What's in a Name?

My generation is a lazy one, thats for sure. You can tell by the way things are for us. We have phones that do everything except wipe our butts, we've replaced face to face contact with facebook and we are incapable of coming up with a great sports nickname. Sure we can blame the younger generation of sports reporters, but when push comes to shove we have become so content with lousy names that we let them invade all our sports!

If you're confused about my point, which is quite understandable, take a look with me at some of the great sports nicknames over the years.
The Sultan of Swat
The Round Mound of Rebound
El Guapo
The Chief
Sweetness
Air Jordan
The Great One
Magic
The Worm 
The Big Diesel
The Human Eraser
And many many more...

How about recently? People have tried to create nicknames for athletes like Flash for Dwayne Wade or Black Mamba for Kobe, but in general its been embarrassing what we've come too. Names like:
LBJ
CP3
D-Wade
Car-Go
A-Rod
K-Rod
Ochocinco ( Yes I realize this is his "real" name still as of now, but it's still more or less a nickname and a bad one... I mean seriously? I wonder if anyone ever told him that's not how you even say eighty-five in spanish? It's just Chad Eight-Five!)
Ovy

It saddens me too little girl... 

Aren't these names lame? You could come up with something better for each of them I'm sure!

LBJ = Lebron James "Joyce gets more fouls called against him"
CP3 = "Excuse me I gotta take a" Chris Paul
D-Wade = Flash ( Already went over this)
Car-Go = Carlos "We just saw his one year brilliance like Luis" Gonzales
A-Rod = "Apparently Cameron Diaz isn't fazed by the affect of steroids on "A rod""...
K-Rod = "How'd You Avoid Jail Rod?"
Chad Ochocinco = Here's a shot in the dark... Johnson? 
Ovy = He's Russian, I don't want a fight.  Ya know what, Ovy is fine. 


These are quick thoughts today just what watching Sportscenter does to me.

Prepare For More Carolina Blues

With the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft the Carolina Panthers select Cam Newton, the dual-threat Heisman winning quarterback from Auburn, shortly after they began kissing their Superbowl hopes for the next decade goodbye... Maybe I'm the only one who saw it.

You may wonder how I can be so sure this will be the case and I will swiftly respond...History. Sure history can change and if it does I'll eat my words, but this time that will be unlikely. Let's play a game. Off the top of your head can you name one great dual-threat quarterback that won a Superbowl? No? How about if you look through the pages of Superbowl history? Did you find one yet? No you didn't and do you want to know why. That's because since 1966, Superbowl I, it has never happened. A prolific running quarterback has never won a Superbowl, in fact the only time you can say a running quarterback even played in the Superbowl would be if you still considered Donovan Mcnabb one in 2004. I wouldn't, but maybe you would.

Sure they can make it to the conference championships like Michael Vick and they can have winning records in the regular season. They have just never won a championship.

Let's look over the last 15 years just for kicks-
Year              Winning QB            Losing QB
'10                Aaron Rodgers           Ben Roethlisberger
'09                Drew Brees                Peyton Manning
'08                Ben Roethlisberger      Kurt Warner
'07                Eli Manning                 Tom Brady
'06                Peyton Manning          Rex Grossman
'05                Ben Roethlisberger      Matt Hasselbeck
'04                Tom Brady                  Donovan Mcnabb
'03                Tom Brady                  Jake Delhomme
'02                Brad Johnson               Rich Gannon
'01                Tom Brady                   Kurt Warner
'00                Trent Dilfer                   Kerry Collins
'99                 Kurt Warner                Steve Mcnair
'98                 John Elway                  Chris Chandler
'97                 John Elway                   Brett Favre
'96                 Brett Favre                   Drew Bledsoe

See my friends, history doesn't lie and what it is telling us now is that Carolina might have been better off molding Jimmy Clausen. Now instead they must not only hope that Cam Newton is going to be the franchise quarterback, but that he will also be the first of his kind to ever win it all.

All I can say is... Good luck.

March Madness Has Begun!

Spring is right around the corner and with it comes the many aspects we're all familiar with. Flowers blooming, snow melting, and Mid-Major's turning into Cinderella stories. If the last piece doesn't ring a bell then this article may not be for you, but if you're still with me then you understand it's that time of the year again. So let's shape up that bracket! Let's go region by region and see the sleepers, the contenders and the upsets that could be all likely.

East Region

Contenders: Ohio State, Kentucky, Washington
Likely to Disappoint: UNC, Syracuse, Xavier, West Virginia
Sleeper: Washington
Upsets to Look Out For:11 Marquette over 6 Xavier, 12 Clemson/UAB over 5 West Virginia
Players to Watch: Jared Sullinger(OSU), Terrence Jones (UK), Harrison Barnes (UNC), Terrell Holloway(XU), Isaiah Thomas(UW)

I think Ohio State should come out of this region unscathed. Not necessarily because of the lack of other talent, but more due to the fact that they provide way too many match-up problems with the teams in this region. Jared Sullinger will really get his chance to prove his NBA worth.


