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The Draft and Freddy Adu

June 23rd 2011 18:59
Derrick Williams is going to be a star. Nothing more, nothing less.

Also, it is about time Bradley gave Freddy some time in the Gold Cup. He should be a mainstay on the squad now, whether it be starting, or most likely coming on as a sub and bringing some pace to the side.



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NBA Jam Tuesday - 1

February 1st 2011 20:28
NBA Jam


We are going to experiment with a segment I like to call: NBA Jam Tuesday. Any guy in their 30's or younger knows exactly what NBA Jam is and how awesome it can be to play with friends - especially drunk ones who run around in the backcourt until there is five seconds left on the shot clock, then they pass to the off screen guy who gets an easy dunk. You people know who you are.


Anyway, today's matchup:

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona


Raul and Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi and Carlos Puyol

To avoid comments about Raul, I realize he is not on Real any longer, however he will always be known for being there. Consider him an all-time great like Patrick Ewing on the real NBA Jam.

Attributes:

Raul:

BLK: 3
CTH: 7
DRB: 9
DNK: 4
PAS: 8
SPD: 7
STL: 4
STR: 5
2PT: 8
3PT: 8

Cristiano Ronaldo

BLK: 4
CTH: 7
DRB: 10
DNK: 6
PAS: 7
SPD: 9
STL: 4
STR: 7
2PT: 7
3PT: 9

Messi:

BLK: 2
CTH: 9
DRB: 10
DNK: 3
PAS: 8
SPD: 10
STL: 3
STR: 5
2PT: 8
3PT: 10

Puyol:

BLK: 9
CTH: 7
DRB: 5
DNK: 8
PAS: 7
SPD: 6
STL: 9
STR: 9
2PT: 6
3PT: 3

Real Madrid can shoot the lights out, but they don't have a whole lot of defense. Barcelona pulls this one out because of Puyol's lock-tight defense.

Barca 78-69

Please bring back create a player

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Harvard Basketball?

January 25th 2011 20:00
Harvard Basketball
Harvard Basketball


When someone attends an Ivy League school, academics come first. However, in the past few years, they have shown they can play basketball, too.

Last season, the Cornell Big Red put together a team that rivaled many top programs in the nation. They had a go-to-guy in Ryan Wittman, a tough point guard in Louis Dale, and a big man in the post in Jeff Foote. They had all the necessary players to make a run in the Ivy League. The real question was – what could they do in the NCAA tournament?

Cornell was given a 12 seed in the tournament and ended up beating fifth seeded Temple, then fourth seeded Wisconsin. The next game against Kentucky proved to be too much when the John Wall led Wildcats used their athleticism and pace to take it to Cornell. The Big Red made a great run and bowed out in the sweet sixteen.

Other than Cornell, the Ivy League has been dominated by two other teams for awhile now – Penn and Princeton. Unlike most other conferences, the Ivy League does not have a conference tournament at the end of the season. The team with the best conference record in the regular season is given an NCAA tournament birth.

Is it finally Harvard’s turn? For a school that is known for fine tuning some of the smartest people mankind has ever seen, the fact that Harvard hasn't reached the NCAA tournament since the 1945-46 season isn't so far-fetched, but that may be changing.

Jeremy Lin was the heart and soul of the Harvard team that finished 21-8 last season and 10-4 in the Ivy League. Losing Lin to the pros would seem like a loss that many Harvard teams in the past wouldn’t be able to rebound from, but not this season.

The Crimson are 13-3 so far this season with losses at George Mason (15-5), at Michigan (11-9), and at UCONN (16-2). Their biggest win came at Boston College by a score of 78-69.

Former Michigan head coach and now Harvard head coach, Tommy Amaker has a well balanced group this season with five of his players averaging at least nine points per game. Big man Keith Wright is averaging 14.3 PPG and 8.3 RPG, to go along with his 58.6 FG percentage.

Freshmen G Laurent Rivard has been huge for the Crimson off the bench this season by contributing 12.6 PPG and sports one of the best free throw percentages in the NCAA at 93.3 percent.

G Christian Webster is averaging 13.7 PPG and G Oliver McNally is pitching in 10.6 PPG. Both are having their best college season’s thus far and continue to get better for a Harvard team that has multiple scoring options.

Harvard can compete with any team in the Ivy League, but can they win it? The conference seems wide open with four front runners in Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and Princeton. All have legit shots at winning the title and going to the NCAA tournament.

