Archives April 2009

PHILADELPHIA — Harry Kalas was the Phillies, and now after passing at age 73 he will never be forgotten.

He didn’t just announce the games. His voice captured each and every moment, of every pitch and made them unforgettable.

Harry Kalas was known for many things, but his strike three call will always be remembered “right on outta there.”

His voice, his presence, was that powerful. Even when you were witnessing something live, with your very own eyes, you still felt as if you were missing something — because you hadn’t heard Harry describe it.

Harry Kalas was not just a big part of the Phillies, he was the Phillies. He has been around for both championship titles in the teams 126-year history, Mike Schmidt’s 500th home-run, and Pete Roses’ National league record breaking 3,631st hit.

Philadelphia is wondering what next? He was a voice that will not only be missed, but will never be replaced.

Although baseball will move on it will take some getting used to — because, for millions of Philadelphians, Harry was what baseball sounded like.

If there’s a rhythm to the heavens, if there’s a script to every life, we can take some solace in knowing the championship last season was an amazing finish to Harry Kalas’ script.

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Free-agent quarterback Byron Leftwich has agreed to a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The 29-year old first-round draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Marshall in 2003, won a Super Bowl ring last season as a backup with the Steelers. Leftwich passed for 303 yards with two touchdowns in five appearances with the Steelers last season as Ben Roethlisberger’s backup.

Zach Thomas the seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker agreed to a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Thomas, 36, started 14 of 16 games for the Dallas Cowboys in 2008 during his 13th NFL season, recording 94 tackles.

Thomas spent the first 12 years of his career with the Miami Dolphins, with whom he was named to his last Pro Bowl in 2006 before missing 11 games with migraine headaches resulting from an auto accident in 2007.

Thomas should be a great fit for the Chiefs along with newly acquired Mike Vrabel and the 4th year pro-bowler Derrick Johnson. The linebacking core should be the strength of the Kansas City defense for the upcoming season.

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NORMAN, Okla. — Griffin announced Tuesday that he will give up his final two years of eligibility and head to the NBA after a sophomore season in which he was honored as college basketball’s top player.

Although Griffin said it took some serious thought, coach Jeff Capel called a “no-brainer,” with Griffin establishing himself as a likely candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft this June.

“This has been a dream for me. It has been a dream for a lot of guys. I was really comfortable with the decision this time around.”

Griffin helped the Sooners win 30 games in a season for only the fifth time in school history, shattering the school records for double-doubles and rebounds along the way. He said it was now time to take his game to the next level.

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SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili will miss the rest of the season and playoffs after tests Monday revealed that his surgically repaired right ankle has gotten worse.

Ginobili sat out the fourth quarter in Sunday’s blowout loss at Cleveland as he felt serious pain in the ankle. Both he and the Spurs dreaded to see the MRI the following day.

Ginobili missed 19 games after the All-Star break to heal a stress reaction in his right distal fibula. He returned March 25, but tests showed the stubborn injury is now a fracture.

The Spurs said Ginobili wasn’t expected to need surgery. But either way, Ginobili is out and the Spurs are hobbling with less than two weeks before the playoffs begin.

This is a serious blow to a team that already lacks scoring to compliment and hobbled Tim Duncan and the speedy Tony Parker.

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Jeff Garcia finds his way back to the Bay Area after 5 seasons with 4 different teams.

The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback has signed with the Oakland Raiders agreeing to a one-year deal to be JaMarcus Russell’s so called “BACKUP.”

Garcia claims to love playing in the Coliseum as he said: “One of the proudest moments in my NFL career was when I led the 49ers to a 23-20 overtime victory over the Raiders.” In November 2002 Garcia passed for 282 yards and completed 17 of his 19 passes after halftime while San Francisco ran the game’s final 30 plays in a remarkable display of ball-control offense to eventually win the game.

Look for Garcia to be inserted immediately at the first sign of struggles for the young JaMarcus Russell

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After passing on the Arizona job yesterday Xavier University men’s basketball coach Sean Miller has accepted the head coaching job at the University of Arizona just a few moments ago.

Over his five seasons at Xavier, Miller led the Musketeers to a 120-47 record. He has been very successful In the NCAA men’s tournament taking his team to the “Elite Eight” last season and the “Sweet Sixteen” this season.

Miller wasn’t the first choice for Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood, whom he met Sunday in Albuquerque, N.M. Arizona tried in vain to convince Gonzaga’s Mark Few, Pitt’s Jamie Dixon and then-Memphis coach John Calipari (before he went to Kentucky), and even went as far as to bring USC’s Tim Floyd on campus for an interview and offer, but couldn’t get any of them to take the job. They found a willing partner, after much haggling, in Miller.

Miller will have his hands full now that the Wildcats have missed out on two recruiting classes. Incoming recruit Brandon Jennings went to Europe, freshman Jeff Withey transferred to Kansas and top signee for next season Abdul Gaddy got out of commitment to go to rival Washington. If Budinger, Hill and Wise leave as expected, then the Wildcats will likely be picked to finish last in the Pac-10 next season.

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The Chicago Bears acquired disgruntled Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler in a trade on Thursday afternoon, giving up quarterback Kyle Orton and first-round picks in 2009 (18th overall) and 2010, along with a third-round pick (84th overall) in 2009 to do it.

To complete the trade, the Broncos had to give back a fifth-round pick (140th overall) in 2009.

The Bears out bid the likes of the Redskins, Buccaneers, Lions, Titans and other teams in the race to land the 25-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback. The Broncos had made it clear they were asking for at least two first-round picks and wouldn’t settle for less.

Jay Cutler had asked to be traded when he found out first-year coach Josh McDaniels tried to acquire Matt Cassel in a trade with the Patriots. This didn’t sit well with Jay, and to further complicate things Denver coach McDaniels as per Cutler lied to him numerous times.

Although Cutler is 17-20 as a starter, he’s been victimized by dismal defenses in Denver, and he was an impressive 13-1 when the Broncos held opponents to 21 points or fewer. Last year, Cutler threw for a franchise record 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. In his 37-game career in Denver, he completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 9,024 yards, 54 TDs and 37 interceptions.

Jay got his wish to be cut lose from Denver but, only time will tell if the windy-city brings him what he was looking for.

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