Kris Humphries and Rajon Rondo Fight

Last night the Brooklyn Nets traveled to the TD Garden to take on the Boston Celtics, and the things got very heated in the middle of the game. After a bunch of hard fouls and a big block on Rondo by Humphries, Garnett drove to the hoop and was fouled very hard by Humphries. Rondo in turn gave Humphries a shove, and then it was on.

You can't help but hate Kris Humphries, he married a pop culture "star" Kim Kardashian for about 3 minutes. He was all over the reality show and I don't know he just is a very dislikable guy. That being said, you also have to feel bad for him. This guy is going to be the butt of divorce jokes for the rest of his career and now when things like this happen, people just see Humphries as a girl. Even girls are calling Humphries a girl!

P.S. Yeah I retweeted and favorited it...it's because I hate Kris Humphries, not as much as Brook Lopez but YOLO.

PTI Covers Timeline of LeBron

The dynamic duo from ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption"did a segment for Grantland covering their debates over LeBron James over the years. Grantland is one of my favorite websites when it comes to reading sports materials, mainly because my favorite writer, Bill Simmons, started it up and does columns for it.

It is a 15 minute video, but everyone loves to talk about LeBron whether it is in a good way or a bad way, so check it out.

He's Got Him

Martellus Bennett spends his days as a professional football player, and favorite security blanket of Eli Manning, but moonlights as a super hero. Sort of.

Last nights game brought an excellent showing from Manning, Bennett, and the offense, and afterwords showed that the Giants really do care about the fans. As Bennett was leaving the field a fan fell over the railing and landed right in the arms of The Black Unicorn. Saving the man from most definite injury, and possibly death. Bennett, in his own words, described the events.

"I was doing what I usually do, moseying to the locker room and meandering around. Naturally, I just wanted to step back, but I did the righteous thing and I stepped up. I caught him, I saved his life, I tapped into my inner superhero, which I do have. I'm usually a ninja, but my Spidey-senses told me he was going to take a fall, so I saved his life. He owes me his first-born or something. Actually I don't want that. Maybe a sandwich or something."

Great game. Great story. Great guy. Couldn't have been happier with last nights game. Defense played one of it's best games of the season. Offense was finally back on track. Most importantly, the Green Bay fan behind me got drunk, and angry, and dropped a hot chocolate all over his Aaron Rodgers jersey. Goon.

P.S. This guy has got to be thrilled it wasn't a Jets game, there's nobody on the team that can catch anything.

Clash of the Boroughs

Battle of NYC Begins Tonight

25 days later than expected, the first of many games to decide "New York's Basketball Team" will take place tonight at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The relocated and new-look Brooklyn Nets face the New York Knicks tonight on TNT and many have been debating, who is the better team.

It will be hard for the Nets to come in and steal New York City from the Knicks in terms of fan base, but with all of the change around the Nets, the question of who is better is now legitimate. At the beginning of the season, many were leaning toward the Nets as the better team probably because they are the newer, cooler choice, and many also argued that the Knicks were too old.

Well as a die-hard Knick fan who has been through the years of Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, and annually questionable draft picks of guys such as Mike Sweetney and Channing Frye in the lottery, I don't care how old Jason Kidd and Rasheed Wallace are, they're upgrades. In fact, Kidd and Wallace have instilled a will to win in these guys and sure they slipped up for a few games down south, but they are still 9-3 and that is without Amar'e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert.

If I look at this series as an impartial and unbiased fan of basketball, I have to say I am excited for this rivalry to begin. It is good for the city of New York, and both teams should be playoff teams for the next few seasons at least. However, if I am going to decide which team is better right now, and this season, I will still take the Knicks.

Joe Johnson is simply not a superstar, he is another average player like Gerald Wallace and the combination of Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez down low is hardly scary. Maybe if you combined their skill sets of Lopez as a scorer and Humphries as a rebounder, you might have something, but separated I don't see it. Deron Williams is a baller, and he is one of the top point guards in the league, but I don't see him lifting this mediocre bunch to anything special.

The Knicks on the other hand have a superstar in Carmelo Anthony who is playing inspired basketball, and Raymond Felton is playing as well at the point guard position as somebody can. Throw in Ronnie Brewer who has found his offensive game, and Tyson Chandler a guy that can match up with any center in the league and you are looking at a solid core. The Knicks second unit is also lightyears better than the Nets second unit. J.R. Smith is playing the best basketball of his career, Jason Kidd is shooting the lights out, Rasheed Wallace is giving the Knicks amazing minutes, and Novak is a fantastic shooter.

One Last Thing: I just see too much fire power for the Knicks and yes I am a lifer when it comes to my allegiance with the Knicks, however New York City is the Knicks city until the Nets take it from them. The Knicks haven't won a championship since 1973 and the Nets have never won an NBA Championship. So until someone ends their skid, the battle for NYC begins tonight and won't be decided until then.

Giants Game 11 - "They're Back?"

Papa Coughlin Had To Be Happy With That Performance

Who were those guys who just gave the red hot Green Bay Packers the business on a national stage? The New York Football Giants may be back ladies and gentlemen after they stopped their two game losing streak last night by handing the Packers a 38-10 whooping.

Eli was back to his ELIte self and he had all of the Giants fans bELIving once again. He threw for 249 yards and three touchdowns, ending his three game streak without one. It was also the first time in over a month that he didn't throw an interception. The game was just a prime example of how the Giants go as Eli does.

The defense fed off of the offense by finally displaying their potent pass rush and forcing turnovers. Despite one slip up that resulted in a long touchdown, the defense was lights out tallying five sacks and two key turnovers. Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka led the charge and if those guys can stay hot, it will be awfully hard for a team to keep them, Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul away from their quarterbacks.