West Region


Contenders: Duke, Arizona
Likely to Disappoint: UConn, San Diego St, Texas
Sleepers: Temple, Missouri
Upsets to Look Out For: 11 Missouri over 6 Cincinnati, 14 Bucknell over 3 UConn, 13 Oakland over 4 Texas.
Players to Watch: Nolan Smith (Duke), Kemba Walker (UConn), Jordan Hamilton (TEX), Derrick Williams (Ariz)
On paper this looks like one of the easier regions to come out of. That could all change depending on what version of Texas and Connecticut we see. UConn is hot right now, but they were just 9-9 in Big East play this season and though it's a tough conference and they did win the tournament, one bad game by Kemba Walker will lead to a loss
.
Southwest Region


Contenders: Kansas, Notre Dame
Likely to Disappoint: Louisville, Purdue, Vanderbilt
Sleepers: Texas A&M, Richmond
Upsets to Look Out For: 12 Richmond over 5 Vanderbilt, 13 Morehead St. over 4 Louisville
Players to Watch: Ben Hansbrough (ND), Marcus Morris (KU), Jajuan Johnson (Purd), Kenneth Faried(MSU)

This could be the bracket full of upsets. Kansas and Notre Dame stand higher above all though and should come out of this region to face one another. That being said everyone should be watching Richmond and Texas A&M. The best talent in this region also may be on the team that could pull off the biggest upset. Kenneth Faried out of Morehead St. is NBA-ready and could pose some big problems for the Cardinals.


Southeast Region


Contenders: Pittsburgh, Florida
Likely to Disappoint: Wisconsin, BYU,
Sleepers: Utah St., Michigan State, St. John's
Upsets to Look Out For: 10 Michigan St. Over 7 UCLA, 12 Utah St. Over 5 Kansas St., 11 Gonzaga over 6 St. John's.
Players to Watch: Jimmer Fredette(BYU), Jacob Pullen (KSU), Dwight Hardy(SJU), Ashton Gibbs(PITT),  Kalin Lucas (MSU)

This is the region full of questions. Can BYU win without Brandon Davies? Are Pittsburgh and Florida legitimate title contenders? What kind of St. John's team will we see? Is Utah State for real? I am excited to figure out the answers but as things stand this may be the weakest region of them all. Great players tend to stand out during these tournaments. Will Jimmer become a Carmelo Anthony or an Adam Morrison?

Logos Copyrighted by the NCAA

Hey Now You're an All-Star... But No One's Watching

With the NBA All-Star game quickly approaching I noticed that I wasn't as excited as I used to be growing up. The dunk contest isn't really the spectacle it once was, the three point contest was never that exciting, the skills competition is pointless and the game itself is more or less a non-competitive excuse for athletes to run up and down the court showing off their dunks and three point ability anyway. That being said, it's still probably the most exciting all-star weekend of all the major sports, but thats not saying much at all. I'd like to rank the 4 major sports in their attempts at capturing some fun while displaying the best talents.

4. The NFL

They just don't get it. Something is always missing and that something is a reason to watch. There are no skills competitions and therefore no ways to showcase off some of the talents in the NFL. The game isn't that physical and it shouldn't be, but then again what's the point? Why play a game of football no one takes seriously? Especially if no one is watching.

Improvement Idea

Skills competitions! Who wouldn't like to watch Tom Brady and Peyton Manning battle others in an accuracy competition? Or Jay Cutler and Michael Vick bombing the ball as far as they can? Then we could see speed competitions between the people claiming they're the fastest, maybe a little Devin Hester vs. Chris Johnson action? Anyways the point is anything not a game would add to the Pro Bowl weekend and you'd think with the NFL's audience size, something would happen.

3. The NHL

They did a better job this year adding to some of the luster and fun by having the teams pick players in a different style and having some fun with skills competitions. The only issue with the NHL is the fact that it doesn't have as big an audience as the other sports so even if it does attempt to make some fresh changes it can't ever reach the top.

Improvement Idea

Keep it the way it is. Just get more viewers.

2. MLB

Major League Baseball almost gets it. The home-run derby has lost most of its flash and there are no skills competitions besides that, but the one thing they do right in the majors...they make the game worth something. Home-field advantage in the World Series, which could be worth a lot when it comes down to that game 7. This is why baseball gets to be number 2 on this list despite only having a home-run derby.*

Improvement Idea

Maybe a fastball competition or something to do with the pitchers? Or maybe a speed competition? I mean I know baseball players are fragile, but isn't that supposed to change after the steroids are gone?

1. The NBA

This is the most exciting All-Star weekend in major sports. Almost by default. It has flash, popularity and celebrity appeal. The skills competitions are still fun though we'd all still rather see Lebron vs. Dwight rather than Gerald Green vs anyone. The 3-point contest is also the perfect platform for players that won't ever do anything else to have a little bit of glory like Voshon Lenard and superstars to show off like Larry Bird. The game itself can be fun at times and basketball combines physicality and taking it easy enough that it still can be fun at junctures.

