Chelsea won’t sign players

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Premier League leaders Chelsea are not planning on doing business during the January transfer window, manager Jose Mourinho said.


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London - Premier League leaders Chelsea are not planning on doing business during the January transfer window, manager Jose Mourinho said on Friday.


Mourinho's men have topped the table for most of the season but having let a six-point lead slip to two in recent weeks with Manchester City hot on their tails, British media speculated Chelsea could bolster their defence.


The Portuguese, though, said he was happy with his squad and had no plans to buy defensive reinforcements despite his back four being carved apart in a 5-3 defeat at local rivals Tottenham Hotspur two weeks ago.


“I'm happy with the squad, it is not a big group but a good group,” Mourinho told a news conference ahead of his team's visit to Swansea City on Saturday.


“I'll be happy if nobody leaves or nobody comes but the market is open so you never know.


“I have the two best goalkeepers in the Premier League, I have fantastic defenders. The team defends very well. We conceded five in one game and that is better than conceding one each in five matches and losing five matches.”


Title rivals Manchester City have already added to their squad with the signing of Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony from Swansea for a reported 30 million pounds ($45.54 million) on Wednesday.


Asked for his view on the deal, Mourinho remained unmoved by City's new signing.


“Well done. He is a good player and a good striker,” Mourinho said. “If they have the money and can spend the money and have no problems with Financial Fair Play, well done.


“They can only play with 11 though. If Bony plays and Dzeko is on the bench then I am happy with that. But to have Aguero, Jovetic, Bony and Dzeko is magnificent.”


Mourinho faced the media on Friday for the first time after missing last week's press conference before a win against Newcastle United.


He had refused to face reporters after being charged with misconduct by the Football Association for claiming there was a campaign against Chelsea following a draw at third-placed Southampton.


“Now I am in conditions to control myself and a week ago I couldn't control my words so to avoid bigger problems I stayed away,” Mourinho explained.


“I am not interested in the FA charge, I just ignore it and get on with my job.” – Reuters






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Nasri injury blow for City

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Manchester City's Samir Nasri will miss Sunday's game against former club Arsenal after being ruled out for up to a month with a calf injury.


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London - Manchester City's Samir Nasri will miss Sunday's game against former club Arsenal after being ruled out for up to a month with a calf injury, manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Friday.


The France playmaker is also likely to sit out their crucial clash with Premier League leaders Chelsea on Jan. 31, but there was better news on the injury front for City fans with captain Vincent Kompany and striker Sergio Aguero declared fit.


“Unfortunately, Samir Nasri has a calf injury so he will not be fit. I think he will be out for around three weeks to a month,” Pellegrini told reporters.


“Vincent Kompany is 100 percent fit. We have some doubts about Edin Dzeko. We will see tomorrow the squad list.”


The Chilean coach was again pressed on the future of Yaya Toure, who is away at the African Nations Cup, after the midfielder refused to confirm he would be at the club next season in an interview with CNN.


Pellegrini, however, seemed unconcerned.


“I think Yaya is 100 percent committed with our team and with this team. I don't have any doubts about that,” he said.


City's title challenge suffered a blow as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton on Saturday which left them two points behind Chelsea.


Having drawn two of their last three league games, City need a victory to stay on the coat-tails of Jose Mourinho's side, who could extend their lead to five points with victory over Swansea City on Saturday.


“It's a very important game,” Pellegrini said.


“Arsenal are not at the top of the table at the moment but they always have high targets. Both teams play very attractive football so I hope we are going to see a very good match.”


City reinforced their attacking options this week with a 28-million pound ($42.4 million) deal for striker Wilfried Bony, but will not be able to call on his services until he returns from the Nations Cup with Ivory Coast.


Pellegrini stressed that the arrival of the powerhouse forward does not spell the end of the road for Stevan Jovetic at the Etihad Stadium.


“Bony is replacing Alvaro (Negredo), not Jovetic. Stevan is a very important player for us,” he said.


“We sold Alvaro because he had personal problems and did not want to continue here.” – Reuters






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Chiefs release Nkhatha early

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Kingston Nkhatha is no longer a Kaizer Chiefs player and has joined SuperSport United with immediate effect, Chiefs said on Twitter.


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Johanneburg – Kingston Nkhatha is no longer a Kaizer Chiefs player and has joined SuperSport United with immediate effect, Chiefs said on Twitter.


