Though I look better with it (Yes that is the real Heisman, this was from 2007)
Greetings from the Hoodwood, where the locals are celebrating the Fantasy Football teams playoff berth. Details to follow.
Leading off: Johnny Football wins it.
As your humble scribe predicted . Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M won the Heisman trophy to the dismay of the over confident Notre Dame fans who were certain that Manti Te’o would be the first pure defensive player to win the award. I knew that a freshman (albeit a redshirt freshman) would be the winner. The vote wasn’t even close as Manziel dominated most of the regions to win the Heisman handily. Though I will give Te’o dap for his classy gesture in giving leis to Manziel parents after Manziel was announced as the winner. Could Manziel win another trophy? I don’t think so unless he has another phenom like year but I wouldn’t put it past him
College Football: Cincy Stunna
Butch Jones danced and ducked in a way that would make a politician proud. Last week the Cincinnati college coach was jetting around the country visiting Purdue and Colorado and being wooed by these schools, but all the while deflecting questions about his employment and chiding those who dared ask him if he was leaving Cincy. But then suddenly another job appeared out of nowhere. When Charlie Strong of Louisville used the leverage of the open Tennessee job to get more loot from the Cards, the Vols job suddenly was open. The Vols now desperate to get a name coach, floated the cash at Jones and he bounced from Cincy to Vol nation. I was once a twitter follower of Butch Jones and quickly gave him the boot when he changed his handle to CoachJonesUT. Jones’ quick defection was prompted by Cincy AD Whit Babcock who basically told Jones “Make up your mind, stay and coach the Bearcats in the Belk Bowl, or go where you want to.” Jones was announced as taking the Tennessee job and was grinning at a press conference in Vols orange. Jones used the same line that he used when he took the Cincy job saying that the players would be those that would be winners in the classroom and on the field. Jones’ defection surprised no one and many people think that will be in over his head. But Babcock and the Bearcats had a plan. Babcock reached out to then Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville and gaged his interest in the Cincy job. Under a bit of fire in Lubbock for his underachieving teams, Tuberville expressed interest in the job and the Bearcats did the work to get Tuberville to Cincy. Jones was barely out of the coaching office 24 hours when Tuberville was announced as the Cincy coach. I got a text message on it on Saturday afternoon, and I was dumbfounded. Babcock and the Cincy administration didn’t sit and wring their hands they moved quickly to fill the space with a known commodity. Tuberville will inherit a decent team for 2013 and Im confident that the Bearcats will be a good team. Im also hoping that this move will help launch the Bearcats into the Big 12 or ACC.
NBA 30K for Kobe
It was no surprise to anyone that Kobe Bryant was this close to 30K points for his illustrious career, with a funky fadeaway jumper, Bryant joined Kareem, Karl Malone, some guy named Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain in the very exclusive fraternity. If you wanted to combine ABA and NBA points, Dr. J is the only other pro to have also scored 30K but over 11000 were in the ABA. The debate now will begin if Kobe is the greatest player of all time. Im still partial to Kareem or that Jordan guy but I guess Im biased since I saw them both play in my formidable years and always thought of Kobe as a young gun. That’s kinda funny seeing that Kobe is a 16 year veteran and is 34. Many will always see Kobe as a selfish gunner, who was always looking out for himself. I thought Kobe as a true iconoclast. A gifted though sometimes flawed player desperately trying to get either the street cred that LeBron has or AI once had or the iconic stature that MJ had. Kobe is a beast there is no disputing that, but I think that many people that are trying to make the comparsion to him and MJ are way off.
NFL: 2K aint enough for AP
Adrian Peterson continues to be in beast mode. The Minnesota Vikings stud RB rushed for 154 yards in the Vikings win over the Chicago Bears Sunday bringing his total to an even 1600 yards. Peterson is 400 yards from a magical 2000 yard season a feat only accomplished by Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Jamal Lewis, Terrell Davis and OJ Simpson. Peterson has openly stated that he is confident that he can rush for 2000 but says his goal is the 2105 that Dickerson set in 1984. The NFL record that most feel is one of the more hallowed in the league. There those that said that a 2000 yard season doesnt have the same lustre being set in a 16 game season and I disagree, considering that no player has done it twice and most hit the 2000 yard mark in the final game (Dickerson being the lone exception) Peterson is averaging 120 yards a game and has had seven straight 100 yard games, he could do it. Think he was held to limited action in the Vikes first three games and he is coming off a major knee injury...No disrespect to Peyton Manning but AP is not only the MVP but the comeback player of the year...I dont care that he only missed one game...