Prediction: 9-3 the rest of the way to finish at 22-6 (11-3) and having to have a one game playoff at a neutral site with Princeton. Harvard wins this game and goes to the tournament as a 14 seed and loses in the first round.

Harvard: Facebook, smart people, Tom Green? Soon to be basketball?


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Relegation?

January 20th 2011 17:38
Cleveland Cavaliers
Relegated? Most Definitely.


I really enjoy soccer. It is my favorite sport to play and coach, and I love watching it whenever we get a game on ESPN. That made me think – other than the game itself, why do I like it so much? I came up with the following reasons off the top of my head:

1. FIFA video games
2. Most of my friends play it
3. The transfer system
4. The Champions League system
5. The relegation system

Then I went on to think – What if America joined in with the Champions League system and the relegation system? How cool would that be? The reasons to implement such systems are infinite.

If you aren’t aware of the two systems, here is a breakdown:

In England for example, the last three teams in the top division (The Premier League) are relegated to the next lowest division (English League Championship), then the top three teams from that lower division go to the top division every year.

Staying with The Premier League, the top three teams in that division qualify for The Champions League and go on to play the other teams in Europe that qualify from their respective leagues. The fourth place team in England qualifies for The Champions League qualifiers, so they aren’t guaranteed a spot in The Champions League, but they have a good shot. Then the fifth place team qualifies for a lesser known tournament called the Europa League, along with two other teams from the Premier League that can qualify in a few different ways.

New Rivalries: Imagine the NBA and NBDL mashed together to form two intertwining leagues. Owners would be punished for their incompetence and be forced to spend their money even wiser. Rivalries would form – Fort Wayne Mad Antz vs. Indiana Pacers, Tulsa 66ers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, or even teams out of the ABA could form rivalries such as Georgia Gwizzlies vs. Atlanta Hawks (that’s right – Gwizzlies) or Texas Fuel vs. San Antonio Spurs. The matchups are endless.

Minor League Teams: For those of us with minor league teams in our cities, how much more entertaining would a game be if we knew they could move up a division? The guys out there are not only playing for themselves and their team, but they are playing for you, the fan. They are trying to further their careers, but they are also representing your city and trying to make a name for your team.

Restrictions on Promotion: In European leagues such as England’s, there are certain teams that can only move up so high in the system because of their facilities. Certain teams don’t meet the facility requirements of the top English divisions, therefore they cannot move up to them. If thought about, the rule is a good one because it protects revenues and doesn’t let teams get embarrassed for a whole season if they don’t have the money to spend on top talent. Sadly, you wouldn’t be seeing ABA teams such as the Gulf Coast Flash (plays at Gulfport High School) or the Dallas Impact (plays at the Lakewest Family YMCA) playing in the NBA unless they got bigger facilities.

Regular Season: Almost all regular season games matter in England. Teams are either fighting to get a top spot to qualify for European competition, or they are fighting to not get relegated. Therefore, a game between the fourth place team and the 17th placed team at the end of the season will be full of drama and actually count for something. No players will be sitting out waiting for the playoffs, that is their playoffs. The regular season counts for a lot more overseas then it does in America.

Players: A player such as Antawn Jamison wouldn’t have to waste his career on teams that have no chance at doing anything. See, when teams get relegated, they sell their top players most of the time because they can’t afford them, and the star players in turn don’t want to play in the lower league. Jamison would then go to another team by way of a transfer or a trade (transferring is the world way, trading is the American way).

In Conclusion: I realize the draft process would have to be revamped along with salary cap rules and the "minor leagues". Either way, the draft needs to be changed. Why not have a completely random draft order? Don’t award teams for how bad they are. That is the biggest difference with how Europe (and other parts of the world) and America treat their professional sports teams. In America, we pamper our teams by giving them hope with draft picks. In other places, teams are punished for being bad and need to climb back up on their own. That is how it should be.


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Karma and LeBron

January 13th 2011 17:08
Some people just shouldn’t have a twitter – LeBron James included. After the Cleveland Cavaliers got embarrassed on Tuesday night in L.A. against the defending champion Lakers by 55 points, LeBron posted on Twitter: “Crazy. Karma is a bitch.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!”

It is understandable if LeBron is still mad at Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. I would be annoyed, too. However, LeBron was a scumbag during the whole process before and when he decided. His t.v. special was inexcusable and it ripped Cleveland's heart out. Now they are doomed to have awful teams for who knows how many years


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