The biggest key to this game however was the efficiency in the red zone, an area of struggle for the Giants this season. They managed to go five for six in their appearances in the red zone, including five touchdowns. On top of this, the lone failed attempt in the red zone came at the very end of the game where the Giants went for it on 4th and Goal up 28 points to keep the clock running. If the Giants can get touchdowns instead of field goals like head coach Tom Coughlin has been stressing for weeks, the Giants are headed in the right direction.

One Last Thing: The win was marred with the news that spell running back Andre Brown suffered a broken fibula in the fourth quarter and has been lost for the season. Brown was a feel good story for the Giants this year after being bumped around after being cut from many teams, he finally found his niche hear in New York. I hope the Giants hold onto this guy because he has a lot of potential and was way more successful than Brandon Jacobs in sparing Ahmad Bradshaw.

Next week the Giants have a big one against the division rival Washington Redskins and RGIII. The G-Men will be on primetime once again as they're playing on Monday Night Football, and a win will pretty much knock the Redskins out of the divisional race, but a loss will make things very interesting.

Fireman Ed ditches the Jets, Joins about half of New York

RIP to the best, goodnight sweet Prince. 

When the Fan that is a symbol for your team jumps ship, you know something's wrong. Fireman Ed Anzalone is about as fed up with the Jets as many of us are, but you can't just leave when the chips are stacked against you. Sure the Jets are thoroughly horrible and hard to watch, but that comes with the territory. The Jets are synonymous with being awful. Fireman Ed has seen many more terrible games than I, so that begs the question, why now? Is this really the last straw? I mean he's about as die hard as it gets, but this is a total low blow. What is there to look for at home games now? The J-E-T-S chant is probably the best in the NFL and that's all the Jets had left but now its dead and gone, like J.T. said.

Sad stuff really. I know I've been neglecting my duties as Jets blogger, but The Thanksgiving Debacle was almost it for me. Just hard to fathom, hard to see, hard to swallow, and just a really tough product that the Jets are putting out lately. This season's pretty much in the books, the least the Jets could do is put a bow on it and finish out 4-1 and maybe give us fans a glimmer of hope for next year, but that would be asking a lot. Looks like another 6-10 year for Gang Green, and I can't say they didn't deserve it with some of their displays this year. Whatever, get Barkley and give USC another shot to see if they can produce anything of quality at the QB position. If only Johnny Manziel was entering the draft...

P.S. Rex is as good as dead, sad to see the best coach possibly of the last 40 years in the Jets organization go, but that's what happens when you put your faith in a cry baby and a Jesus freak.

NFL "Challenge Flag" Dilemma

Pretty Bad Quality, But This Was The Play

In yesterday's Thanksgiving matinee between the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions, a new rule altered the outcome of a game at the expense of the Lions.

Late in the third quarter, Texans running back Justin Forsett was rapped up and brought to the ground early in the run, but according to the referees, his knee or elbow never touched the ground. Forsett then bounced back up and scampered the rest of the 81 yards for a touchdown.

Forsett was down by contact, and it was clear while watching it at home where they show the replay hundreds of times. In past years, a coach would use one of his two challenges in this situation, and they would win it. However, this season a rule was implemented that said all turnovers and touchdowns will automatically be reviewed if necessary. This situation was one of those plays that would have been reviewed.

However another rule was implemented by the NFL, which states that if a coach throws a challenge flag on one of these plays, it will result in a 15 yard penalty against the coach and the replay is no longer able to be reviewed.

It seems like a stupid rule by the league, but they argue that this rule is in place as a a delay of game penalty. The replay official will make sure that all plays that are turned over or scored for touchdowns will get reviewed, but by throwing the flag, the game is delayed and it disrupts the game.

One Last Thing: In my opinion the ruling is a little harsh, and in the heat of a game, any coach will do whatever they can to make sure that the play gets challenged. The league is reviewing this rule because this is the second time in as many weeks that a coach has committed this mistake. Last week, Atlanta Falcons head coach challenged a fumble, and had to face the same consequences. The only difference was the Falcons won their game.

Jack Taylor Drops 138 Points In One Game

The talk of the sports world over the past 24 hours have been centered around Grinnell College guard Jack Taylor, who miraculously scored 138 points in one basketball game. Many are split when talking about the subject, some see this as an amazing feat, but for some reason others are offended that a coach would allow something like this to happen.

Grinnell is a Division III school in Iowa, and they downed Faith Baptist 179-104 last night. Sure it is a blowout, but would you really take out a kid that is having a game like the one he had? How could a coach possibly tell a player who has dreamed of 40 point games let alone 100+, that it is time to sit because your team is up by a lot.

However, what should be addressed is the coaches offensive and defensive tactics. Taylor took 108 of the team's 136 total shots and he only made 52 of them. Taylor also managed to go 27 of 71 from the three point range. These shooting percentages are simply unacceptable if you ask me. Plus Taylor's assist/turnover ratio was -6. I'd pull him out immediately if I was the coach. The kid had 0 assists. 0. Not one. But he sure as hell had enough strength to throw 108 shots at the rim. Pass and cut Taylor.

Now on the defensive end, sure the team scored 179 on offense and should be feeling good, but then again you did let up 104 points in a 40 minute game. Swiss cheese defense if you ask me. Plus "Big Shot" Taylor over here only had 3 rebounds the entire game...and they were all on the offensive end. Simply unacceptable.

One Last Thing: The real hero of this game was on the Faith Baptist Eagles and his name is David Larson. This kid is an absolute stud. He dropped 70 points on 34-44 shooting. 77% from the field, and he even had one more assist than Taylor. You have to tip your cap to a guy like that. Larson was just feeling it, Taylor was forcing it.

This Weeks Poll...