NFL: Beatdown in boogie down Northwest, what happened to the Cards?
I didn’t pay much attention to the Cardinals-Seahawks game at the outset but I noticed that the Seahawks defense were racking up massive points for the Bandits fantasy team, so I checked the score and was stunned by the points that the Seahawks defense were cashing in. Fumble recovery for a score, a pick six and scads of sacks, interceptions and a shutout to boot. Hey wasn’t this the same Cards team that started 4-0? You wouldn’t know it by their 9 game losing streak and their anemic offense. Its so bad that Vince Young touched base with Larry Fitzgerald the deeply talented wideout that seems to be trapped in this football gulag to inquire if he could get a serious look. Has it gotten that bad for a team that made the super bowl just four years ago and was considered one of the more upcoming teams in the NFL. The Seahawks on the other hand are quietly returning to being one of the tougher draws in the NFC having knocked off the Bears in OT and are just about the worst venues for visitors and the Cards will testify to that.
Fantasy Football: The Improbable Bandits come back from the dead to make playoffs
Hoodwood is celebrating an unlikely finish to the GMFL season. The Chocolate City Black Bandits started the 2012 season at 0-4. The media whispered that the old ball coach was losing it that the game had passed him by, after a 7-7 2011 season and missing the playoffs. The Bandits instead steadied themselves and ripped off a 4 game win streak to even their record. But a pair of painful shootout losses dropped them to 4-6 and prompted their embattled coach to make a stunning prediction. Channeling a famous quote from former Giants coach Jim Fassel, the Bandits coach tersely told a mid November press conference “we’re making the playoffs…’kay? Put it all on me, ‘kay? We’re making the playoffs…’kay?” The critics scoffed, but the Bandits ripped another 4 game win streak off and with a stunning turn of events getting losses from teams that held critical tiebreak advantages, the Bandits with an 8-6 record are making the playoffs as a wild card. The Bandits have won the GMFL Ultimate Bowl in 2007 as a wild card so the road has been traveled before. Hoodwood is hoping for another ticker tape parade after another GMFL championship, this one would be so sweet after such a horrid start.
Phat Dap/Head Slap
Phat Dap
To Marcus Lattimore the injured South Carolina who will declare for the NFL draft. There are many that think that Lattimore is an injury prone longshot after multiple injury have derailed a promising collegiate career. After the frighteningly gruesome injury he suffered against Tennessee, many doubt that Lattimore can be a viable player. I think that he can do it, and will be rooting hard for him. The Hoodwood has adopted Lattimore as one of its own and hope for nothing but the best.
Head Slap
To Manny Pacquiao the former boxing champion, who in his 4th fight with Juan Manuel Marquez was leading on all cards and was handily beating his opponent walked into this punch and was put to sleep
This more than likely deep sixes any meaningful fight with Floyd “Money” Mayweather
I'll post a video blog on Youtube later in the week. Until Next Post Fellow Sports Fans!
Here is a photo of Japan's Shimizu immediately after his match. He obviously thinks he has won, right? We have all seen horrible scoring and questionable work by boxing refs. In all of my years, I have to say that this is the most foul of all boxing decisions. If this is what boxing has come to...I think the sport should just be banned. Watch this shit...watch this video. I hope this ref loses his ability to ref another match.
Dude is knocked down, but the ref motions for him to stand up. Why is he not counting? Complete travesty...
Here is more information on this bout...
"It was, by any account, the biggest competitive disgrace of the Olympics so far. And there's reason to ask if this was more than the usual Olympic boxing incompetence, but rather something more sinister.
Last September, BBC Newsnight presented evidence that Azerbaijan had paid millions of dollars in an international boxing organization, in return for a guarantee that two Azerbaijanis would win gold medals at these London Olympics. They found documents showing a $9 million bank transfer, funneled through Switzerland, to a boxing organization owned by AIBA, which oversees Olympic boxing. Whistleblowers reported that the money came from an Azerbaijan government minister, and were strictly a cash-for-medals exchange."
Here is a statement issued by AIBA officials in response to Japan's appeal:
"After reviewing the video of Bout #105 involving Bantamweights Satoshi Shimizu (Japan) and Magomed Abdulhamidov (Azerbaijan), the Competition Jury made the following decision:
- The boxer from Azerbaijan fell down six (6) times during the 3rd round. According to our rules, the Referee should have counted at least three (3) times. In this case, following the AIBA Technical & Competition Rules, the decision should have been RSC (Referee Stop Contest);
- Therefore the protest lodged by the Japanese corner is accepted and the result of this bout overturned.
