BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the New York Knicks are the worst performing team in the league.  They have a number of young players who all think they will be traded or cut, and thus seem to be playing with no team chemistry.  Of course they will get a good draft pick, but it’s not exactly fun when they have a superstar like Carmelo Anthony on their team who wants to win.  Because of this, many are speculating that Carmelo will be “shutting it down” for this season.  He doesn’t want to risk injury and would prefer to preserve his health to play on a better Knicks’ team next year or any contender in general.  Sad news for Knicks fan to watch your team give up by “shutting down” your star.

And in college basketball, there is a proposition floating around to officially change the shot clock from 35 seconds to 30 seconds.  This would make the game slightly more challenging both for the players and the coaches, but considering that practically every league in the world uses a 24 second shot clock, yet college basketball still has an additional 11 seconds doesn’t exactly make much sense.  One would have to assume that even if they do reduce the shot clock to 30 seconds, a 24-second change isn’t that far behind.

FOOTBALL

Finally, in a controversial  story out of college football, star senior Vernon Adams is transferring from the small school Eastern Washington to Oregon next season.  This does happen from time to time, but Eastern Washington’s coach Beau Baldwin has an issue with the transfer.  He says that Adams shouldn’t even be allowed to work out in the Eastern Washington gym.  The coach now considers Adams a competitor, as Eastern Washington will actually be playing Oregon in the opening game of the season.  And it looks like Baldwin will get his way, and Adams will be barred from all athletic facilities at Eastern Washington.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it turns out the rumors were true in Cleveland.  Apparently, the coaching staff said it was difficult to do their job last season because the front office was sending them texts during the game with instructions.  They couldn’t just ignore their bosses but there were times when the Browns’ administration  wanted Johnny Manziel in the game.  They organization could be seriously penalized for meddling during the game and their GM Ray Farmer is the primary target. Farmer said about Johnny Manziel, however, that he is proud of Johnny for raising his hand, admitting he needs help, and going to rehab.

GOLF

Tiger Woods is playing some of the worst golf of his career right now.  He’s not even making the cuts for some of the smaller tournaments.  For about 7 years, Tiger used to be the most dominant athlete in the world.  Woods said yesterday that he needs to take some time off from the game, and wouldn’t return until his game is where it needs to be.  This is probably for the best, but it would be good to see him make one last comeback before it’s too late.

BASKETBALL

Finally, in college basketball, some sad news — former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian has died.  This comes on the heels of losing another coaching legend, Dean Smith.  Tarkanian was famous for taking the small little school of UNLV and turning it into one of the best teams in the country.  He was able to recruit the best players, and even guide his team to an undefeated season until they lost in the NCAA tournament.  He will be missed by the sports community.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Sacramento Kings have a lot of young talent, and they recently just fired their head coach.  They know they need someone to run this ship who can galvanize young players like DeMarcus Cousins (an all-star), Ben McLemore, Rudy Gay and even Darren Collison.  And it looks like they have found their man, as it’s being reported that the Kings will hire former Sonics’ and Nuggets’ coach George Karl.  Karl is an excellent coach who knows how to help teams make the leap from amateur to professional.  This is a great pick-up.

Elsewhere in the NBA, former Lakers’ star Magic Johnson has been rather vocal about his feelings towards Lakers’ owner Jim Buss.  He doesn’t think Buss is doing a good job, and he feels that Buss needs a big off-season to get the Lakers right back into the mix.  They will have another good draft pick, paired with Julius Randle from last season, and if they land a big name like Marc Gasol or LaMarcus Aldridge, they are right back in to the mix.  He also believes Kobe should step in and tell Buss that if he doesn’t take care of business, he won’t play next season.

FOOTBALL

It’s official:  Tom Brady has donated his Super Bowl MVP present, the Chevy pick-up truck, to the game’s hero, Malcolm Butler.  There was a lot of talk about Brady gifting the truck to Butler, because, after all, without that interception it’s likely that Russell Wilson would have a big red Chevy truck.

FOOTBALL

The Buffalo Bills under new head coach Rex Ryan signed former Dolphin Richie Incognito. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he sat out most of the 2013 season with the Dolphins for bullying a teammate. Apparently the Bills were not the only team interested. Incognito is known for having a mean streak but is still considered a highly talented Guard so it was just a matter of time before someone grabbed him.

