Noble as they might have been, aging legends who have accepted steep hometown-discount deals didnt do so for charity.
[b]C.J. Moore Jersey[/b] .Future Hall of Famers such as Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan, men who have cashed NBA paychecks worth well more than $200 million each, simply valued winning with the only franchise they ever played for more than maximizing their wealth.The negotiations with Duncan and Nowitzki have always been handled quietly, devoid of the kind of drama and public posturing that ultimately led to the stunning divorce of the Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade, whose Chicago honeymoon officially began Friday with his introductory news conference.The hometown discounts werent as steep for Wade, who was never the Heats highest-paid player, but they started at a much earlier stage of his career. They each sacrificed financially for the sake of the franchise, but Duncan and Nowitzki never felt the kind of disrespect that Wade did during his last couple rounds of contract talks with the Heat.For Duncan, the financial sacrifice paid off in playoff dividends. In his final four seasons, when his salaries were a fraction of his market value, the San Antonio Spurs averaged more than 60 wins per season, won eight postseason series, advanced to a pair of Finals, and floated down the river for the fifth time as the featured attraction of a championship parade. Duncan made about $35 million during the steep-discount stage of his career, including the player option for next season he exercised a couple of weeks before announcing his retirement in what amounts to a $5.6 million farewell gift from the franchise.For Nowizki, leaving more than $30 million on the table the past two seasons didnt work out nearly as well. The Dallas Mavericks won a total of two playoff games in that span, increasing that tally to five in five seasons since the franchises lone title run in 2011.No wonder Nowitzki decided to opt out of the final season of that three-year, $25 million deal. He was more than willing to take less money to give the Mavs a chance to compete for championships in his twilight. Competing for the No. 6 seed? Pay the man.Mavs owner Mark Cuban did just that, giving Nowitzki a two-year, $50 million deal after negotiations that essentially consisted of handing the longtime face of the franchise a blank contract, seeing his suggested price, then suggesting Dirk beef up the numbers a bit more.Its a deal that prompted comparisons to the last contract of another one-team legend: Kobe Bryant, whose two-year, $48.5 million extension drew criticism. Not that Kobe cared.Its the popular thing to do, Bryant said of hometown discounts when asked about the topic during a Dallas visit in the first month of the 2014-15 season. The player takes less, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think its a big coup for the owners to put players in situations where public perception puts pressure on them to take less money. Because if you dont, then you get criticized for it.Its absolutely brilliant, but Im not going for it. I know the new head of the players association aint going for it, either.Two years later, Nowitzki aint going for it, either. Not under these circumstances, at least.Asked that day about Bryants comments, Nowitzki explained that he willingly took a massive pay cut because his priority was to compete my last couple of years at the highest level. He cited the signing of Chandler Parsons and the trade for Tyson Chandler as good moves by the Mavs made possible by his discount deal.We feel like weve got a good group, Nowitzki said at the time, and hopefully we can make it work.We all know how that worked out. Parsons is gone to the Memphis Grizzlies after two injury-marred seasons with the Mavs, who werent willing to make a long-term investment in him after the forward had more knee surgeries (two) than playoff game appearances (one) during his Dallas tenure. Chandler left last summer when the Mavs wanted to put him on hold while pursuing DeAndre Jordan in free agency.It would have been a much different story if Jordan didnt jilt the Mavs after temporarily committing to Dallas. The Mavs probably would have been battling for home court in the West last season and may have become an intriguing destination for free agents this summer. In that case, Nowitzki likely would have been comfortable playing out the final season of his discount deal, allowing the Mavs front office to use every possible dollar to upgrade a team with real hopes of a long playoff run.But reality for the Mavs is constant shuffling of a roster around Nowitzki, who had grown frustrated after following up a title run with five years of failing to make it out of the first round. Hes not a hypocrite for cashing in on this contract; hes a realist.Dallas isnt in nearly as dire straits as the Los Angeles Lakers were when Bryant signed his last deal. The Lakers were coming off a 27-55 campaign in which Bryant played only six games while recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon. Over two seasons, they won a combined 38 games while Bryant made $48.5 million, but his presence was a box-office bonanza, especially during his 2015-16 farewell