Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James

After a tough loss, no let me rephrase this. After an embarrassing lost to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas day questions came out about which player is better. Basically since the most valuable puppets questions have been arising about which of these two players is the best. Now if you ask my brother he would tell you that Lebron James is and always will be the greatest player ever, but I don't think so.
If you ask me I have to say Kobe Bryant is the best player on the planet and will be the best player ever until someone scores a hundred points in a game, seven championship rings or like seven MVP trophies and some Final's MVP trophies. Kobe Bryant has put a stamp on his career and legacy when he captured three championships and put up eighty one points on the Toronto Raptors.
You can state a case that Lebron James is the greatest player ever by the way he came in the NBA. Lebron lived up to every bit of the hype coming straight out of high school and performed the way he did. Lebron averaged 20 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists which is the best rookie season I've seen by a player straight out of high school.
The difference between these players and the reason LeBron has the upper hand is because unlike Kobe Bryant Lebron James was thrust into the lime light as the savior of the organization. Kobe Bryant was just a rookie out of high school on a team that was filled with stars. Kobe was not needed to help the Lakers make the playoffs that year, but showed his jitters shooting air balls against the Utah Jazz.
LeBron did carry his team to a Finals appearance and got swept by the San Antonio Spurs and also later won a league MVP trophy. That caused LeBron to be right under Kobe Bryant because Kobe has four championship rings, a MVP and Final's MVP trophy to put on his mantle. Kobe Bryant has played thirteen years and is a polished player with the sniper instinct to be called the "Black Mamba." LeBron is still young and has the abilities of a faster Magic Johnson, but still needs to improve on his jump shot and win a few championship rings to be in the talks of greatest player ever or even better than Kobe Bryant.

Vince Youngs Magic Ran Out

The Tennessee Titans did everything they could to get into the playoffs, but came up short after the San Diego Chargers gave them a Christmas beating on Christmas Night. The Titans started off the season terrible after coming off an extremely impressive season a year ago. The Titans went thirteen and two to finish the regular season, but got booted out of the playoffs early by the Baltimore Ravens.
The Titans started off this season totally backwards and Kerry Collins got himself into a slump that made Coach Jeff Fisher bench him and play Vince Young. Well Fisher reluctantly did it after owner Bud Adams played the owner card and made it happen sooner than later. After that the Titans made a spectacular turn around by going on a streak that would have made NFL history with a playoff berth.
Sports media and fans were ready to put Vince Young into the fire asking how much worst can he do, but still some people weren't sold on the quarterback change. Vince Young rubbed some people the wrong way when he said he will start again and will also be a Hall of Famer and most people couldn't let go what happened a couple years ago when Young couldn't take the heckling and had those off the field problems.
Vince Young showed that he matured greatly and that he's learned a lot from the sideline and was able to put it to work. Vince won nine games in 2007 and took the Titans on a six game winning ride this year before losing to the great Indianapolis Colts who were fighting for perfection. If you ask me Vince Young had a great season and shows he will be a great quarterback in the future. Who knows where the Titans would be if he played a couple games earlier, but things happen for a reason and hopefully this reason will bring Vince Young back to greatness.

Did Tracy McGrady Deserve This?

Three days ago the Houston Rockets were deciding on whether or not to increase guard Tracy McGrady playing minutes, trade him or suspend him indefinitely from the team. Then today we hear that the Rockets are looking to trade Tracy. Tracy McGrady came back from micro fracture surgery earlier this month and wasn't receiving much playing time since his return. After talking about wanting more time to a Houston newspaper he was suspended for two games by the general manager.
Tracy McGrady has been only getting eight to ten minutes a game, but it is only in the first half. Rockets' Head Coach Rick Adelman and Tracy McGrady had problems earlier in the season when Tracy tried to shoot around before a game. Rick has also said that he is trying to bring Tracy back slowly but surely. With all that said, it was perfectly clear that this wasn't the best place for Tracy McGrady anymore.
After the Houston Rockets lost Tracy McGrady last year and then found out they lost Yao Ming for the season the Rockets looked like they were moving in another direction for this year and work back around when Yao Ming comes back. They gave new comer Trevor Ariza McGrady's jersey number which shows the ultimate disrespect and clearly states they didn't want him back this year.
People say the Tracy McGrady doesn't care and say that he can't win the big one or the important game and that is a wrongful accusation. Tracy McGrady tries hard and like any other sports athlete doesn't want to be known as a loser. Of course everybody doesn't win and some people do choke under pressure, but McGrady has proven himself time after time. McGrady deserves a chance to play full time as a starter and have the chance to compete for a championship.

Were The Colts Wrong?

First the New Orleans Saints lost to a hopeless Dallas Cowboys team two weeks ago and now the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts lost yesterday to a New York Jets team where a head coach gave his concession speech a week ago. The Colts had the game in hand with an early six to nothing lead. Coach Jim Caldwell pulled all the starters in the third quarter and the Colts had no Peyton power to make that fourth quarter comeback.
This makes me ask the question, where the Colts Wrong? The Indianapolis Colts have flirted many times with a perfect season, but always came up short. The reason for them never really getting that perfect mark was due to the coach resting their players for the post season. The Colts didn't rest the starters a few seasons back and won a Super Bowl, but the Colts fell from the unbeaten rank in the eleventh week.
This year was supposed to be different for the Indianapolis Colts. With a new head coach and Peyton Manning looked like he was unaware of where the organization was going before the beginning of this year’s season. Sports writers were ready to give the Colts a wild card spot in this years playoffs, but no one expected another strong Most Valuable Player campaign and was on the verge of a perfect season and the top seed in the AFC.
Now everyone is second guessing if the coach messed up the perfect season by pulling out the starters in a game that was still winnable. I would blame the coach, but first I have to say the real reason. The media wouldn't let the resting of the players alone. They continued to hound Coach Caldwell and the team about if he was or wasn't going to rest the starters that the coach almost looked confused at times and the players seeming too frustrated to even care anymore.
But if you ask me I totally blame the coach he fell to the pressure of the media and to the unsureness of himself to make history. Yes in this big world sports is just a small piece, but to make history is a historic and fulfilling feat. Why else does Mercury Morris come out of hiding to spit hot fire rap lyrics and telling each team they're not on his block because there is nothing like being perfect. Coach Caldwell could've been the first coach ever to start his head coaching career undefeated, but instead sold himself short.

Vick Gets Dogged for Award

Michael Vick was awarded the 2009 Ed Block Courage Award by his teammates and he receiving this award caused him great criticism. The Ed Block Courage Award winner symbolizes professionalism, great strength and dedication and is also a committed role model. Each year the Ed Block Courage Award honors the National Football League players who exemplify commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. The players are selected by their teammates for team effort and individual performance.
With Michael Vick receiving this award sports columnist and analyst couldn't wait to deem him unworthy. Bashing him by calling him a dog killer and how he brought this punishment upon himself and anything else they can say to make Vick look like crap in his only moment of glory this year. When Michael Vick stands tall people want to kick him or trip him to bring him back down.
Why do sports analysts belittle troubled athletes after they serve their time and apologize for their terrible actions? Why can't sports analyst forgive and forget like the real American sports fan? Is it because they never will reach that level of greatness the athlete has reached or is it due to them not having that athletic ability and is truly jealous of that sports athlete. Maybe it’s just because they have transgressions and were never allowed to apologize or was never forgiveness for their horrific actions.
Either way it goes Michael Vick was given this wonderful award by his teammates. Yeah he fought dogs, it's normal. I've seen plenty of news reports and stories of people fighting dogs for money. The only thing that Michael Vick has done that is inconceivable is killing the dogs and that act is still forgivable. Vick paid his debt to society in so many ways and could've chosen to stay out of football and become a regular Joe, but he decided to show all of those qualifications for that award. He took the humble road by not making a scene about his playing time or feeding into this unjust criticism. Michael Vick has brought himself back to respectability, so respect him for winning this award.

