Rant #4: Let’s Talk Some Ball, Y’all!

Sports fans! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? After a long hiatus, I am back to writing on this blog! First, let’s catch up on some news right away, then it’s time for some ranting!

Here’s what’s happened since the last post on this blog (January 2nd, 2014):

NBA:

• All Star Weekend was full of highlights and lowlights:
  • Kyrie Irving led the Eastern Conference in beating the Western Conference, 163-155. Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant had nice games too!
  • Team Hill, led by Andre Drummond, beat Team Webber in the Rising Stars Challenge.
  • Boshasaurus Rex’s team won the Shooting Stars Challenge. That’s two years in a row! LIKE A BOSH!
  • Trey Burke and Damian Lillard edged out Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo in the Skills Challenge.
  • Marco Belinelli won the Three Point Competition while John Wall won the stupid and ridiculously short Slam Dunk Competition.
• Carmelo Anthony scored 62 points on the Bobcats, and then LeBron James scored 61… Take THAT, Air Jordan!
• Phil Jackson has joined the New York Knicks as team president. Don’t worry, Phil, Pat Riley sees you.
• The Tanking continues as the 76ers have lost 22 in a row (the Bucks with 5, the Magic with 7 and Jazz with 6 losses in a row. )
• The Pacers traded for Even Turner; Clippers signed ex-Magic Glen Davis and ex-Pacer Danny Granger and the Thunder signed Caron Butler at the buyout deadline.
• Joe Dumars expected to resign as the president of the Detroit Pistons.
• Mike Woodson, Tyrone Corbin and Rick Adelman will not be returning to their respective teams, Knicks, Jazz and Timberwolves.
• The NBA Playoffs is off to a great start!

MLB:

• The 2014 Season is off to a great start. The Mariners look much better than last year.
• Mike Trout signed a pre-arbitration record $1 million contract and then signed a $144.5 mill/ 6 year extension.
• The Yankees are looking much better than last year… or maybe not.

NFL:

• NFL Free Agency has people crying… I mean it. Watch this:
• http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10638144/steve-smith-baltimore-ravens-surprises-sad-7-year-old-fan-gavin-simone-gma
• The Seahawks have lost a lot of athletes, however they are trying to sign Jared Allen (and came up short as he agreed to sign with the Bears).
• The Rich get Richer: The Broncos signed Aqib Talib and DeMarcus Ware.
• Richie Incognito was traded to the Oakland Raiders
• All Day, Adrian Peterson wants Michael Vick as the Vikings Quarterback… After all, anyone is better than Christian Ponder (Mike Vick has signed with the Jets as they released Mark Sanchez).
• The Philadelphia Eagles released DeSean Jackson, whom only to be signed by the Washington Redskins not soon after.

College:

• The University of Connecticut Huskies beat the University of Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA March Madness Championship Game.
• Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), Dante Exum (Australia), Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State), Zach LaVine (UCLA), Tyler Ennis (Syracuse), Noah Vonleh (Indiana), TJ Warren (NC State) are among some of the NCAA athletes that have entered the 2014 NBA Draft. Among the likes of Jabar Parker (Duke), Joel Embiid (Kansas), James McAdoo (UNC), Aaron Gordon (Arizona), Julius Randle (Kentucky), Shabazz Napier (UConn) are also expected to enter soon.

Olympics:

• Host Nation, Russia had 33 total medals with 13 of them being gold. United States of America had 28 total medals with 9 being gold and to round of the top three, Norway had 26 total medals with 11 being gold.

Soccer:

• After a tumultuous ten months at Old Trafford, David Moyes was sacked as the manager for the Manchester United Red Devils. Ryan Giggs has been brought as the interim manager.
• Barcelona’s summer transfer ban has been lifted after an appeal.

Rant Time:

1. David Stern Adam Silver, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, do not put sponsor on the NBA Jerseys. Oh wait, he won’t listen to me. After all, I pleaded against the sleeved jerseys.
2. While I enjoy the NBA quite a lot, I am not liking some of the recent, and older, changes being made to it. Some of the things include small things like the All-Star Weekend, which could be changed quite quickly, but some of the others take a bit of time to work it out, such as the for the playoffs and lottery. My idea? Coming up soon….
3. David Moyes was Sir Alex Ferguson’s hand picked replacement. I understand that Manchester United are used to winning and beating their rivals, but the bashing of Moyes was unnecessary. After years and years of being under SAF reign, Manchester United fans should have known that it was not going to be easy for whoever was the manager. Moyes was a great manager with Everton, but he just came at the wrong time for Man Utd. I’ll go as far as to say that not all the blame should be placed on Moyes. Yes, he did not adjust accordingly and he handled some decisions pretty poorly, but, Man Utd already had a ton of problems to begin with, such as the players ageing, injuries, the whole Rooney ordeal and not adding key players after last season. Don’t place the blame all on Moyes, but the whole management.

