Chit-Chat Sports

Rooting more for Le-Screw up? Or the Win

2011-06-12T13:40:00.006-04:00

I was in Atlantic City this past Thursday night, at A Damn Good Sports Bar. It was a great place to watch a game and have a good time. If you are a LeBron hater it's an even better place to watch and have a good time. As I walked into the bar I could already tell how the night was going to be: Loud obnoxious fans cheering for the Mavericks and cheering AGAINST anything LeBron and the Heat did. Why do I get the feeling that this is how it is across the globe? Maybe because that is how it is across the globe.

So I stood in an area where I would have no impaired view of the game. To my left, four Dallas Mavericks fans, one Dirk Nowitzki jersey. To my right, two more Dallas Mavericks fans, no jerseys. And then there was me and my group of friends, only two of us really rooting for the Heat, the rest somewhere in between "get me another beer" and "Oh My God, you guys, this is my JAM." As the night went on and it became apparent that LeBron and the Heat were not going to win this game, the place seemed to get louder and louder. Then finally when Jason Kidd hit his dagger three that basically sealed the game, the place erupted. I thought that this was the loudest that it could possibly get, being that the three basically clinched the game for the Mavericks. But then something interesting happened. The next time down the floor, LeBron received a pass from D-Wade and leaned his body into the defender underneath the basket, shot the lay-up, drew the foul, and the ball went through the basket.

Crickets...

The only jerk that you could here was me cheering the alleged LeBron And-1.

3 seconds goes by....and you see Joey Crawford put his hand on the back of his head, and his other hand out in front. Charge.

The place erupted again, this time even louder.

Dallas eventually went on to win the game and the 4th quarter woes continued for LeBron and the Heat. But was interesting to me more so than the game was the reactions of the "fans" that were at this bar. The NBA fans watching this game seemed more eager to cheer for a LeBron foul up, or LeBron miss, rather than cheer the team that they like to win the game. This got me thinking. Does the casual (or diehard) NBA fan want LeBron to fail more than they want their team of choice to win? It is a fascinating aspect of the Finals to think about.

Think about it yourself; are you rooting more for LeBron to screw up and score 2 points in the past two fourth quarters, or Dirk Nowitzki's Mavericks to beat the Heat outright? Based on my experience from A Damn Good Sports Bar (awesome name by the way), the general public is cheering more for the LeBron screw up.

In a world in which every person thinks they are a sports analyst and believes they know everything about the games they are watching, in a world of Twitter and real time media, it's unbelievable to think that people would rather see a great player fail, then see another great player win his ring. It's unfortunate really, that we can't just sit and enjoy two great teams playing the most entertaining finals in 5 years. Game 6 and 7, YES, I said AND 7 will be awesome and I can't wait to watch. But I know I will be rooting for great basketball, and cheering great basketball plays. Not focusing my attention on one player and hoping he fails. (OK, I will be focusing my attention on LeBron, who am I kidding.)

Now a few things I expect to see in Game 6. (Or things we should see, can never bank on Erik Spoelstra to make great tactical decisions.)

1. If LeBron isn't going to take the initiative and score the basketball, then he HAS to shut down the leagues hottest player right now, Dirk Nowitzki. It is mind boggling to me that we've played 5 games already and we have not seen LeBron James guard Dirk on a consistent basis. The world's most talented and crafty defender has to guard the worlds craftiest offensive player. It's just common sense. Why do I have a feeling Pat Riley will sit a little closer to the bench this game?

2. If Miami is going to win this series, it has to be Dwyane Wade and it has to be now. End of story. He needs 35-40.

3. If Dallas is going to win this series, it has to be tonight. Game 6. If they let Miami get this one then it's no-holds-bar for game 7. I don't want to face a Miami crows, D-Wade, and maybe an inspired LeBron in game 7, if I'm the Mavericks

4. I would like to see LeBron post at the foul line, and create from the free throw line. He starts with the ball way too far away form the basket and gives the Mavericks time to set up their zone defense, and this is why he passes up the ball every drive. Stick him on the foul line, let him create.

5. These are the match-ups that Miami has to defend with in the 4th quarter: LeBron-Dirk, Wade-Terry, Chalmers-Kidd, Bosh-Marion, Haslem/Anthony-Chandler.

6. If they don't want to do that, then why not switch up and play a match-up zone in the 4th quarter. It's something Dallas hasn't seen yet, how do they react to it? Let LeBron roam free on Defense and rotate accordingly. It really doesn't take a rocket scientist to coach basketball. Especially when you have LeBron/Wade on your team. Sorry, Erik.

Lastly, let's see Overtime. I don't know why. Maybe LeBron will be better in OT. Just Kidding. Enjoy the game!

The Hiatus

2011-06-08T15:46:00.005-04:00

Well, well, well. If it isn't Mr. Chit-Chat Sports himself, back on the blog again. It has been one year since I stopped writing, and it's felt like 5. Sure, I did a few podcasts with my friends, and those will be coming back as well, but I decided enough was enough. It was time for me to come back and do something I love to do.

I last left you after the LeBron decision. I needed the summer to digest what had happened. (OK, I probably only needed a week, lame excuse.) I was starting my Senior year of college and I thought that it would be smart for me to put the pen down, (or the keyboard in this case) and focus on what was important, which was graduating college. Which I did, with honors too, who would've guessed it.

So now I'm back writing, same cluttered desk, same tiny room, same slow computer, but with a renewed energy to write. Ever since I read a peice about Bill Simmons and the path he took to became a great writer and what he is doing now with Grantland, I wanted to get back into it. I pondered what to write about, because so much had gone on in the sports year. But something kept gravitating me towards this whole LeBron/NBA Finals conundrum that is so over-reported that you'd think it was the royal wedding all over again. I entitled this article, 'The Hiatus' because that is precisely where I was, and where LeBron has seem to gone during this NBA Finals series. So without further ado, the first post in a year from Chit Chat Sports - The Hiatus.

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Why is it that every time I turn on the TV, the best basketball player in the NBA is being tarred and feathered like he's Roger Goodell and the NBA Finals is this NFL labor dispute? Why is it that we have this innate desire to destroy one of the leagues crown jewels? Is it really still because of the Decision? Or does it stem from somewhere else?

I wanted to try and tackle this issue but to do so, I had to find out why so many people hate LeBron James. What I found just by asking around and talking to my loyal NBA buddies, were two reasons. The first reason is because he left Cleveland the way he did. Understandable. I can't really argue what he did because I don't completely agree with it either. You want to play with your buddies, you want to play with friends in South Beach, you don't wanna pay taxes on everything, I get it. But don't leave the city that embraced you as their own, down like that. The second reason was because a lot of people are comparing him to the greatest to ever do it, Mr. Jordan. This is the point that I have a problem with and If I could just get on ESPNs 1st and 10, I would straighten Skip Bayless out.

So why do we make the comparisons between he and Jordan? Is it because they wore the same number? Is it because he does the same powder throw? Is it because we like to scratch and claw to unearth the next "GOAT?" United States sports fans like two cheer for two things: an underdog, and the best at anything. We WANT LeBron to be Jordan. Which isn't exactly fair to LeBron, in any way shape or form. So, if we are consistent fans and we want to judge LeBron on the same level that we judged Jordan and Kobe (Kobe and LeBron are the closest things we've seen to MJ), then let's do so.

Lets start with his Airness. Michael Jordan won his first title at the age of 28. He struggled in the playoffs until 1991 against the Lakers, finally breaking through and winning the first of 6 championships with the Bulls. I'd say that's pretty good, 28 years old.

Kobe. Right out of the gate he gets to play with the most dominant man we've ever seen at any stretch in time in the NBA, Shaquille O'Neal, soon to be Dr. O'Neal. So Kobe gets 3 rings because he has Shaq to fall back on and the two of them dominated the league to a three-peat. Fast-foward to age 30. Shaq is long gone, it is now Kobe's team. This is what we want as fans correct? We want the superduper stars to win on their own. OK, so Kobe finally wins on his own at the age of 30. Well done.

So if I get this right, and I like to think my research is accurate. Jordan wins his 1st at age 28, Kobe at age 30.

Let's jump to LeBron James, who by the way just turned 26 in December. He is in the finals for the second time, and yes he has a player with equal talent on his team, Mr. Wade. So if we're judging on the same scale as the other two great shooting guards, then LeBron still has 2-3 years left before he can win one correct? No, because we are so quick to judge and anoint and criticize greatness for a "lack of clutch gene" or a "lack of sense for the moment."

Why?

Why can't we be patient as fans. We owe that to these athletes. I understand that I sound like the biggest LeBron homer right now, and you know what, so what. I enjoy watching LeBron play. This guy has had the biggest bulls-eye on his back since he was 16. Why can't we let him grow up, he's still a kid! He's still a kid who wants to be as good as his idol, Michael Jordan. So when he throws the powder and he wears his number, it is not to be just like him, he just wants to do the things that his idol did as well.

I used to shoot free throws with the same exact dribbling sequence and routine that Jordan did. Three Dribbles, flip of the ball, shot. I still do it to this day. When I was younger I used to keep my tongue out like I was Jordan. We do these things because we are honoring our idols. And so this kid, who's 26, can't do that because the world wants him to be something else? It just doesn't seem fair to me. But then again life isn't fair.

Now, LeBron has disappeared in these finals, and I honestly couldn't tell you why. Is he trying to prove a point that without him they will not win? Because last nights game was painful to watch LeBron passing up opportunities and shots to defer to D-Wade. There is serious psychological situations going on between Dwyane Wade and LeBron. Sure they are the best of friends, but they both know that neither one of them is going to win this Finals without the help of the other.

So it's time for LeBron to step up. It's his time now. Why wait till 28? You are owned and marketed by the biggest shoe company on the world and their motto is: Just Do It. So Just-Do-It LeBron. There is no one in this league who can guard you for 48 minutes. When you need that possession off, defer to Wade, and he'll do the same to you. It's time for you to prove to us that you have that greatness in you. Hopefully that's what we'll see, in Game 5.

Week 9: NJST Podcast

2010-11-06T13:11:00.005-04:00

The Week 9 Podcast is up with our Mid-Season Awards, MVP, OPOY, DPOY, OROY, DROY, and Playoff predictions from here on out. Also we preview the week 9 games coming up this week. ENJOY!!

Week 7 Podcast: The Arrival of Showtime

2010-10-20T16:03:00.003-04:00

Week 7 NJST Podcast brings the arrival of an OLD friend. Tommy, Johnny, and new addition Showtime discuss last weeks games and preview this weeks games, including the rival game on Monday Night, Giants-Cowboys, in which Tommy and Johnny are basically going to kill each other over. ENJOY!!!

New Jersey Sports Talk Week 5 Podcast:

2010-10-13T14:23:00.003-04:00

Here we have it folks, the week 5 Podcast between yours truly and Mr. Johnny Hart! Enjoy!!

The Podcast is here!!

2010-10-01T19:22:00.010-04:00

Well the Podcast is finally here!!! The New Jersey Sports Talk Podcast is in full affect. Myself and Johnny Hardenfels talk about the Week 3 games and also preview the upcoming Week 4 games. We also dive into a little gambling for you gambling addicts. Enjoy and spread the word!!

Click play underneath to listen to the first NJST Podcast!!! Week 3: NFL

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Le-Spectacle

2010-07-09T09:06:00.004-04:00

As I was watching this LeBron Special/Decision/Completely unnecessary one hour special last night, I was receiving more texts and calls and emails then I've ever gotten at one time in my entire life. It's probably because I'm a sports nut and I always text or call people with the craziness that happens in sports. However, last night I couldn't even find the words to respond to anyone. The moment last night was so unbelievable, crazy, completely unnecessary, selfish, stupid, silly, you could go on and on and on with the adjectives to describe the events that took place last night.

So I had decided that I wouldn't respond to any one's texts or calls because I just had so much racing in my mind, and I would instead just write about it. But where do you even start? How can you even describe what transpired last night? The single greatest/most famous/most influential athlete of the past 7 years and of the next 12 years was about to LITERALLY rip out Cleveland's heart and throw it into a big pile of dog-you know what. Actually that's not even enough to describe what he did to Cleveland. It was more like taking a knife and slowly cutting a circle around their heart, pouring gasoline on it, and burning it for a slow, long, painful hour. And now their dealing with the most excruciating next-day pain any sports franchise has ever felt. I don't even want to see what's going on in CLeveland today.

Last night I just felt awkward. Like I was more uncomfortable then Jim Grey, who arose from the dead, to do the LeBron James interview. My thoughts were and still rambling. They have no continuity, they have no organization, and neither will this article. So we're just going to go with as many random thoughts as I can think of. Let's see how far I get before I start defending LeBron again..

1. The biggest question I have is about LeBron's mental make-up. I wrote on Twitter yesterday that LeBron may not be wired or built the way that we and the media as expected him to be. There is a certain gene/DNA make up (I'm convinced) that certain athletes have that just pushes them to a new level mentally. MIcahel Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and you're starting to see it with Kevin Durant, this ability to stop everything around them, not care about what anyone is going to say, and just go out and get the job done. Bill Simmons wrote yesterday about the 08 Gold Medal game, where all of the players were afraid to step on each others toes to take over the game, until Kobe decided he had enough, and went into screw-you mode, and took over for the win.

LeBron just isn't wired like that. He just isn't. Plain and simple. He is the most freakish athlete I've ever seen, and anyone has ever seen, but sports is 80% mental and 50% physical (Thanks John Madden). And while that sounds silly it's kind of true. The game is more mental then LeBron believes in, and this is why he is going to Miami. He needs to be the second guy. He needs to be the Robin to DWade's Batman (thanks Skip Bayless), he needs to be the Nicole Richie to Paris Hilton. Which is a shame because he is only 25. You can try that stuff when you're 31 on you're next deal, but not now.

2. God I feel for Cleveland. I'm not going to go into the ramifications about what night felt like because I have no idea. In addition to what I wrote before, it just sucks. Plain and simple. He was Cleveland, and now he just left that city for dead.

3. Let's not crown Miami just yet. Seriously, I know so many casual NBA fans who think that Miami automatically won last night. You don't win with 3 guys. They have NOBODY ELSE on their bench. Ask the Lakers if they could win with Kobe, Gasol, Odom. Miami has no size, and don't tell me Chris Bosh is size. He plays outside with a mid range jumper, he has no physical game. You need the Derek Fischer's, the Steve Kerr's, the Toni Kukoc's, the Bruce Bowen's, the James Posey's, the Kendrick Perkins. You need those guys to win. That being said...

4. Don't be surprised if you see a certain 7'2" 300 lb center join the Heat within the next week at the mid-level exception. Mark it down. Shaq O'Neal will be down in South Beach if he can drop his ego.

5. Fully expect the Heat to sign Mike Miller as a swing guy/defender/shooter. The Heat are going to be attractive for most veterans just for the sheer fact that they have an immediate chance to win. Players like Jason Williams, Louis Amondson, and Mike Miller will all be fleeing to get there.

6. I still don't think the Heat was the best Basketball fit for LeBron. The Bulls just seemed so much more like a better fit. Rose (perfect second guy), LeBron, Boozer (low post scorer), Noah (Banger//Rebounder/Defender/Energy), just seemed like the perfect lineup to challenge any type of team. They would have size, inside scoring, outside scoring, players that could score with LeBron on the bench (something that they couldn't do in Cleveland), and they would have a great balance of defense. Maybe I just study this stuff too much I don't know.

7. Still feel horrible for Cleveland. Sorry, I just had to made it be known AGAIN.

8. The Knicks have to be the next biggest loser here right behind Cleveland. They prepared for years to have a run at this guy and it seems like they weren't even in the discussion. Now the Knicks fans are talking themselves into Melo/CP3 next year. Easy Knick fans.

9. Credit to Steven A Smith and Chris Broussard for sniffing this out a week ago. That's just good reporting and they got a lot of crap for it.

10. Which LeBron are we going to see now? Are we going to see PG LeBron? Me-Me-Me LeBron? The more Magic-like LeBron, or the more Jordan-like LeBron? I think this is what you'll see from LeBron next year: 22-23ppg, 11apg, and 8-9rpg. We might actually see LeBron at his full potential, but we don't see that now because of all this smoke still in the air. We need to just wait and let the dust settle and let the team play out. It may be the greatest thing to ever happen to LeBron (I just spilled a little more gasoline on Cleveland, sorry).

11. How are we going to remember the Cleveland Era? Because honestly, I think that they'll remember him for that 1 hour special. Which sucks, because he made that city so much money, brought the city so much happiness, yet now the city is completely turning against him. Is it his fault that the owner and general manager brought in minimal talent around him. Yea I know he wanted Mo Williams and Shaq, but where was Amare at the trade deadline? Or Chris Bosh? In my opinion, Dan Gilbert has no reason to freak out the way he did....

12. ...Which leads me to his letter. What the hell was he thinking? Why would you put that letter out. I understand you're upset because LeBron was being completely selfish last night. But honestly, who is going to want to go play for an owner that will undermine someone who made him millions of dollars over 5 years, and someone who made you famous, and someone you brought butts into your seats. I just thought it was childish, naive, and just silly. Sometimes you have to take the higher road. Yes, LeBron was selfish last night, but he still had the mind-frame to thank Cleveland and say that he loved everything he did there with the team.

13. Final Thought: Secretly I think LeBron is scared. I think he is afraid of that moment in the NBA Finals or in the Playoffs when he knows the world is watching, and he has to be the one to make THAT play. And we have always given him the benefit of the doubt, because he's LeBron and he throws powder, and he flies through the air with the greatest of ease, and he sends opponents shots 5 rows deep, and he takes off from 7-8 feet with his head over the rim already. But at the end of the day, this is the difference between he and Kobe/MJ/DWade. Those guys find the way in their mind to erase everything that's going on, and focus on embracing that moment. They actually wanted that moment to happen. And LeBron just doesn't. He wants to be a part of it, but he just can't.

The move to Miami just completely explains his personality. Now we know the true LeBron. A guy who has all the talents in the world, but just doesn't have the mental makeup to launch him into legendary status. Think of him as more of a Scottie Pippen, or a Dr. J, or a Karl Malone. Someone who had all the talent, and all the opportunities for THE MOMENT, but just couldn't find the mental audacity to finish. Which is why he's now in Miami, because we all know if they get into that situation down 1 with 0:10 seconds left, the ball will be cleared out, and it won't be for LeBron James. It's going to be for number 3.

For Years I've defended LeBron on everything. Given him the benefit of the doubt. Now I think I'm going to stop. I didn't like anything about last night. I really didn't. I wanted him to go to Chicago, NY, or even the Clippers for the NBA's sake. I can't defend him anymore because what I feared all along has come true. He's not a legend. He can't be anymore. Legends win championships as the Alpha Dog. Yes they have help, of course. No one has ever won a championship in any sport without help. But the difference between him and MJ/Kobe/Larry/Magic/Duncan is that they were the lead dog and NO ONE questioned it. Everyone in the known universe knew who was getting the ball, and who was the Alpha dog on the team.

LeBron has thrown that out the window. Now he can only be a guy who was an unbelievable player who captivated us for years with his high flying dunks, his fly-swatting blocks, and his once or twice a game-plays that make you sit back and say, "Wow, this is guy is truly one of a kind." He'll never reach that Pantheon level on a team where he is not the lead dog. That's just not how it works. But that may not be what LeBron cares about. And who are we to blame him, it's his life, it's his decision, now he has to man-up, and live with it. Good Luck LeBron.

NBA FInals Game 5: Lakers-Celtics Live Running Diary

2010-06-13T20:33:00.001-04:00

Chit-Chat Sports: Game 5 LAL-Bos Running Chat

Live Running Blog: USA vs England

2010-06-12T12:25:00.002-04:00

World Cup: USA vs England - Live Running Diary

Re-Cap of Game 2: LAL - Boston

2010-06-07T11:40:00.004-04:00

I know, I know. At this point, I have no excuses. What could I possibly be doing for a month, not writing any articles, while the NBA Finals are going on. I almost feel like a horrible parent who is never there for his kid's youth soccer game, and then randomly pops in every 4th week to see how his son or daughter is doing, and then after the game the child just ignores the parent as they walk to the car. Too much? I don't care, that's how I feel.

I do apologize for being in exile this past month. I WITNESSed LeBron James fall out of the playoffs (plenty of pun intended there). Then I watched the Boston Celtics steam roll through the next series leading us to ANOTHER Boston - LAL series. Great, just what the NBA needs, another series that happens 50% of the time in all NBA finals. On top of all this, the NBA Playoffs have flown by quicker then Justin Beiber's rise to super stardom. So you can see why I'm a little bitter.

So after game 1, everyone and there mothers/daughters/fathers/grandfathers thought that the series was over and LAL was going to sweep, which is typical because in this country we are all prisoners of the moment, and flavor of the week specialists. Kobe was headed to his 5th ring and there was already talk of him being better than Michael Jordan.

Stop. Stop it right now.

Game 2 quickly brought all of those people back down to earth. The first half of the game was incredible, and probably the most exciting offense half of the NBA Playoffs. Both teams were executing flawlessly, hitting tough shots, and creating. On top of that we saw an "MJ-like" performance from Ray Allen who had 7 threes in the first half and had Kenny Smith tweeting "I'm gonna go kidnap Ray Allen so he don't break my record!" I love Kenny.

With Peirce/Garnett/Perkins no showing tonight, the game was in the hands of Rondo and Allen. And boy did they deliver. The lakers had a similar situation going on with Artest/Fisher/Kobe not really playing at the level they did in game 1. Artest was dreadful and Fisher was just out there to be out there. it seemed like Kobe was just going through the motions until about 2:00 left in the second quarter when he realized that the Lakers were in for a battle. (Bring on the Kobe-mancrushlove) He just seemed disinterested until he had that realization.

On to the refs. Good god almighty. I can't even say that the refs leaned towards Boston with their calls, but If you believe that I can't exactly say that I don't disagree. (that was about 5 double negatives) While a lot of the calls favored Boston, and ultimately got Kobe into foul trouble, the Lakers did hold a 39-22 free throw advantage. So the refereeing was atrocious both ways.

Ray Allen and Rondo stole the show though. If it wasn't for Ray's first half they Lakers probably win the game handily. Rondo, who had Kobe guarding him with 5 fouls, was constantly in attack mode, realizing Kobe didn't want to pick up his 6th foul. Leading to an explosion in the fourth quarter by Rondo.

Tomorrow night we shall see who wants to take control of this series. Boston is shaky at home, and after only 1 day off, both teams should be exhausted. Maybe the crowd at the Garden will bring the energy for the Celtics. Maybe the real Kobe Bryant will show up. Maybe the Lakers will get out on Ray Allen, and maybe Artest can return from his one game sabbatical. All I know is I'm ready.

Mike Brown: Going About Things, Cavalierly

2010-05-10T12:41:00.002-04:00

If you told me before the Cavaliers-Celtics series, that the series would be tied 2-2 after 4 games, someone would have a 29-18-13 and his name is not LeBron James, and Cavs losses had LeBron deferring to his teammates during crunch time, I would have told you that you were either high, or you're living in a fantasy world, you know, something like the island in LOST.

Yesterday afternoon, we "witnessed" another ho-hum game from the Cavaliers and another inspired effort from the Celtics, which got me thinking, is this really on LeBron and co, or does it go deeper than that? While I understand that the players play the game and they are the ones who ultimately determine the outcome, but at some point coaches do step in to lead the team back on course once they stray off. There's a reason why these coaches are making millions of dollars. They do actually help the team, unless you're the Cavaliers. Last year, I wrote that Mike Brown was in the bottom 10 coaches in the NBA, and he is the absolute WORST adjustment maker in the NBA, and this is standing true to today. We saw him last year not adjust in the Orlando series, ultimately losing in 5 games. And now we see him not adjusting in this series, with the chance that they are going to lose in 6 or 7 games.

Flash over to the Lakers for a minute....Is it any secret why Phil Jackson has 10 rings? He's had great players, but he is the master of managing that talent, much like Joe Torre in baseball. He knows how to push the right buttons, how to motivate in different ways, and adjust to certain situations, and he lives by that old adage, "Survive, and advance." This is what the playoffs are all about. In the 1st series for the Lakers, we saw Russel Westbrook reek HAVOC on Derek Fischer through 4 games. Heading into the 5th game Phil (and Kobe) decided that they had enough leverage and help to put Kobe on Westbrook, while Artest stayed on Durant, and ultimately that decision won them the series, and it is decisions like this that have made Phil Jackson the best basketball coach in the NBA. These decisions date back to his Chicago days, when Stockton would be going off on Ron Harper, he would assign Jordan to lock him down and do his job on defense to suffocate the Jazz on offense.

Flash back to the present....

Mike Brown, yet again, is coaching this team out of the series. The excuse isn't LeBron and his teammates anymore. In fact, there is no more excuses, it's time to just shut up and play. But the Cavs will not win this series playing the way Mike Brown wants them to play. Let's break this down for a minute...

The Cavs have the deepest most talented team in the league. They can play small, big, quick, slow, half court, full court, run and gun, any style they want. You're playing a team that's core consists of guys in their late 30s. So why is Mike Brown playing right into the Celtics hands by playing Shaq, and slow Varejao big minutes? Is it because his name is Shaquielle O'Neal and you feel intimated if you don't play him? Bill Simmons pointed out the other day via twitter, that the best lineup the Cavs can play is Mo Williams, Delonte West, LBJ, Antawn Jamison, and JJ Hickson. JJ Hickson is averaging about 5 minutes per game. 5 minutes!! Every time he comes in the game he makes plays happen. Why not play this 4th quarter line-up, sprinkle in some Anthony Parker and some Varejao for defensive purposes, and just run the Celtics into the ground. This, once again, proves that Mike Brown does not understand the importance of making adjustments. He hasn't grasped "it" yet, about coaching.

On to the most important change that Mike Brown is REFUSING to make. Paul Peirce is "considered" their "top player" by the casual fan, and sometimes I feel like Mike Brown thinks like the casual fan. Paul Peirce's legs are DONE. You can easily guard him with Anthony Parker, or a feisty Delonte West, or maybe even Jamario Moon. There is no need to have the best perimeter defender n the Eastern Conference play against someone who can be shut down by another defender, much like the Lakers with Artest and Durant. However, stubbornly, Mike Brown believes that Peirce could kill them if LeBron is not guarding him.

I have news for you Mr. Brown....

Paul Peirce isn't the guy killing you! If you haven't noticed, there is a man by the name of Rajon Rondo who's nearly averaging a triple double against everyone who has guarded him. So why not stick LeBron James on him for the rest of the series, just to get done and advance? Is it so crazy to put a 6'8" freak of nature defender on the ONE player who is killing you? It's no longer the Big Three in Boston. As Magic Johnson so eloquently put last night, "It's the Big ONE, and the little Three, now!" And to an extent, he is right.

It makes sense to put LeBron on Rondo for the remainder of the season. He is the creator, he is the play-maker, he is the one who gets the "little three" going and the Celtics go as Rondo goes, plain and simple.

Hopefully Mike Brown will snap out of his funk for the remainder of the series. Maybe he should go to Phil Jackson's school of coaching because there he would learn how to adjust. He needs to learn how to get the most out of his athletes. The Cavs have enough fire power to score if LeBron has to expend energy on defense. It's why they went and got an Antawn Jamison and a Shaquielle O'Neal, so they can use LeBron wherever they need him. But now it's time to realize that they need him to be that 1st team all defender that he is. For his sake and the Cavs sake, I hope Mike Brown wakes up from that dream world he's living in.

A Tradition Unlike Any Other....