Improvement Idea

Make the stars always do the competitions. I want to see superstars dunk! This year we are getting a taste since Blake Griffin is in it, but then he faces no household names, how boring.

These changes will likely never occur but just thinking about some of the possibilities makes you wonder why things aren't different. These athletes get paid a lot of money! More than some people will make in consecutive lifetimes, so they can put on one extra show a year.

* I did not forget about the Future's Game... Just quite frankly who cares?

Brady Vs. Manning

Who's better? Recently Sportscenter tackled who deserves more money and I would like to elaborate on the debate and maybe something I say may finally help you chose or maybe you won't agree, regardless this is some greater perspective on Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning.

Tom Brady

6'4" 225 lbs

Peyton Manning

6'5" 230 lbs

College Successes
Both players attended prolific football schools during their college primes, but Manning was significantly more hyped when he finished with Tennessee. Brady attended Michigan and only played in 31 games and started 25 of those in 5 years. His final year was his best though as he had 20 TDs and 5 INTs and had his best game of his career in his last game. In the FedEx Orange Bowl vs Alabama he went 34-46 with 369 yards and 4 TDs. Manning on the other hand was putting up great numbers every year as he started 45 games for the Vols. In his final year he won numerous awards and was an All-American, while leading Tennessee to a 11-1* season that ended with a loss to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Overall though the edge still goes to Manning.

Other Talents Growing Up
This category may seem unfair but I wanted to touch on it regardless. Back in high school Tom Brady was a 2-sport superstar, excelling in baseball and football, he was actually drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 18th Round as a catcher but chose to go to Michigan instead. Manning's hardest choice was Ole Miss or Tennessee. Edge Brady.

NFL Statistics
Peyton Manning is a statistical machine, there is no doubt about it. He already is 4th in yards, 3rd in touchdowns, 5th in passer rating and 4th in completion percentage. He is on pace to hold every major quarterback statistical category. He also hold the 2nd highest single season total for TDs with 49. Brady on the other hand does not have as complete a resume though impressive none the less. He's been trying his hardest to make up for lost time though, he currently is 21st in TDs, 7th in passer rating, 31st in yards and 9th in completion percentage. He also has the greatest statistical single season for a quarterback on his resume, in 2007 he had 50 TDs, 8 INTs, 4806 yards, a 69% completion percentage and a passer rating of an astonishing 117.2. Overall though Manning's sheer consistently gives him the call here. Edge Manning.

The Last 3-4 Years
As quarterbacks age their statistics usually start to either round off or spike (if you're Brett Favre). Manning has gotten better at winning, but his statistics are starting to come down a little bit. Don't get me wrong they are still incredible but the quick snapshot of averages for the last 3 years is:
30-TDs
14-INTs
97-QB Rating
261-Y/G
66%-Comp %

For Brady it's this:
34-TDs**
11-INTS
100-QB Rating
264-Y/G
64%- Comp %

Brady has actually continually improved over the last 3 years as Manning has hit a slight decline. Edge Brady.

Winning
Peyton Manning is a winner. In every level of football he has had incredible regular season records and he continually leads the colts to great seasons. Over his NFL career he is 131-61 in the regular season which is an incredible 68% winning percentage. Tom Brady makes that look mediocre. He has played in 127 games and has won 97 of them. For you folks at home not good at math that's a 76% winning percentage in the regular season. This guy wins almost 8 out of every 10 games he starts, for a career! What puts Brady way over the top in this category though is the playoff winning, Manning's career record in the playoffs is 9-9 with one ring, while Brady's is 14-4 with 3 rings. No contest, Big edge Brady.

Awards
Tom Brady has one regular season MVP, 2 Superbowl MVPs one offensive player of the year award and is a 5-time pro-bowler. Peyton Manning has 4 MVP trophies, which is the most all-time and 1 Superbowl MVP, oh yeah and by the way he also has 10 pro-bowl appearances. Edge Manning.

Extra-Curricular Activities
Tom Brady has a super-model wife, a child, and is constantly picked as one of the most attractive men in sports. Peyton Manning on the other hand is just hilarious, enough said. Edge Manning.


So when all is said and done Manning got the edge in one more category than Brady, but then comes the difficult part in deciding which player you'd rather have. What do you weigh more? Statistics or Winning? If you're answer is winning, which should be expected, than that big edge Brady has in that particular category should be the largest deciding factor. If you were going to start a franchise today and needed a quarterback...who would you chose? My choice, Tom Brady, but there is no wrong answer.



*This includes the SEC Championship game victory over Auburn.
** This includes the year after Brady's injury not 2008.

The Year of the Bad Call

I am not a professional coach nor player therefore anything I say about bad calls will not cost me 1/100th of my paycheck.



Just now as I watch the World Cup Semi-Finals, I witnessed a game-tying goal get taken away from England. Why, you ask? A foul...nope, an offsides call...nope. Hmmm, well what could it have been? It was that classic, forgivable case of THE REFEREE DIDN'T SEE IT...not even a joke, it hit the top crossbar landed in the goal about 2 yards in then bounced up and the goalie grabbed it. Everyone thinks it's a goal, the announcers say its a goal, the England coach pumps his fist after it goes in, but the referee does nothing and let's the game continue like nothing happened. That's just great. So in a 2-1 game where that goal would've been the equalizer, England faced a 1 goal deficit going into the half in a do-or-die World Cup game.