Different Types of Bandwagons

“Bandwagoners gonna bandwagon”

Brishank Adhikari

The White Mamba
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HzbaSM72NVA/TyoPcOsAaSI/AAAAAAAADac/vx0vN_VfmTY/s1600/brian-scalabrine-e1328118911374.jpg

I hate bandwagoners as much as the next guy. As most of you know, I have been a Heat fan since 2003 so I am constantly called a bandwagoner. These days, I don’t even argue with them. I mean, we all like a team for a reason, why do we bother explaining these reasons to random strangers. In my opinion, everyone is a bandwagoner. I mean, either you randomly pick a team to root for or you chose them because they’re from your home state. However, there isn’t just one type of bandwagoners; there are many types of these people. In addition, not all of them are “bad”. Let’s take a look at each type of bandwagoners.

1. The Straight-Up Bandwagoners

These fans hop from team to team, year by year, joining the recent champions of the professional sports leagues. They don’t know who the current players are, they don’t know the team’s history and frankly, they don’t care. So, if you know someone who supports the Miami Heat, Chicago Blackhawks, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Ravens, you can bet your salary that they are a straight up bandwagoner. Go ahead, call them out.

2. The Player “D–k Rider”

These bandwagoners follow one person around from team to team. Similar to the first one, they don’t care about the team or its history. They just want the player to be successful, but fail to recognize that most sports are team-orientated. Yes, LeBron fanboys, I’m looking at you.

3. The Casual Bandwagoner

These type of people have never seen or watch professional sports before, but somehow they start watching it and start following the first team they see. If these people are hardcore sports fans, they usually care about the team and their history and will try to defend this team, no matter what. This was me in 2003, when I first saw the Heat play and started following them.

4. Born or Raise into a Bandwagon

a. The Born into a Bandwagon

These fans are usually born into a bandwagon. For example, say someone was born in Boston, so they cheer for Celtics, Patriots, Bruins and RedSox, even if they move away from an early age.

b. The Raised in a Bandwagon

Similar to the previous one, however these fans are not born in the city, but rather they spent their childhood there and feel affectionate towards the team(s).

5. Gone but Not Forgotten Bandwagon

Seattle Supersonics fan, you know what I’m talking about. Let’s be honest, you hate the Oklahoma City Thunder.

6. Local Bandwagon

These fans live where there are no professional teams in the city, so the person chooses to follow the closest professional teams.

7. “Haters” Bandwagon

These fans didn’t exist till the Miami Heat got James, Wade and Bosh. These bandwagoners love hating on one particular team. It doesn’t matter which team they are facing, they are always around to hate. They hope for a loss from this team, hope for failures. They hop from team to team wanting the Heat to lose. I say the Heat, because apparently they’ve got the most “haters”.

8. The Underdog Bandwagon

These fans are always supporting the underdogs. Why? They love upsets.

9. The Other Bandwagon

Every other bandwagoners are nothing but pests. Ignore them.

10. The International Bandwagon

People living in countries, besides the USA and Canada, just randomly select a team. Ta-da. That’s their team!

Bonus: The White Mamba Bandwagon

Everyone is part of this bandwagon. You tend to root for players like Brian Scalabrine, DJ Mbenga, Luke Walton, etc… Don’t deny it. If you say, you hate them, it means you’re in denial.

Top 5 Quarterbacks of 2013 (Preseason Rankings)

As we get closer and closer to the 2013-14 NFL Season, everyone is wondering who will win the SuperBowl or who will be the best player in the league. So, until the first game of the season, we are going to post The Sports Life’s Top 5 Players in each position. Of course, the first one is going to be the leader of the team, the quarterback position.

Top QBs
Courtesy of http://www.sikids.com/images/cms/imce/users/thewiz/2012/08/fantasy-qbs-081912.jpg

1. Drew Brees (NO Saints): Since 2005, Brees has led the league in passing yards four years while being in the top ten all nine years. In addition, he’s led the league in touchdowns passes for fours years. While he did have 19 interceptions last year, he was still the lone bright spot for the Saints as he threw for 5,177 yards with 43 touchdown passes. With Sean Payton back in control, expect Brees to shine even brighter.

2. Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers): After being in Brett Favre’s shadow for so long, Rodgers has shined as the top dog in Milwaukee. Not only are his stats amazing, but he is a smart player. His passer rating of 108 led all quarterbacks last year. He was sacked 51 times, but he kept his interceptions at a low with only 8 for the year. Rodgers has taken the league by storm and he won’t give it up. Expect him to try to win at least one more Super Bowl, which would put him in the all-time greats conversations.

3. Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos): Thee neck surgeries and the Comeback Player of the Year award, Manning is strong as ever. Manning has already placed himself as one of the great quarterbacks in the game. His numbers are always consistent, his smartness on the field and classiness off the field makes him a great all around athlete and player. If he can win one more SuperBowl, he’d be amazing, but expect no less from Manning than what he did in 2012. As the Broncos team chemistry grows bigger and tougher, Manning will do just as great.

4. Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons): Ryan’s postseason failures has led him to be one of the laughingstock of the NFL. Nonetheless, his stats are above average. Known as Matty Ice, Ryan recently signed a 5 year-$104 million dollar extensions. This should give him more reasons to do better in the postseason. As for the regular season, he will definitely be one of the better quarterbacks this year.

5. Eli Manning (NY Giants): As I round out my top 5 quarterbacks, I expect a ton of football fans to be angered at this moment as I snubbed many great quarterbacks. But, I’ll explain those snubs below. As for Eli, he gets a ton of hate even though he has more superbowl rings than big brother, Peyton. Eli isn’t as consistent as the other QBs on the top 5, but he has shown that he can win while putting up great numbers. With Nicks and Cruz back, I think Manning will have a big year in 2013.

Snubs:

Tom Brady (NE Patriots): Tom Brady would definitely be in my top 5 IF he still had Welker, who bolted for Denver, a healthy Gronkowski, and A-A-Ron Hernandez. At the moment, Brady’s best receivers are Danny Amendola and Michael Jenkins. Now, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Brady still ended up with 4000+ passing yards and 30+ touchdown passes, but at the moment I’m not anticipating it.

Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys): Honestly, Romo is a decent quarterback. Unfortunately for Romo, decent doesn’t get you in the top five. Romo has all the tools he needs but he is constantly underperforming. Will 2013 be a better year for Romo? We’ll have to wait and see.

Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers): Losing Mike Wallace was huge. Roethlisberger has shown he can win it in the big stage, but he just doesn’t have the stuff anymore.

Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens): Although his team are the defending champs and he signed a huge extension, I still don’t buy into the Flacco hype. Sorry Raven fans. But, he’s alright.

Cam Newton/Matt Stafford (Carolina Panthers/Detroit Lions): They are definitely in the top ten, but they don’t make my top five.

Andrew Luck/Robert Griffin III/Russell Wilson (Colts/Redskins/Seahawks): Can the rookies continue their success in their second year? We’ll see. But, I think so.

Colin Kaepernick (SF Giants): I’m still mad at him taking Alex Smith’s gig, but we’ll see is Kaep is the real deal or if last year was beginner’s luck.

Alex Smith/Mike Vick (KC Chiefs/Philadelphia Eagles): Can they recover from last year?

NCL – National Cricket League

Let’s be honest, many of you readers probably do not know what Cricket is, and if you do, you might be referring to the little insect. If you are one of those people who actually know the sport called cricket, you may skip the video below. However, if you have no idea what cricket is, follow the instructions.

Step 1: Read about Cricket on Wikipedia (and for your convenience, I am going to post the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket)

Step 2: Watch this video:

You’re probably thinking, “Why on earth would you want Cricket in the United States of America when it already has the MLB?” Now, if you have read some of my other articles, you probably know I like to divide every idea into three parts:

1. My personal experiences in the Cricket World

2. The facts about Cricket

3. My plans for the NCL – if it were to exist

New Zealand vs Australia
Courtesy of : http://nimg.sulekha.com/sports/original700/emirates-pakistan-new-zealand-cricket-2009-11-9-15-13-11.jpg

Many people probably don’t know I was born in Nepal, the small country cradled by China and India. I watched and played Cricket since I was a little kid. In Nepal, influenced by India and United Kingdom, cricket is one of the major sports, besides Futbol (or Soccer). I remember going to my cousins house and playing cricket with his friends. Of course, we did have the best equipment but we made the best of it. One time, we used tin barrels for wickets. Long story short, my cousin managed to fall on top of it and cut his forehead. Yes, he was ok afterwards. But, even with this horrific accident, we continued to play. In 2001, I moved to New Zealand. During the first couple of months, I usually just played soccer but after a  while, I got into Cricket even more.  Eventually, I played for the school (or community, I don’t remember), and I was dubbed the best bowler. It also helped me make more friends and I had a good time. I remember watching most of the games with my dad as we made bets on who would win(some matches took 3 days to complete). Soon, I moved out of New Zealand and I stopped playing Cricket and moved to other sports. I never really thought about cricket like I used to, but every once in a while, I would catch up on it. Lately, I really haven’t watched any cricket; I have forgotten many of the rules, but I still love the sport.