2010-04-12T11:53:00.004-04:00

As I was driving my Ice Cream truck yesterday, unable to see the Masters up until the 13th-14th hole, I was pondering about writing a column recapping the Masters. At the time I figured Tiger was going to make some improbable run, and Phil was going to be there in the end giving Tiger all he could handle. I also thought KJ Choi would be the dark horse to sneak in and give Tiger and Phil trouble. And I also thought Lee Westwood would fall so far off that he might not even make the top 3.

Let's just say, I was 1 for 4.

This years Masters had to be the most anticipated Masters in eons. And by eons I mean a really really long time. Everything that Tiger Woods had gone through up to this point was about to be put on the line. Phil Mickelson was dealing with his wife's struggle with breast cancer and dealing with all of the stress that comes with it. Lee Westwood had finished second, third, second in the passed three majors, so would this be the time he broke through? Fred Couples was trying to be the oldest man to win the Masters at 50 years old. Storyline after storyline presented themselves, so we all knew we were in for a doozy.

But the main story is and always will be, Tiger Woods. How would he play? Would he make the cut? Would he win it? Would he be heckled by fans and media members? Will he be a changed Tiger, and not throw his clubs and shout profanity at himself? And most of all, can Golf finally be relevant again with Tiger back.

Well nearly all of those questions were answered. His opening round 68 was so impressive to the degree it had me calling all of my known golf followers (which is about 2 or 3) asking if they had seen the round that Tiger just shot. Golf isn't like basketball, or football, or even baseball. If you take 3 weeks off it's almost impossible to come back and play well the first few times out. If you take 144 days off, like Tiger, it's completely impossible to play well. So what does Tiger do? He shoots an opening round 68, his lowest ever at the Masters for an opening round.

Of course there were other story lines as the weekend went on. We saw Tom Watson and Fred Couples rope in the "over 50" crowd, and had all the old timers rooting for them. Phil and Lee were in the hunt the entire way, along with KJ Choi and Anthony Kim. This Masters was just chalk full of great moments.

Saturday was just crazy. Phil Mickelson gave us all, maybe one of the best three hole stretches in the history of golf. Let's just remember that they're playing in Augusta, the course with the most unforgiving greens in the country. So Phil hits an Eagle at 13 on a solid 8 foot putt. What does he do as an encore? Oh, he hits a 149 yard Eagle in the air with a backspin, dead stick. He wasn't done. Phil takes the next Eagle shot on 15 and bounces it about 6 feet short of the pin, and it starts rolling and rolling and rolling and JUST misses the pin by 3 inches. Phil was on fire. It's like being at a Roulette table in AC, and you're just playing Black and the Middle Column back and forth. And you just hit every single bet, and before you know it you're +300. That's kind of what like Phil was doing on Saturday.

So we get to Sunday and we're set up for a Tiger, Phil, Westwood, Choi run at this thing. Everyone knows Tiger is 0-for-55 when not having a lead going into Sunday. But this felt different. Would he come back and make a run at it?

Well let's just say Tiger had a YO-YO type of day. His first 5 holes, 3 bogies. The next 4 holes he shoots -4.

Are you kidding Tiger??

And then on the back 9, he 3-PUTS inside 4 feet. So un-Tiger-like. You could just see he was losing his composure, and losing his edge. But what does Tiger do? He makes sure that we don't forget him. On the 15th, after a 3-putt Bogey, Tiger sinks an Eagle on a PAR 4!!! Should this really surprise us? This is what he does, he makes us engaged and interested.

But this was going to be Phil's weekend all the way, after his shot on the 13th. I've never seen a player go for a shot like this in my life, AND actually execute it. Stuck behind TWO trees, with 220 yards to the pin. Phil decides, "Instead of laying up, I'm just going to have the biggest pair of melons anyone has ever seen, and I'm going to stick this 4 feet form the cup." CASH!

Right then and there I knew it was Phil's tournament. I was watching live at my boss's house, and we both nearly fell off the couch. We spent the next 15 minutes watching the replay, wondering how in the hell he hit that shot.

So as we all know, Phil gets the green jacket, and a well deserved/earned win for Phil. Now he cements his place in history as one of the better golfers of all-time.

As for Tiger, I think Jim Nantz summed it up best. Bill Simmons tweeted this quote from Nantz, "Through all of this, Tiger manages a 69."

HaHaHa. Comon, you know you laughed a little bit reading that. But all jokes aside (it's really hard to put jokes aside by the way), everything Tiger had gone through, to go out and shoot a 68, 70, 70, 69, is freaking impressive. And this is why we continue to watch Golf and Tiger. It's because you never know what is going to happen. And once Tiger is back in full force, watch out world. He just shot a -11 at one of the toughest courses to play at in the world, after a 144 day lay-off, after being virtually crucified, he rose from all of it and played like the champion he is. All I know is I can't wait for the Summer. Watch out world.

Worth the Madness?

2010-03-30T18:43:00.004-04:00

Due to the craziness that is March Madness, I found myself pondering a very interesting and intriguing issue with my friends and people who know a thing or two about basketball. There is no doubt in my mind that March Madness is the most exciting tournament out of any of the major playoffs in this country. Every year we see the upsets we see the drama and we see the expectations. But something just isn't quite the same this year.

So I posed this question between my friends and I, are the upsets from the early rounds worth the loss of the better and more quality teams in the tournament?

At first glance, most people say, "The upsets are what March is all about!" I agree... to an extent. But are the upsets really worth the price of a shaky elite 8 group, and and even shakier Final Four? If you really start to think about the tournament and what the people really want to watch, it becomes quite obvious that it is better for the tournament and the sport of basketball at the collegiate level, that the better teams advance. It creates a quality brand of basketball amongst the final competitors, instead of a team that might just be hot at the right time and is not as well-rounded as another team.

Now, don't get have me mistaken. The upsets are the most drama-filled, entertaining part about March Madness. I love them and I yell like a 6 year old girl every time something crazy happens. Every year millions of people go crazy trying to fill out a bracket and play the roll of the "experts" and be the first people to call a particular upset. Well that's all well and good...before the sweet 16. When it comes time to buckle down and get the best quality basketball, the upsets, in my opinion, aren't welcome after the sweet 16 with two exceptions.

Exception A) There is a can't miss, superstar on the underdog teams that you just simply can't resist seeing again and again. Think Stephen Curry during his Elite 8 run with Davidson.

Exception B) The team that is the underdog is actually much better then their seed projects them to be. Let's think Xavier the past three years, or Tennessee this year.

So what does all of this mean? Well for starters, this years tournament just had too many upsets of teams that just got hot and found the right formula to beat one juggernaut. Northern Iowa beat Kansas because they played in the moment, made threes in the clutch, got lucky that Kansas didn't press until three minutes to go, and just wanted it more than Kansas. Is No. Iowa the better team? Of course not, but this is the classic example of a team that just slips under the radar and catches the juggernauts by surprise. This happened too many times this year (Villanova, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, etc.) and the result is the least interesting Final Four that I can remember watching in years.

You think I'm the only one? You didn't notice the NCAA's stranglehold on that Duke Baylor game? It was so bad at one point that the referees in the game (the final elite 8 game) were so one-sided because they NEEDED Duke to make the Final Four, just for pure marketing purposes and ratings. A Final Four consisting of Butler, Mich. St, WVU, and Baylor would be the least watched Final Four in eons. So Duke out shoots Baylor in free throws by a ton, especially in the second half. Baylor shot something like 6 free throws while Duke was in the 20s. The 20s!!!

Now because of all these upsets of the early, better teams, we're left with a "put me to sleep" Michigan State team against a Butler team that just finds the opponents weaknesses and exploits them. They have no real advantage in talent and they probably aren't even in the top 5-8 best teams in the country. Duke is there because they were given the draw of a lifetime and the toughest opponent they had to face all tournament was a Baylor team that was playing against Duke/the officials. The only real solid team that I see in the Final Four is West Virginia. But even they have had some crazy injuries and a little bit of luck in their game against Kentucky.

My main point here is that, while the upsets are all fun, drama-filled, and they make you call your buddy at work and scream into the phone, "I LOVE MARCH!!!" They do not leave us with the quality basketball that we want to see in the Final Four. Call me a stickler, or a nit-picker, but I want to see quality basketball come the end of March, and I don't think I'm alone in this. I will always be for the underdog, just as long as they stay out of the Finals where the best teams should battle it out. Hopefully the teams in the Finals prove me wrong and we get one hell of an ending to one hell of a tournament so far.

It's March, Need Some Help?

2010-03-14T19:00:00.006-04:00

If you were some kind of a computer hacker, and you understood how to do all of the crazy things that allow you into certain databases of information, and you somehow hacked into Kean's student body database, and you happen to look up the student, Thomas Michael DeRiggi, you would see that he is actually a double major. His first major and the thing that he spends most of his time concentrating on is Physical Education and Health. If you happen to scroll down underneath that you would see that his second major is non other than, Bracketology.

Just in case you live under a rock, and some of you do, it's March.

I repeat....IT'S MARCH!!!

Finally we have something to look forward to other than average NFL Free Agent signings, and pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training. It's that time of the year. It's the most wonderful time of the year. And yes, it is my favorite time of the year (Disclaimer: I have about 5 favorite times of the year, so just bear with me).

Today, Selection Sunday, is one of the top five best days of the year, because it brings us the greatest tournament known to man kind: The NCAA Basketball Tournament. So you guys are asking, What is this blog actually about today? Well let me explain. Year after year after year after year, people fill out brackets to be involved in this fantastic event. I categorized these people into 5 categories that look like this:

Group E (The Paris Hilton Division): These our people who have NO IDEA who played who this year, who is in the tournament, when the games start, hell, they might not even know it's in progress. But these people fill out brackets every year because it's fun to be competitive, and somehow a winner comes out of this group every year.

Group D (The Khloe Kardashian Division): These are people who know what the tournament is, but have no idea about its participants. But these people have a catch, they have someone really close to them who knows a lot about basketball and can give them some hints and tips on who to pick. This is the scariest division, because you always underestimate these people.

Group C (The Billy Crystal Division): These are people who are avid sports fans, but just don't follow college basketball enough to really grasp it. Usually these people are bigger fans of another sport and college basketball is on the back burner.

Group B (The Tom DeRiggi Division): C'mon, what would my own blog be without me naming a division after myself. These people are people who follow the sport religiously and try to find out everything they can about every team before they make selections. In this group you see the majority of people who lose their bracket contests to Groups C through E because somehow these people do all the research, but get consumed by too much over analyzing and then get frustrated because they lost to someone with the intelligence level of Paris Hilton.

Group A (The Joe Lunardi Division): These people, and there's only about 5 in the world, know everything about every team. These people probably get paid to cover NCAA basketball and somehow win their brackets every year. This is about 0.0000000000001% of the population.

Continuing from before, millions of people fill out these brackets without the slightest clue about basketball. They make these rushed decisions because either they don't really care, or they want to be the first to call the major upsets. This is why I'm here. I am going to guide you all in picking the sleepers, the favorites, and the final four along the way. Let's start with a few sleepers to impress all of your friends with:

The most obvious one that I can see is between 6)Tennessee and 11)San Diego State. San Diego State won 25 games this year and Tennessee is so shaky at times that they make other teams better somehow. Take SDS and you'll be a happy camper.

Next I have a gut feeling that 13)Siena is going to beat 4)Purdue. Purdue lost their best player and just hasn't been the same since, and Siena is always tough come tournament time.

Lastly, watch 12)UTEP vs 5)Butler. Butler is riding high on their 5 seed but UTEP is a feisty group and I wouldn't be surprised if UTEP pulls of the upset.

As far as second round match ups go, watch out for 6)Marquette 3)Baylor. Baylor is a scary team but Marquette has been Big East-tested, as I like to call it. Very intriguing match up here.

Watch out for a sweet 16 run by 12)UTEP. If all goes to plan and they win, they will face a shaky Vanderbilt team that I don't trust one bit. If their was a safe sweet 16 run I think you see it in UTEP.

On to the Final Four...
I don't want to spoil my picks or anything but these are just some preliminary thoughts....

Duke got the easiest ride of all the teams, but I still do not trust them. I wouldn't be shocked if you saw a Baylor, or Villanova come out of that bracket. Also I LOVE, Kansas to the point where I think if you don't pick them to win the whole thing that your either high or you just don't care. I actually love Syracuse's draw because their two toughest opponents, Pitt and K-State, are both beatable teams and I expect the Orange men to roll into Indianapolis. Kentucky is super duper young, and I don't trust them at all. I understand everyone is in love with John Wall and everyone's doing his dance,(Yes, I can do the John Wall dance to perfection), but I'm just not sold on this team in crunch time against a team like, say, West Virginia. West Virginia-Kentucky would be an excellent game to watch, but I love WVU to make the Final Four.

So there is some preliminary thoughts on this years tournament. This year's field doesn't have the WOW factor like some tourneys in the past but it should be an entertaining few weeks. Check back next week as I explain why all of my picks were wrong and you guys should never listen to me again.

H-O-R-S-E

2010-02-20T18:19:00.003-05:00

Let’s imagine for a second, that any of us actually understand the TV show, LOST. Let’s also pretend that somehow we harnessed the island’s energy and we’re able to skip through time like the island in season 4. Unfortunately this blog post doesn’t include gorgeous woman like Kate, or cool dudes who throw knives or torture people like Locke and Sayid. We’re going to take this time machine back one week to NBA All-Star Weekend (which I should have been at, we’ll get into that later). So just like true LOST-fashion we’re going back in time hold on…

(LOUD CREEKING SOUND)…

(GIGANTIC WHITE FLASH)…

Annnnd we’re here. It’s Friday night. The first event of the day is my new favorite event, the HORSE competition. The dunk contest used to be my favorite contest of the night but it is becoming so bad that it’s getting unwatchable, kind of like Grey’s Anatomy. Last year was the first year they introduced the HORSE competition and it was rather star studded. It consisted of my man-crush Kevin Durant, Joe Johnson, and OJ Mayo. It was pretty entertaining and I thought that this year’s was going to be even that much better. This year Kevin Durant came back to defend his title, which was a plastic horse trophy. But that’s neither here nor there. Rajon Rondo and Omri Casspi were the other two contestants. First Red Flag. Omri Casspi? Maybe I should just leave it for the running diary.

Now, earlier in the day I had called my boy Fitz to come over and watch the Saturday night festivities with me, college style. Just keep this in mind as your reading through the diary. Let’s get into it…

6:55PM – I figured it would be fitting if I gave you my pick to win the whole thing (as if you didn’t know who it was going to be) Mr. Kevin Durant. I picked Durant for two reasons. Last year when the going got tough in the competition, Durant turned it up a notch and showed that competitive mentality that says, “I’m not losing,” and went on a tear making somewhere around 764 shots in a row. The second reason is because he is now my single favorite NBA player, sorry Lebron.

6:58PM – Pre contest odds (according to me), Durant -250, Rondo +150, Casspi +894.

7:00PM – Ernie Johnson is telling Kenny Smith, Chuck, and C-Webb that they have to partner up and coach a player in the contest. C-Webb had first pick and chose Rondo, who is a major sleeper in this contest because he’s very creative on the court. Charles had Kevin Durant but then makes a last minute trade to Omri Casspi (We’ll see how this turns out). This leaves Kenny Smith with Kevin Durant. Deadly.

7:05PM – No sign of Eric Fitz.

7:15PM – The first shot of the contest is an uploaded video from YouTube and every one has to make it or they get a letter. I’m pretty sure that’s not how you play HORSE but OK, let’s try it. By the way, it’s a backwards through the legs bomb from the three line. Yup, this is going to work out well. Charles has no idea why this is a rule, me neither Chuck.

7:18PM – In case you were scoring at home, they all missed. New Lebron/Kobe Puppet Commercial is on. Thye definitely lost all momentum with these commercials. Why not something about Kobe’s 4th ring and asking him where Lebron was last May? Or is that too obvious?

7:21PM – Durant bangs home his first shot from 30 feet. I love him

7:22PM – Rondo sinks the same shot. I thought he couldn’t hit anything outside 5 feet? Casspi airballs his first shot, followed by a quick cut to Charles Barkley doing the Peyton Manning face. Priceless.

7:25PM – Durant’s jumper is so wet.

7:26PM – “That’s what she said.” – Michael Scott, The Office.

7:28PM – Odds for the biggest man crush on Kevin Durant: Kenny Smith +250, Bill Simmons +150, Tom DeRiggi -350.

7:29PM – Chuck may be the worst coach for a HORSE competition I’ve ever seen. It’s a complete awkward silence between he and Casspi, kind of like Tiger and his sex therapist.

7:30PM – Reason no. 46 while Kevin Durant will win: Has that MJ/Kobe killer competitiveness. Everyone is joking around, but Durant is stone faced and ready to win. He will play it cool at first but when he has to, he will light it up for the win.

7:34PM – Don’t know how many times I can say it, this event needs Steve Nash.

7:36PM – No one is really making shots right now. Omri Casspi is about to be eliminated, but is saved by an easy bank shot. It’s at this point we find out that Casspi has never played HORSE before. Oh great, so he’s supposed to have any chance? His odds just went up to +6900.

7:39PM – How long to we have to go until we admit Casspi was a horrendous choice for this competition. He can’t even make up his own shot ideas, coupled with Chuck as a coach. Disaster.

7:45PM – Kenny Smith has an idea for a shot. He brings our a little kid from the front row wearing a Dallas jersey. Kevin Durant shoots the jumper over him and sinks it, followed by 5-6 jokes about how this is realistic because Dallas plays no defense. There’s a reason why these guys win Emmy’s for the best sports show. If you’re still scoring at home, all three sank the jumper over the Dallas defender. Pure comedy.

7:47PM – Audio slip up by TNT – Chuck is complaining about how long this is going saying that he needs to meet up with his family and friends in the other arena. Maybe if you included Steve Nash in this instead of Omri Casspi we would be done.

7:49PM – Because of horrible scheduling, Kenny and C-Webb have to leave to participate in the shooting stars competition, leaving Chuck to coach all three. Yikes.

7:55PM – Chuck mistakenly calls Omri, Omar. In related news, Chuck is an idiot.

7:56PM – Omar, I mean Omri Casspi gets eliminated. Thank goodness. There’s no doubt in my mind that I could have beaten him. EJ announces that if time runs short they are going to a 3 point shootout to decide the winner. Great planning, TNT. Why don’t you just hand it to Kevin Durant now. Go ahead.

8:00PM – KD vs RR. Rondo was getting tricky because it is the only way to beat Kevin Durant. Going into a shootout now, here we go. KD by a landslide.

8:02PM – KD has hit 4 in a row, Rondo 4 in a row.

8:04PM – KD hits 8 in a row before missing. Rondo has hit 10 straight. Yes, you just read that correctly.

8:05PM – Chuck is erging Kevin and Rondo to keep going so the TNT producers sweat out how much time they will have to cut out because this is running to long. I haven’t seen Chuck this excited since, well I’ve never seen him that excited actually.

8:06PM – Rondo finally gets the last letter, Durant wins. That was actually way more exciting then I thought it would be. Durant receives an actual trophy. Why? The plastic Horse trophy has so much more meaning. Ughh. Someone put me in charge of this competition.

8:08PM – It’s 8:08. Do you know where your Eric Fitz is?

As I predicted, Mr. Durant wound up winning. But I really think this event needs Durant, Nash, and Lebron. But I also know Lebron will never do it because he is afraid to get beat in something. It’s the same reason why he won’t participate in the dunk contest. Comon Lebron, every great competed in All-Star Saturday, except you. Just do it already. Alright back to reality

(WHITE FLASH)

NBA's Future Forecast: Looks like Thunder

2010-01-30T18:56:00.001-05:00

Back in the day, which was a Wednesday by the way, me and my roommates used to discuss for hours upon hours upon more hours about the NBA, NFL, and MLB. Hell, we even threw in some Tennis and Soccer when the occasion presented itself. One thing we always focused on was the future of certain teams and certain players we loved to watch and loved to debate about. I remember endless nights where my roommates Fraz, Fitz, Ricky, and I constantly debated who would go where in free agency, what teams had enough to make a run in the end, and even which celeb athletes would wind up in the oddest situations in the celebrity limelight (See.Kardashian-Odom, Khloe).

Back when I was up at school, we had endless discussions about Kevin Durant, and whether or not he would be the superstar that Fitz and I thought he would be. We heard all the criticisms: He's too skinny, he can't rebound in the NBA, will his jump shot translate when he only shot 30% from three in college? and even the ridiculous notion that some analysts had him being nothing more than a bench player in the league someday. I wonder how those idiots feel now.

I don't mean to toot my own horn. Actually yes I do, what am I talking about....but I knew this would happen with Kevin Durant. Mr. Durant is enjoying an MVP-like season of the likes in which we haven't seen a youngster do since....Jordan? In his last 30 games, Durant has scored 30 points in TWENTY of those games including a stretch of 8 games in a row of 30 or more points. Not only is he scoring, he is doing it efficiently. He's averaging 49% shooting, 38% from three point line, and 88% from the free throw line. Oh, and about him rebounding in the NBA...he's averaging 7.5 a game from the small forward position. Did I mention he JUST turned 21 in September. Oh My God. We could be witnessing the next greatest player in that line of players who changed the game: Magic/Bird/Jordan/Lebron/Durant.

I finagled with the idea of writing a Durant vs. Lebron blog months ago before the season even started because in my honest opinion, I feel like Durant is going to have a more successful career then Lebron will. Think about it logically...

Durant is in Oklahoma City. Not exactly the limelight. Lebron will always be compared to Jordan and he won't be good enough until he wins 6 rings, whereas no one is expecting anything from Durant. There is much less pressure on Durant to win and win now. Lebron is always going to play with scrub-ass (yeah I just made that up) players in his supporting cast because they have a GM with his head somewhere where it shouldn't be. Danny Ferry makes moves like, "Hey let's sign Shaq for 10 million a year when he'll clog the lane and take up space from Lebron, considering our whole offense has two plays in which Lebron just goes 1 on 1 the whole time." Or you hear Mike Brown on the sidelines (wait a second, no you don't because he doesn't actually do anything) screaming at his supporting cast that HE assembled. God forbid they saved the Shaq cap space and signed, I don't know, Jamal Crawford who is averaging 16 a game off the bench for Atlanta.

Let's continue with Durant's dream situation that he's in. He has a GM in Sam Presti that knows how to push all the right buttons at the right time. He doesn't panic and go spend 75 million on Charlie Villanueva or Ben Gordon, drafts the right players like Jeff Green, James Harden, and Russel Westbrook, and he actually understands quality role players that he can get for cheap in order to fill gaps and contribute quietly: Thabo Sefolosha and Nenad Krstic. They have a nucleus that consists of the starting five of Westbrook (most underrated PG in the NBA), Thabo Sefolosha (solid defender, role player), Durant (ahead of his time superstar), Jeff Green (Al-Horford clone but a little skinnier), and Nenad Krstic (underrated Big man), with bench players including James Harden (star in-the-making), Eric Maynor (great backup PG), and Nick Collison (solid rebounder).

Jesus Christ...

Just look at that roster. Combine that with the fact that the Thunder are STILL 13 million UNDER the salary cap. I just got the chills. Can you tell I'm obsessed with this team? Let's take that 13 million and add 3 million to it for expiring contracts and roster moves at the end of the year, and the Oklahoma City Thunder have 16 million to throw around at that coveted free agent class. My lord, could you imagine if they landed Amare Stoudemire, or (gulp) Chris Bosh. Let's break this down into 4 scenarios which all could realistically happen...

Scenario 1: Thunder add Chris Bosh and a lower level guard like, let's say, Rip Hamilton. This gives you a starting five of: Westbrook, Hamilton, Durant, Jeff Green, Chris Bosh. Bench: Harden, Sefolosha, Krstic, Maynor. The Thunder lose a little bit of defense in their starting 5 but gain a knock down shooter in Hamilton and a low post presence that they don't currently have. As well as someone to bang bodies with the Duncans, Bynums, and Yao's of the Western Conference.

Scenario 2: Thunder add Carlos Boozer and Raja Bell. Starting Five: Westbrook, Bell, Durant, Green, Boozer. Bench: Harden, Sefolosha, Krstic. Not as flashy of a move as everyone would expect, but that's how OKC works. Strictly a defense move and a low post presence move.

Scenario 3: Thunder add Tyson Chandler. S-5: Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Green, Chandler. Finally gives the Thunder a legitimate center to defend the West centers and rebound the ball. Allowing Durant to get out on fastbreaks and easier buckets in transition.

Scenario 4: I hope your ready....Thunder add Chris Bosh and Jamal Crawford. Oh Jesus. Starting 5: Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Green, Bosh. Bench: Jamal Crawford, Harden, and Krstic. This would be the ideal situation for the Thunder. They get Bosh, the interior presence they need. Meanwhile they're getting the hottest bench player in the league, and someone who is currently averaging 16 a game. This gives them a scorer off the bench to grow along with Harden and to handle the scoring while Durant is out or out of the play.

I'm absolutely giddy over the future of this team. I don't have a favorite team in the NBA, but the Thunder might have to be them. This team with one or two simple acquisitions could be on top of the league for the next decade. Will we be looking back on the decade in 2020 and debating whether or not OKC was the team of the decade? Will Durant be the next one to bust the door in on the NBA like Jordan did in the late 80s and early 90s? Whatever happens, I'm forecasting the future of the NBA with plenty of Thunder.

How Bout' A New Year's Resolution...or Five

2010-01-01T14:12:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanzaa. Happy New Year, and any other Happy-(fill in a made up holiday) that I happened to miss during my month-long hiatus. There's no way you can have a well established blog during the holiday season. I'm convinced. Between the shopping, school finals, decorations being put up, and having to lie to everyone under the age of 10 about Santa Claus...it takes a toll on one's ability to successfully give you readers a free blog every week. But hey, were all about bouncing back in 2010. That's right, it's 2010. Not only am I looking forward to almost finishing college, another first round exit for the Cowboys, Colts fans calling for Jim Caldwell's head because after they win the Super Bowl they'll have 1 loss on it to the (gulp) Jets, and Kevin Durant becoming a bona fide superdee-duper-star right before our eyes, I'm also looking forward to mistakenly writing 09 on every assignment this semester because writing '10 is just too weird.

Man, do I know how to go off on a tangent. Anyway, like I said, this year is all about bouncing back and what better way to do that with the perfect New Years Resolution. Now, people who make New Years Resolution usually make it to the end of January before they decide that they've had enough and New Years is overrated. I say, the hell with that. Us real people may not be able to hold a New Years Resolution, but our sports stars must try and come up with some New Years Resolution's so that they don't drive their fans through a wall with stress and frustration. Oh you're already through a wall with stress and frustration? Me too.

A New Year's Resolution should be something that you can actually accomplish. It should be something that you want to do (or stop doing) that will ultimately lead you to a happier/healthier life. Well with our coveted sports stars it is a little different. Their resolutions have to be well thought out so that they include the well-being of their fans. So let's get into a few people who ABSOLUTELY must make these specific New Year's Resolutions.

1.) Tiger Woods. Jesus, Tiger. Why don't you just go to an Island you own for like 6 months and just stay there. Shoot, you can bring whatever mistress you choose, but just stay out of the limelight for a while. This country forgives quickly if you just apologize. Look at A-Rod, Andy Pettite, and Jason Giambi. Coincidentally, they were all Yankees (shaking my head), but they all apologized and no one says one word about any scandal they've ever been a part of. So Tiger your New Year's Resolution is to apologize, stop calling your mistresses, and just chill out in 2010.

2.) Peyton Manning. Peyton, you need to just chill out. You are insanely good at football that everyone is at the point where they HAVE to like you, even if they hate you. It's all because you work so god damn hard and are so god damn good that every other god damn quarterback looks like they have down syndrome when they play against you. So my New Year's Resolution for you is to chill out in 2010. Let some other player win the MVP award. Let some other team go for the undefeated season. Let some other team win the Superbowl. You're mad annoying Peyton. Stop practicing and studying!!

