Seau death officially ruled a suicide, Mo go for the season?

With Wednesday came the devastating news of Junior Seau’s death. The death has been officially ruled as a suicide by the medical examiner.

Big hits are a part of football. You take away big hits, I guarantee people will stop watching it (with good reason). People watch for the big hits and the scampering running back, dashing across the field like a men among boys. We not only lost a great player in Seau’s death, but an amazing person as well.

It’s sad to think that football may have ultimately caused this death. We’ve never had these concussion problems before (pre 1990s), but now everyone’s anxious to tell their story of battered brains and hurt souls.

Thankfully, the Seau family will allow an examination of Junior’s brain. This will greatly help the NFL determine exactly how football affects the brain.

Thank you, Seau family. RIP Junior.

On to baseball:

Sad news comin’ out of New York: Mariano Rivera tore his ACL in pre-game on Thursday. He is ruled out for the rest of the young 2012 season. The question is: Have we seen him pitch his last innings in the majors? As a baseball fan, you’ve gotta feel bad for Mo.

Kung Fu Panda (Pablo Sandoval) has a hand injury that puts him back four to six weeks. This is a crushing blow to the Giants, who can’t possibly replace the production of big boy Panda. At least they’ll get him back by the middle of June.

Albert Pujols is still homer-less this season (yay).

Basketball time:

The Knicks are down 0-3 in their 1^st Round series to the Miami Heat. This season has been one of highs and lows for the Knicks, and right now they can’t find the groove. Let me tell you, they were leading at halftime last night 40-36 and I was confident they could come at least withink 10. But no, LeFlop has to score eight straight points in the fourth quarter for the Miami Heat.

Go Knicks!

Great time to be a sports fan

Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite months of sports. You’ve got the NBA Playoffs finally underway after a drama-filled regular season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are always exciting, since the dynamic of a game can change in a flash. Between one moment and the next is a period of “What’s gonna happen next?” In basketball, you know after every score it takes about 10 seconds to bring the ball to half-court, which creates less drama then a 2-1 hockey game.

Plus, baseball is finding it’s groove around this time (too bad Albert Pujols hasn’t). By the way, Matt Kemp is a monster. If he even remotely produces like this for the rest of the season, he’ll be a frontrunner for the MVP race.

On to basketball:

The Knicks play Game 3 tomorrow night at the Garden against the Miami Heat. It would be an understatement to say this has been disappointing playoffs so far for the Knicks. First, they embarrass themselves by losing “Bobcats style” in Game 1. Next, they lose Game 2 by a frustrating 10 points.

This season’s had more drama then a bad soap opera for the Knicks! I’m not going to recap that (it would take thousands of words), but we did here an interesting story break yesterday morning. Amar’eStoudemire committed an act of violence against himself. Out of frustration, he punched the class casing surrounding a fire extinguisher. He’s “out for [tonight’s] game and is doubtful for Game 4” (wsj.com).  If I were the Knicks, at the beginning of the season next year I would cut (pun) Amar’e. This is a disgusting act and does not help the team at all.

Or does it?

It’s been true all year: the Knicks actually play BETTER with Amar’e out of the lineup. So, will this help them out in Game’s 3 and 4? We’ll see.

When the Celtics lost Game 1, analysts were already taking them for granted and saying “Oh, they can’t win without Rondo in the lineup.” Of course, Rondo was suspended on Monday for Game 2. They said “A team without Rondo and Allen cannot beat the Hawks.” I thought the Hawks would see no Rondo or Allen and go, “We got this.” Of course, Pierce went off for 36 points. They ended up winning the game, evening up the series 1-1.

Baseball:

As we all know, Albert Pujols is in a major slump. He hasn’t hit a home run, and is hitting sub-.250. He’s got 4 RBI’s…Nobody knows what’s wrong with him so far this season. To be honest, I’m glad he’s in this slump. I’m happy because he left, no, abandoned the Cardinals with such a money-first attitude. He wasn’t concerned with winning more rings and staying loyal to his team. Nope, everyone says it’s a business. Follow the money…

Football:

BREAKING NEWS: Junior Seau is dead

Four New Orleans Saints players were suspended today for their involvement in the bounty scandal. Most significantly, Jonathan Vilma has been suspended for the entire 2012 season, effective immediately.

For more on the story, visit ESPN: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7881761/nfl-bans-four-players-new-orleans-saints-bounty-roles

Third time’s the charm, right?

Why do I keep doing this? Every time I try to get back into sports blogging, schoolwork gets in the way and I completely forget about writing. Well, this time I decided that if I want to become a sports journalist in the future, I’ll need to improve my writing by….duh, WRITING. The writing we do in school is sooo boring. Plus, sports writing allows me to convey my thoughts about my favorite topic using the most widely-used medium in the world: the Internet. \

Enough of that, let’s get back to work!

Watching the Knicks/ Heat game, cannot believe they’re still in this 55-52 10 minutes to go in the 3rd. Game 1 was an embarrassment for Knicks fans everywhere. They got KILLED by 30 points. On a side note, Shumpert tore his ACL and is out for the rest of the season and half of next season.

Derrick Rose also tore his ACL in yesterday’s Game 1 win agains the Sixers. Everyone knows he. was in the game up 12 with a minute left. As a result, fans everywhere are blaming Tom Thibodeau and the compressed schedule for the injury. Come on dude, you’re gonna blame a coach for leaving his star in, who’s played half the season this year for various injuries??

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.
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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!

NBA Finals Neck-and-Neck at 2-2

This has been a crazy basketball season so far. The LA Lakers getting swept by the Mavericks in the Playoffs. The Heat knocking off the Celtics in 6 games. And who can forget about Carmelo Anthony being shipped to NY? I certainly can; he didn’t do anything to help the franchise (so far). As soon as he came over, everyone was like, “We gonna go all the way this year with Stouda and ‘Melo.” Yea, like that’s gonna happen anytime soon. Anthony’s definitely a little overrated. Sure, it’s New York, everyone who lives here expects a championship just about every year. Not just in basketball, in all sports (Yankees, Giants/Jets). So, I think Carmelo disappointing the most arrogant fans on the planet; not that bad right? Seriously, the Knicks were playing MUCH better team ball before Melo came to town.  Ball Hog much?

Anyhow, the Mavericks and the Heat are tied at 2-2 in the Finals. It’s gone back and forth every game this series. In the games that the Heat won, they were able to pass the ball efficiently, drive to the rim, and pick up rebounds at will. In contrast, the Mavs won by rallying behind Dirk, because he can stay on very long hot streaks where he hits 10 shots in a row. The constant flopping of the players shows that its been a very physical series, especially for rebounds. If the pattern continues, the Heat will win Game 5. In addition, that means the Heat will also win 4 games before the Mavs, therefore winning the championship. Looks like Jason Terry’s tattoo was a jinx!

Looks like the Tattoo Didn't help the Mavs in the Finals....