BASKETBALL

Amare Stoudemire is considering the possibility of leaving the New York Knicks next season. Amare is in the last year of his $100 million dollar 5 year contract. Amare is 32 years old and wants to win a championship. A number of teams are after him but the front runner could be the Dallas Mavericks.

BASKETBALL

Over the weekend, the legendary former University of North Carolina men’s basketball coach, Dean Smith passed away at age 83. Smith led the Tar Heels for almost 40 years and retired as one of the winningest coaches of all time. He was also the coach and mentor to Michael Jordan who refers to him as a second father. To those that knew him or knew of him, he will be remembered for so much more. He was a mentor, an active proponent of desegregation, and a true teacher and competitor. Here’s a wonderful piece from  the Washington Post that gives us a glimpse of Smith’s personality and legacy.

SOCCER

In Egypt, at least 5 soccer (football) fans were killed and dozens more injured when security forces barred them from entering the stadium. Security has been tight ever since 74 fans died three years ago during the deadliest riot ever recorded in the country. Egypt has now suspended the national soccer league pending further investigations.

FOOTBALL

In college football, these last few days have been “recruiting days”.  This is when all of the top prospects around the country declare which college they will play for.  One of the most high profile recruits is Cordell Broadus, son of superstar rapper Snoop Dogg.  Their relationship was recently captured in an ESPN documentary about Cordell’s High School football career. On Thursday,  Broadus made his choice:  UCLA.  Broadus said he wanted to keep it local (and West side according to Snoop Dogg).

In the NFL, some crazy news out of Washington.  The Washington Redskins sent out a memo about the 2015 season to hype up their season ticket holders.  In that memo, however, they said the team is centered around various stars such as DeSean Jackson and Alfred Morris, but they did not mention Robert Griffin III.  Just 2 years ago, RG3 was the talk of Washington, and now he isn’t even being mentioned to season ticket holders.  This could mean that RG3 may be headed out of town prior to the start of the 2015 season.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Orlando Magic have a lot of young, up-and-coming talent, and last season, they put this team in the hands of former player Jacque Vaughn. Vaughn hasn’t been able to put the pieces together in Orlando as the team continues to lose game after game in spite of being a very exciting, fast-paced team to watch.  Their coaching search begins again, and hopefully for Magic fans, Orlando can find a coaching prodigy or stellar veteran to take hold of this team.

FOOTBALL

Let’s hope former NY Jets coach Rex Ryan has a long and prosperous new career as the Buffalo Bills new coach. If not, he’ll have to undergo another painful procedure. Ryan very famously used to show off the tattoo on his arm of his wife wearing a Jets’ jersey. Now that he’s been fired by the Jets and moved on to the Bills, he obviously had to make a change. While attending the Super Bowl in Arizona, he popped into a tattoo parlor and asked for Bills’ colors to replace Jets’ colors in the tattoo. His wife also donated most of his Jet’s apparel to the salvation army (which was a classy move as he could have easily made thousands of dollars if he put it up for auction).

BASKETBALL

Syracuse will not participate in the NCAA post-season (and that includes March Madness). Syracuse self-imposed the ban in response to past violations in the athletic department in 2007. According to reports, no current players are under investigation.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, Cleveland Browns star receiver Josh Gordon has been suspended every year he’s been in the league.  Last year, he received a season-long suspension, but after a lengthy appeal, got it reduced to just 12 games.  One would think that would be the end of it, but just a week ago Josh Gordon was caught abusing the substance policy yet again.  The NFL has banned Gordon again for at least one full calendar year.  This is a huge blow to the Browns organization who was relying on Gordon to be their go to receiver whom they could build a receiver core around.  Now, it’s unsure if Gordon will ever play in the NFL.

Elsewhere in the NFL, Arizona Cardinals linebacker Larry Foote has openly criticized Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch for his media antics.  Foote said that Lynch’s defensive interview tactics in which he told the media to ‘go-away’ is giving kids the wrong impression.  Foote felt that this implied an anti-authority tone and taught kids to disrespect all forms of authority like parents, teachers, and police.  It’s just an opinion of course, but Foote feels that kids need more positive messages out there.