As I turned over to Sportscenter to see the highlights from last nights MLB action, I noticed another great blunder. The Tigers were playing the Braves and Johnny Damon was at the plate for the Tigers in a game which they were losing 3-4 and there were 2 outs and 2 strikes. Damon took a pitch that was way outside and what did the umpire do...Yup you guessed it, he called it a strike. The game ends, everyone is baffled and the Tigers are victims once again of a terrible game-changing call.



Bad calls happen all the time and everyone in sports is aware of this, but is it just me or do the calls this year seem to be more prominent? A perfect game was ruined, the world cup is full of question marks, the NBA is considering changing what the letters stand for to No Bumping Allowed. Ok that last one I made up, but it's ridiculous how much control these refs and umps have over these games and what's even more ridiculous is how many of them abuse their power. For every good referee there's at least 4 Joe Crawfords.

Players, coaches, and owners aren't allowed to make comments or else they get a toy hammer brought down on them (we all know those fines are hilariously low) and commissioners seem to refuse to do anything about it. I feel like a lot of these leagues need to clean house and get new referees and they should also all utilize replay in all facets of the game that could be determinants of a win or loss. What's the point of playing a game hard and doing everything right, if it's going to be stomped on and wasted by some power happy or ignorant referee.

We have Iphones, Itouches, and Ipads that all work quickly and bring technology places we couldn't have even imagined 10 years ago and you're telling me they can't get replay to be quick and accurate. Let's get Steve Jobs to invent Ireplay, or better yet Iwannaknowwhoactuallywouldvewonthisgame and we should be all set.

The All-Annoying Teams!

There are some players in the NBA that just friggen annoy the crap out of me. They have something about them that just bugs me and forces me to dislike them. It's either their personality, their look or how they play the game that makes me root against them.




All-Annoying Team
Starters

Pg. Delonte West - This guy likes to ride around like he's Blade with guns on a motorcycle...

Sg. Sasha Vujacic - He vowed to never wear green after the Celtics smoked the Lakers in 08'...What a tool!

Sf. Lebron James - He is ultra-talented, but an ultra crybaby and he never ever ever gets fouls called on him, it's sickening the way David Stern wants to make him MJ.

Pf. Anderson Varejao - Just look at this guy!

C. Dwight Howard - I used to like Dwight, before I realized how much a of a punk he is, he fouls, elbows and plays dirty and the worse part, idiots like Jeff Van Gundy have the nerve to defend him by saying everything he does is inadvertent!

Bench

1.Pau Gasol - AKA the Geico Caveman, The sad thing, I wanted him on the Celtics at one point.

2.Joakim Noah - This was close between Varejao and Noah they both are pretty equal in my eyes, Noah is obviously more talented, but he could possibly be one of the ugliest people on the planet and sadly that ugliness pales in comparison to the ugliness of his shot.

3.Ron Artest - I really don't have to give a reason I dislike him right?

4.Jermaine O'Neal - Ditto

5. Jeff Van Gundy - I know, I know, he's an announcer now, but he deserves to be on this list since I dread ABC broadcasts just because of him.

Now for the sake of good fun I will also post the Team of Players I admire and like watching.

Starters

Pg. Rajon Rondo
Sg. Kobe Bryant
Sf. Kevin Durant
Pf. Tim Duncan
C. Shaquille O'Neal

Bench

1.Dwayne Wade
2.Paul Pierce
3.Ray Allen
4.Chris Paul
5.Chris Duhon
6.Chris Bosh
7.Gerald Wallace

Whatchya Say??

You know what the most unimportant job is in sports broadcasting? The reporter that talks to the players or coaches after halftime and after the game. I'm confused as to why this position even exists? Do we really need to hear a losing coach tell us his team didn't play well or a player telling us that he'll have to keep playing hard. Shouldn't we assume these things? I feel like we should! These people have nothing interesting to say nine times out of ten and when it is interesting, it's not supposed to be on TV.

Most of the time the best part of the interview is Craig Sager's suit...Or KG's opinion of them...

These interviews after the game accomplish nothing. What do we want this player to say? They are NBA players, not "philosophizers". Shaq may be the "Great Aristotle" but the best thing he's ever said in a sideline interview was the F-bomb!




All I'm saying is this is pointless unnecessary sports reporting and it bores me!

The NBA is Full of Sallies...

Professional basketball is a contact sport. Can someone please tell the refs this immediately, before they ruin the NBA playoffs. Obviously basketball is not on the level of football, hockey or rugby, but if you have played the game you know it gets physical and if you grew up watching the NBA you've witnessed how physical it can be. Playoff basketball was the modern day equivalent of titans battling one another in epic clashes of athleticism, skill and brute force. Legendary battles like Celtics versus the Sixers or Lakers in the 80's or Bulls versus the Knicks or Pacers in the 90's were staples of competitiveness. These games were incredible to watch during the regular season, but were completely on a different level come playoff time and there was never any question what a foul was back then because you would know it when you saw one.