Now, on to the facts about cricket. According to many statistics, Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world coming behind none other than Football, or Soccer. If soccer is becoming bigger and bigger in the US, imagine how Cricket would be in ten or twenty years from now. If we compare the 3 major sports of the USA to Football (Soccer) and Cricket, we can see the following:

Courtesy of Google Trends. Note: Football could mean Australian Football League, NFL, Soccer….

As for popularity, it as popular as NBA, NFL and MLB. Cricket is popular in countries such as United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and many, many more. There are many leagues around the world, but none as great as the ICC, or the International Cricket Council. Similar to the FIFA for soccer, the ICC rules over international cricket plays. Similar to baseball, cricket is an interesting and fun sport once you learn the rules and even play a game. Having experienced both sports, in my opinion, Cricket is a much more demanding sport than baseball. I am a fan of baseball, but it is a slow sport. In Cricket, you have to be constantly moving and aware of your opposition. Cricket requires thinking while baseball, all you really need to do is swing and hit the ball. Not putting down baseball by any means, but cricket is much more complicated and takes more patient. That is the biggest reason Cricket is not as popular in North America than other parts of the world. As humans, we don’t have the greatest patience, which Cricket requires a lot of; Even though Cricket is a sport that requires constant motion, the sport can take hours and hours to finish. However, the best thing about Cricket is that anyone can play it. Most sports in North America are dominated by buff guys who are usually over six feet and 220 pounds. On the other hand, Cricket does not require a ton of muscle strength or being tall and buff. It might sound cliché but all you need is a field, a desire to play and know how to play. Even though the USA has tried to implement a Cricket league and it was not very popular, there should be a bigger effort to expand it. After all, most of the world plays it anyway. If America wants to be a true melting pot of cultures, it should include a Cricket League. There should be an effort to have recreation Cricket leagues throughout North America, starting out in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and even universities. As with every other major sports, it will be complicated and frustrating in the beginning, but if it were accessible to all, it would become a major sport in North America.

Lastly, if there were to be a NCL and I were the commissioner, this is what I would do (this is assuming that it gains popularity within the next couple of years):

First of all, as with all professional sports, you need to start out small. If you allow kids to grow into a cricket era, it will gain popularity, much like everything else in our society. So, my plan would be implementing cricket in high schools and community in each town or city. Expand it to state-wide leagues and add tournaments as it gains popularity.  Thus, in the cities with the most people, culturally diverse, make cricket leagues. For example, in New York City, make a city-wide league with 10 to 20 teams. Thus, as it gains popularity, it can be changed into a nationwide league. So, each city picks the best of the best and makes a team, similar to any other professional sports. So, I would take cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas and San Jose (ten of the most populated US cities) and create a season with each team playing each other a certain amount of times. At the end of the season, there could be a tournament including all the cities. As the game gains more fans, more teams would be added, thus allowing the league to add more divisions and conferences. Overall, there would be 30 to 40 teams with 2 conferences and 4 divisions in each conference.

West				East
Northwest	Pacific	Southwest	Midwest	Eastern	Southeast	Atlantic	Central
Seattle	Los Angeles	Phoenix	Oklahoma City	Charlotte (NC)	Miami	New York	Chicago
Portland	Las Vegas	San Antonio	Minneapolis (MN)	Baltimore	Orlando	Boston	Detroit
Denver	San Francisco	Dallas	Kansas City	Philadelphia	Atlanta	Washington DC	Indianapolis
Salt Lake City	San Diego	Houston	New Orleans	Pittsburgh	Nashville (TN)	New Jersey	Cleveland
Vancouver	Sacramento	Austin	St Louis	Toronto	Tampa Bay	Brooklyn	Cincinati

After that is set up, the season could be similar to that of the MLB season. Each team would play each other at least once with teams in the same division and conference playing more games. The playing style would be similar to that of the test matches or ODI (one day international). Assuming cricket gains and maintains the popularity, it could become a huge source of income from tickets, merchandise, sponsorship on merchandise worn during games and such. The playoffs would be the two best teams from each division thus having a 16 team playoff similar to the NBA. The series in the playoffs would be one game elimination, with the loser going home and ultimately one champion.

And that, my friends, is where I leave it to you. What else would you add to the league? Do you have better ideas? Would you make a better commissioner  than me? Comment below your ideas!