Clowns

I just wanted to let everyone know that this weeks poll is a little bit selfish on my part. See, a friend of mine at school and I have a bet about the Washington Wizards. Full disclosure we are both big Knicks fans, but for some reason we started to talk about the Wizards. I was saying how bad they are, but for some reason he thinks they are "a team on the rise." I tell him he's wrong and, of course a bet comes out of this. So basically the bet is, if the Wizards make the playoffs I owe him 20 bucks, but if they finish with the worst record I get 20 bucks. So, I want to know what do you think is more likely?

                                               
                                                 Will the Wizards make the playoffs?
                                                                          or
                                 Will the Wizards finish with the NBA's worst record?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic Beats England

I'm not going to sit here and pretend I know the game of soccer, but I know enough to say that the goal in the video above is unreal. Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden scored all four of his team's goals in a 4-2 victory over England.

The guy is a straight up stallion, 6'5" animal that probably is the soccer version of Boobie Miles. You know just Mr. Do Everything, "He can block, tackle, score touchdowns, snap the ball, hold the snap, and kick the extra point, hell the boy will fill up the Gatorade cooler, walk the dog, and paint your back porch...AND HE CAN PASS!"

One Last Thing: How amazing is the announcer? Just spot on about everything involved on that play.

Marlins Re-Locate Team to Toronto

From Left to Right; Gone, Really Gone, Really Really Gone.

Yesterday it was reported that the Miami Marlins have decided to send every player on their team except Giancarlo Stanton to Toronto. Ok, not really, but pretty much any player who helped get the Marlins reach their pitiful 69 wins last year was traded to Toronto. In exchange the Marlins received the painfully average Yunel Escobar, and three Blue Jays minor league prospects.  The official trade looked something like this.

                                                  Marlins                                         Blue Jays
             
                                              Yunel Escobar                                Josh Johnson
                                                Jeff Mathis                                     Jose Reyes
                                             2 No-name Pros                             Emilio Bonifacio
                                             3 Minor Leaguers                           Mark Buehrle
                                                                                                       John Buck

Basically what this means is that  the AL East has officially become the toughest division overnight. Not only in baseball, but maybe professional sports all together.  A division that already featured the Yankees, Rays, and the resurrected Orioles now has to deal with a Toronto team that has been retooled with speed, and starting pitching.

From an outside baseball point of view I can't help but applaud this trade for the Jays. They now have a guy who when healthy can be a top 5 pitcher in the league, the always solid Mark Buerhle, and two players who can easily steal you 40+ bases in a season.

However, as a Yankees fan I fear this move. This team is most definitely a threat, and these players should fit perfectly with their already solid contributors Rajai Davis, Brett Lawrie, and Colby Rasmus, as well as budding stars Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. They will now feature a lineup of potential all-stars, and that can mean nothing but bad news for the Yankees.

P.S. The Red Sox have all of a sudden become the worst team in the division, and they aren't even that bad.

Trout and Harper Wins Rookies of the Year

This is the First of Many Awards for These Two

Last night, it was announced the Mike Trout, outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels, and Bryce Harper, outfielder for the Washington Nationals, were each named Rookie of the Year in their respective divisions.

The news was no surprise in Trout's case, who absolutely took the league by storm, having one of the best seasons by any player let alone rookies. Trout batted .326, with 30 homers and 83 RBI's, while also scoring 129 runs and stealing 49 bases. With those numbers Trout unanimously won this year's ROY award, and was the first to do so since Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria did it in 2008. Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish, finished second and third respectively in the voting in the American League.

Harper, on the other hand, had a good season, but he didn't even come close to the season that Trout had. This comes a surprise to many, including myself, do to the hype that surrounded Harper when he entered the league. Widely regarded as the "Chosen One" or the "LeBron James of Baseball," Harper hit .270 with 22 homers and 59 RBI's, scoring 98 runs and stealing 18 bases. However, Harper did accomplish one thing that Trout did not, and that is, help his team reach the playoffs. Harper slightly edged out Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Wade Miley by just six points, and Cincinnati Reds infielder Todd Frazier finished third.

One Last Thing: Regardless of who had the better year, both of these guys should be proud of the way that they entered the league. Both were invited to the All-Star Game as rookie, Trout is up for the MVP in the American League, and Harper already has one year of playoff experience under his belt. The good news is that Trout is only 21 years old and Harper is 20 years old. These guys have a lot of baseball ahead of them, and it should be fun to watch them grow into dominating players.

Lakers Hire Mike D'Antoni over Phil Jackson

"Reunited and it Feels So Good"

Shocking news came early this morning when it was announced that former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni and the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a three year $12 million coaching contract. The club has an option for a fourth year, and the long term deal for D'Antoni comes as a surprise considering the team fired their previous head coach Mike Brown after just five games this season.

However, the most surprising aspect of this move by LA, is that they chose D'Antoni over arguably the greatest coach of all time Phil Jackson. Jackson coached the Lakers from 1999-2004, and then again from 2005-2011. During his time with the team he won five championships and reached the Finals seven times total with the team. Overall, Jackson has won 11 championships in his 20 years of coaching, and has also made the playoffs every single year that he has coached.

Many can argue that Jackson inherited some of the best teams to ever play the game like the '90's Bulls led by Jordan and Pippen and the '99-'02 Lakers led by Kobe and Shaq. Whatever anyone says, the numbers still do not lie, and a major factor behind Jackson's success is the "triangle offense" that he has his teams run. The system creates even spacing throughout the floor, and sets up a guard, wing and post player on one side, and a two man game on the other. 

Under Jackson, this system has obviously had a bunch of success, but members throughout the Laker organization agreed that the triangle offense would not work with the team's current personnel. Mike D'Antoni on the other hand, implements a high speed, run and gun, pick-and-roll offense, that pushes the ball up the court and results in many shots taken early in the shot clock. Laker point guard Steve Nash flourished in this system in Phoenix, and many believe that this system is tailor-made for the bunch in LA.