Who Runs Minnesota?

Minnesota Vikings' quarterback Brett Farve and Head Coach Brad Childress talked about a riff between them this week. Every thing seemed great when Brett Farve was slanging the ball all over the field to a 10-1 record and everybody was talking about him being the Most Valuable Player, but like always when things go wrong people start to point the finger.
The Finger pointing almost started after the loss to Pittsburgh or the debacle in Arizona, but came more visible when Brad Childress tried to take Brett Farve out of a 7-6 game versus the Carolina Panthers. Brett Farve refused to come out the game and after a heated argument on the sideline everything blew up in the Vikings' face.
Now every thing is being blown out of proportion and everybody wants to know who's going to run this town tonight and for the rest of the season. When it comes down to it Brad Childress should run the team, but when Brad allowed Brett Farve to keep the Vikings' organization on the edge about returning or not and missed all of training camp. Not to mention that Brad Childress also left practice to go pick Farve up from the airport makes me think that Brett Farve runs the team.
Brett Farve also showed that he runs the team by showing his Willie Beaman side by changing the plays that coach Childress and Adrian Peterson loves to a play that Farve thinks will show off his gun slinging abilities. Then the refusal to come out of the game was the icing on the cake.
Any athlete knows when your head coach asks you to come out of a game you come out of the game no ifs, ands or buts. Things aren't going to get better anytime soon because the problem is already there and it will continue to get scrutinized. Both Brett Farve and Brad Childress put on their game faces and announced that there is no problem and everything is resolved, but that remains to be seen. Will we see Brett Farve hand the ball off more as the season ends or will he continue to throw more passes then he did in the beginning of the season. That's why this question still remains, who runs Minnesota?

McKnight's out on The Town

So University of Southern California's running back Joe McKnight was seen out in the beautiful streets of Los Angeles driving around in a 2006 Land Rover. This is just another blemish on the Trojans' track record of illegal funding or activities with alumni, boosters or agents and their student athletes. Reggie Bush was the last football player to have a similar problem which caused major ramifications to the school and football program.
This is something that really shouldn't be looked into that much because when they dug deeper into the story they found out that the Land Rover is being paid for by the mother of Joe McKnight's child who is the employee of Scott Schenter. Scott isn't an agent nor is he a booster. The mother McKnight's child Johana Michelle Beltran had trouble qualifying for a loan and Scott Schenter helped her out by selling her his Land Rover. Johana makes all the payments and also pays insurance on the vehicle.
All I have to say about this is that this situation means nothing to me or the integrity of the USC football program. Of course we see college players get caught with different kinds of gifts or funds from people all the time, but I don't see why this part of the game is wrong. Student athletes bring their respective universities billions of dollars in revenue and all they don't see any of that money until the universities erect their million dollar dorm rooms, class rooms or study halls. These athletes do get a lot of clothing due to endorsements, but clothes don't fill up their stomach on the weekends and certainly don't allow them to be able to take care of any extra situations they might have.
Joe McKnight needed a car for his child and Johana and she took care of it by getting them an SUV. If a regular student's family or friend of the family is a millionaire for whatever reason do the universities give them a limit on how much money they can get? No. So why is it different for student athletes? Not every athlete that plays colligate sports will play professionally so any extra money of incentives that helps that student’s college experience better should be allowed. The NCAA is worried about tampering which makes no sense because we know now from these athletes freshman year if their going to the league or not. If you ask me I rather an agent or alumnus help out an athlete then let their universities exploit their talents for nothing other than a meal card and some athletic clothing.

When it Rains it Pours

Ever since Tiger Woods' one car accident in November he has been poured on day after day. Tiger was ragged on for his infidelities and for not talking to the media about his transgressions. Tiger has endured public ridacution by the media and has lost lots of money due to companies scaling back their endorsements and also cutting ties with the troubled athlete.
Then there was the doctor that was found in Canada with performance enhancing drugs and other crazy medicines. The funny thing about this situation is the doctor treated a bunch of other athletes, but since Tiger is in the media now for his problems he is the only one being attached to this doctor in the media. People in the media are actually trying to tarnish his image on the golf course now just because of speculation and that is totally wrong.
Now there's the wife of Tiger filing for divorce. All I have to say is I'm not shocked at all, but it’s not for the reasons you might think. I know Tiger cheated numerous times and there were even more reports that he brought one of those mistresses to their house and that alone is a reason for divorce, but its all speculation as well. I just looked at the situation and had my own opinion for the divorce. Tiger's wife was a nanny, a nanny and punched her lottery ticket with marrying one of the greatest and richest sports athletes ever, so of course she would divorce Tiger Woods, especially if there was no prenup or a adultery clause in that prenup. I'm not saying she's a gold digger I'm just saying it makes it a whole lot easier for her to just pack up and leave knowing millions of dollars is still coming to her away from Tiger.
All this tabloid attention is getting redundant and ridiculous. ESPN is looking like TMZ with breaking news after breaking news, but this is no longer a sports topic. I mean these guys even announced that Tiger's mother in law was hospitalized too. Tiger was a sports figure and won't be a sports figure again until he returns to the course. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but make sure you look at your life before you talk about someone else’s life.

Where Are the White Basketball Players?

I was watching outside the lines on ESPN and I saw a piece on how white American athletes have a diminishing role in the National Basketball Association. Watching this piece has opened my eyes to staggering statistics of how white American athletes are basically disappearing from the league and are now being replaced by the European players. Most white athletes are great college players, but it doesn't seem to transfer over to success in the NBA.
If you look at Duke you'll see that these players dominate in the college ranks, but when they get to the league they seem to stay on a team for a year or two and then their out for good. That pretty much goes for any white American basketball player that plays college ball.
America is now looking for the next John Stockton’s, Mark Prices or even Jerry West in the NBA, but that's not going to happen if they can't play defense. There has only been one white American athlete that has made the all star game in the past decade and he wasn't even a starter. Also Kirk Hinrich is the only white player to make second team all defensive player in the past fifteen years.
Coaches and General Managers are blaming the lack of white players in the league is due to their absence of athleticism makes them a problem or the weakness link on the defensive end of the court. While white players can shoot the lights out they are not able to keep up with the quickness of today's athletes in the league and if they can't do that what good are they.
The NBA has turned more to the international or European players because they have more experience on a professional level. European players are more like black players because of their ability and work ethic. These athletes have a precedent to look at and measure themselves with. Look at Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant.
Black players will always dominate sports due to their supreme athletic ability. Black youths of America are tired of setting record numbers in prison populations and are looking forward to bigger better things through sports and entertainment. Not to mention the poverty stricken areas they grow up in. Now I'm not saying white Americans aren't growing up in those same places, I'm just saying education is being pushed more than athletics and it should be.

Spurs Looking Old

The San Antonio Spurs are looking tired and old. San Antonio just got ran off of the floor last night by the Phoenix Suns. The Suns ran circles around the Spurs and it looked like the Spurs couldn't catch up. With an ageing core of players, San Antonio is looking like it's lost their luster.
I know it's still early in the season, but if this was a year ago the Spurs would be much higher up in the western conference instead of barely holding to the eighth spot only one game ahead of a younger Oklahoma City team. Some sports analyst said the Spurs were the team to beat and the Champion Los Angeles Lakers should watch out, but is looking far from the case.
Yes the Spurs added youth with acquiring Richard Jefferson and their draft picks, but still kept their team old by signing Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff. The Spurs are trading youth for experience in hopes that it will help them put another championship trophy on their mantle.
Tim Duncan will go down as the best power forward ever and will be a true hall of famer, but it looks like he is on the decline. Tim has had nagging knee problems and coach Popovich is reducing his minutes. Manu Ginobili has been hampered by injuries year after year and Michael Finley is reduced to a relative three point shooter. Roger Mason, DeJuan Blair and George Hill are bringing freshness to the team, but it just doesn't seem like its enough.
San Antonio is the team of the decade with the Los Angeles Lakers winning multiple championships. The Spurs are a great team winning fifty plus games the last decade with four championships. I don't want to count the Spurs out just yet, but with the way things are going, it’s just a matter of time before the Spurs fade to the back as younger fresher teams pull their way to the fore front.

