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MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings fired coach Leslie Frazier on Monday morning, one year after they made the playoffs and one day after they finished a 5-10-1 season. After going 10-6 in 2012, the Vikings regressed this year, done in by a leaky defence and an ongoing inability to find stability at quarterback. Frazier finished 21-33-1 in three-plus seasons. The 54-year-old Frazier had one season remaining on his contract. "We have tremendous respect and appreciation for Leslie and what he has done for the Minnesota Vikings," owner Zygi Wilf said in a statement distributed by the team. "He stepped in and established a strong positive culture here, and he has been the consummate professional as our head coach and in this community. Making this change is difficult but what we determined is best for the organization." The Vikings planned an afternoon news conference at Winter Park. Quarterback Christian Ponder sputtered and produced three straight turnover-plagued performances to start the season. The Vikings lost all three, on last-minute touchdowns to Chicago and Cleveland. They lost two other games and tied one in similar fashion, squandering leads inside the 52-second mark in all five of those. Though veteran cornerback Antoine Winfield was cut before the season to save space under the salary cap, the defence that has been Fraziers expertise faltered badly. Drafting Ponder 12th overall in 2011 was the primary responsibility of general manager Rick Spielman, but the shaky quarterback situation was far from the only problem for this team. Hired by Brad Childress to be the defensive co-ordinator in 2007, Frazier interviewed for seven head coach openings over a three-year span: Atlanta and Miami in 2008, Denver, Detroit and St. Louis in 2009, and Buffalo and Seattle in 2010. Finally, his opportunity came with the Vikings when Childress was fired in the middle of a messy 2010 season. Credited with keeping the team on an even keel while attention swirled around Brett Favre and the Metrodome roof collapsed the night before a scheduled game, Frazier went 3-3 as the interim, including an improbable win at playoff-bound Philadelphia after the NFL postponed that contest by two days because of a forecast snowstorm. Frazier got the job for good in 2011, but after a lockout-shortened off-season, the Vikings went 3-13 behind an ineffective Donovan McNabb and then rookie Ponder at quarterback. In 2012, they staged a remarkable turnaround, riding Adrian Peterson to a spot in the playoffs. Childress had his contract extended in 2009 while the Vikings were on their way to the NFC championship game, but the team came unglued the following fall. Wary of a similarly expensive over-commitment, Wilf and the front office merely picked up a fourth-year option on Fraziers deal last January, putting him in a prove-it situation for 2013. Right away, his future here turned grim. And as widely liked as Frazier has been throughout the organization, the ultra-competitive landscape of the NFL rarely allows coaches with two double-digit-defeat records in three years to keep their jobs. His playing career as a cornerback for Chicago cut short by a knee injury in the Super Bowl, Frazier soon ventured into coaching, building the program at Trinity College from scratch in 1988. Fifteen years later, he became the defensive co-ordinator for Cincinnati. With two years as an assistant in Indianapolis, Frazier came from the Tony Dungy mould of coaches, a soft-spoken man of deep Christian faith who has excelled at creating a culture of harmony and respect around the locker room. After the Vikings beat Detroit on Sunday to wrap up the season, Frazier stumped to stay. He said he was proud of the job he has done here. "I just have a lot of belief in my abilities as a coach and have a lot of belief in the guys on our team, a lot of belief in our staff, and for that reason you dont have to walk in fear," Frazier said at the Metrodome. "You just know that things are going to work out." Cheap Salomon Shoes Outlet .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Wholesale Salomon Shoes . Lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Blake Comeau – The Penguins winger had a hat trick in a 4-3 overtime win against Toronto. http://www.cheapsalomonshoes.com/. The time off didnt slow them down. 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Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina.MIAMI -- The Miami Marlins were shoppers instead of sellers for a change at the trade deadline, and they added a starting pitcher to help make a playoff push. Miami obtained right-hander Jarred Cosart from the Houston Astros in a six-player deal Thursday. The Marlins also acquired infielder-outfielder Kike Hernandez and outfielder Austin Wates for third baseman Colin Moran, outfielder Jake Marisnick, right-hander Francis Martes and a 2015 compensatory draft pick. The Marlins, often out of the race before August, were in the market to upgrade their young, thin rotation after a recent six-game winning streak put them back in the playoff picture. The deal barely beat the 4 p.m. trade deadline. "Jarred Cosart will help us win more games and be a better ballclub, and hopefully that winds up with a playoff spot," Marlins president of baseball operations Mike Hill said. Hill said Miami also pursued David Price, Jon Lester and John Lackey, all traded elsewhere. The 24-year-old Cosart is 9-7 with a 4.41 ERA in 20 starts this year but has slumped lately, allowing 21 runs in 21 1-3 innings over four starts in July. The Marlins beat Cosart and the Astros 7-3 last Saturday. "He struggled in that game, and we hit him around pretty good," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "You look at his record, he has won some games, and sometimes a change of scenery is good. He gets on a much better team, and hopefully hell be able to go out there and win games for us." The Astros made the deal Thursday while 22 1/2 games out of first place in the AL West. Marisnick will join the Astros lineup, while Martes will remain in the Gulf Coast League. Moran will report to Double-A Corpuss Christi, and his progress could determine whether the deal is a success for Houston.dddddddddddd Moran was the sixth overall pick in last years draft after playing at the University of North Carolina. He batted .294 with five home runs in 89 games this year at Single-A Jupiter. "We think hes going to be a really special player," Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow said. "Defensively hes going to be at least an average third baseman, and hes a left-handed hitter. Hes getting a lot of doubles, has hit some homers, runs well, has a really good eye." As for Cosart, Luhnow said, "Hes a valuable commodity. Hes a young pitcher who has great stuff and has a bright future. So it was very difficult to give him up." Cosart and Hernandez will join the Marlins on Friday. Wates, a third-round draft pick in 2010, will be assigned to Triple-A New Orleans. "Im pretty excited for a new start," said Cosart, a Texas native. "Obviously its tough leaving home and everything like that, but Im still playing the game I love, just in a different city." Hernandez batted .284 in 24 games for Houston this year and hit .337 in 67 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He said he was shocked to be traded, but not unhappy. "My heart started beating really fast," he said. "Just really excited to join the Marlins. Theyre fighting for a playoff spot, so its really exciting." Marisnick has a career average of .178 in 58 major league games, but he batted .277 with 10 homers in 89 games this year for Triple-A New Orleans. "Its a tough market to shop in," Hill said. "This one was definitely difficult because we gave up three pieces that we really like." 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