Personally, I think that Phil Jackson was the guy for the job. I am not a big D'Antoni fan, as I watched my beloved Knicks implode with him at the helm. Also, I just don't see the fit that everyone else does here. Sure Nash was successful in this type of system, but he was also surrounded by a bunch of shooters and a young, athletic big man in Amar'e Stoudemire, who attacked the rim with force or could "pick and pop" for an elbow jump shot. 

Kobe is a jump shooter, but he is more successful in his mid-range game and I don't believe anyone wants to see him and Ron Artest chuck up a combined 20 three pointers each game game. Dwight is athletic for a big man, but he has his most success with his back to the rim on the block, or on put backs. Finally, Gasol can be your pick and pop guy, but no one is going to respect his ability to drive. He is a finesse big man who kills you with open baseline and wing jumpers, not a guy who will dunk on you if you're in his way. 

One Last Thing: In 2004, when the Lakers and Jackson first split for a season, Jackson demanded his salary be doubled, or else he would leave and he did. The replacement head coach then was a guy by the name of Rudy Tomjanovich, and after he had health problems and Kobe was unhappy, the Lakers did whatever they could to get Jackson back. Ultimately, the Lakers front office has always wanted complete control over Jackson when he was their coach and this time, Jackson simply had too many demands. His older age and health concerns had led to rumors that he would choose which games he would and wouldn't attend. The Lakers rightfully felt that if they were going to pay him to be their coach, he had to come in and be fully invested, not on his own terms. That's why D'Antoni has a job and Jackson is "stunned."

P.S. Don't think that Kobe had nothing to do with this after his clear frustration with Brown (VIDEO BELOW). He knows he doesn't have too many years left, and he desperately wants to at least tie Jordan in rings.

Jets display can be summed up as Pathetic but even that's kind

Could be the end of an era

That's all she wrote, season over. Thought I'd say this around week 15, but Judgement Day came early for Jets fans. A completely humiliating defeat to the Riverbirds, just gross. The offense again showed us why they are the worst in the league, literally no talent. All the receivers are bad news, Sanchez is a total mess, Sparano may be a worse playcaller than Brian Schottenheimer and that seemed impossible, but he's making a pretty convincing case. I have no words, it makes me feel like less of a person that I affiliate myself with these clowns.

Defense did about as well as they could for a while there until the offense just hung them out to dry. Had a good rush early, sacks and forced fumbles but towards the end it all came crashing down as per usual. Glimmer of hope there when Muhammed Wilkerson stumbled one to the house but then Jeremy Kerley bundles over a punt and goodnight Irene, game over in the second quarter because they sure as hell weren't gonna score an offensive touchdown, not today, not next week, not this year.

I have one team left to let me down, but the Knicks have given me hope. Probably gonna be more painful when they eventually crumble and burn. Jets are dead to me but of course I'll still struggle through the games and cry myself to sleep.

PS. I don't think I hate anyone more than Tebow, maybe LeBron but that's a given.

49ers and Rams Tie?

I Hate Harbaugh and His Stupid Face

The Rams and 49ers played 75 minutes and still no winner was decided as the teams forced the 18th tie in NFL history. Obviously neither team won, so both will be frustrated, but it isn't the end of the world.

In fact, the NFL counts a tie as half of a win, so however many wins either team earns, they will be a half game "ahead" of the rest of the teams with that amount of wins. This was seen four years ago when the Eagles and Bengals tied. The Eagles finished the season at 9-6-1, and the Cowboys, Bears and Buccaneers all finished 9-7. Instead of resorting to obscure tie breakers, the Eagles earned the second wild card spot because the league stated that they had nine and a half wins.

One Last Thing: The NFL should implement some sort of sudden death scenario that can be used if both teams are still tied after overtime. Soccer and hockey have shootouts, and college football has the untimed alternating possession overtimes. Something should be done to add excitement instead of ties. Besides, whatever the league decided on, wouldn't even be used that often. There have only been 18 ties ever. Just something to think about.

P.S. I'm so happy that the 49ers were involved in this tie. Just to see the embarrassment on Jim Harbaugh's face (my least favorite coach by a quarter-mile) was enough to ease some of the pain from the Giants "game."

Giants Game 10 Recap - "The Disgrace"

A.J. Green Torched the Giants for 2 TD's

I honestly have nothing positive to say about the Giants this week as they were embarrassed on both sides of the ball by the Cincinnati Bengals in a 31-13 loss. The Giants are lucky they have a bye week coming up because they'll at least have an extra week to prepare for the very talented Green Bay Packers.

Eli Manning's play has gotten worse and worse since the Redskins game, and I don't care what anyone says about the rest of the team, he is simply not playing well. He hasn't thrown a touchdown pass in three weeks now, and even though the Giants receivers did drop a few passes today, Andy Dalton outperformed Eli and it wasn't even close.

The defense struggled as well because the Giants O couldn't stay on the field. Eli threw two embarrassing and insanely stupid interceptions, he also managed to fumble once, and Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled in the red zone when the game was actually close. That being said, aside from Prince Amukamara, the defense was horrendous. There was no pressure on the quarterback, no forced turnovers (the lone one was on a punt), and they gave up four passing touchdowns. If they are giving up four passing touchdowns to Dalton, I can't even imagine what will happen when reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers comes to town.

One Last Thing: The horrendous play under Coughlin in the month of November continued for the Giants, and it's unacceptable. Just because they get off to strong starts, does not mean they can just take a few weeks off. Coughlin was disgusted with the play last week, I can't imagine what he will say this week.

Knicks 4-0, Mike Brown Fired, End of an Era in Boston?

