The New York Knicks are in the final stages of contract negotiations with Mike Woodson and are expected to make him their coach in the coming days, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told ESPNNewYork.com.

The deal could be announced as soon as the end of this week, according to the source.

“They’re just waiting on paperwork,” the source said.

“The job’s his,” a second source familiar with negotiations said. “It’s just a matter of time.” (Ian Begley – ESPN New York)

Personally, I’m happy about the move. The team responded to Woodson and his style which is evident by their 18-6 record after he took over. If the team is happy with a coach then why try to bring in someone else because of his history.

Yes, it’s Phil Jackson arguably the best coach in history but is that the kind of distraction that the Knicks needed? Who knows if the team would have responded to him, specifically Carmelo Anthony. You know the guy who really runs the Knicks.

“I’m hopeful he’s back,” Anthony said earlier this month. “There’s no need to try to change it up now. I’m a big believer in sticking with what you have.”

We’ll see how it plays out but I’m content. Woodson has had success his entire career, making the playoffs four out of his six and a half seasons of coaching. So let’s see what he can do with the Knicks especially if he can get some pieces that fit his system.

She’s also appeared in the re-boot of Planet of the Apes and numerous television shows. One of my favorite movies with her was Blue Seduction.

She also showed her bad girl side in 2011 when she was arrested for a DUI after hitting three parked cars and fleeing the scene. During the arrest she also kicked a police officer then during booking got out of her cuffs and tried to flee. She was sentenced to six months at a rehab facility.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman was arrested after he was caught driving 93 mph in Grove City early Monday, police said.

Police said Chapman, 24, was pulled over after he was recorded speeding in a black 2010 Mercedes S63 on Interstate 71 North near Interstate 270 about 12:42 a.m. Monday.

Chapman was arrested after the officer discovered he had a suspended Kentucky driver’s license, according to a police report.(WLWT News 5)

There will be plenty of jokes now tying Chapman’s fastball velocity to his speeding. I’m sure many of them will suck so I won’t even attempt to make one.

Chapman is due in court on June 6th oh and he is out on bond.

General manager Jon Daniels said the Rangers will consider signing pitcher Roy Oswalt in the wake of Neftali Feliz’s elbow injury.

“Everything is on the table,” Daniels said Monday. (T.R. Sullivan – MLBlogs)

Oswalt reportedly wants to sign with someone soon. He recently threw for the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies but most importantly threw for the Rangers on Friday. With Texas now in need of a starter things could progress very quickly.

The Rangers will go with Scott Feldman as Neftali’s replacement on Wednesday, after that who knows. Feldman isn’t a guy you want starting long term so I like Oswalt’s chances here of finding a home.

Now if Dr. Andrews gives a negative report on Vance Worley’s elbow then Oswalt is going to have options himself.

One of the biggest questions in my mind was about his resignation. With the Knicks being 18-24 at the time of his departure and all the internal turmoil you had to wonder if it was a resignation or a forced resignation.

SI.com: It was pretty consistently reported that you quit and were not fired. But there is still some doubt because what you did was unusual. “Quitting” almost always means “fired.” So which is it?

M.D.: I absolutely resigned. I was in my car driving to shootaround and it just came to me. That’s it. It’s inevitable. I have to resign. We’re not going anywhere. I made the decision then and there. I called Glen [Grunwald, the Knicks' general manager] and told him that I was coming in to do it. Then I called Laurel [his wife] to tell her. Glen called in Mr. Dolan [Knicks owner James Dolan] and I met them after shootaround and told them that I was resigning. (SI.com)

In early March we all knew it was D’Antoni or Carmelo Anthony would have to go. It had gotten so bad that Mike went to management to try and get them to trade the face of the franchise. Unfortunately for him he was coaching in New York that that got out and blown up much more then it should be.

SI.com: Was the experience of coaching in New York more difficult than you thought?

M.D.: I’m not going to do any woe-is-me. There’s a lot of pressure but that’s why they pay you. It’s still a great job, and I think Woody [Woodson] will do a great job. It got to the point where we had problems, we could not solve them, and an obstacle had to be removed.(SI.com)

There’s more about the actual relationship with Carmelo.

SI.com: The widest-held theory is that you couldn’t get along with Carmelo Anthony, that any schism on the team, the report that you had “lost the team,” came from …

M.D.: I’m just not going to get into specifics. It came to the point that I had to resign, that’s all. It was time. We weren’t going anywhere and I was the coach.

SI.com: All right, a theoretical question. You’re a coach who likes an open floor, an active point guard, quick shots, pick-and-rolls, “dribble-ats,” lots of movement. Carmelo is a post-up player who needs the ball and demands the ball. He’s great but he kills the clock. Can that ever work? Was it doomed from the beginning?

