozens of single LDS pro athletes who lament their squandered opportunities while in college — especially former Cougars — to find a worthy mate.

That's why I'd like to see Jimmer get drafted by the Jazz. It would increase his chance of being a husband.

For LeBron James, NBA Fans Find It Easy to Forgive and Forget

red bottom heels

As LeBron James plays for the National Basketball Association's Eastern Conference championship and a berth in the finals, brand LeBron may finally be on its way back.
In the wake of "The Decision" -- the poorly received ESPN special last July in which Mr. James announced on live TV that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat -- the NBA superstar has quietly worked to repair his image, to the point where his No. 6 ended up as the league's best-selling jersey this year.

On Sunday, the largest audience in the history of NBA cable TV broadcasts watched Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals between Mr. James' Heat and the Chicago Bulls. Chicago leads the best-of-seven series 1-0 heading into tonight's Game 2.

That might not seem like much, but "it's a very good indication that he survived 'The Decision' debacle," said sports marketing expert Robert Tuchman.

"Most fans have memories like placekickers; they move on and forget prior gaffes," said David Carter, principal of the Los Angeles-based Sports Business Group and executive director of the University of Southern California Sports Business Institute. "The passage of time, and winning, certainly have helped him."

Ironically, Mr. James has done it by mostly keeping a low profile this season. While he has fronted the occasional spot for his sponsors, including a new State Farm commercial that began airing last month before the playoffs started, Mr. James has worked behind the scenes.

"His focus is basketball," said Maverick Carter, Mr. James' childhood friend and the president of his marketing company, LRMR Marketing & Branding. "We've done some things here and there, and he's built his brand in different ways, but his focus is on winning a championship."

Mr. James probably doesn't need to be any more ubiquitous than he had been. He and his handlers have picked the right spots, with endorsement deals with the world's biggest shoe and apparel company (Nike), the world's biggest soft-drink company (Coca-Cola), the world's biggest quick-serve restaurant chain (McDonald's) and the biggest insurance company in the U.S. (State Farm).

"You have to define 'back,'" said Steve Rosner, president of 16W Marketing in East Rutherford, N.J. "If you're saying his brand took a hit after the way it all went down, well, it did. If you're saying he's 'back,' I think it depends on who you're talking to."

Mr. Carter has orchestrated several deals this year involving Mr. James, almost all of them under the radar with the exception of an agreement for Mr. James to endorse Audemars Piguet watches and timepieces.

The basketball star will be actively involved in a State Farm initiative titled "26 Seconds," which will use music, sports and video to keep youngsters from dropping out of high school (which they do at the nationwide rate of one every 26 seconds).

Also last month, LRMR entered into a business partnership with Fenway Sports Management, with Messrs. James and Carter acquiring an interest in the English Premier League soccer club Liverpool FC, ranked as the sixth most valuable football team in the world by Forbes magazine.louboutin heels

That's not to say Mr. James hasn't had his missteps. In the aftermath of "The Decision" came his much-discussed Nike ad "What Should I Do?", which appeared just before the season began in October. The 90-second spot from Wieden & Kennedy featured highlights of the basketball star hitting back at critics, asking: "Should I admit I made mistakes? Should I really believe I ruined my legacy? Should I tell you I am not a role model? Should I be who you want me to be? Maybe I should just disappear?"

Intended to start rehabilitating his brand, it instead infuriated most fans to the point where the spot become parodied all over the internet. Mr. James also caught flack in January for tweeting after his former Cleveland teammates lost by 55 points to the Los Angeles Lakers: "Crazy. Karma is a b----. Gets you every time. Its [sic] not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!"

The Heat also got off to a slow start and did not finish with the league's best record, as many predicted. At one point, during a five-game losing streak, coach Erik Spoelstra told the media that the players were so dejected that a couple of them were crying in the locker room. That set off an internet and social-media deluge.

In addition, Mr. James' mother, Gloria, was arrested in April for allegedly assaulting a parking lot attendant in Miami Beach, and earlier this month Mr. James offended the mental health community when his microphone picked up his whispering "That's retarded" to teammate Dwayne Wade after Mr. Wade was asked a question at a postgame press conference.