“Breaking News: Kingston Nkhatha is no longer a Glamour Boy and has joined SuperSport United with immediate effect! We wish him all the best!” Chiefs tweeted from their official account, (at)Kaizer_Chiefs.


Chiefs provided further confirmation on their official website.


“We wish to take this opportunity to thank Kingston for the service he has rendered during his time with us,” Chiefs' director of football, Bobby Motaung, told kaizerchiefs.com.


United announced their capture of Nkhatha last week, stating that the player would join the Pretoria team at the end of his contract with Chiefs on July 1.


But the two clubs successfully managed to negotiate the player's early release, paving the way for the Zimbabwean striker to make his move to Matsatsantsa six months ahead of schedule.


Nkhatha had entered into the final six months of his contract at Chiefs, meaning he was able to speak to any club regarding a move away from Naturena.


Nkhatha spent two-and-a-half years with the Glamour Boys after signing from Black Leopards on July 1, 2012. –Sapa






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News sport : Russell Westbrook stonewalls reporters in awkward post-game scene

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The vast majority of interactions between athletes and media members are filled with disdain. Even when questions and answers take on the most innocuous forms possible, there are often undercurrents of mutual condescension between those who ask and those who respond. A press conference filled with utterances of "talk about" and "just played hard" isn't exactly kind just because it's professional. Both parties are playing roles, not interacting in any meaningful way.


Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook has never shown much interest in that sort of post-game professionalism. The three-time All-Star left a post-game scrum in disdain two seasons ago, answered every question with the same answer after an ejection earlier this season, and gave another super-short media availability just this past Monday. It is officially a trend for him to disregard questions from the media.


In some ways, then, Westbrook's time with reporters after Friday's impressive 127-115 win over the NBA-best Golden State Warriors is not especially new. It did, however, reach new levels of awkwardness and discomfort. Take a look:



The Oklahoman's Anthony Slater posted the full transcript to Twitter:



The most awkward part of the interaction — which is really saying something — is absolutely when Westbrook tells columnist Berry Trammel of The Oklahoman that he flat-out doesn't like him. As noted by Seth Rosenthal of SB Nation, Trammel has a history of calling out the notoriously (and often unfairly) divisive Westbrook and works at the newspaper responsible for the bizarre "Mr. Unreliable" criticism levied at Kevin Durant when the Thunder were on the brink of elimination at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of last spring's playoffs. They later went on to win that series.


Yet that backstory doesn't necessarily explain this interaction, because Trammel had not done anything recently that would seem to make Friday night different from all previous nights. In fact, Westbrook would figure to have been in a good mood after a dominant triple-double and all-time-great highlight in what was probably his team's best win of the season so far. Given the circumstances and recent history, it's fair to assume that Westbrook has just decided he no longer wants to help out the media with usable answers to questions and will call out anyone who suggests that he's doing exactly that.


Athletes have done this enough times in the past that we shouldn't consider it the most shocking thing ever. Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch has gone from not talking to media at all to turning his required meetings into short sessions entirely lacking worth. Less recently, why some might not have much interest in fulfilling these duties. It's not as if Westbrook is alone here.


The difference is that we're not exactly sure why he's doing any of this. It's possible that he has longstanding beefs with the particular media members assigned to cover the Thunder, or that he hates talking to media altogether, or that he's just trying to lay bare the aforementioned condescension at the heart of most athlete-media interactions. Friday's scrum doesn't look like the product of someone with a clear opinion on his role as an athlete who talks to media. While Lynch acted and continues to act in similar ways to Westbrook, he at least started with not talking at all, which would seem to say he hates this part of the job — there is a consistency of purpose to his actions. By contrast, the video of Westbrook presents him as someone who has little time for the specific people in front of him, let alone the capacity to humor them. To put it another way, he comes across as a jerk.


However, that impression is not necessarily the full story, and we would be wise to consider Westbrook's point of view before we saddle him with a problem-child label. If his actions appear difficult and confusing, it might be because regular appraisals as the devil to Durant's angel have convinced him that he can't win with the media. Then again, that point likely assumes too much about his approach when the man himself has offered little in the way of explanation.