M.D.: Look, I’ve coached players who post up. Heck, Amar’e [Stoudemire, a Knicks forward] has been a post-up player. We used to post up Boris Diaw a lot in Phoenix. There are always things that can be done by mixing it up. Now, was it the best situation for my coaching philosophy? No. But there’s never one answer for why things don’t work out.(SI.com)

Some think D’Antoni will head down to Orlando and take over now that Stan Van Gundy has been fired. Mike said he hasn’t been contacted by the Magic and isn’t even sure if he’s going to coach next season. If he does coach though I’d assume he tries to get Jeremy Lin to follow.

I’ve said all along Lin is a system point guard and Mike’s system him made him a star. Mike’s brother Dan pretty much backed that point up.

SI.com: When you decided to go to Jeremy Lin as your point guard, did you ever think he could be that good? And as it was happening, did you guys whisper among yourselves, “Man, this can’t go on forever”?

M.D.: Anyone who claims they saw this in Jeremy is kidding himself. But we liked him. We thought he could be good. And, then, when he started to be real good … of course it was surprising … but it somehow made sense. The things he does — he can get into the lane, he can shoot, he’s tough, he’s athletic, his confidence was growing and growing. It became almost logical that he was that good during that time.

D.D.: It comes down to this: Jeremy ran what Mike teaches really, really well.
(SI.com)

There’s a lot of other good stuff in there so I’d go check the piece out at Sports Illustrated. The biggest thing I took out of it is that D’Antoni wasn’t forced out he just couldn’t take the pressures of New York anymore and had to walk away.

Vance Worley requested a second opinion on his sore right elbow, so he saw noted orthopedist James Andrews in Pensacola, Fla., on Monday.

As reported in Monday’s Inquirer, Worley has a small bone chip in his right elbow.

“He has a small body embedded in the lining of his joint,” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “We don’t think it’s the reason why he had inflammation, but it’s possible. This is something that’s not very uncommon. But it could be the cause of some of the inflammation. We haven’t heard from Andrews.” (Matt Gelb – Philly.com)

If the bone chip is the reason for inflammation then things are all good. He’ll resume his throwing and be back with the team shortly. If Dr. Andrews says something different then who knows as of this post the team still hasn’t heard back from the doc.

Detroit Lions receiver Titus Young was not allowed to participate in organized team activities today due to a fight last week with safety Louis Delmas, according to sources.

Young and Delmas fought during one of Detroit’s voluntary workouts last week. According to sources, Delmas and Young got into a confrontation during the workout. Young allegedly punched Delmas when he was not looking. (MLive)

I’m surprised this is all that’s come of the incident. Fights between teammates at workouts are nothing new but to sucker punch one of your own?? That’s a problem! How is there no fine with it? Or have the Lions just that good a job of keeping the incident quiet. Richardson also says that Lions head coach Jim Schwartz won’t speak of the incident or the banning.

Hopefully this is a one time thing and goes away quickly as Young had a promising start to his NFL career in 2011. Titus caught 48 passes for 607 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie.

(H/T to The 700 Level for the video)

So Harper wants boos from Philly fans just not the batteries. I’m quite sure he’ll get the boos, those boos might be the loudest we’ve heard up to this point in the season.

What impresses me is that someone batting only .244 with two homers in 78 at-bats can get that type of reaction. I guess that just goes with being the next big thing and having the ego where you really believe you are that.

Johnson is offering scholarship opportunities to senior football players in the metro Detroit area through The Calvin Johnson Jr. Foundation, Inc. The criteria is that the athletes must be graduating seniors this spring, have no more than a partial college football scholarship, and have a least a 2.5 grade point average upon their high school graduation.

Six scholarships will be awarded at the Annual Catching Dreams Athlete Extravaganza and Scholarship Dinner on June 23, 2012 at the Westin Cadillac Book Hotel in Detroit. The event will include a VIP reception, silent auction, dinner, and presentation of scholarships by the CJJRF founder and president, Calvin Johnson Jr.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is May 25th.

For a scholarship application packet, or more information, e-mail inquiries to cjjrf81@yahoo.com or write to the Calvin Johnson Jr. Foundation, Inc., c/o Catching Dreams Scholarship Program, P.O. Box 1015, Tyrone, GA 30290. (Anwar Richardson – MLive)

This is a great thing that Johnson is doing for whatever student-athletes win these scholarships. These would obviously be students that are good enough to play the game at the collegiate level (who cares if it’s as low as D3) but may not be able to play or even attend school because of financial need.

Who knows maybe one of these kids could surprise and become a future NFL player. Wouldn’t that make for one hell of a story to add to the legend of Megatron?