tour.In other words, it could be argued that Bryant was a bargain for the Lakers as the leagues highest-paid player the past two seasons. And Bryant, whose career earnings of more than $328 million rank behind only Kevin Garnett, knew that would be true.I think youve got to look at the business of basketball, Bryant said during that November 2014 visit to Dallas. I think for a lot of writers, for a lot of fans, they have a very tough time distinguishing the two.This is a business, and you have to look at individuals and what they generate and the market that theyre generating revenue in. And you cant separate those. People have a hard time separating that stuff. From a business perspective, you have to take that stuff into account, and you have to try to -- as a player -- be in situations where it can be a win-win for everybody.A win-win for Nowitzki and the Mavs would have been using his discount deal to construct a legitimate title contender. It worked once, when Nowitzki took $16 million less than a maximum contract during the summer of 2010 to ease the luxury-tax burden on Cuban, who immediately invested the savings into acquiring Chandler on a salary-dump deal.It wasnt for a lack of effort, but the Mavs couldnt find a way to parlay this most recent Dirk discount into a roster that was a threat in the West.Nowitzki, whose two-year deal -- with only $5 million of his salary in the second season guaranteed as essentially retirement insurance for the Mavs -- ensures that he wont have to hear any noise about possibly leaving to chase a ring in his 20th season, settled for more money and a chance to keep competing for a spot in the playoffs.His previous deal still helped the Mavs during their annual roster remodeling, as his $12.5 million cap hold made it relatively easy to create room to sign Harrison Barnes to a four-year, $94 million deal and trade for Andrew Bogut in a salary-dump deal. This contract will make it tough for the Mavs to be aggressive bidders in next summers free-agency market if Nowitzki returns, but thats a small price to pay after two decades of legendary service.The Mavs are good enough to fight for a playoff berth. They wont have to watch Dirk, who hopes to join Kobe as the lone members of the NBAs 20-year, only-one-team club, suffer the indignity of playing in meaningless games as his career winds down.Duncan was rewarded for his financial sacrifice by being able to compete for a championship until he rode off into the sunset. Precious few get that luxury. Nowitzki wont be on that list. The end of his career will likely be more lucrative and less fulfilling than he wanted.
[b]Darius Kilgo Jersey[/b] . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama.
[b]Andrew Donnal Jersey[/b] .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf.
[b]http://www.wholesalelionsjerseys.com/?tag=youth-garret-dooley-jersey[/b] . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Misbah-ul-Haq has admitted his batsmen did not have any clue how to handle the reverse swing generated by the England bowlers on the final day at Edgbaston.Pakistan lost four wickets for one run in mid-afternoon as Englands seamers transformed conditions that Misbah described as easy before lunch to those which they could not handle.It lead Misbah to suggest, with tongue in cheek, that Pakistan might have to think about sending their young bowlers to England to learn how to master the art of reverse swinging the ball; an irony considering it was Pakistan bowlers who perfected the art and England, for many years, were tortured by it.Until lunch it was easy, Misbah said. But after lunch they got it reversing and we were not having any clue. We were trying to cope with it, but we could not handle it.Anderson and Broad are used to these conditions. They are really experienced. Full credit to England for the way they fought back after we had a lead of more than 100.I think well just have to send someone to learn from England now how theyre reversing this ball. We could not do it even on the fourth day. I think they are really doing it well.While Alastair Cook rated the victory as one of his most pleasing as England captain, he dismissed the possibility that England could reach No. 1 in the Test rankings over the next few weeks as an irrelevance.It is possible that, if England win the final Test and India do not win against West Indies, that England could reach the top spot. But Cook feels his side are still a couple of years from their peak and seems to regard the landmark as something of a distraction at present.If we become number one there, thats fantastic, Cook said. But it will be a bit of an irrelevance, because this side has still got much further to go.If we do win at The Oval, I wouldnt say we are anywhere near our potential. I thought that might come in a couple of years time.Cook was especially pleased by the nature of the win bearing in mind that nobody in his side scored a century or claimed a five-wicket haul. Instead it was an impressive team performance with all five of his frontline bowlers claiming two wickets in the secondd innings - including Steven Finn, who bowled with hostility and claimed his first wickets of the series - while all seven batsmen contributed decent scores.