Melo and the New Look Knicks

Yes, yes the New York Knicks are 4-0. I won't lie, I didn't see this strong of a start happening from this squad, especially without Stoudemire and Shumpert, but I am definitely not complaining. They've had some really strong wins against the always tough Mavericks and the defending champion Heat, and two very decisive wins against the Sixers. Now some people will point out the absence of Dirk Nowitzki for the former, and Andrew Bynum for the later but I say who cares? You have to win the easy games, and the games when your opponent is down, and that's exactly what the Knicks did. They saw a Mavericks team and a Sixers team that wasn't at full strength and took advantage.

Now obviously the most impressive part of the strong start for New York is the play of Carmelo Anthony. Now everyone knew he was going to score, maybe not this much, but not only is he second in the NBA in scoring behind James Harden, but we are seeing his effort on defense pay off, and his reinvigorated hustle. He is diving out of bounds for loose balls, blocking shots, closing out on shooters, and on offense he is passing. Maybe he isn't racking up a whole lot of assists but he is moving the ball when it's needed, and that is something I love to see.

Aside from Melo the most impressive thing I have seen thus far is the play of the newest Knicks. Brewer, Kidd, Felton, Sheed, Thomas, Camby, these guys may be up there in age, and may not be great scorers or whatever, but this group has created one of the most unselfish teams in the NBA, even with Melo and J.R. Smith. They have completely accepted their roles, and know they are here to defend, rebound, pass, and hit the open shot when needed. They don't have to have the ball in their hands to be effective  and because of that the team is jelling in an unbelievable way on the court. The defensive rotation and the way the ball is moved around on offense is the sharpest its been in years. Next up the Knicks have the Magic in Orlando.

Mike Brown and the Lakers

On the other side of the country, things are not going as well for Los Angeles. The Lakers, who came into the season as heavy favorites to at least make, if not win, the NBA Finals, have started the season 1-4 and have had enough. After just 5 games, the Lakers front office decided to fire head coach Mike Brown, pretty much putting the entire bad start on him. Now if you ask me, and probably about 90% of the sports world, this was a very premature firing, and this was not the right move. Brown is a good coach, but we haven't seen him have the same success Phil Jackson had with Kobe and Pau, so I guess he just wasn't good enough. About 12 hours after the firing the Lakers beat the hell out of the Warriors in the Staples Center, which means that interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff is probably one of the best coaches in the history of the NBA. In less then a day he turned the entire team around and led them to a victory against a usually tough Warriors squad. So he's here to stay right? No. The Lake Show are reportedly interested in hiring Mike D'Antoni, or even more ridiculously, convincing Phil Jackson to come out of retirement and return to LA. Good luck with that.  

Time for Panic in Beantown?

Lastly I would like to talk a little bit about the Celtics. I team I hate, and hope to see crash and burn more then a̶n̶y̶  ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ almost any other team (Heat) in the league. Now I know it's very, very early, but Boston has got to be worried about what they have seen thus far. The team is 2-3, and the only team the C's have beaten is the winless Wizards...twice, and one of them came in OT. They've lost to the Heat, Sixers, and Bucks, admittedly all teams in the better half of the Eastern Conference, but this is a Celtics team that has always been able to pull out that tough win, or at least challenge every team on a nightly basis. Most people will point to the departure of Ray Allen as the missing link, but that just can not be the case. They added Jason Terry, and Jeff Green in the offseason, which in my eyes spells overall team improvement. This is a team that is considered by most to be within the top 3 in the East, and on paper I would agree with them. There is just something off this year when you watch them. They don't look like the same team, and the age of their stars looks like it may finally be catching up to them.

College Basketball Preview

The tip-off to the 2012-2013 college basketball season is tonight as many schools are begin their quest for an NCAA tournament berth. Unfortunately the school that I go to, UConn, will not even have that opportunity this year, as they have a one-year postseason ban. Anyways, college basketball season is one of the greatest times of the year. Dicky V, the Cameron Crazies, and a wealth of incoming freshmen always liven each winter, and here is my outlook on this season.

ACC:
The ACC is known for its good basketball, and next season, they will only add to that reputation with the addition of top tier basketball programs Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame. However, for now, the two teams that instantly pop into anyone's head when ACC basketball is mentioned are Duke and North Carolina.

Duke is led by the mighty Coach K, the all-time winningest coach at the Division I college level, and this season the Blue Devils have a luxury that has become uncommon of late, maturity. Duke has three seniors, Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly, and Mason Plumlee, and they are going to have a lot asked of them this season. Youngsters Quinn Cook, who played behind Austin Rivers last season, and top 15 freshman Rasheed Sulaimon will also step into big roles on what looks to be another solid Duke team.

C.J. Leslie

North Carolina was decimated by the draft last year, when Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller, Kendall Marshall, and John Henson all decided to turn pro. This year they have sophomore James Michael McAdoo, a highly touted recruit a year ago, Dexter Strickland returning from a torn ACL, and Reggie Bullock, their top remaining scorer from last season. Head coach Roy Williams, will have this bunch ready come tournament time.

That being said, there is a new sheriff in town this season, and that is N.C. State. The Wolfpack lost to the eventual champion University of Kentucky by only three points last season, and return four starters from that Sweet 16 team. This includes leading scorer C.J. Leslie, who should be the ACC player of the year this season. Head coach Mark Gottfried also landed a top 10 recruiting class for the first time in a long time, only reinforcing his talented squad. Watch out for the Wolfpack.

Big East:
Is this the last year we get to see of the powerhouse that is Big East college basketball? The conference that churns out double digit tournament teams on the regular, will take another big hit as the three schools from above jump over to the ACC, but for this year, everything is still normal.

