Spanning The Sports Globe

Here is a list of key sports items on today's docket ...

Soccer

AC Milan overcame the haunting memories of Istanbul by defeating Liverpool 2-1 in Greece to win the UEFA Champions League trophy. Two goals from Pippo Inzaghi was the difference in a match dominated by Liverpool. Two years ago, the Reds came back from a three-goal deficit to score thrice in a six-minute span and then win in penalty kicks.

NBA Draft

Roy Hibbert is returning to school for his senior season. Citing that he does not want to sit on the bench, Hibbert has been the model for improvement since enrolling at Georgetown and will benefit from his senior year. Hibbert's removal ushers the way for center Spencer Hawes to move up considerably.

In other draft news, Teammate Jeff Green will remain in the draft and is slated to be drafted among the top 10 picks.

NBA

According to a league official, Brian Hill is out (again) as the head coach of the Orlando Magic. In his second year with the team, Hill led the Magic to the playoffs with a 40-42 record before being ousted by Detroit in the first round. Hill came under scrutiny for starting Tony Battie over Darko Milicic and seating JJ Redick on the bench. Considering that both Milicic (traded) and Redick (drafted) were obtained in exchange for 1st-round selections, the critics seem fit in their assessments. With a talented young team and room under the salary cap, the Magic won't have to twist many arms to gain admirers.

In Minnesota, Randy Wittman has received a multi-year contract after finishing 12-30 as interim head coach. Notice the choice of words. You don't earn a contract by going 12 for 42 in any sport, except for maybe baseball. Though I did not mention them in the cast of teams throwing games, the Timberwolves could be found anywhere except for on the basketball court last season.

NFL

Finally, in the NFL, Keyshawn Johnson retired. Not much to say on this one because it made sense. Keyshawn overvalues his talents in comparison to the market value and he reportedly did a very good job working the draft for ESPN.

MLB
Can someone suspend Jason Giambi already? He obviously took steroids, and now, he reportedly failed an amphetamines test administered by Major League Baseball. The last time I got away with saying "sorry" more than once was in elementary school. If Major League Baseball wants to project that image and become "America's Afterthought", then it's taking all the right steps to make that happen.

Cornucopia of Football Goodness

* First things first. I’m not certain if Armin is going to be able to give out his overall team draft grades this week. Therefore, we suggest you check out the grades given out by CBS Sportsline’s Pete Prisco, who despite a publicly unacceptable man-crush on Jamaal Anderson, does a very good job.

* Here you go, Damien. Who knew that Keyshawn Johnson would get released just three days removed from Carolina’s selection of Dwayne Jarrett? I sure didn’t. Am I shocked? Not quite. Is Keyshawn the “cancer” that Terrell Owens and Randy Moss have been accused of being? Not one bit. He’s not as talented as either Owens or Moss, so there’s less margin for error in his character. There are conflicting reports on ESPN and PFT about a $3million roster bonus paid out to Johnson last month. If that is true, then the Panthers brass should be accountable for their indecisiveness because this year’s wide receiver draft class was rich with talent. With that said, Keyshawn’s professional football career may be over due to incongruence between his expectations and the marginalized offers he will receive.

* In Washington, many Redskins fans are angry that their team was unable to trade out of the 6^th pick overall in order to amass more Day 1 picks. After Arizona took Levi Brown with the 5^th pick, Minnesota knew that they would be able to draft either Adrian Peterson or Brady Quinn. It all comes down to the hidden intentions of the Miami Dolphins, who preferred a guy in a boot (Ted Ginn Jr.) compared to Brady Quinn. That was truly a Saer Sene moment of shock. All hindsight aside, porous is a euphemism for the Redskins defensive line and they ignored Jamaal Anderson in favor of LaRon Landry (who I actually love). Not to mention, safety is one of the least important positions on the football field and the Redskins will have two of the highest drafted safeties in NFL history. I can see the Washington spinsters saying something to the tune of, “No one wants to play our back seven”.

* What were you thinking, Philadelphia? It’s one thing to draft a quarterback on Day 1. It’s another to select one in Round 2 at pick 36. It’s insane to trade up in order to reach for Kevin Kolb. Unlike most Eagles fans, I knew, albeit begrudgingly, that the Eagles needed to select a quarterback on Day 1 of the draft. Like it or not, Donovan McNabb has missed significant playing time in three of the last five years and AJ Feeley is not good enough to carry the ship. Nevertheless, the Eagles should have beefed up their secondary prior to the 5^th round.

* Joe Andruzzi was released today by the Cleveland Browns. Expect a mad dash for the guard, because you can never have enough offensive line help. Expect a certain team who didn’t draft any offensive linemen to make an offer.