Archive for August, 2016

LeBron Chasing Jordan’s Ghost, MJ Denies Kids Shoes, Votto Grabs Fan’s Shirt, Pokemon Go’s Roaming Charges, Phelps Flag Bearer

NBA

LeBron James made news this week for stating his motivation on the court is because he is chasing the ghost of Michael Jordan.  In an interview with SI, he stated, “What I’ve gone through is totally different than what he went through. What he did was unbelievable, and I watched it unfold. I looked up to him so much. I think it’s cool to put myself in position to be one of those great players, but if I can ever put myself in position to be the greatest player, that would be something extraordinary.”

The great MJ also made news this week when he denied the kids participating in his basketball camp where he gave free shoe hero shoes. LA Clippers Chris Paul offered up a challenge. If Jordan missed three of any six shots, all the kids would get free sneakers. Unfortunately for the kids, Jordan didn’t miss a shot.

MLB

Every baseball fan strives to catch a foul ball at a game. Unfortunately, baseball players aren’t as interested in a fan’s motivation particularly if it gets in the way of them making an important play. The Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto yelled at a fan (and grabbed his Reds’ jersey) when the fan cost him an out by jumping toward the same foul ball. Votto apologized to the fan after the play and even signed a ball and posed with him to show no hard feelings. That was a generous move, but still the fan prevented him from making the out. Not cool!

OLYMPICS

Pokemon GoPokemon Go has certainly taken the world by storm but players beware! Beware of roaming charges. A Japanese gymnast didn’t get the memo and racked up charges close to $5,000 while playing the game in Rio. The cell phone company agreed to wave the charges after hearing his story, but it’s a good lesson. “Airplane mode” is your friend!

In other Olympic news, swimmer Michael Phelps will have the honor of carrying the American Flag and leading Team USA into the Opening Ceremonies Friday night. Phelps is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time.

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Cubs And Indians Trades Prime For Playoffs, Andrew Bogut Tweets Olympic Conditions, Barkley Hosts Race Card

BASEBALL

The Major League Baseball trade deadline just passed highlighting which teams believe they can make the World Series and which teams feel they are done for the season. The perennial World Series favorites, the New York Yankees, got rid of a bunch of players sending the signal they may be done for now but will rebuild next year. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians added players who will give them depth come the post-season. The Cubs built up their bullpen with the addition of Aroldis Chapman, Mike Montgomery and Joe Smith while the Indians traded the Yankees for left hander Andrew Miller.

OLYMPICS

The opening ceremonies begin Friday night (on one-hour time delay for east coasters and 4 hour delay for west coasters). NBC defended the time delay by declaring it’s been doing this for 20 years and since most of their viewers for the Olympics are female, they need to add the pageantry and drama to to the storylines. According to John Miller, NBC’s Olympics chief marketing officer, “The people who watch the Olympics are not particularly sports fans. More women watch the Games than men, and for the women, they’re less interested in the result and more interested in the journey.”

Screen Shot 2016-08-02 at 8.18.28 AMIt’s no secret, the athletes are less than satisfied with the accommodations at the Olympic Village. Former Golden State Warrior (and now Dallas Maverick)  Andrew Bogut just arrived and is now using the hashtag #IOCLuxuryLodging on social media as an ironic statement to how underwhelmed he is. Bogut posted a picture on twitter of him putting together his shower curtain and another tweet with the statement, “At #IOCLuxuryLodging we believe a bed is not vital for sleep. Fine tuned athletes can sleep standing up.”

In other bad news for Rio, the Associated Press issued a warning to the athletes and the fans, not to put their head under water as the bacteria levels are too high. When Rio bid for the Games, they promised to clean up the sewage regularly dumped in the waters, but that clearly hasn’t happened and now put athletes and visitors will be at risk.

OTHER

Outspoken former basketball player and current on-air analyst, Charles Barkley will host a new show in 2017  on TNT called “The Race Card”. According to reports, the show “will follow Barkley as he goes on a personal journey to explore and understand why our country is so divided right now.”

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Jimmy Walker Wins First Championship, Draymond’s Private Parts, Kaepernick Compets For Job

GOLF

Jimmy Walker 2In the last PGA Championship of the year, Jimmy Walker edged out Jason Day for a one stroke win at Baltusrol.  Saturday afternoon was a washout due to severe thunderstorms making Sunday an historically long final day for a Championship. There were 4 different champions at each of the 4 major championships this year and this win was Walker’s first major of his career.

NBA

Drama keeps following Golden State’s Draymond Green. Over the weekend Draymond accidentally posted a picture of his private parts on snapchat. He thought it was a private post and when he found out it wasn’t he immediately took it down. Green, as you may remember, was suspended for a game during the NBA finals for kicking LeBron James in the groin. Hmmm, do we see a theme here?

NFL

The NFL pre-season camps are underway and all players are trying to impress. Some players, like San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick, need to really shine. A few months ago, the Denver Broncos seemed interested in having Kaepernick replace Peyton Manning, but when the Team picked Paxton Lynch in the draft, Kaep remained a 49er competing for the the starting job against Blaine Gabbert. Chip Kelley, the Niners’ new head coach, announced the position is up for grabs.

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