After making a Final Four run last season, Louisville should run away with the conference this year. Talented point guard Peyton Siva will run head coach Rick Pitino's offense, and his senior leadership will be key on this budding young group. Slashers Russ Smith and Wayne Blackshear will be counted on to score a lot of points this season, but with Siva distributing the ball, that won't be a problem. Their biggest strength however, are their interior guys. Gorgui Dieng, is the next premier Big East shot blocker (3.2 BPG last year) and Chane Behanan, a guy who I believe will be up for Big East Player of the Year come March. The conference will still get a bunch of teams in the tournament, but there is a clear divide between Louisville and the rest of the conference.

The only team that can compete with Louisville in the Big East this season is Syracuse. They return top guys such as Brandon Triche, C.J. Fair, and three-point specialist James Southerland, but the guy to watch this season is Michael Carter-Williams. Carter-Williams came off the bench last year and showed promise, now with the graduation of Scoop Jardine, and the drafting of Dion Waiters, Kris Joseph, and Fab Melo, Carter-Williams is the guy.

A sleeper team to watch is Cincinnati. A guard heavy team that, when hot, can knock off any good team. Sean Kilpatrick, Cashmere Wright and JaQuon Parker, all return and will create match-up problems for bigger, slower teams.

Big Ten:

Deshaun Thomas

The Big Ten is slowly turning into the premier basketball conference and this season it is stacked with contenders. Everybody is jumping on the Indiana bandwagon and rightfully so. The team returns its top five scorers, a talented Maurice Creek from injury, and added three top notch freshmen. Cody Zeller is the guy grabbing most of the country's attention, but guys like Christian "Watford for the win....YES!", Victor Oladipo, Will Sheehey, and Jordan Hulls are all back, as coach Tom Crean has the Hoosiers back on the map.

Another contender in the Big Ten this season will be Ohio St. Another team that made it to the Final Four last year, the Buckeyes have a guy who will challenge Zeller for Big Ten and National Player of the Year and that is Deshaun Thomas. He flourished in the tournament last year, and with Jared Sullinger getting drafted, Thomas is now the featured scorer on the team. Setting up Thomas, is arguably the best floor general in the league, point guard Aaron Craft. Craft manages a basketball game so well, not always by earning points or assists, but just by controlling the game.

Michigan St. will also hang around the top because head coach Tom Izzo won't allow anything less. Point guard Keith Appling was the team's second-leading scorer a year ago, and incoming freshman Gary Harris, will complete a solid backcourt for Izzo. Derrick Nix (6'9" 270 lbs) will need to grab more than four rebounds a game this year now that "Mr. Do Everything" Draymond Green is gone, and if he can Michigan St. can be a scary team.

One team that a bunch of people have talked about in the preseason who I just don't see being anything special is Michigan. Trey Burke is a talented player, but aside from him, they have A LOT of freshmen pieces that are not going to be able to keep up with the teams mentioned above.

Big-12: 
Kansas and Baylor each went deep into the tournament last year, but they also each lost key pieces. Kansas made it all the way to the NCAA Championship game last year, mainly on the backs of Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor. The two were the top scorers on last year's team, and Robinson led the team in rebounds, while Taylor led the team in assists. Replacing them this season is shot-blocking machine Jeff Withey (3.6 BPG) and Elijah Johnson, who will have the ball in his hands a lot this season and will be expected to create.

Baylor on the other hand, lost their three of their top four scorers from last year in Perry Jones III, Quincy Miller, and Quincy Acy. All three were forwards and head coach Scott Drew has brought in a similar guy in freshman Isaiah Austin. Austin was the third ranked recruit of his class and he along with last year's leading scorer and assist man Pierre Jackson will need to be huge in order for Baylor to challenge Kansas and make another run. Three-point threat Brady Heslip will take some of the pressure off of them by spacing the floor as well.

Two teams that may be able to challenge those two are Oklahoma St. and Texas. They are very young, but come February and March, don't be surprised if they pull a few upsets.

Pac-12: 
Like the Big-12, the Pac-12 should also be a two team race down to the end, but neither of them are really that talented. In fact, the Pac-12 basketball conference has kind of turned into a joke for the past couple of years after the run of Final Fours by UCLA a few years ago. Last season, they only had two teams make to tournament, and they had to have one by rule. Their only at-large bid was California, and Colorado the sixth best team in the poor conference was the one to win the tournament. This season, UCLA and Arizona are the two teams that are making some noise early on.

UCLA landed the number two and five recruits in the country in Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson. However, it was announced today that Muhammad has been suspended indefinitely by the NCAA for receiving illegal benefits. UCLA still has a talented freshmen class, and they will be depended on a lot, which may reflect in their record early on, but upperclassmen Josh Smith and the Wear brothers will help ease the load.

Arizona also earned a top tier recruiting class, number three overall, and they already have scorers like Nick Johnson and a solid player in Solomon Hill. Head coach Sean Miller has enough to battle UCLA, and even though the rest of the conference is pretty weak, these two teams both have the potential to be very dangerous.

SEC:

John Calipari

The SEC, like the Big Ten, is also starting to establish itself as a host to some of the better college basketball teams. This conference used to be like the now Pac-12, in the sense that it was the laughing stock of basketball due to their low scoring and boring games. Now, Kentucky head coach and recruiting guru John Calipari, assembles some of the best "one and done" teams ever, Billy Donovan continues to be one of the best coaches down in Florida, and Missouri's high powered offense joins the league as well.

The front runner of the three is definitely Kentucky. The inexperience factor simply does not imply to Calipari coached teams, as the coach somehow gets his guys to play hard and well from the start of every season, despite the number of contributing freshmen on his roster. After winning the National Championship last season with three freshmen and two sophomores in their starting lineup. Four of them got drafted in the first round, and the fifth along with the sixth man were drafted in the second round! How does Kentucky replace that? Don't worry they landed top recruit Nerlens Noel, and two other big name recruits Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin. All three are expected to start with the return of Kyle Wiltjer, the seventh man on last year's team and lone returning rotation player. Throw in Ryan Harrow, a transfer from N.C. State who averaged a shade under 10 PPG his freshman year there, and you are looking at another championship contender.

