T.G.I.M.! 2-16

"I didn't part like the way, the direction the team was headed," Shero said on a conference call, not long after giving Therrien the news. "I've watched for a number of weeks and, at the end of the day, the direction is not that I wanted to have here. I wasn't comfortable, and that's why the change was made."

Therrien, in his first season as head coach of the Penguins, engineered one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in NHL history, coaching the Penguins to within 2 games of winning the Stanly Cup.

Dan Bylsma, the head coach of the Penguins AHL team, will replace Therrien as head coach.

The Phoenix Suns, after a disappointing 28-23 start that has them sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference, one game behind the Utah Jazz for the final playoff spot, released first year head coach Terry Porter.

Porter, tasked with replacing the successful Mike D’Antoni who is currently coaching the New York Knicks, was unsuccessful in changing the Suns from a run and gun team to a defensive minded team in the mold of the Detroit Pistons. He will be replaced by Assistance Coach and player favorite, Alvin Gentry, who will most assuredly return the Suns to their preferred faster playing pace.

"I think Alvin is a great players' coach," Suns forward/center Amare Stoudemire said after Sunday's All-Star Game in Phoenix. "He gets along with his players well. Of course, he'll have a great game plan from a basketball standpoint. I think it will be somewhat up-tempo."

You’d think that after the Plaxico Burress situation, that players would rethink doing anything…well…illegal, but apparently that isn’t the case as Buffalo Bills RB Marshawn Lynch was arrested this past week on felony charges of possession of a concealed firearm.

The arrest happened in Culver City, California, where Lynch was reportedly visiting friends when police spotted three men driving a 2006 Mercedes Benz, recognizing Lynch as one of the men.

"A subsequent field investigation led to the discovery of a loaded firearm," the report said. "The officers determined the gun belonged to Lynch and he was arrested for possession of a concealed firearm."

Though you have to doubt the intelligence of Lynch carrying the weapon, I personally wonder at the exact reason that he was pulled over in the first place? The article I read was very vague on this account.

A Soggy Finish Leads to a Soggy Start…

You can’t compare NASCAR to the people delivering the mail as they decided to hang it up early Sunday as the rain fell in the later part of the Super Bowl of racing, the Daytona 500, giving Matt Kenseth his first 500 win.

Kenseth, a former NASCAR Champion, had never been in contention in the 500, and was highly emotional after snapping a decade of frustration.

"It was actually starting to weigh on me more than we thought.” Said Kenseth “We haven't been a serious contender for the championship for a few years. To be able to put it all together, be able to win the race, is pretty overwhelming."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. got off to a controversial start to the season when he caused a nine-car accident, letting emotions from a day full of mistakes boil over. Jr. clipped Brian Vickers, spinning him out and starting the pile-up, after Vickers blocked a failed attempt by Jr. to pass him.

"My goal is to keep Junior behind me," Vickers said. "I went to block him. I beat him to the yellow line and then he just turned us. To wreck somebody intentionally like that in front of the entire field is really kind of dangerous. That's my problem with it."

In a move that shows the teams commitment to change, the Jacksonville Jaguars released 11-year veteran Fred Taylor. The 33 year old Taylor is 16^th on the all-time rusher list with 11,271 and was set to earn $6 million next season. He has stated previously that he still believes he can be a starter in the league.