CYCLING

Lance Armstrong is making headlines again after he hit two parked cars after too much drinking and partying.  To avoid national media attention, Armstrong asked his girlfriend to take the blame to keep the cameras off of him.  She agreed, but this story has unraveled and now Armstrong is in even hotter water.  Not exactly the best plan.

FOOTBALL

In the postmortem after the Super Bowl, everyone is still baffled how Seattle didn’t run the ball to win the game from the 1-yard line.  Everyone has been skewering Seattle Coach Pete Carroll for making that call, and today’s rumor is that the original call submitted by the offensive coordinator was actually a run, and that Carroll changed it.  Carroll instantly shot down that rumor. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson has said that he isn’t going to let one play define his career and will get back to work this off-season ready to win again.  The Seahawks are the favorites for next year, but this loss is going to be tough to forget.

BASKETBALL

And in the NBA, Atlanta was riding a 19-game winning streak heading to New Orleans.  The Hawks are playing incredible team ball, and have become a nightmare for opponents.  On top of that, they are running away with the East.  But… Anthony Davis and the Pelicans were ready for them.  The Pelicans played spectacular team ball of their own, and built a huge lead on the Hawks that they simply couldn’t narrow.  So the Hawks’ win streak ends at 19, but this definitely doesn’t mean that they aren’t still a major threat to win the title.  New Orleans 115, Atlanta 100.

BOXING

Finally, in boxing, everyone is thrilled about the potential fight between the two superstars of the last decade — Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.  This would be the fight of the century, and both parties stand to make millions.  The earliest numbers reported that Mayweather would make $120million and Manny would make $80million.  But on Monday, talks stalled, and there were contract issues from both camps.  The fight is tentatively scheduled for May 2nd, but if these issues continue to stall the talks, there may not be enough time for the fighters to adequately prepare for the bout.  Everyone is desperately hoping that these two fighters put their legacies on the line and fight.

FOOTBALL

Super Bowl 49 between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks did not disappoint.  Vegas had this game as a “Pick Em”, meaning that even Vegas didn’t have a clue which team would win the game.  These were two teams playing excellent football headed into a game that would cement legacies.  If Tom Brady and the Pats won, Tom Brady would be launched into the “Greatest QB of all time” conversation.  If the Seahawks won, Seattle would start to be called a dynasty, and their defense would be launched into the “Greatest Defenses Of All Time” conversations. So how would it play out?

The Pats got up early, but then Seattle came storming back late in the second quarter to tie the game at half time.  This one looked like it was going to be a game for the ages.  Seattle even took a 10 point lead in the 3rd quarter and looked like they had control.  But, in the 4th quarter, Tom Brady started working his magic.  He pulled his team them within 3 points, and then he got the lead late with a touchdown pass to Julian Edelman.  And that’s when the game got really interesting.

Seattle had a 2-minute drive to try and win the game.  After an incredible deep pass from Russell Wilson to Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawks were in good position at mid-field.  Wilson tossed a long bomb to Jermaine Kearse.  Kearse didn’t make the catch and hit the ground.  But… the ball didn’t hit the ground, it landed on his foot, then his chest.  Kearse bobbled it, then made the catch while lying on the ground at about the 8 yard line.  This unbelievable reception could go down as one of the best catches in Super Bowl history.

The Seahawks then gave the ball to their beast mode running back Marshawn Lynch, who easily ran it down to the 1-yard line.  It looked like the Seahawks were on their way to taking a lead and being within only 25 seconds of winning the Super Bowl.  All they had to do was hand it to Marshawn Lynch again on 2nd down, and let him run it in for a touchdown.  Except… head coach Pete Carroll confusingly, mysteriously, inexplicably called a pass play over the middle.  Russell Wilson tried to hit his receiver, but there were 3 Patriots defending him and the Pats rookie Malcolm Butler came up with the game winning interception and the game was over. Everyone watching was stunned.

The Patriots won the Super Bowl 28-24.  The Super Bowl MVP, Tom Brady, now has 4 Super Bowl rings in 6 Super Bowl appearances, and the Seahawks won’t be getting over this for a very long time.