Florida is completely different from Kentucky because they will be relying heavily on their upperclassmen. Kenny Boynton is a lethal scorer, and this is his team going into his senior season. With the departure of lottery pick Bradley Beal, Boynton will need to score a lot for them, but underneath he will have Patric Young, a monster on the glass. If Young can be the garbageman down low and Boynton continues his success, watch out for Donovan's Gators.

Despite getting upset by a 15 seed in last year's tournament, Missouri was very successful in the regular season, earning a 2 seed. Transfers will dictate how this season will go for the Tigers, as former UConn forward Alex Oriakhi, and former Pepperdine scorer Keion Bell, are looking to round out a stout starting lineup. Phil Pressey and Michael Dixon Jr. return and will provide much of the scoring, but key guys Kim English, Marcus Denmon, Matt Pressey and Ricardo Ratliffe all left after their big seasons last year.

Best of the Rest:
Outside of the "Major Conferences," there are many mid-majors that have been advancing further and further in the tournament. Teams to look out for like that this year are, UNLV, Memphis, and Creighton.

UNLV already has a very talented star in Mike Moser and head coach Dave Rice bolstered his roster with the number seven recruiting class in the nation. Rice secured top power forward Anthony Bennett to help out Moser and the tandem could pose threats for teams with less athletic bigs.

Memphis' year is not this one, but next year, where coach John Pastner has put together a Calipari-like recruiting class. However, don't sleep on them this season. An underachieving young bunch last year, is now a year older.

Creighton is only mentioned here for one reason only, and that is Doug McDermott. 23 points and 8 rebounds a game, while being 6'8" and shooting 50% from three. McDermott is a special talent and can fill up a stat sheet in a hurry.

My Top Ten:
1. Louisville - I really like what Pitino has over at Louisville, and playing in the Big East will help.
2. Indiana - I am not completely sold on the Hoosiers...yet. Zeller needs to prove he can be the guy.
3. Kentucky - Any team coached be Calipari will be playing late in March.
4. Ohio St. - Deshaun Thomas will be the talk of the country in a few weeks.
5. N.C. State - It will be tough to stay this high during the year with UNC and Duke.
6. Kansas - The runner-ups are ready for another big year.
7. Syracuse - Michael Carter-Williams, Brandon Triche, and C.J. Fair will lead this team far.
8. Duke - Coach K and the Cameron Crazies give the Blue Devils a huge advantage at home.
9. Michigan St. - The departure of Draymond Green will hurt, but the scoring will balance out this year.
10. Florida - Kenny Boynton will have to be big for the Gators.

Cody Zeller

Wooden Award Watch (MVP):
Cody Zeller - Indiana University
Zeller is the guy everyone will be looking at this year, and he will need to succeed for the Hoosiers to as well. Indiana does have talent, but they all are that much better when Zeller is scoring and rebounding.

Deshaun Thomas - Ohio State University
Thomas was the second option all of last season, and now he will, like Zeller, also be looked at to lead his team. the only difference is that Thomas has a guy in Aaron Craft that will create many easy scoring opportunities for Thomas.

Doug McDermott - Creighton University
Don't sleep on Ol' Doug over at Creighton. Yes they are in a weak Missouri Valley Conference, but McDermott puts up huge numbers. I wouldn't call McDermott a sleeper because he is that talented, but people will see what he can do very quickly.

Nerlens Noel - University of Kentucky
Noel will have to live up to the season that Anthony Davis had last year for Calipari and although it is unfair, everything he does will be compared to Davis. That being said, Noel is talented, and he is an exciting player as well, who ironically, is similar to Davis.

Trey Burke - University of Michigan
Burke started off very well last year during his freshman season, but cooled and so did Michigan down the stretch. I did say earlier that I don't see why Michigan is being so highly praised, but if Burke has a Kemba Walker like season, Michigan will go places.

Final Four Predictions:
LOUISVILLE, INDIANA, N.C. STATE, KENTUCKY

National Championship Predictions:
LOUISVILLE over INDIANA

Wooden Award Winner:
DESHAUN THOMAS

USC Manager Fired For Deflating Footballs

USC Head Football Coach Lane Kiffin

In a big Pac-12 showdown between USC and Oregon this past weekend, a USC team manager deflated footballs on the Oregon sideline during the game. Oregon, who is known for their high powered and high speed offense, didn't seem to be affected by the ploy considering they won the game and put up a whopping 62 points on the Trojan defense.

This is ridiculous that someone would even think to do this. I don't care if it is a manager or whoever, but it is a perfect reflection of the kind of program that USC has out in California. This is the same place in the past where they improperly gave benefits to Reggie Bush and the same place where previous coach Pete Carroll called out quarterback Mark Sanchez on live television by saying he was making a huge mistake by turning professional instead of having his back like every other coach.

It also is a perfect reflection of Lane Kiffin, who is the definition of a dirtbag. He had a rift during his tenure with the Oakland Raiders, which led to his firing. He later accused former University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer of illegally recruiting, and in turn he was the one doing something wrong by mentioning the recruits name publicly. Now most recently this season, Kiffin made his punter and backup quarterback switch numbers before a game to mess with the other team's scouting report. He then used his backup QB for a two-point conversion and everyone thought it was the punter, then later had the QB change his number back to his regular number in the second half as if nothing happened. Although it was clever, it is against the rules for players to change uniform number during the game, and it is just a unsportsmanlike move by a dirty coach.

