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Tebowmania!
Yesterday, Tim Tebow was (twice) traded to the New York Jets. After he was dealt the first time, ESPN reported that there was a complication in the trade. So, they nullified it. It was later announced that the Jaguars were discussing Tebow with the Jets. It seemed as though the Jaguars were really looking to get him, considering Florida is where he went to college. Plus, the fans there love him. But, there was a catch to these discussions. Both teams allowed Tebow to pick where he wanted to play football.
So, he chose to take his talents to New York. Is that a good thing for the Jets? I think so, considering he’s not costing you that much money. In addition, you didn’t give away much to get him (2 low-end draft picks). If Sanchez begins to struggle (we know he will), then you can bring in the *proven* winner, Timmy Tebow.
I feel bad for those people who just bought a Tebow jersey last year…
Does the drama ever stop in New York?
I don’t know where to start with this. At the beginning of the season, Knicks fans had really high hopes for this team. They were ready to send this team to the Eastern Conference Finals with players like Carmelo, Stoudemire, and Chandler. I guess teamwork is more important than individual talent, because the Knicks struggled mightily at times. Most recently, they’ve gone on a 2-8 losing streak. Just one month ago, we were stunned with Linsanity and the energy he brought to the team. That was back when Carmelo was out with the injury. In that span, I believe the Knicks won 6 games in a row. With Carmelo on the floor, the Knicks aren’t nearly as efficient than without ‘Melo.
So why is D’Antoni to blame here? Isn’t ‘Melo the guy who’s jackin up stupid 3 pointers and expecting to get foul calls (see Derrick Rose)? To be honest, the Knicks have too many guys who want huge minutes: Melo, Chandler, Amare, JR Smith, and Lin all demand a ton of minutes. I always rant about LeBron, but you never hear him complaining about minutes right? That’s because he’s on a team where HE and Dwayne Wade are the go-to guys.
A couple of years ago, a fan would say the Knicks didn’t have enough talent. Well, know it looks like they have too much talent. It’s impossible to spread minutes out correctly when you have a team like the Knicks have.
And that, folks, is why D’Antoni resigned yesterday.
I know you guys are still gonna say ” His system didn’t fit the team he had” and I understand that. It’s a valid argument. However, regardless of the system you have in place, the minutes crunch couldn’t be resolved at all.
Let’s see what interim coach Mike Woodson has in store for us in the final quarter of the season.
Dwight Howard, make up your mind already!
The NBA season started out with a bunch of questions such as “Will there be a season at all?” and “How are they going to fit all the games into a compressed schedule?” Obviouslym the NBA was able to get a deal signed by the players. But, we started off the season with one huge question:
“Will Dwight Howard be in Orlando by season’s end?”
We still don’t know the answer to that question. Last week, Howard said that he didn’t want to be on the team anymore. Now, after the Magic beat the Heat in OT, Howard wants to stay in Orlando for the rest of the season.
In fact, Howard has an opt-out option for the 2012-2013 season. It was reported that he will not take this opt-out option. This means that he will be in Orlando for at least the rest of this year and all of next year. What he essentially doing is buying the Magic time to find a star to pair with Dwight.
[Related: Dwight will not take opt-out option]
Dwight’s first choice of team? The Miami Heat.
How can you go from being the superstar in a great city to Miami? Could you imagine how terrible it would be to have LeBron, Wade, and Dwight on the same team? There’s something that makes this league run, and it’s not money. It’s competition!!
If Dwight were to hit the free agency market this coming offseason, he would look into the Heat, Clippers, and the Nets.
The Nets have been reported as a popular pick for the Orlando superstar, but it doesn’t look like it will happen (this year) with Howard’s latest announcement.
My take: I think it’s alright that he’s looking for a winner to sign with, but the Miami Heat? I hate when these basketball players try to alter the fate of the league by teaming up to create these unfair matchups.
I think many people would be upset if Dwight went to Miami, because he’s been with the Magic for so long. He’s also been very loyal to them (much like LeBron was in Cleveland). You need competition in any sports league in order for it to be successfull.
Question: how come you only see this type of “Dream Teams” in basketball, not in football or baseball?
Rams Trade No. 2 Pick to Redskins
Yesterday, it was reported that the Rams had traded their No.2 overall pick to the Redskins. The news came out around 8 o’Clock last night. In exchange for the No 2 pick in the 2012 Draft, the Redskins are sending their 1st rRounders for 2012, 2013, and 2014. In addition, the Rams get the 2nd Round pick currently held by the Redskins (39th) in this year’s draft.
[Related: Redskins get No.2 pick]
This trade will draw different opinions from around the league. Personally, I think the Rams cashed-in on their chance with this No.2 pick.
Rams
- They’ve already got a future QB in Sam Bradford
- There was no point in selecting RGIII or Andrew Luck
- If you pick one of those two^^ and trade them, you’ll get much less value
- So, they cashed in by getting a 1st Rounder every year for the next 3
Redskins
- Desperately need a QB right now, it’s their main weak spot
- Haven’t had many good QBs recently, maybe with RGIII they have a chance?
- RGIII will bring the fans to the stadium, we all know that
- They can build around RGIII, just like you build around a PG in basketball
- However, they had to give up a lot in order to get this pick; in fact, I think they gave up more than they needed to
So, what’s your take on this deal?
ESPN Streak for the Cash
For those of you who don’t know, ESPN Streak for the Cash is a fantasy game created by ESPN. Basically, you pick teams to win their games on a certain day. The goal is to rack up enough correct picks (predictions) in a row so you can win lots of $$. This game is incredibly fun, and although I’m pretty sure I won’t win the money, it’s a lot funner than risking your money on the lotto. Go check it out if you like to make predictions for games already!
Should the star take the last shot?
For years, Kobe Bryant has demanded the ball at the end of close games. He’s one of the greatest players of all time, but does that mean he should take every “clutch” shot? Many fans (and coaches) think that the star player on their team should take the potential game tying/winning shot. However, an article written by Henry Abbott on ESPN states why the star should not be taking the final shots all the time.
Honestly, I don’t like to see isolation plays during crunch time. These plays have a very poor efficiency in clutch situations (the article goes into great detail about that efficiency for different plays). I like to see good team basketball, with the ball moving around like it would for any other moment in the game. I think pick n’ rolls and basic spot-up plays are the best for crunch time-situations.
But go ahead: read the article and decide for yourself==>http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7649571/nba-kobe-bryant-not-money-think-espn-magazine
Question: Should your star take every crunch time shot?
NBPA Reject Newest Deal, will Seek to Disband
Yesterday, the NBPA rejected the latest deal offered by David Stern and the NBA. When I read about it last night, I was heartbroken. All I thought about at that point was when the NFL decertified and it took forever for them to get a deal done. Luckily for us NFL fans, they decertified around March of last year. This gave them enough time before the season started (September) to get the deal done. Unfortunately for the NBA fans, they will start this process sometime this week or next week, which is already 3 weeks into the season as opposed to 6 months before. I’ve also heard that the decertification process takes at least 60 days, which means until mid-February we won’t be having basketball. The players union said they are planning on filing an antitrust lawsuit against the league. Personally, I don’t see them winning this lawsuit. They have no leverage over the owners and the lockout doesn’t seem to be illegal (I could be wrong here, however). Union president Derek Fisher said to ESPN: “This is the best decision for the players” (ESPN.com). Um, in what world? This is definitely not the best decision, most players can’t live if there isn’t a season! He’s only looking out for the high-profile players (10% of the league), which is really sad considering it’s his last year playin’ basketball. I’m happy and sad about this news at the same time. You must be thinking “Why is this guy happy about the lockout?”. I’m happy because I made a bet with my friend that there will be no NBA season this year. He’s a huge NBA fan and I took him up on the bet for $1. I see it as a win-lose either way for me and him, but you can’t go all in every time, can you? I certainly never have…
Photo: cdn.inquisitr.com
Getting back to the lockout, I don’t know who’s to blame. I guess it’s just like any argument: both sides are at fault. Both the NBA and the NBPA are too greedy and should’ve agreed on the 50/50 split offered by the owners last week. That was the fairest deal possible, yet Fisher and Hunter still declined it. To me, it seems like the union is only controlled by 2 guys: Hunter and Fisher, as opposed to the whole player body having a say. I’m not saying every single player in the league should have a vote. Doesn’t each team have a representative that attends these negotiations? It seems like they aren’t really voicing their opinion; it’s more like Fisher, Hunter, and some high-profile players jeopardizing the season for a few more $ millions.
For your viewing pleasure, I have attached a PDF file below. The file is a summary of the latest proposal the players just rejected. I found it on espn.go.com.
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2011/1113/nba_proposal.pdf
Sincerely,
@TheSportzGuru
#SportsBlogMovement
Union rejects owners’ latest offer
Remember when the owners proposed a BRI last week to the players? The deadline was Wednesday (today) and the players had the nerve to decline it. The players said they want more talks to sort things out. For a secornd there, I honestly believed we would have a season starting soon.The proposed BRI would fluctuate between 49% and 51%, although union president Derek Fisher admitted that it won’t go up to 51%. He also said the current deal is “unacceptable”, and he won’t allow the players to agree to such bullsh*t. Now I’m very scared, because if they don’t accept 50%, how are they gonna accept 47%? This lockout could loom on for a while, which is not what anyone wants. After football is over, there’ll be a good 3 months of no sports! Football will be over, baseball starts in March, and basketball won’t start! Crazy stuff happening in the sports world this year. There will still be soccer and hockey, but for 3 months? I forsee a lot of comedies in my future…
One fan (bdiddyvb) on ESPN wrote: “Who needs the NBA when we got NBA 2K12!!!”. Is this what it comes down to? I just think it’s crazy that we need to satisfy our sports needs by playing a video game. Please don’t get me wrong, it’s a spectacular game, but we are bros. Bros need sports, not simulations of sports.
If you want to read more about the current Lockout situation: read this
Till next time,
@TheSportzGuru
#SportsBlogMovement
Life is Boring Without Basketball
This is getting really frustrating. When I finally finish my homework (after 6 hours), take a shower, and sit down to watch NBA on ESPN, it’s not there! A real tragedy, it is. 
If you’re not an NBA fan, you are effing insane; how could you not like basketball? Or hearing this wonderful theme song every night? Just talking about it is making my mouth water. From what I’ve heard, the NBA and NBPA have no further negotiations scheduled. That is very bad news for us fans, especially considering now Stern just cancelled all November games. It looks like we’ll be without NBA basketball for at least 2 months, because even if they do get a deal signed mid-December, they still can’t start until some practices are done. I know some of my good friends on Twitter are dyin’ right now because of the Lockout. The players are losing money, the owners are losing money, the coaches are losing money, the fans are losing basketball.
I can’t really fault either side thought, both of them just want more money. Who can blame them? If I walked up to you today and told you: ” Would you like a $15,000 pay raise?”, I don’t think you would say no. If you said no to that offer, you might be the most humble person I’ve ever met.
Although I have previously stated that the owners have the majority of the fault, that is not true. When people see an opportunity to make more money (for NBA players, millions of $ more), they jump at it. That’s what both sides are doing, and I can’t blame them either way. If the players gave in, I think that would have an effect on the way they play the game; you would see less of an overall effort. I think that because they would feel “out of it” every time they went out and did their thing.
Let me relate that to an everyday-worker kinda thing. It would be like every day being Monday. <=== Read that again. Every Single Day is Monday. There is no hope. No yes moment.
And every time they collect their paychecks, they will be reminded of their failures in the negotiations room.
Till next time,
@TheSportzGuru
#SportsBlogMovement
Sources: NBA Lockout Causes Endless Boredom in Males
I’d love to find you some awesome sports stuff to write about, but there is none! Football’s finished until Saturday, basketball is locked out, college BB hasn’t started yet, and the WS just capped off the baseball season. In essence, college BB is the only thing to watch besides football. Granted, football is awesome (glad to have it back), but it’s only on 2 full days a week.
I mean, you could watch hockey. But do us Americans have to stoop that low to watch some sports? We have to watch this Canadian game of sticks and pucks? I mean, that’s like watching Major League Soccer! Just to be clear, I’m sorry if I offended any Americans that like hockey, but it isn’t exactly the biggest sport here. That normally takes over around March (when spring training starts and basketball is 3/4 done).
College BB is starting on the 7th, so I guess I could watch some of that until the NBA Lockout gets resolved. Maybe that would allow me to make better picks in my March Madness brackets lol.
I mean, I just feel so damn bored here on my computer. Isn’t it ridiculous that I have to wait until next Saturday to watch some sports? Now I’m missing that time spent last year on my den couch, watching NBA on ESPN. After I finished my homework, I used to take a nice hot shower, grab some milk, and turn on ESPN just in time for tip-off. That would just about round out my day very nicely. Now, I obviously can’t do that.
What should I do? Till tomorrow (Week 9 Rankings!),
@TheSportzGuru
#SportsBlogMovement
NBA Lockout update; Detroit wins 5-2
NBA Cancels First 2 Weeks of Regular Season
Because the players and the owners were unable to reach a deal by Monday, commish David Stern has cancelled the first 2 weeks of the season. The situation is not looking good for NBA fans; the talks are happening, but no progress is being made whatsoever. Maybe the players can start their own league in case the 2011 season doesn’t happen? It’s a possibility, although I’d rather watch NBA basketball because….it’s the NBA. It looks like the owners want a 50/50 split, but it’s the players that are not cooperating with it. While this might seem fair, when you consider that the players are the guys on the court entertaining us and there are 300 players to 30 owners, I think the players should get like a 52/48 split. However, the owners are not going past that 50/50, which is why they can’t currently agree. Will David Stern cancel more games?
Detroit Wins 5-2
Last night, the Tigers beat the Rangers 5-2 in Game 3 of the ALCS. This slashes the Rangers’ lead in the series to 2-1. With Justin Verlander pitching in Game 5, I think Detroit has a chance to come back and at least make this series competitive. According to ESPN, ” Miguel Cabrera homered and had a run-scoring double to help the Tigers claim their first win in the ALCS.” I also think with Cabrera as their spark plug, they can explode one game and even the series up to 2-2 or 3-3, the latter forcing a Game 7. Who will win Game 4 of this exciting ALCS?
Clemens walks free, NFL/ NFLPA making progress
In my last article, I talked about how slow sports are these days. With no NFL free agency and no NBA news at all, the only major news is baseball (which isn’t a bad sport, it’s just in the middle of the season so it’s not as exciting as October). Obviously, sports such as golf, NASCAR, and tennis are year-round; however they don’t draw in the pure fan base that football, basketball, OR baseball do. Who’s gonna watch some 80 cars circling a track for 500 miles (200 laps)? Whenever I watch (once a year, the prostegious Daytona 500), I watch the last 5 laps..I know the other 195 laps are important as well, but it’s just too boring. That’s like watching football when 2 teams ONLY run the ball. No big plays, once in a while a 30 yard gain, but otherwise 2 and 3 yard gains…
Forgot to mention crashes are the best part. Photo Cred Bleacherreport.net
With golf, it’s sorta different. Pro golf is boring to me too, but at least there’s exciting putts once in a while. Tiger Woods WAS a joy to watch, during his seemingly unstoppable run where he like never was out of the Top 3 in any tourney. Now Rory Mcllroy is the hot shit, but can he keep it that way? He’s real young, so he has time to faulter, as well as time to shine.
Mcilroy hard at work. Photo cred blogspot.com
Tennis is the HARDEST sport i’ve ever played, to be brutally honest. So I kinda have some respect for those athletes, although I don’t like listening to them grunting like they’re having sex. But when Anna Kournikova is grunting, my oh my I’m the first one to rush to the TV.
Clemens walks free
Let’s get down to business now. Yesterday, Roger Clemens’ case was declared a mistrial after prosecutors failed to prove that the former all-star committed perjury. If I remember correctly from middle school, he cannot be tried again because of the “double jeopardy” rule in the U.S Constitution. It’s obvious he did commit perjury. Here’s my thing with these cases: why would the defendant be on trial if he didn’t commit the crime. Why would the prosecutors go thought so much trouble to put him in jail if they weren’t 100% sure he commited the crime? Tell me what you think of this in the comments section. I know my opinion is a bit harsh, so tell me also where you stand on that.
Clemens is free after a judge declared a mistrial in his perjury case.
NFL/NFLPA making progress
“A source with knowledge of the NFL talks told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio on Thursday night that the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement are headed toward a settlement” (Cred ESPN.com). That’s great news for us NFL fans, as it looks like a season WILL happen. I’ve recently predicted that the new CBA will be signed in the month of July, so they’ve got 15 more days or so for my prediction to be correct. Read the full article at http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6768521/nfl-lockout-owners-players-moving-cba-settlement-source-says
YAY FOOTBALL!!!! Go GIANTS!!!
LT, nuff said. Photo cred blogspot.com
The Sportz Guru 