3.) ESPN. Hey ESPN directors, whoever is in charge of bashing the Cowboys on a weekly basis, maybe it's time to be a little less bias. We get it. You don't like the Cowboys. You'd rather have a big market team like somewhere in New York or Philadelphia or New England win. But I've got news for you. This team is different. So maybe it's time to cut the crap and report news unbiasedly.

Part2.) Hop off Brett Favre's you know what. I mean really. Yes the guy is an iron man. He is a warrior with the uncanny ability to make a play when a play needs to be made. But the love that you guys have over him is really sickening. You've turned me into someone who doesn't even like him anymore because of all of these reports that you guys bring out and how much of an infatuation you have with him. Just please take it easy. There's about 1000 other people in the NFL to report on...in case you were wondering.

4.) Tony Romo. Oh no Tony. Don't you do it. Don't you fool us into thinking that you're going to be different this year. You're not fooling me. You may have every other Cowboys fan fooled, but not me. Until you actually win a playoff game and show us that you can lead this team well into January I'm still having my doubts. So my New Year's Resolution for you is to just be a leader. Show us that you can lead this team and put them on your back into January because the Cowboys only go as far as you go. Plain and Simple.

5.) Brett Favre. It's very simple Brett. Retire. You've given everything you can possbily give to this sport. You've given us countless highlights, countless hold-your-breath moments, and you've even managed to get Brad Childress a contract extension when he may or may not be the top 3 worst coaches in the NFL. Just go fishing somewhere from September-January. Trust me the league will be OK without you. So my New Year's Resolution for you is to enjoy your post-football life. Find another thing to be spectacular at.

Once again, I want to apologize for the hiatus. I promise I will be back in full-swing this year. That is my New Year's Resolution, to be a better writer and hopefully grab an editor along the way. You know, cuz a brotha don't always talk perfect english, ya dig? Have a Happy New Year all!

The List

2009-12-04T11:46:00.005-05:00

I woke up today not wanting to get up, but I had to because I had to go to a boring 8am class in which I didn't even do anything. So basically it was a waste of time. But out of this waste of time the idea for this article struck me as I overheard a girl in my class talking to her boyfriend. We were doing presentations in this class and each student had to present a movement in a sport. So with sports and girlfriends/wives on my mind, I came up with this concept. We're going to simply call it....The List.

The list is a composition by yours truly that is going to consist of every single sporting event throughout the calendar year that a true sports fan should have the ability to watch. There are no excuses to miss events on this list. I don't care if your wives' best friend since she were 2 years old has scheduled their 3rd marriage on the day of a sporting event. I don't care if your wife wants to have a day with her family (my in-laws) because you haven't seem them in a while. I don't even care if you tell us that we're stupid boys and threaten to break up or divorce us. We're still watching them, because they are on The List. I will also go over some proper etiquette that you females must conduct during our time watching everything on The List.

Now, before we get into The List, let me lay out some ground rules/statements. In no way shape or form is this an attack at you, ladies. This is just a testament, a factual document, an informative piece, dare I say....a marriage saver, that is going to help you be a better girlfriend or future wife. If you abide by the guidelines on The List, and support your man's fetish for watching sports 24/7 like watching their first child when they sleep, you ladies should be A-OK.

Every now and again we like our significant others to actually watch the game or event with us. It's great to include you girls in our sports lives because you don't want to be that girl who's at a get-together at our friends house and all of the other wives and girlfriends are name dropping like they were Howie Schwab (Stump the Schwab). You don't want to walk up to a conversation and the girls are saying names like, Peyton Manning, Lebron James, Alex Rodriguez, Alex Ovechkin, Tiger Woods (the females don't exactly like Mr. Woods right now), or Adrian Peterson, and you have no idea who those athletes are. So, we'd like you to take a decent interest in our sports. Please don't take a COMPLETE interest in our sports because us guys do need some time to ourselves to shout curse words, scream at the TV, eat garbage food, and put our hands in our pants during the games, without getting ridiculed. So let's try to keep it to 2 questions per half, 3-4 comments about the hott-ness of a player per game, and only 1-2 dirty looks per evening.

So now without further ado we are going to pronounce The List. Bare with me ladies and gents.

Disclaimer: I should also mention that The List is subject to change whenever I feel like it, or if I miss a particular sporting event.

The List

The "I Can Miss Them, But I'm Going To Be Pissed at You for 3 Weeks" events:

Baseball: We are allowed to watch every game of our favorite team.
As well as every playoff game leading up to the World Series. If our team is not in the playoffs we can miss these, but we will be pissed. (May-October)
Hockey: Any game involving Alexander Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby. These aren't that bad to miss because nobody likes hockey anyway. (May)
Hockey: Stanley Cup Playoffs. Personally I don't think they matter until the Finals. (May)
Soccer: MLS Championship and National Team exhibitions. (All Year)
Olympics: Any event that doesn't include the National Basketball Team (Every Four Years)
NBA: The NBA Draft. Don't get it twisted ladies, we will miss this for a dinner date with your friend, but just take into account that we aren't speaking for three weeks after. (June)
Tennis: Any time Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer play against each other. This one might be a 5 week ban, ladies. (February-September)

The "Only Way I'm Missing These Events is if a Distant Friend Dies or My Mother Tells Me She's Going To Kill Me if I Don't Do Something" events:

Baseball: All seven games of the World Series, regardless if your team is in them or not. (October)
Golf: Anything that Tiger Woods plays in on Sundays. (All Year)
Golf: The US Open, Master's, British Open, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship. There is no way we are missing these events as long as Tiger Wood's is alive. (January-October)
Olympics: The US Men's National Basketball Team's games during the Summer Olympics. Let us show our patriotism ladies, comon'. (Every Four Years)
Documentaries: Any documentary that regards a favorite team/player/event of ours. (All Year)
NBA: Regular Season match ups on Wednesday and Thursday nights. There's no way I'm missing Kenny and Chuck on TNT, Thursday nights. (October-June)
NFL: Preseason Games of our Favorite Teams. (August)
College Football: Any Top 25 match up, or any game your favorite team plays on Saturdays. (September-January)

The "Only Way I'm Missing These Events is if Someone We Know That's Close to Us Dies and/or Has to be Rushed to the Hospital, or My First Child is Being Born" Events:

Soccer: National Team Games that are meaningful. (All Year)
Soccer: Any world cup game. (Every Four Years)
Soccer: World Cup Championship Game. (Every Four Years)
Tennis: US Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open. Trust me ladies and gentlemen, Tennis is much more exciting then you think. (February-October)
Tennis: If Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi ever make a comeback, there's no way were not watching. (Whenever)
College Basketball: Top 25 match up during the regular season. (October-March)
College Basketball: March Madness bracket selection show. God I love this. (February)
NBA: Playoff games that don't include the Finals. (May-June)
College Football: Any Bowl game that I have a vested interest in. Deal with it. (September-January)

and now.....

The "Absolutely Can Not Miss, No Matter What the Circumstances are" events:

College Basketball: Any game of March Madness. There is nothing we love more as sports fans than filling out a bracket, sitting at home from 12pm-11pm watching nothing but upsets and Dicky Vitale screaming. "It's March Madness baby!!!" all day long. This includes every round of games and the Final Four. (March)
College Basketball: National Championship game. I don't even have to explain this one. (March)
NFL: Sundays from September to February, us guys need our time from 11am to 11 pm. I call it the 11-11 rule. We need to watch every single game, have 3 computers in front of us to check fantasy scores every single second and there is no way shape or form we are missing our favorite team's game that week.(September-January)
NFL: Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, Thursday Night Football, and Saturday Night Football. (September-January)
NFL: Any Playoff Game in January, especially if our team makes the playoffs. There really is nothing that you can tell us that won't get us to watch this game. If you're rushing into labor....they better have a TV there, that's all I'm saying. (January)
NBA: The NBA Finals. Regardless of the teams that are playing in it. (May-June)
NFL: We Conclude with the Superbowl. This marks the ultimate can't miss sporting event. If you're going into labor you better hold that baby in until the 4th quarter is over. I'm sorry, that's just how it has to be.

Now that The List has been established, I urge all females who have a loved one or a significant other who loves sports to print this out. Put it on your wall. Put it at your place of work. Tell your girls about it. Tell your students. Tell your grandma. Make copies for your entire family. I don't care how you spread the information. It will give you at least something to talk about with your girlfriends. Maybe you'll talk about how ridiculous I am, maybe not. All I know is that The List has been made, and the men have spoken. Good day, and Good Luck.

A Day to Be Thankful

2009-11-26T12:27:00.003-05:00

Apparently today is a national holiday in which people all across the country are stuffing their faces with massive amounts of food, drinking all 561 flavors of Sam Adams, taking unexplainable naps after eating, watching football from 12:30-10pm, and enjoying the company of their families. Oh, and it's a day to be thankful too.

So before everyone starts their day with their respective families, I think it's time for you all to know the top 10 things that I'm thankful for...

Number 10: I am thankful for the ability to watch football ALL DAY on thanksgiving. Too bad my Italian family will be so loud that I won't be able to hear Joe Buck's monotone voice or Phil Simms talk about his mother's peach cobbler.

Number 9: I am thankful for the fact that my Cowboys play EVERY thanksgiving day. I am not thankful for the fact that I have to watch a bottom 5 team play them every year on this day...thus leading to a 20 point blow. My cousin Vinnie (no not the movie), and I had this brief conversation this morning:

Vinnie: Yo who are the cowboys playing today?

Tom: The Raiders

Vinnie: Great, cant wait to watch these games today, seriously why can't they schedule good teams to play on thanksgiving its the perfect holiday too watch football and we have to watch the Raiders.

Me: (At a loss of words)

Oh, we get to watch the Lions too.

Number 8: I am thankful for Thanksgiving day food. But not your traditional Turkey and carrots. I'm talking about that classic Italian gravy ( it's called gravy not sauce you morons) that my grandpa is going to make because to be honest...I'm not too fond of Turkey and an inordinate amount of vegetables. It's almost too healthy.

Number 7: I am thankful for Peyton Manning, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, and (gulp) Tony Romo. Be because if these guys didn't play in the NFL, I don't know If I would watch. <--That might be a lie. Actually, it's definitely a lie. Number 6: I am thankful for Bill Simmons. Not only does his columns and podcasts get me through the week, but his new book The Book of Basketball got me through the morning of boring-ness leading up to the games today. It's 760 pages long. I'm on 101. Its taken me a long time to get to 101, I'm figuring by 2011 I'll be done.

Number 5: I am thankful for Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, and Dwight Howard. Just for the simple fact that they make my favorite sport exciting and because I'm running out of things to be thankful for. Am I close to one yet?

Number 4: I am definitely NOT thankful for Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett. Between the two of them I've already lost 5-7.5 years on my life. Now I'm going to have to actually work out when I'm 50 to get those years back.

Here's an idea Wade...just stay home and eat turkey today. Let Jerry just hire a "closer" coach...kind of like Mariano Rivera. A one day contract for Bill Cowher to come in and coach the thanksgiving day game. Why is this so wrong? I just want to know what it's like to have a coach that actually has a pulse.

Number 3: I am SOOO thankful for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This game will single handily be the reason that the graduation rate of college students will go down by 25% this year. I mean who wouldn't rather drop a tactical nuclear bomb on a bunch of little 12 year old kids whose parents shouldn't have bought the game for them, yet they allow them to play and get screamed at by 20-something college kids who use ridiculous profanity and talk massive trash. (Yes, yes I do this. Don't think less of me.) Shoot, that reminds me, I have some papers to do.

Number 2: I am thankful for the fact that Tony Romo is going to have another fantastic game on Thanksgiving today, only to lead us into the "I looked great for 3 months and in reality I'm really just fooling you all to think I'm a good QB" mode. Tony Romo is like that 3 year girlfriend you've had that just isn't interested in you anymore but she keeps leading you on until she finds another guy. Can't wait for a 1-4 December, Tony!!

Number 1: Of course last and not least, I am thankful for my family and friends. There's nothing better than spending the day eating and watching football with the people you love. Everybody enjoy the day with their loved ones, Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

The Infamous Mid-Season Awards, Sort of

2009-11-13T09:55:00.006-05:00

Three weeks is unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. That's all I have to say. There's no way a blogger with such popularity and rapport as myself should be on a three week hiatus (can't you just smell the sarcasm?) But then I think about how college professors seem to not care about anyone but themselves, so they don't coordinate with one another and almost always schedule every project and paper known to mankind to be due during the same week. I mean, god forbid they had an organized system so kids aren't jumping out of windows due to stress. Do they not know that October is the busiest sports month of the year? So on their unknowing behalf, I do apologize for the hiatus.

I thought that since we are beyond the half way point for the NFL, and every team has had at least 8 games, it may be time for the infamous Chit-Chat Sports Mid-Season NFL Awards. I'm just warning you before we go in, these awards are more classified then the Oscars. I mean they're harder to get in advance than a copy of a bootleg Jay-Z CD. So with that in mind....let the award show begin...

The Least Valuable Player (the LVP):
Larry Johnson (, Cheifs) - Has anyone made less of an impact this NFL season? Did he do ANYTHING productive? He brought his coaching staff down, knocked teammates, made racial comments via twitter, played like he didn't know how to play football, and actually wound up causing Todd Haley and his wife to get a divorce. Ok... so I made that last one up. But seriously, what hasn't Larry Johnson done to harm this team this year. In my opinion, he is the clear cut LVP.

The "Worst Coaching Decision of the Year, and Quite Possible The Dumbest Thing I've Ever Seen" Award:
Andy Reid vs Dallas Cowboys - Andy Reid sucks. He just flat out sucks at game managing. He has ALWAYS been this bad. If you listen or read Bill Simmons work this week he has a conversation with NationalFootballPost.com's Mike Lombardi about HOW BAD Andy Reid is a game manager. They proposed the Idea that they hire a 'closer coach.' This coach would come in for only the fourth quarter situations and finish out the game, much like Mariano Rivera. I feel like this could work. Andy goes strong 7-8 innings, and you bring in Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan as your 4th quarter coach. Why wouldn't this work?

The "Wow I Can't Believe I Passed Up On You in My Fantasy Draft" Award:
Tie: Ray Rice (Bal) and Cedric Benson (Cincy) - The two biggest fantasy surprises this year, by far. For me, Ray Rice isn't as much of a surprise as Cendric Benson because I watched Ray Rice at Rutgers for 4 years and could have told you he was going to be an impact player. I'm sure everyone and their mother are kicking themselves for not picking Cedric Benson as their sleeper pick. I still don't believe that he's good. Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

The "Safest Fantasy Performer Every Week" Award:
Reggie Wayne (Indy) - Every week I'm waiting for Reggie Wayne to have a normal off day. But plain and simple, he doesn't have them. It is so frustrating to NOT have him on your team because he is a guaranteed 17-20 points per week. It's really incredible.

The "Wait, He Really Does Suck That Bad" Award:
Terrell Owens (Buffalo) - I don't really know how I feel about T.O. He played for my Cowboys, I have his jersey, but I just don't think I like him. But there is one thing I do know....he doesn't have it anymore. He's lost his ability like Sammy Sosa's lost respect for his African heritage. (<--Please click that link guys. It's worth it. Trust me. Just do it.)

The "God, I Can't Believe He's Actually This Good" Award:
Peyton Manning (Indy) - He's the best football player in the National Football League. That's all you need to know.

The Skip Bayless, "I Talk Way Too Much, But It's Extremely Entertaining" Award:
Chad Ochocinco (Cincy) - Just a few quotes to emphasize his award: "You might as well Just Kiss the Baby" "Child Please" and my recent favorite said this week about Pittsburgh's Ike Taylor, "He couldn't stop me if I was inside a paper bag, inside a phone booth, tied around the phone wire." Haha, the Chad is great.

The Al Davis Award for the Most Consecutive Horrible Decisions a Team Can Possibly Make:
Al Davis (Oak) - This man has no business owning a team in the NFL. Let me list just a few of the decisions he's made:

Tom Cable
Darius Heyward-Bey
Jamarcus Russel
Randy Moss for 4th round pick
Art Shell
Darren McFadden (sorry Darren)

Need I say more?

The "Where the Hell Did You Come From Award":
Miles Austin (Dal) - FROMMMMMMM...Monmouth baby. New Jersey stand up. I love that Miles Austin is good. I love that he's making the T.O. decision a non issue. I love his number. I love that I saw him at Bar A in New Jersey. I love that he smiles on every catch. I may just love him in general.

The "I May Actually Not Be A Bust" Award:
Vernon Davis (SF) - Ever since that benching one year ago by Mike Singletary, he has turned his life around and is now a captain of this team. He's also the best TE in the league right now in terms of yards and touchdowns. Job well done Vernon. Too bad his QB is.....

The "I Probably Am a Bust" Award:
Alex Smith (SF) - The thing that messed up Alex Smith was Norv Turner. Alex Smith was actually becoming a good quarterback and then Norv Turner decided he wanted to become a head coach of a 14-2 team, I can't really blame him. Since then Smith has been horrendous. I actually drafted Alex Smith as a backup quarterback a few years ago in fantasy football. Wait, did I really just say that? We must be coming to a close....

The critically acclaimed, Most Valuable Player Award (MVP):
Drew Brees (NO) - He's unbelievable. Everyone says he has so many weapons, but he really doesn't. He has Marques Colston and Reggie Bush. That's it. He makes the rest of those guys, the Robert Meachem's, the Deverey Henderson's, and the Pierre Thomas's better. And that is the definition of a true MVP. You have to make the people around you better. You have to command leadership and command respect. You have to be the person that keeps defensive coordinators up until 3 in the morning every night. That is what Drew Brees is, he's the MVP so far.

The Two Part, Turnpike World Series Preview

2009-10-26T10:20:00.008-04:00

Finally, after 4,860 games from 30 teams: We have the World Series that we had all hoped for. We have the two Juggernauts of baseball. The two cities, separated by 26 exits of Turnpike through the great state of New Jersey, will indeed give us the World Series that we could only wish for at the beginning of the season.

Now this World Series preview is going to be a two part piece, courtesy of the two most entertaining, unknown sports blogs this side of the Toms River. I am going to write about the Yankees side, breaking down match-up favors for them, and basically telling you why the Yankees will win the series. My colleague over at ShoreThing Sports, Mr. Phil Shore (being a die-hard Philly fan) has humbly agreed to give you the Phillies side of the series, and he is going to tell you why the Phillies will win this series.

So for reasons (that obviously no one cares about because it's the Phillies) go over to ShoreThing Sports for an excellent Phillies preview.

Now on to the real reason why the twenty of you who regularly visit this blog are here. This match-up may very well be the most talented World Series across the board that we've seen this decade...or further. You have the most feared lineup in all of baseball, and a National League lineup that hits like they belong in the American League. You've got two of the games top 5 pitchers starting game 1.

(Quick Side Note: Thank you so much to the front office of the Cleveland Indians. Look at what you've given up for the cities of Philadelphia and New York to enjoy. C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee starting game 1. Kudos to you guys.)

You've got the most dominant closer in baseball history, against the sketchiest (yea, I just said sketchiest.) You've got the two single most passionate fan bases out of all cities that house a professional sports team. I was listening to 660 WFAN on my way home this morning and they brought up a point that needs to be portrayed to the rest of the country. When you come up to the northeastern part of the United States....sports just mean more. It's too hard to comprehend for people outside of NY, Philly, Boston because they've never experience what it's like to follow teams in this part of the country. There is an aura about the teams, the stadiums, and the fans that can only be seen here. While I'm not condoning the other major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and St. Louis, but there is nothing like rooting for a team in this part of the country. Trust me, it's just different.

Now that I've given as much props as I can to the city of Philadelphia (ugh)...It's on to why the New York Yankees will win their 27th World Series title.

1. Mr. November

The man formally known as A-fraud, A-Roid, and a non Yankee has single handedly carried this team to the World Series (with a little help from number 2.) Alex Rodriguez has been as good as anyone could have imagined, given his previous post season woes. As long as number 3 is in the lineup you have to pitch around him. You figure that the Yankees are going to get runners on base, so it is indeed tough to pitch around A-rod, which is why he has been so successful. All I know is, if I'm Charlie Manuel, I'm not pitching to the guy.

2. The Captain

Aside from A-Rod's 'on another planet' performance we're witnessing, Mr. Jeter, the captain, continues to amaze even the loyalist of Yankee fans. Think about this for a second...is there anything that he could do, that you wouldn't expect? He gets clutch hit after clutch hit, he hits home runs, he fields excellently despite the naysayers, and to top it all off he is the best leader in all of baseball. Derek Jeter has been the epitome of what a Yankee is from day one. No one in the world has more postseason experience and success then number 2.

3. C.C. (CAN COUNT on) Sabathia

If you don't watch ESPN's First Take and you don't know who Skip Bayless is than that joke isn't really funny. But for years he has called C.C. Sabathia, "Can't Count On" Sabathia. Nothing makes me happier than when Skip Bayless has to eat his words. C.C. is an absolute horse, he can start on 3 days rest, hell I wouldn't be surprised if he started every game. The guy doesn't wear down and he's best when it counts.

4. The Gold Glove First Basemen

Anyone want to question the move to sign Mark Tiexiera now? Regardless of what he's done with the bat in the post season, the Yankees are in the World Series in large part to his defense. Tiexiera is a human vacuum, nothing seems to get by him and with a heavy lefty lineup coming to town with Howard, Utley, Ibanez, and Rollins the Yankees are going to need him more than ever.

5. Brad Lidge

I was going to go with all Yankees for my reasons, but this one was too noticeable to pass up. How do you have a closer that has an ERA over 7. 7!! Seeing what the Yankees do to opposing bullpens, the Phillies better hope that Cliff Lee, Pedro, and Cole Hamels are giving them at least 8 innings. All it's going to take is one hit from someone in the Yankee lineup off of Lidge and his confidence will be completely shaken again. Don't forget that one of his many blown saves this year came against the Yankees in walk-off fashion against A-Rod.

6. Enter Sandman

How could I not close this up with the best closer of all-time. Very simple. Mariano enters the game. The other team doesn't score. All the Yankees have to do is get the lead in the 9th inning and then......ENTER SANDMAN.

Prediction:

The series is exactly what we all wanted. We wanted the two powerhouses. We wanted the glits and glamour. Well now we have it. Time do deliver boys.

Yankees in 7.

____________________________________________

NBA preview coming Friday. Stay Tuned!!

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

2009-10-15T09:30:00.003-04:00

"There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now." - James A. Baldwin

Nothing quite like starting a sports column with inspirational words.

So often in sports, and more so now than ever, we tend to remember the current and ignore the past. If you presented this theory to a history professor or a history major they'd laugh in your face and say that is the worst way to predict what can possibly happen in the future. Over the past 230 years that this country has been a country, one trend has been consistent that we can base our future projections on: History always repeats itself.

So why, in this day in age, do we always focus on the "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" rather than looking into the past to get more accurate results? If our history is our best educator than why is everyone so hung up on what happens that day?

Myself, along with nearly everyone in the sporting world, is a victim of this disease. In the four major sports, NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL we base our thoughts about a particular player or particular team on what they have done recently. This has never been more prevalent than this year's NFL season.

It starts with the media. We all love to see what the media has to say about every team week in and week out, and we're supposed to believe what they tell us because they are the "experts." I, for one, fall prey to this week in and week out. For some reason we're all addicted to what they have to say. The problem is that 90% of the analysts and media outlets focus on what happened in the past week. I know I harp about the Cowboys week in and week out, but they are the perfect example.

Heading into the season, Mr. Romo was supposed to be a top five quarterback in this league and he sure looked like it after week 1. Then the Cowboys go into week 2 and lay an egg in Jerry's new stadium. After that game Tony Romo went from being the 5th or 6th best quarterback in the NFL who can potentially win a Super Bowl, down to a middle of the pack quarterback and the Cowboys season was finished because he could never win the big game.

After a win the next week, they head into an undefeated Denver Broncos stadium and once again Mr. Romo decided to lay another egg. Throwing an interception and missing throws all game.

The point I'm trying to make is that nearly everyone of our athletes across the league is under a "What have you done for me lately?" microscope. Carson Palmer was an elite quarterback before his injury. So when he came back everyone was saying that he'll just be average and he's lost his ability to be a great quarterback. His team is 4-1. Now everyone is judging Tom Brady, saying that he has lost some ability to play quarterback. Well, yea the man sat out an ENTIRE YEAR of football. Why are we so quick to judge what he's going to do after 5 weeks? Carson Palmer has come back from a similar injury and is now playing at an elite level. So why do we think Brady won't do that as well?

This epidemic is league-wide. People are now beginning to question whether or not Jeff Fisher is a good coach in Tennessee. The media outlets and bloggers are critiquing him and saying that his job may be in jeopardy because his team is 0-5. So because his team is having a rough stretch you fire a coach who's lead this franchise to the playoffs 6 out of the past 10 seasons?

Fantasy Football has made this epidemic grow even more rapid over the past years. This year players like Matt Forte, Clinton Portis, Tony Romo, and De Angelo Williams are being scrutinized by everyone who owns them saying that they've lost a step and that Romo can't lead a team without T.O. I guarantee you that the three running backs mentioned will all have 1000 yards and Romo will still finish with 30TDs and 3000 yards. Those are all solid fantasy numbers right? Maybe it's time for us to focus on what our past will tell us and give these athletes time to perform.

But this is how our society is. We're prisoners of the moment. We're captured by the now. In a world of real-time updates and ridiculous news reports about completely irrelevant topics (See: Favre, Brett), in a world of Twitter and Facebook, in a world of iPhone applications and Blackberry updates, and in the world of Fantasy football fans do not miss a beat. There is no cure for this epidemic, it has to start with ourselves. Maybe we should look into the past for more accurate answers as to what is going to endure in the future. But for now were going to be living in that "What have you done for me lately?" mindset.

Order Up Another Pie!!

2009-10-10T11:33:00.006-04:00

"Start spreading the newsss, Im leaving todayyy
I want to be a part of it - New york, New yorkkkk...

These vagabond shoessss, are longing to strayyyy
Right through the very heart of it - New york, New yorkkkk..." - Frank Sinatra

There is nothing quite like the sound of Mr. Sinatra. There is nothing in baseball quite like a walk-off win. There is nothing in baseball quite like the Yankees. There is nothing in baseball quite like the playoffs in New York.

Well last night we got all four....and what a treat it was. When you start to hear the music blaring from the thousands of speakers in the New Yankee Stadium, and you see AJ Burnett, pie in hand, make a B-line straight toward Mark Teixeira, you've got to be watching Yankee playoff baseball.

Last night's game was just awesome. As a writer I try to always find creative adjectives and descriptive words to explain a situation that I'm talking about. But I just could not find a better word then, awesome. Everything about the game was awesome. We saw two great pitching performances on both sides. We saw a team score and then the home team come right back in the bottom of the inning and score to keep pace. We saw Alex Rodriguez come through in a (gulp) clutch situation with his first RBI.

(Side note: After this hit, I texted my boy and fellow Chit-Chat Sports' half-ass contributor, Showtime, and said, "Can I now use the words A-Rod and clutch in the same sentence?" Little did I know this would lead to an even bigger circumstance later on.)

So we get to the bottom of the ninth, and if you've been a Yankee fan the past 10 years, you know that these situations (especially with A-fraud coming up) seem to never work out for us in the playoffs. But if you've followed this team all year you know that something is different with them. They have that swagger and confidence every game. They believe that no matter the score, they can still win this game.

These moments almost always seem to come down to Alex Rodriguez. If you could somehow look up a stat on how many times a player has been up in "clutch" situations, Alex has to be the leader. And in the past he has struggled tremendously. So when Mark Teixeira got the lead-off single, you just knew something was in order.