Month in Review: February

NFL

• Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers in SuperBowl XLVII with the score, 34-31.
• Joe Flacco is raking in money as he is set to be the highest paid NFL player. Although, he led the Ravens to the SuperBowl win, I do not think he should be paid this much!
• After this season and starting a blog, I look forward to another season of NFL! CAN’T WAIT!

NBA

• The BBVA Rising Stars Challenge between Team Chuck and Team Shaq was a great game with the potential of the NBA’s promising young stars showcasing their talents. Team Chuck beat Team Shaq 163-135.
• The Sears Shooting Stars was won by Team Bosh who beat Team Westbrook by 1 second.
• The Taco Bell Skills Challenge was won by the potential Rookie of the Year, Damian Lillard.
• Then, another young player with LOTS of potential, Kyrie Irving won the Foot Locker 3-Point Shootout.
• The dunk competition, much better than last year, was won by another rookie, Terrence Ross. His tribute to Vince Carter was pretty neat. He received 58% of the votes while his opponent, Jeremy Evans racked up 42%.
• In the final even of the All-Star Weekend, the West beat the West 143-138!
• Lakers are slowly, but surely, arriving at the doorsteps of the playoffs.
• Pacers, Bulls, Spurs and Nuggets continue to push hard as the season is coming to an end soon.
• Nets, Knicks, Warriors are slowly fading out. They aren’t going anywhere soon but they might need to regroup!
• Miami Heat go 12-1 in the month of February behind LeBron James’ 29.7PPG, 7.8APG, 7.5RPG as he shot 64% from the field!
• Condolences to the Buss Family, as Jerry Buss, the pioneer for modern NBA passed away.

MLB:

• Spring Training is underway. 
• Curtis Granderson is out for a while after injuring his arm.
• Seems like Jason Bay might get his swing back…
• Felix Hernandez is getting paid!

NHL:

• Chicago Blackhawks are now, 18-0-3. Will they go undefeated in the regular season?
• Steven Stamkos and Sidney Crosby lead the league in points with 31 each.
• Is this the year Phoenix Coyotes will be moved? They are still pretty bad!

Monthly Fav Five of March

1. Who would you put on your sports “Mount Rushmore”?

Madeeh: Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Jerry West, and Diego Maradoña

Brishank: The Real Ronaldo, Jackie Robinson, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan

Alex Duplessis: Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, Wayne Gretzky, and Babe Ruth.

Tony Bensinger:  Unitas, Jordan, Yzerman, Ruth.

2. Predict the Top 8 in both conferences for the playoffs? 

East

Madeeh:

East: Miami, Indiana, New York, Brooklyn, Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Toronto

West: San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Denver, LA Clippers, Golden State, Houston, and LA Lakers

Brishank:

East: Miami, Indiana, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Brooklyn, Boston, and Milwaukee

West: San Antonio, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State, Utah, and Houston

Julian Mitchell:

WEST: Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, Grizzlies, Warriors, Nuggets, Rockets, Lakers

EAST: Heat, Knicks, Pacers, Bulls, Nets, Celtics, Hawks, Bucks

Tony: Don’t watch anyone other than the Pistons, and the Pistons blow.

3. How will Alex Smith fare in KC?

Madeeh: No good. Only reason he succeeded in SF is because he liked the way the coaching staff was organized and he bought into their system. KC is not going to be a memorable place for Alex Smith

Brishank: Considering Andy Reid is coming to town and the Chiefs own the #1 pick of the draft, the Chiefs will do better than last season. However, Alex Smith will be a GREAT addition to the team. He was playing amazing in SF until he got benched.

Alex: He’ll make them competitive, but not much more. (8-8)

4. Chicago Blackhawks: 17-0-3. Title or Bust?

Madeeh: I say that they make the Stanley Cup… but I am not too confident about them winning it all just yet.

Brishank: Title. Can anyone stop them this season?

Alex: Bust (biased)

5. “The other 31 teams HATE the NE Patriots.” Terrell Suggs. Agree or Disagree?

Madeeh: I agree. Patriots are the most hated team in the NFL! If you don’t love New England, you love to hate them

Brishank: I agree; however, they are hated because they are the only team that have the potential to win the Super Bowl EVERY YEAR…except they lose in the playoffs. The hatred towards them is stemmed from their success. (I am one of the biggest Patriot haters!)

Tony & Alex: “Agree”

BQ: Erin Andrews or Rachel Nichols?

Madeeh: Erin Andrews. Not even a challenge to me!

Brishank: Kate Upton. Oh, she isn’t an option? Ok, Andrews and Nichols!

If you like sports and want to discuss it with other fellow sports fans, go join this!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/340628896025160/

NFL 2017: The Future of America’s Biggest Sport

Could one of these teams be heading to LA?

The NFL is currently the biggest sport in the United States. It is currently valued at around $9 billion and it is estimated that in 5 years, it could be worth $14 billion! The players are known and idolized, and the Super Bowl is one of the biggest events in the world of sports. But Commissioner Roger Goodell wants improvement: “Our philosophy is to always look for ways to improve.” So what is next for the NFL? It’s the removal of some human error.

In 2017, the NFL plans to be finalized in all of it’s technological upgrades to further remove any discrepancies on ball positioning using microchips, lasers and motion sensors.  As of right now, there are rumours of a chip being inserted into the football so that we know exactly where the ball should be placed and whether it crossed the goal line. This could be the end of the chain gangs. These lasers will also be able to fully decide whether the ball does go through the uprights on a kick.

What does that mean? It means coaches no longer need to worry about challenging the field positioning of the ball, or whether it was a touchdown. The game will move along much faster and there won’t be as many mistakes by the referees or the chain gang on whether they did get the first down or not.

The helmets are already becoming safer and more secure so that fewer players end up with head injuries, but the NFL may be making a new lightweight padding for your knees, thighs, and hips mandatory as early as the beginning of the new season.

There will also be an update to the jumbotrons that will give instantaneous information for the fans and fantasy players. They will also show highlights from every game and peeks at what the referee sees on challenged calls. There may even be vies of the locker room (most likely not while the players are in the showers)! Basically everything you are able to do at home will now be fully available at the stadium along with the extra excitement that is attending an NFL game. This will also give other stats like: how fast Adrian Peterson was running, how much force was in that sack by JJ Watt, or something like how fast was the ball thrown.

Other possible changes include: less preseason games and more playoff games, more games played outside of the US, bigger and longer drafts, more doctors and other specialists being hired for the teams, and the possibility of a Los Angeles team.

LA right now has a big name in all major sports except the NFL. Commissioner Goodell has stated that the NFL will not expand past 32 teams for now, so we may end up seeing someone get relocated. The current front-runners for this are the San Diego Chargers (a tear drops my eye) and the Jacksonville Jaguars. But I repeat, these are all still rumours and nothing has yet been fully confirmed by the NFL.

Also, on an unrelated note, I really don’t think the Jets should get rid of Revis!! I’m not a Jets fan at all, but the problem with that particular NYC team is not with Revis. They should keep him, and get rid of some other people who are the true problem causers for that team.

In An Alternate Universe…Legends are Born, Not Made

Since I had an extremely stressful week due to midterms at school, I did not get a chance to finish my article on LeBron James. Hopefully, I can finish that by next week. So, instead of posting a full article this week, I decided to change things around. Watch the videos below and vote on the poll! (These guys should take their talents to Seattle and make an All-Sport Team; they would be unstoppable!)

Cliff Paul:

Leon Sandcastle:

Uncle Drew:

(All videos can be found on YouTube. Credit to the respective owners, I do no own any videos) 

Straight Outta High School – Yes or No

All across the world, athletes are being trained from a young age to play at the highest level. They work with coaches in camps, practices and rec leagues until they get to the age of 13 and enter the crazy train that is High School. The next four years are stress filled with relationships, , puberty, school, Drivers Ed., part-time jobs and a boat load of other things. But, the focus on most high school students minds are on their life after they walk across the stage holding their grade 12 diploma. Many want to go to college so that they can get a job as a doctor, or a lawyer, or a businessman, etc. Others get jobs at McDonald’s or other fast food restaurants. But the high-caliber athlete has the choice of taking an athletic scholarship to a top-notch college, or put their name into the draft for the following year. In this article, I am just going to go through some of the pros and cons of each decision.

Let’s start with the pros.

Finances

It is no secret that college is VERY expensive. There’s tuition, books, residence, and all the other fees that they charge you for every little thing. Going straight from college to the pros would mean saving thousands upon of thousands of dollars and instead you would be making whatever salary your contract says that you are entitled to! For the average rookie athlete, that comes out to about a million dollars for the first year!! So financially it is a win-win situation if you get drafted.

Longevity

The average sports career lasts until the athlete hits their mid-30s. You go in at 18 and assuming you don’t injure yourself or decide that you want to try retiring for a year and then make a heroic comeback, you could have a 17-18 year career playing sports instead of 14-15. More years in the sport gives you more years to go after the championship.