The U was Great

So I finally got around to seeing the 30 for 30 movie called "The U" about the University of Miami. This movie showed the transformation of life it's self. The Miami Hurricanes had the worst start of a football program ever. This team was just about to shut down the program for good until a coach came with the right mind.
I was born in 1981, so I don't remember the start of this turn around, but I know this. As long as I've watched college football the University of Miami was one of my favorite colleges. There was the University of Michigan, University of Southern California, University of Tennessee and Florida State. If I would've got offers from any of those schools to play football I would have been packed before my senior year ended.
The Miami Hurricanes changed the culture of a city and a state by integrating races and breaking down stereotypes of what the ghetto really is. We all know black athletes are good players, but yet were hard to recruit do to prejudice. When coach Schnellenberger opened his arms to inner city youths he opened the arms of people in those white neighborhoods who were skeptical of black people.
Things were great, but like always when you're black and good the media tries to break you down with whatever they can find. It seemed like every little thing they did was scrutinized due to sides that were divided and chosen. Its funny how things have a way of working out because even though Miami was super cocky they got embarrassed by Penn State. I agree that things need to change for the good to focus a team and get control of a situation that seemed to be spiraling out of control.
The Hurricanes brought what people used to and now call swag. Of course you'll see the craziness that comes with recruiting black athletes. The fights, the show boating and the criminal activity, but it's the coaches priority to check those ego's at the door and control the situation. I must admit I blame "The U" for the all the show boating and wide receiver divas, but when you look at it changed football from a sport to entertainment.

Don't get Coach Williams Angry

We all have been to sporting events before in our life. Going to the game we see all kinds of fans, the quiet fan that just comes to see the game, enjoy it and leave. There's the sports fan that is a little more rowdy than the quiet fan, but can get on a referee or player he doesn't like. Finally it's the fan that is a maniac. I mean this fan loves his team to death and will hoot, holler or scream till they're horse and still are screaming.
Americans love sports and love our teams and athletes even more. We heckle referees that give our team trouble by calling what we think are ridiculous calls and sometimes even fight fans from the opposing team. I remember one time when Kobe Bryant was punched by Chris Childs I had to break up a Lakers and Knicks fan from fighting and eventually put them out of the arena.
Well that's what happened at a North Carolina game against Presbyterian on Saturday. A fan was ejected from the game after yelling out to a Tar Heel player, "Don't miss it!" after that UNC coach Roy Williams stood up looked at the fan and he was escorted out of the arena. School security said the fan was intoxicated and in his wrong seat after being asked to move from that seat.
Of course this fan was drunk and of course he probably moved down to a closer seat. I remember as a fan at the Forum my brother and I used to sneak down to the floor just heckles athletes as well and ask for towel. Every true fan doesn't feel like harassing their most hated player unless they threw back a couple 20 dollar beers to get their game up. Players are supposed to be able to take this heckling; I mean college fans basically yell the whole game in some arenas. I can't believe that Coach Williams even acknowledged this fan let alone get him kicked out of the game. Fans pay high prices for tickets, merchandise and food in these fancy arenas and we should be allowed to heckle and harass who we want. Remember our first amendment, freedom of speech.

Heisman Countdown

The Heisman trophy ceremonies are to be held Saturday in New York, New York and five great student athletes from five prestigious college programs were invited to New York to be apart of the ceremonies. These are the five players that were asked to be apart of the festivities and I'm going to name them in the order I think the voting should go and why.
1. Colt McCoy of Texas. The Texas Longhorns also finished the season undefeated and won their Big 12 championship against Nebraska. Colt McCoy was an efficient passer and was second in rushing on the Texas team. Not to mention that Colt is the highest winning percentage for a quarterback in NCAA history, but the only that could keep him from holding that trophy is the Big 12 championship game. Colt McCoy and the Longhorn's offense struggled mightily against the Cornhuskers and almost lost that game.
2. Mark Ingram of Alabama. The Alabama Crimson Tide finished the season undefeated and was lead most of the season by running back Mark Ingram. Mark Ingram rushed for big yards against top ranked teams and went for the gusto against the reigning champion Florida Gators in this year’s SEC championship game. The only thing that could stop Ingram from getting the trophy is the Auburn game where he was totally shut down.
3. Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska. Ndamukong Suh deserved his own "Black Shirt" as he lead the defense in almost every defensive statistical category from the defensive tackle position and he also had one interception, but he can't touch it either. Charles Woodson got his Heisman when Michigan was undefeated. Ndamukong Suh lost the key games and the other two players before him did not.
4. Toby Gehart of Stanford. Toby Gehart progressed in strides every year, but didn't lead its team to the Pac-10 championship this year. Toby played great in defeating top ranked USC and Oregon, but lost to California. Those are the reasons he won't win it neither.
5. Tim Tebow of Florida. Tim Tebow had the perfect chance to put a stamp on his career with two Heisman trophies, but he lost the SEC championship game. No doubt Tim Tebow was Florida's Most Valuable Player keeping them undefeated the whole season. Tebow played with a determination that carried his team all year and he is a great player. All of these candidates deserve this trophy because they were the best player on their respective teams, but record and conference championship has to play a role in the situation.
If Ndamukong Suh won the conference championship he would be my number one and Tebow won his championship I would have to give Tebow his second Heisman and crown him best college player ever. Colt McCoy deserves the Heisman trophy. Yes Mark Ingram beat the number one ranked Florida Gators, but didn't really show up against Auburn. Colt's only stumble came in the Big 12 championship and they still won and the reason they won was due to Colt McCoy being the quarterback not the running back. Every running back needs one person to get them the ball and that's the quarterback. That's my vote for the Heisman trophy winner.

Lebron's New Groove

Cleveland Cavaliers leader Lebron James has a new groove on the court. For some reason Lebron James has moved pass all the pre game antics and started some in game antics. Lebron James is getting cockier by the minute and I must admit that it's getting a little irritating.
We all know Lebron is a great player and has a chance to be the best player ever. He lead his team to the NBA finals early in his career, but got swept. He's also was the fastest player to reach 10,000 or 20,000 points or something like that and has earned a NBA Most Valuable Player award a year ago, but still has no championship. Lebron feels entitled to a lot and thinks that a NBA championship should be handed to him. He obviously feels like he is destined to win a championship and proves it by dancing and showing what people call major swag on the court.
Look I understand confidence on the court because every athlete should feel they are the best player in any sport's league and should exude it to the fullest, but it's a difference between confidence and cockiness. Lebron is showing cockiness by dancing all over the court. He's on the sideline needing to get rest so he can return to the game, but waisting energy dancing. I know how it is to feel like you own a team, but at the same time being a professional should come before all the dancing and show boating. You make a game winning shot, celebrate and dance. You make a tough and one show off some swag, but make the free throw.
If Lebron wants to dance all over the court, win a championship. I was happy to see Chicago Bulls Joakim Noah step up to Lebron and tell him all that dancing is corny and uncalled for, but if I was Noah I would go back to the old skool basketball player and give Lebron James a hard foul and something to think about. Lebron is a great player, but he too can end up like Charles Barkley or Karl Malone without a championship. Have fun Lebron, but win a championship first or else all that dancing means nothing.