I posted a comment on facebook saying, "Comon A-rod, for once be clutch in your life."

Seconds later, I'm watching Clutch-Rod (as my boy Ski now calls him) trotting around the bases after tieing the game at three with a two-run home run.

At first I was stunned. Maybe he should have started dating Kate Hudson years ago? She seems to have straightened him out, and most definitely will not be trying to lose this guy in 10 days. But that's neither hear no there. I digress.

The magnitude of that home run will be overlooked of course by the actual Walk-off winner, Mark Teixeira, however the bigger story is that proverbial "monkey" that seems to be off Mr. Rodriguez's back. He seems calm and confident, even if he strikes out a couple times, he is showing that resiliency to be a clutch hitter. This may lead to the most important thing to come out of this game if the Yankees are to get to the championship this year.

Of course I didn't forget about my man Teixeira, who I bashed for days on end in the beginning of the season. But I knew he could do it all along. :) What a moment for him to earn his pinstripes.

And of course the night wouldn't be complete without the AJ Burnett pie festivities. I never understood why we call it a pie to the face, when it's really shaving cream. But I'm not complaining, I'll take all the pies they can whip up. Hell, I'll even buy the Barbasol....LET'S GO YANKS!!

The Monday Morning Blues

2009-10-05T11:07:00.004-04:00

During my entire existence on this gracious planet, I have seen hundreds of football games. From pee wee to high school to college all the way to the grand-daddy of them all, the NFL. I've seen nearly every situation a team can go through, every off-the-field incident a team can endure, and every high or low that a fan can possibly live through.

However, yesterday was the last straw for me...

If you didn't already know, I am a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. I bleed blue and no one in the state of New Jersey is a bigger fan then I am. I stick by my team despite all the heckling and trash talking that comes my way (and it's a ridiculous amount, because I live in a state that is 75% Giants fans, but 80% of those fans became fans right after they won the Super bowl....great fan base guys!) Week in and week out I hear it from all angles. When the Cowboys win, it's never good enough. "Oh, well they're supposed to win, Oh Romo still sucks even though they won." And if the Cowboys lose, it's a feeding frenzy..."Wow man the Cowboys really suck, God they are so bad, those Cowgirls suck." But it's OK because I deal with it, realizing that the people who talk trash to me don't know half as much as I know about football.

Through all this I've stayed upbeat, realizing that it is just a game and there are things in life that are more important than football.

But I'm here to tell you now....I am done rooting for players that don't care about it's fan base or what that star represents on the side of their helmet. I'll still root for this team week in and week out, but why invest so much stress and time into a team full of players, that do not even care if they win or lose? 90% of the players on the Dallas Cowboys are there because they have been blessed with unique abilities, but don't play with any heart. They are there to collect a paycheck and go home to their million dollar mansions.

It all starts at the top in this organization. You have an owner who wants to win so badly that he'll do anything...as long as he can control it. So he goes and hires a puppet coach who he can control and do whatever he wants...a coach who could not coach his way out of a paper bag. And now you have a "head coach in waiting" in Jason Garret. Supposed to be regarded as the top offensive mind in all of football, yet he can't get his "star" quarterback to prepare and study the way a starting quarterback should in this league.

Now, this leads me into Mr. Romo. I have defended Tony Romo from Day 1. I've stuck with him through every snap, argued against every moron that said that he sucks and he could never win a big game...WHEN HE'S ALREADY WON BIG GAMES. (He's won at Giants Stadium, Philly, Indianapolis, Green Bay, all numerous times) But this is a "what have you done for me lately" league, and everyone forgets what happens as soon as the next week's whistle blows. I've stuck by all of Romo's off the field antics, with his girlfriends, vacations, other sport ambitions. I've always supported him as the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys....until now.

I can not root for a quarterback that routinely, week in and week out, fools his fan base into believing that he is genuinely trying to get better each week. The reality is that he doesn't care enough about the game of football and his fan base. Sure, he says all the right things after games, but he doesn't go and act on them. Tony Romo needs to call up Peyton Manning and have a long talk about what it takes to succeed in the NFL at the quarterback position. Even though Romo has only been in the league 3 years as a starter, he's been around long enough to know that what he is doing is not working. It's time for a change Mr. Romo.

So until this team starts caring about how they play on the field, and they figure out what that star on the side of their helmet represents, I'll be watching with a cautious eye. I won't be fooled by a joke organization again. Start showing some heart, and some fight, and that's when you win back the fan base that you men have destroyed.

_______________________________________

Just some quick notes from the weekend...

Relax Jet fans. It was one game against a top 5 team. Mark Sanchez will be fine, you guys are going to win at least 8-9 games. No reason to start calling for Rex Ryan's head, because you know that's what the New York media is doing today. Id rather have a young quarterback who cares about winning then to have that bum down in Dallas.

The Giants beat up on another horrendous team. So they've beaten 4 teams that have a combined 4 wins? And had to go down to the wire with the Cowboys despite getting 4 turnovers? Hope you can sleep at night Giant fans.

Peyton Manning is the best player in the NFL. From when he wakes up in the morning to when he goes to bed at night, that man breathes football. Colts fans really need to just appreciate how great of an athlete they have.

St Louis, Washington (despite 2 wins), and Tampa Bay are the three worst teams in football. It's not even close.

Who Ya got tonight? I'm going Vikings in OT. It's tough for any team to come in and win at Minnesota...but the Packers...on Monday Night. That place is going to be rocking. Vikings 30-27.

O.T.L. for the N.F.L.

2009-09-14T13:08:00.010-04:00

Oh Thank the Lord for the National Football league. That's what my title stands for if you had trouble interpreting. I realize that may be corny and it may turn some of you away right out of the gate, but I have no other words to describe the utter joy and happiness that I am experiencing now that the NFL is under way and 1 week is in the books.

This weekend was like Christmas day, only it was 85 and Sunny and there were no tangible presents being distributed. However, in order to give you the full experience of the day, I felt that I should give you one of my world famous running diaries. And in the words of the ever-so-witty Bill Simmons, this is what transpired...

9:00 AM EST: I hoppppppppeeeddddd up out the beddddddddd...turn my swaggggg- alright thats enough. But you get the idea. You know when you wake up as easy as riding a bike is....it's going to be a good day.

9:30 AM EST: Driver and Pitching Wedge in hand, and I'm off to a little morning Driving range session with my boy Joe. For some reason, Sunday Mornings are so much easier to do anything that involves you being an athlete. It's very relaxing.

10:02 AM EST: Buckets purchased, tees set up, and the first ball goes off the back of the 200 yard net. Oh the Joy of whacking balls, golf balls that is.

10:15 AM EST: Joe and I now planning out the day leading up until the 1:00 PM start times. This is what we came up with:

10:00-11:00 Golf
11:00-11:45 Tossing the the old Pigskin around on Highway Lagoon (more on this later)
12:00-1:00 Sunday NFL Countdown, talking fantasy, setting lineups, and placing bets that have 75-1 odds of happening (MUCH MORE on this later

11:00 AM EST: After a bucket and a half down for each of us at Mr. B's we head to WaWa because neither of us can go another second without downing a WaWa Ice Tea.

11:45 AM EST: After downing the WaWa, a 15-minute relaxation period, a 10 minute speech on how Mark Sanchez is the best QB in the NFL from Joe and my cousin (just arrived) it's out to the street to throw the football.

Now if you've never been on Joe's street, and I'm guessing 100% of you haven't. You should know that it's on a Lagoon and it contains a cold-a-sac (<---I'm not even spell checking that word). So in theory you would think that there would be no cars coming up or down and we would have the street to ourselves. Now, for some unforeseeable reason, EVERY SINGLE TIME we go out to play a sport, there is always a minimum of 20 cars that drive by. It's unbelievable. And the worst part is, it's un-solvable, kind of like global warming. I swear next time we are going to buy Road Closed signs. Now you know why we have dubbed his street, Highway Lagoon. I digress....

12:30 PM EST: We got alllll sorts of parents roaming the living room so it's very hard to place illegal bets down when you got rents' all over your case. But me being the experienced veteran, I get it done. Just for the record this was my bet: $5.00 to win $350.00

GB -4
Minn -4.5
Broncos - WIN
Dallas - 6.5
Philly -2.5
Seattle -7

12:45 PM EST: It's setting description time. Let me break it down like a fraction for you: OK we got the main TV with Direct TV Sunday Ticket. But that game will only see the Jets game because two die hard Jets fans are here. We bring in a second 36 inch flat screen (no big deal) to throw on the 1:00 FOX game and of course, it's my Cowboys. WaWa food, 2 TV's, Sunday Ticket, 3 laptops....it's gotta be September.

12:59 PM EST: Just barely get the fantasy lineup set. It's at this point that I think that I'm OK for this week. I'm playing my Uncle who was 2-766 last year and has only one year of fantasy experience under his belt. Little did I know this would not turn out well....

1:15 PM EST: Kind of a slow start for the games but all of sudden Mark Sanchez completes his first pass anddd......THE JETS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!! Jet's fans never cease to amaze me. They need a ring so bad, even worse than Eli Manning needs a receiver.

1:45 PM EST: Ummmmm. Carolina are you alive? I thought at first there was a mistake on my fantasy screen. I'm playing against the Eagles Defense and they have 27 points. IT'S NOT EVEN THE SECOND HALF!! I swear to god if this is how I lose week 1 in fantasy I'm going to lose my mind.

2:15 PM EST: Cowboys using all three running backs on the first couple series'. Love it. However, kind of a sluggish start for the Boys'. Adrian Peterson is a freak of nature, and that's an understatement. He might finish with 200.

2:30 PM EST: Halftime of the first half games. The Jets (gulp) are up 10-0 at half AT Houston. Cowboys lead, Vikings lead, Denver leads, and Philly is up 31-10. The stars may be aligning here.

2:45 PM EST: Just want to check in and let you know that the Eagles have now scored 33, I repeat 33 FANTASY POINTS!!! Jake Delhomme, just go home, don't ever return to the NFL. I'm down 88.36 - 24.45. I'm the two time defending champ. WOW.

3:15 PM EST: I may be conceding defeat in Week 1 of fantasy. Plus my cousin and Joe are dishing it to me because I'm getting shellacked. Great, I can feel the day starting to turn for the worse.

3:45 PM EST: I can't believe the Bengals are about to ruin my bet. Denver leading the whole game 6-0 and the Bengals are about to go in.

.....

And they're in. It's at this moment in time that I decided to use a few choice words that are not appropriate for publication. But it rhymed with, gluck you Cincinatti, and gluck Ochocinco because he's a Glucking glassbowl, I can't believe I'm going to glucking lose on a pullship play.

..Something like that.

3:48 PM EST: We switch back to the Jets game because we see that Denver basically lost......then I turned to my computer and saw that Denver was up 12-7. I said nah, that's impossible...it must be a mistake...

......and then we saw it.......

.....the MIRACLE PLAY OF WEEK 1.....

Kyle Orton drops back...throws a bomb to Brandon Marshal.l only to be tipped by a defender, and scooped out of the air like he was catching a bouquet, by Brandon Stokeley, for an 80 yard Touchdown. OH MY GOD....I can not believe that just happened. I retract my previous statement about the Bengals...I love them!

4:00 PM EST: Time to wrap up shop and head to my Grandparents for a birthday celebration. Eagles scored 43 Fantasy points against me. Sick. Cowboys win, jets win, Broncos win, Eagles win, Vikings win, Drew Brees throws 6 TDs. Now I just need Aaron Rodgers to throw 7 TDs tonight and Seattle to cover and I'll in fantasy and win my bet that I placed. Back later

_______________________________--

8:30 PM EST: I return after a glorious day of football, all the stars are aligning for this game here. I'm down 50 in fantasy and need GB to cover 4 and I'll win. Not to mention I have Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings in fantasy. Let's go.

9:00 PM EST: Very Very boring first quarter. Please god get better quick or else I'm going to have to watch the VMAs instead of just flipping for when Beyonce comes out half naked.

9:30 PM EST: Everyone's Facebook status is about Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift. Does anyone know there's football on.

9:45 PM EST: OK now there is a legit reason to not watch 10 minutes of the game. Beyonce just came out in a half bathing suit, half - nothing ensemble. This isn't fair. It's like watching your best fantasy player getting down to the 1 yard line and not getting in EVERY TIME (Deangelo cough). That's how I feel about Beyonce. You feel like you can just get so close but you know you will NEVER EVER EVER in your life have her. I digress.

10:30 PM EST: Aaron Rodgers is going to ruin my day. Ruin fantasy and ruin the bet. What a B.T.J.F. Big Time Jerk Face

11:30 PM EST: Now Green bay loses the lead and the cover. Jesus Christ. The only hope I have now is that Green Bay some how comes up with a miracle play in which they go for the TD instead of settling for the game winning field goal.

11:42 PM EST: AND IT HAPPENED!!! Rodgers to Jennings!!!!! and the 2PT conversion for the cover!!! Oh I LOVE THE NFL. Who cares about Fantasy when you win $350.00 opening weekend.

And on a final note.....OH THANK THE LORD FOR THE NFL!!!!!

The Sports Enthusiast's Ode to Summer 2009

2009-09-07T09:38:00.004-04:00

Well, well, well. Look who's back. I know what you're all saying, well at least the 6 of you who consistently feel bad for me and read the blog: It's about time! I don't even know where to begin, seeing as that I missed the entire summer after I started my Top 5 Friday segment. The last real article I wrote was a running diary of UFC 100 on July 11th. July 11th!!! But this is what happens when you work every single day on an ice cream truck, end up finding a girlfriend, school starting up again, and having to be the commissioner of the sickest fantasy football league this side of the Toms River. Basically I have no time.

But now we here at Chit-Chat Sports (basically myself and a rare showtime appearance every 3 months to make himself believe that he's important) are back and better than ever. I'm going to try and keep it to a two column a week blog. The Friday segment, Top 5 Friday, is still going to be running and the other column will run on a Monday or a Tuesday.

So as our triumphant return continues I decided to give you all my recap of the summer since the last time I left. So this is my Ode to the Summer of 2009, or should I say, The Summer that Wasn't, at the Jersey Shore.

1.) What in the hell snapped with the Yankees. They go from 3 games under the Red Sox to now 7.5 games ahead of the Red Sox and have the best record in baseball. Wait, I can be excited about a Yankee post-season? It's been awhile.

2.) Really felt bad for Andy Roddick at Wimbledon. Roddick played the match of his life, had the win in the bad in the 2nd set and the 5th set, but just couldn't escape that gigantic shadow cast over him that is Roger Federer. 16-14 in the 5th set really? And now he just got bounced at the US Open. I hate to say it but I think that was Andy's chance and he missed the boat. As long as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal can still hold a raqcuet, Andy is not going to win a major.

3.) I'm so happy. I repeat...SO HAPPY!. That I wasn't writing during this entire Brett Favre drama. Brett Favre is like herpes. You can't get rid of him, and his drama flares up from time to time. Someone get Minnesota some Valtrex.

4.) What in the world has happened to Tiger Woods? I mean seriously, he was the most invincible athlete of this generation. When Tiger got a lead in a major it was all over. Now he is missing putt after putt after putt to the point where he's going to give Skip Bayless a heart attack. Tiger will also remember the Summer of 09 as the Summer that Wasn't.

5.) Plaxico Burress pleads guilty and gets 2 years in jail. He had a 3 month jail sentence in the plea deal he declined months earlier. HAHAHAHA

6.) This NFL season has all the makings of the craziest season yet. Even crazier than last years' season. The fantasy football drafts this year are by far the hardest in the past 5 years because picks 2-10 are a crap shoot.

7.) I'm writing this on the 30th anniversary of Sportscenter and ESPN. The greatest inventions known to man-kind. They are probably the reasons why I follow sports so much. So easily available!

There's my summer in review for 09. I realize I have to get back in blogging shape here but bare with me. Expect a Michael Jordan article later in the week, seeing as the King himself and my favorite athlete of all time, will be inducted into the hall of fame. See you later on this week.

Top Five Friday: Top Five MJ Songs of All-Time

2009-07-31T16:21:00.004-04:00

I know, I know. You guys all hate me. I'm sorry I haven't been doing my usual Monday-Tuesday article but I've been crazy-busy. However, I do promise that an article is coming this Monday or maybe even before that. But in the mean time I'm going to give you the first pop-culture Top 5 Friday in Chit-Chat Sports storied history. It's going to be a short one so bare with me until Monday.

In light of the greatest entertainer/most famous human being ever, Michael Jackson, passing away last month, I've decided to come on and give you the Top 5 greatest Michael Jackson songs (not videos because we all know what number 1 would be) of all time. After I list the 5 I'm going to give you the Honorable mention list, because when your talking about Mike there is just way too many great songs. So let's get started....

5) The Way You Make Me Feel - Bad - Are you ready for the cheesiest line of the blog? -We all know how this song made us feel, If you know what I mean.- Talk about a classic song though. Great message, great execution. If this song doesn't jump start any relationship then god help you.

4) PYT (Pretty Young Thing) - Thriller - If there was ever a "best MJ song without a video" this would be it, hands down. I'll be completely honest with you all, I had no idea what this song was until the Jabowockeez performed it on ABDC. But since then I can't stop listening, warranting number 4 on this list. "Pretty Young Things, repeat after me!!!"

3) Black or White - Dangerous - You could always count on Mike to bring down the racial/sexual/prejudice boundary. And this song was the poster child for what Michael did in his career (no pun intended). Black or White sent the message out that it doesn't matter what our skin color is or what religion we believe in or whether we were male or female, but that we were all human. And aside from those reasons, you could play this song 45 times in a row before it even has a chance of getting old.

2) Man in the Mirror - Bad - The most well written song of Michael's long and storied career. At one point in everyone's life, they listened to this song and said, "Wow, this is what I have to do." We all need to start with the man in the mirror. This is by far the most well executed song from MJ. Along with the live performances, the number 1 song is lucky I didn't decide to throw Man in the Mirror at 1. But I couldn't put it over...

1) Billie Jean - Thriller - The Greatest MJ song of all-time. Don't try to argue with me. It's number 1, clear-cut. The video was classic, even though we had no idea what was going on in it. The beat hits so hard and every time you hear it you can't help but just bop your head like you were going to choreograph an MJ concert. How can you not have the original Moonwalk song number 1? Tell me how this Motown 25 performance isn't number 1 all time?

There you have it. I know it was quick but well worth it. Here's the honorable mention songs that had me pondering...

Remember the Time
Thriller
Beat It
Bad
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Wanna Be Startin Somethin'

Top 5 Friday: Top 5 Hitting Tandems, Currently in Baseball

2009-07-24T17:39:00.007-04:00

I have no worthy articles to bless you with this week. Mainly because all of the sporting world is reporting about whether or not Brett Favre is going to play, and whether or not Michael Vick is going to play. Quite frankly, I'm completely sick of it. Who wants to hear about more Brett and Michael stuff when you get enough of it through ESPN because ESPN reports every single thing that Brett Favre is doing every day. Here's a sample transcript of the Brett Favre headlines from ESPN:

Sources: Brett Favre throws passes to a few high school receivers.

Sources: Brett Favre talks to a doctor about getting his 250 game-straight-arm checked out because he may want to be healthy for the rest of his career.

Sources: Minnesota Vikings players want Brett Favre.

Sources: Someone inside the Vikings organization says that Brett Favre would have already said no to playing if the major stars on the Vikings weren't clamouring for him to come to the Vikings.

What has reporting come too? We have to settle for Brett Favre's everyday occurrences instead of talking about real intriguing sports ideas like, how the Cowboys will fair without T.O. this year, who will rise out of the tough American League East, or maybe the Erin Andrews video.

So since it is indeed Top 5 Friday, and we had a blockbuster deal in baseball today, I'm on to give you guys my top 5 hitting tandems in baseball today. These hitters are most likely in the 3-4 spots maybe the 2-3 but we'll see how it goes. So let's get started...

5) Lance Berkman - Carlos Lee - Houston Astros - This was the toughest one to decide on because I was going to throw in Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria but Lance and Carlos take it by a nose. Lance has been solid for years now and Carlos Lee has the ability to put the ball over the fence at any moment during an at-bat. Pencil them in at number 5.

4) Raul Ibanez - Ryan Howard - Philadelphia Phillies - The single biggest surprise in baseball this year is Raul Ibanez. We all knew that Howard would put up 45 homers, and he will continue to do so until hes 35. But Raul Ibanez this season puts this tandem at number 4. They have the most feared lineup in all of baseball with these two all-stars in the middle of it leading the charge.

3) Joe Mauer - Justin Morneau - Minnesota Twins - Joe Mauer is the single best contact hitter in baseball and now he's added the Power element to his game. Justin Morneau is a former AL MVP (which Derek Jeter should have won) who puts up great numbers every year. Between the two of them they're going to have 70 home runs this year and probably bat .320. Definitely worthy of number 3.

2) Albert Pujols - Matt Holiday - St. Louis Cardinals - Some may question why these guys are number 2 until you remember that Albert Pujols has a chance to win the TRIPLE CROWN. Then newly acquired Matt Holiday adds national league experience to an already murderous lineup. You can expect 15-20 home runs from Holliday in the second half in that lineup and about 20-25 more from Pujols, warranting them number 2.

1) Mark Teixiera - Alex Rodriguez - New York Yankees - Trust me this isn't the homer pick. I am indeed a Yankee fan but how can you not put these two as the top hitting tandem in baseball. Since A-Rod's May 8th return, the Yankees have the best record in all of baseball. Tex is having an MVP type season batting in front of A-Rod, and A-Rod is being himself hitting a homer every 16-17 at bats. Ask Roy Halladay who the best hitting tandem in baseball is, and you'll find these two names at the top of his list.

So that's it. You're top 5 1-2 punches in baseball. Next week I'm thinking about going to pop culture for a top 5. Keep checking to see my next article in the upcoming week.

Top Five Friday: The Most Exciting Players to Watch in Sports

2009-07-17T19:17:00.007-04:00

Today is the start of a brand new segment for Chit-Chat Sports that I believe is going to stick for a while. We're going to call it 'Top Five Friday.' Throughout the passed five or six years, my best friends and I have always had heated debates on certain events/players/plays and basically anything. Many of these debates ended up with us arguing for our 'Top Five' of that particular category.

So in light of our ridiculous arguments that we've had in the past, I'm going to write a short blog post every Friday with the headline, 'Top Five Friday.' The top 5's will range from anything in sports to pop culture, but most of them will be sports related.

So I figured the first one should be something pretty big and something everyone can relate to. So the very first edition of 'Top Five Friday's' is going to be the most exciting players to watch across all sports. Now keep in mind this isn't the best, or my favorite, or the most likable. This is strictly the most exciting players to watch. So let's get started with the first Top 5 Friday...

5) Rafael Nadal - Tennis - This pick may be a little biased because of my love for watching tennis, but I guarantee you if you put on a Rafael Nadal match in a major tournament you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Nadal goes against the grain of your traditional Tennis player. He wears the cut sleeves T-shirt, the bandanna, and the cargo shorts. However, he is exactly what Tennis needed. Nadal plays a style that we haven't seen since Andre Agassi. He races down every ball, never takes a point off, and meanwhile hits absolutely ridiculous winners with impossible angles to do so. I strongly suggest you watch Rafael Nadal next time you can; he is truly a special athlete.

4) Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers - As much as I don't want Kobe to be on this list, he is. If there was a list for the 'top 5 first half most exciting players' then he wouldn't be on them. But when it comes to the 4th quarter, there is no better closer in basketball then Kobe Bryant. If there is less then 4 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, you almost know for a fact that Kobe is going to hit a dagger, or a ridiculous shot to get his team the victory. Kobe is quite possibly the most clutch athlete in the NBA and that warrants him being on the Top 5 most exciting athletes list.

3) Tiger Woods - Golf - This is probably the wrong time to be putting Tiger on this list, seeing as he just missed the cut at a major for only the second time in his career today. But when Tiger is healthy there is nothing like watching him on Sunday. You might say, "Well how can any golfer be on this list?" Do me a favor. Next time there is a major on TV and it's the final round on Sunday (except for this one) force yourself to watch the entire round. Chances are you're going to see Tiger trying to make a crazy comeback, winning a sudden death playoff hole, or holding off a charging competitor. The final rounds of any golf major are beyond exciting, however if Tiger's in the chase, it's a whole different experience.

2) Larry Fitzgerald - Arizona Cardinals - I don't think there is another player in the NFL that is as exciting as Larry Fitzgerald is. All you have to do is go re-watch last year's Superbowl and that is all the footage you need. Larry is on his way to becoming one of the greatest receivers to ever do it, and he does it with out-of-this-world type plays. Larry Fitz makes catches that no one has ever seen before. His combination of size, speed, hands, and willingness to go up and get the ball wherever it is, makes him the most dynamic/exciting receiver in the game. It's those memorable catches that we see week in and week out that warrants putting him number 2 on this list.

1) Lebron James - Cleveland Cavaliers - Is there even a debate as to who should be number 1? It's almost automatic at this point. Lebron James is the single most exciting athlete in any sport. The best part is, he's only 24. Which means the best is yet to come from Lebron. The thing that makes Lebron so exciting is that we all expect him to do something spectacular. So when it actually happens it gets blown out of proportion and covered on ESPN for days later. A perfect example was his buzzer beater against the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It wound up being a top 12-13 buzzer beater all-time because of the hype surrounding Lebron. Everyone questions whether or not he can be that clutch type of player and I believe he is well on his way. As far as exciting goes, there's no one close. Lebron driving to the hoop with a big guy standing under the hoop is probably the most exciting thing to watch in sports; because you know that big guy is going to be on Lebron's next poster at all local Nike outlets.

So while we debate and argue over this top 5, I'm sure that no one can argue that these guys aren't in a league of their own.

Honorable Mention: Alex Ovechkin, Adrian Peterson, Ed Reed, Derek Jeter

___________________________________________________________

Expect a top 5 post every Friday from now on. They're going to be fun.

Live From UFC 100 - My 1st UFC Experience

2009-07-11T22:12:00.015-04:00

In case you haven't heard about this UFC 100 fight that is taking place tonight, then you've come to the right place if you were unable to see it.

Now let it be known that I am, in no way shape or form, a fan of the UFC. I have been pro-boxing for the past 5 years that the UFC has been blowing up. Boxing just appeals to me more than UFC does. It's probably been instilled in me by my dad, but I just find the history and the classic fights of boxing more appealing than the UFC. However, I felt so compelled today that I had to give you a running diary of my first full UFC experience.

So sit back, put your seat belts on, and place your seats back in an upright position and tray tables locked in.

10:00 PM EST - Kristen and I are on our way over to Vinnie's for the fights. Not sure how I feel about the UFC still...contemplating turning around.

10:03 PM EST - Arrive at my cousin's house. Looking at the ring, Ooops the Octagon, and there is blood all over the mat. So this is how UFC rolls, huh? I have to say, it's kind of awesome.

10:05 PM EST - I'm so out of my element right now. There's all sorts of Octagon's and all-black dressed referees. Where are the ropes? Where are the boxing gloves? I'm in a new world. I might like it.

10:10 PM EST - So apparently there's an undercard just like boxing. Hey! This might not be too bad. First fight is coming up.

10:15 PM EST - OUR TALE OF THE TAPE!! Wow what an upgrade of announcers from boxing. Ok Ok, first thing I'm impressed by. Wait, Joe Rogan is an announcer for the UFC? This is when you know it's going to be a good night. (I can't help but think about Dave Chappelle's FearFactor skit with Joe Rogan). This first fight is between the UFC version of Ricky Hatton, and the only Japanese UFC fighter I've ever seen.