[b]Jesse James Jersey[/b]. England were not reliant on one or two outstanding individuals.Everyone will be in the dressing-room feeling proud to be part of the team and feeling like they contributed, Cook said. That doesnt always happen.In an absolutely ideal world, I thought there were hundreds left out there. But everyone responded, and I think this side might have just toughened up a little bit. It was hard in the second innings. We werent scoring any runs, but everyone dug in.But Cook refuted Misbahs suggestion that the reverse swing was lavish and instead suggested it was his bowlers skill that magnified the small amount of assistance they gained.We bowled brilliantly, he said. It reverse-swung a little bit. I dont think it did it massively. It just did enough and if it does a bit either way, Jimmy and Stuart are very good.Misbah could at least take some consolation in the emergence of Sami Aslam. The 20-year-old responded to his surprise call-up - this was his first first-class game of the year - by scoring 152 runs in the match and looking a player with the technique and temperament to enjoy a long career at this level.But he admitted the balance of the Pakistan side - with just four bowlers carrying a heavy burden - was putting them at a disadvantage and highlighted Englands all-rounders as a key difference between the sidesSami looks a compact player and has shown great temperament, Misbah said. I am happy that he did well against such type of bowling: experienced bowlers in their own conditions. The way he handled the pressure was good to see. Its good to find this sort of opener for Pakistan.But having just four bowlers is a problem. We used to have Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik who could bowl, but here we dont have that option now.England have Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes. Here Yasir Shah carries a tremendous load and this is a problem for us.
Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '
Noble as they might have been, aging legends who have accepted steep hometown-discount deals didnt do so for charity. [b]C.J. Moore Jersey[/b] .Future Hall of Famers such as Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan, men who have cashed NBA paychecks worth well more than $200 million each, simply valued winning with the only franchise they ever played for more than maximizing their wealth.The negotiations with Duncan and Nowitzki have always been handled quietly, devoid of the kind of drama and public posturing that ultimately led to the stunning divorce of the Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade, whose Chicago honeymoon officially began Friday with his introductory news conference.The hometown discounts werent as steep for Wade, who was never the Heats highest-paid player, but they started at a much earlier stage of his career. They each sacrificed financially for the sake of the franchise, but Duncan and Nowitzki never felt the kind of disrespect that Wade did during his last couple rounds of contract talks with the Heat.For Duncan, the financial sacrifice paid off in playoff dividends. In his final four seasons, when his salaries were a fraction of his market value, the San Antonio Spurs averaged more than 60 wins per season, won eight postseason series, advanced to a pair of Finals, and floated down the river for the fifth time as the featured attraction of a championship parade. Duncan made about $35 million during the steep-discount stage of his career, including the player option for next season he exercised a couple of weeks before announcing his retirement in what amounts to a $5.6 million farewell gift from the franchise.For Nowizki, leaving more than $30 million on the table the past two seasons didnt work out nearly as well. The Dallas Mavericks won a total of two playoff games in that span, increasing that tally to five in five seasons since the franchises lone title run in 2011.No wonder Nowitzki decided to opt out of the final season of that three-year, $25 million deal. He was more than willing to take less money to give the Mavs a chance to compete for championships in his twilight. Competing for the No. 6 seed? Pay the man.Mavs owner Mark Cuban did just that, giving Nowitzki a two-year, $50 million deal after negotiations that essentially consisted of handing the longtime face of the franchise a blank contract, seeing his suggested price, then suggesting Dirk beef up the numbers a bit more.Its a deal that prompted comparisons to the last contract of another one-team legend: Kobe Bryant, whose two-year, $48.5 million extension drew criticism. Not that Kobe cared.Its the popular thing to do, Bryant said of hometown discounts when asked about the topic during a Dallas visit in the first month of the 2014-15 season. The player takes less, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think its a big coup for the owners to put players in situations where public perception puts pressure on them to take less money. Because if you dont, then you get criticized for it.Its absolutely brilliant, but Im not going for it. I know the new head of the players association aint going for it, either.Two years later, Nowitzki aint going for it, either. Not under these circumstances, at least.Asked that day about Bryants comments, Nowitzki explained that he willingly took a massive pay cut because his priority was to compete my last couple of years at the highest level. He cited the signing of Chandler Parsons and the trade for Tyson Chandler as good moves by the Mavs made possible by his discount deal.We feel like weve got a good group, Nowitzki said at the time, and hopefully we can make it work.We all know how that worked out. Parsons is gone to the Memphis Grizzlies after two injury-marred seasons with the Mavs, who werent willing to make a long-term investment in him after the forward had more knee surgeries (two) than playoff game appearances (one) during his Dallas tenure. Chandler left last summer when the Mavs wanted to put him on hold while pursuing DeAndre Jordan in free agency.It would have been a much different story if Jordan didnt jilt the Mavs after temporarily committing to Dallas. The Mavs probably would have been battling for home court in the West last season and may have become an intriguing destination for free agents this summer. In that case, Nowitzki likely would have been comfortable playing out the final season of his discount deal, allowing the Mavs front office to use every possible dollar to upgrade a team with real hopes of a long playoff run.But reality for the Mavs is constant shuffling of a roster around Nowitzki, who had grown frustrated after following up a title run with five years of failing to make it out of the first round. Hes not a hypocrite for cashing in on this contract; hes a realist.Dallas isnt in nearly as dire straits as the Los Angeles Lakers were when Bryant signed his last deal. The Lakers were coming off a 27-55 campaign in which Bryant played only six games while recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon. Over two seasons, they won a combined 38 games while Bryant made $48.5 million, but his presence was a box-office bonanza, especially during his 2015-16 farewell tour.In other words, it could be argued that Bryant was a bargain for the Lakers as the leagues highest-paid player the past two seasons. And Bryant, whose career earnings of more than $328 million rank behind only Kevin Garnett, knew that would be true.I think youve got to look at the business of basketball, Bryant said during that November 2014 visit to Dallas. I think for a lot of writers, for a lot of fans, they have a very tough time distinguishing the two.This is a business, and you have to look at individuals and what they generate and the market that theyre generating revenue in. And you cant separate those. People have a hard time separating that stuff. From a business perspective, you have to take that stuff into account, and you have to try to -- as a player -- be in situations where it can be a win-win for everybody.A win-win for Nowitzki and the Mavs would have been using his discount deal to construct a legitimate title contender. It worked once, when Nowitzki took $16 million less than a maximum contract during the summer of 2010 to ease the luxury-tax burden on Cuban, who immediately invested the savings into acquiring Chandler on a salary-dump deal.It wasnt for a lack of effort, but the Mavs couldnt find a way to parlay this most recent Dirk discount into a roster that was a threat in the West.Nowitzki, whose two-year deal -- with only $5 million of his salary in the second season guaranteed as essentially retirement insurance for the Mavs -- ensures that he wont have to hear any noise about possibly leaving to chase a ring in his 20th season, settled for more money and a chance to keep competing for a spot in the playoffs.His previous deal still helped the Mavs during their annual roster remodeling, as his $12.5 million cap hold made it relatively easy to create room to sign Harrison Barnes to a four-year, $94 million deal and trade for Andrew Bogut in a salary-dump deal. This contract will make it tough for the Mavs to be aggressive bidders in next summers free-agency market if Nowitzki returns, but thats a small price to pay after two decades of legendary service.The Mavs are good enough to fight for a playoff berth. They wont have to watch Dirk, who hopes to join Kobe as the lone members of the NBAs 20-year, only-one-team club, suffer the indignity of playing in meaningless games as his career winds down.Duncan was rewarded for his financial sacrifice by being able to compete for a championship until he rode off into the sunset. Precious few get that luxury. Nowitzki wont be on that list. The end of his career will likely be more lucrative and less fulfilling than he wanted. [b]Darius Kilgo Jersey[/b] . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. [b]Andrew Donnal Jersey[/b] .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. [b]http://www.wholesalelionsjerseys.com/?tag=youth-garret-dooley-jersey[/b] . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Misbah-ul-Haq has admitted his batsmen did not have any clue how to handle the reverse swing generated by the England bowlers on the final day at Edgbaston.Pakistan lost four wickets for one run in mid-afternoon as Englands seamers transformed conditions that Misbah described as easy before lunch to those which they could not handle.It lead Misbah to suggest, with tongue in cheek, that Pakistan might have to think about sending their young bowlers to England to learn how to master the art of reverse swinging the ball; an irony considering it was Pakistan bowlers who perfected the art and England, for many years, were tortured by it.Until lunch it was easy, Misbah said. But after lunch they got it reversing and we were not having any clue. We were trying to cope with it, but we could not handle it.Anderson and Broad are used to these conditions. They are really experienced. Full credit to England for the way they fought back after we had a lead of more than 100.I think well just have to send someone to learn from England now how theyre reversing this ball. We could not do it even on the fourth day. I think they are really doing it well.While Alastair Cook rated the victory as one of his most pleasing as England captain, he dismissed the possibility that England could reach No. 1 in the Test rankings over the next few weeks as an irrelevance.It is possible that, if England win the final Test and India do not win against West Indies, that England could reach the top spot. But Cook feels his side are still a couple of years from their peak and seems to regard the landmark as something of a distraction at present.If we become number one there, thats fantastic, Cook said. But it will be a bit of an irrelevance, because this side has still got much further to go.If we do win at The Oval, I wouldnt say we are anywhere near our potential. I thought that might come in a couple of years time.Cook was especially pleased by the nature of the win bearing in mind that nobody in his side scored a century or claimed a five-wicket haul. Instead it was an impressive team performance with all five of his frontline bowlers claiming two wickets in the secondd innings - including Steven Finn, who bowled with hostility and claimed his first wickets of the series - while all seven batsmen contributed decent scores. [b]Jesse James Jersey[/b]. England were not reliant on one or two outstanding individuals.Everyone will be in the dressing-room feeling proud to be part of the team and feeling like they contributed, Cook said. That doesnt always happen.In an absolutely ideal world, I thought there were hundreds left out there. But everyone responded, and I think this side might have just toughened up a little bit. It was hard in the second innings. We werent scoring any runs, but everyone dug in.But Cook refuted Misbahs suggestion that the reverse swing was lavish and instead suggested it was his bowlers skill that magnified the small amount of assistance they gained.We bowled brilliantly, he said. It reverse-swung a little bit. I dont think it did it massively. It just did enough and if it does a bit either way, Jimmy and Stuart are very good.Misbah could at least take some consolation in the emergence of Sami Aslam. The 20-year-old responded to his surprise call-up - this was his first first-class game of the year - by scoring 152 runs in the match and looking a player with the technique and temperament to enjoy a long career at this level.But he admitted the balance of the Pakistan side - with just four bowlers carrying a heavy burden - was putting them at a disadvantage and highlighted Englands all-rounders as a key difference between the sidesSami looks a compact player and has shown great temperament, Misbah said. I am happy that he did well against such type of bowling: experienced bowlers in their own conditions. The way he handled the pressure was good to see. Its good to find this sort of opener for Pakistan.But having just four bowlers is a problem. We used to have Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik who could bowl, but here we dont have that option now.England have Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes. Here Yasir Shah carries a tremendous load and this is a problem for us. Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '