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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?
Ball-hog Rose fined $25K for whining
Monday night’s game against the Knicks showed us that it’s Derrick Rose or bust for the Chicago Bulls. Rose scored 32 points on 12 of 29 shooting to lead the Bulls to a 5 point win over the slumping Knicks.
After the game, Rose felt that the referees weren’t giving him enough calls to send him to the stripe, and he displayed that when talking to the press. In a post-game interview, Rose said: ” I’ve gotta be the only superstar in the league that’s going through what I’m going through right now, but I can’t say too much about it (espn.com)” For proclaiming his anger towards the refs, the reigning MVP was fined $25K by the league. This is Rose’s first fine since coming into the league in 2008.
[Related: Derrick Rose fined for criticizing officiating]
Rose did just enough in this game to push the Bulls past the Knicks. Before this loss, they had a streak of 5 losses in a row.
Here is what I don’t like about Derrick Rose: He is a shoot-first PG. That is enough for me to say I like Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul’s game better, regardless of how little they score. Rajon and Chris both can definitely score the basketball, but their passing ability is extremely coveted in this league.
I mean, the Bulls do great with Rose, but could you imagine if Rose learned to pass the ball more? Granted, he doesn’t have Blake Griffin or 3 future HOF’s on his team, but he’s got players like Noah, Boozer, Korver, and Deng who can score the ball if given a good look. If you’ve ever watched D-Rose play, his gameplan is to attack the basket. However, the difference between him and Rondo is: Rondo will pass the ball off to an open player off the penetration, while Rose just takes the layup and expects a foul to be called.
Also, if you watch closely, you’ll notice that Rose is initiating the contact with the defensive player (most of the time), which should be called a charge as opposed to a blocking foul.
I’m not trying to rant and “hate” on the MVP here, but if he can find a way to make plays for his team, THEN they have a good shot at beating Miami.
Follow @TheSportzGuru
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Wrap-up: Rubio has ACL tear, Redskins nab No.2 pick
NBA
- Ricky Rubio sustained an ACL tear last week against the Los Angeles Lakers. He is out for the rest of the season. Minnesota’s playoff hopes now look distant.
Rubio won't playing again till next year (businessinsider.com).
- J.R Smith was fined $25,000 by the NBA for a photo posted on Twitter. The photo showed the @$$ of Tahiry Jose, Smith’s girlfriend. Smith later said that he regretted tweeting the photo
NFL
- Peyton Manning was released by the Colts last Wednesday. Today, he is meeting with the Arizona Cardinals
- The Redskins traded a couple 1st Round picks for this year’s No.2 selection. Specifically, they traded their 1st Rounders for ’12, ’13, and ’14. Also, they traded a 2nd Rounder for 2012.
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?
DeMarcus Cousins is Not that Good
We all know DeMarcus Cousins is a pretty good basketball player with a ton of potential. In fact, most fans would consider him a future All-Star.
Unfortunately, his temper tantrums led to the firing of coach Paul Westphal. Because Westphal was not able to control Cousins’ attitude on and off the court, he was fired. The Kings had a 2-5 record at the time of the firing.
My question is: why would you fire a head coach after only 7 games? Was DeMarcus Cousins really good enough to fire your head coach over? If it were up to me, I would’ve traded Cousins and gotten some picks and players out of it. That would have been a win-win situation because: 1) Cousins would’ve been happy on a different team and 2) the Kings would’ve gotten some picks and players in exchange for Cousins.
I almost forgot: 3) They wouldn’t have had to deal with Cousins’ temper tantrums anymore!
Wow I’m almost on a rant here… I just can’t believe how stupid the Kings’ executives are!
ESPN.com reports that Westphal was 51-120 with the Kings in his 2 years in Sac City.
Question: do you think the Kings did the right thing? Should they have kept Westphal and traded Cousins?
Related articles
- Demarcus Cousins – 1 Paul Westphal – 0 (ksfm.radio.com)
- Paul Westphal ousted as coach of Sacramento Kings (aol.sportingnews.com)
- DeMarcus Cousins & Paul Westphal (onlineupdaters.wordpress.com)
- NBA Rumors: Kings Lack Leadership to Develop a Player Like DeMarcus Cousins (bleacherreport.com)
Chris Paul wants out of New Orleans
Credible news sources are reporting Chris Paul requested a trade out of NO. His team of choice? The New York Knickerbockers. It looks like Paul is intrigued by the idea of playing with Melo and Stoutemire. My friend actually showed me the news on his iPhone during music rehearsal. Once I read the story, my mouth dropped and I was thinkin’ “Are you serious?” Paul, Melo, and Stoutemire would HONESTLY make a better team than LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. But that’s just my opinion. They have a better rapport just from being everyday friends, unlike the Heat’s Big 3.
See, that’s what’s wrong with the NBA today. If Paul really left NO for the Knicks, who would be the dominant teams in the East? The Heat, Celtics, and Knicks. Any other teams? What I’m trying to say is, the teams are not balanced. However, if we had gotten a hard cap in the new CBA, the teams would be a bit more balanced. I guess beggars can’t be choosers…
NBA Lockout finally over!
This post is a bit late in terms of “news”, I just haven’t had time to write it. Anyhow, by now you all heard that the NBPA and the owners struck a tentative deal early Saturday morning. But, the CBA has not been made official yet: if the two sides reach a majority vote on it, then the deal will become “legit.” Therefore, the lockout is not over until 15 of the 29 owners ratify the CBA. The deal is set for 10 years, with an optional opt-out in 2017.Wow…after 150 days of arguing and complaining, both sides agree to a deal that will likely start up the season. Speaking of the season, it’s been shortened to 66 games. The first day of NBA action will be on Christmas with a tripleheader of powerhouse teams:
The Celtics will travel to NY to face the Knicks
The Heat will travel to Dallas to face the Mavs (NBA Finals rematch!!!)
The Bulls will travel to LA to face the Lakers
Sounds like a great day of NBA for a great Holiday. Although the NBA certainly lost some fans during this lockout, the die-hards will come back to watch their favorite team.
I’m still in shock that they came up with the deal. Remember, the deal is tentative, meaning it’s not “by the books” yet. Once the owners and players get majority votes, then the season will official start on Christmas and we will be back in business. The details of the NBA are not out yet, but at soon as it is made official I will update you. I’m certain the players will be getting between 49% and 51% of Basketball-Related Income (BRI) every year.
Unfortunately, I think both sides will opt out in 2017, which only guarantees us 5 good years of basketball. So enjoy it while you still can!
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
NBA Lockout Update
The NBA Lockout isn’t looking good at all from any perspective. The owners reportedly offered the players 51% of basketball-related income. The players have until Wednesday to take it. David Stern said if they decline the 51%, the owners will drop down to 47% for their next offer, which puts a lot of pressure and stress on the players. Also, I’ve heard the players are starting to disband because some have different views than others i.e. some just want to play and don’t care about the BRI, while others couldn’t care less about the season, they would rather wait for a better offer. The problem with the latter is: I don’t think they’ll get a better offer. The fans would rather see a deal done now so they can salvage the season, but I don’t think the players are thinking about the fans at this point. They’re too busy worrying about exactly how many millions of $ they’ll make next year…
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
NFL Recap, MLB WS and more!
After reading @jstar1973’s blog (Read it here), I think I’ll take a page from his book. This will be a post covering baseball, basketball, and football.
Football
Last week wasn’t good for the NFL. The games were bad and there just wasn’t excitement around the league this week. There were some nice stories though: Tim Tebow got his first win of the year, coming back from 0-15 in the last 5 minutes of regulation. It was also his first start after HC John Fox decided to bench Orton. People are already annointing Tebow as the “QB of the future”, but remember it was only the Dolphins he beat. He didn’t go into Green Bay and beat the undefeated Packers, just saying.
Staying inside the NFL, the Jaguars beat the Ravens on MNF by a score of 12-9. The Jags didn’t need TD’s to win: Scobee had 4 FG’s, 3 of them 50+ yards. Also, their defense held Baltimore to 150 total yards. Ray Rice fumbled 3 times, surprisingly only losing 1 of those fumbles. I was completely wrong in my prediction: I said that Ray Lewis was gonna lead the Ravens to victory, but I guess that’s why they play the game (Bermanism).
Now on to the NCAA: Michigan State beat Wisconsin last week in the final seconds of the game. Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins launched a Hail Mary with 4 seconds left on the clock. The ball was tipped by both teams, but Keith Nichol was able to reel the ball in. He crossed the plane! Touchdown MICHIGAN STATE! Game over, 37-31 Michigan State OVER Wisconsin. That put Wisconsins BCS Championship hopes to rest, there’s no way they can get there now! At best they can probably get 8th or 7th.
Baseball
Tomorrow, the Cardinals will take on the Rangers in Game 6 of the WS. The Rangers lead the Series 3-2. Do you think the Cardinals will force a Game 7? Honestly, I think they will; the Rangers most likely will fold and they don’t have the run production to close things out. I don’t follow baseball as much as football or basketball, so what I say probably isn’t going to happen. Just watch Pujols take over, that’s when you know I’m right.
Basketball
The NBA Lockout is looking really bad for everybody: players, coaches, owners, and most importantly fans! According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, the NBA plans to cancel two more weeks of the regular season. If that happens, that would be 128 games in total that Stern has cancelled this year. What have we done to deserve this?
Till tomorrow,
@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?
NBA Lockout Threatens Season; Yanks top Tigers.
NBA Lockout Threatens Season
Lets start out with some NBA news. Commish David Stern says if a deal isn’t struck by the end of this weekend, the 2011-2012 season will be cancelled. He might be using this as a bluff so the players can settle for less money, or he could be serious and both the players AND the fans would be royally screwed until next year. Judging by he way the players union is handling the lockout/negotiations, I think the former isn’t likely to happen. They feel they deserve more money than the owners, and considering there are 300 players to 30 owners AND the players are the ones actually entertaining us, I also feel they should get at least a 50/50 split, if not more. I will keep you updated as the talks progress.
Is he bluffing? You tell me.
Yanks top Tigers
Now lets talk some baseball. The New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers 9-3 yesterday to take the first game of the series. Second Baseman Robinson Cano drove in six of the Yankees nine runs, four of them coming on a grand slam given up by Al Alburquerque in the fifth. Tigers ace Justin Verlander is slated to only pitch one game in this series. Game 2 is happening right now as we speak.
***Credit for David Stern ‘bluff’ info, Yanks win, and Verlander info goes to my friend Alexander Sheeckutz, his Facebook profile is http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002635232468.
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
Big man Yao Ming retires; NBA news from around the league
Now I know this news is a bit late (sorry I’m on vacation), but Yao Ming has decided to retire from the NBA. He’s only 30, so this kinda came as a surprise to me. He had a decent 4 or 5 years in the league before injuries plagued the last 3 years of his career. How did he make the all-star game last year while only playing like 10 games? That baffled me, he wasn’t even that good… Anyway, he’ll certainly be missed 🙂
Sources say Deron Williams struck a deal with a Turkish basketball club on Friday, ensuring that he’ll get paid even if there’s no NBA season next year. This move by D-Will surprised me a bit, however I can understand why he’d do it. He plays for the worst franchise in the league, AND he plays in New Jersey. What else do you need? Knicks guard Landry Fields says that some NBA players might follow D-Will’s decision to go overseas. Sounds logical: why risk not getting paid for a whole year when you can be the best player on another team, thus getting paid the big bucks?
Off to go swim, comment and tell me what your thoughts are.
NBA Lockout Inevitable; Oden Offered Money; Nazr Mohammed to Stay in OKC
The 2010-2011 NBA Season was the craziest season to date. LeBron and Bosh took their talents to South Beach to join Wade; Phil Jackson couldn’t get his 4th 3-peat, and the Dallas Mavs “beat the Heat” in six games to win their first ever NBA Title. And who could forget the biggest trade of the year: Carmelo Anthony to the NY Knicks? Obviously it didn’t pan out the way Knicks fans were hoping for. The Nuggets got the better of them in that trade; Gallinari and Felton fit in good with that team. Anyway, let’s get goin.
NBA LOCKOUT
The first order of business is the *pending* NBA Lockout. The current CBA is set to expire at the end of the month (today). Sources have indicated that the NBA and the players’ union are far apart on every major issue, “from salaries to the salary cap, revenues to revenue sharing” (Cred ESPN.com). They’re not gonna be able to solve ALL their issues in a matter of hours tomorrow. Therefore, the lockout WILL happen, no question. It’s just the duration of it that we have no idea about. The two sides MIGHT be able to negotiate on one issue tomorrow, but we aren’t getting a deal signed anytime soon. I expect to have a deal around November, which is of course when the season starts. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the league shortens the season to 50 games like they did in 1998. We’ll just have to wait and see what goes on; as always, I’ll keep you updated as the weeks go by.
Hopefully Stern sees that we need our basketball in the winter to get through our days. Photo Cred http://cdn.bleacherreport.net
GREG ODEN OFFERED MONEY BY BLAZERS
Today, the Portland Trail Blazers offered Greg Oden a qualifying offer of $8.8 million (money amount credit to ESPN.com). If he accepts the offer, Oden will become a restricted free agent, thus allowing the Blazers to match any offer made for him. Kind of a weird rule, don’t you think? I mean, you pay the guy $8.8 mill, and you might not even be able to match what’s offered to him? They’re really taking a gamble offering him that much money. However, he’s a pretty good player WHEN HEALTHY, so I see where they’re goin with this. I still can’t believe he’s only 23. How many injuries has he suffered, like 6 or 7 in 3 NBA seasons? And they were all pretty serious too, not just your normal day-to-day sprained ankle. He’s also had like 3 surgeries, wayyy too many for a 23-year-old.I’m looking forward to seeing where he plays next season, and if he gets injured.
Will Oden stay in Portland? Or will he "take his talents to South Beach?" Photo Cred http://upload.wikimedia.org
NAZR MOHAMMED RE-SIGNS WITH THUNDER
“General manager Sam Presti announced Wednesday that Oklahoma City had signed (Nazr) Mohammed to an extension.” Mohammed is a 13-year NBA veteran who’s rebounding and scoring abilities are not questioned, however he’s not been able to show us his awesomeness because Kendrick Perkins is there to take the starting spot. I’d honestly be fine with having either one as my center, but you gotta let Perkins get the starting spot in that situation, and that’s what they did. Honestly, I think they should split the minutes 60/40, so Perkins should get about 29 minutes and Mohammed should get 19. Does that seem fair?
Mohammed resigned with the OKC Thunder on Wednesday. Photo Cred http://upload.wikimedia.org.
Comment, tell me what you think on these “tid-bits” of news,
Until tomorrow morning,
The Sportz Guru
The Sportz Guru 