10:17 PM EST - The Japanese fighter apparently is a singer as well. He has sung in front of 20,000 fans before. Why are the Japanese good at everything?

10:19 PM EST - Oh My God the Japanese guy just got straight up kicked to the balls. I don't care whatever you've ever heard...getting kicked in the crown jewels is BY FAR the worst pain a guy can endure. There's nothing that's even in the same ball park.

10:27 PM EST - First fight is rather boring. But Kristen likes the Japanese fighter in this contest because his shorts are cooler. I have to agree. He seems more aggressive and excited to be there. This is UFC 100! How can you not be excited for this!?

10:33 PM EST - We're going into the third round. Basically all of this is leading up to Lesnar-Mir. Which is the real reason I have this laptop on my lap.

10:36 PM EST - Ridiculous Superman punch off of the cage. Now that, was cool. Fight ended. Winner by Split decision, Yoshihiro Akiyamahsiakishiskiakhsikikahku (aka the Japanese guy)

10:41 PM EST - Have to say, I was impressed by all the pre-fight antics. The announcing. The bloody ring. The round girls. But the first fight, not so much. Hopefully this gets better quickly.

10:45 PM EST - This second fight is between the American Dan Henderson (USA! USA!) against this fruitcake Brit Michael Bisbing. Bisbing came out and was dissin' the US right off the bat. You know you can't come to the US and start lashing out against us and not expect an irrelevant blogger to tear you to shreds. So this should be fun...

10:46 PM EST - OUR TALE OF THE TAPE!!! Haha, that is my favorite part of UFC matches by far. What a great saying.

10:50 PM EST - Bisbing is about to get knocked out in the first round. Nothing would make me happier. Bisbing reminds me of a 6'1" Penis with an accent. What a clown.

10:59 PM EST - Wow. I think Bisbing just died. That may have been the biggest punch Ive ever seen. Holy Jesus. Right hand from Henderson just sent Bisbing all the way back to Manchester.

Now he's up asking what happened. That's what happens when you decide you wanna talk garbage on the American with the big right. Hey Bisbing, tell me how that mat taste.

11:02 PM EST - Already love Dan Henderson. Still talking garbage to the knocked out Bisbing. He may be making his case for The Sports Enthusiast's favorite UFC fighter. Actually I'm already nominating he and Chuck Lidell because Chuck beasts in the video game. The hometown kid Frank Edgar is the third nominee. Let's try and get 5 by the end of the blog and I'll pick my favorite at the end.

11:11 PM EST - Quick question. How do you get ito the Octagon. I haven't seen the door yet. I feel like they should be forced to climb in. That would be so entertaining.

Side Note: These past few dudes have been so hood. I thought the UFC was full of hard rock, head banging type of music fighters. But no, we got some real hood flavor in the UFC.

11:20 PM EST - Don't really know how I feel about his uniform, but Georges St. Pierre is definitely in the 5 I'm nominating for my favorite UFC fighter. Just has a swagger about him that can intimidate his opponent.

11:35 PM EST - Georges St Pierre is going to win this fight barring any miracle. Time to get prepped for the big fight. Lesnar/Mir.

11:48 PM EST - Georges St. Pierre still the champion. I loved his corner men the most.

"Calm down, Georges"

"Calm down, breathe"

Pretty comical if you ask me.

12:00 AM EST - It's getting close to my bed time, but we're still live from the $50.00 feed of UFC 100. Brock Lesnar might be the biggest freak of nature I have seen since Lebron James. He is an absolute tank. I'm not sure how I feel about Frank Mir. He just doesn't have enough pre-fight buzz for me to pick him. So I'm going with Brock Lesnar because A) He is huge B) My cousin's name is Brock C) He has the sickest tattoo I've ever seen.

12:01 AM EST - Frank Mir comes out to "So Amazing" by Kanye West, dancing and bopping his head. This was definitely the corniest moment of the night. Wow Frank. You have no chance.

12:08 AM EST - Checking in 7 minutes later to tell you that Brock Lesnar is still big as hell. Maybe the biggest human in that state right now.

12:10 AM EST - Referee tells the two fighters to make it official and touch gloves. So since they didn't touch gloves, is this not official?

12:16 AM EST - Lesnar beat the living crap out of Mir's face in the first round. Let's see how he fairs in the 2nd.

12:21 AM EST - Lesnar just beat the living crap out of Mir's face in the second round. Let's see how he fairs in the hospital.

12:23 AM EST - Totally classless by Lesnar. I was all about him before the glove touch, now he can go scratch. Lost a lot of potential new fans tonight. Including me.

Final thoughts on my first UFC experience. The sport has a chance to be a major sport in this country. However, the major sports pride themselves on class and three out of the 8 fighters showed absolutely no class tonight. And the biggest name on the card showed the least amount of class possible. I may be hooked on some of this sport, but I'll take boxing any day of the week. Sorry UFC fans. Overall it was a solid night.

Now for the winner of The Sport's Enthusiast's favorite UFC fighter..........It's a tie between Dan Henderson and Georges St. Pierre. I just couldn't choose. Goodnight All.

Top 10 Most "Illegal Teams" in Video Game History

2009-07-09T18:19:00.009-04:00

Why, hello there Chit-Chat Sports followers. It's been a minute since I've been on to share my deep revelations with you. I decided to go back to Chit-Chat Sports as the official name. I don't know what I was thinking when I changed the entire site to "The Sports Enthusiast." However that will remain my self-proclaimed nickname for the blog. So you can either call me T-DeRigg or The Sports Enthusiast. Any other nicknames are going to need pre-clarification by either myself or Showtime.

A lot as happened in the week that I have not written. The NBA Free Agency period has begun and about 7 teams have already gotten better just by signing one player. The Champion Lakers got better signing Ron Artest. The Spurs got better signing Richard Jefferson. The Cavs got better signing Shaquielle O'Neal. The Celtics got better by signing Rasheed Wallace. The Pistons got better by signing Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon. The Magic got better by signing Vince Carter. Hell, even the Mavericks just got better signing Shawn Marion.

There's so much happening right now it's so hard to keep up. But I just wanted to touch on a little NBA before I got into the real purpose behind this article. And here we go...

On to some real talk.

Anyone who has gone to college and lived in a dormitory knows that a cardinal rule of the male presence in a dorm is the absolutely ridiculous amount of video games that must be played. It's as much of a tradition as fireworks are on the fourth of July. Specifically in your freshmen year, most of your time is devoted to competing against your roommates or dorm-mates in any video game possible. And of course most of these wind up being sporting video games.

They range from your obvious crown jewel, Madden all the way down to Fight Night and FIFA. But no matter what anyone ever said in the history of sports video games, there have always been illegal teams. (At least 5 of my buddies just shook their head yes. Yes Tommy!)

Let's define the term "illegal teams." What I mean by this is that the team that you are selecting to use, is so far beyond the normalcy of a usable team, that the team can make even the worst players at that particular game, good. The team is so "illegal" that both users can just see the name or logo of that team and automatically look at each other and just smile and shake their heads no. Of course everybody has that friend that HAS to be that illegal team because they suck so bad at the game, they need every possible advantage. Unfortunately for him, this was my boy Ski, who always managed to somehow be the NBA Live 03 Lakers. But that's another blog for another day.

So let's get into the top 10 "illegal teams" of all time.

10) NBA Live 1999 - Chicago Bulls - As we all know, the greatest basketball player ever was on this team. His rating was a 99 overall at just about everything. And if you don't know about overall ratings then you should stop reading this article right now and go turn on a video game console and change your life. These Bulls had the 98 rated Scottie Pippen and the 99 rated PLAYER99, which we all knew was Michael Jordan. Pop in Live 2009 and trade Kobe onto the Cavs and you'll get the 99' Bulls. Completely unfair.

9) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 05 - Tiger Woods - This could really just go for any of Tiger's video games. But this year was significantly ridiculous. We used to play hours of this my freshmen year and Showtime and I were forced to use players to the likes of Jon Daly, and Mike Weir. We had heated battles.

8) Fight Night Round 3 - Jermaine Taylor - This might shock you to be in the top 10. But I guarantee you if you popped in this game right now, you would not lose a fight with Jermaine Taylor. His career has been sub-par, but at the time this game came out he was on the rise. So of course his video game statistics were extremely inflated. Jermaine had the sickest counter-hay maker in all of Boxing video game history. Just ask Showtime.

7) Ken Griffey Junior Baseball 1994 - Seattle Mariners - I don't think there's ever been a better video game baseball player in history than 94' Griffey. On top of that you had Randy Johnson as your pitcher. In a one game series, which most of your classic dorm room battles were, how did you ever lose with the Seattle Mariners. Wayyyyyy too illegal.

6) NFL Madden 2003 - St. Louis Rams - The greatest show on turf was the 6th most illegal team in Video game history. Just ask me how you defend this: Kurt Warner off an MVP season, Marshall Faulk on the cover, Tory Holt, Isaac Bruce, Kevin Curtis out wide. Not too mention THE single most overrated defense in history. Anyone who played with the Rams never lost. Therefore forever placing them in this exclusive group.

5) FIFA Soccer 2006 - Brazil - This is the game that started so many heated battles in college. And when I mean heated, I mean that we used to have a scoreboard on our wall to remember the wins and losses because we used to be at each other's throats about our current records. My boy Ski still owes me money from the beatings that I put on him one night. It was absolutely unreal. But Brazil was BY FAR the most illegal FIFA team of all time. You had Ronaldinho in his prime, a goalscoring Ronaldo, a young Robinho, a young Kaka and then you had some goalie who's rating was a 94. This used to cause so many fights that, I'm still surprised to this day that the RA never had to break us up.

4) NFL Madden 2009 - New England Patriots - Due to the team's 18-1 season and the single greatest offensive explosion in NFL history, the Madden 09' Pats ratings were so inflated that you couldn't even pass them if you wanted to select a team around them. I mean seriously they were so illegal that I don't even think I ever played them in my Madden 09' history. Tom Brady 99 rating, Randy Moss 99 Rating, Welker was a 92 rating, Lawerence Maroney who was hurt all year was somehow still an 88 rating. And contrary to their offensive buddies, the 03' Rams, they actually HAD a ridiculous defense. Wow I'm glad Madden 10' is coming out soon.

3) NFL Madden 1996 - Detroit Lions - The Lions were used for one reason, and one reason only. Barry Sanders. Barry was quite possibly the second most unstoppable player in video game history. The funny thing about this was that Detroit didn't have one other player that you could have named. I honestly could not even name you their QB without looking it up. But when you had the ball and you called that HB Dive, there was absolutely no one who could stop you. And when I say no one, I mean NO ONE. If they actually had another player they could have been number 2.

2) NBA Live 2003 - Los Angeles Lakers - Ohhhhhhhhhhh my god was this team so illegal. Here is a classic example of why the video game ratings need to be updated every day. Of course the Lakers had already had 90+ rated Shaq and Kobe. But this was the year that they had signed Karl Malone (arguable the best PF ever) and Gary Payton (top 10 PG all time). Now, Malone and Payton were on the downside of their careers, but this apparently does not effect video game ratings. So both of them, probably because of their names, were rated in the high 80s low 90s. So when you trotted out the starting lineup you had a 90-Payton, 95-Kobe, 80-Devean George, 90-Karl Malone, 96-Shaquielle O'Neal. And here is the worst part. I had to play this team virtually every day because my boys could NOT beat me in this game.

I ran with the Seattle Supersonics (an honorable mention for this list) and I threw Brent Barry at the point, Desmond Mason (most overrated dunker) at the 2, along with Ray Allen (greatest 3-point shooter in video game history) a young Rashard Lewis and an extremely overrated 3-point shooting Vladomir Radmonovic at the 5. I seriously never saw more threes sink in a video game year in my life. So all my boys had to use the Lakers because I was just that good. Yea, I was.

1) NFL Madden 2004 - Atlanta Falcons - And number 1, the granddaddy of all illegal video game teams, the 2004 Atlanta Falcons. Anyone who has ever played this game knows exactly why they are number 1. You see, this was before Madden was tweaked to be more realistic to modern play. So the traditional quarterback was a drop back passer and occasionally you would have a 75 speed quarterback that you would have to deal with. But never before 2004 was a quarterback's speed even approaching 80. Hell, some running backs didn't even have an 80 speed.

And then came along Michael Vick. The cover athlete. Everyone knows that the cover athlete was always enhanced even if he wasn't a top player in the game. So Michael Vick had a ridiculous 2003 break out season, therefore making his rating in the 90s. But this wasn't the problem. The problem was that Michael Vick's speed rating was a 94!!! Vick was among the fastest players in the game, let alone a quarterback.

So every time that you would drop back with Vick, you had SO many options than you ever had before with a QB. You could basically take off and run whenever you wanted, you could then heave the ball 60 yards down field because his throw power was a 96. I mean how could you game plan against this guy? This was before DE contains and QB spying linebackers. There was no way to guard Vick when you played against the Falcons. Vick is responsible for the most verbal fights between competitors in history. And every time that Vick did something incredible in the game and you lost, you would just be like, "Well that's what happens when you use the Falcons!"

That is why he is the single most unstoppable-illegal video game player of all time. Thus making the Falcons, the most illegal team in video game history.

Running Diary of the Greatest Game in US Soccer History

2009-06-28T20:18:00.009-04:00

Let me start by giving you the setting of my day so far. I had to get up to work today at 10-5ish, on the day the US men's soccer team is playing the biggest game of their rough history. So I knew I had to see this game, some how, some way.

So then I called my uncle to tell him to DVR the game for me and make sure that he does not, under any circumstances, tell me anything about the game. Then I told every possible person who would text me with an, "OMFG" or a "WOW dude hope your watching," that I didn't even want to talk to them because the tone in their voice and their expression would indicate to me how the match went or was going. As you can see I was on edge, just a little.

And at around 5:45 PM...this is what transpired...

5:45 PM EST - Fresh off the Ice Cream Truck!! We're coming to you from a DVR'd copy of the Confederation Cup Final, Brazil vs the United States. If you can't get up for this then you should really go buy Fifa World Cup 06' for XBOX 360. Then come and talk to me.

5:50 PM EST - Every single graphic known to man about the United States Soccer History has popped up so far. Thanks ESPN, as if we didn't already know that we've sucked for quite some time.

5:58 PM EST - After the pre-game photos, and 70,000 other events that have to take place before they can actually PLAY the game, we're under way. I'm giddy.

6:05 PM EST - We're already 8 minutes into the game and Brazil's been on our side of the field 99.99% of the time. Kinda one-sided isn't it?

6:07 PM EST - I swear, every single American Soccer Analyst is so irritated that we've sucked at soccer for years. They think that we, as fans, aren't angry as well. While we're at it, let me run down my favorite US soccer players. Donovan = just love how he's developed as a leader. Onyewu = plays so fundamental and smart at all times. And Clint Dempsey = fell in love with him after the 06 World Cup game when he nutmeg'd the Italian defender and scored. He just plays with such a swagger, and he isn't afraid of the big lights.

6:09 PM EST - GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL....DEMPSEY in the back of the net!!! Oh what a ball from Spector. Just as I was hyping up my man-love for Clint Dempsey, he comes through. Ohh it's now official, Brazil. IT'S ON!!

US needed that first goal to believe they can actually win this game. Wow what a goal.

6:11 PM EST - Just cut to Kaka giving the classic Eli Manning face after an interception. Truly classic.

6:12 PM EST - Wow, Brazil comes right back and almost scores. They are so much more talented than us, it's unreal.

6:15 PM EST - US Almost scored again. Oh lord I'm going nuts. Can I just say how much I love the new and improved, younger USA team. So much fun to watch.

6:16 - The three unsung heroes of this Confederation Cup for the US - Donovan, Spector, Onyewu. Hands down.

6:18 PM EST - Over/Under for the amount of times the announcer says, "This is the 1st time the US has been in a FIFA final," is set at 6.5. We're already at 3, at the 20 minute mark. Where's my bookie?

6:20 PM EST - Just reported that the US has sold the most tickets for the next World Cup than any other country. Gee, I hope we qualify. We are in a recession, you know.

6:25 PM EST - Some really great ball movement by Kaka. He really is a wizard with the ball at his feet. It's not fair. I think that the rest of the world is born with ridiculous soccer skills, and we just have to work really really hard to get half of that ability.

6:26 PM EST - BANG! 2-0! DONOVAN back of the net off a great run by both he and Charlie Davies. Oh what a goal. I'm pretty sure I just broke something in this room, there was an assortment of banging sounds that happened. It's STILL ON Brazil!!! WHAT?!

6:28 PM EST - I think it's safe to say the Brazilian coach is freaking out right now. The US just almost scored AGAIN. Wow how great would 3-0 look right now. Since that 8th minute mark the US has completely dominated. Are we sure we didn't change uniforms with the Brazilians for this half?

6:33 PM EST - What a great save from Howard - the best US goaltender of all time - sorry Kasey.

6:39 PM EST - Charlie Davies could be the fastest human alive - move over Usain Bolt. By the way, I absolutely love Bob Bradley's "bend-but-don't-break" style defense. It's very Indianapolis Colts, circa 2007.

6:44 PM EST - How does B-squared (Bob Bradley's new nickname) feel about his son not playing in the biggest US game of all time because he was an idiot and got a late red card. I'd go with, disappointed. Yea disappointed sounds about right.

6:45 PM EST - What a first half - US just looks like a team of destiny. No one has ruined the final for me yet with a text message. Thank God. Time for some eats...Gotta love DVR.

6:53 PM EST - And we're back, and Brazil comes right out and cuts the lead in half. 2-1 US. In the words of our captain obvious announcer, "That Changes Everything!"

6:59 PM EST - US is making me nervous. I just ate a bag of Tostitos in 6 minutes. Just called Guinness, it's a world record.

7:04 - I've never seen a goalie have to make as many big saves as Tim Howard. He's got more saves this game alone then Britney Spears has of her image.

7:06 PM EST - Brazil hits one under the crossbar that was definitely a goal. Oh well. Sucks doesn't it Brazil? 2-1 US. Hey good news is, it looks like horrible officiating extends beyond the NBA playoffs. Ooops.

7:11 PM EST - US just doesn't look like they want to score again. I'm telling you right now, one more goal and we win. We just have to get it first.

7:17 PM EST - Two great attempts from Donovan and Dempsey. Ahhh we need one of those. Veteran leadership is showing itself when it has been absent in the past. Great sign.

7:18 PM EST - Howard with the save of the tournament. Phew - If US wins someone may need to take Howard out for a steak dinner. He's doing his best Mariano Rivera impersonation.

7:21 PM EST - Effing A. Brazil scores another one off the cross bar and in. 2-2. Now I'm in full on, "Freak Out" mode. Come On USA! I'm more nervous now then I was on my first date to the movies in 7th grade. Yea...I just said that.

7:25 PM EST - If this game goes to Overtime...We're going to need a crash cart. Just sayin'.

7:27 PM EST - 80 Minute Mark...don't know what is going on right now. I'm blacking out. I need a cut man in my corner.

7:31 PM EST - Brazil scores on a corner. Jeeeeezus defense come on. Most overlooked stat of this Championship is the amount of corners the US opponents have had compared to theirs. I bet you it's in the ball park of a 5-1 ratio.

7:35 PM EST - COMON US!! Let's just get one!!

7:40 PM EST - Can not believe the US lost that game. 3-2 Brazil wins the cup. It was there for the taking. The casual American fan could have finally rejoiced. It would have been epic. The streets of the country would have been flooded with soccer balls and American flags. ESPN would make soccer one of the first highlights every night. Shoot, even my grandpa could have been excited. It was all there for the taking. But we let it slip.

Hopefully we can build on this. And if you want an actual analysis on the game make sure you check out my boy Phil Shore's blog. http://shorethingsports.blogspot.com

I'll stick to the comedy. Enjoy. R.I.P. Michael Jackson - greatest ever, bar none.

The Sports Enthusiast's 2009 NBA Lottery Mock Draft

2009-06-23T19:29:00.008-04:00

Welcome to the new and improved, most unpopular, exciting, and entertaining blog on the Internet. Gone are the days of Chit-Chat Sports, even though I still love the name. Welcome to my newest self-proclaimed nickname...The Sports Enthusiast. Since The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons is already taken, I'll go with Enthusiast. Anyway, on to some real business. It's been a brutal two week stretch for sports, hence the lack of articles. But since the NBA draft is two days away, I'll give you my Lottery Mock draft for this year. By the way these picks are who I THINK the teams will take. Not who they should take. Alright let's get started.

Disclaimer: I have a man-crush on Ricky Rubio and Stephen Curry. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up.

1. LA Clippers - Blake Griffin F/Oklahoma - Its almost way too obvious. To the point where the Clippers have already said that they are taking Blake Griffin. However, (I'll be in the minority here) I am not sold on Blake Griffin's immediate impact in this league. This is not the Big 12. Every night Griffin is going to play against guys who will be physical with him, and without a legitimate jump shot I do not see the immediate impact.

2. Memphis Grizzlies - Hasheem Thabeet C/UCONN - Wow what a mess Memphis is. It's really a shame because they could have a decent fan base. However if they take Thabeet, they'll have a Mayo, Gay, Thabeet core. Which is not terrible. I guess...

3. Oklahoma City - Ricky Rubio G/Spain - My favorite team for next year, already. I was so torn on this pick because everyone is saying that they are going to take James Harden but they have to be completely insane not to take Ricky Rubio. The other name I have for this team is Stephen Curry. Could you imagine a Rubio/Curry, Westbrook, Durant, Green, Krstic starting lineup? I'm calling shotty on them in NBA 2k10 right now.

4. Sacramento Kings - James Harden G/Az St. - Sacramento needs any sort of help. They were the worst team in the NBA and you can expect that again next year. At least Harden will provide some excitement on that team.

5. Washington Wizards - Jordan Hill F/Arizona - Washington almost has to take Jordan Hill out of necessity. Best big left on the board and the Wizards need some kind of presence inside.

6. Minnesota Timberwolves - Tyreke Evans G/Memphis - Another player who left to early. There seems to be a lot of these guys lately. Evans has the ability to be a decent scorer but I am just not sold on his readiness to help the T-Wolves now.

7. Golden State Warriors - Brandon Jennings G/Italy - God I loved this kid in the McDonald's All-American game two years ago. Then he decided he did not want to take Final Exams and then went to play in Italy. Now we see him back in the draft. If Jennings falls to Don Nelson at 7, I don't even think that David Stern will have to leave the podium. The pick will be in, in about 3 seconds.

8. New York Knicks - Stephen Curry G/Davidson - Favorite player in the draft. He has that IT factor that you can not measure. He's the best shooter of the past 15 years, Hands down. I said he would be a Knick last year and I feel like David Stern will make sure that the Knicks get Steph Curry somehow. Imagine, LeBron/Bosh in 2010 with Curry. I'm giddy.

9. Toronto Raptors - Demar DeRozan G/USC - The Raptors need guard help. Terribly. At this point any guard would work for the Raptors. However considering that they have a decent PG right now. They try their luck at DeRozan from USC.

10. Milwaukee Bucks - Jru Holiday G/UCLA - Milwaukee needs a PG to lead their team. Actually I shouldn't say team, because I don't even know what they are after trading their best player.

11. New Jersey Nets - Terrence Williams G/F Lousiville - Love Williams from Lousville. The Nets have a PG and Big so they need a swing man opposite of Vince Carter. Terrence Williams would learn under Vince Carter because I'm pretty sure Yi Janlian is not panning out.

12. Charlotte Bobcats - Gerald Henderson G/F Duke - Henderson broke out this year as a legitimate wing threat. Just what the Bobcats need. The Bobcats are going to make the playoffs next year. Mark it down.

13. Indiana Pacers - Jonny Flynn G/Syracuse - No-brainer for Indiana. If Flynn falls this far he's the easy pick. Flynn will end up being one of the best 6 guys taken in this draft. Mark that down too while your at it.

14. Phoenix Suns - Ty Lawson G/UNC - Very sketchy pick from a fan standpoint. But think about it. How many years does Nash have left to play? In Phoenix? 1 maybe 2? So you get Ty Lawson in to learn as much as he can about playing PG in the NBA from one of the best 5 PGs of all time.

Enjoy the weekend. I'm sure I'll be back when something crazy happens in the draft Thursday!

One Final Take on the 2009 NBA Season

2009-06-18T00:04:00.006-04:00

As the Laker's gallantly hop, skip, and jump down Sunset Blvd all the way to Figueroa St to the Staples Center, I thought I'd take the time out to devour this past NBA season. I thought I'd come up with 10 things that we were going to remember about this season, whether they be good or bad. So as Kobe holds both trophy's up for the LA faithful, and Adam Morrison tries to take over the crown from Mark Madsen as the whitest-white guy in the NBA, I'll give you guys the 10 things that we should take from this past season.

1. Kobe Bryant finally wins the title without a man by the name of Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe finally gets the proverbial monkey off of his back, and wins his 4th title. Now 20 years from now when you look back on this championship run, the media is going to say that Kobe had "no one" to help him. But in reality he had more help then any of the Superstars he is being compared to; mainly Michael Jordan.

Michael had Scottie Pippen and role players. Jordan made Scottie better and vice-versa. But the role players that Michael had KNEW their roles and stuck to them. Never faltered, never wavered.

Kobe has the best, I repeat, THE BEST back-to-the-basket post player in the NBA, in Pau Gasol. Along with a freak of a basketball player 6'11" Lamar Odom who can play all 5 positions, a PG that just hits big shots constantly, as well as a budding star-role player (much like James Posey) in Trevor Ariza.

So we'll remember this year as the Kobe run in which he didn't "need" a lot of help.

2. Lebron James wins his 1st MVP but fails to get his team to the Finals, despite a top 15 all-time game winner. We will remember Lebron and the Cavs stumbling against the Orlando Magic, rather than remembering their stellar season in which they had the best record in the NBA. Lebron wins his 1st (of many) MVPs in 2009 but faces a extremely bad match up in the Magic. Lebron did all he could but he hasn't learned to completely trust his teammates yet. He averaged a 45-9-8 until the last game of the Magic series, but even that wasn't enough.

If I'm Lebron, I tell my publicist/manager/Nike Rep. to get me on the phone with Michael Jordan. I ask him to tell me how he learned how to trust his teammates during the 1991 playoffs and how he ultimately won that championship, because the NBA NEEDS Lebron to be great. And you're only truly great if you win.

3. The three closest players to Jordan all fought for the MVP this season. Lebron James wound up winning it with Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade fighting right behind. Everyone was ready to crown Dwyane after the 2006 championship but that soon faded as he ran into injuries. But now he's back and I can't wait to watch him next season.

Kobe won last year, but I think he'll take the backseat on this one for the championship.

4. A trade that made two teams make a complete 180. Of course I'm talking about the Allen Iverson-Chauncey Billups trade. Detroit was a powerhouse in the East, while Denver couldn't get out of the first round. As soon as this trade happened both teams did a 180.

Detroit became an average low-seed Eastern Conference team, while Denver rose to the 2 seed and fought all the way to a game 6 in the Western Conference Finals.

Let's see what Denver does next year to improve.

5. We may be seeing the next great Point Guard in NBA History. Sure we have Chris Paul and Deron Williams who will probably be in this discussion as well, but after Derrick Rose's performance in the playoffs against the reigning champion Boston Celtics we have no reason to put a ceiling on this dude's potential. Rose scored 38 in his first playoff game and did not miss a free throw.

I'm giddy that the league has so many good young point guards. After all they're the key to a team's success.

6. This is the year that the Tim Duncan-Era Spurs begin their decline. You can just see it in "Timmmayyyyy's!!" play. He is run down, and he just hit the 1000 game meter in the NBA which is never a good sign. Tony Parker was injured and Manu Ginobili is a free-agent in 2010 along with Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Dirk, Nash, Britney Spears, and Michael Jackson. (Seriously though, the 2010 FA list is out of this world.)

