FOOTBALL

In college football, it’s growing ever more certain that BYU will become an independent. For those that don’t know what that means, an independent is ‘independent’ of any conference.  The idea is so they’re not restricted to playing certain teams and risk the possibility of not making a BCS appearance because of a weak schedule.  Currently, there are 3 independents:  Notre Dame, Army, and Navy.  If BYU stays in the Mountain West conference, they might get their own TV network:  BYUTV, which would cater to the large Mormon population living outside of Utah (and there are 4 million of them).  But since Utah left for the Pac-10, and the Big 12 didn’t offer BYU an invitation to replace Colorado (Pac-10) or Nebraska (Big 10), it appears that BYU thinks they won’t have a shot at a National Championship by remaining in a now VERY weak Mountain West Conference.  We’ll see how this develops.

In the NFL, it looks like Tim Tebow is starting to see what being an NFL quarterback is all-about.  Tebow rushed for a 7-yard touchdown in his pre-season debut against Cincinnati, but appears to have suffered a rib injury.  Tebow’s injury only adds to all the Broncos training camp woes.  They are losing people left and right and it doesn’t look to be getting any better.  Getting through training camp is extremely difficult for these players.  It’s grueling, you don’t get much sleep, and you have to learn plays on top of everything else.  Don’t expect to see Tebow in the starting role come opening day.  It will most likely be Kyle Orton, and potentially Brady Quinn.

BASKETBALL

Finally, in the NBA, the Detroit Pistons decided to take a gamble and sign former superstar Tracy McGrady to a 1-year contract.  The Pistons aren’t exactly in a playoff position and adding McGrady is a questionable call.  Most people thought McGrady could be a good bench guy on a major contender.  Maybe Boston or Miami, but Detroit?  He’s not exactly a “veteran leader” character that will help young guys play better and his own play has dramatically deteriorated over the years.  Most likely, McGrady gets injured in the first 15 games and is out for the year.  Potentially a very bad call here.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, there has been a lot of controversy over Carmelo Anthony’s recent remarks that he may not re-sign with the Nuggets and head to New York.  If he leaves, it would solidify the idea that there is a trend brewing in the NBA where the top players want to play in only the big cities.  The NBA has about 6 major markets (LA, Chicago, New York, Miami, Boston, Dallas).  If all the best players decide to go there, it would really mess up the competitive balance of the NBA.  Small market teams wouldn’t be able to either keep or attract talent, and it could make for a very boring regular season if over 15 teams are easy teams.  There are musings of a few small market teams merging to make them more competitive, because if they don’t, teams like Indiana, Charlotte, New Orleans, Toronto, and Minnesota are going to go bankrupt.  They simply can’t field strong attendance numbers without a good product for the fans.

FOOTBALL

And in the NFL, guess what?  Yep, you’re not going to believe this, but Brett Favre… is back… AGAIN!  Maybe we should repeat that.  He’s back… AGAIN!  For three straight seasons, Brett Favre has said he’s done, retired, then come back just a few days later.  Apparently, Favre is reporting to Vikings camp, and will announce this in a press conference today.  This has gotten to the point of absurdity.  Why is it so difficult to make a decision?  Either way, with Favre back, the Vikings will feel like they could win a Super Bowl again.  However, we must keep in mind that Favre is over 40 years old.  There’s only so many glory seasons you can have at that age.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it looks like one of the best running backs of this decade has a found a new home.  Brian Westbrook, former Philadelphia Eagele stand out running-back and all-purpose offensive player, has signed with the San Francisco 49ers.  Westbrook is definitely at the tail end of his career, with probably one decent year left in the tank.  He said he wanted to play for a winning team this year, and that that was more important than money.  The Rams, Cowboys, and Redskins all showed interest in Westbrook, but in the end the Niners wanted him and the Niners got him.  San Francisco is an enigma this year — nobody knows if they will be horrible or a formidable playoff team.  Either way, adding an experienced veteran in Westbrook can’t hurt.  He was fantastic for the Eagles.

Elsewhere in the NFL, it was a showdown of the two Big Apple Teams — The New York Giants vs. The New York Jets in their brand new stadium — a 1.7 Billion dollar complex.  Fans showed up in droves to show their loyalty.  Giants fan got the win and bragging rights, but unfortunately Eli Manning was drilled hard and needed stitches.  Manning’s injury calls attention to the negatives of the pre-season, as vital players can get injured and be out for an entire season.  NY Giants 31, NY Jets 16.

