Maddux Sports Blog

Interesting developments in the Ricky Rubio story. Apparently he had come to terms on a deal that would have sent him to Minnesota this year, but after the deal was struck he backed out of it and decided he would rather spend two more years developing in the comparative safety of his home country of Spain. I can understand that on some levels, and I can forgive a young kid of a lot, but I can’t help but question his competitive drive just a bit if he backs off of an opportunity to play in unquestionably the best league in the world – especially when he would have been going to a young team with lots of talent that would have been built around him.

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The Steelers might have the hardware, but the biggest winner in the NFL playoffs is unquestionably Todd Haley, the former offensive coordinator of the Cardinals. Heading into the playoffs few people knew his name, and he wasn’t mentioned with any regularity surrounding coaching vacancies. He put together a phenomenal playoff run, though, and all of a sudden he is the head coach with the Chiefs. Not only did he get the job, but they clearly held it open for him, because it all came about quite quickly. It’s not just that he landed a job, either – he landed a pretty good one. The team doesn’t have a whole lot to work with right now, but they are at least $45 million under the salary cap for next year, and they have the third pick in the draft, so lots can be done. On top of that, his new boss is Scott Pioli , the architect of New England’s success. The Chiefs were far from good last year, but they played with more pride than some bad teams, and there were a few good reasons to believe that the future was bright before this move and thePioli hiring. Now this has to be a team to be bullish about on the longer term. Haley takes over a team with promise, he has new facilities on the way, and that all means a bright future.

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