What is Kelly Doing?

Notre Dame is causing more problems than need be right now. After having a terrible season and making news for firing a troubled coach Charlie Wies and cheating their team out of a bowl appearance. Notre Dame is now making noise about who they will hire as their new head coach. Yes Notre Dame head coach is a prestigious position to have, but why can't these teams wait till after the bowl season. Instead they cause mischief and disarray to college teams releasing names of who they want to interview or hire for their head coaching position.
Jim Harbaugh was a man with great reserve and loyalty saying that he's the coach of the Stanford Cardinals and will continue to be the head coach God Willing. Cincinnati's coach Brian Kelly did it totally the wrong way. Why would a head coach that lead his team to an undefeated season say that he will interview for the Notre Dame job before his big bowl game against the Florida Gators.
I mean come on, he has bigger things to worry about in Florida than if he's going to recruit for Cincinnati or Notre Dame next year. Not only that, how would his team react to the hearing of that news. Sure it's seniors on the team that can care less, but what about the players he recruited that wanted to come play for him. Their not going to be able to transfer to Notre Dame and some will feel betrayed and blind sided thinking they were going to play for Kelly the rest of their career.
I know college football is big business and looking for the next bigger better job is the thing, but why announce it now and on Twitter of all places. Coaches live to turn around the impossible and become the greatest coach of a school's history, so I want to ask what is Kelly doing when he has a chance to become Cincinnati's all time whinniest coach in Bearcat's history.

Iverson Debut Good, but Bad

The much anticipated date of 12/7/09 was in the mind of every Allen Iverson and Philadelphia 76er's fan that waited for the return of Allen Iverson to the team he started with. The 76er's fans showed their appreciation for Allen Iverson by giving him a standing ovation when Iverson was introduced in the starting line up and kissed the 76er's logo in the middle of the court.
Iverson was getting himself acclimated back to the National Basketball Association and was more than happy to be back in the starting line up. Iverson took a back seat to the new leader of the team Andre Iguodala and played more of a supporting role. Allen Iverson debut was spoiled by his former team the Denver Nuggets in a 93-83 loss. In that game Iverson only scored 11 points with 6 assist in 38 minutes. Look Iverson thought he was out of the league for good and retired from the NBA, but was given a gift by the Philadelphia organization before Christmas.
Allen Iverson showed how he really wanted to play and his love for the game in his tearful press conference. Allen Iverson got what he wanted which is to be able to start for a NBA team. It took a threat of Iverson retiring for teams to consider signing him. His former head coaches Larry Brown and John Thompson II had to take an interest in him to try and talk him out of it.
Iverson was wrongfully traded from the Denver Nuggets and had the right idea when he left Detroit and Memphis. There was no way that Iverson should have came off the bench behind Rodney Stuckey or Mike Conley. I wrote plenty of blogs on how Iverson should be on a NBA team, but I see why teams were hesitant. Iverson does look like he lost a step and has a hard time finishing around the rim, but he's still a competitor.

Now What for Tebow?

For the past four years the highly touted and most talked about college football player was Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow. We first met Tim when he was a freshman in 2006 as Sports Illustrated ordained him as college football's future top mobile quarterback. He also showed the world what he could do in the BCS national championship game against Ohio State by running and passing for a touchdown. The funny thing about that win is people now forget that Chris Leak was the starting quarterback for that team and people are trying to give Tebow that credit.
Tebow became the starting quarterback the following year and lead his team to a decent season and lost to Michigan in the Gator Bowl, but was still giving the Heisman Trophy over talented rusher Darren McFadden and the quarterback that set a great passing record Colt Brennan. That's when the superman comparisons came and Tim Tebow was now America's new "great white hope." Tebow's fame became more relevant when he led his team to a national championship win after losing to an unranked Ole Miss team and the greatness poured out.
The media were in aw as Tebow proclaimed the Gators will never lose another game. Then news papers were writing he's the greatest player ever, he's a virgin and if you spend at least five minutes with Tebow your life will change drastically. Please. I'm not knocking this guy, but I feel he got way too much praise for just winning one Heisman trophy and leading his team to one national championship.
The most amazing comment made was that Tebow was a complete quarterback and is a passing quarterback at that and all I have to ask is, how? Tim Tebow has broken no passing records, but instead broke records for most rushing touchdowns in a career and being the only player to rush and pass for twenty touchdowns. With that being said, why isn't the NFL or media talking about moving Tebow to another position than quarterback?
I mean if Tim Tebow was Tim Jenkins he would be moved to wide receiver or corner back because he has fast feet. Again, don't get me wrong Tebow has proven himself as a great college player, but with a slow Bryon Leftwich delivery throwing the ball will Tebow really be a successful quarterback in the NFL. That's later to be seen. So with a SEC championship loss and not winning this years Heisman even though everybody thought he should and not even averaging more than two hundred passing yards a game this year. All I have to ask now is What's next for Tim Tebow.

Duke Blue Devil Blues

With the start of the new NCAA season I see the Duke Blue Devils are back to there winning ways. With multiple conference and tournament championships and a total of three National Championships Duke under Coach Krzyzewski. My first time seeing the Duke Blue Devils put in work was against Jerry "the shark" Tarkanian and the UNLV Running Rebels with Larry "Grandmama" Johnson and "Stretch Armstrong" Stacey Augmon. Then they beat the Michigan Wolverines with a wonderful pass from Grant Hill and an amazing shot by Christian Laettner.
Coach K has lead the Duke Blue Devils to one of the elite teams in college basketball. Not to mention all of the players he put in the National Basketball Association. Coach K has put over twenty of his players in the NBA and that's when I started thinking. Out of all the pro players he put in the league, why is Danny Ferry the only player to win a NBA championship? I mean yes Duke produces NBA talent with Deng, Boozer, Maggette and others, but Danny Ferry is the only Duke Blue Devil under the great legacy of Coach K help an NBA franchise win a championship. So I did some research because I thought either Gold Medalist Christian Laettner or Cherokee Parks won a championship with the Miami Heat, but no dough. Christian Laettner was only there till 2004 and Cherokee Parks. Well lets just say it's hard to google him, Danny Ferry was the only name that came up. Now I'm not writing this to say Coach K is a bad coach because he just won America a gold medal.
I'm writing this because I am beyond baffled about how can a team put so many great players in the league and none of them is yet to win a NBA championship. We all know if you really want your son to be a great player you send them to three colleges if they're good enough and that's North Carolina, Duke and UCLA, but if you want them to win a NBA championship. Send them to Carolina, UCLA or any other college besides Duke.

Who Are You to Judge Another Man's Servant

Man oh man am I tired of all this talk about Tiger Woods. I know everybody has something to say and feel they can judge Tiger with their iron fist, but come on. As we all know Tiger got into a one car accident trying to get away from his wife early Friday morning and now we know that he has been unfaithful to his wife as well. Now everybody including they dog wants to no every little detail about that situation.

They want to know how many times did he do it, was it at his house or in a hotel and if he wore a condom or not. Please, this is a media frenzied world, but like Tiger said, "personal sins should not require press releases and problems within the family shouldn't have to mean public confessions." I agree whole heartily with Tiger, so what he's the first athlete to net a billion dollars. So what he's the greatest golfer in the world and has thousands of endorsements. Tiger is still a human being and not a perfect man.

I heard sports writer Jay Mariotti on Around the Horn say he wanted to believe in Tiger. For what? Is he his savior? Does he pray every night to Tiger Woods? Does he even go to the church of golf and listen to Pastor Tiger spread the word of greens and fare ways? I hope not. Look people say Tiger owes them more of an explanation when in all actuality he owes them crap. Tigers affair and car accident didn't change the course of any media person's life. Nor will the media become a better person for knowing all of the details. When I sit back and look at this I feel the way I always do when a major African American athlete gets into trouble. "Now here comes the lynching".