Interestingly enough, after beating the Boston Celtics last week in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Mr. James apologized to the fans of Cleveland during another postgame press conference, saying, "The way it panned out with all the friends and family and the fans back home, I apologize for the way it happened. I knew this opportunity [to join the Heat] was once in a lifetime."

Matt Moore, a columnist for CBSSports.com, wrote, "It's strange that James would be having this resurgence, even if the evidence is based on that of the casual fan. The biggest storylines of this season surrounding James are of the whole crying thing, the Heat's struggles, his mother getting arrested, and him generally making comments which make him look bad. Those are the stories that reach casual fans."

But Mr. Tuchman said most fans, except for those in Cleveland perhaps, forgive and forget.

"He is still definitely in the top few endorsers in all of sports. No doubt about it. His brand is still very strong," Mr. Tuchman said. "It's pretty impressive considering he has not even won a title yet. I could only imagine where he will be if the Heat do win the championship."

Kyle Rudolph to prove he's the best tight end in the NFL Draft

You can't beat Nr. 1.
That was the thinking behind Kyle Rudolph the NFL Draft in April, said shortly after a junior season.

Although limited to six late games with a thigh injury season, the former Notre Dame tight end is widely regarded as the best chance in one of the weakest position in this year.
NFLDraftScout.com, U.S. Scouting Service today, Rudolph prices in the 40th Players, but no tight end earned selection in the first two rounds.
Normally, you select a tight end in the first round,  said Rudolph.  As the No. 1 tight end, all agreed that there is no reason for me to return to school because he can not do better than his.  This does not mean he has rested on its laurels.
DRAFT TEST: If you want first round of the draft?
TOP 500 Ranking: Analysis of the best NFL prospectsAfter October surgery on two of the three main tendons that the thigh was hip, 21, to connect repair spent three months in the rehabilitation team doctors from Notre Dame, then several great opportunities in their class project three months training at Velocity Sports Performance in Redondo Beach, California
The goal: to restore the ability of Rudolph was one of the most promising young tight ends last season before his injury countries.
Any injury to a tendon important because it is a lengthy process of rehabilitation,  says director Ken Speed 鈥嬧€媀ick, who has also in Washington, former quarterback Jake Locker and Texas A & M outside linebacker Von Miller during the season trained.
A lot of people back there, but many people never returned his speed. Kyle for the muscle pull is fine now and the rest back.  This means that Rudolph could Scouts saw sewing jigsaw approach in the tape drive last season.
He is back to normal,  said Vick.  It will be another three to six months back to 100%, but it could go and play today if I had to.  But Rodolfo emphasizes the fact that 100% and certainly before pro scouts projected demand for the review in April Notre Dame for seven days, the training is to see the players the skills and athletic officials from the NFL.
I am completely healed, and I have no side effects of my hamstring,  he said.  Right now I'm just standing on my day. I think I'm ready. It's something to do what I like. I like going out and catch balls. I have done all along, but I was not 100%, so that now to be able to, so running is still exciting.  Experts say that much depends on the performance of Rodolfo in South Bend, Indiana, as a coach and scout, if the probability be decided in the class is worth a first round game.
I think the injury is a major concern,  says analyst Rob NFLDraftScout.com position.  He was prone to injuries because it is a physical player.
There must be some concern that this is a guy who tends to Garner.  Rank said Rodolfo best assets are of exceptional size (6-6, 259 pounds) and showed good hands, Rudolph by the capture of eight shots in each game against Michigan and Michigan State games in the second and third respectively in 2010, the Irish season.
If you build up a tight end from zero, which had to look,  said Rangel.  But it's still a work in progress in the impasse, despite its size.
Teams want talent to be able to easily get close, go and run any route, although not at high speed. What he is best raise and lower the ball.  The final diagnosis?
He is the No. 1 tight end in the draft, but unfortunately that is not saying much this year,  said Rangel.  I was surprised he was selected in the first round, and I am also surprised to see him slip from the second.  It is a prospect that Rudolph has asked me what would be his opinion if he had not fallen in October.
I played six games, and I have not played any of them healthy,  he said.  I think about her all the time how he would have done if I was 100%. But everything happens for a reason and I can not look back and think about such things.  During the difficult process of rehabilitation, Rudolph asked the opinion of the Seattle Seahawks tight end John Carlson, a former recruit Domenech Rudolph helped Notre Dame and is represented by the same agency, Rudolph first athlete.
He says I can not lose focus on the whole, and crazy, and many people say different things and you hear a lot of different things,  said Rudolph.
But the only thing you can control, cares and focus on the best in the way.  Rudolph says he will continue his development until April 28th evening, the project with the choice to take the first round begins. Rudolph to his family at his home in Cincinnati have for the future use on television, even if you wait another day for pickup.
My goal as a rookie it is the No. 1 tight end became the team where they land,  says Rudolph.
I can play the game for the better. Play in the NFL was my dream since I was 4 years and now I get it done.

