Heimspiele » jumper and 3-pointer as Memphis went ahead 56-52 w

METAIRIE, La. -- All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham and the New Orleans Saints met Tuesday for arbitration on his contract. Graham filed a grievance through the players union. He contends he should be considered a wide receiver, not a tight end, when the team designated him with the 2014 franchise tag. The difference in salary would be more than $5 million. Arbitrator Stephen Burbank is conducting the meetings that also involve the NFL Players Association, the NFLs Management Council, and the Saints. No ruling is expected immediately. The Saints gave Graham the franchise tag for about $7 million as a tight end, the position he has been listed at for his entire four-year career. But he believes because he often is split out away from the tackle, he is a wide receiver. That franchise tag is worth about $12.3 million. According to an analysis by ESPN Stats and Information, Graham lined up split on 67 per cent of his snaps: 45 per cent of the time in the slot and 22 per cent out wide. But the Saints note that he made the All-Pro team and the Pro Bowl as a tight end and was drafted as a tight end. Such disputes are not frequent, but draw lots of attention because they can set a precedent. Baltimores Terrell Suggs, the 2011 Defensive Player of the Year, argued in 2008 that he should be tagged as an end, not a linebacker. The difference back then was about $800,000. Suggs wound up signing a new deal with the Ravens, then helped them win the 2012 NFL championship. Cheap Running Shoes Online . -- D. J. Williams finally has his packing strategy down. Clearance Running Shoes Australia . First reported by FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal, its unknown if the impetus for the deferral proposal came from players or management, but it never left the preliminary stages. http://www.cheaprunningshoesaustralia.com/ . -- The Minnesota Vikings have signed Jerome Simpson, the former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver recently convicted on a felony drug charge. Clearance Running Shoes Online . Rajne Soderberg, the director of the Stockholm Diamond League event, said in an email Friday that the ban still holds. Euromeetings, the organization representing Europes top track events, "will continue to recommend that members do not invite athletes who we believe cause disrepute to our meetings and our sport. Cheap Running Shoes Wholesale . Balotelli was out at dinner with his brother Enoch and came home to discover he had been burgled. The car was later found abandoned. Balotelli wrote Saturday on Twitter: "I feel empty! No emotions .LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Marcus Smart had an off game and Oklahoma State lost in a rematch with Memphis. Shaq Goodwin had 17 points, Joe Jackson hit four key late free throws and No. 21 Memphis beat No. 5 Oklahoma State 73-68 Sunday night in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic. Memphis (5-1) held Smart, a preseason All-American, to 12 points. Smart, who played with stomach virus-type symptoms, went 4 for 13 from the field and had five turnovers. "Thats definitely not an excuse," Smart said. "They did an excellent job executing their scouting report. I couldnt find a groove out there." In a meeting between the teams on Nov. 19, Oklahoma State (7-1) won handily over Memphis, getting 39 points from Smart in a 101-80 victory. "It didnt catch me off guard," Smart said. "I knew they were going to make adjustments because of how I played last game. I was fully expecting it. Things werent falling my way." Smart turned the ball over with Oklahoma State trailing by one with 11 seconds left, and fouled Jackson, who made two free throws to make it 71-68. Oklahoma States bid to tie it ended when Smart had another turnover in the final seconds and Jackson connected on two more free throws. "They deserved to win, we didnt deserve to win," Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. "We just werent ourselves. Not taking anything away from Memphis at all, but we were our own worst enemy on a lot of occasions. Im a little surprised that it was even, as bad as we played, as close as it was. Give Memphis credit, they were a very determined basketball team." Chris Crawford scored on a layup and later added a free throw to put Memphis aheead 69-64 with 2 1/2 minutes left.dddddddddddd Smart, who missed 9 of his first 11 shots, had consecutive baskets that pulled the Cowboys within 69-68 with 2 minutes to play. "On the defensive end, we didnt play like were used to," Smart said. "Some costly buckets at costly times." Crawford finished with 16 points, while Jackson had 11. "Im not a revenge guy," Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. "Im not like an ill-will guy. I think when you hold things in, things come out sideways. I talked to our guys about that. We needed to have course correction, and we corrected some of the course." Michael Dixon Jr. hit a jumper and 3-pointer as Memphis went ahead 56-52 with 8 minutes remaining. Memphis scored the first seven points in the second half, including a 3-point play by Goodwin, to cut its deficit to 42-39. After Memphis Geron Johnson was given a technical foul, Phil Forte made two free throws and added a 3-pointer to make it 47-39. Forte had nine of 19 points as Oklahoma overcame a six-point deficit to take a 42-32 lead at halftime. Smart had two of his five points during the opening 20 minutes on a layup and Brian Williams had a rebound basket during the final minute to give the Cowboys a 10-point advantage. Oklahoma State saw comfortable leads disappear in both of its two previous games at the tourney. The Cowboys let a 23-point halftime lead dwindle to four with 3 minutes to play before beating Purdue 97-87 Thursday, and then escaped with a 69-67 victory over Butler one day later after taking a 44-30 halftime advantage. Goodwin scored 11 first-half points, including a jumper that put Memphis up 21-15 10 minutes into the game. ' ' '