Fast Break

Prep basketball

Thacker contract not renewed

The basketball coaching contract of Freeman’s Mike Thacker has been terminated by the school district’s board of directors.

No reason was given, although Superintendent Sergio Hernandez confirmed the decision.

“The board exercised its option not to renew the contract,” he said. “At this point I can’t comment on the specifics because it is a personnel matter.”

He said that the district may be asked to take additional action or reconsider what they’ve done.

Coaching contracts in schools are non-continuing and issued on a one-year basis at the discretion of administration.

Thacker, who previously coached in Moses Lake, has been Freeman’s boys basketball coach for 12 years and taken the Scotties to eight State 1A tournaments between 1999 and 2006, where they earned five top-eight trophies.

He did not return calls for comment.

NFL

Logo not shielded from change

The National Football League is launching a makeover of its red, white and blue “NFL Shield” logo that adorns everything from player jerseys to fan T-shirts and hats.

The league is creating a leaner, meaner version of the iconic logo that will debut at the NFL draft in April 2008. The revamped shield will be slightly taller and thinner, with a new football, fewer stars and darker colors, says Lisa Baird, the NFL’s senior vice president of marketing. The redesign marks the first changes to the shield since 1980.

The league has been careful to make an “evolutionary, not a radical change,” said Baird.

The football at the center has been redesigned to resemble the ball atop the Vince Lombardi championship trophy, said Baird. It replaces the old-fashioned pigskin nicknamed the “Hamburger” inside league offices.