Archive for January, 2018

Alex Smith To Redskins, James Harden Highest Scoring Triple Double In History, Love Out

FOOTBALL

NFL free agency officially begins on March 14th, but big trades are already going down. The Washington Redskins reached a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith for a reported $71 million. Smith turns 35 in May but had a career high in passing yards this season. Current Redskins QB Kirk Cousins indicated he wasn’t likely to sign a long term deal with the team, so they’re investing in Smith to lead the team for the next few years. The trade isn’t official until free agency begins. No word yet on where Kirk Cousins will end up, but there’s speculation he could become the highest paid player in the League for the 2018 season.

BASKETBALL

Houston Rockets James Harden had one for the books by posting the highest scoring triple double in NBA history with 60 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Even LeBron James was impressed by Harden. He tweeted, ” That’s insane G! 60 point Triple Dub. Sheesh!!!” The Rockets beat the Orlando Magic 114-107.

In other NBA news, the Cleveland Cavaliers got more bad news when Kevin Love fractured his left hand during Tuesday’s game against Detroit. It’s likely Love will miss at least a month of playing time. He’ll also miss the February 18th All-Star game

 

Share
No comments

Indians Remove Chief Wahoo, Brady Leaves Interview Over Daughter, Brady’s Man Crushes

BASEBALL

Major League Baseball announced the Cleveland Indians will remove the controversial Chief Wahoo from the uniforms beginning in the 2019 season. The logo has been used since 1947,  but over the last few years the public outcry against the logo has become intense. Indians owner Paul Dolan said, “While we recognize many of our fans have a long-standing attachment to Chief Wahoo, I’m ultimately in agreement with Commissioner Manfred’s desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019.” Many fans were pleased with the announcement, but some felt it wasn’t enough. They want the team to remove “Indians” from the name. With the logo change-up, the NFL and the Washington Redskins are now receiving renewed attention for their name and logo.

FOOTBALL

Tom Brady abruptly left an interview on Monday when the radio host said a disparaging remark about his daughter, but claims he doesn’t want the host fired. On “Kirk & Callahan” on WEEI radio, guest host Alex Reimer was commenting on the “Tom vs Time” documentary on Facebook.  Reimer said, “It was fine. It was okay. All right, I thought the first scene was so staged, where Brady’s like in the kitchen, his kid’s being an annoying little pissant…”.Tom clearly didn’t like his little girl being called “an annoying little pissant” so he left the show and said he wasn’t sure he’d come back anytime soon. Reimer has been suspended indefinitely but Brady doesn’t want him fired. He said, “Look, I think we all go through our life and sometimes we say things we shouldn’t say or make mistakes, and that happens. I can express it and you move on.”

On a lighter note, Brady was mobbed by the media on Monday and answered some fun questions such as “who is his man crush”. Brady replied, “Man. I’d say Jules (Julian Edelman), Danny (Amendola) and Gronk (Rob Gronkowski). Those guys are pretty good looking guys. None of them are married, either. Can you imagine that? Justin Timberlake. I love Justin a lot, too.”

Share
No comments

Walker And Miller MVP’s, Philly Market, Rousey Joining WWE

FOOTBALL

Tennessee tight end Delanie Walker and Denver Bronco linebacker Von Miller helped the AFC beat the NFC in the Pro Bowl on Sunday becoming MVP’s of the game. The Pro Bowl doesn’t mean much for the League, except each player on the winning team gets $64,ooo with the MVP’s also receiving a new car.

If you live in Philadelphia and are fans of the Eagles, you’ll do whatever is necessary to root for your team in next week’s Super Bowl. The popular chicken restaurant, Boston Market, is even getting into the spirit of Super Bowl week and is temporarily changing their name to “Philly Market”.

WRESTLING

Mixed martial phenom Ronda Rousey is joining World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Rousey was the face of mixed martial arts and appeared in Sports Illustrated and a number of movies. Rousey claims she hasn’t retired from MMA, but will devote all of her energy on WWE now. She said, “They have first priority on my timeline for the next several years and this is not a smash-and-grab. This is not a publicity stunt.”

Share
No comments

James And Curry Pick All-Star Squads, XFL Back In 2020

BASKETBALL

All-Star captains LeBron James and Steph Curry chose their All-Star teams in a conference call Thursday night. Instead of competing as East vs West conferences as in the past, this year’s All-Star game will mix it up and feature teams James and Curry pick, regardless of conference. In the new format ex-teammates will play with each other, and conference rivals will compete on the same team. Here are the squads (neither LeBron or Steph revealed which player was chosen first):

James’ team: Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Kristaps Porzingis, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, John Wall, Bradley Beal, Victor Oladipo and LaMarcus Aldridge

Curry’s team: James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMar DeRozan, Joel Embiid,  Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Kyle Lowry, Karl-Anthony Towns, Klay Thompson, Al Horford and Damian Lillard

Don’t miss the All-Star Game on February 18th in Los Angles. This year should be a lot of fun to watch!