Tiger has giving two statements and people want him to give more rope so he can hang himself. Get out of here. The only thing that this affair shows is a weakness in his character and that he like all of us make bad decisions. How many media people would say that they do drugs or have a drinking problem or if they even cheated on their own significant other? None of them. Tiger Woods is golfer, a athlete, a role model and spokesman, but most of all he is just like us. A human being, so all I have to say now is he without sin cast the first stone.

Roetthlisberger Toughness Questioned

After a overtime lost to the Baltimore Ravens the Pittsburg locker room was split in half about if Ben Roethlisberger should have played or not. The week before against the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime Ben took a knee to the head and was diagnosed with a concussion. Ben was scheduled to play against the Ravens, but had headaches the following week. Steeler's wide receiver Hines Ward publicly criticized his quarterback Ben and question his toughness. Well Roethlisberger has decided to play this week versus the Oakland Raiders. Look we have become a tough it out people. I hear sports analyst asking old players about what they used to do when they came out of the game with a headache and all I hear are these stupid jock answers like, "we just rubbed dirt on our head and went back out there" or "the doctor gave me some Tylenol and a Gatorade and I went in the next play". Yeah, that's why that player only played eight years instead of a full career. We saw what happened to Troy Aikman and Steve Young who at the quarterback position had both of their careers cut short and that was because of the trainers and the organization. We've all seen Any Given Sunday and how the organization works. Players and teams are more worried about winning and records then their own health. The NFL is getting bigger, stronger and faster and every hit is a train wreck. Players need to put themselves first and worry about the organization last. I mean most organizations will cut or trade a player as soon as they feel that athlete is no longer valuable to their team. I applaud the Philadelphia Eagles for keeping Brian Westbrook out until they feel he is healthy enough to play again. Athletes are getting paid millions of dollars, so why would they keep taking big hits that will make them to stupid to know how to spend their money properly after they retire.

Bobby Bowed Out

Today Bobby Bowden is expected to give a press conference saying he will retire from coaching the Florida State Seminole football team. Since 1979 Bobby Bowden has been the pinnacle of Florida State football. He has lead the Seminoles to twelve Atlantic Coast Conference championships and two NCAA national titles. Of course being an eighties baby Bobby Bowden and FSU football goes hand and hand. I wanted to play for the Seminoles since I first started watching college football. The thunderous drums as Seminole fans do the tomahawk and chant was electric and hypnotizing. I can honestly say that I was very upset when there was so much talk about if Bowden needed to step down and others saying that he should. I know Bobby Bowden is getting up there in age, but look at Joe Paterno. Bobby and Joe are the two most winning football coaches in Division one football and Joe turned Penn State around when alumni and other figure heads wanted Joe to step down. Even though Bobby had that academic controversy and officials wanted him to vacate wins he is still arguably one the greatest college football coaches of my era. Of course I was worried when I heard reports of Bobby being unaware of different things during a game, but that comes with old age. It's whats in his heart that counts. So when I heard talk that Bobby was getting forced out of Florida State I was outraged. Do you know how many great NFL players came out of Florida State's Bobby Bowden era? Way over fifty and they put in hard work in the NFL. I mean Warrick Dunn, Deion Sanders and Derek Brooks to name a few have all turned into all pro players and model citizens off the field. Warrick Dunn is building homes for single mothers, Derreck Brooks went on to a successful ESPN career and Deion Sanders is a respected sports analyst and has mentored many different football players. Sometimes when it comes to coaching it's not all about wins and losses. A wide receiver coach at a college I went to always emphasized this motto,"it's not about routes. It's about life", and he couldn't be more right. Because every college football player is not going to the NFL, but if you can get that student athlete to take what he learned on and off the field and put that together. That feeling is so much more of a better feeling than winning any national title. That's why I have great admiration for Bobby Bowden because you never heard anything negative about his interaction with players and he always strives for excellence. I'm glad they said he can still have reduced responsibilities next year because Bobby Bowden may not be getting big wins, but he's giving out big opportunities to his players and that's the good thing.

Eye on the Tiger

I wake up Friday morning and get ready for some college football and thanksgiving left overs. I'm warming up my food and turn to the Auburn versus Alabama game. I'm watching Auburn give Alabama all they can handle in the first quarter and then my heart drops. Breaking news, Tiger Woods was in a car accident. With the way his highlights were being played I thought Tiger Woods was going to die. Things sounded sketchy as no one really had factual information. All they knew is that he crashed into a fire hydrant and a neighbor's tree. Hearing those details and seeing how early the accident was. The first thing that came to my mind was drunk driving. Then I thought it's Tiger Woods, he wouldn't do that and I was right because officers said it looked like alcohol was not involved with the accident. So then I thought that Tiger was puffing the putting greens and then I wondered why would he do that knowing he's the most powerful role model to date right now, but then I thought like a grown up and said this seems to weird. Something has to be up and certainly it was because as the days went by more facts were coming out. It appears that Tiger Woods was having an affair and he and his wife were arguing about it. Sources said Tiger told a friend he was about to get a "Kobe Special" before he rushed out of the house and hit everything except the car path. Tiger is free to do what he wants, but cheating does show poor character. So if he is getting chased around the house by his wife holding a golf club then let it be known. Other reports were made saying that Tiger's wife Elin told officers that she was chasing Tiger around the house with the same club I guess she used to save him from the SUV. Other statements came out that Tiger Woods told an officer said that he didn't get those lacerations from the car accident. Look Tiger, whatever happened that Friday morning is between you, Elin and that golf club. You may be ruling the golf courses with it, but Elin is betting the house that she can get to you in under three strokes. I'm happy he was not drinking and driving and I'm glad he released a statement of him taking responsibility for his actions. Even though Tiger didn't give out every detail he gave the right one. That he is not perfect and like him nobody else is.

USC's Donward Spiral

This is a sad season for Trojan fans all over the world. This season USC showed us that they are in a rebuilding year and they need more work to be done with their team. With me being a real USC fan I am totally disappointed with this Pete Carroll team. Pete had to see something brewing with him wanting Jet's quarterback Mark Sanchez to come back and play another year. The Trojans of 2009 started off the year great. They beat the Spartans of San Jose in there tune up game and then went to Ohio State and won the battle of the highly ranked teams, but the team fell with true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley. After he went down against Ohio State the following week was a true disaster and this is what got me. Aaron Corp was the starting quarterback till he broke his femur in practice, so why was it when he was the starter against the Washington Huskies he looked like the true freshman. Also why didn't Pete play Mitch Mustain a transfer from Arkansas. He could have probably did better than Aaron Corp against the huskies. Not to mention that the head coach and defensive coordinator had the upper hand by leaving the Trojan's staff just a year ago, but still that is no excuse. So after that bump in the road USC went on a four game winning streak and was back in the top ten of the BCS rankings I just wanted to see USC and Boise State play each other in a BCS bowl game, but SC hit a wall. They first got man handled by the Oregon Ducks and was later embarrassed by the Stanford Cardinals. Look I have great respect for Pete Carroll he has won the Pac-10 conference title almost every year he has been there and has won every big game except for the Rose Bowl against Texas. Pete has put more players in the NFL than any other colleges combined. Carroll has done a great job with a true freshman quarterback and has kept the Trojans in the hunt, but I must admit that I am spooked for the rest of the season. The Trojans plays UCLA today who seems like a decent team when they are working on all cylinders and an Arizona team that is putting in work and almost beat the Oregon Ducks. USC has a great tradition and like all good things they came to an end this year, but maybe just maybe the Trojans of USC can be back in full force next year and make a run for the national title.