BASKETBALL

And in the NBA, it looks like Carmelo Anthony’s time in Denver may be coming to an end.  Anthony was expected to be a major piece of the free agent market in next year’s off season, but apparently, Carmelo wants out now.  He doesn’t want to sign a 3-year extension and many signs indicate he is leaning toward playing for the New York Knicks.  After all — ‘Melo is a New Yorker.  If he did go to the Knicks, that would give them two marquee players in Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo, and there are many rumors floating around that Chris Paul may join them to form ANOTHER Big 3 team.  Plus, this would stack the Eastern Conference even more.  Just a few seasons ago, everybody felt the West was loaded and the East was terrible.  This is quickly shifting.

GOLF

Martin Kaymer’s impressive win in the PGA champtionship was overshadowed by the  controversial call that penalized fellow golfer Dustin Johnson two strokes on the 18th hole in final round.  Johnson thought he was heading to a playoff but then heard that he grounded his club. The controversy is whether or not the “bunker” was actually defined as a bunker or something else that would have been legal. Prepare to hear more about this in the next few days. For a definition of “grounding your club” click here.

FOOTBALL

Tim Tebow was one of the most high profile rookies coming out of the NFL Draft this year. Everyone had opinions on whether or not he would fare as well in the NFL as he did in College. Well, his rookie debut as the quarterback of the Denver Broncos went pretty well. The Broncos lost to the Cincinnati Bengals but Tebow finished with a decent 105 yards passing and a rushing touchdown. (Bengas 33, Broncos 24)

BASKETBALL

There are whisperings in the NBA of a potential lockout.  That would mean no basketball because there are no basketball players.  Well, newly acquired Miami Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall said that if there IS a lockout, he would play in the NBA.  He said, “I’m that good”.  He even said he would pair with a trainer and basketball coach to get in shape for the NBA.   Of course all the spotlight is now on Miami basketball with the recent birth of the juggernaut Miami Heat, and Marshall’s comments show that every single person down there has basketball fever.  Plus, there’s a chance that there might be a football lockout next year, so Marshall would have plenty of time to pursue these dreams.

In some more LeBron bashing drama, Charles Barkley has publicly stated that he thinks LeBron James is a “punk” move.  He said he didn’t like that one-hour special or the big Heat Celebration the next day (where the new trio danced on a lighted stage to fans).  Barkley said that he thought just going to Miami was a “punk move” and that LeBron should have stayed in Cleveland.  Well, on LeBron’s Twitter account, going by the name of King James, LeBron wrote, “Don’t think for one min that I haven’t been taking mental notes of everyone taking shots at me this summer. And I mean everyone”.  Barkley immediately said “Add me to that list”.  Then Sir Charles announced if he has a problem with me, he knows where to find me, I’m on TV every week

BASEBALL

The defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies were in a bit of a slump this season.  However, they are really starting to turn it around.  Last night they trailed the LA Dodgers by 7 runs, but had an 8 run surge in the 8th and 9th inning to make the comeback.  The hero was Carlos Ruiz — he doubled in the 9th bringing in the winning run.  What an amazing comeback.  The Phillies are hoping to guarantee their playoff spot and make a serious run at their 3rd straight World Series appearance.  Philadelphia 10, LA Dodgers 9.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the New York Knicks hired Hall of Famer and former Knick General Manager Isiah Thomas to be their “consultant”.  Nobody knew what this meant, and nobody could make sense of this hire.  After all, Thomas essentially drove the Knicks organization into the ground with terrible signings and bad draft picks.  It was because of him that the Knicks struggled with the salary room to get LeBron.  Sure, they made a run at him in the end, but instead of having a core of good players (like the Bulls), they had a disappointing team.  Not exactly appetizing to a guy who wants to win championships right away.  Plus, Thomas was involved in a sexual abuse case within the organization.  So hiring him back was curious. What’s going on behind closed doors that we don’t know about?