One Last Thing: That brings us to the deflated footballs "trick." It is simply another way to gain an unfair advantage by Kiffin. The worst part about all of this is that the manger got fired. There is no shot that the manager decided to this on his own. That is very unfortunate that Kiffin would try to cover himself like that and the part that makes me personally so mad about it is that USC always tries to handle all of their blunders internally. Let the NCAA do their job and suffer the repercussions. It seems like every time something like this happens, USC acts like the self-impose these crazy sanctions. However, the NCAA is catching on, the slapped an additional $25,000 fine on the school. "Lame" Kiffin.

Joakim Noah: Chicago's Superhero

Just Your Everyday Superhero

Superman, Batman, Joakim Noah. The three are synonymous after Noah attempted to better the lives of Chicago Bulls fans last night with a buzzer beating three-point shot which failed to go down. Don't feel bad though, the Bulls still won 99-93.

So why would a guy who has only attempted five career three-pointers in his NBA career throw up a three as the time expired while up six? Well, this because if the Bulls score 100 points during a home game, every fan in attendance gets a free Big Mac from McDonald's. A wonderful idea from a world class establishment with the best Coca-Cola known to man.

Obviously Noah was looking out for the good of the people, but for some reason coach Tom Thibodeau is making him out to be the villain here. I don't understand what he did wrong. I'm sure the Orlando Magic understood Noah's intentions were for the greater good, and if anything Kirk Hinrich should be the villain here.

Hinrich stepped to the free throw line with the same score and 10 seconds remaining, and he missed both! Talk about a tease. However, this was when Noah took matters into his own hands and did what any other hero would do, take an ill-advised 3.

One Last Thing: If Noah hits this 3, is this even a discussion? No. Everyone goes home happy with a free Big Mac, and peace is restored. Kids should learn from this, don't be scared of the moment, but if you fail, everyone hates you for it.

NBA's First Flopping Victims

Throughout the 2011-12 NBA season, the league noticed that "flopping" was becoming a major problem that was damaging the integrity of the game. Players were diving and acting just to get foul calls, and it was widely criticized during last year's playoffs.

Over the summer, the league got together and put together a policy that would attempt to put an end to all of the flopping, by setting up a five strike system. The first offense results in a warning, the second is a $5,000 fine, third is $10,000, fourth is $15,000, and fifth is $30,000. If any player continues to flop it will result in suspension, but if any player flops six times or even three after being warned and fined, they must have something wrong with them.

This past weekend the NBA, who can look back at any moment of any game to determine if a play was a flop or not, handed out their first two flop warnings of the young season. Minnesota Timberwolves guard J.J. Barea and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donald Sloan, each acted in a way that the league felt was a flop and when you watch the videos below, you probably will agree as well.

JJ Barea's Flop

Donald Sloan's Flop

One Last Thing: This problem is a very sad one to see, especially because basketball used to be a tough and gritty game. Now there are a lot of touch fouls, and the players are so good at "selling calls" that the refs can't even tell the difference between a real foul and a flop. On top of this, the league's superstars like LeBron James, James Harden, Manu Ginobili and Blake Griffin are some of the biggest floppers in the league. They bank on getting to the line and faking fouls, and it makes you think if they would even be able to play a decade or two ago with the hard nosed guys from back then.

P.S. One of AF and I's favorite players and former Knick David Lee actually called out Griffin the other day because of his flopping problem. It was a perfect moment because Griffin is dumbfounded that someone actually called him out and Lee just looks like a man trying to play ball.

Giants Game 9 Recap - "Foreshadowing?"

Roethlisberger outshined Manning on Sunday

The Giants played horrible on the offensive side of the ball for the second week in a row and this time even their defense couldn't bail them out. The Pittsburgh Steelers came into MetLife Stadium and completely stole a game away from the Giants 24-20.

Eli Manning was horrible. He never seemed to be on the same page as his receivers, and some of the throws he made throughout the game looked like they had been batted at the line, but they were just dreadful throws. Manning went 10-24 for 125 yards and an interception. That is a joke of a stat line, but if you watched the game, you would expect nothing less. Over the last two games, Manning is an abysmal 25-53 for 317 passing yards, 2 interceptions and 0 touchdowns. Manning looks nothing like the guy who led the team to a 5-2 start and he was totally outshined by Ben Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger, who may be the most catered for quarterback ever to play the game, made big plays when he needed to. It didn't help the Giants that Isaac Redman looked like the second coming of Walter Payton either. Redman ran for 147 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, while Roethlisberger threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns.

I can't say enough about the defense who came to play again today coming up with four sacks, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and an interception. The D once again set up the Giants on numerous occasions which for some reason keeps resulting in field goals. I feel terribly for the defense because they create so many chances and now have scored in consecutive games, but Eli and the offense refuse to help them out.

One Last Thing: I wish I could say the Giants need to shake this one off and come to play next week, but if not for a Hail Mary to Cruz two weeks, and Dez Bryant having long fingers last week, the Giants could very easily be 4-5. For a team that is notorious for second half collapses, this game may be a foreshadowing for the rest of a season that the Giants have been very lucky in so far. Next week the Giants get the young Cincinnati Bengals who, on paper, the Giants should beat. However, this is the prototypical trap game for the Giants who have a bye following next week. 7-3 sounds a whole lot better than 6-4, so Eli better get his act together before next week.

P.S. Jayron Hosley literally should not be on the field. If he isn't getting burned late in games, he is committing very costly penalties late in games. For example today, he went offside on a third down stop that would have forced a game-tying field goal from the Steelers. Instead, he gave them five yards, they converted on third down, and ended up scoring the game-winning touchdowns a few plays later.

He is a liability in both regards and if it were up to me, I'd convert Stevie Brown to a nickel cornerback and keep Antrel Rolle and Kenny Phillips at the safety spots. It may be difficult for Brown to convert, but he has a nose for the football and he can't possibly be worse than Hosley.