FOOTBALL

The XFL is making a comeback! World Wrestling Entertainment founder Vince McMahon is bringing back the NFL alternative. He plans to have 8 teams with a two game playoff. He also plans to have a clear set of rules and regulations so players know what to expect during the season. As for standing for the National Anthem, McMahon believes it’s appropriate, but no word yet on whether it will be required. McMahon announced, “We will present a shorter, faster-paced, family friendly and easier to understand game. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still football, but it’s professional football re-imagined.” The last time we saw an XFL game was in 2001, however the League lost money and folded after only one year.

Share
No comments

LeBron Youngest To Score 30,000 Points

BASKETBALL

LeBron James joined an exclusive group of superstars on Tuesday night by recording his 30,000th career regular season point. He’s also the youngest player to reach this milestone. LeBron joins  Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Dirk Nowitzki in the 3o,000 club. LeBron described the feeling by saying,”Just a special moment. I just started thinking about everything. My journey from being a kid who first picked up a basketball when I was 5 years old to first playing organized basketball when I was 9 all the way up to this point.  I give a lot of thanks to a lot of people. This is a special moment. It’s something I never set out to do. I’m not even a score-first guy when it comes to playing basketball. I love getting my teammates involved and seeing my teammates be excited about scoring and me getting the assist and things of that nature.” The Cavaliers put out a video with a number of people congratulating LeBron. Towards the end of the video, LeBron’s kids share how proud they are!

Share
No comments

No Love From Cavs, Kidd Fired From Bucks, #Please Stand Rejected By NFL

BASKETBALL

All is not well in Cleveland. The Cavs have lost their last 10 of 14 games and are now 6 games behind the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference standings. Tensions are continuing to run high, and the latest victim is Kevin Love. Love left the game in their Saturday night loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a mysterious illness and missed Sunday’s practice. Cavs held a “loud and intense” team meeting on Monday to discuss Love and other issues.

In other NBA news, the Milwaukee Bucks fired former 10-time NBA All-Star Jason Kidd, but Kidd found out 15 minutes prior to the firing when he got a call from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The current All-Star called Kidd and said, “Coach, this isn’t right what they’re about to do, but [they] are gonna let you go,'” He then continued, “‘What can I do? I’ll call the owners, I’ll call my agent.” Kidd claims he holds no ill will toward the Bucks.

FOOTBALL

AMVETS, known as American Veterans, is the largest veteran service organization. AMVETS submitted an ad to the NFL for placement in their Super Bowl program with the message “Please Stand”. The NFL rejected the ad (included here) and claimed it could be considered “a political statement”. Marion Polk, AMVETS national commander, wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stating,  “Freedom of speech works both ways. We respect the rights of those who choose to protest as these rights are precisely what our members have fought — and in many cases died — for. But imposing corporate censorship to deny that same right to those veterans who have secured it for us all is reprehensible and totally beyond the pale.”

Share
No comments

New England Patriots And Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl!

FOOTBALL

You can never bet against Tom Brady. He just knows how to win. Even with tape covering up 10 stitches on his throwing hand, he managed to pull out a game-winning touchdown in the 4th quarter down by 3 and with 2:48 minutes left to play. Patriots’ receiver Danny Amendola deserves big credit for pulling in the catch and keeping both feet inbounds. This was the 54th time in Brady’s career he’s managed to pull out a win after his team was behind or tied in the 4th quarter. With the AFC Championship win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New England Patriots will head to the Super Bowl on February 4th. Patriots 24, Jaguars 20.

The Philadelphia Eagles have embraced their “underdog” status. Ever since QB Carson Wentz got injured in week 14, and Nick Foles replaced him, the Eagles have been written off . Now that they’ve proven the critics wrong by demolishing the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship on Sunday, they will face the Patriots in the Super Bowl (where, of course,  they’re listed in Vegas as 6-point underdogs).  Since the merger in 1966, the Eagles have appeared in two Super Bowls, losing both of them (the last one a loss to the Patriots in 2005). Eagles 37, Vikings 7.