Sadly those days are forgotten and are now replaced by the longest tenured trend in the NBA, the ticky-tack foul. If you just began watching the NBA this year, you'd think the entire NBA was full of overpaid she-males. Players like Rasheed Wallace and Dwight Howard actually have reasons to complain. If they so much as sweat on someone, they could be charged with a foul. It's truly sad when there have been at least a hundred moments when I've thought after watching an NBA game, did that team really lose or did the refs blow it? Granted on the great scheme of things an NBA referee can only do so much, but sometimes thats a lot more than they should. Players can't battle for rebounds now or stand up in the lane to defend a driver. If that player has momentum you had better get out of the way or a foul will be called, especially if that player is a star... *cough* *cough* Lebron James *cough*.

Even more surprising than all of this is the fact that the Cleveland "superstar" averages less fouls than any other starter in NBA history, in a foul happy league at that...Go figure...but that's for another time.

So as NBA fans what are supposed to do? The answer for that...nothing. We are stuck with this watered down league until David Stern is finally finished and even then who knows what would happen. All we need is one more player to be injured from a non-call and we will probably have games decided by free-throw contests instead of teams actually playing each other.

It's not like I am condoning injuring one another or desiring the league to be more like AND1 streetball, I'm just asking if the refs can swallow the whistle more often. Let the men be men and play the game the way it's supposed to be played.

Mr.Phil Will You Please Shut Up!

The NBA Playoffs are right around the corner and already a familiar voice is speaking out of turn again. My only plea, Phil Jackson can you please shut up?! I mean seriously what has Kevin Durant done to you? He now has the record for youngest player to win a scoring title which is quite the incredible feat and yet you have to try to diminish that feat just because he's coming in to town to face your team, the team already expected to win nonetheless? *



I find this to be in poor taste Mr.Jackson, I always was a fan of your ways back when you coached the great Bulls teams and even during your first tenure with LA, but now that aura you used to have is diminishing at a steady rate which has slowly but surely led me to almost despise you. I don't see you taking any shots at veterans in the league either and that may be my biggest issue with all of this. In 2008 during the Boston Celtics championship run you went out of your way to mispronounce Leon Powe's name. During that post conference, now a NBA classic, we watched you look at the box score and wonder how "POW"** got the best of you. Sadly your arrogance didn't pay off in that series to no ones surprise.



I'm looking forward to the Lakers v. Thunder series and I hope it surprises people. Is it bad that I am pulling for an upset now? Who knows, but one thing I'm sure of is that Phil Jackson needs to go back to his Zen-like mentality and shut his mouth.





*The original quote basically just said that Durant gets to the line too often because the refs call a special game for him. Which in turn is why he shoots so many free throws and scores so much.

** It's pronounced like Poe

Dynasty Over??? I Think Not ESPN!

So I recently read an article on ESPN's website,http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/columns/story?columnist=bryant_howard&id=4728559, and I was disappointed with all I heard. Has the championship window of opportunity passed for the New England Patriots? I find this extremely hard to believe!

Shouldn't we know by now that a team featuring Tom Brady and Bill Belichick will always have a chance at championship glory?? The nation is in a state of amnesia due to a few minor flops in a season in which the Patriots are still contenders. The defense is struggling, but the offense is very good, granted not as good as it was during the 18-1 season, but no offense will ever be that good, sorry Saints fans'. So if the Patriots make the playoffs, which they will, am I to believe that no one is worrying about them winning it all?? The Saints and Dolphins beat the Pats 2x in a row, this is true, but is it also forgotten that New England was a yard short of beating the undefeated Colts? That yard is looking huge right about now, but it was in fact only a yard...The Patriots make that and we aren't questioning this dynasty anymore are we?

I'm sorry but I don't believe this dynasty is ending or will end anytime soon. Receivers, Defensive players and Coordinators may change, but the Patriots should never be counted out.



Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Sportsman of The Year, Can you say no-brainer?

So Derek Jeter is the Sportsman of the Year... is anyone really surprised? First off it's Derek Friggen Jeter. Secondly this guy had a monster year at the age of 35, while leading his team to their fifth championship under his guidance. Also he just happened to break the record for hits by a Yankee, which is kind of a big deal especially considering the credentials and history involved with being a part of this franchise. He is one of the faces of Major League Baseball and has been ever since he's been in the league. He's got class and swagger without being a loudmouth and without being arrogant, even though he has every right to be considering he does have 5 rings. He is a role model and one of the few players in professional sports that still is "cool" without being a jackass...

Oh and did I forget to mention... he's Derek Friggen Jeter?!

Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Iverson has a Case

I can honestly say I feel bad for Allen Iverson… This guy was an incredible, dynamic, scoring machine with ankle breaking speed and the strength of a lion. Some people don't even realize how short he really was (5' 11"), though this had no affect whatsoever on his stature on the court. According to the media it seems like he has been plummeting over the last few years, I feel lost though because he had one off year in Detroit and now everyone talks of his progressive decline. What?!? What years of A.I. did I miss? I look at his stats from Denver and I’m just not seeing it? He still had quite a bit of juice left in that tank.