Americans can turn their neighbors in the Canadian Football Rules

The Canadian Football League (CFL) could exotic alternative, with its three low 12 players plus the field of movement and a conga line backfield, but offers the same action with nasty bone was the NFL American popular game.

are the eight teams in the league have been around 1958, and the Grey Cup - the Canadian equivalent of the Super Bowl - is for the 99th be contested this season.

Despite a rich history, the CFL has had limited exposure in the United States, and for the most part, remains a mystery to many Americans who are dedicated fans of the NFL.

But the CFL last year signed an agreement with the NFL Network to the games in the United States and the dispute over the network studied to add broadcast to fill a gap in programming as possible.

In terms of increasing exposure CFL (industrial action) may have some benefit,  said Michael Copeland, the CFL officer of the holding of Reuters.


The NFL Network has 14 games of the CFL last season, especially on Friday evening and was able to increase this number to 18 or more this year, if not, the NFL season to see start on time.

the number of spectators were described as modest, but the real value of the CFL was the exposure he received in a market that produce most of the players in the league continues.

I do not think our expectations were so great, but they were reasonable since they have a new property,  said Copeland.  I think they were impressed by the quality of the product and I think both are looking for, where it could go.

One of the advantages is that nice a game show great recruiting tool was for us.



For decades, thousands of American players have their way north of the border, where he found the foundation for a brilliant career in the NFL.

Moves Warren Moon, Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia, Joe Theismann and all your favorites in the CFL before returning to the home of several lucrative contracts.

Miami Dolphins players talk of lockouts, liters explore Dolphins

Dolphin response to the struggle of labor ranged from resentment moody. The NFL is said that more needs money, then they try to play again for us,  said Channing Crowder. However, players in the NFL. This is the fun part. They want everything and give us nothing.Ricky Williams, Twitter, urged his followers to pray for a resolution of work and assures us that prayer works if you believe it or not.Vontae Davis, Twitter cracked: Officially a lockout . I think I'm too fly to third world countries. I did everything at half price. Brian Hartline Twitter, if we apply for unemployment? LOL, not a football and not a [CBS] Two and a Half Men I thought this was America. But Earnest said in seeing the next Jake Long. I'm not worried about losing games. I do not think it will happen. If you want all the children together [training], because in two separate locations, where, when we come back, that not everyone knows what's going on on.Crowder he said Karlos Dansby and organize training Fielder Weston. But if the players are seriously injured could avoid the teams that will pay for the next season.
I have no problem with the owners earn more money if they will lose money,  said kicker Dan Carpenter. But we not only lose money to test his word. And the union says that the team loses money.
If the lock is long, I'm fine. I can take me,  said Crowder. But the younger Nolan Carroll, Jerry John, we do not have much money. When it comes to September, they have some money coming in Dansby has spoken to help their peers in need. A blockade could end in April? 6, when a judge in favor of the unions.
? Although the Dolphins plan to add at least one quarter challenge Chad Henne theyve people who do not know whether they purchase in a position, someone to beat the start the 2011 season certainly Henne said. If the lock is long, white hen Dolphins offense better than any competitor. And although the Dolphins are considering a number of veterans who can be signed or acted for a lockout during any errors.
They have internally about Kevin Kolb, Philadelphia spoken and demanded that comments from new running backs coach Jeff Nixon, an assistant Eagles the past four years. But there is a feeling, not with a 2011 first-round pick him.
The Dolphins not Carson Palmer, but do not know if the Bengals traded, or if he wants to play in Miami. In addition, his contract (expired 50 million over four years) a long detour. be considered when hes Donovan McNabb made to be released, but he knows hes down and had the same statistics Hennes 2010th

The dolphins could possibly end up with one of the other names will be available soon: Vince Young (Tennessee, have raised their concerns problems with the dolphins), Kerry Collins, Marc Bulger, Rex Grossman, Tarvaris Jackson, etc. hope, but the Dolphins that I'm more attractive, as Chad Pennington was doing when he fell to his knees in August 2008.