For now, what we know is that Westbrook is not giving media much to work from and shows little interest in explaining himself. Perhaps he never will, even with more comfortable opportunities to do so. If he doesn't, there may eventually come a time at which giving him the benefit of the doubt isn't worth it. Either way, he'll still be a basketball player who does all this:





It should be enough to sustain our interest.


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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!






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News sport : Wilson Chandler dunks all over Tyson Chandler (no relation)

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When a player dunks on another, the play often gains relevance or amazingness due to some special context. For instance, when a rookie Blake Griffin Mozgov'd then-Knicks center Timofey Mozgov, it mattered because the all-time great dunker-brutalizer Amar'e Stoudemire acknowledged Griffin afterwards. It was like a passing of the torch, if said torch were the ability to cram on and embarrass dudes.


Other times, though, the connection between involved players is utterly meaningless but superficially notable. Like, say, when Denver Nuggets wing Wilson Chandler detonated on Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler in the first quarter of Friday's game at American Airlines Center:





Despite the last name, these two aren't related. Yet it's very easy to imagine some alternate universe where this dunk causes big issues at all major Chandler family holiday gatherings. Instead it's just another very amazing highlight in a league full of them.


While this was clearly the play of the game, the Nuggets struggled overall in this one, falling to the Mavs 97-89. Tyson Chandler was arguably the game's best player with 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting and 16 boards.


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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Dan Carcillo injures Mathieu Perreault with vicious cross-check (Video)

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Daniel Carcillo is not a popular man in among many of those who follow National Hockey League. He can cross the province of Manitoba off the list of places he's welcomed in Canada after his decision to cross-check Jets center Matheiu Perreault.


To set up the video you're about to witness - and if you're squeamish, it's probably not for you - Perreault was initially whistled for knocking Duncan Keith's stick out of his hands. As the play comes to a halt, Perreault is standing next to the boards with his back to the on coming Carcillo, and the Blackhawks forward cross-checks Perreault in the arm; a completely unnecessary move on Carcillo's part.


Again, WARNING: the video is a bit gnarly, via @GoJetsGoDmo:



Yeah...arms aren't supposed to bend like that.


Perreault went immediately to the ice and stayed there as a scrum started around him. When he was finally able to get up, he was slumped down and holding his arm as he skated off. He did not return to the game.


Carcillo was earned a two-minute minor for the cross-check.


The Jets wouldn't comment on Perreault's status except to say that he'd be re-evaluated tomorrow. Some beat writers noted on Twitter that he was in the locker room after the game, but made no mention of a cast or a sling.


Ok, now that we've addressed what happened, let's look at what could happen next.


According to Chicago Sun-Times beat writer, Mark Lazerus, the Department of Player Safety is reviewing the cross-check to decide if it is worthy of supplemental discipline. As of right now, no decision has been made regarding a hearing.


Carcillo has a reputation, and that will probably factor into the DoPS's decision whether or not to move forward with further discipline. They've also been factoring injuries into decisions lately, and if that video is any indication of what Perreault's current status might be, it doesn't look good for the one they call 'Car Bomb'.


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Jen Neale is a staff writer for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter!










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News sport : Greg Anthony reportedly arrested in prostitution sting

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Greg Anthony at a party in September 2013. (Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Showtime) Retired basketball player and TV analyst Greg Anthony has been arrested in connection with a prostitution sting. According to reports from WJLA, the ABC affiliate in Washington D.C., Anthony was arrested in a vice operation for soliciting a prostitute. A brief note at the station's website says that Anthony is in lockup as of this writing.


The report was first posted on Twitter by a member of the ABC7 news team:



Jennifer Donelan then credited her colleague Sam Ford with first obtaining the relevant information:



Anthony rose to prominence as a member of the iconic UNLV Runnin' Rebels teams of the late '80s and early '90s. He joined the New York Knicks as the 12th-overall pick of the 1991 NBA Draft and went on to play for five more teams until his retirement in 2002.


More recently, Anthony has been in the public eye as an analyst for Turner Sports and CBS, including as the lead color commentator for the latter during the NCAA Tournament. He is also a contributor to Yahoo Sports as a basketball analyst.


As noted by Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing, Anthony was scheduled to call Saturday's game between Michigan State and Maryland in College Park for CBS:



We will continue to update this story as it develops.


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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Utah's Kyle Whittingham agrees to new contract, will make $2.6 million in 2015

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Utah coach Kyle Whittingham stands on the field as players get ready for an NCAA college football game against UCLA on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo) Apparently Kyle Whittingham wasn’t all that unhappy after all.


He just wanted a better deal.


Utah announced Friday that it had agreed to a deal that will pay Whittingham $2.6 million in 2015 and provide an automatic $100,000 raise each year through 2018. The entire contract is worth $11 million.


“We are excited to come to terms on a contract extension for Coach Whitt and under his leadership, we’re looking forward to a successful football season next fall and in the years to come,” athletic director Chris Hill said in a statement.


Utah finished last season 9-4 with a 45-10 victory over Colorado State in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Utes finished ranked No. 21 in the final AP poll.


However, reports surfaced in late December that Whittingham was unhappy in Salt Lake City and was looking for a way out. His main gripe was that Hill was "trying to sabotage" his program by not making more money available to his assistants.


Speculation about Whittingham’s unhappiness was only fueled by defensive coordinator Kelani Sitake and defensive line coach Ilaisa Tuiaki going to Oregon State, and offensive coordinator Dave Christensen leaving to become offensive line coach at Texas A&M.


However, Hill refuted the rumors saying he had met with Whittingham and that everything was fine.


Whittingham is 85-43 at Utah and has been with the program in some capacity for 20 seasons. He took over for Urban Meyer following the 2004 Fiesta Bowl-winning season.


For more Utah news, visit Utezone.com.


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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!


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News sport : Jay Norvell, fired from Oklahoma, becomes new WR coach at Texas

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WACO, TX- NOVEMBER 20: Wide receivers coach Jay Norvell of the Oklahoma Sooners talks to players during their victory over the Baylor Bears on November 20, 2010 at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Jackson Laizure/Oklahoma/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jay Norvell Former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jay Norvell has landed on the other side of the Red River Rivalry with the University of Texas, adding another layer to an already intense rivalry between the Sooners and the Longhorns.


Norvell spent seven seasons with the Sooners, including four as co-offensive coordinator, before being let go earlier this month. He will serve as the Longhorns new wide receivers coach.


"Jay is a guy that has always had an outstanding reputation, and when I had a chance to talk to him, what impressed me the most was his energy, passion and drive to be successful," Texas coach Charlie Strong said in a statement. "The thing you see and everyone talks about with him is that he's a great teacher, very detailed and organized, and he really develops his players. He's coached so many great players, gets the most out of his guys, and they really like playing for him.


"He brings a lot to our staff, is very familiar with the Big 12 and has experience recruiting in Texas. We're really excited he's joining us."


Norvell takes over for Les Koenning, who was fired after one season. The Longhorns struggled in passing offense where they averaged just 212.5 yards per game and ranked 95th in offensive passing efficiency. The Longhorns did have a 1,000-yard receiver in John Harris, but he's gone and so is receiver Jaxon Shipley, who was second on the team with 577 yards.


Prior to his time at Oklahoma, Norvell coached at UCLA, Nebraska, Iowa State and Wisconsin.


"The first thing that really drew me to this opportunity was the chance to work with Charlie Strong," Norvell said in a statement. "I've followed his career for a long time, and after sitting down and talking to him, seeing his vision for the program, the recruiting philosophy, his values, every area of the team, I was totally impressed. Our visit convinced me I wanted to be a part of that championship vision at Texas."


For more Texas news, visit Orangebloods.com.


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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!


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News sport : Jay Norvell, fired from Oklahoma, becomes new OC at Texas

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WACO, TX- NOVEMBER 20: Wide receivers coach Jay Norvell of the Oklahoma Sooners talks to players during their victory over the Baylor Bears on November 20, 2010 at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Jackson Laizure/Oklahoma/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jay Norvell Former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jay Norvell has landed on the other side of the Red River Rivalry with the University of Texas, adding another layer to an already intense rivalry between the Sooners and the Longhorns.


Norvell spent seven seasons with the Sooners, including four as co-offensive coordinator, before being let go earlier this month.


"Jay is a guy that has always had an outstanding reputation, and when I had a chance to talk to him, what impressed me the most was his energy, passion and drive to be successful," Texas coach Charlie Strong said in a statement. "The thing you see and everyone talks about with him is that he's a great teacher, very detailed and organized, and he really develops his players. He's coached so many great players, gets the most out of his guys, and they really like playing for him.