Iverson’s Denver Years:
Year Ppg. Asts. Rebs Stls
06’-07’ 28.0 7.2 3.0 2.0
07’-08’ 26.4 7.1 3.0 2.0

I don’t know what you may gather from this information, but I can certainly not see any decline in production that would lead me to believe that this player should retire or take a secondary role. Maybe I’m wrong… but I doubt it. Now this brings us to last year with Detroit. His numbers were dramatically lower, but he did face injury and was never faced with any certainty when it came to job security and this would make anyone play differently. He averaged 17.5 points, 5 assists and 1.5 steals a game which is very low for Allen Iverson standards but still pretty good considering what he was dealing with. No year before that was he ever below 22 points per game! So all of a sudden he’s a no talent hack that doesn’t deserve to be playing or starting on an NBA team? It’s common knowledge that he’s not a team player as well, though everyone he’s ever played with thinks he’s a great teammate ...hmmm that’s interesting. I feel like the media is picking on Allen Iverson, making him the scapegoat for all of Detroit’s problems last year and portraying him as some greedy player that won’t accept his diminishing role in the league. If I were in his shoes and had a track record like he did, I wouldn’t be very accepting of some bench role either. The craziest thing to fathom is the fact that so many teams in this league could use a player of his caliber and very few teams can say that their shooting guard position is a lock. A team like New York or New Jersey could certainly use him, and even a team like the Magic could use him as their starter over players like Vince Carter.

According to recent speculation Iverson may return soon. This would be great for the league that once adored everything he touched. Apparently some of his old coaches have been talking with him, telling him not to retire and now he has begun talking with the 76er’s. Having him back in Philly where his legacy began would be the perfect ending for the career of Allen Iverson. He may not get that championship, but he is still undoubtedly one of the 50 greatest players to play this game and will be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer.
So if there is any team out there looking for an answer, “The Answer” is on the market and ready to be in your starting lineup, NBA GMs are fools!

All-Time NBA Teams

The NBA is by far my favorite professional sports league and although commissioner David Stern is seemingly a tool, its still my sport of choice when all is said and done. That being said, I can admit to the fact that I am an "NBA nerd" and facts and stats go through my mind on a daily basis. During the last occurance of this random NBA thought, I began to consider the greatest players in the sport from a statistical point-of-view, a popularity point-of-view and an athletic point of view and the three lists generated were quite different. To make it easy I created hypothetical lineups as if they were all-star teams and this is what I came up with.


All-Athlete Squad
Pg. Magic Johnson
Sg. Michael Jordan
Sf. Dominique Wilkins
Pf. Karl Malone
C. David Robinson
Bench
1. Lebron James
2. Vince Carter
3. Kobe Bryant
4. Kevin Garnett
5. Patrick Ewing
6. Dennis Rodman


All-Popularity Team
Pg. Magic Johnson
Sg. Michael Jordan
Sf. Julius Erving
Pf. Larry Bird
C. Shaquille O'Neal
1.Allen Iverson
2.Kobe Bryant
3.Charles Barkely
4.Vince Carter
5.Lebron James
6.Scottie Pippen

All-Stats Team
Pg. Oscar Robertson
Sg. Michael Jordan
Sf. Lebron James
Pf. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Yes I know out of position but had to be a starter
C. Wilt Chamberlin
Bench
1.Karl Malone
2.Larry Bird
3.Magic Johnson
4.Kobe Bryant
5.Allen Iverson
6.Shaquille O'neal

These are my creations for your enjoyment, say what you will about them. If there is anyone I might have forgotten and you have a reason why, let it be heard and reply on my comment section.

A "Growing" Issue for the Magnificent Seven

Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. All seven of these men were sure-fire, no doubt, first ballot Hall-of-Famers, now there is a chance that none of them will make it to Cooperstown. Yes I know, they all are guilty of taking some sort of "performance enhancing" drug, well at least in the minds of the fans that is. Now the question is, do they really deserve all of this persecution? I'm sorry people but I am no longer a part of the steroids crusade.

For a while I was at the same point most are at now about this topic and felt that those who took some sort of substance should in fact be judged and condemned by the baseball world. Now I think differently. Not only has this long and drawn out witch-hunt disappointed me, but it has also made me question what's really the big deal. Now before you get on that high horse of yours and rant about the purity of the sport and how steroids have tainted everything and how these athletes are despicable cheaters, why don't we put this whole incident into some persepective?

First off, most of these players weren't doing anything illegal. They were taking a substance to increase performance, like you or I would take whey protein or creatine or any other muscle building substance, just these substances were given to them by trainers or doctors and were not disallowed by baseball as of 2003. People on the 2003 list were tested in order for Major League Baseball to conclude if there should be testing. These substances were taken by the athletes to get an edge, to play better, to last longer, and to gain more muscle. So like every athlete in the world these players took something to help out, yes it has its side effects and its bad rep, but its just a substance. I've always felt that steroids make you hit better like energy drinks make me test better, sure it helps, but its still my skill on display.

