FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS 1. CHRIS GRANT (Cavs): The GM gets fired on Thursday after his team won only 29 per cent of its games during his tenure. Obviously, a totally undermanned Lakers team beating them on their home floor was the final straw. Wow, what a mess it is right now. Many folks thought with the addition of Jarrett Jack, Andrew Bynum, head coach Mike Brown and first overall pick Anthony Bennett that they would be knocking on the door for a seven or eight seed in the East. No such luck. Its been dysfunctional and the idea of signing LeBron James in the summer looks like a pipe dream and the ability to hold onto Kyrie Irving (in spite of what he says) is in serious doubt. Fragile business. 2. ENES KANTER (Jazz): Have watched him twice in person and on TV a bunch of times and I gotta confess, Im more of a Derrick Favors fan. Not sure both of these guys can co-exist. Kanter is averaging 12 and 6 and when I watch him I see a guy that is a bit robotic with his game. Yes hes a bruiser but its hard to play that style unless you have great skill to go with it. Still a work in progress. 3. CHRIS PAUL (Clippers): Its a bit chilly and rain is in the forecast here for later today in L.A. Rather this than snow and freezing temperatures. News that warmed me up today was the fact that the All-Star point guard wont make his return from injury until Sunday so the Raptors catch a break not seeing him. But it will still be a very difficult game to win for Toronto here on Friday. It will be great for Paul to get on the court this weekend and play next weekend at his first professional stop (New Orleans) in the All-Star Game. Good for the sport. Terrific player and class act. 4. RAPTORS at KINGS: It was the fourth time in the last few weeks (Celtics, Lakers, Bobcats) that the Raptors played down to their competition and "Played the Record". Games like these haunt teams and cause sleepless nights for coaches. I felt for Dwane Casey on Thursday night - he tried everything to get his team going with little success. Im sorry but this team isnt good enough to overlook anyone. Totally got outplayed and didnt deserve to win. Winning teams have real good habits. This team still floats big time with its focus. Its easy to get up for the name teams but as usual guys get it backwards. Its really hard to win those games. Play really hard against the teams you can beat and youll have a really nice season and then steal the occasional game when you play a team thats in the upper class. Tough lessons to learn. Time they actually learn the lesson and do something about it. You want the third our fourth seed and home court in the first round of the Playoffs? Punch the clock, bring the lunch bucket and hard hat and compete like crazy. You do that - youll have success. Time to grow up a bit. I have no issues with losing if you lay it all on the line to the best of your ability and the other guy happens to be better that night - that happens. Shake his hand and hold your head high and get ready for the next one. Stop teasing folks. This team is good enough and has good people on it - theyll figure it out. 5. TOM THIBODEAU (Bulls): I like what he said recently about playing time. Hes the boss and he and only he will determine who gets the privilege that you have to EARN to play and finish games. Carlos Boozer is upset with his fourth quarter role of late. I have a suggestion - play really hard and well and guess what? Youll play and finish games. Coaches want to and have to win. Its your job to please your coach, not the other way around. A coachs ultimate loyalty has to be to winning and team. Nothing else comes close. Believe me you could coach a guy you completely dislike personally yet youll play him every minute if he helps you win. Cheap Blue Jays Jerseys . A better question yet may be this: How many times has the same player been involved in both? Morneau hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning and helped the Colorado Rockies turn the third triple play in team history as they beat the San Diego Padres 8-6 on Sunday. Blue Jays Jerseys China . 11 Ana Ivanovic and American Sloane Stephens, and former world No. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/. The rest of the team was already on the field stretching before batting practice while Puig was getting dressed in the clubhouse. He had been slated to start in right field for the afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants, who beat the Dodgers 8-4. Stitched Blue Jays Jerseys . The Rainbow FlickNext up is the Rainbow Flick, or as you probably know it, the trick that everybody at soccer camp thought they knew how to do. Blue Jays Jerseys 2019 .Y. - Major League Soccers independent review panel has taken back the fine and one-game suspension it placed on Toronto FC forward Luke Moore earlier this week.There is a list right now that is at least five fighters long. All injured. These fighters suffered mostly knee injuries and all of these ailments are bad news for fight fans. Chris Weidman, Georges St. Pierre, and Tarec Saffiedine top the list and for St. Pierre, its the second time with this particular injury. This is the toughest sport on the planet. Tell me another sport where the practice claims as many injuries as the game itself. Honestly I have never worked with an athlete who can get back into training within two weeks of a fight. Ok, thats a lie, Ive had a few fighters get first round KOs. If the fight goes one round, the fighter is going to miss two weeks at least. The whole point of me writing about the training is to bring about a change in the fans perspective of what goes into a fight, for example the lead up is intense. As my seventh week goes in the books, I needed the support over at Elite Performance. I dont want to diet anymore and I dont want to push hard. 500 feet on the Jacobs ladder, five sets of five minute long foot touches on a tall box with a minute rest and speed skipping are all grinding on me. Add that to the fact that Im only hitting a heavy bag or working with the Nexersys for striking, Im not sparring or rolling with anyone. MMA fighters are impressive for making it through a camp. So as Jeff Fisher gently encourages me to get through my bike sprints with 1100% effort, or go train somewhere else if I want to take it easy, I think about guys who train so hard they get injured.dddddddddddd The guys who dig down deep, do the physical conditioning, then go full throttle spar. Then after all of that, go into a cage and fight for 15 to 25 minutes. As they compete, if the action slows because two great fighters find themselves in a ground game stalemate, the crowd boos. That infuriates me. Id love every fan to get to the seventh, eighth, ninth or any week of a training camp. Eat the food, drink the water, sweat, and put in the hours. Then grapple with even just an average level jujitsu player. Once you get pinned, and you grab on for dear life, think about how boring it is to be there. The game, and what people who understand MMA love is the chess match. Its the preparation that went into that moment when two amazing athletes find themselves in a tie. The training, the work, and the injuries are what make MMA an amazing sport. Go put your time in. Change your health, fitness and your view of whats really going on in that cage. If you have tried CrossFit, go spend some time kickboxing, or better, try jujitsu. There is no better workout on the planet. Week 7 is in the books and the lesson learned is really how tough this is on the body. Im not even competing. Shout out to Dan Henderson at 40+ to be doing this and knocking people out. ' ' '