Another Wrong Answer

After fourteen years of awesomeness Allen Iverson has chose to retire from the National Basketball Association. One of the greatest offensive scorers in the league, and lets not forget his dynamic defense. Iverson was a three time season leader in steals. He was quick to anticipate the passing lane, exploit it and get the steal for the lay up. Allen Iverson was a player that could score from all over the court and as a team leader put his body on the line to get that "and one". This is the guy who crossed over Jordan and didn't just cross over Jordan, he made the shot. Allen single handily led the Seventy Sixers to the NBA finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. He was the only reason the Sixers won the first game and now after a couple appearances with a few teams Allen is being forced into retirement. Look, no matter what anybody says I believe Allen when he says he still has some gas left in the tank. I know everybody else is arguing how when he was complaining about practice. Plus he didn't want to come off the bench and I feel he shouldn't have to. Depending on the team he goes to and I have three right answers for Allen Iverson. Number one, like I said before if Allen was a Laker he would have to come off the bench and that wouldn't be a bad thing for him. If you look at the Laker games and you see Phil put the second unit in. The only person who can actually score right now is Odom and Shannon Brown when his three pointers are on. Allen would sure up that second unit by running the triangle like Kobe and score all his points in spurts and at the end of the game when the Lakers up by twenty. Plus he would probably start from time to time over Derek Fisher. Second is the Cleveland Cavilers because they have no real two guard. I mean they start Anthony Parker. Put Delonte West on back up duty as he gets his self together and start Allen Iverson. Finally he could run the two and lead a surging Oklahoma Thunder. I know they are not a championship contender, but he could start there. I understand why teams are apprehensive to sign him. They don't want Iverson to just be a cancer to their team and I know they've seen that Iverson is having a little trouble finishing around the rim. Allen Iverson shouldn't be sitting out this year or playing overseas in some European League. Iverson should be playing in the NBA continuing his legacy and fighting to win a championship. If Allen Iverson is the question, then retirement is another wrong answer for Allen Iverson.

The Ron Artest Affect

The Lakers are the returning champions for this new season and with new seasons are always new additions. The Lakers felt they had a great team to make a run for another championship, but things were quickly derailed when Trevor Ariza and his agent were trying to play hardball with the Laker's General Manager Mitch Kupchak. Not only that, but Laker fans thought Lamar Odom would be gone as well. I remember talking to my friends about who we should pick up in the off season and a few names came to mind such as Rasheed Wallace, Charlie Villanueva and the always troubled Ron Artest. My friends was like hell no! Why would the Lakers get Ron Artest who got physical with Kobe in that playoff series against the Houston Rockets. I didn't care we needed to become tougher and I felt Ron Artest and his defence was able to do so. I saw Carlos Boozer pushing around Gasol, Bynum and any other big men we had and the year we lost to Boston the Celtics did the same thing. So as I'm walking into my local YMCA and my friend behind the counter quickly tells me the Lakers just signed Ron Artest and the reason was to get him before the Cleveland Cavaliers did. I was so happy I started high fiving everybody I came in contact with because I knew this would ensure our back to back championship. I mean Trevor was a great defender and could shoot the three, but Ron Artest is a fierce defensive player and has the skills to go for at least twenty-five a night. Look I knew the media wouldn't like this acquisition, but I didn't think it would be so negative. I don't know why I didn't expect it though. I mean sports writers are hammering Ron Artest and I think they're doing it to get Ron to blow up and destroy the chemistry of the Laker team. All I have to say is this, Ron was playing on a bunch of teams that really had no chance of winning a championship. Now he is on a team that has won one the year before and is playing with arguably the best player in the NBA. Ron's antics are small and trivial. So what he came out half naked on Jimmy Kimmel. Dennis Rodman wore a dress and make up. The problem is we love the troubled athlete, but are quick to judge them when we feel they do something we don't approve of. Ron has been a great addition and is being a warrior on the court and a good Samaritan off of it. He's giving away tickets on twitter and now he's trying to speak against violence with the guy from the "Malace at the Palace". Even though I couldn't blame because no one should get any kind of beverage throed on them. I don't care if they are a professional or not. Getting disrespected is a tough pill to swallow, But we can see Ron is taking it in stride. He just needs to run the triangle offense, play "exquisite D" and try his best to help the Lakers win a championship without any major incidents. Lets just let Ron be Ron.

A Tale of TwoQuarterbacks

When the New York Jets drafted Mark Sanchez Jets fans were happy and skeptical. The Jets of New York traded up in the draft to pick Sanchez fifth overall. After that Sanchez was quick not to make any brash promises or predictions and chose to let his play do the talking, but before he even stepped on the practice field he was being dubbed as " the new Broadway Joe" when he posed like David Hasselhoff in Baywatch. Sanchez took the good ribbing and when the season started Sanchez showed he should have been a top draft pick at quarterback and he made the right decision to leave USC after only playing one season. He started off the regular season even better by leading his team to a 4 and 0 start as New York named him Mark Franchize. The media was praising Rex Ryan for the coaching job he was doing on both sides of the ball and then it happened. Darren Sharper in a comment before the Jets and Saints played each other he said he's been studying film and Sanchez has a few tales before he makes a decision. Well Sharper must have been right because during that game Sharper had two interceptions and returned one of those for a touchdown. The Jets went on a three game losing streak and it took no time for the mild manner New York fan and media start to question Sanchez and the Jets ability to win. It looked like Sanchez got his swagger back when they ran up the score on the Oakland Raiders, but we realized that it's the Oakland Raiders and they only play hard against teams that have a great chance of reaching the playoffs. Then Rex Ryan cried and then Jets fans cried and the team was on the skid again. Look Sanchez is a winner because he came from that great USC tradition. He's showed more skill than Jamarcus Russell, Brady Quinn and Mark Stafford, but is a rookie so he showed some immaturity. Rex Ryan was doing a great job when he was keeping Mark in his rookie bubble and wasn't making him win the game, but as soon as Ryan opened up the offense more and more it seemed Mark kept messing up throwing interception after interception. All I have to say is Mark has had two different halves of his rookie season. The first half he was a lock at Offensive rookie of the year, but now he isn't even close. Mark shows to much trust in his arm right now thinking he can squeeze the ball in coverage or throw the ball with more touch than he really can. Those areas of trouble will change with time will and next year Mark Sanchez will be back to Mark Franchize and every Jets fan will be back on the bandwagon looking forward to the playoffs.

Hot Seat Charlie

Another Saturday of college football's rivalry week, beer and Notre Dame football. I must admit I'm like Hank Hill from the show "King of the hill" because my day feels perfect when Notre Dame football loses. Don't get me wrong I love the tradition of Notre Dame football you know Joe Montana, Tim Brown and lets not forget the great Ricky Waters, but I'm just totally upset when Weis comes in flashing his Super Bowl rings, talking cocky and then ends up with terrible seasons after his two BCS appearances. I mean this coach was saying, I could get hoodlums and criminals and when tomorrow. I won't do it that way". I mean how could you support a guy like that? I can't. You see I know America would love to see more "white players" and so will I, but that is no excuse for that kind of talk. I just wish Charlie should have went with his first mind and headed straight to the hood and start recruiting, because if he did that he would have won something better than the Hawiian Bowl. Look Charlie Weis was a great offensive coordinator, hell he might even be a good head coach, but he's not living up to expectations or that lucrative contract they gave him. Notre Dame paid less to Ty Willingham and he took them to two bowl games and was bounced after two years even Bob Davie took them to their first BCS appearance and bunch of bowl loses as well, but even though they lost those bowl games I felt Notre Dame was actually on the map. Not waiting for next season and thinking to myself will Weis and Notre Dame ever make it back to the BCS series. It looked like after Ty Willingham's recruiting classes left Charlie's team got real suspect. The funny thing about Notre Dame getting rid of the two previous coaches is them and Charlie Weis has the same winning percentage. All I have to say is first I wasn't going to even write this until after the season, but after a lost to Navy two out of the last three years, then this lost to Uconn and then Charlie said he has no thought of resigning. I knew I had to get on this quick because he might not make it to Palo Alto. I'm not saying that Charlie Weis should really recruit criminals because look where it got Kiffin, but watch the big talk and get back to your winning ways with the next team you coach at.