 

 

Share
No comments

Curry & LeBron NBA All-Star Captains, Joel Embiid’s Words To Rihanna, NBA All-Star Starters

BASKETBALL

NBA All-Star votes are in and the Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry and the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James were named Captains of their respective conferences.  Players, fans and the media select the All-Star starters for the game in Los Angeles on February 18th. NBA Head coaches will select the reserves on Tuesday with the full rosters set by January 25th. The All-Star game the last few years has been an offensive scoring blowout, so this year to mix things up and make it more fun for the fans, the Captains (Curry and James) will select their teams regardless of the conference they’re in. With this new system, teammates might not be playing together and traditional rivalries will be gone.

One new selection this year is Philadelphia 76er Joel Embiid. After he heard he made the cut Thursday night, he celebrated by posting 26 points and 16 rebounds in a win over the Boston Celtics. After the game, his coach Brett Brown spoke about his excitement for Embiid by saying, it’s “like somebody just gave one of your children a star and put it on his paper. His story of perseverance is remarkable, and his story as it reflects the organization and the process that we’ve all been going through is a wonderful story. I’m just very proud of him.” In Embiid’s interview after the game, he was asked about the celebrity he’s had a crush on who blew him off 5 years ago. The woman was Rihanna, and according to Embiid she said to him,  “Come back when you’re an All-Star.”  So now he’s saying, “She denied me back then; there’s no reason to go back to her. So I gotta move on to the next one. There’s a lot of pretty women out there, and I’m beautiful, so I gotta move on to the next one.”

Here is a list of the other starters by conference:

Eastern Conference: Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston’s Kyrie Irving, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, and Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan

Western Conference: Houston’s James Harden, New Orleans Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, and Golden State’s Kevin Durant

Share
No comments

Brady’s Hand Injury, Patriots Killing With Kindness, Keenum And Foles BFF’s

FOOTBALL

Tom Brady suffered a hand injury in practice on Wednesday when a teammate bumped into him. According to reports, the quarterback will be fine, but that’s a scary scenario for the New England Patriots who face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday in the AFC Conference Championship. Brady’s backup is Brian Hoyer.

The Patriots aren’t doing any trash talking this week. Instead, the team is gearing up for their battle with the Jaguars by heaping on the compliments.  Tom Brady posted on twitter, “This is the biggest challenge we’ve faced all year” and Gronkowski tweeted, “It’s the best team we’ve faced all year.”  The Jaguars aren’t taking the “bait” as they were underdogs in the divisional round and now 9-point dark horses against New England. Jaguars’ linebacker Telvin Smith responded with “Bruh “this the oldest trick…pump us up in the media but in the buildin I kno what’s really bein said.”

In the NFC Championship game on Sunday between the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles, there is “real” admiration  between the Vikings QB Case Keenum and Eagles QB Nick Foles. Both players were teammates on the 2015 St. Louis Rams and began this year as their team’s backups. With injuries to the team starters, both players are finding it incredible to be in the limelight. Keenum called Foles one of his best friends and Foles responded by complimenting his friend. “It’s pretty wild. But like I’ve said, Case’s success doesn’t surprise me because we were together, we prepared together and we were around each other every day.”

 

Share
No comments

South And North Korea To March Together In Opening Cermonies, Ice Hockey Teams One Squad, USA Gymnastics Will Let Maroney Talk

OLYMPICS

South Korea’s Ministry Of Unification announced an historic deal for next month’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. North and South Korea will walk into the opening ceremonies together under one flag. In addition their ice hockey teams will form a joint Korean squad. Further, some of the South Korean athletes will train north of the demilitarized zone, and North Korea will send a delegation of cheerleaders and members of their taekwondo team to the Games.

By now, most people have heard about the sexual abuse chargers of USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nasser. One of the many victims, McKayla Maroney, told her story in 2016, but then signed a non-disclosure agreement to stay quiet as part of her settlement. Since then, Maroney has wanted to share her story but was told she’d be fined $100,000 for violating her agreement. Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, Chrissy Teigen said she’d be honored to pay the fine so McKayla could tell her story and help the other alleged 140 victims.  USA Gymnastics seems to have finally gotten the message and stated “USA Gymnastics has not sought and will not seek any money from McKayla Maroney for her brave statements made in describing her victimization and abuse by Larry Nassar, nor for any victim impact statements she wants to make to Larry Nassar at this hearing or at any subsequent hearings related to his sentencing. This has been her right and USA Gymnastics encourages McKayla and anyone who has been abused to speak out. USA Gymnastics remains focused on our highest priority — the safety, health and well-being of our athletes and creating a culture that empowers and supports them.”

Share
No comments

Next Page »