Talent from experience

Let’s run two different stories at the same time for a moment. Two great basketball players (named A and B) go to the same high school and graduate at the same time. A goes straight into the NBA, while B spends two years playing for Ohio State. By the time B gets into the NBA, he has gotten a Final Four appearance and an Elite 8 appearance. A has gone through a year of rebuilding and a year of just missing the playoffs. Now let’s say that by some strange coincidence, B gets drafted to the team A is already playing on. A is going to be well-adjusted to the NBA lifestyle already and B is a rookie coming to a new team with new faces and is about to change his game from college level to NBA level. A is going to have a better season than B simply because he knows the ropes of the team and is going to be able to handle a full 82 game season + playoffs if they make it. B will take a year or so to fully get accustomed to NBA play and will be at a lower level than A for the first little part of his career.

Now let’s look at some of the cons

College experience

Colleges exist to do more than just educate you. They give you leaders, guidance, parties, and a place to mature as a person. Most importantly, they give you a good work ethic and a positive way to run your life. You get valuable life skills and methods to properly organize your life around important due dates so that you don’t get screwed when it is time to work. Plus, college coaches have valuable knowledge and guidance about what pro-life is all about and how the schedule works. Slowly adjusting to crazy schedules involving long road-trips are all parts of what makes NCAA great for future pro athletes.

Slow Adjustment

Going straight from high school level of play into the big leagues is a huge change! It’s faster, the road trips are exhausting, the fame is intense and the overall physicality of the game is at a level that most high school players have only had nightmares about! Going to college to play a year or two helps you take steps to get up to that level instead of shocking you into it. Imagine it like you’re lifting weights. High school is like benching 45 and you feel good about it. Going straight to the pros is like just tossing an extra 200lbs on the bar and expecting you to be able to do it. College is the slow adjustment going up to the 200lb level.

Maturity

Let’s be honest, at 17/18 you really don’t know anything about how the world works even though you may think you do. You’re still a kid. Don’t get me wrong, there are a select few who are very mature for their age during their senior year, but it is a select few. You go through a few years of college where you learn more about the world and the sport that you’re in and all of a sudden, you are a man instead of a kid. You don’t just enter the draft, you enter as a new person who is ready for whatever life throws at you. There are too many cases of pro players being immature when they come into the pros because they didn’t go to college (Andrew Bynum, JR Smith, etc.) and that is something that really doesn’t help your team in their goal of standing on the podium with the trophy, pouring champagne and going to Jimmy Kimmel the next day.

Alcohol

Now here is something that is probably only going to be a problem for a few rookies. On the chance that you get sent to the team and you end up winning it all. The next thing you do after receiving the trophy, having a bunch of team pictures taken, and have paparazzi attack you with questions is that you go into the locker room. In the locker room, some of the veterans will already be popping champagne and spraying it on the coaches, players and basically anybody who is already there! Sounds great right? Wrong. As a kid straight out of high school, you need to be 21 before you can drink in the US. If you are playing in a place where the drinking age is 18, then it’s fine but nowhere in the US is the drinking age 21. After the champagne shower, it is off to the club where everyone celebrates with the fans and decides to drink some more and do who knows what else. Meanwhile, you are an 18-year-old who isn’t allowed in so you go home with a few friends and just hang out. Wouldn’t you rather just be 21 and be able to celebrate with your team?

These are just a few of the pros and cons of coming straight out of high school and going pro. Of course most pro leagues now have rules about having to go through a few years of college before you are allowed in so it isn’t a big problem anyways. But surprisingly it is still debated among sports fans on whether athletes should be able to enter without a college education.

The Joe Flacco Show?

Super Bowl XLVII was at the top of the most watched Super Bowls of all time. There were three reasons for that: The Harbowl, Ray Lewis’ final game and the Colin Kaepernick show. Let’s start off with one of the most crucial headlines of the Super Bowl, and that is the Harbowl. The reason the most watched sporting event in the word in the first week of February attained such a name was for one reason, Jim and John Harbaugh. They are the two coaches that coach the NFC and AFC champions respectively. Both of their names start with a “J” but the most common thing with the two of them is that they’re brothers. John is the older one of the brothers and he led his Baltimore Ravens to a 10-6 finish where younger brother Jim led his team to an 11-4-1 record during the regular season. It is most certain that the Ravens faced the most adversity going into the playoffs with their lackluster final 5 games.  But throughout the playoffs, they clearly showed that they were the best of the AFC, beating Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. The 49ers on the other hand had some fantastic comebacks against the Packers and the Falcons. In the Super Bowl, it must have been fate for both teams because they followed similar patterns that they had attained throughout the playoffs.