Problems for Mangino at Kansas

After a wonderful football season last year the Kansas Jay hawk'S football team is in turmoil right now. Not only are the Jay hawks sitting at a five and five season and a chance at missing a bowl game. The Kansas football team is now looking into the conduct of their head football coach Mark Mangino as certain present and former football players are accusing him of mistreating them by verbally abusing them and physically abusing them. Of course Mark Mangino denied all of these allegations, but that didn't stop Kansas Jay hawk's athletic director Lew Perkins from opening an internal investigation. Mark later showed no further intentions of admitting to anything by saying all he expects to do is coach against the Texas Longhorns this weekend, but there's to many allegations to ignore. Most of the people that played for Mangino at Kansas or Kansas State says that Mangino would take your personal information and use it against them. They said that he would embarrass them by putting information they shared with him in confidence believing he would keep it secret, but later he would put it out in front of the team. One former player told Mangino that his father was an alcoholic and he wanted to further his education and become a lawyer. Later on Mangino was talking to him in front of the team and asked him if he was going to be a lawyer or become an alcoholic like his father. Another incident occurred when a player dropped a pass and was talking on the sideline Mangino told him to shut up or he will send him back to St. Louis where he can be shot with his homies. Former players said that Mangino would grab them, shake them and poke them with his finger. One time a player fell asleep in a film session and players said Mangino pushed him out of the chair and kicked him in his butt as he tried to get up. Look coaches do a lot of things to players that we as athletes don't like. They do grab us or push us, call us all kinds of names if we mess up and they do go to far. My brother had a scholarship out of state to a division two university, but he quit the team because the coach was highly disrespectful by calling him and other players from California that he thought wasn't playing to their ability California vagina's (You use the other word for that.)and football players from Florida the Florida retards. My brother still attends that school and will get his degree in December, but I feel it's wrong when you go to college to get a taste of the NCAA football life and it is cut short due to a coach demeaning you and expecting you to take it. Why would you want to continue to play for a person like that. As I mentioned earlier I choked out a coach. We were playing a team that was blowing us out and a friend of mind had a vicious hit on one of the players from the opposing team and me and a friend of mine were laughing at that player and giving props to our teammate. Quickly an assistant coach came out of no where and told us to shut the (explicit) up. I told him I wasn't his kid and he should never feel comfortable talking to me like that. After the game that assistant went to the head coach and told him what I said. The head coach politely told me to get the (explicit) off of his field. I through my shoulder pads and helmet and stormed off the field only to have the coach chased me down and grab me. I turned around and grabbed him by his neck telling him to never ever get the urge to grab me again. All I have to say is this, coaches need athletes else they wouldn't have a job. Most coaches just blow smoke up your butt to have you come to their college only to treat you like crap when they feel you are useless to them. We just need to have coaches that will be considerate to their players and treat them with the same respect they feel they deserve from their players.

Thierry Hands France the Victory

It was a great soccer game. France and Ireland played hard and forced the game into extra minutes. The winner of this game would qualify to the next round of the world cup, but the goal that has France qualifying to the next round is under intense scrutiny. Thierry Henry was driving towards the goal, made a good soccer move, but the ball touched his hand before he passed it off to fellow teammate William Gallas who scored the game tying goal. Right after the game Thierry admitted that he used his hand illegally, but some people think he was saying it was an accident. If it was an accident how did he accidentally touched it twice. Media and soccer fans are comparing this goal to the goal by Argentine soccer player Maradona called "The hand of God" where Maradona punched the ball in the goal. With everything that's going on and this comparison to Maradona the soccer fan has two people to blame. First you blame the referees, how can a referee be running with Thierry and couldn't see that he touched it with his hand twice. Second you can blame FIFA for one not using replay to correct this in the first place and second for not replaying the game. Look Soccer is a sport loved by the whole world and the World Cup is the biggest sporting event ever and it should not be tainted by cheating. Now watching the replay I can't say that he deliberately used his hand to control the ball, but I can say that the referees missed the handball call. Thierry did the right thing though. He admitted it and said that France should be out of the World Cup and also said that France and Ireland should play the game over. I on the other hand just think this call was missed and a replaying of the game should not happen, but if it was to happen it should start a minute before Thierry hand balled or like Thierry suggested advance Ireland. I strongly suggest that instant replay should be allowed in FIFA soccer or any other sport. Instant replay should be used in every sport because our world has the technology to make it work. We have high definition televisions and cameras. We have the ability to put things in super slow motion and freeze frame everything. Sports fans aren't just happy with the "It was a great game to watch" excuse anymore. No, us as sports fans don't want to put our whole hearts into rooting for a team only to see our team lose or get eliminated due to a bad call that could easily be overturned by a simple ten seconds to a minute watching a replay. All every sports fan wants is to see a fare game called right and played competitively.

Elizabeth Lambert Might be Right

A few weeks ago sports fan around the world and maybe some computer junkies who were looking for a nice beat down to laugh at saw the University of New Mexico Lobos female soccer player Elizabeth Lambert get rough and rugged with a couple of female soccer players from Brigham Young University. She was pulling hair, throw girls to the ground and even elbowed someone in the back. Oh yeah lets not forget when she kicked the soccer ball into a player's face. On Friday of that week head coach of the females lobo soccer team Kit Vela said that Elizabeth Lambert was suspended indefinitely for her actions. Elizabeth later released a statement saying her actions were uncalled for, her emotions got the best of her in a heated situation and she takes full responsibility for actions. She finally added that she would accept any punishment delivered by the coaching staff and the school administration, but a week later Elizabeth had another statement to follow after the first one. Lambert said that those actions did not show her good side and doesn't define her as a soccer player. She went to make a point that if she was a male soccer player she wouldn't have gotten that much flack for her actions. I sat back and thought she might be right. We love physical play and what sports fan doesn't love full contact, but some of those plays were uncalled for, but some of them were just typical soccer plays. The scissors at the legs of the other player was a good and hard play and the elbow to the back of the player was given after that player elbowed her in the stomach. Look soccer is a great sport, but at times can be real physical. Players get leg whipped, head butted and could be kicked any where on the body, but the pulling of the hair was way too much. I feel she should be forgiven because a collegiate player has only four years to win a championship for their universities and write their names in greatness and will be the toughest they can if they feel it will win them a title. I mean the Oregon running back was let back on his team and Florida's middle linebacker was suspended a half and was man enough to sit out a whole game. If she was a senior then she graduates and moves on to better things, but if she has another year to play then she should be allowed to play her scholarship out. Even though she gave us this that wasn't me she had no idea who that person was, i would feel so much better if her or any sports athlete that messes up say that that person was me and I let it get the best of me. People with that competitive edge have no idea of how far they'll go to get that trophy. Elizabeth Lambert took the punishment and made the apology, don't let her career end like this. She deserves better.

Retire 23 For What?