Say goodbye to the boring, basic, fundamental Spurs as they try to rebuild around TP.

7. Kevin Durant finally proves that he should have been the #1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft. Let me see would you rather have 154 games played at 23 PPG (26 this past season), or 61 games played at 9 PPG and 7 RBG. I'll take the former. Nuff' said.

8. Nike Basketball's hilarious MVPuppet commercials fail because Lebron doesn't make finals. Could have truly been one of the best series of commercials ever if Lebron and Kobe made the finals. Nike would have had endless possibilities for ideas for commercials. But the Cavs fell apart and we shall never know.

9. The Kevin Garnett injury may have turned the entire fortune of the other playoff teams. First of all, if he's in the lane against the Magic, Boston wins in 5 or 6. Then we have a Cle-Boston final. It would have definitely gone 7 games; I'll take Cleveland in a Lebron game winner. But it would have been way more entertaining Eastern Finals.

Once again, what if?

10. And last...and probably least, we'll remember this season for the crazy Twitter sensation that has now taken over the NBA. It's so crazy let me give you the run down of athletes courtesy of www.hoopeduponline.com

Boston Celtics
Leon Powe - @LeonPowe
Paul Pierce - @PaulPierce34
Stephon Marbury - @StarburyMarbury

Dallas Mavericks
Mark Cuban - @Mark_Cuban / @mcuban

Indiana Pacers
Troy Murphy - @Troy_murphy
Danny Granger - @dgranger33

Los Angeles Clippers
Baron Davis - @Baron_Davis

Los Angeles Lakers
Derek Fisher - @derekfisher
Kobe Bryant - @bryant24
Sasha Vujacic - @SashaVujacic
Lamar Odom - @RealLamarOdom

Milwaukee Bucks
Charlie Villanueva - @CV31
Andrew Bogut - @AndrewMBogut
Joe Alexander - @SeeJoeDunk

Minnesota Timberwolves
Brian Cardinal - @Cardinal_Brian
Mark Madsen - @madsen_mark
Mike Miller - @m33m
Randy Foye - @randyfoye

New Orleans Hornets
Chris Paul - @CCPP33
Tyson Chandler - @tysonchandler

New York Knicks
Nate Robinson - @nategreat
Quentin Richardson -@qrich
Wilson Chandler - @Will_Chandler

Orlando Magic
Dwight Howard - @dwight_howard

Phoenix Suns
Jason Richardson - @jrich23
Steve Nash - @the_real_nash
Shaquille O’Neal - @THE_REAL_SHAQ
Alvin Gentry - @AlvinGentry

Portland Trailblazers
Jerryd Bayless - @JBay4

Sacramento Kings
Donte Greene - @DonteGreene
Jason Thompson - @jtthekid
Rashad McCants - @DrManhattan1

San Antonio Spurs
Bruce Bowen - @Bowen12
Fabricio Oberto - @obricio7
Michael Finley - @Da_Finster

Toronto Raptors
Chris Bosh - @chrisbosh

Utah Jazz
Kyle Korver - @KyleKorver

See what I mean?

Yea....I'm Back

2009-06-14T15:07:00.007-04:00

Guess who's back....back again...Showtime's back....tell a friend. Ahh Yess my boy and co-founder of CCS, Showtime, is back for a special guest blog. So be nice to him and just make sure if you leave a comment it has to do with either the demise of Tim Tebow, or how Michael Crabtree is the most overrated prospect of the past 20 years. So Enjoy the random acts of Showtimeness that you are about to experience. And if you don't know already, Showtime and I are basically the MVPuppets. We should get our own commercials....like ASAP.
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After roughly a 4 month hiatus I feel it is time for me to contribute to the greatest sports blog known to man. A lot has happened in the world of sports since my absence and I feel I need to start putting my two cents in once again.

I want to start off by thanking Al Davis for doing drugs and drafting Derrius Heyward-Bey instead of Michael Crabtree therefore allowing the best team in the NFL (My beloved 49ers) to draft Crabtree instead. I feel like Al Davis thought to himself "Well THC and DHB rhyme so this kid must be good." It doesn't work like that Al. You just don't go picking names out of a hat and make a draft choice. When Mel Kiper doesn't know who your second pick of the draft is, Hell has frozen over or the person making the selection is wasted.

Next I just want to say GO Gators! Yea I know they are just a bunch of hood kids from the street but I love them all.....no rainbow. We will repeat as champs next season (I say we because I feel that I am an honorary member of the team just nobody knows about it in the organization yet).

On to some real business. Lakers, Magic NBA finals. Please. Kobe Bryant is the truth whether you like him or not. Yea I know the guy shot horrible from the field going 9 for 30 or something outrageous but that's not the point. When it comes down to it the guy takes over. He makes shots that nobody else can. Plus he has a better supporting cast. Don't get me wrong I like the Magic team but putting all your faith into the all mighty 3 pointer is like saying the Easter Bunny plays dice with Santa on Fridays (Sorry to break it to you Tommy but they're not real). The Lakers will most likely lose game 5 but win it in 6 back in the friendly house that Nicholson built.....Or is it the Staples center. Either way the Lakers will win this year, LeBron will lose again next year, then hello New York. Times Square better get some billboard space ready because we are all witnesses.

On a final note, the Lebron-Kobe puppet commercials.....priceless. They might be the best commercials since the E-trade baby ones. Kobe can I get ring?

7 Adjustments Orlando Needs To Make To Get Back In The Finals

2009-06-14T12:50:00.005-04:00

I felt compelled to give you guys an article after the last game because it was a classic....classic disaster. I had so many things running through my mind after the game that I could have written my first book. They consisted of things like: why Stan Van Gundy didn't play Rafer Alston at all in the fourth or OT, why Kobe gets every single leaning-jump shot foul, why SVG didn't foul Derek Fisher, or why Rashard Lewis had 3 points going into Overtime. I'm telling you I could have published my first book just on game 4. But that's neither here nor there.

So let me give you a run down of 7 adjustments Orlando needs to make to at least win one more game and make this series watchable again.

1) First and foremost, get in the gym and shoot free throws for about 7 hours straight before the game tonight. You can't be a finals team and miss 15 free throws. There is no one guarding you. That's why they call them free.

2) If I'm SVG, I'm hiring Kareen, Bill Russel, Shaq, Patrick Ewing, Hakeen Olajuwon, and every other big time center who ever played and bringing them in to drill into Dwight Howard's head that YOU HAVE TO KEEP THE BALL HIGH IN THE POST. For god's sake, it's like watching a 6th grade 5'11" kid who has no talent but hes taller than some teachers. So they ask him to try out and he gets the ball in the post, brings the ball to his knees to gather it, and the 4'11" guards come and steal the ball from him. How are you going to have 7 turnovers and be the best BIG in the NBA. Why am I doing this instead of coaching.

3) Play Rafer Alston. Play Rafer Alston. Play Rafer Alston. Play Rafer Alston. Play Rafer Alston. Play Rafer Alston. Play Rafer Alston. Play Rafer Alston

4) Sit Jameer Nelson. Sit Jameer Nelson. Sit Jameer Nelson. Sit Jameer Nelson. Sit Jameer Nelson. Sit Jameer Nelson. Sit Jameer Nelson. Sit Jameer Nelson.

Seriously Stan, if you can't see that Jameer can't play at an all-star level right now then you really need to be doing something else. Now you've shaken Rafer's confidence again, just as he was gaining it back. We could be witnessing one of the all time coaching debacles in Finals history.

5) I personally have NEVER, I repeat NEVER, been a fan of playing a zone defense. But in this case I think Orlando should try and use one. The Lakers are not running the triangle offense anymore, and don't try and argue with me. They've completely abandoned it in the 2nd half of games. They run either the famous Lebron-victory play where they spread out four guys and watch Kobe do his thing, or they send Gasol on a high screen and roll. So why not use a zone and try and force the Lakers to beat you by the three because Gasol is killing the post. This also gives you massive help, besides Howard, in the lane when Kobe drives.

6) Orlando has to get Rashard going. It's so obvious that even my little brother said, "Tom, Rashard Lewis doesn't have a lot of points this game."

Me: "Thanks Matty. Why don't you tell Stan Van Genius."

The Magic go as Rashard goes. They can deal with Howard not scoring 20, and even Turkoglu not scoring 20. but Rashard HAS to score for them to win. Kudos to Lamar Odom's defense on him last game though.

7) Finally, the Turnovers. Oh My Lord. We could be witnessing the Greatest-Worst team in NBA history. In other words, I've never watched a team that could play so bad, and so well in a matter of seconds. It is really incredible. The magic have the players to be the best team in this league. But then they go out and they play so bad sometimes it's like they switched uniforms with the Memphis Grizzlies.

The turnovers have to go. The Magic are by far the most undisciplined team in Finals history (although the 2007 Cavaliers are very close). SVG has to drill his team to protect the ball. The Magic had 19 turnovers last game and 20+ in the first game. Take 2 or 3 turnovers away, combined with 2 or 3 made free throws and Orlando wins easily.

SVG has to make some kind of adjustments. Someone should send him this blog. Or at least tell him to call his brother him for some help.

It's Just Getting Ridiculous Now

2009-06-11T08:58:00.003-04:00

Never in the history of my life-long devotion to the greatest franchise in professional sports, have I been this heated after a loss. Not after the 2001 World Series loss to the Diamondbacks. Not after the 2003 World Series loss to the Florida Marlins. Not even after the 2004 3-0 lead against the Red Sox that vanished quicker than Jessica Simpson's singing career. I just do not understand how the Yankees freeze up every time they see the Boston Red Sox.

It has to be all mental. The Yankees clearly have the ability to play championship baseball; they have the talent in every category. They have the power, pitching, fielding, and speed. But the one thing that separates the Red Sox from the Yankees is the Red Sox desire to win.

The Red Sox have a bunch of blue-collar players who you wouldn't even notice if you passed them on the street. Dustin Pedoria and Kevin Youkilis are two of the top 5 hitters in the American League. However, most casual fans couldn't pick them out of a lineup of white dudes if they tried.

Meanwhile the Yankees have all this star-studded talent, but it just seems like they have been missing something for the past 6-7 years. Now it's all in their head as the Red Sox have taken a 7-0 lead in the series between the two.

Sure the Yanks can beat up on the Blue Jays, the Rays, and the Rangers. But when it comes time to get down to business and win the games that are going to affect the rest of the season, they choke. Maybe we have a bunch of choke artists. Maybe they don't have a desire to get better and think they can get by on the talent they have now. Maybe our management has turned out to make bad decisions keeping Phil Hughes when we could have had Johan Santana.

I don't know what it is. All I know right now is that the Yankees are completely embarrassing their fan base. It would be one thing if your team was garbage, but the Yanks are a good team. Just not good enough to beat the Red Sox.

I'm not sure what has to change, whether it be the starting rotation, the lineup, or the bullpen. All I know is that this is just getting ridiculous now.

How I'm Going To Save The Orlando Magic

2009-06-09T09:44:00.004-04:00

Here Ye! Here Ye! I come to you today with a newly formed, fool proof system that I have constructed to get the Orlando Magic back into this NBA finals, and....wait for it....potentially win it!

Now I realize I was down on the Magic after game 2. But after thinking about the series for a couple days, I now have devised a way for the Magic to win. Now, a couple disclaimers before we start. Most of these are directed towards you, Stan Van Gundy. First of all, you have to stick to my plan in every aspect. Do not try and stray away and do crazy, out of this world things like playing Jameer Nelson 25 minutes per game when he hasn't even seen any type of competition in 4 months. Second Stan, please do not claim any of these tactics as your own. Just because I don't have legal rights to Chit-Chat Sports, because I can't afford them, doesn't mean you take them and run with them in one of your raspy-voiced press conferences.

Now let's get started Orlando...

Let's look at how you guys (Orlando) got here. You started in a surprisingly tough first series in Philadelphia. Andre Iguodala was going off in the first few games and you guys didn't have an answer. So what did you do? Well, you shut down the rest of the team and made Iguodala try and beat you by himself. And you ultimately won the series 4-2.

Next series you took on the defending champion Boston Celtics. Granted they didn't have Kevin Garnett, they still had one of the most crafty scorers in the entire league in Paul Peirce. So what did you do, Stan? You made the rest of the team beat you (which they almost did). But you managed to hold off Ray Allen and Big Baby Davis.

Then you guys went to Cleveland to play the MVP Lebron James. Just as surprising as that crazy guy who ran onto the French Open finals match towards Roger Federer, you guys handled Cleveland pretty well implying this same strategy that has worked for you throughout the playoffs. Shut down the rest of the team, and let Lebron do his thing. Lebron went on to average a 43-9-8 but they only managed to win 2 games.

So now you guys are in the Finals against arguably (very arguably) the best player on the planet. So naturally one would think that you would try to implement the same style of play; Shut down the role players and let Kobe work for every bucket.

However, for some strange reason that no one can determine, you have completely changed your style of play. Now you guys are trying to play a very confusing help defense on Kobe instead of playing him straight up and making him work for every basket. Kobe is not stupid. He sees this and is playing right into it. He is drawing that extra help defender just far enough where he can dish to the wide open player for the basket. Combine that with the astronomical stupidity of playing Jameer Nelson huge minutes when he has not played in forever, and it's no wonder you guys are down 0-2.

So allow me to save all the hard work you guys have put in this season, and get you back into this series.

1) You need to play Kobe straight up. Do not double team. Do not shade defenders to his side of the court. Let Mikael Pietrus play him straight up, and make him work for every bucket. The Lakers are at their best when Kobe scores in the 22-29 range. This means that everyone on the Lakers is involved in the scoring and it makes them the best team in the league. So play Kobe straight up and make him score 45-50 to win, much like Lebron had to do.

2) For once I finally agree with Skip Bayless right now. He actually beat me to the punch as I couldn't type fast enough. He is on First Take right now, preaching to the choir about how the playing of Jameer Nelson needs to absolutely stop. I couldn't agree more. When you (Stan) decided to play Nelson 25 minutes in the first game. 25 minutes! Not only does this break up the chemistry that you've worked to develop the entire post season, but it also has shaken Rafer Alston's confidence. Rafer's lost his swagger (as the kid's call it these days) after watching his minutes plummet to Jameer playing big minutes.

You need to go back to the old rotation. Play Rafer 35-38 minutes, and back him up with Anthony Johnson, who played extremely well during the entire post season. Try and reestablish that chemistry that was winning you playoff series'.

3) Finally, you have to find a way to put the pressure back on LA. Look, no one thinks you guys are going to win this series. NO ONE. So play like you have nothing to lose, because you don't. If you start winning a few games, then all of the pressure switches to LA. Much like you guys did to the Cavaliers. Turn all the pressure back on to LA, and play like you have nothing to lose. Then we might have an enjoyable series to watch.

Quick preview for tonight: I think Dwight Howard has to come out hot. If he doesn't get going early, he doesn't play well later on in games. I think this is the one game that Orlando wins. I originally said Lakers in 6 but I just don't see how Orlando wins 2 games in this series. Final Score tonight: 110-99 Orlando.

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Great sports night tonight: Magic-Lakers Game 3, Penguins-Red Wings game 6, and Red Sox-Yankees.

Why Orlando Has a Slim To None Chance To Win

2009-06-05T17:45:00.005-04:00

I had to take a break for a few days after my week for the ages last week. I believe I posted 5 articles last week, but hey hopefully one day I'll be writing every other day and getting paid for it. Everyone can dream right?

Now I'm back to give you a few reasons why I believe Orlando has a very slim to none chance to win the NBA finals. So sit back, put your finger on the down arrow, and we'll go for an analytical ride.

1. First reason why Orlando has a slim-none chance to win--You can not win an NBA championship living and dying by the three point line. Do me a favor...check the last 20 NBA champions. Then tell me which one of those teams relied heavily on the three-ball.

Don't worry I'll wait...

None of them. The problem with the magic is that the three point shot is one of their top 2 weapons on offense, the other being Dwight Howard. Sure they could knock down those threes against 6'1 Mo Williams and 6'1" Delonte West. Sure they could knock down those threes when Cleveland is doubling down on Dwight Howard and allowing themselves to rotate the ball to the open man, whether it be Pietrus, Turkoglu, Alston, or Lewis. But someone should tell Stan Van Gundy that shooting comes and goes in waves. It's just the nature of statistics. The Magic shot 47% from three in the Cleveland series. They shot 36% in the regular season, so naturally they are going to come back to earth. We saw this last night. The Magic guards were getting good looks, but your not always going to cash 47% of them.

2. Second reason why the Magic have a slim-none chance to win--They have no size. Now wait and hear me out because I'm sure your like well, D-Ho=7'0", Lewis/Hedo=6'10", Gortat=6'11". They have no height in comparison to the Lakers. Their are two forms of height. There's the Dwight Howard/Andrew Bynum height, and then there is the Lamar Odom/Hedo/Lewis height. The new style of big man is a guy who can step out and knock down the 15-18 footer, and sometimes even the three. The Magic really only have two post players. And the one subs for the one who plays 40 minutes a game. So in reality they have one post player and four swing men.

So when Phil Jackson trots out a Bynum, Gasol, Odom, Kobe, Fischer lineup...who is guarding the bigs? Howard can not get in foul trouble so he stays on the passive Bynum. Lewis can not guard Gasol in the post; Pau is too crafty for Rashard. Odom could blow by Hedo Turkoglu every single time if he so choose to because Hedo Turkoglu plays defense like Billy Ho in White Men Can't Jump. So unlike the previous series where Orlando had a tremendous match-up advantage, this series the Lakers clearly have an advantage over Orlando.

3. The third and final reason why the Orlando Magic have a slim-none chance to win--A man by the name of Kobe Bryant plays on the Lakers. If last night is any indication of how the series is going to be played, then we might as well just hand the trophy's to the Lakers right now. You think Kobe got pissed last year when his team lost in the finals? (This is the part where your sitting at your computer nodding your heads, Yes)

Kobe cares about being great. I'm reading a book right now called, The Jordan Rules. The book is about the 1990-91 season, and how Michael cared about winning so much to the point that he was considered rude and kind of a scumbag to the rest of his teammates. Michael challenged his teammates every day with verbal attacks and sometimes physical attacks in practice. It seems unorthodox and unethical, but in the long run, who is arguing with six championships?

The point I'm trying to make is, Jordan would do literally anything to win a championship. Well, Kobe has officially reached that level. Kobe's first three championships he was just feeding off the motivation of Shaq and Phil Jackson's competitiveness. Being a young stud, he was still learning what that fire meant. Now Kobe is on his own and has developed his own competitiveness. It's the closest intangible thing we've seen to Jordan's competitiveness since Michael's last championship.

Kobe will not let his team lose this series. It's just amazing to watch because if someone is out of line or confused, who is the first person to get in his face and instruct....not Phil Jackson. It's Kobe. Kobe has put that "Jordan-esque" fear into his teammates. The fear that if they let him down he is going to let them have it. And in my opinion, that fear is what drives the Lakers to be even better.

The Magic could be in for a quick NBA finals. They have too many things going against them right now, and they have, maybe, the greatest Laker of all-time to overcome if they have any intention of actually winning that trophy.

Final Prediction: Lakers in 5. Kobe MVP Finals. Kobe moves ahead of Magic and Mr. Clutch as the best Laker guard of all time.

Running Diary: Orlando, Too Much Magic for Cleveland

2009-05-30T20:14:00.020-04:00

So throughout the game last night, I did a running diary. Of course, I did this with the intention that it was going to be a good game till the end. Little did I know that it would indeed only be good for the first half. But here it is....Game 6: Running Diary of the Lebrons vs the Magic!

8:13 - The TNT Tip-Off show is already cutting on Chuck early. Magic mascot brought 2 boxes of Krispie Kreme's to the set. Kenny opens the first one with no glazed donuts and Chuck denies vigorously. Chuck says, "Dem aint real donuts if dey aint glazed." Kenny pushes the envelope and opens the second one and to the secret delight of Barkley, they are all glazed. Going to be a great night.

8:22 - Kenny Smith says he called Scottie Pippen to ask him if he liked guarding the best guy on the floor or guarding a weaker guy, so he could roam and help out. Scottie said guard the best player so you can shut down a main option. Mike Brown....TURN ON TNT IN THE LOCKER ROOM!!!

8:23 - The over/under for Lebron/Kobe MVPuppets commercials tonight...2.5. The newest one is by far the funniest. "Lebron, you got over 20 triple doubles!...Can I haaaave one?"

8:27 - Stan Van Gundy: "It's Our Time, It is Our Time, It's Our Time, You Guys Deserved this!" Got a newsflash for you SVG. Cleveland has a guy named Lebron James...nuff' said.

8:28 - HAHAHA...TNT cuts to a shot of Tiger Woods and his trainer Hank Haley. Haley also trains Charles Barkley. So Chuck says, "Tiger Woods and me got 14 majors between the two of us!" Amount of Tiger's majors won: 14. (Game hasn't even started yet and we have 5 notes. Oh Boy)

8:37 - Reggie's Key's to the game just went up on the screen. Do you really think he comes up with them? I used to like Reggie. Now...Not so much.

8:38 - Referee's for tonight's contest: Bennet Salvatore and Steve Javie. Wow David Stern, you must really need the Cavs to make the finals, huh?

8:42 - Dwight Howard gets more stupid fouls then Lindsay Lohan has run-ins with the law.

8:50 - TNT just showed this graphic: 48.2 8.6 8.3 That's Lebron's averages for this series in case you were wondering. Are we sure he was conceived by humans?

9:00 - It sounds simple but if Orlando is making threes like this the whole game, you may want to start buying your Orlando Eastern Conference Champs hats.

9:03 - What does Wally Szczerbiak do well? Your response would be: Shoot 3's. He just air balled a 3. How is he an NBA Player?

9:06 - End of the 1st quarter. Nothing really stood out, except for the fact that Dwight Howard only has 1 foul. Orlando and Cleveland both hitting shots. And we have our first MVPuppet commercial. MVPPuppet count: 1

9:13 - Orlando has Rashard Lewis at power forward (the 4) and Hedo Turkoglu at small forward (the 3). So Mike Brown goes with a Gibson, M. Williams, D. West back court....Ladies and Gentlemen: Your 2009 Coach of the Year Mike Brown. Unbelievable.

9:16 - Pretty sure Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Marcin Gortat are brothers from another mother.

9:23 - The Cavs offensive playbook is absolutely horrendous. Reason No. 37 why Mike Brown is the Worst Coach in the NBA: Their offense consists of two plays, Iso-Lebron and this horrible play where Lebron hands off to Mo Will, runs off a pointless screen, only to passs back to exact spot the play started, and Lebron or Ilgauskas goes 1 on 1. How come I'm the only one writing about how bad Mike Brown is. It's so evident.

9:30 - Cavs have no answer for Rashard Lewis. Correction: Mike Brown refuses to have an answer because its too obvious to put the best player on the planet on him. God forbid. Hey Mike, maybe you could make an adjustment for once...just once baby comon.

9:45 - Halftime - Cle 40, Orl 58. Dwight Howard's interview at halftime, you can just tell they want it more. That all stems from their head coach. SVG motivates his guys and never settles for anything. Even though they were up 18, Dwight said they need to play better. Most underrated coach in the league: SVG.

10:04 - Cavs start second half on an 8-0 run. Comon Lebron don't get my hopes up like this! Please be a good game, please be a good game.

10:14 - Someone lit a fire under Mo Will's ass. His team may still be down 14 but he's actually playing with confidence in the second half. By the way, Can anyone tell me what Dwight Howard's dunk percentage is vs. his free throw percentage? FOUL HIM ALREADY...HACK A HOWARD...JESUS H.

10:30 - End 3rd - Cavs are done. Sorry for the minor delay, I just spent the last 20 minutes arguing with my boy Ski about Lebron and Kobe. This is another argument for another article. Too much to say.

10:36 - 21 Point lead for the Magic. This is a despicable coaching performance/overall team performance from the Cavs. Lebron is absolutely wiped out. Can't go one on one for 7 games and expect to win the series. I'm just in a terrible mood now. Game is off the TV, Oceans Thirteen anyone?

Just some of my final thoughts on the series/game. Orlando made 12 threes, they will continue to live and die by them. Cleveland shot (gulp) 11-22 from the free throw line. 11-22!!! That's just discipline, which their coach does not instill in them. I've been saying for weeks now that the only team Cleveland could possibly stumble upon was the Magic. Cleveland could beat every other team in a 7 game series, but Orlando is just a horrible match-up for them 1-5. It's going to be a long off season for the Cavs. I posted this on twitter last night, "Cavs need to go out and sign Artest and Ariza because they will have the cap room. Then you have a swing rotation of Lebron, Artest, Ariza, and D. West. Then your best player doesn't have to guard the 2 best players on the other team because Artest and Ariza will. No wait that makes too much sense for Mike Brown." Can I just get a GM job somewhere? How do I apply?

Mike Brown: Far From Coach of the Year

2009-05-27T19:08:00.007-04:00

If you haven't noticed, I'm on a blistering pace with my writings this week. There is just so much going on. After I finish one article, something crazy will happen the next night and then I'm forced to come on here and grace you all with my literary wizardry.

If anyone has payed as much attention as I have to this series, (you probably haven't, it's OK) then you might have noticed the horrendous coaching job done by Mike Brown in this series. I can not believe that the league elected him as coach of the year when he is getting out-coached by a man who has been deemed a, "Master of Panic." This of course would be Mr. Stan Van Gundy. I'm actually getting aggravated of hearing people say how bad of a coach SVG is because quite honestly, he's out-coaching everyone in the playoffs right now.

All this man has done has got his team up 3-1 on the Cleveland Lebrons. Take last night for example. The last play in regulation, before SVG called that brilliant timeout, they had a play designed for Hedo Turkoglu to get the ball back off of the inbound. And here is the difference between these two coaches. SVG saw that Ben Wallace was guarding Rashard Lewis. Ben Wallace couldn't guard me right now, let alone 6'10" Rashard Lewis. So what does SVG do. He calls a timeout and changes the play for Rashard Lewis. Then what happens next? Go-Ahead 3 point bucket by 'Shard.

Let's look at it from Mike Brown's perspective. You try to sneak Ben Wallace on Lewis because you know that Turkoglu is getting the final shot. So you see the SVG timeout and don't you think that he might have seen that? No. Of course not. Stubborn Mike Brown decides that he KNOWS Hedo is getting the ball so he doesn't adjust, and then we all know what happens.

My point is, Mike Brown doesn't even deserve to be in the top 5 for coaches of the year...Let alone the actual Coach of the Year. He makes no adjustments. He motivates NO ONE. Next time you watch a timeout in the fourth quarter, look for Mike Brown. He is walking around not talking to his team. Meanwhile, SVG is pumping his guys up, slapping rear-ends (he might like that), and motivating his players.

My buddy Showtime (fellow writer who hasn't posted in forever) and I had a conversation right before the final shot. He says, "Umm How the hell is Mike Brown the coach of the year, He doesn't do anything on the sidelines." And he couldn't be more right. Next I get a text message from my boy Fitz saying, "I think your coach of the year is actually a horrible coach."

So it's not just me witnessing this. He's coach of the year because he fell ass-backwards into the greatest player of this generation, and could potentially be the greatest of all time. I'll tell you one thing. If Mike Brown doesn't get his act together, he's going to lose Lebron in 2010, and then he'll lose his job. If Lebron doesn't win the championship this year, I fully expect him to send a Text to Dywane Wade and say,

Lebron to Wade: "Look man, they got horrible coaches, horrible role players, and I can't play here anymore. You wanna just go to New York and win the next 10 championships?"

