FIVE QUICK HOOPS THOUGHTS 1. CARMELO ANTHONY: As Knicks fans worry about the potential departure with his decision to opt out, I see this as a blessing in disguise. As currently constructed, the Knicks have NO shot at being a legitimate contender. Yes. The organization gave up a kings ransom to get a major Asset yet when you reflect on his time in NY hes been a terrific scoring talent and theyve had their share of ups and downs and in his defense - not all his fault. He is what he is at this stage of his career -- a brilliant scorer who plays very hard on the offensive end of the court. In the end, sometimes in sports, business and life the best strategy is to cut your losses and move on. With Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani all off the books next season, it allows president Phil Jackson to shape the organization in his image which is the right move. The key is to avoid all the noise from the NY media with demands to go for Big Name $$ Quick Fixes and make thoughtful basketball decisions. This organization tries too often to Win the Back Page rather than do whats smart. Yes, a terrific talent could walk out the door for little or nothing yet in 12 months you get to truly build the right foundation for long term success. Good common sense. 2. CHICAGO BULLS: Youll hear their name lots in the next 10 days when Melos name comes up and if I were Melo this makes complete sense to me as long as hes willing to take a pay cut that he can earn some back in quality endorsements if hes a significant piece on a major-league winning team in Chicago. Against the Knicks, a quick comparison: Money: NY, ownership: Chicago…. not close, management: Chicago…. Sorry, but Phil Jackson has never been a president/GM, coach: Chicago…. not close, team talent level: Chicago. If Derrick Rose can even get back to being 80 per cent of what he was, this is a nice edge. In my mind, the Bulls make the most sense if -- and its a big IF -- hes willing to sacrifice. Hell be held totally accountable here on a daily basis. No nonsense. Defining moment for him in his career. 3. KEVIN LOVE: Where there is smoke …. If Im the TWolves, I move him as soon as I can and get on with the business of reshaping my team while his value is at its highest. Many folks say wait until the trade deadline, yet Im not sure youll get better than the next few weeks. I think you owe it to yourself and your fans to cut the cord as soon as you can. Believe me; if they really want him, theyll blink and offer you close (not all) of what you want. Be proactive. In 12 months, hell be out the door. Deal with it and rid yourself of the drama. Terrific talent, yet hes got you to how many playoff appearances? Sure, the other 14 teammates matter a whole lot in the Western Conference but its time to be realistic and based upon your market build a team rather than the concern with having name guys. 4. ZACH RANDOLPH (Grizzlies): Trying to get an extension worked out in Memphis. Makes perfect sense to me. All the guy does is produce and hes done it in the context of winning/playoffs. A double-double machine who is one of the toughest covers in the league, hes been very good for you. A piece you cant lose. If the term and money make sense, do it. 5. JOEL EMBIID: Feel awful for this young man. Watching him play this year at the University of Kansas hes an intriguing talent with loads of major potential that I love. On the other hand, with some teams freaked out by the injuries to bigs like Sam Bowie and Greg Oden over the years with the complete - and I mean complete - change in the way the NBA game is played on the perimeter it might benefit him to fall a bit to a team that will be patient with him and allow him to work his way in at the right pace as a rookie. Hes got a chance to be very good, yet in a different league that bigs came into 20 years ago. If he drops a bit, someones going to be quite lucky if he holds up physically. Risk vs. Reward. Can change in a very positive way or end some careers with this pick. Will be interesting to watch unfold. Air Max 270 Bowfin Canada . Old times for a defence that has looked just plain old recently? "No," safety Ryan Clark said. "We used to be much better than that. Air Max 90 Womens Canada . -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday. http://www.clearanceairmaxcanada.com/air-max-720-canada-sale.html . Louis Blues, having added Ryan Miller and Steve Ott from Buffalo, remain the No. Nike Air Max 97 Canada . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago. Air Max2 Light Canada . Virtanen opened the scoring at 6:45 of the first period, then gave Canada a two-goal lead with a power-play goal 1:03 into the second. Sweden cut the lead in half when Daniel Muzito Bagenda scored a power-play goal at 10:57 of the second.MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings will suspend special teams co-ordinator Mike Priefer without pay for three games this season and donate $100,000 to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights groups, in response to former punter Chris Kluwes allegations of anti-gay slurs and taunts made by Priefer. The Vikings announced the punishment Friday as part of a summary of findings by outside lawyers hired in January to investigate Kluwes accusations, which included a claim he was released because of his gay-rights advocacy. The Vikings said Priefers ban could be reduced to two games at their discretion, provided he attends individualized anti-harassment, diversity and sexual-orientation sensitivity training. Such education has been required for all Vikings employees, coaches and players on an annual basis for the past several years, the team said, and the improvements for the programs will be considered. Chris Madel, a former Justice Department attorney, and Eric Magnuson, a former chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, from the Minneapolis-based law firm Robins, Kaplan, Ciresi and Miller recently presented their report to the Vikings after interviewing 31 people and examining 121 gigabytes of data. Priefer was questioned three times. According to a 29-page analysis of the investigation by employment law consultants Littler Mendelson and Donald Prophete, commissioned by the Vikings and released Friday, Priefer initially denied making a remark Kluwe alleged about "putting all the gays on an island and nuking it" but later acknowledged he might have. Long snapper Cullen Loeffler told the investigators he heard the same comment Kluwe did, but that he assumed Priefer was joking. Also in the analysis of the investigation released by Mendelson and Prophete: -- Vikings officials were nearly unanimous in deciding Kluwes 2012 season was substandard, and the report said Priefer actually gave Kluwe a higher grade than any of the front-office evaluators. The Vikings have maintained the move to cut Kluwe was strictly football-based after they drafted Jeff Locke in the fifth round and Kluwe was due to make $1.45 million in the 2013 season at age 31. -- The investigators asked former Chicago general manager Jerry Angelo and former NFL punter Craig Hentrich to analyze Kluwes performance as well, and Hentrich gave Kluwe a "C" grade overall. -- The report also cited anecdotes from several interviewees about the penchant for off-colourbehaviour by Kluwe, whose Internet and Twitter criticisms of various institutions and individuals have often contained obscenee language.dddddddddddd According to the report, Kluwe poked fun at Tom Kanavy, the strength and conditioning coach at the time, in a vulgar manner that made light of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal at Penn State, where Kanavy attended and later worked. In a statement from the team, Priefer apologized to owners Mark Wilf and Zygi Wilf, the organization, the fans, his family, the LGBT community, Kluwe and "anyone else that I offended with my insensitive remark." Added Priefer, who was hired by the Vikings in 2011: "I regret what has occurred and what I said. I am extremely sorry, but I will learn from this situation and will work on educating others to create more tolerance and respect." Kluwe, however, said Friday he will still sue the team for discrimination, against his gay-rights activism and agnostic beliefs, as well as defamation and wrongful interference of his contract. His attorney, Clayton Halunen, said the complaint will be filed in Hennepin County District Court as early as Monday, seeking $10 million in damages. They announced earlier this week their impending lawsuit and did not reach a settlement agreement with the team. "Here we have this company, this Minnesota company whos getting $400 million out of taxpayers funds to build the stadium, and yet they are violating state law by engaging in discriminatory conduct, and that is unacceptable," Halunen said. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said: "We support our teams enforcing their workplace policies and commend the Wilfs for doing a thorough investigation and taking appropriate steps in response to the findings." The Wilf brothers, in a joint statement provided by the team, said Madel and Magnuson "were in full control of the investigation at all times." They said theyre pleased Mendelson and Prophete "concluded that there was no wrongdoing" by the Vikings in releasing Kluwe. "We are very disappointed with some of the findings contained within the report," the Wilfs said. "As we have said in the past, we consistently strive to create -- and believe we have -- a supportive, respectful and accepting environment for our players, coaches and staff, and we strongly disassociate the club from the statement that Coach Priefer made. Coach Priefer is a good man, and we know that he deeply regrets the comment. We do not believe that this error in judgment should define him." In his scathing article posted Jan. 2 on the website Deadspin.com that spelled out the allegations, Kluwe said Zygi Wilf expressed support for his gay-rights advocacy. ' ' '