New York Jets Name Jeff Bauer Director of College Scouting, Replacing Joey Clinkscales

The New York Jets announced today that they have found a replacement for departed director of college scouting Joey Clinkscales in Jeff Bauer. Joey Clinkscales left for the Oakland Raiders and friend Reggie McKenzie, leaving a gaping hole in the Jets scouting department. Jeff Bauer scouted the Midwest for the Jets the past 11 seasons. To fill that void, the Jets have hired Kevin Kelly as an area scout.

The New York Jets have replaced Joey Clinkscales with Jeff Bauer. Joey Clinkscales left the Jets to join the Oakland Raiders, so the Jets promoted area scout Jeff Bauer to the position left vacant, director of college scouting. Bauer certainly put in his time with the Jets organization, spending 11 seasons in their scouting department as an area scout... Read at Jets 101

After having begun the season about as poorly at the plate as possible while contributing even less in the field, Adam Lind was finally optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas yesterday, mercifully putting him and many Blue Jays fans out of their misery.  Brought up in place of Lind was Yan Gomes, who as the first Brazilian-born MLB player makes for a nice story, but represents little else.  Gomes was a decent minor league hitter who was succeeding in a place (Vegas) that makes top Blue Jays prospects look like Babe Ruth, and will now fill the role of third catcher on a team whose future at the position (Travis D'Arnaud) is all but certain.  Essentially, Lind was demoted for a nobody, and it's time to consider what that means for his future in Toronto

If this is indeed the end for Lind he'll have gone out in particularly strange fashion.  Constantly plagued by his plate discipline, Lind was actually 'enjoying' the best BB/K ratio of his career at .58, up significantly from last year's .30 and even better than his breakout 2009 mark of .53.  His swinging strike rate also improved markedly, dropping to a career low rate of 6.6%.   If you had told a sabermetrician that Adam Lind was going to be drawing .58 walks for every one strikeout at the beginning of this season, while swinging and missing at a career best rate, they'd have probably told you he could be in for a big year.  Alas, that was far from the case. 

Lind's power - the only tool making him even appear like a decent major leaguer the past two seasons - has all but disappeared this year.  He's pounding balls into the ground at a rate (48.9%) that is considerably out of line with his career average (43.4%).  Even when he does get some lift on the ball... Read at Blue Jays 101

Chicago Bulls Offseason: Where Do They Go from Here?

All right. I won't spend much time recapping this depressing Chicago Bulls season, because we'll be doing that more substantially over the coming weeks prior to the NBA Draft in June. Regular season was great, playoffs stunk, yada yada yada. Let's just get to the plan for the offseason. 

Let's start with the guys already on the team. We've already discussed Carlos Boozer in detail (I maintain he should be amnestied even though he won't be), but that leaves the four guys who have expiring contracts in Omer Asik, John Lucas III, Mike James and Brian Scalabrine, and the guys who either have team options or unguaranteed final years in Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson and Ronnie Brewer.

I really would like Asik to return, especially if Boozer takes a hike, and he's a restricted free agent, so there's a pretty good chance he will. And if he doesn't, the Bulls should be able to get some kind of asset for him. JL3 and Scalabrine also seem like safe bets to return, but I doubt we see Mike James again. Well, unless...actually, we'll get to that in a minute.

If Asik doesn't return, finding another big man becomes a priority. I don't see any way both Omer and Boozer are gone, but if they are for some reason, then finding at least one big man becomes a necessity and finding two big men becomes a priority. As fellow Bulls101-er Avi Saini has pointed out, Kevin Garnett's contract expires this offseason, and although it's still hard to get a read on how the Boston Celtics want to play things going forward, it's not unreasonable to think KG would be on the open market. I have no idea if he'll want to keep playing, if he'll want to play in Chicago (although he is from there, so it would be a decent place to end his career) or how much money he would want and if that would work with the Bulls' budget/cap. But with his recent resurgence, I'd love to see it happen.

Some other names on the market include Carl Landry, Kris Humphries, Jason Thompson and JaVale McGee. I'd be intrigued by what Thibs could do with JaVale, and Thompson would be ideal, but I'm pretty sure Thompson is restricted and McGee figures to command a fairly hefty salary on the open market. The status quo seems the most likely option going forward.

Korver is a pretty safe bet to return for next year, unless some major upheaval occurs, as is Brewer, at least for now. Watson, on the other hand, is a different story. Much like with Boozer, I've been attempting to defend C.J. for most of his Bulls' tenure, and he was pretty good filling in for Rose for much of the regular season. Then he went into full on Caleb Hanie mode and now I would just as soon have him join Boozer in taking a hike. I don't have a great feel for how the Bulls feel about him, but it wouldn't be shocking if he was let go (especially with his plantar faciitis condition). And that might leave an opening for Mike James as the backup point guard until Rose gets back. But again, the status quo seems the most likely.

This brings up an important question. With Rose almost certainly out until January and possibly beyond, not to mention likely hobbled once he comes back, what happens with the Bulls' point guards?

Steve Nash will be a free agent, and it doesn't seem totally out of the question that he and Rose could play together once Rose is back, but he honestly seems like a pipe dream. With the playoffs still going on  and without anything concrete to work with, it's not like I really know anything about where he wants to go, but South Beach really does seem like the most likely possibility, as awful as that would be for those of us who find the Miami Heat distasteful. I would love to have Nash on the Bulls, though. That would really be amazing. 

Former Bull Kirk Hinrich has also surfaced as a potential option. He hasn't really been all that impressive since leaving Chicago, but he was much better down the stretch and in the postseason this year, so he might be viable. And we know he and Rose can play together once Rose is back.

Beyond that, options are... Read at Bulls 101

Team USA Falls to Team Finland in IIHF Quarterfinals

Two Carolina Hurricanes' players saw their 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships come to a close Thursday as Team USA fell 3-2 to host Team Finland in the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal matchup showcased three Carolina Hurricanes' players; both Justin Faulk and Patrick Dwyer represented the United States, while fellow Carolina Hurricanes Jussi Jokinen was an alternate captain for the Finnish National Team.

The first period of the quarterfinal matchup called upon the goalies from each teams to make key saves to keep the game tied 0-0. The Detroit Redwings' Jimmy Howard was in goal for Team USA while Petri Vehanen started in goal for Team Finland. Both teams placed multiple shots on net in the first period, seven for Team Finland and 10 for Team USA, yet both goaltenders did well to keep the scored tied after one period of play.

Both teams got on the board in the second period, with Team Finland starting the scoring off at the 13:27 mark. Jesse Joensuu of the New York Islanders took a pass from Antti Pihlström and beat Jimmy Howard to give Team Finland a 1-0 lead. The goal was Joensuu's first of the IIHF World Championships and was assisted by Antti Pihlström and Lasse Kukkonen. But Team USA responded a mere 21 seconds later with a goal from Kyle Palmieri of the Anaheim Ducks. The goal was Palmieri's second of the tournament and was assisted by Jeff Pertry of the Edmonton Oilers and Joey Crabb of the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

With the score still tied 1-1 entering the last period of play, the Anaheim Ducks' all-star forward Bobby Ryan broke the tie with a quick shot that beat Petri Vehanen a short 1... Read at Hurricanes 101

Manchester United are Still England's Best, According to Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo still believes that Manchester United are the best team in England despite losing the title to Manchester City. In fact, the ex Manchester United star and current Real Madrid midfielder, was so sure that United would win the Barclay's Premier League that he placed a bet on it.

Speaking about City's dramatic late comeback victory over QPR on the last day to Sky Sports News, Ronaldo said "I had... Read at Manchester United 101