MIAMI -- Pat Riley walked into the room to begin his end-of-season availability annoyed, and armed with history. There have been franchises that have enjoyed prolonged runs of greatness during his 45 years as a player, coach and executive in the NBA -- the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Spurs and his Miami Heat among them -- and Thursday Riley pointed out each shares a trait. They all lost sometime. "I think everybody," the Heat president said moments after smacking the table to begin the news conference, "needs to get a grip." With that, Riley was off and running on a message-sending session that lasted nearly an hour. No players were there, but they surely heard his themes: He saw his teams mental fatigue during the year, but doesnt accept it; he isnt willing to let Miami fall from the ranks of the NBA elite, and the organization will do what it can to keep LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade together. "We have a tremendous opportunity here for long-term success," Riley said. "Dont think were not going to get beat again, so just get a grip, everybody. Thats my message. Its my message to the players, also." It was one of his many messages. Riley, who gets a reported $75,000 when hired to deliver motivational speeches, worked in anecdotes on everything from sipping Johnnie Walker Blue to playing James Ingram records to how even at 69 years old he still finds himself dreaming big. He was speaking with reporters, but clearly talking to players through the cameras. "Youve got to stay together, if youve got the guts," Riley said. "You dont find the first door and run out of it if you have an opportunity. This is four years now into this era, this team. Four finals -- its only been done three other times before -- and two championships. From day one to the end, it was like a Broadway show. It sort of ran out of steam. And we need to retool. We dont need to rebuild." How to retool is the question, but the answer isnt up to Riley yet. James, Bosh and Wade all need to decide if theyre going to opt out of their contracts, a choice that was probably going to be complicated even if the Heat hadnt lost the NBA Finals to San Antonio, ending Miamis two-year reign as league champions. From those decisions, Heat free-agents-to-be -- Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen and others -- may start charting their futures. Players from other teams will listen as well. Then Riley and the Heat spring into action on July 1, just as they did four years ago when they netted James, Bosh and Wade. Other than Norris Cole, no Heat player currently is locked into a fully guaranteed deal for next season. But Riley doesnt feel the Heat need to recruit current players again. "Were prepared," Riley said. "Weve got the main-themed book all written up and its dependent on whatever the scenario were presented with on July 1. Weve got a lot of room for flexibility. Theres a tremendous amount of flexibility depending on what happens. So were ready." He offered plenty of perspective on Thursday, about how he still feels like he choked away what should have been a title for the Lakers team he coached in 1984, but how they roared back with three titles in the next four seasons. He even referenced how San Antonio got much better this season after seeing a title in 2013 get taken away by Miami in dramatic fashion. "What happened last year with San Antonio? Did they run? They faced it," Riley said. "They faced it and they came back, and we saw the result. Well find out what were made of here. Its not about options. Its not about free agency. Its not about anything. Its about what we have built over four years here." Among Rileys more impassioned defences was the one of Wade, who was widely criticized for both missing 28 games in the regular season -- mainly part of a maintenance program laid out by the team -- and for struggling in Games 4 and 5 of the NBA Finals. "For the last 10 years, this has been a Dwyane Wade-driven thing," Riley said. "Now does he have to reinvent himself a little bit? Absolutely." Riley can only hope that reinvention is in Miami, and that James and Bosh are there as well. "Im an Irish guy who believes in big dreams," Riley said. "Im optimistic. Until thats proven different, I just have a level of optimism that there isnt a better place for players to be than Miami." Cheap Football NCAA Jerseys .3 seconds remaining, and No. 7 North Carolina held off a resilient No. 25 Virginia team, 54-51, on Saturday. John Henson contributed a double-double with 15 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (25-4, 12-2 ACC), who have won five straight and 10 of 11. NCAA Jerseys China .com) - Eric Fehr and Marcus Johansson each registered a pair of goals, as Washington spoiled the head coaching debut of Peter Horachek by picking up a 6-2 victory in Toronto on Wednesday. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/. The Redblacks host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-9) Friday night in their last home game of the year and as of Thursday afternoon, the team was anticipating a ninth consecutive sellout. You can watch all the action on TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, and TSN5 beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys . Alexander was released last week by the Edmonton Eskimos, where he spent the past three seasons at safety. He had 121 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles and seven interceptions in 51 regular-season and three playoff games. Cheap Basketball College Jerseys . DArnaud hit one of three doubles for the Mets as they took a 4-0 lead in the first. Then the catchers seventh home run of the season broke the game open in the fifth. The 41-year-old Colon (10-8) retired the first 20 batters in his last outing Wednesday against Seattle, eventually allowing two runs on three hits in 7 1-3 innings in a 3-2 win. MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman has made his philosophy well known by now: construct the foundation through the draft and use free agency to supplement the core of the roster. Coming off of a five-win season and with so many holes to fill, Spielman needed to be a little more aggressive on the open market to take some of the pressure the looming draft. Spielman capped a busy first week of free agency by signing receiver Jerome Simpson and cornerback Derek Cox to one-year deals on Friday, saying he needed to move quickly to shore up the defence and give them some freedom for the May draft. The Vikings spent big money to keep defensive end Everson Griffen and sign defensive tackle Linval Joseph to replace Jared Allen and Kevin Williams. They also worked hard to keep quarterback Matt Cassel and get cornerback Captain Munnerlyn to help beef up the struggling defensive backfield, while sprinkling in Simpson, Cox and Fred Evans on one-year deals for depth. "By doing that, it sure helps you head into the draft not to get boxed in; well, youve got to take this position," Spielman said on Friday. "Now we have that flexibility to see how the draft is going to fall -- and I do believe this is a very deep draft and the potential of moving up or down in the draft to accumulate picks -- youre still going to be able to add a lot of youth and a lot of young talent that can come in and help our ball club." The Vikings pick No. 8 overall in the draft, which starts May 8. Addressing many of their most pressing needs in free agency frees Spielman to get creative. With Cassel, he doesnt have to draft a quarterback early. With Joseph there to occupy double teams, he doesnt have to get a run stuffer to play next to last years first-round pick, Sharrif Floyd. With Munnerlyn on one corner opposite Xavier Rhodes, and Cox added to a group that also includes Marcus Sherels and Josh Robinson, he doesnt have to draft a cornerback rright away.dddddddddddd. The aggressiveness also gives a new coaching staff that includes head coach Mike Zimmer, offensive co-ordinator Norv Turner and defensive co-ordinator George Edwards, a solid veteran base with which to work. "I think by the activity that weve done so far, its by no means the end of what were going to do," Spielman said. "Well continue to monitor the market and work through the next couple weeks. But it gives us the flexibility that well need heading into the draft, where you dont have to hone and say you have to take this position. Again, with the opportunity as we develop our draft board to take the best available player." Simpson bounced back from an injury-plagued first season in Minnesota in 2012 with a solid season last year. He caught 48 passes for a career-high 726 yards in 2013 and expressed a desire to return to the Vikings when the season closed. Spielman said the Vikings like the deep threat Simpson brings to the table alongside fellow receivers Greg Jennings and Cordarrelle Patterson. But Simpson could face discipline from the league for a drunken driving arrest when next season opens. "He does have explosive speed down the field and does give us a vertical threat, but we felt confident enough and comfortable enough after the new coaching staff had met with him and understand the whole circumstance behind that last arrest that we re-signed him back to a one-year deal," Spielman said. Spielman said the Vikings were in talks to bring back left guard Charlie Johnson and were not closing the door on a possible return for Williams, the stalwart defensive tackle who has anchored Minnesotas line since 2003. The Vikings hosted defensive tackle Henry Melton for a visit, but he left on Thursday without a deal. "Theres no decision thats been made," Spielman said of Williams. "I told him wed leave it open. But we were trying to address some other needs that we definitely wanted to get done first." ' ' '