"He brings a lot to our staff, is very familiar with the Big 12 and has experience recruiting in Texas. We're really excited he's joining us."


Norvell takes over for Les Koenning, who was fired after one season. The Longhorns ranked 64th in total offense with 408.7 yards per game and 65th in scoring offense with 29.3 points per game. Both of those figures ranked sixth in the Big 12. The Longhorns especially struggled in the passing offense where they averaged just 212.5 yards per game and ranked 95th in offensive passing efficiency.


Oklahoma’s offense wasn’t a whole lot better in 2014. It ranked 52nd in total offense with 423 yards per game and 40 in scoring offense with 32.8 points per game.


Prior to his time at Oklahoma, Norvell coached at UCLA, Nebraska, Iowa State and Wisconsin.


"The first thing that really drew me to this opportunity was the chance to work with Charlie Strong," Norvell said in a statement. "I've followed his career for a long time, and after sitting down and talking to him, seeing his vision for the program, the recruiting philosophy, his values, every area of the team, I was totally impressed. Our visit convinced me I wanted to be a part of that championship vision at Texas."


For more Texas news, visit Orangebloods.com.


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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!


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News sport : Russell Westbrook's got the greatest bounce ever on a missed dunk

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Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook is one of those players who makes the phrase "attacking the rim" seem literal, not just a cute way of saying a guy likes to gets to the basket. He drives and finishes with intensity that only ever really gets challenged by LeBron James, who doesn't match Westbrook's singular consistency in this area. If anything, his problem is that he sometimes goes too strong, trying to do something with too much force when a little bit of touch is required.


That is perhaps what happened to the Thunder guard during a bizarre play in the second quarter of Friday night's game against the visiting Golden State Warriors. With roughly 5:18 left in the period, Westbrook made a cut to the basket in the early offense and took a pass from Kevin Durant with an open lane to to the hoop. Draymond Green challenged the dunk, but Westbrook powered through the contact (without a foul) to finish with authority. Unfortunately for him, he missed and saw the ball carom very, very high off the rim. That's when things got weird:



Most missed dunks result in very long rebounds, so it's hard to explain exactly what happened here. Regardless, if anyone could end up with a basket like this one, it's Westbrook. Weird things happen when a guy brings so much force to the rim.


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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Tulsa player arrested, dismissed from team, after drug and firearm arrest

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Tulsa offensive lineman Zach Webb (Tulsa Athletics) Tulsa offensive guard Zach Webb was arrested Thursday for possession of firearms and drug paraphernalia, according to Tulsa’s NBC affiliate, which obtained the police report.


Tulsa University security and housing was called to Webb’s residence on a conduct complaint, but after a search of the premises found a firearm, multiple ecstasy pills, a scale and smoking device, ammunition, and a pill bottle that didn’t have Webb’s name on it.


Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery was aware of the arrest and Webb was released from the team Thursday evening.


Webb was a 2013 two-star recruit out of Metro Christian Academy in Tulsa. He redshirted during the 2013 season and did not play in 2014.


For more Tulsa news, visit InsideTulsaSports.com.


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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!


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News sport : New 49ers head coach gets a little grunty in his first interview

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The 49ers hired new head coach Jim Tomsula this week, a move that was met with a great deal of "Who the heck is Jim Tomsula?" And while fellow new coaching hire Rex Ryan unleashed an introductory press conference in Buffalo that was equal parts pep rally, revival meeting and confessional, Tomsula's introduction was a bit more ... muted.


Speaking with CSN Bay Area in an interview taped Wednesday and released Friday, Tomsula takes "keeping it close to the vest" to new extremes. Pressed on everything from whom he might consider as his coordinators to his relationship with departed coach Jim Harbaugh, Tomsula says so little that, in some cases, he doesn't even form actual words, simply breathing heavily into the microphone.


Granted, this is a fidgety place to put a guy who clearly is more comfortable on a sideline than behind a mic. But 49ers fans have to hope that Tomsula is a little more inspirational in the locker room than he is on video.


Then again, "I wouldn't say that, I wouldn't NOT say that" will be Marshawn Lynch's next media-dismissal line, you watch.


____

Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.



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News sport : The 10-man rotation, starring how to get Kevin Love going

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A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.


