iderable wealth unrelated to the business of football, the owners getting their

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said he is ready to return to coaching just three days after a procedure to have two stents placed in his heart. Clifford said he will coach Monday night when the Bobcats host the Atlanta Hawks. "I feel fine," Clifford said following Mondays shoot around. "I havent had any pain, even minor pain, since the incident." Clifford, 52, said he was taken by ambulance to the hospital Thursday night after experiencing chest pains while dining at a Charlotte restaurant. The following day doctors inserted the stents to prevent blockage to the heart. "I had significant pain in my chest and I was having trouble breathing," Clifford said. "So it was scary enough where I had them call 911. And I was lucky that I did. ... Once I got the hospital I felt good." Clifford said he feels lucky that he acted as quickly as he did, knowing the incident could have been worse had he ignored the warning signs. "At least I got a warning signal," Clifford said. "Things worked out well. The doctors have me on a good plan and Im going to follow it." He said he will need to change his diet. "I will have to, but its only been two days and obviously it hasnt shown up yet," he said with a laugh as he rubbed his stomach. Clifford only missed one game — a 101-91 loss Friday night to the New York Knicks. Associate head coach Patrick Ewing filled in for Clifford. Doctors advised Clifford to take it easy, which wont be easy considering the Bobcats have four games in six days. Clifford is in his first season with the Bobcats. He was hired to replace Mike Dunlap, who was fired after the Bobcats finished 21-61 last season. Clifford isnt the only one returning Monday night. He said centre Al Jefferson, who missed five games with an ankle injury, will start against Atlanta. Jefferson could give the Bobcats (3-3) an added boost in Cliffords return. Jefferson, who signed a three-year, $41 million contract with the Bobcats this off-season, first injured his ankle in the teams second preseason game against the Miami Heat. He sat out to remainder of the preseason and returned to play in the regular season opener at Houston. However, he re-aggravated the ankle and hasnt played since. "I dont know how many minutes hell play, but he feels good and didnt have any soreness from practice," Clifford said. "Well start him and try to integrate him into our play as best that we can." When Jefferson was told he was starting he replied, "Thats music to my ears." Jefferson said the most important thing is making sure he doesnt have a setback and is able to continue playing after Monday nights game Dion Waiters Jersey . Dragic was a game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesdays loss at Utah, but played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemires 44 on March 19, 2010. Glen Rice Heat Jersey . Last years runner-up, Sara Errani, also reached the last eight in straight sets. Flipkens converted all four of her break points against Meusburger, and the third-seeded Errani broke Karin Knapps serve five times to win their all-Italian match 6-4, 6-3. https://www.heatlockerroom.com/Kelly-Olynyk-City-Edition-Jersey/ . A wide-eyed 18-year-old visiting North America for only the second time in his young life, Caboclo immediately noticed the "big tower" his new home is best known for. Goran Dragic Heat Jersey . Mike Babcock has turned to the Montreal Canadiens goalie over Roberto Luongo, who backed Canada to a gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, for Canadas final preliminary round game against the ailing Finns. Chris Bosh Heat Jersey . - Tom Brady was upset that his New England Patriots hardly looked like a division champion in the first half.Back last autumn, long before the collective bargaining process for the Canadian Football League and its players began, it wasnt hard to find those around the game who figured the leagues new salary cap would come in at about $5 million. Which is exactly where it landed Saturday night, with the players and league reaching a tentative agreement which - pending ratification - will end the threat of a work stoppage for the next five seasons. The $5 million figure is an increase of $600,000 per team over one year ago which means, when combined with ratification bonuses just for signing the deal, player compensation will grow to roughly $5.3 million per team this upcoming season. Historically speaking, a payroll jump of nearly $1 million per team from one season to the next is unheard of in the CFL. So why are so many players apparently unhappy with the deal? Largely because the CFL Players Association had been trying to build solidarity by pointing to the leagues new TV contract and several new stadium, while pleading its case first for a share of revenues and then for a salary cap of $6.8 million. But as time passed, the CFLPA executive sensed the that the $5 million salary cap was a deal-breaker for the league, an amount the players were likely going to have to accept either now, or in July or sometime after that. The players had every right to expect more. But any student of professional football labour knows that owners hold more of the cards in this sport than any other. Remember that three years ago, with all signs pointing to record revenues and popularity, the NFL locked out its players and rolled back their percentage of the take. All for the same reason the CFLs owners were able to gain the upper hand with their players: because they could and this is business. The unique element of the CFLs business case is that it can reasonably say it needed to make the league more economiically stable.dddddddddddd The bad old days in the CFL arent really all that long ago (its been eight years since a CFL team folded, 11 since two others were in bankruptcy) so the league based its position on prioritizing the medium to long term future of the league. There are non-monetary wins for the players in this deal, in such things as reduced hitting time in practice time, plus the fact that veteran contracts will no longer tie players to their teams for an extra year at the clubs option. But as for how this will affect the CFL game as a whole, theres not a whole lot in this agreement thats going to change the product as we know it. The league hopes the new agreement will provide the financial footing for it and its teams to invest in all areas of its business, essentially play catch-up on some of the things it wasnt able to do while it was trying to keep its head above water. With three teams having public ownership and six other franchises owned by people of considerable wealth unrelated to the business of football, the owners getting their way in this deal isnt about fat-cats trying to line their pockets. Its really about creating a business model that can drive franchise values up and make CFL franchises desirable to own in a way they havent been for decades. Which is the very best insurance the league can have and should mean the end of fire sales and circumstances where owners are tempted to throw the keys on the table and walk away. If the league operates soundly from here on, there will be better paydays in a stronger CFL down the road. Thats little consolation for this group of players, most of whom wont be around to share in the spoils that may come. But for a league that has spent much of the past 30 years trying to stay a few steps ahead of The Grim Reaper, theres no shame in striking a deal that builds a solid financial foundation to the future. ' ' '