In the first quarter of the game, the 49ers went three and out and that proved to be costly because the Ravens scored on a stunning drive capped off by Flacco throwing a 13 yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin in the middle of the end zone. The 49ers didn’t seem to show up in the first half whatsoever because they just had a total of 2 field goals. It probably would have been only one if it weren’t for an offside call, which led to a re-kick. After one quarter, it was 7-3 for the Ravens. The second quarter was very successful for the Ravens in which they scored another pair of touchdowns, both passes from Flacco. The second touchdown was passed to Dennis Pitta right into the middle of the end zone once again. Before this touchdown, the previous Ravens drive was a gutsy call where John decided to fake a field goal and try to attain the first down with Justin Tucker. However, they came up 1-yard short thanks to the awareness of one of the best linebackers in the league, Patrick Willis. Like its been said many times, the 49ers did not show up in the first half and that fourth down stop led to nothing but a field position advantage for the Ravens which set up the 1 yard touchdown grab from Pitta. After the two minute warning, Flacco throws a bomb down the middle to one of Flacco’s favorite deep threats, Jacoby Jones. On this play, Jones was very aware that he wasn’t touched so he got back up from the five-yard line and ran it in. At half time, the score was 21-6.

Well, for the second half, it did not start the way the 49ers had hoped. After David Akers kicks the ball 8 yards deep into the end zone, Jacoby Jones decides to return it out and maybe give his team better starting field position that the 20-yard line. Well, lets just say they didn’t even end up starting with the ball because he ran it 108 yards for the touchdown. That gave the Ravens a commanding 28-6 lead. It seemed like the Ravens were going to put on a beating but than with just over 12 minutes to go in the third, there was a blackout. This blackout lasted over 30 minutes and it really got both the coaches worked up during the game. John Harbaugh seems like a very calm guy but when the blackout occurred, he was going crazy on the officials; he was acting like his younger brother Jim when the 49ers had a controversial call not go their way during the NFC Championship game.

After the delay, we can say that the Ravens Defense “blacked out” because they let the 49ers get back into the game. Just passed the half way mark of the third, the 49ers rout started and that started when Colin Kaepernick threw a bullet to Michael Crabtree for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Just a few minutes after that, Frank Gore runs it in from 6 yards out making it a 28-20 game. This drive was possible because of a great return from Ted Ginn Jr. when the Ravens were forced to punt from their own 9-yard line when the 49ers defense forced a three and out. With the addition of a David Akers field goal, the score after three quarters was 28-23. Colin Kaepernick had an outstanding second half where he really got the 49ers offence rolling. In the fourth quarter, Justin Tucker, the youngest kicker to ever kick in the Super Bowl, kicked a 19-yard field goal to increase the Ravens lead to 8 points. But that didn’t seem to matter much because the 49ers ended up driving down the field to make it very interesting. From 15 yards out, Kaepernick runs it in to cut the lead to 2 points. Unfortunately, they didn’t make the 2-point conversion to tie the game. So with just under 10 minutes to go in the Super Bowl, the game was within two points.

The Ravens end up scoring a field goal on their next drive, which took up over 6 minutes to make the lead 5. On the next Niners drive, they really made things interesting. They drive the ball all the way down the field with less than 2 minutes to go and it comes down to fourth and goal. Kaepernick is in shotgun formation, you have Crabtree lined up to the right and two Wide Receivers lined up left. Crabtree, Kaepernick’s favorite Receiver throughout his 10 games as a starter is the likely receiver to get the ball. The ball gets snapped and you have Jimmy Smith and Crabtree battling and pushing each other and unfortunately for the 49ers, they get the short end of the stick where they don’t get the pass interference call by Smith. This call is a call that should have been made because contact was being made outside the five yards of grace. Anyways, the 49ers didn’t end up getting a chance to go back on offence because the Ravens ended up running out the clock by giving up a safety within the last 20 seconds of the game. The final score for Super Bowl XVII was 34-31 with the Ravens coming out on top.

The story lines coming in to the Super Bowl were the Brothers, Lewis and Kaepernick. Flacco didn’t receive any attention whatsoever even though he delivered some very good games against the Broncos and the Patriots. He ended up delivering another fantastic performance with 3 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. In a matter of fact, Flacco didn’t throw a single interception throughout the whole playoffs, which is extremely incredible. With his amazing first half performance, he ended up winning the Super Bowl MVP and the much-anticipated trip to Disney World. With his MVP performance, Flacco is most likely to receive a huge paycheck because he is due to sign a long-term deal with the Ravens. However, does that make Flacco an elite quarterback or does he still need to prove that he belongs in the same sentence as Brady, Brees, Manning and Rodgers?