Clippers Trade in Their Miles for Stability

Randy Hill of Foxsports.com on the Clippers’ decision to trade popular Darius Miles to Cleveland for point guard Andre Miller. “I understand the reluctance to embrace a farewell to Darius. The kid can be exciting as your final car payment.... But Miller, who led the league in assists last season, provides a legitimate floor leader capable of steering the Clippers into the playoffs.

“After reading the Clipper roster, Andre could be considered as crucial as the only corkscrew at a wedding reception

“So where is Miles right now? As I understand it, he’s been in Vancouver on a movie shoot. The film’s working title is ‘The Perfect Score,’ and--according to the Clips’ media-relations crew--casts Miles as something he never was, a college basketball player.”

Trivia time: How old was running back Jim Brown when he retired from the NFL?

Coaching while black: After six seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Marvin Lewis is now the defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins and a step closer to finally landing a head coaching job, according to Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun. “Lewis seems at ease with the media. In Baltimore, he easily became annoyed with reporters, and was more elusive than Marshall Faulk during the tough times in his first two seasons....

“There are no questions about who is running the show in Washington. Head Coach Steve Spurrier has the title, but Lewis is in basic control. He deals with salary cap issues, draft picks and even which field to practice on. Most of Spurrier’s time is used tinkering with his toy, the offense.... Within a year or two, the Redskins will have one of the better defenses in the league. And then maybe, just maybe, league owners will hire Lewis as a head coach. There won’t be anything else left for him to prove.”

Nike cash: Boxer Roy Jones Jr., who endorses Nike’s Brand Jordan, decided to stage his next fight against No. 1 challenger Clinton Woods at Portland’s Rose Garden after negotiations to hold the fight in London bogged down. Which works well for [Brand Jordan president] Larry Miller, who made sure Nike provided enough money to make Portland the replacement site for Jones’ Sept. 7 world light-heavyweight title defense.

“[Jones has always] done everything we ask him to do as one of our Brand Jordan athletes,” Miller told the Oregonian. “He’s a great guy and we wanted to support him and bring something of this magnitude to Portland, to help get people of Portland excited about boxing.... We’re not getting into the boxing promotions business. It’s a one-time deal.”

Trivia answer: Brown was 30 when he retired from the Cleveland Browns in 1966.

And finally: Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock considers Chief running back Priest Holmes a bit of an enigma. When surrounded by reporters, Holmes doesn’t offer much in interviews, but he showed a different side this summer when he performed with a couple of teammates at the Jim Rome Tour Stop in Kansas City. “The dignified and deeply religious Holmes grabbed the microphone and transformed himself into Wu-Tang Chief rapper Old Dirty Running Back.... The crowd ate it up. And I kind of suspect that Chiefs fans would like to see Priest add a dash of Old Dirty Running Back to his public persona. Something tells me that as smoothly as Priest made the transition into Old Dirty that he’s not as humble in private as he is in public.”

Lonnie White