Baldinger: Kevin Kolb has not shown he can start in the NFL

NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger is 97.5 The Fan this afternoon with Johnny Marks and had not much to Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb, one of the most players in the league will be said spoken.
Baldwin was a great defender of the Kolb from last season when the quarterback was named the starter, but backup quarterback does not impress the Eagles, he played last year.
He said he did not know how Kolb played when they put pressure liners last season. Baldwin said Kolb was captured in a higher percentage than any other quarter in the league. Number 4 was sacked 16 times this season by throwing the ball only 189 times. Percentage Thatsit huge and not very far from being dismissed for 10% of the time.
Most viewers blame poor play on the offensive line of bags, the piston has suffered, but the former Eagles offensive lineman,  said Kolb origin of some of the bags because he did not say pocketBaldy fixed in position piston attempt to escape the pressure and not to improve the analyst football.The NFL not trust that piston to remain in the pocket when throwing under pressure, success, and the ball. He kept saying that Kolb would not have thought he was now ready for an entry in the league. 陋 ats to say too much that a guy who had called the Eagles starter a year is not ready now for an entry in the NFL.
Baldwin will get the Eagles a first-round pick for Kolb. Do not agree with Paul Domowitchs belief that birds acquire the ability for a first round pick for backup signal caller. With all the teams that a quarter to the league, so I can not find first-round pick piston now he will never lead a decent life.

I hope none of the teams who hear in the light of trade for piston Baldy, what to say it, because if they did, they had been able to return.

Source: Nets believe they will get Anthony

NEWARK, N.J. -- While the Nets remain confident about acquiring Carmelo Anthony, a person familiar with the trade talks says New Jersey is interested in acquiring some former Knicks if the Denver Nuggets decide to ship Anthony to New York.

The person insists the Nets remain "confident" they can acquire Anthony in a deal that would ship point guard Devin Harris, rookie Derrick Favours, two other players and four first-round draft picks to Denver. If the deal falls through or Anthony is dealt to the Knicks instead, the Nets are prepared to pick up some of the pieces.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak for the team.

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The Nets and Nuggets have talked about a deal in which New Jersey will send two first-round draft picks to Denver for Russian centre Timofey Mozgov and one of the three other players the Knicks reportedly are willing to send to Denver -- Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler or Raymond Felton -- according to the person familiar with the talks.

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said Monday he was "ready for anything."

"I think everybody is waiting the next three days to see what happens, see the cosmetics, see if it's big," he said. "We're ready for anything but we do business as usual. We're preparing for Milwaukee."

The Knicks return from the all-star break against the Bucks on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before the trade deadline, not knowing what their roster may look like. Gallinari, Felton, Mozgov and Chandler were all at practice Monday.

Asked if he favoured trading for Anthony while giving up three starters, D'Antoni said: "We could sit here, debate all day, but I'm not going to do it. It's just not worth it."

Anthony had said he hoped to resolve his future by the end of All-Star weekend while the entire basketball world gathered in Los Angeles. Instead, he remains a Nugget for now.

Gallinari, whose name has been mentioned ever since the Anthony trade talks started, said he had not talked to Knicks president Donnie Walsh and D'Antoni.

"We didn't talk about it because it's been getting old," he said. "The same thing for a month, more than that. We're talking about this team, what I should do, what I could do and what's my job, reach our goals. We're not talking about the trade.

"It's tough to leave New York. It's part of the NBA life and it's part of how the NBA works. You got to deal with that."

The Melodrama reached perhaps its most bizarre point Sunday. Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov essentially said at least the Nets drove up New York's price. And the Knicks hierarchy insisted they were unified in their pursuit of the all-star forward amid reports someone who no longer works for the team -- Isiah Thomas -- was pulling the strings.

Anthony finally acknowledged meeting with Prokhorov and Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan, saying they were "generic meetings that (the Nuggets) allowed me to take, but nothing specific."

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AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in Los Angeles and freelance writer Adriano Torres in Greenburgh, N.Y., contributed to this report.