ekansekans's blog: "df"

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts have their new offensive co-ordinator, and its someone Andrew Luck already knows. A person familiar with the decision said Stanford offensive co-ordinator Pep Hamilton has accepted the same position with the Indianapolis Colts, where he will be reunited with Luck. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Friday because the deal has not yet officially been announced by the Colts. Team owner Jim Irsay tweeted that the Colts offence "could have some pep to it this fall." The Colts were hoping that a promised pay raise and a new job title would be enough to keep Bruce Arians in Indy. But Arians, a longtime NFL assistant, had long dreamed about being an NFL head coach and couldnt say no when the Arizona Cardinals offered him the job Thursday. Arians stepped in when Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia in September and went on to tie an NFL record for wins after a midseason coaching change. His 9-3 record not only made him a front-runner for coach of the year honours, but suddenly made him a hot commodity on the interview circuit, too. Knowing that, Colts general manager Ryan Grigson said Tuesday that while he was hoping Arians would return for a second season as offensive co-ordinator, he was preparing for life without the 60-year-old Arians. "I take it upon myself to always be prepared. Just like during the season, I always have a doomsday mindset," Grigson said Tuesday. "I always have a deep reserve of players and people at the ready. Thats my job. Thats what Ive been entrusted to do. Im just doing my job. Its not cold or heartless, Im just doing my job." Grigson played it coy earlier this week when he was asked whether Plan B would be promoting quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen to offensive co-ordinator, a job he held under former coach Jim Caldwell. But one thing the Colts wanted was continuity for Luck and his young teammates and Hamilton could help in that facet. Hell have some familiar faces on the roster with Luck, last years No. 1 overall pick out of Stanford, and tight end Coby Fleener. Luck set NFL rookie records for attempts and yards passing and fell just short of the leagues rookie marks for completions and touchdown passes. He tied the leagues single-season record for most winning drives in the fourth quarter (seven) and produced a league-high nine wins in one-possession games. Hamilton also has a solid supporting cast outside of the two ex-Cardinal players. Running back Vick Ballard, tight end Dwayne Allen and receivers T.Y. Hilton and LaVon Brazill combined with Fleener and others to give Indy (11-5) the highest combined total of yards rushing and receiving by rookies on one team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Hamilton joined Jim Harbaughs staff at Stanford in 2010. He was promoted to offensive co-ordinator when Harbaugh left for the San Francisco 49ers two years ago and David Shaw took over as Stanfords head coach. Last May, the university officially renamed the offensive co-ordinator position the "Andrew Luck Director of Offense" after an anonymous donor made what the school called a "very generous" gift to honour the record-setting quarterback. Stanford has endowments for many positions in the athletic department, although most are reserved for head coaches and the athletic director. Hamilton helped continue Stanfords renaissance behind a balanced offence -- with and without Luck. One of the Cardinals key recruiters, Hamilton also discovered new quarterback Kevin Hogan out of McLean, Va. The strong-armed and quick-footed Hogan finished 5-0 -- including beating four ranked teams en route to the Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin on Jan. 1 -- since replacing Josh Nunes, who struggled to succeed Luck. Stanford had not won the Rose Bowl since 1972. Stanford is one of only three schools -- Oregon and Wisconsin being the others -- who earned BCS bowl berths the past three seasons. The Cardinal routed Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl two years ago and lost in overtime to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl in Lucks finale. Stanford has won at least 11 games each of the past three years. The program had won 10 games only three times before (1992, 1940 and 1926). Losing Arians is only part of Indys transition. Since losing a wild-card round game to Baltimore, the Colts have parted ways with special teams co-ordinator Marrwan Maalouf and watched vice-president of football operations Tom Telesco leave to take the general manager job in San Diego. Grigson replaced Telesco with Jimmy Raye, who had spent the past 16 years in San Diegos front office, and Pagano hired Tom McMahon as his new special teams coach this week. Grigson said he expects no more major changes to the front office or coaching staff during the off-season. "Just because weve won one season were not going to let people just raid the hen house," Grigson said. "Ive been on the other side of it myself, its tough but guys are in contracts and if youre offered a head coaching job or a GM position I have to let you out, but otherwise, I dont." Wholesale Jerseys . Miamis mascot, on its head -- with a first-aid symbol and an "X" over each eye to boot. "I said, Weve got to turn him upside down," he said. Wholesale Jerseys From China . Various reports indicate Kuznetsov, one the Capitals top prospects, has decided to continue playing in Russias Kontinental Hockey League, signing a two-year deal with Chelyabinsk. http://pavansukhdev.org/wholesalejerseys.html . In the process, the fourth-year point guard continued to make a strong case for his first career All-Star berth next month in Houston. WASHINGTON -- The wait for Adam LaRoche to make up his mind had played out long enough. It was time to decide if he would take the Washington Nationals offer or move on. The slugging first baseman decided to stay with the Nationals on Tuesday, agreeing to a $24 million, two-year deal with a mutual option for a third year. He wanted a full three-year contract, but Washington was never going to offer one. "I think we both were getting tired of the process," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "We had a lot of conversations back and forth with his representative. Adam and I had a few private conversations. ... I made it clear to Adam that its time to get this thing done. Make a decision. Our offer is what it is. Its been on the table for a while. Its time to think of your options and pull the trigger if you want to be here." LaRoches return completes the final piece of an expected starting lineup for the defending NL East champions and renders Michael Morse expendable. Morse played outfield last year but would have moved to first base if LaRoche had not re-signed, giving the Nationals much of the leverage they needed to balk at LaRoches bid for the extra year in the contract. La Roche gets $10 million next yeear and $12 million in 2014, and the deal includes a $15 million mutual option for 2015 with a $2 million buyout.dddddddddddd He had a superb 2012 at the plate -- .271 average, 33 home runs, 100 RBIs -- but hes 33 years old, and Washington is flush with young, emerging talent that will cost a lot of money to keep in a few years. Also, LaRoches value was hampered on the open market because any team signing him would have forfeited a supplementary first-round draft pick to the Nationals. "We were in a pretty enviable position negotiating-wise because our other option was already under contract and in-house," Rizzo said. "And that allowed us to be so patient with Adam." Now it will be the Nationals turn to test the trade market with Morse, who lost his outfield spot when Washington acquired Denard Span in a trade in November. Morse batted .291 with 18 home runs and 62 RBIs in 102 games last year. "Were certainly not going to give him away," Rizzo said. "But if we can make the right deal that works for Mike and for us as a franchise, well certainly do that deal." Shortly after the news broke that LaRoches deal was done, Morse tweeted: "Hey everyone, going silent for a while." ' ' '