C: ESPN Insider ($). Kevin Pelton and Amin Elhassan look at why Kevin Love hasn't been anything like the hand-in-glove fit that many of us expected him to be with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and what tactical changes David Blatt might implement to get the All-Star power forward on track. (Over at BBallBreakdown, Seth Partnow has some other ideas for getting Love unstuck.)


PF: Eye on Basketball. Zach Harper with a good breakdown of what's fueling Andrew Wiggins' strong play and markedly improved scoring of late.


SF: Blog-a-Bull. After a red-hot start to the season for the Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler has fallen to Earth a bit of late, and Jason Patt sees the absence of injured wing Mike Dunleavy Jr. as a pretty big reason why.


SG: SB Nation. A good read from Mirin Fader on Gordon Hayward doing his level best to live up to his much-derided max contract and develop into the sort of leader that Quin Snyder's Utah Jazz so desperately needs.


PG: Truth About It. With the Washington Wizards holding down the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and the Brooklyn Nets in the midst of trying to shed high-priced talent and possibly find new ownership, Kyle Weidie catches up with a fan who decided to break up with the Wizards in favor of rooting for the Nets back in 2012. A fun Q+A.


6th: Bloomberg View. Kavitha A. Davidson on reports that a number of former athletes — Hank Aaron, Dikembe Mutombo, Dominique Wilkins, Chris Webber, Grant Hill and Junior Bridgeman, and possibly others — are intereted in buying into the 100-percent-for-sale Atlanta Hawks: "The reality is that if we want more black representation and former players among NBA ownership, they’re likely going to have to be part of a consortium."


7th: Bloomberg View, again. While we're at it, let's also plug Davidson's column on the New York Knicks somehow managing to get tanking wrong by allowing Carmelo Anthony to delay shutting himself down, and 'Melo getting brand management wrong by letting ancillary interests get in the way of Job No. 1.


8th: Bleacher Report. Ethan Skolnick on how Stan Van Gundy has, if not mellowed out, then at least learned to enjoy the peaks his Detroit Pistons are experiencing now after suffering through some valleys to start the season.


9th: ESPN.com. Ethan Sherwood Strauss considers the possibility that Draymond Green, the "heart and soul" of the league-leading Golden State Warriors, could not only receive a max contract offer in restricted free agency this summer, but that he might actually deserve it.


10th: ESPN Boston. Chris Forsberg on how Danny Ainge's seemingly ceaseless swapping calls to mind the "red paperclip" experiment, and the likelihood that Trader Danny can turn the Boston Celtics roster into a two-story farmhouse in Saskatchewan. (Metaphorically speaking.)


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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!



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News sport : Brad Marchand suspended 2 games for slew-foot (Video)

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Perhaps Brad Marchand has forgotten that slew-footing another player is still illegal in the NHL?


On Thursday night, Marchand slew-footed Rangers forward Derick Brassard sending him dangerously into the boards and down to the ice. The referees did not penalize Marchand on the play; however, the NHL was quick to announce post-game that Marchand would have a hearing on Friday.


The hearing was completed and the Bruins will be without Marchand for the next two games. He'll also be a hefty $48,387.10 lighter in the wallet, with the funds going to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.


Here's the Department of Player Safety with their reasoning for the suspension:



As mentioned in the video, this isn't Marchand's first time at the slew-footing rodeo.


Back in 2011, Marchand was hit with a $2,500 fine by the NHL for slew-footing then-Pittsburgh defenseman Matt Niskanen. The Bruins forward acknowledged his negative behavior:



“It was a dangerous play and it was definitely a slew-foot,” Marchand said. “Those are dangerous plays and guys can get hurt like that. It’s something I shouldn’t have done and they penalized me for it and I’ll move on now.”



It's been a few years in between incidents, at least incidents caught by the NHL, but the play is still dangerous and still illegal. Changes in the CBA, and possibly the leadership at the DoPS, have resulted in the transformation from fineable to a suspendable.


Marchand will miss Boston's next two games: at home versus Columbus on Saturday and on the road against Dallas on Wednesday. On the season, the forward is fourth on the team in scoring at 24-points; he has 12 goals, 12 assists, and 62 penalty minutes.


He knows better, as do all players who are trying to get a competitive advantage over their opponents. The way the decide to do the latter is up to them.


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Jen Neale is a staff writer for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter!










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