play slow bowling.In the case of Miller, who has an outstanding first-class record - 428 wickets in 84 matches at an astounding average of 16.64 - and was a major player in Jamaica winning six first-class titles bet

MINNEAPOLIS -- In the winter of 1998, Ethan Casson started calling professional franchise after professional franchise, begging them to get his foot in the door in any capacity.One night, a human resources employee for the Minnesota Timberwolves picked up the phone and Casson talked his way into a meeting. He flew from the East Coast, met with several Timberwolves executives and, during the third quarter of a game against the Golden State Warriors, was offered an entry-level position on the business side of the operation at $24,000 per year.To think that what started as a cold call of me begging an HR person to let me come in and prove my worth 18 years later turned into me coming back as a CEO is amazing and certainly very special to me, Casson told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.Casson had to sell his car and some other possessions to raise the money to pay for his move from Boston to the Twin Cities, but the leap of faith has paid off. Six years after he left the Timberwolves to climb the ladder with the San Francisco 49ers, he is returning as CEO to breathe new life into one of the NBAs struggling operations.Timberwolves President Chris Wright remembered the impression Casson left in those first face-to-face meetings.I told him were going to find a place for you in this franchise because you are exactly the type of person that we want build this franchise around, Wright said.Cassons first stint with the Timberwolves lasted 11 years. He worked his way up to senior vice president of corporate partnerships and met his future wife here before leaving for the 49ers in 2010.When he arrived in the Bay Area, the once-proud 49ers were in the midst of an eight-year playoff drought. Their revenue had dropped to near the bottom of the league and they were playing in an outdated stadium that couldnt compete with the shiny new ones popping up around the league. He leaves after helping to secure a 20-year, $220 million naming rights deal with Levis for the new stadium and rebuilding the franchises business operations.The Timberwolves have not made the playoffs since 2004, the longest active drought in the league. That futility has contributed significantly to plummeting revenue and a dwindling season ticket base.Im not saying its apples to apples, but I certainly feel Ive been on a six-year journey that involved a lot of similar themes, Casson said. And Ill apply all of those lessons to this next phase of my career.Casson replaces Rob Moor, the longtime CEO who stepped aside to work more closely with Wolves owner Glen Taylors other business interests. At 42 years old, Casson is part of a youth movement coming into the organization. Taylor also brought in 41-year-old New York real estate mogul Meyer Orbach and 35-year-old Chinese entrepreneur John Jiang as minority owners, and he hopes the three of them help bring a new perspective and energy to the business side that mirrors the vibe youngsters Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine are bringing to the team.I was very aware and respectful that taking on this role wasnt about coming in and fixing things that were broken, Casson said. I dont look at opportunities like this as somethings not working. I look at it as an opportunity to reset and plot out a different course or a different version of a course that moves the business forward.The challenges are real. The Timberwolves competitive dormancy buried them in a crowded sports marketplace. Tickets have been hard to sell and the NFLs Vikings, the NHLs Wild and MLBs Twins are competing for the corporate dollars.Ive been here for a long time, said Wright, who is entering his 25th season with the Wolves. Ive tried to do it what I consider the best way for the franchise given all of the different sort of environments weve found ourselves in over the last 12 years as weve not been making the playoffs. And I think Ethan is going to just bring a completely fresh, new look to all of that and lead us in the direction we need to be as a club in the 21st century.The Wolves have one of the most promising young cores in the league, a brand new practice facility in downtown Minneapolis and have begun renovations on the dusty Target Center.Theres a lot of momentum in and around the organization that made it very exciting for me as a fan and now as someone who is coming back as CEO, he said. That will come and go. The renovation will eventually be complete. The team will stabilize and be competitive. You still have to make sure the business model is sustainable and drivable. Thats what were going to be.Adidas NMD R1 Clearance . Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz were sent to Toronto on Saturday as the Maple Leafs traded defenceman Jesse Blacker and draft picks to the Anaheim Ducks. Adidas NMD Womens Cheap . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/ . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. Adidas NMD Womens Pink .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Adidas NMD Mens Black and White . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second.Nikita Miller, the Jamaica captain, has said he was more focused on securing victory for his side rather than gaining a record 10-wicket innings haul against Trinidad & Tobago in the recently concluded fourth round of the WICB Regional Four-Day Tournament.Millers figures of 9 for 41 in T&Ts second innings were the best in West Indies domestic history. He became only the sixth bowler to claim nine in an innings in recorded West Indies first-class statistics since 1966. My reaction was quite normal and wasnt overly excited to be honest, Miller told ESPNcricinfo. I didnt know at the time it was the best, since I knew Bishoo had taken nine wickets a couple of seasons ago, so I was just glad it was accomplished in a winning team effort.Miller took the first nine wickets of T&Ts innings, before the legspinner Damion Jacobs had Roshon Primus lbw to deny him the honour of being the first West Indian to take all ten in an innings. Miller says the feat wasnt on his mind, in the heat of the moment.Leaving the field some fans asked me why I didnt push to get all 10, but really as captain I was mainly focused on getting Trinidad all out, he said. There was many points at other end when the batsmen were scoring freely, so even while bowling and I didnt even celebrate the ninth wicket, I was thinking about bowling options, field placements for next bowler and over.During West Indies decline over the last 20 years or so, there has been a long-standing debate over the standard of domestic ccricket in the Caribbean.ddddddddddddThe pitches have tended not to help the fast bowlers, which has meant spinners such as Miller have always among the leading wicket-takers. Some believe the success of spinners reflects how poorly Caribbean batsmen have tended to play slow bowling.In the case of Miller, who has an outstanding first-class record - 428 wickets in 84 matches at an astounding average of 16.64 - and was a major player in Jamaica winning six first-class titles between 2007 and 2014, those aforementioned reasons have probably played a part in the last three West Indies chairmen of selectors - Clyde Butts, Clive Lloyd and Courtney Browne - ignoring him for Test cricket.If called up to do a job [by West Indies], will do to best of ability - but my mind is not really on it, Miller said. The one thing Id say about criticism of whether I could replicate my domestic performances at Test level, and can only speak for myself - I have played in A team cricket in 2013 versus India and Sri Lanka, playing against guys like [Virender] Sehwag, [Gautam] Gambhir, [Cheteshwar] Pujara, Yuvraj [Singh] and got five-wicket hauls and was the leading West Indies A wicket-taker.Yes, the standard (of West Indies domestic cricket) could improve to another level, but if it was I believe Id still do well, because if youre good, you perform despite the standard. ' ' '