Now you might be saying well these drugs are illegal and people shouldn't take them, and yes I agree with you there, but I do not feel right in condemning these athletes any further, because in all honesty I feel that if I were under that pressure I'd do the same thing. Athletes take many anabolic,"natural", and synthetic materials everyday, and if anything they are taking now becomes illegal in the future, well they are toast. There have been many athletes from the past that have even come forward and said they would have taken them. You can't tell me right now that Babe Ruth wouldn't have taken something to keep himself going if it were around then. We are judging these players wrongly and insensitively. Taking drugs that are illegal is wrong from a legal standpoint, taking a substance to help you perform better in a sport, is just the way of the world. If you play sports and want to make it big in this day and age, not the fuddy-duddy days, then you're going to take performing enhancing substances in some way shape or form, and fans, I only ask you to get over yourself.

One of These Things is not like the Others!

What does it mean to be a hall-of-famer in a professional sport? Does it mean you put up Hall-of-fame worthy numbers? Do you have to be an innovater of your sport? What does it actually take to be considered one of the best ever to play your sport? When I think of players that don't belong, one man comes to mind immediately and I have been saying it for years. Why is Joe Namath in the Hall of Fame? Sure his name is famous, people know who he is, but does he belong?? What if he never called that improbable superbowl win over the Colts? Would he have made it, I think not.

Lets look at strictly stats right now. Some people say Namath was a winner...not true, his overall record as a starting quarterback, 63-63-4, a .500 record? Doesn't look Hall-of-Fame worthy, but ok he must have had some nice stats though right? Once again, not true. He threw for 173 touchdowns in his career, not a horrible amount, but compared to the 220 interceptions he threw, not impressive at all. Does a quarterback that threw more interceptions than TD's deserve to be in the HOF? Just for kicks let me also say that his career passer rating is 65.5 and completion percentage is just 50.1% Hmmm...NFL Fans, still think he belongs?

Let's do some playful comparisons, Drew Bledsoe, a quarterback many have considered average? His record 98-95, TD's 251, yards 44,611 (sorry I forgot to mention Namath didn't even throw for 28,000 yards). Bledsoe also has a career passer rating of 77.1. By Namath's standards, Bledsoe should be a Hall-of-Famer without question, but is he by yours? Jeff George, Tim Couch, and Jeff Garcia all have higher career passer ratings than Namath. Are they Hall-of-Famers? If you believe they are then maybe my argument here is flawed and I apologize for throwing this man under the bus.

If he lost that superbowl, is he a Hall-of-Famer?

Image Courtesy of AllPosters.com

What if the Expos Weren't Struck Out?

Ken Griffey Jr. probably summed up the 1994 season the best when he said " We picked a bad season to have a good year" Nobody felt this pain any worse than the Montreal Expos. Currently at the time of the strike they had the best record in the majors at 74-40 and were on pace for 105 wins, the best record in franchise history and before this they had only made it to the postseason one other time and that was in 1981.

The team was stacked with talent, players like Moises Alou, Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, Marquis Grissom, Jeff Fassero, were all hitting their primes and playing well. They were 6 games ahead of the Braves and most baseball writers were on the bandwagon picking them to go to the World Series.

But as this blog of mine has clearly shown, things don't always go the way we think they should or the way we hope they will. The final 47 games of the year were cancelled along with the postseason and World Series. The great effort put forth by the Expos was forgotten because nothing became of it. Would this have saved this dying franchise? Would it have given them a fanbase to put them back on the map again? This strike severley dampened the notion to get a new stadium in Montreal and local ownership groups decided not to invest enough for the team to retain its best players.

Some may say that winning a World Series might not have done a whole lot for the already diminishing franchise in Canada, but I think otherwise. Winning does a lot more than you think. With a new stadium and high interest sprung back on the team because of their success, I think it would have only made sense for ownership to have invested in the team and keep the stars. Who knows, Pedro could have been a 3 time NL Cy Young award winner and Moises Alou and Larry Walker would have provided plenty of punch in the lineup. The Expos could still be around today.

Just as another little side note about the 1994 season though this is slightly off topic from the Expos, this season was looking quite astounding for all statistics. People don't normally remember but Matt Williams was actually on pace to top Roger Maris' record of 61 homeruns he had 43 at the time of the strike. Also Tony Gwynn was batting .394 and had a legitimate shot at being the first man since Ted Williams to top an average .400.

Picture Courtesy of Major League Baseball

To have been or not to have been, that is the question...

All this lovely talk about Alex Rodriguez and steroids made me think to myself, what if A-Rod was traded to the Red Sox in 2003 for Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra. To some this may seem like I just made this "what if" up, but in actuality this trade was going to happen and could have if the players union allowed A-rod to take less money which he was willing to do. What would have become of this deal? Alex Rodriguez a Boston Red Sox Shortstop! Yikes... I'm sure any Red Sox fan must cringe at the thought that this could've been.