Wade to Lebron: "Hey man that sounds great, let's go play for Mike D'Antoni who we played for in the Olympics and just dominate the league for the next 10 years, See You in NY"

Don't think it can happen? Well think again. And you can all thank Mr. Mike Brown for it.

NBA Officiating is Officially Fouled Out

2009-05-26T11:10:00.009-04:00

The talk of the National Basketball Association, or No Balls Association as Bill Simmons calls it, is the absolutely, horrendous officiating that is taking place in these NBA Playoffs. I can not remember a time in my life that it has been as bad as it is now. For years we have seen bad officiating in all sports, not just basketball. But I don't think we've ever seen it this bad.

Now let us first understand that Basketball is by far the hardest sport to official out of any of the four majors: Basketball, Baseball, Football, Hockey. And it's not even close.

Baseball it is pretty standard. The ball beats the guy to the base and he is out. The ball goes over the fence and it is a home run. Baseball is as black and white as it gets, and now with the installation of replays for home runs, I do not foresee as many questionable calls this year.

Football and Hockey are a little more gray but still pretty standard. In football, a guy jumps over the line, he is offside. Offensive linemen moves before the snap, it's a false start. The only real gray area is with Pass interference, and I myself will admit that it might be the single toughest call to make in sports. In Hockey, a guy crosses the blue line before the puck he's offside. We get it.

However, none of these sports even come close to the difficulty level of officiating a basketball game. Can you name me one call that actually is black and white in the NBA? Every single violation or call that can be made can be challenged or questioned. So it is no wonder why the NBA has been the most terribly officiated sport of the past 20 years.

Take Sunday night's game between Cleveland and Orlando, for instance. This game was by far the worst officiated game of the entire NBA season in my opinion. The game saw a combined 98 FG attempts. Ok, Pretty normal. But the next two numbers are completely outrageous. Combined the two teams launched up 43 three point field goals, so you would think that this would have resulted in less drives to the basket, which in-turn would result in less fouls called, which in-turn would result in less free throws right? That's just how basketball works right? Well how bout the combined free throws being 86. 86!!!! Are you kidding me? Someone please comment and tell me how that makes any sort of relevant sense. Add that to 58 personal fouls, 2 technical fouls, and a flagrant foul and we have the whistle blowing 60 times just on fouls!

We see all these advertisements and commercials about the leagues best players; Kobe, LeBron, Dwight, Carmelo, Chauncey Billups, Pau Gasol. The list goes on and on. Hell, I even wrote an article just on the commercials for Kobe and LeBron, so you know I'm into it. So why don't we let these athletes and marketable figures actually decide the outcomes of these games instead of letting aging referees (Yes, I'm talking about you Dick Bavetta, Joey Crawford, Bennet Salvatore) determine the outcome of these crucial playoff match ups. Your going to tell me 125 year old Dick Bavetta can still keep up with 24 year old Lebron James at full speed. His eyes haven't gone array just a little bit?

David Stern are you listening? The NBA needs to reevaluate it's officials. We need newer, young officials who are submerged in the new game, the new style of basketball being played today. I'm sick and tired of seeing Dwight Howard stand with his hands straight up in the air and alter a shot, but to no surprise I hear a whistle for a foul. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant can pump fake, get a guy in the air then jump 4 feet to the right while a defender purposely tries to get out of the way and he draws a foul. It's unreal.

For the NBA Playoffs sake, for the fans sake, for everyone's sake....we desperately need improved officiating.

Lebron, Have You Seen My Three Championship Rings??

2009-05-22T15:10:00.006-04:00

Once again, Chit-Chat Sports is derailed by the ever so reliable Mr. Skowronski. I've asked this dude three times for his article on the Yankees and the state of baseball but he has yet to deliver. I can't blame him too much because he is busy this week graduating from Rutgers. But as rule number 74 from Wedding Crashers states: No Excuses, Play Like a Champion.

So now I'm going to come on and show you something a little off topic but it is truly hysterical. In fact, I want to meet the guy who came up with the idea for these three commercials/videos you are about to see.

Disclaimer: If you haven't seen these then you are lost in this world and need to be watching more Inside the NBA or NBA Playoffs in general.

Every year Nike comes out with a new type of basketball commercial during the NBA Playoffs. And we all remember these. The Dr. Funk commercials with Vince Carter as Dr. Funk. All Time classic. They then switched to the basketball commercials that pit the NBA's best stars in with the best street stars to create a Nike Basketball Freestyle Beat. These commercials had every major star from the NBA in them form Darius Miles to Kevin Garnett, to Rasheed Wallace, to Jason Williams to Baron Davis. These easily became my favorite Nike Basketball Commercials. And then LeBron James entered the league.

The next set of commercials were a collaboration of different versions of LeBron james called, "The LeBrons." These were the funniest of the three so far and quickly becoming my favorite. It featured various forms of "LeBron." You had Old LeBron, Junior LeBron, LeBron, and Pretty Boy LeBron. Everyone one of the commercials is truly hysterical and I didn't think that Nike would outdo themselves until now

If you haven't seen these commercials yet or understand the premise behind them then you've come to the right place. The newest commercials are called the MVP's. But the P stands for Puppets. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are the stars of this commercial, in puppet form. Kobe won the MVP award last year, and LeBron is the current MVP.

The three commercials (so far) are absolutely hysterical. They are epitomizing the relationship between Kobe and LeBron and the public opinion of the two superstars, as they are regarded as the two best players on the planet. LeBron was always, in a sense, in the shadows of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Now that LeBron has, in my opinion, surpassed Kobe as the better of the two, Nike Basketball is trying to promote the great debate, Kobe vs. LeBron.

The commercials represent the general opinion regarding the two. Kobe is the veteran superstar with the three championship rings and potentially on his way to the downside of his career. LeBron is the King. The new blood. The new style. The new breed. He has power, speed, athleticism, size, killer instinct, and now motivation. Oh I also forgot...He's 24.

So the commercials have Kobe and LeBron making fun of each other and taking comical jabs at their respective traits. In one of the commercials Kobe is asking LeBron, "LeBron, Have you seen my THREE CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS?" Kobe is trying to jab at LeBron for not having won one yet and telling LeBron that he has to be hungry. In another commercial LeBron is dancing around throwing powder all over the place as he his energetic for the playoffs. Where Kobe is quietly trying to rest himself for the playoffs.

If you haven't gotten a chance to see them, you are completely missing out on some of the best Nike Basketball commercials I've ever seen. They might even be in the top 5 commercials of all time, I don't know yet. But Here are the three must see videos, and keep reading the blog daily!!

Commercial 1:

LeBron is excited for the playoffs by throwing Powder everywhere.

Commercial 2:

Kobe is trying to poke fun at LeBron for Kobe having 3 Championships.

Commercial 3:

LeBron is trying to watch game film but is interrupted by a Kobe special announcement.

I Love Game 7s

2009-05-17T13:30:00.004-04:00

Since Chit-Chat Sports just reached it's 1000th visitor, (Oh Yeah! we're doing big things) I was going to have a guest post on by one of my good friends, my boy Ski. But it seems that he wants to get the article he is writing to be absolutely perfect before he submits it to me. I told him that this is not a submission for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize, but I can understand that he wants to make his debut article a good one. First impressions are always the best, right? Maybe?

Oh Well anyway I decided that in order to give him more time before he loses his blogger-virginity, I would come on here and give you a preview of my favorite games of the NBA playoffs, or any playoffs for that matter (I caught myself watching the Boston Bruins game the other day, that's how much I love these games), and of course I'm talking about game 7s.

There is nothing more exciting in a playoff system then a game 7. They are specifically designed to make fans go insane, and make followers go crazy for them. Hell, they are even designed for unpopular bloggers to write articles on them, but I digress.

Today we are blessed to have two game 7s in the greatest sport every created (I'm biased). The first of these two NBA contests is between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Houston-less Rockets, as I'm calling them now do to their injuries, are missing their two best players and are still taking the western conference darlings to 7 games. But I have sad news for the Houston Rockets.....we could be in for a 50 point game from Kobe Bryant. Kobe is due, and I just have this feeling that he might absolutely erupt for 50 tonight in front of LA's finest actors/actresses/musicians/celebrities and he'll be claimed the world's best player tomorrow by every sports-talk show, blog, or column. But you know what? Chit-Chat Sports will not be fooled....no one is better then Lebron James right now.

The game hinges on two factors...The Lakers Bench...and the Houston Rockets ability to hi the three ball. When the Lakers are firing on all cylinders, it is because EVERYONE is involved on both ends of the floor. When they stand around and let Kobe do his thing, they become stagnant and beatable. Houston HAS to hit shots tonight. It sounds simple and cliche but it is the truth. If Aaron Brooks is getting in the lane and creating things for Shane Battier and Ron Artest, those guys HAVE to knock down those shots for them to have any chance. They're getting by on emotion and hard work, but Game 7s are won with execution and defense. Very simple.

Prediction: Kobe goes for 55 and the Lakers win in Overtime. (By the way if this happens, I'll be in heaven...Overtime Game 7 comon!)

The second game pits the Orlando Magic trying to dethrone the reigning champ, Boston Celtics. This is the series that is so unpredictable because if Orlando would just give their best player the ball this series would be over 3 games ago. But of course they have one of the most overrated coaches in history, in Stan Van Gundy, and he decides to give the ball to Hedo Turkoglu in crunch time. Really Stan? Hedo has 1 MOVE!! Bill Simmons has been saying this for weeks, he has one move....step back 3 pointer. So please, Stan, give the ball to Rashard Lewis in crunch time. The guy is 6'10" and plays like a 2-guard. He is a mismatch from hell, so let him rock. Every team may need that inside force, but you need guards to win games for you. Dwight can't win a game for you, it has to come elsewhere.

Now if Ray Allen keeps shooting 16 percent from three point land, and Paul Peirce keeps running up and down the court like hes 67 years old, then they're going to be in for a long night. (Honestly though, how is Paul Peirce unguardable....he hits fall aways...he cant drive, just get up in his business....God I wish i was 6'8") The Celtics go as Rondo goes now. If he has a big game then chances are Celtics win.

Prediction: For some reason I have a feeling Orlando wins on the road...I know odds are they wont, but I feel like Dwight Howard's going to have one of those 35-24 type games.

Follow me on twitter tonight, I'll be updating every time something ridiculous happens.

http://www.twitter.com/tderigg2

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Of course I didn't forget America's Favorite Running Segment....my Hip-Hop segment that doesn't have a name yet. This is off that new Drake single, Best I ever Had....really like this dude Drake.

"But money ain't the issue
They bring dinner to my room and ask me to initial
She call me the referee
Cause I be so official
My shirt ain't got no stripes but I can make yo p**** whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistle.

Had to put this one on too...still Drake but this is off his mixtape, this is called..Ransom feat. Lil Wayne

"Last place Drizzy is the n**** in the lead now
Weezy told me just write every single thing you need down
then he got it for me and I’m happy as can be now
bout to start ballin’ like I’m coming OFF A REBOUND!!
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Expect Ski's guest article next. Enjoy the Game 7s!!

Tweet! Tweet!

2009-05-12T12:54:00.008-04:00

In case you haven't heard, there is this new thing called, Twitter, on the Internet nowadays. If you haven't seen or used this lovely feature by now, let me be the first to tell you....you're missing out. Now, I joined Twitter this past weekend because I was bored out of my mind on Saturday night after I watched Lebron James prove to me that he is the second coming of Christ in human form. Seriously, David Stern, just give Cleveland the championship trophy right now, it's OK, go ahead...just save the rest of the league the embarrassment because Lebron is on an absolute mission. Anyway, back to Twitter. This service might be the most intelligent, genius, dumbest, most idiotic service I've ever seen. The premise is that you "Tweet" (hahaha, how old are we 3?) on your page and whoever follows you gets to see what you are doing all day. Great, just another thing we need to stalk people, like Facebook wasn't enough already. So while you're "Tweeting" (haha, I will laugh every time I hear or say that because I'm a 6 year old kid) you can also follow other people and see what they are 'Tweeting" about.

So when I registered this Twitter account I thought I was just going to find some of my friends on it and we were going to stalk out each others lives even more than we do already. But Lo and Behold, I find that nearly EVERY SINGLE major sports figure has one of these things. It was like finding out that everything you put on your Christmas list as a kid was underneath your tree in the morning. I mean, isn't this what we all want as "regular" people? We always want to see the latest gossip, news, fights, and drama that these celebrities and sports figures go through on an everyday basis. And now we have it streaming live to us whenever they feel like it. Take for example, my favorite Twitterite (Twitterean? Twitteran?), Shaqueille O'Neal. Every couple of hours or so Shaq posts on his twitter about what he's doing and it usually is hysterical. I sign on my name just to see what he's going to write because it's incredible. And don't think Shaq is the only one that does this. EVERYONE is on it. Currently I'm following: Shaq, Steve Nash, Peyton Manning, Terrell Owens, Baron Davis, Mark Sanchez, JR Smith, Michael Phelps, Carmelo Anthony, Champ Bailey, and Knowshon Moreno....and that's just the sports figures I've found in 3 days!! I've also found dozens of other celebrity-like figures such as: My favorite writer, Bill Simmons, Mark Titus - Club Trillion (great blog you should read), P-Diddy (funniest on twitter by far), Ashton Kutcher, Snoop Dogg, and ESPN's First Take.

The point I'm trying to get at is, how much closer can we possibly get to our athletes? Between Facebook, Myspace, and now Twitter the need for reporters and newspapers is just being thrown out the window with no regard. Why tune into the news or watch ESPN for an hour waiting to see the latest news on your favorite player when you can just sign on to Twitter and see exactly what every super-duper star is doing at every minute of the day. Availability of our athletes has become the most changed thing in the entire sports world, in my opinion. Gone are the day's of sideline reporting, newspaper columns and interviews and welcomed in now are the times of Twitter, YouTube, and Podcasts. The information can never come fast enough to us fans. E-mail has been replaced by Text messages because, quite frankly, E-mail is too slow. Radio shows have been replaced by Podcasts that can be downloaded and taken everywhere. And gone are interviews and replaced with Twitter. No longer do we need these "ancient" technologies that, 10 years ago, were the cream of the crop.

So for the time being I'm going to Tweet away on my Twitter page until the next amazing technology comes out in which we can telepathically know what each star is doing at every second of his or her life. That may seemed far fetched but 10 years ago....Twitter was far fetched.

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You can follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tderigg2 Or you can just read my posts on the right hand side of the page, I have them linked to my blog. Since we're talking about Twitter I'll hit you guys with a line from a new Remix I heard last week. It's Red Cafe, Jadakiss, P-Diddy, Fabolous, and OJ Da Juiceman on the Hottest in da Hood Remix. I've received advice that this may not be the best running segment I could choose (thanks professor!) but I'm going to stick it out and see if you guys like it. On to the lyrics from Fabolous' verse...

"Ayo Truthfully, how could they mistake you for me...
Your a joke, an imitation, a spoof of me.
Call the referee, I consider it foul,
They just...follow my swag, Twitter my style.
Knowin I can make it go down...No draino,
Son, I'll get all up in your a**....No rainbow."

HAHAHA....I'm the Hottest Blogger in Da Hooooooooood

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Expect a guest blog post in the next week as a celebration of our 1000th visitor. That's right...we're doin big things at Chit-Chat Sports!

Kobe "We're not losing this game" Bryant

2009-05-07T11:29:00.007-04:00

For those waiting for a Kobe Bryant sighting in these 2009 NBA Playoffs...look no further...

I had been waiting all through the first round and the start of this second round for the Lakers, and mainly Kobe Bryant, to show me what all the fuss is about over their team. Deemed as the Western conference champions before the playoffs even started, they had played very lethargic, lackadaisical, and with no real sense of urgency. Hellooo??? This is the NBA Playoffs. The end of the road. And now the Lakers were playing with this swagger that did not warrant them the pre-conceived title of consensus "Western Conference Champs." However, last night that all changed.

This all changed because one player, arguably the world's best player, decided it was time to start playing Kobe-basketball. Last night Kobe Bryant decided that he was going into "We're Not Losing this Game" mode. Mr. Bryant dropped 40 points on the Houston Rockets last night in game 2, and it's not that we haven't seen him score like this in these playoffs before. It's the way that he was scoring that may have changed the fate of the rest of the western conference's competitors. Kobe was hitting fall aways, he was dunking, he was driving to the hoop, he hit threes, he hit leaning jump shots, he hit shots with Shane Battier playing the best defense you could have possibly played on an individual, hell he was even throwing himself passes to score. In a nutshell, Kobe was unguardable. Shane Battier is one of, if not, the best perimeter defenders in the league and couple that with Ron Artest who is another top tier defender, and Kobe still destroyed them last night.

In a game that saw 2 ejections, and roughly 3 or 4 technicals and flagrants Kobe kept his composure and just hit shot after shot after shot. Battier and Artest are both pit bulls, in the words of Kenny Smith of TNT. They are the perfect type of defender for guys like Kobe. They play physical, they make life hard on Kobe and other great scorers. However, last night is just further proof that a truly great scorer will ALWAYS beat impeccable defense. It's just the nature of the game. Battier, Artest and co. played impeccable defense on Kobe all game....yet they could not hold Kobe in check because he just knows how to will his team to victory. He scores when he has too, he facilitates when he has too, and when it's time to get a must win...(and this kills me because I have a man-crush on Lebron) Kobe is your guy to get that win.

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I'm going to try a new segment that I know some of my friends will appreciate. I am an avid Hip-Hop fan and listen to new music daily. So I'm going to start throwing up some of my favorite lines of current songs and some all-time greats. So if you enjoy hip-hop you might enjoy this part of the segment. Haven't thought of the name yet, but I'll just peep Baseball Tonight's swag and call it America's favorite running segment.

This is off the new Jadakiss Album on the song called "What If"

"What if B.I.G. missed the party, what if 'Pac missed the fight?
What if you was caged in?
What would you change then?
What if there was no Rocafella law for +Made Men+?
What if hate ran through me?
And what if Portland
Would've drafted Jordan
Instead of Sam Bowie? <---------WOWWW _________________________________________________________

Just a quick wrap-up of my opinion of the playoffs so far. How odd was the Hawks-Heat series? I mean seriously, every game was won by more than 10 points but it went 7 games. Dywane Wade tanked that game because he didn't want to get embarrassed by the Cleveland Lebrons.

I was really pulling for the Bulls man, I wanted my Bulls to be back but they'll have to wait till next year. I'm already giddy at the fact that they might actually play small ball and run THE ENTIRE YEAR next year instead of just the playoffs.

Denver is on an absolute tear. They do everything. They have guys that can score, defend, rebound, play physical, get in your face, provide energy, and most of all they have a bonafide leader in Chauncey Billups. I don't know how I missed on them when I was predicting the playoffs...they are dirty.

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Breaking news as I was writing this: Manny Ramirez suspended 50 games for taking PED's. I may or may not write on this, considering I hate writing about steroids. Stay tuned.

Dear Draft Diary...

2009-04-28T11:03:00.006-04:00

So this little thing called the NFL Draft happened this weekend and if you have never experienced the first day of the NFL draft, well your in for a real treat. The draft is probably the most amazing, wonderful, sick, illest, most boring, annoying sporting event to possibly watch. There is so many ups and downs and nothing is certain....unless your Matthew Stafford. So I'm going to give you a run down of what My boy Joe and my Saturday was like. All you females out there...pay attention closely...this way you know never to participate in one of these....

12:00 PM EST: I had work on my ice cream truck from 11-1:45ish. It was hot. It was annoying to deal with the same little kids every 5 minutes, but hey....brotha's gotta make money.

2:00 PM EST: I decide to go for a little pre-draft workout, decide to get a nice 2 mile run in...nothing major just gotta get a little warmed up for the fantastical fun that's about to take place in a few hours. (Yup, I said fantastical....AND it didn't even show up on my spellcheck)

2:05 PM EST: Walk outside and realize I don't want to run....AT ALL...go back inside and start planning out what I'm going to buy at WaWa on my way to my boy Joe's. Also begin to play the new UFC game for XBOX 360.....so ill.

3:00 PM EST: Fed up with the UFC game because Chuck Lidell is absolutely housing me because all I'm doing is button mashing and can't land any real combos, I decide to shut the game off and get my draft attire on.................t-shirt and shorts.

3:30 PM EST: I arrive at WaWa to get some football food for myself and the boys. As I scour through WaWa I realize that the selection is limited as far as hamburgers and hot dogs and wings and every other possible football food you can think of. I spot one last Hot Dog package in the way corner....scooped that up real quick. Got the rolls. Decided since it's been a while, I'll get my all time favorite drink.....WaWa Lemonade Tea.

3:52 PM EST: I arrive at Joe's and you can just sense the drama in the air that is about to take place. No Parents around so we can curse and scream all we want at the picks. No siblings around so they can't ask us a million questions. Just us, the TV, and 8 hours of wasted time.....Gonna be sick.

Now here is a disclaimer before you keep on reading. I, obviously, am a die hard Dallas Cowboys fan and we don't have a pick until the 2nd round, so my day is F'ed from the beginning. However, Joe's favorite team, the New York Jets, has been the topic of conversation this week as there are zillions of trade rumors going around. So as you could imagine, Joe's a bit on edge.

4:02 PM EST: Detroit Lions are on the clock.

4:03 PM EST: Detroit Lions selected Matthew Stafford the night before. Which is always interesting to me. Why even have a clock for the first team? They seem to get signed the night before anyway.

4:05 PM EST: Rams are on the clock and Joe is already going into cardiac arrest. Easy Joe, it's only the 2nd pick, there's still hope Sanchez will be there at 17......orrrrrrrr not.

4:25 PM EST: Rams selected Jason Smith, and the Chiefs reached and grabbed Tyson Jackson. Now Seattle is on the clock and Joe is in full-on, "I'm gonna flip shit if Seattle drafts Sanchez" mode.

4:33 PM EST: Tick Tock Tick Tock....Joe is beside himself. With the 4th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft...the Seattle Seahawks draft.............(Joe screaming "Comon Baby!") Aaron Curry. Joe: " YESSSSSSS, YESSSSSS, THANK YOU GOD" Can you see where this is going?

This is right around where all hell is about to break loose....

4:43 PM EST: Cleveland has been on the clock for about 8 minutes now and rumors all week were that they wanted to select Mark Sanchez or Michael Crabtree. Meanwhile, Joe and I are going through possible scenarios where the Jets could move to 8 if Sanchez falls, but it's an extreme long shot because it depends on what Cleveland does.

4:44 PM EST: 1 minute left and we're pretty convinced Cleveland is not trading the pick.

4:45 PM EST: Joe went in to the kitchen for a second to get some pretzels probably, and we were kinda getting bored waiting for Cleveland.....a conversation struck up, completely irrelevant to what was happening on the TV....it was probably about getting Joe's boat in the water or something completely useless. Just as this was happening I spotted something out of the corner of my eye....on the bottom left of the TV a big square with the letters....T.R.A.D.E. popped up. At first I kind of glanced at it funny....didn't really know how to interrupt this incredible boating story, so I basically just screamed the word "TRADEEE!!!!!!"......3 second pause...."TO THE JETSSSSSSSS"...

4:46 PM EST: In about 1.9 seconds of elapsed time, Joe somehow made it from his chair into the kitchen in about 1 step, and did some sort of swinging motion with his hands....I don't know what that was. As Joe is in the kitchen flipping shit with Ryan, I'm trying to see what the hell just happened. It was obvious the Jets were now going to draft Mark Sanchez. WOW. The Jets have a quarterback. Lost in this mess was Joe's initial reaction....which I'm sure looked like this............. :-O .................Joe was so excited and beside himself (I like that term) that he didn't even get to see Sanchez get picked. We knew that from this point on, it was going to be a ridiculous day.

5:00 PM EST: Settling down from all this excitement, I sit back down, Joe regains consciousness and we're good to go. Meanwhile I'm getting texts from my cousin about how the Jets are going to the SuperBowl....easy Jet fans...this isn't Brett Favre.

5:30 PM EST: Still stunned over the days events, Oakland decides they're going to give us something to talk about for the next hour. They draft Darius Heyward-Bey. WHAT? Al Davis please just sell the team....no literally sell them. I don't care if you use Craigslist, Ebay, Facebook, Twitter, or you sell it at a freaking flea market. What the hell is this guy thinking? I mean seriously he's has to be the dumbest man in the NFL. My 12 year old brother knew to pick Michael Crabtree instead of him. At least Jeremy Maclin. My god Al.

6:30 PM EST: Cleveland is up with the pick that they got from the Jets....and they trade down again. I sense a theme here

6:45 PM EST: Joe's girlfriend arrives. Note to all girls/girlfriends: Stay far away from the NFL draft. Just trust me...it's worse than sitting through the games for you guys.

6:50 PM EST: Cleveland trades down again. Mangenius is off to a great start with that franchise....SIKE

7:00 PM EST: We decide that enough is enough. We need a break. So we go out in the back and get on the trampoline to play a little SlamBall. For those of you who don;t know what Slamball is.....shame on you. But here's a nice little video to show you the most amazing sport ever created. We decided to play 21 and it is probably the most fun game to ever play. Flying 10 feet in the air to block shots and dunk....you can't beat that.

7:15 PM EST: Im periodically checking to see when my boy Donnie Brown is going to get drafted. I peak in and see him smiling and clapping his hands. I leap off the trampoline to go inside to see him get drafted. Congratulations Donnie...You deserve it. Wait you're going to get hand offs from Peyton Manning? That's normal. Most people get to do that.

8:30 PM EST: Joe, his girl, and Ryan really have no other reason to watch the draft because their teams are done drafting. However I make them sit and watch the draft with me because I said so.

9:30 PM EST: Cowboys are on the clock. 5 seconds left on the clock. What the hell are we doing? No we didn-...We Passed?!?!?!?! WHAT?!

9:32 PM EST: Wait hold on...phew...we traded. Jesus Christ I thought we passed the pick.

10:00 PM EST: After about 6 hours of watching the draft, chillen having a good time with all this excitement. It's slowly starting to set in that I watched 6 hours of draft activity and my team did not one thing. Probably has to be the most annoying thing I've ever had to experience. I mean seriously Jerry, comon just give me a little something on day 1. That's what we get for being Cowboys fans.

At least the hot dogs and Lemonade Tea were good though....

Every Rose Has It's Thorn

2009-04-24T10:46:00.004-04:00

Let me start by saying that I am in no way shape or form, down with Bret Michaels or Poison. I just thought that it was a fitting title to what I'm about to explain. Over the past week something funny has happened and I can't really explain it. The first game of the NBA Playoffs happened last Saturday starting off with the Boston Celtics at home against the Chicago Bulls. We got to witness maybe the best performance EVER by a rookie in his first playoff game. Mr. Derrick Rose poured in 36 in an overtime thriller and led the offense like he had been in the league for 10 years. It was kinda like when Britney Spears first came up and started hitting me baby, one more time. She was the young diva and she led the pop industry for years. (Probably a bad example but work with me). Let me be the first to say that I absolutely have a man-crush on Derrick Rose and his game. I think he's the next great point guard along the lines of Oscar, Magic, Stockton, Nash, Paul. So take this with a little grain of salt but.....why all of the attention after ONE game? When I tell you that EVERYONE, was on the Derrick Rose bang wagon after that game, I literally mean EVERYONE.

So something funny happened after the 2nd and 3rd games, that we may have never seen before....

All that Hype and Obsession over Mr. Rose just disappeared.

There's probably a reason for that, being as he's played way less than his first game performance should indicate him playing. But even so, the hype usually stays around longer than the actual game does. But this one is fading so quick. I can't remember someone with so much hype after ONE game.....and then just loses it in a matter of a week. Last night's game was an absolute smack in the face for Mr. Rose. In fact I'm not even going to call him Mr. Rose because he's younger than me (That irks me a little...) The Celtics have figured out how to frustrate him and make him commit turnovers (7 last game) and take challenged shots.