Well, Wednesday, the NBA said the hiring of Thomas is a violation because of his current job as a college basketball coach.  They said that Isaiah couldn’t be a part of both the NCAA and the NBA.  Thomas then twisted this into another story, saying that he would only come back to the NBA in the role of General Manager.  Talk about ego.  After his horrible track record with the Knicks, who would want Thomas running their organization?

Elsewhere in the NBA, a major trade that could help multiple organizations.  First, the New Orleans Hornets are trying to appease their star Chris Paul by surrounding him with supporting talent.  They just brought in Trevor Ariza, who was instrumental in helping the Lakers win a title in 2009.  Unfortunately, they had to ship rising point-guard Darren Collison away.  However, Collison landed in a spot that was desperate for a quality point guard, Indiana.  Indiana has a lot of young talent in Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, and two hot rookies.  Having a quick point guard who shoots well will only help them jell faster.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it looks like the New York Jets and star cornerback Darrelle Revis can not come to an agreement.  Revis has been holding out saying he wants a much bigger contract.  Last season, as a rookie, he proved himself to be one of top cornerbacks in the game.  And now he wants compensation for it.  Well, because they’re at loggerheads, it looks like Revis will miss the pre-season and there’s a chance he might not even play games.  They’re at a pure stand still.  The good news:  This story  will be prominently featured and explained in HBO’s Hard Knocks series, so that should be thoroughly entertaining.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, with all the hype circling the Miami Heat going into next season, many have wondered if this group will be as good as expected.  After all, this is three-alpha dogs all trying to play team ball.  Some experts were predicting this team wouldn’t even reach the finals, but get beat by Boston or Orlando in the conference finals.  Well, a certain ex-head coach/current announcer thinks very differently.  Former NY Knicks and Houston Rockets head coach doesn’t just think the Heat will be excellent, but they will break numerous records, including the famous 72-win season set by Michael Jordan’s Bulls in the late 90’s.  That would mean the Heat would have to lose fewer than 10 games the entire season.  We’ll see if Van Gundy is spot-on.

Elsewhere in basketball, the NBA announced it would play two regular season games in London at O2 arena, where the league had played exhibition games in seasons past.  This is all part of the league’s effort to bring even more international awareness to the NBA — to get loyal fans in every crevasse. It’ll be two games featuring The Toronto Raptors vs. The New Jersey Nets.  By playing two games, it keeps things fair, and ensures that these teams don’t have a home court disadvantage to the rest of the league.

BASEBALL

For the first time since 1995, the Cincinnati Reds are hoping to reach the playoffs.  This team has been practically invisible over the last 15 years.  They made headlines by signing the then red-hot Ken Griffey Jr. at the end of the 1990s, but that experiment was a total failure.  Since then, they’ve hovered around last place and haven’t had many marquee players to draw attention.  Now, they’ve made a resurgence, and yesterday traded for slugger Jim Edmonds from the Milwaukee Brewers.  This trade shows that they think they have a fighting chance to do some damage in the post-season.  Perhaps Cincinnati will return to it’s glory days of the late 70s and 80s.  Hey, if the Phillies can do it…

GOLF

It was the Bridgestone Invitational, and Tiger Woods was the favorite.  Woods is typically favored to at least finish in the top 5 in every single golf tournament.  We’ve seen him win so many times, you just expect him to dominate.  After all, he’s won 14 major tournaments in his career and he’s still considered young.  Well, at Bridgestone, the prelude to the PGA Championship at Whistling Streets, Tiger Woods played his worst professional golf outing ever.

Woods finished 18 over par, shooting a 77, and finishing in 78th place out of an 80-man field.  This is truly horrible, especially for the guy considered to be the best golfer in the world.  So now, many are asking the question:  “Is Tiger Woods finished?”  “Is his electric career on the decline?” “Did the media coverage of his abhorrent sexual exploits do him in?”  Well, these are all fair questions, because the Woods out there right now is completely different than the Woods winning Masters after Masters.  We may be entering the era where Woods is just another golfer.

FOOTBALL

Elsewhere, in the NFL, referee Bill Leavy has publicly admitted that he made two very bad calls in the 2006 Super Bowl featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks.  This Super Bowl is in the history books as having notoriously bad officiating, so to hear the actual referee from the game admit to two bad calls that may have cost the Seattle Seahawks the game is pretty remarkable.  The Seahawks organization has applauded Bill Leavy’s courage to admit such mistakes, but the Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t care less.  Their primary argument is that two calls can’t swing an entire game, but they’re also upset that people are still thinking about their 2006 Super Bowl when they also won in 2009.  Either way, both teams will have a tough time getting to the Super Bowl THIS year.

