Jan 8 PRNewswireUSNewswire Preliminary data from theU

People remember the glory years of Iverson, especially in relation to the current yawn-a-thon. But the AI you are getting today looks a lot more like the 2005 and 2006 model, which didn't go to the playoffs or provide any terribly meaningful moment. 4) He'd slow, or prevent, the development of the young players. If the Sixers are actually going to become a good team, they will only do it with remarkable development from the young players (Young, Maresse Speights, Williams, and Holiday). Maybe these guys are bad basketball players with no real chance of developing into top-drawer talents; that's certainly the best odds, really.

But those odds are still better than a high minutes, high volume speed guard leading them to glory in his mid 30s 5) You could make the playoffs with him, and lose fast. The last time Iverson was on a team that won a playoff series 2003 That's not changing this year, either. 6) Why would this be any different than his last three stops Dissing AI is not exactly a recent phenomenon, and both the Sixers and Nuggets got a lot better in the short term after getting rid of him. As a blogger and unrepentant Iverson fan, I can't say that I'd hate the signing. Ideally, he gives them a boost for a couple of months, gets them back to near a .500 record, and makes them better by allowing Holiday and Williams to learn how to draw contact and get to the line. It's also hard to see how 70 more games of this would do much good.

When you have a player like that, and the end of his career goes badly, it doesn't just demean his legacy It also takes down the laundry. One of my favorite players in the history of team was shooting guard Andrew Toney, a key part of the '83 Moses championship. His career was cut short by foot issues and fights with the team's medical staff, and what should have been a borderline Hall of Fame career was just gone, lost in fading memories, just another set of numbers on a historical record. AI's impact the cultural shift, the infamous media moments, the cornrows, the jersey sales ensures that won't happen to the same extent But it does happen.

An Iverson return, and maybe a false spring of wins and playoff contention, might stop that. And what it costs, given that we're talking about a year that's already looking lost, just doesn't matter that much I'd do the deal.. ARLINGTON, Va., Jan 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ Preliminary data from theU.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)released today show that mine fatalities in 2008 fell to an all-time lowrecording a 31 percent drop from 2007.Metal/nonmetal mines recorded thelowest level of fatalities in that sector of mining since statistics werefirst recorded in 1910, and the fatality level in coal mines was the lowestrecorded number since 2005."Although these numbers demonstrate continuing improvements at our nation'smines, they also represent significant loss to the families and friends of 51miners," said Richard E. Stickler, acting assistant secretary of labor formine safety and health."We must continue to be vigilant in our efforts tobring all miners home safe and healthy at the end of every shift."Stickler pointed to a number of milestones the agency reached in 2008,including the first-ever completion of all mandated safety and healthinspections, the first-ever issuance of a pattern of violation notice, theimplementation of eight final rules, and the successful collection ofdelinquent penalties from several scofflaw mine operators.Of the 51 fatalities reported, 28 of the victims were at surface operations,while 23 miners died in underground mining accidents. Fifteen workers died inaccidents involving powered haulage - 10 in coal mines and five inmetal/nonmetal mines - which was the leading cause of fatal mining accidentsin the U.S during 2008.