Derrick Rose is going to be one of the finest point guards, maybe, that we've ever seen. But right now he's learning that it's not always going to be as easy as game 1. But this is when true greatness comes out in players, and we will be able to tell how Rose's playoff career will be. The way that he responds from these rough games should say a lot about him. But for now....he's going to have to learn.

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Just a little preface to this weekend's NFL draft....

First and foremost, my boy Donald Brown is slated to get drafted in the first round. (RB, UCONN, Currently Number 3 on Mel Kiper's Board for RBs) Make sure you guys check him out, dude is the truth.

Lions are retarded if they don't draft a QB. However, I'm not sold on Stafford...but we'll see.

My Cowboys don't have a first round pick so I'm not even remotely excited for this draft like I usually am...If Donald wasn't in it I might not even watch the first round....I'd probably be out enjoying this beautiful Toms River weather baby.....But instead I'm going to have to sit around for 3 hours and wait till I hear my boy's name get called....WTF Donnie.

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Everyone needs to cop Asher Roth's album for real. The kid is insane, and he went to school at West Chester which is sort of a rival for my old school ESU. Kid is seriously dope check him out.

Spring Break

2009-04-14T22:48:00.007-04:00

Hello Boys and Girls....as you can tell I haven't been on. I was on a beautiful, all expenses paid Spring Break vacation in the glorious, the one and only....Toms River, NJ. Ahh yes, it is quite the place to be this time of the year. You can enjoy snow on the first day of Spring, 70 degree weather on a Monday, and 41 degree weather on a Tuesday. It's really just the thrill of a lifetime...

(If you haven't picked up on the sarcasm yet.....You need to recollect your thoughts and question where you're going in life)

Anyway I missed quite a bit on my luxurious Spring Break. I know You all missed my Final Four analysis but I was so distraught at the fact that I had ONE team in the Final Four in my bracket AND I gave you probably the worst picks in my Elite 8 analysis in the history of Elite 8 analyses (I had to Google the right pronunciation of analyses, you have to admit that is tricky as hell.) But I have to say I did not enjoy the national title game....complete snoozer. Michigan St. isn't even the 5th best team in the country, they just benefited from playing in detroit. UNC has been the best team and they proved that in the game....

So on to something I've never done, I'm going to write about the first week in baseball and some things I've noticed and I'm going to tell you what teams are in trouble....in a comedic way of course....so here we go...

MLB Opening Week:

You know your in trouble when: The New York Mets are only 5 games in and they already lost a game due to...(take a deep breath and count to 10 Met fans)... A BALK. Going to be a long season in Citi Field.

You know your in trouble when: Chen-Ming Wang has an ERA that is higher than my current age.

You know it will be an interesting season when: The Marlins start 4-0. If you don't know much about the Marlins, they don't even have someone that makes more money per year than me.....and I'm sitting at $120.00 a week substitute teaching. I mean seriously how do these guys win ball games, you can't name me more than 3 people on that team. They do have the best Shortstop in baseball though.
You know your in trouble when: The Nations capital is supposed to be going through a change, and a push for change. Well, your Washington Nationals are 0-7. Someone tell Obama to give the Nationals a stimulus package because they need it. Yeesh.

Could possibly be in trouble: Boston Red Sox. So many injuries really early. Something to keep an eye on.
Possibly in trouble when: The reigning Cy Young winners in both leagues haven't won a game yet, and both have an ERA over 8 runs. Quick side note: Tim Lincecum looks like he could be in a few of my classes. I mean seriously he looks like a baby, but he throws straight flames.
Could possibly be distracted when: Your legendary announcer, Mr. Harry Kalas, passes away one week into the season. Such an emotional week for the Phillies, it will be interesting to see if it effects their play.

And Finally,

You definitely know your in trouble when: Your team pays $250 million dollars to upgrade its pitching staff....and against a division rival and current American league champion, Tampa Bay Rays...Nick Swisher has to pitch for your team. If your reading this and you don't know who I'm talking about I'm talking about The New York Yankees and their 1B/OF Nick Swisher. He pitched an inning for the Yankees the other day in a 15-5 rout. Funny thing is he is going to finish with the best ERA in baseball this year. 0.00 Ladies and Gentleman your New York Yankees.

Final Four Preview and The Biggest Baby in Professional Sports

2009-04-03T19:47:00.005-04:00

Written By Tom DeRiggi

As promised I'm back in the nick-of-time to give you my Final Four preview/analysis to save you all from betting on inexplicable teams this weekend. We're going to keep the Final Four Preview a little shorter than I would like to but I have to get to the Chicago Bear's new-born BABY....

Final Four weekend is my favorite weekend of the year, by far. It's above Superbowl Sunday, The Master's/US Open, and even the weekend that my whole family heads up to Manasquan to stay at this sick ass house in which the whole night consists of my loud aunts and my mother singing karaoke to Carrie Underwood while my Uncles and my dad clamor about who's going to be the best NFL team this year....AND my cousins and I are out on the beach playing some sort of athletic event and probably hitting elderly people with Frisbees. (For the record...that might be the longest sentence I've ever written) Something about Final Four weekend just gets my juices flowing. There is so much build up, so much analysis, so much hype surrounding the four teams and now it's finally time for them to settle it on the court; it's also time for millions of people to lose out on millions of dollars in their brackets and/or bets they have this weekend.
So allow me to save you from losing a few hundred this weekend and make your weekend as enjoyable as mine will be....

The First game: 1) Connecticut vs 2) Michigan State

I'm still not exactly sure how Michigan State is still in the tournament. I'm the biggest hater in the world on the Big Ten. I just don't comprehend how you can teach such a BORING breed of basketball. It's just incredible. Let me ask you a question...How many big Ten teams have won the NCAA tournament in the past 20 years? The answer is 2.....2 TEAMS!!! It's unbelievable how people think Michigan State is even going to be close in this game. I honestly think that UCONN couldn't have picked a better team to play in that bracket, outside of the high teen seeds. UCONN is too big for Michigan State, has better guards then Michigan State, and plays better defense than Michigan State. On Paper that adds up to a UCONN victory. Everyone is talking about this home court advantage for Mich. St. but Jim Calhoun put that to rest perfectly...."The rim is still 10 feet high, foul line 15 feet away, and court is still 94 feet long." I have chills....UCONN by 10.

The second game: 3) Villanova vs 1) North Carolina

Allow me to steal a line from Chris Berman on Sunday NFL Countdown.....

YOUR ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL ON NORTH CAROLINA...

........I'M GOING NOVAAAAAAAA....

I know it's an absolute long shot. I think Las Vegas has them at 5-1 to win the Championship, but hear me out...No one in the Final Four plays defense like Villanova does. They have been tested all season by the best teams in the country, and just won the game of the tournament, so the big game atmosphere doesn't phase them. Aside from my cardinal rule of the first round in which I always trust a senior star point guard on a lower seeded team, I have a rule for the final four...Trust the team with guards who know how to win games....and then you sayyyyy....DUHHHH Ty Lawson...and then I slap you in the face then say...DUHHHHH Scotty Reynolds, Cory Fischer, Reggie Redding...I don't know why but I think they have enough to keep Lawson in check and they play enough help side defense that Hansborough is going to have a tough time in the lane. I'm calling it now....UPSET ALERT Villanova takes down UNC and your looking at an all Big East final.

Championship game pick coming Sunday Night:

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Now on to the Chicago Bears. Congratulations on your new born BABY!! And by baby I mean the biggest baby in the history of the NFL Mr. Jay Cutler. You have to be the biggest cry-baby sore loser I have ever seen in my life. So what your coach tried to get another QB in who he was familiar with, big deal that's the business. Look at what Parcells and Belichek have done in their careers to be successful, they've brought in their guys to play for them. And Then Jay Cutler decides that he wants to completely leave one of the better fan bases in the league, a top 5 wide receiver and a potential top 10 future wide receiver, and a GENIUS as a head coach in terms of offensive coordination. Granted your only 25, you need some growing up to do...WAKE UP Jay, not everyone worships the ground you walk on in the NFL so deal with it...Now your on too Chicago, where Devin Hester is your number 1 receiver.......Yikes...Good luck with that....BABY

It's Just Not Fair

2009-03-30T17:46:00.007-04:00

Written By Tom DeRiggi

Allow me to read to you guys a quote that was texted to me by my Uncle Kenny, an avid sports fan and golf fanatic on Sunday, after I told him what Tiger did on the 18th hole...

"I'm home. Just saw it. Relatively speaking the greatest sports figure/athlete in history of sports. Michael Jordan just went to 2."

Immediately I defended Jordan because he's my idol and still in my mind the greatest athlete to ever play a professional sport. But my uncle brings up a good question in reference to Tiger Woods... just how great is he really?

Well Sunday afternoon he proved it. I wasn't able to watch every hole as we were at my cousin's surprise party because he won this little competition in Atlantic City, I think it was the New Jersey State Wrestling Championships or something. Apparently it's a big deal, but he's won it twice though so it must not be that big. I Digress. Anyway, I tuned in for the last 4 holes once the party settled down to watch my man Tiger completely just prove that he may be the most ridiculous current athlete in professional sports. You can't even measure how talented he is because he keeps out-doing himself. This was only his 3rd tournament back from arthroscopic knee surgery, and I feel that people don't understand the severity of his injury in terms of the sport that he plays.

I had this conversation with my uncle yesterday about the recovery time and the amount of playing he missed. Golf is such a technical game and requires patience and the discipline of an Asian school boy. (Ok Bad example) But seriously the amount of time to get your complete game back is astronomical compared to other sports. So what did Tiger do after his injury?

Nothing that special, just over came a 5 SHOT deficit....in one round, and hit a 16 foot putt sloping down and to the right...on the 18th hole...ohhh no big deal. Every tournament that Tiger plays in ends up having some kind of suspense. People forget that before he got hurt he was on an absolute tear; I don't have the exact statistic but he had won like 7 tournaments in a row and then got hurt and then STILL won the US Open in 5 rounds.

Tiger makes us appreciate a sport that, If I'm being honest, no one would give a damn about otherwise. So I'm telling you now If you haven't watched Tiger on a Sunday, you should really consider it because its consistently the most exciting thing in sports, and Tiger, as much as it pains me to say, may be the best athlete in terms of recognition and accomplishments we have ever seen.

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A little round up of the weekend's NCAA Tournament.

Best game of the tournament happene Saturday night. Check me off the, "Officially on the Villanova Bandwagon" list. Scotty Reynolds made one of those Christian Laettner/Brice Drew type of game winners. Granted they're going to have a tough time against UNC, I'm pulling for them.

I can't even begin to express my frustrations with Louisville. For once I can't agree with what Rick Pitino did. Usually an up-tempo type of team like Louisville SETS the tempo. But Rick Pitino dropped back into a 2-3 zone allowing Michigan State to take 25 seconds off the shot clock every time, and you combine that with high shooting percentage from Michigan St and lower shooting percentage from Lousiville, you got one hell of a recipe for a garbage game. Louisville's inability to make shots didn't allow them to set up their press and therefore they dropped into a 2-3 zone which was exactly what Michigan State wanted. I don't know what you were thinking Rick but that was probably the worst game you ever coached. 52 POINTS???? Thats disgraceful. Can you tell I picked them to win the whole thing??

Back In a few days to give you the Final four and Championship predictions.

I Got a SWEET Tooth for March

2009-03-26T13:57:00.010-04:00

Written By Tom DeRiggi

Disclaimer: I have no idea who those girls are in that picture, but I figured it was fitting for the round we're in, in the NCAA tournament. ;)

________________________

I couldn't possibly think of another topic to write on other than the NCAA tournament, it's basically too impossible to talk about anything else, although I am impressed with the Phoenix Suns 6 game win streak, WBC's lack of public appeal/the US sucking again, this notion that Derek Jeter can't play shortstop anymore because he made 1 error in 1 game, Alex Ovechkin trying to make hockey interesting with his WACK celebration, Shaq and Lebron's ongoing pre-game theatrics, or even my Crush on Obama (<<--That video is hysterical. HaHaha). But instead of feasting on those tidbits....I'll just stick with the Sweet 16. K? K.

Let's start off with last week's article I posted. Hopefully I saved many of you from making inexplicable picks, hopefully you all got the memo about Western Kentucky, Siena, Arizona, and Cleveland State in time. Yea....I'll give my self a pat on the back for Cleveland State....Yea. Anyway, I'm not doing too bad in my brackets but considering I had VCU in the elite 8, it doesn't bode well for my chances in the long run. Anyhow, let's get to the Sweet 16...

In the Midwest we have Louisville against Arizona and Kansas against Michigan State. I hate Michigan State. I'll just go on record and saying it, I don't know how they win....It's really mind bottling (you know, when your mind is juggled up like in a bottle....Comon' people, Blades of Glory). I really like Kansas in that game, they seem to be coming on later in the season and their young guys are producing, so Kansas over Michigan State. As far as the Louisville game, I don't see how Arizona wins, even though they have loads of talent, Louisville just brings too much pressure.

In the West we have Uconn vs Purdue and Missouri vs Memphis. Does this new Uconn recruiting probe affect the game? Coaching Staff? Players? We'll see but I don't think Purdue wins this, when in doubt go by this rule....Big East vs Big Ten...always take a Big East team because the Big Ten is so horrible to watch, it makes me want to quit basketball. Memphis and Missouri is going to be the game of the tournament, just mark it down right now. It's going to be awesome in so many ways,...Fast Break, Press and Trap, Dunks, threes...it's got everything you can possibly want. I think Memphis just has an edge in talent and they're going to squeak by Missouri in this game 145-144. (Just kidding but we seriously might see 100s in this game)

I'll run down the East and South pretty quick considering I should've left for class after the Obama video.

The East has Pitt/Xavier and Villanova/Duke. I think Pitt is too much for Xavier and Xavier's guards don't impress me at all, and I'm a Big East homer. Villanova/Duke is probably the toughest call of all these games. Duke seems like they have a formula for winning now with Scheyer at the point but you just don't know when Scotty Reynolds will go off for 30...AHHH I'm going Duke. They seem more complete to me.

And lastly, the South. UNC /Gonzaga and Syracuse/Oklahoma. Sorry Zags but Ty Lawson is healthy, and when he's healthy they're the best team in basketball. UNC over the Zags big. Like possibly 25 points big. Syracuse/Oklahoma is the other game I wanted to peep because I love Jonny Flynn ad Syracuse. They're just fun to watch. No one can guard Blake Griffin, but then no one can guard Jonny Flynn. I'll take Syracuse by the hair on their chinny chin chin.

It's the Most Wonderful Time, Of the Year!!

2009-03-19T22:57:00.006-04:00

Written By Tom DeRiggi

I'm sure your all wondering where I have been the past week, considering it's the most popular basketball week of the year, and yours truly's favorite week of the year...BY FAR. Well I'd like to thank my college education of getting in the way of me being able to come on here and give you all of my pre-tournament analysis. We're just going to pull a Jamie Foxx and....

Blame it on the A-a-a-a-a-a-a-academics...(thanks professors!)

Instead I'll just have to give you what I had on my brackets as interesting match-ups (trust me I don't cheat). I wanted to come on and save all of your brackets from picking inexplicable teams to advance, much like how everyone sees Oklahoma or Gonzaga going far. PLEASE....STOP... Your savior is here.

Let's start in the Midwest (otherwise known as the top left part of your bracket).
You're an idiot if: You have USC, Wake, OSU, or Morehead State winning. There's not a shot in hell that Morehead wins, i just threw that in for kicks, USC to inconsistent, Wake Forest has to be the most overrated team in the field of 65, and don't underestimate Siena, they can play.

You're a Genius if: You have Louisville, AZ, Siena, Cleve St, WV, BC, MSU winning. Everyone sleeping on AZ and BC, both teams are veteran and disciplined, and when it comes down to it, the cardinal rule of a lower seeded team: Trust the senior PG star. AKA Tyrese Rice. UPSET ALERT: Watch Robert Morris against MSU, I picked MSU because I don't have the testicular fortitude to take a 15 over a 2, but MSU does not impress me at all, hence their second round exit.

Sweet 16-Region winner: Louisville is the best team in the tournament right now, hands down. If you don't have them reaching the final four then you might need to drop out of every Face book Bracket Group that your in. AZ over Cleve St, WV will beat Kansas and BC takes out MSU, Louisville and WV regional final: Result: Louisville

Down to the West bracket (that makes no geographical sense when you read it)

You're an idiot if: You have California, Cornell, or Utah State. Weakest quarter of the bracket. Now most of this bracket played today so it's hard to call you an idiot when I know the results, so I'll call myself an idiot on BYU.
You're a Genius if: You have UCONN, A&M, Purdue, Wash, Marquette, Mizzou, Maryland, and Memphis. I had Maryland as the first upset of the day, so obvious. Memphis gave us quite a scare but Calipari chewed them out at halftime and they rallied. Purdue and Washington look solid, boring, but solid.

Sweet 16-Region Winner: Game of the tournament is going to be Missouri vs Memphis. OMG can you say Fast-Break. Seriously we might see 90 from both teams. Ultimately I think Memphis has more play makers. Uconn vs Purdue was my toughest call of the tournament but I went with my Big East bias until the region championship. Region Winner: Memphis

Now we're going North to the East (I got you allllllllll F'ed up with these directions)

You're an idiot if: You have Wisconsin, UCLA, or Minnesota winning. The Upset Du jour of the tournament is VCU, and its getting me worried because EVERYONE has them, and that may motivate UCLA. But I'm sticking to my cardinal rule of the first round, trust the Senior star PG, Eric Maynor.
You're a Genius if: You have Pitt, OKST, FlA ST, X, Nova, TX, and Duke. Pretty standard bracket. Only one upset. Please people do NOT take Wisconsin, they couldn't score 40 on my Summer league team.

Sweet 16-Regional Championship: I think Pitt skates into the elite 8 but a sneaky VCU team finds a way to get by Nova and then Duke. Much like the George Mason run, however this ones ending a round too early, Pitt beats VCU. Region Winner: Pitt

The Final Region (actually in the proper location, the South-Bottom of the bracket)

You're an Idiot If: You have Radford, Illinois, Temple, or Michigan winning. I just threw Radford in their for S&G's (totally stole that from my professor). I'm telling you people please cross out your bracket before it's too late, and pencil in W Kentucky. Or don't so i can say I told you so. Clemson LOOKED like a lock until they lost today, so yes I'm an idiot.
You're a Genius If: You have UNC, WK, Zags, Cuse, AZ ST, and OK winning. AND if you have W Kentucky in the sweet 16, sorry Zags.

Sweet 16-Regional Championship: I think Lawson gets healthy by this point, and they go up against a feisty W Kentucky team but UNC is too much, and then Syracuse guard play gets them by Oklahoma, but not by Psycho T and the gang. Region Winner: UNC

So now the Final Four:
Louisville vs. Memphis. Another exciting game, going to be press, traps, fast breaks, layups, dunks, everything exciting in basketball. But in the end I think Louisville's pressure is too much for the young guards of Memphis. AND Louisville is in the championship game.

Pitt vs. UNC. Time for the Big East to flex their muscles (I'm talking to you Dajuan Blair). But I just think that Tyler Hansboroughogouhgruougrhough is on a mission and Pitt seems down lately, UNC advances

ANNNDDDDD Your Championship:
Louisville meets UNC. Pressure D meets High Octane Offense. On Paper, UNC wins this game 9 out of 10 times. But that's why they play the game. The key to the entire tournament is Louisville's full court pressure defense. I really don't think I could get the ball across half court against them. It's really just insane. Louisville pulls out a nail biter, 79-77....trust me on this one. Rick Pitino is due.

So whenever you just want to give me credit for winning your office pool, I accept MLA format on the citation and Paypal, Debit/Credit Cards. Thank You in Advance!!

I Love This Game....

2009-03-13T00:46:00.005-04:00

Written by Tom DeRiggi

I have been waiting all year/season to get something juicy enough to get me going on college basketball. Now don't let it go unnoticed that I am indeed a HUGE college basketball fan. And I have been waiting all season for something.....just anything to get me going. And tonight it happened at Madison Square Garden. In fact, I started writing this blog at the start of the 4thOT....yes you saw that correctly....and NOW were going into...the 5TH OT!!!!

The setting:

Big East Tournament, Quarterfinal Round

4 UCONN vs 20 Syracuse

When you turned this game on at 9 o clock you thought....OK probably going to be a good game, maybe a classic Big East Battle. But what we got tonight was the most ridiculous game the Big East has ever seen. Now I'm going to be honest, I didn't turn it on until the first OT because I was seriously HOUSING kids in Halo Wars, but of course I was instantly glued.

.........

.........

Sorry I was watching a moment in this game. It's almost too ridiculous to watch. I Digress

Anyway, I honestly can't remember a game like this in my college basketball history. And I've seen plenty of dandies. No one has any gas left, players are fouling out, coaches running out of ideas and strategies, Refs just wanna go home, Jay Bilas is going to rip his eyes out because he has to shamefully admit that the Big East is WAYYYY better then the ACC....Bill Raftery may have already had a heart attack, and probably screamed.."With a little KISSSSSS off the glass," about 40 times tonight. I've gone through 2 Arizona Ice Tea cans, and 4 Poland Spring Water bottles....I'm out of gas and resources.....someone might have to get a crash cart here if this thing goes to 6. It is the perfect game to get anyone in the mood for college basketball, and If you happened to be watching this game then your witnessing one of the greatest games in the history of college basketball...

WAIT....17 seconds left in the 5th OT

.......

OHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

CAN YOU GUESS IT?

6 OVERTIMESSSSSSSSSSS

Seriously Can Anyone win this game?....I really think my heart rate is at like a Buck-fitty right now. My iPhone has gotten about 4,067 text messages in the past hour. I've woken my dad up at 1 AM ET because I just can't be the only one up right now...

OMGG 3-pointer and then a 3 point play from 'Cuse...this thing could be over, but I also said that 4 OT's ago....I can't wait for Scott Van pelt and Stu Scott to do the highlights for this game...it's going to be hysterical....I'm always digressing...

(Quick actual analysis about this game: Whole game changed when Hasheem Thabeet went out for Uconn. I think UCONN has this game won already with him in the lane in the last two overtimes. Syracuse is driving to the lane at will, and Adrian looks exhausted from UCONN. Also UCONN is just settling for jump shots...they need to take the ball to the rim but everyone is absolutely worked...)

Game looks out of reach now for UCONN....UCONN down 10 now with 1 minute left. Can't even be mad at the Huskies but they just didn't have enough gas in the tank, they virtually played two games back to back....Syracuse just out willed UCONN...

..And just as I say that UCONN cuts it down to 6....figures I open my mouth to early.
Game over, Syracuse wins.....WHAT A GAME...I hope everyone got to watch this...

GOODNIGHT

I Guess I Never Got My Popcorn Ready

2009-03-05T10:22:00.004-05:00

March 5th 2009,

A date which will live in infamy. (Well, maybe not)

In case you live on "The Island" in LOST, and your busy running from "The Others" and that smokey monster thing (seriously what is that?), then you may have missed the reports late last night and early this morning. WR Terrell Owens was released by my beloved Dallas Cowboys. Hold on I need a minute.....

(sigh)

Ok I'm Good.

There had been much speculation that Terrell could be released or traded by the draft, but that was all laid to rest when Jerry Jones (the owner) came out and said that the Cowboys are going to keep Terrell Owens. So all was honky dory until very early this morning when Jerry Jones (the GM) decided to cut the future Hall of Fame wide receiver. Great Jerry, I Swear to god, you are losing your mind. You know how some old people just cant drive anymore? Yet they just continue to drive and put everyone in danger around them on the road. That's Jerry Jones with the Dallas Cowboys. Not only do the Cowboys lose their top offensive play maker, they lose the fear that he imposed on opposing defensive coordinators. People don't understand how much he freed up the rest of the field for guys like Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton, and apparently Jerry is one of those people. But anyway back to Terrell...

So how do we define the Terrell Owens Era in Dallas? Say what you want about him blowing up this team, but I refuse to believe it. He literally blew up the 49ers and Eagles locker room, but I don't think that situation applies to the Cowboys. The situation in Dallas was more media driven than anything and I don't think that he was as bad an influence as everyone thinks. Now I do agree that he had a minor influence on the locker room, it would be naive (thanks A-Rod) of me to think otherwise. But you cannot justify what this guy did on the field for 3 years, and basically his whole career. In his 3 years with the Cowboys Terrell Owens had just under 3600 yards receiving and 38 touchdowns. That's almost 1200 yards a year with 13 touchdowns! No one can argue with me that this guy hurt the team more than he helped it. I don't see it.

But Terrell Owens in his press conference 3 years ago told us "Getcha Popcorn Ready!" Well Terrell my question for you is, What did we need the popcorn for? Sure you were great for the regular season, but we're sick of that. The Cowboys haven't won a playoff game in....hold on...I still can't believe this...14 YEARS!!! So Mr. Owens, what did I waste all this popcorn for, the regular season? The fact is that despite all of your success in the regular season, and all of your gaudy numbers you put up, and all of the so called controversy that you brought to our team....we didn't win when it counted. And that's where I have the problem with you Mr. Owens because when things aren't going right you cant look your self in the mirror and blame yourself. It always has to be someone else that you blame. You can't just pick your teammates up when the chips are down, you'd rather dance around with ESPN's Ed Werder, or start your reality show. You had no focus on winning, despite the fact that you said that's all you wanted to do.

So this is the end of the road for you in Dallas, Terrell. So I'm just going to pull a Parcells and call you 'the player' from now on. I have to drop your jersey, my support, and my fan hood towards you. (I'm going to keep the TO tees though, basically because their hilarious. www.TOtees.com)
It's not going to come easy, because I did enjoy watching you on the field. But I guess, I never got my popcorn ready.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

2009-03-02T10:40:00.003-05:00

Written by Tom DeRiggi

So as you may know (considering no one outside of Jersey reads this blog) we're bombarded with snow right now and I can't find anything else to do other than take NAMES in Call of Duty. So I decided to come on and give you a little snack-blog. If you enjoy watching basketball than you have to enjoy the resurgence of the Diesel, Shaquielle O'Neal. This season truly has been a complete turn around for the Shaqtus, further proving that when healthy hes probably the 2nd best big in the league (Dwight Howard). His PPG UP. Rebounds UP. Minutes UP. And now hes being called in to be the glue that holds the Suns together while they get healthy. Nash and Amare out and Alvin Gentry has made an extremely wise decision to run the offense through him. Don't be fooled by it though, the Suns still run.....and they run well. But if they don't have a good look after the break, they pull it out and literally throw the ball to Shaq and let him go to work. It's probably the most genius thing the Suns have done since letting Joe Johnson leave (Enter Sarcasm here.) On a serious note though, I don't see how the Suns can't make a playoff run using this offense. Let me ask you a question. Who can guard Shaq in the West? He just abused Pau Gasol for 35 minutes last night. No way anyone on Utah, Portland (Greg your always hurt), Dallas, New Orleans can guard him. The only one is Yao, and Shaq has had a history of going to town on Yao.

Now Shaq claims that he never went anywhere and his game was always this good, and he was just hurt the past 2 years. Comon Shaq, you were bunz the past 2 seasons. But now that your the team's main offensive weapon your putting up gaudy numbers.

I played guard so I can't get THAT excited over a big man, but seeing Shaq rejuvenated is definitely a pretty sight for basketball in general. I know one thing, the Suns better make the playoffs, and they better get used to Shaq being the main weapon on that team, if so you could be seeing a late playoff run in Pheonix.