BASKETBALL

Finally, in some rare news out of the WNBA, the Los Angeles Sparks’ Tina Thompson became the all-time WNBA scoring leader.  She had 6,250 points going into the game, and needed just 14 points to surpass fellow Los Angeles Sparks superstar Lisa Leslie for the all-time scoring title.  And she did just that scoring 23 points on the night. Unfortunately, the Sparks lost in the end, but a remarkable achievement for Thompson.   San Antonio 92, LA Sparks 83.

FOOTBALL

In college football, there have been some major changes in the historic Big Ten conference.  The Big Ten is home to Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa and other football powerhouses.  Now, however, they will inherit Nebraska (a long time Big 12 team) and have their own conference championship.  College championships are very interesting because they can theoretically pit the two best teams in the country against each other prior to the BCS Championship game.  This has happened in the SEC Championship a few times.  Well, the Big Ten has selected Indianapolis as the first destination for this conference championship game.  Now it’s possible that rivals Michigan and Ohio State play each other twice in the same season.

BASKETBALL

In college basketball,  Louisville coach Rick Pitino’s affair was back in the news. This time, however, in a legal manner.  In 2003, Pitino had a fling with a woman at a restaurant.  Afterwards, she wanted millions to keep quiet.  Pitino, makes a living not only as a coach, but as a brand name of fine coaching and leadership.  In fact, he sells books on leadership.  Having his name tarnished could have been detrimental.  However, yesterday, a court found this woman, Karen Cunagin Sypher, guilty of extortion.  Pitino did have the affair, but he came clean with it, and pursued legal action.  Louisville’s athletic director said Pitino would not be penalized for his conduct, but Pitino did apologize for his “discretion”.

Finally, in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers are trying to keep their championship team in tact.  And yesterday, they took another major step toward keeping the nucleus together signing slam-dunk superstar Shannon Brown to a 2-year deal.  For most of the off-season, Brown was expected to leave, as he was a rising star and could be a strong piece elsewhere.  But, the Lakers know how valuable a young star like Brown is, and if Brown keeps playing well, he could be a key piece in the post-Kobe era in LA.

FOOTBALL

And here we go again.  Just one day — ONE DAY after Favre announced his retirement he has told the media that he is still undecided and that he would return if healthy.  This guy is truly unbelievable!  Many experts believe that Favre doesn’t want to go to training camp — that he would prefer to be the savior of the Vikings if they get off to a slow start.  Without Favre, the Vikings start Tavarias Jackson at QB.  If the Vikings get out to a 1-3 start, Favre would love to come marching back on the field and win the game.  If he succeeds, people will talk of what an amazing player he is.  If he fails, he can blame it on the injury.   But, as of right now, Favre is saying he never officially retired.  This is just too confusing.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, with all the attention on the Miami Heat, it’s important not to forget which team is the defending Eastern Conference Champion.  That team is the Boston Celtics, and they’re not exactly rolling over.  Remember, they still have Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and possibly the best point guard in the league, Rajon Rondo.  Well, now they’ve signed up the big fella — Shaquille O’ Neal.  O’Neal is definitely in the twilight of his career, but he still confuses defenses when he’s on the court.  They don’t know how to guard him or play against him.  He change a team’s complete offensive strategy.  This was a smart sign for the Celtics, and O’Neal will play a huge factor come playoff time.

BASEBALL

Finally, in baseball, Alex Rodriguez finally got over the hump.  He has been standing at 599 home-runs for almost 2 weeks now.  He’s been in a terrible slump.  Well, yesterday, against the Toronto Blue Jays, A-Rod sent the ball soaring for his 600th home run.  This is a tremendous achievement, as only 7 players have hit the 600 mark. With that said, there is a huge cloud and asterisk hovering over this accomplishment, as A-Rod publicly admitted last season that he had spent a considerable amount of career time using illegal substances.  This is the reason why 600 home-runs isn’t making big headlines.  NY Yankees 5, Toronto 1.