So Lebron James tried to get the attention off of his 2010 free agency questions by starting another debate that's just as pointless. We all know if Shaq don't win a ring for the king Lebron will put himself in exile and flee to another team and if they at least get to the NBA finals he will stay for a couple more years nothing long term, but that's not the issue right now. Right now Lebron James said he is changing his number from 23 to his Olympic number 6 next year and he feels that no one else should be able to wear the number 23 in the league. Yeah right, and as I said in the title for what? Look Michael Jordan was a great player winning six NBA champions with six NBA finals MVP trophies, five NBA season MVP trophies and bunch of other accolades including all-star selections, all NBA and all NBA defensive teams. With all of these accomplishments and people saying how he transcended the game of basketball his jersey should not be retired through out the league. Did Michael Jordan become the first black player in the National Basketball Association? No. Did Jordan win more rings than Bill Russell? No. Did Jordan even surpass the Captain Kareem Abdul Jabbar on the all time scoring list? No. So why would we not retire their jerseys around the league, but retire Jordan's. Is it because he made Nike more prosperous than any other athlete or because he got everybody drinking Gatorade and they don't even play sports or maybe because he was the first basketball player to star in his own movie. Look either way it goes all of those have nothing to do with basketball. Micheal Jordan franchised himself not the NBA. I mean still to this day you see Jordan golfing doing Hanes commercials and now has other basketball players on his Jordan Brand label. All I have to say is that Jordan was one of the greatest players of my era with Bird, Magic, Barkley and Dominique Wilkins just like the era before mine had greats like Erving, Gervin, West and Dawkins and the greats before that such as Wilt, Russell and Cousy. All of these players I named and some I didn't name were great players and contributed greatly to the development of the NBA, but there is no way they're going to retire all of these people's jerseys. Lets just retire his jersey and give him a statue in Chicago which they did and do what Pat Riley did which is hang Jordan's retired Bulls jersey in the rafters. We can pay homage to Jordan in so many ways other than doing for him what they won't do for everyone else that we consider to be great.

What's the Difference

As we all know in the beginning of the NBA preseason the league decided to go with replacement referees. These replacement referees were a combination of WNBA, NBA Development League and other referees that use to work in the NBA before. The Commissioner Daniel Stern and the referee's union were unable to come to an agreement about there contract. So when the preseason started league officials promised that the replacement officials would be just as prepared as the regular referees, but when the season started fans, players and media saw it a different way. In the opening preseason game the referees were criticized for missing what is called routine plays. They were also downed for not blowing a play dead after an air balled free throw and sending the wrong person to the free throw line. I understand these complaints, but at the same time we have to realize that this was the replacement refs first season with the National Basketball Association. Of course their going to have first game jitters and make a few blunders calling the game it's normal, but the complaints just kept coming during the preseason. Well after the preseason and before the regular season the referee's union and the NBA came to an agreement to bring the regular referees back. After a few regular season games were played everybody was praising the regular referees on how much of a better job they have done, but I on the other hand see no difference in the way the games are being officiated right now. In fact these referees are just as worse as the replacement referees. Yeah the replacement referees made some bone head calls and didn't comprehend some of the rules, but with a little more real game experience they would've been just as good as the regular season referees. Look either way it goes referees are going to miss some calls and even make game deciding mistakes, but both of these referee groups would not be criticized so much if they were one thing, consistent. Consistent in fouls on both ends of the floor charge or block. Consistent with the traveling calls, that's why the league had to clear up the traveling rule this year. There should be no home court advantage calls or superstar treatment. There should be one way to call the game, fair. I've been watching a lot of NBA games this year and it's one thing I hate to see, if a ticky tac foul is being called on one end and right after that call on the other end the same thing happens and that call is not made or vice versa. So yes all this leaves me to ask what is the difference between replacement referees and the regular referees? You know what the answer is, nothing. Nothing at all because at the end of the day both group of referees are inconsistent, so if everybody wants to criticize the replacement referees criticize the regular season referees as well.

Titan's Owner Fined 250K

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon the Tennessee Titans were giving the Buffalo Bills all they could handle and the owner of the Titans Bud Adams gave the fans and the League's commissioner Roger Goodell all they could handle. I guess Tennessee versus Buffalo is a rivalry game, but you would definitely think it is the way Bud Adams was giving the double bird to the fans of the Buffalo Bills. Seriously towards the end of the fourth quarter after Commissioner Roger Goodell had breakfast and sat in the luxury box with Bud Adams. Goodell saw Bud Adams flicking off fan after fan after fan as he sat in the stands with regular blue collar football fans. Roger Goodell who also said earlier that week that he wanted to make every football stadium family friendly only to see this owner happily and repeatedly giving the finger to all of his haters and didn't stop there. After the game Bud Adams made it down to the field to show off his middle finger some more. So with a day to take Bud Adams actions into consideration and hear every sports television and radio station comment about it. Roger Goodell gave Bud Adams a fine that I feel set the bar for any other owner that tries to follow suit. Roger Goodell gave Bud Adams a whopping 250,000 dollar fine for what the League's spokesman Greg Aiello said was conduct detrimental to the NFL. Look this fine was a good decision, but on the other hand I understand why Bud Adams flicked off the fans of Buffalo. Picture this if you will, you're a owner of a professional sports team and every time you go to a different stadium you see your team get disrespected and heckled and sometimes you yourself gets the same treatment. You come to Buffalo a so called rival and fans are yelling at you as you're sitting high in your luxury box, "hey Bud when are you going to retire?" or "where you in your right mind when you drafted this loser Vince Young?" and not only does Vince Young and the Titans beat the Bills, but demolish them. You wouldn't get a certain urge to flick these critics off? I know Goodell wants each and every stadium to be family friendly, but is he going to fine or kick out every fan that uses profanity or uses his finger as a sign of disrespect. All I have to say is this, we are all human and I feel no man is better than the next if they got 50 million dollars or 50 cent we are susceptible to that urge to say,"hey I'm the man and there's nothing you can say or do about", or "you was talking all that smack. Now look at me." Now I'm not saying that Bud Adams was wrong, I'm just saying I understand completely. You went from 0-6 made a season saving decision to put Young in the starting line up and now it looks like it's paying off. Just put that money towards that hefty fine.

Pacquiao vs. Cotto

Pacqiaou vs Cotto fight starts great, but ends badly. On Saturday night I went to a friends house to watch the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. We bar-b-qued, drank beers and watched the under card fights in anticipation for the main event. We gave our opinions on who would win the fight and if Floyd Mayweather should fight the winner. After watching exciting under card fights including Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. upping his record to 41-0-1 and the main event was ready to be seen. We took our seats like we were at the fight as everybody crowded around the television waiting to see what boxer and country would be victorious. Would it be the hard hitting Manny Pacquiao and the Philippine nation or the strong brawler Miguel Cotto and the beautiful country of Puerto Rico. With video cameras going around the MGM Grand Garden Arena we seen celebrities such as Derek Jeter, Mark Walberg and Fat Joe, but with all those celebrities there was no one there who was more important than Paquiao's father. Pacquiao and his father have been separated for some time and this was the first time he was able to see his son fight. As the fight started we saw Cotto come out ready to punish a hesitant Pacquiao that gave too much respect, but as round after round ended we saw Pacquiao's punching power prevail. With Pacquiao knocking Cotto down in the second round the whole house stood up and began to yell, but quickly quieted down as Cotto took the third round. It seemed as Cotto got his mojo back coming into the fourth round until I yelled out,"yeah Cotto just don't go down" only to have him knocked down seconds later for a second time. You see Cotto was leading the fight each round, but after that second knockdown Pacquiao showed less respect for Cotto's punching power. For the rest of Pacquiao showed off his speed by quickly punishing Cotto causing cuts to his face. Look this was a great fight and was way more exciting than Mayweather vs. Marquez. Even though I was highly upset the referee stopped the fight in the final round with just minutes left I can say each round was action packed. After watching Pacqiao make history by winning his seventh title in seven different divisions all I have to say now is when is Mayweather vs. Paquiao coming or Cotto vs. Paquiao two?