CLEVELAND -- Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert felt he made a big mistake when he fired Mike Brown as his coach in 2010. That didnt stop him from doing it again. Browns second shot with the Cavs ended Monday after one just one season as Gilbert dismissed the only Cleveland coach who has ever made it to the NBA finals. Brown had been re-hired last April by Gilbert, who regretted dismissing him four years earlier. While the Cavs record improved and they made strides defensively under Brown this season, the club missed the playoffs again and Gilbert decided it was time to make another change. "This is a very tough business," Gilbert said in a statement. "It pains all of us here that we needed to make the difficult decision of releasing Mike Brown. Mike worked hard over this last season to move our team in the right direction. Although, there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we believe we need to head in a different direction. We wish Mike and his family nothing but the best." In addition to firing Brown, Gilbert announced hes retaining David Griffin as the clubs full-time general manager. Griffin had been the interim GM since Feb. 6, when Gilbert fired Chris Grant one day after the Cavs lost to a Los Angeles Lakers team which finished the game with just five eligible players. Gilbert said Griffin would lead the search for Browns successor. Its not known what input Griffin had in Browns firing. Griffin has ties to former Phoenix executive Steve Kerr, who is one of New York president Phil Jacksons top choices to take over the Knicks. Griffin also has worked with Mike DAntoni and Alvin Gentry. Other coaches who could get consideration for the Cavs opening include Mark Jackson and George Karl. Brown had four years remaining on his $20 million contract. Brown, who was fired last year by the Lakers five games into his second season, could not be reached for comment. Brown went 272-138 in his first stint with Cleveland. Led by superstar LeBron James, the Cavs made the finals for the first time in 2007 and were title contenders throughout Browns tenure. However, they didnt advance past the Eastern Conference semifinals four years ago and Brown was let go. At the time, it appeared Gilbert was making the move -- and hiring Byron Scott as coach -- to appease James and hopefully keep him in Cleveland. James, though, decided to leave as a free agent for Miami, where he is chasing his straight third NBA title with the Heat. "Its just a tough business. I mean, thats all it is. Its a tough business and, you know, Mike Brown got the short end of a tough business," James said. Gilbert brought back Brown to fix Clevelands defence, and the Cavs improved, moving from last in the league in field-goal percentage to 12th. But the offence never flowed like it should and the Cavs didnt make a late playoff push despite a favourable schedule down the stretch. Clevelands players didnt care for Browns defence-first philosophy and there seemed to be a disconnect between the Cavs and the coaching staff. Brown seemed resigned to his fate following the season finale, when he said he would support whatever decision Gilbert made. "Its his team," Brown said. Cleveland went 17-16 under Griffin, who worked as Grants assistant before being promoted. Gilbert said he interviewed several other candidates before deciding to remove the "interim" from Griffins title. "We chose David as our GM because we believe he is the best person to lead our franchise at this critical time and into the future," Gilbert said. "David brings over two decades of experience. He knows the ins and outs of this league as well as anyone and is also an outstanding talent evaluator." The Cavaliers will hold a news conference on Tuesday at the teams facility in Independence. Gilbert had high praise for Griffin, who previously worked in Phoenixs front office before coming to Cleveland. "He is a general manager who is aligned with our culture and philosophy which is the foundation of how we do business," Gilbert said. "David is not only passionate about his own job but also cares deeply about the success of everyone around him. His presence alone creates an infectious positive environment with players, coaches, front office people and even our fan base. We already saw some progress in the short time David led our basketball side in the latter part of this past season. Clearly, we have substantial work ahead of us and I am confident that Griff will play an essential part of the growth and success of our organization." While the Cavs showed signs of progress with Brown, he was unable to get one of the leagues youngest teams to play consistently. His replacement will have a similar challenge, assuming Griffin doesnt do a complete overhaul to Clevelands roster. 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The Stampeders announced the move on Wednesday. Bell spent his first two CFL seasons with the B. Marc Gasol Raptors Jersey . She was 30. The former British No. 1 died peacefully surrounded by family and friends, the Womens Tennis Association said on its website. The Kyiv-born Baltacha, who represented Britain at the 2012 London Olympics, was diagnosed with the illness in January, two months after retiring from tennis and only weeks after she married her long-time coach Nino Severino.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss the Americas Cup, a Canadian Tennis leader, Glen Grunwalds unceremonious exit and Tigers big year-end bonus. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to Team Oracle, which retained the Americas Cup by winning eight consecutive must-win races in San Francisco Bay. After falling behind 8-1, they repeatedly out-sailed New Zealand, and the glory is theirs. All it took was 11 victories in a best-of-17, since Oracle had been penalized two races for being caught in the biggest cheating scandal in the events 162-year history; one dead sailor, who perished back in May when one of the insane 130-foot-high catamarans that Oracle CEO Larry Ellision decreed be used for this version of the race tipped over; and boats so mind-bogglingly expensive that only four teams could afford to enter. But Americas win-at-all-cost billionaires beat New Zealands, and thats the bottom line. Congratulations, everyone. Well, not everyone. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to James Dolan and the New York Knicks for the unceremonious and unnecessary firing of general manager Glen Grunwald. The removal of Grunwald comes after a season in which the Knicks won more games - 54 - than they have in the past 16 years. And then they went two rounds in the playoffs, something they hadnt done in 12 years. Grunwald operated the franchise with an un-New York-like calm, hiring Mike Woodson to coach, finding a certain peace between Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudamire, trading awayy Jeremy Lin.dddddddddddd Rather than fire him, Dolan should done the opposite and given Grunwald a contract extension. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is up to Michael Downey, the Tennis Canada CEO who is leaving to run the Lawn Tennis Association in Great Britain. Think of him as Mark Carney - the Canadian who heads the Bank of England - only with a chair umpire. This is a significant loss for Canadian tennis, which benefitted from Downeys organizational skills. Of course Id be a little more worried for the immediate future of the sport in this country if Milos Raonic bolted with Downey - like Greg Rusedski did 18 years ago. There are dozens of talented sports administrators. There are far fewer people who can thump a 135 mile-per-hour serve. This morning, Raonic won the Thailand Open, beating top seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is up to the PGA Tour for making Tiger Woods its Player of the Year when nobody - maybe not even Tiger Woods - would have objected strenuously if the choice had been Adam Scott. Because so much emphasis is placed on major titles, and Tigers the biggest reason for that, it might seem strange that Scott wasnt chosen for his masters win and two other top-five finishes at majors, and that tiger was chosen in a year that saw him shut out at majors - again, for the fifth straight time. But Tiger won five other tournaments, he won the most money and he is – officially - the Number One player in the world. He had the best year… he just didnt have it in the best places. ' ' '