Now from a straight up stats perspective, which I always like to take in these opinons of mine. Fenway Park would have been a great place for A-Rod and I am quite sure he would have excelled as a regular season batter like he always seems to do. Manny and Nomar on the otherhand would have actually given the Texas Rangers a very large boost to their lineup especially considering in 03' Nomar hit .301 with 28 HRS and 105 RBIs and Manny went .325 with 37 HRS and 104 RBIs. Playing in Texas those stats could have actually seen an increase. The potential for a David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez 3-4 in the lineup would have been just as comparable to the Ramirez, Ortiz duo and the loss of Nomar in 2003 would have been crucial. The Red Sox offense would still be very effective and they would have still made the playoffs.

In the long run though, without Manny and with A-Rod. I don't see the 86 year drought coming to an end. For all the garbage Red Sox fans gave Manny for being himself, he was very clutch and ended up being the first World Series MVP for the Red Sox since 1918. A-Rod would not have been able to replace that kind of production come playoff time.

This trade would have been quite detrimental to Boston, much more than it seemed at the time. Red Sox fans everywhere should thank the players union every chance they get because without them, Boston would still be screaming for the head of Bill Buckner.

Picture Courtesy of the Boston Globe

What if David Tyree Wasn't Helped by Divine Intervention?! HAH!

Ok so this is probably the most biased topic I have spoken about so far, but regardless its interesting to ponder. Snapshot time, the New England Patriots are squaring off against the New York Giants in the Superbowl. New England is 18-0 and having the greatest season ever put together by a team in sports history, New York on the other hand surprised everyone by even making it to the Superbowl. It was David vs Goliath, except this Goliath was on steroids! The Patriots looked unbeatable in every sense and seemed like the team of destiny, but not everything works out the way we want it to. David Tyree, an unknown reciever normally caught fighting for playing time, made quite possibly the greatest catch in superbowl history. It started with a great escape from the blitz by Eli Manning, then the flustered quarterback threw a high pass that Tyree reached for and pulled against his helmet, holding on to for dear life as he hit the ground. This extended the final scoring drive for the Giants when it seemed like the game was going to be all over and shattered all the New England confidence. The Giants went on to win 17-14 in one of the greatest upsets ever.

Now what if Tyree drops this pass? It was 3rd down and woul have brought up an extremely difficult 4th and 5 for the Giants to try to convert. Also the momentum was all on the Patriots side so another stop would have been highly likely. The 14-10 win would have made the Patriots 19-0, the greatest season in sports history would have been completed. No debates about the greatest team in team sports history should even taken place after this win. The total domination in a league chock-full of great talent at the time made the Patriots season look that much more unbelievable. Now though, with this one defeat, the one time they did not bring it all to the table, they go down as just another team. Not winning a championship ruined an otherwise extraordinary season and its very disappointing. Though it did make some 3rd world countries quite happy, with all the 19-0 t-shirts being sent to them. We'll always rememeber the greatest team ever to not win a title.

Picture Courtesy of Newsday

The Greatest Basketball Player of All-Time, a Blazer?

NBA teams can only win a championship if they have a great big-man. This notion used to be widely believed throughout the league without a doubt and teams would always do whatever they could to get a great big-man in order to compete for a title. For the most part this was true though, the great Celtics had Bill Russell, the Lakers had Kareem, the 76er's had Moses Malone, the Blazers had Bill Walton, championships seemed to have a direct correlation to All-star Center. This concept is usually the number one reason most people do not fault the Portland Trailblazers in 1984 for taking Sam Bowie, the big man from Kentucky, second overall in the draft over Michael Jordan. Obviously looking back upon it we can see that it was one of the most incredible missed opportunities in team sports history, but what can you do.

This brings up the question though, what if the Blazers did select Michael Jordan? Where would it have brought their franchise and would he have had as much success?

Well first of all drafting him wouldn't really have made the most sense, since in the 83'-84' season Portland was already grooming a rookie shooting guard/forward by the name of Clyde Drexler. If anything the drafting of Jordan could have very likely pushed back the development of Drexler more than anything. The starting shooting guard, Jim Paxson was a 20 point scorer and could play small forward. Also Michael Jordan was a much more capable and productive rookie than Drexler and would have pushed back his playing time. Though the common fan might drool over the thought of a Jordan, Drexler combination on the floor for the Blazers during the late 80's and early 90's, it was much more likely that Drexler would have been traded for a big man. Jordan would have basically been in the same type of situation he was in throughout his career in Chicago, though he would not have had Scottie Pippen.

So Jordan with the Blazers... 6 championships? 5 MVP awards? 10 Scoring titles? The championship total would have been likely to drop, though the MVP years and Scoring titles would have probably gone up since he would have been asked to do a lot more without the presence of another top 50 NBA player. I'm a statistics junkie as you may noticed through my other posts, so for Jordan could not resist playing some what could have been. I came up with a 33.2 ppg, 5.6 asts, 6.2 rbds, for his career. Number player of all-time still, oh yes...

Image Courtesy of NBA.com