AIBA officials will consider on Thursday morning whether to sanction the referee of this bout."
It is nice to see that they got it right, but what a complete farce the sport of boxing has become...
Greetings from the Hoodwood, where the locals are celebrating the return of Princess Katie. No one is more happier about that than Princess Jasmyne.
Princess Katie visits me every summer from Arizona, (She will be a junior in high school this fall) her little sister absolutely adores her...
NHL: The Kings are Kings of Hockey
After racing out to a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final, it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that the Kings would win the Cup, but a couple wins by a gutty Devils team had some pundits saying that they could be only the second team to blow a 3-0 Finals lead. But when the Devils took a silly boarding major in the 1st and the Kings cashed in 3 times on the power play, it was all over but the coronation. The Kings cruised to a 6-1 win and a lot of rarities occured with the win. Jonathan Quick was the spot on lock for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP becoming only the 3rd American to win the award. Dustin Brown became only the 2nd American born captain to hoist the Cup. LA will never be mistaken for a hockey hotbed, but their loyal contingent of long suffering fans have finally got the holy grail of hockey. My favorite image was the NBC shot of the little boy holding the sign saying " My Daddy waited 44 years to see this, Im 1 for 1" All the bearded players hoisting the cup is always the most amusing thing to me and reminds me when the Wings won the cup in 2008, I was made immediately to shave my beard by the girl I was dating who could never understand why I was growing a thick beard in June.
NBA: Finally the Finals
The basketball world gets another week or so to snipe at Lebron James. I think that his performance in the Eastern Conference Finals especially the last two games were about as big money as you could ever hope for. He scored 25 points or better in each of the seven games. He didn’t average 25 ppg he scored 25 or more in each of the 7 games. The only other players to have done that were Kareem for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 74 Finals and Elgin Baylor for the Lakers in the 62 Finals. Keep in mind that neither one of those teams won their series, so Lebron is not only in high company, he led his team to the series win.
The NBA may not have its big markets for the Finals but OKC and South Beach are decent sized markets. The Thunder has a home court advantage support that is getting near feared status. Chesapeake Energy Arena gets and stays loud, as the poor (lol) San Antonio Spurs who came in with a 2-0 series lead and left tied, seriously questioning their cajones. After the Thunder won a taut game 5 in San Antonio, the Spurs looked like a team headed for the gallows. I know, I know they raced out to a huge first half lead but the Thunder had a look like “We got this, man” The rolled right Spurs right out of the building in the 2nd half and left some to wonder if the salad days are over in Spursland. The West might be going through OKC for a minute.
Anyway, lets look at the matchup between the teams and what I think of them
2012 NBA Finals
Best of 7 Series (2-3-2) all games on ABC at 9p except Games 3 and if needed 6 which are 8p games
Miami Heat (46-20) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (47-19)
How They Got here
Western Conference Champion Oklahoma City Thunder
Coach Scott Brooks 4th Season (174-125 regular season, 197-140 overall)
2012 Northwest Division Champions #2 Western Conference Seed
Defeated #7 Seed Dallas 4-0
Defeated #3 Los Angeles Lakers 4-1
Defeated #1 Seed San Antonio 4-2
Leading Scorer Kevin Durant 28.0 ppg (Led NBA)
Fast Fact: Defeating the Mavericks (2006 & 2011) The Lakers (2000-2002. 2004, 2008-2010) and Spurs 1999, 2003, 2005, & 2007) the Thunder beat each of the three teams to have represented the Western Conference in the Finals since 1999
Previous Finals appearances in 1978 runner up, 1979 Champions & 1996 runner up as the Seattle Supersonics
The Thunder are the fast riser in the NBA, where many looked to Chicago as the team poised to take the next step the Thunder have made the bold statement with its youthful core that plays so much older than they are. Of course this team flows from the dynamic yet low key superstar Durant. He is the type of franchise player that everyone thought he would be coming out of Texas. His well rounded game makes him a matchup nightmare. But you miss the essence of the team by just thinking of Durant. High speed guard Russell Westbrook is a scorer in his own right and James Harden is the reigning 6th man of the year. This is a talented and deep team
Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat
Coach Erik Spolestra 4th Season (194-118 regular season, 224-129 overall)
Fast Fact: LeBron James leads the NBA in playoff scoring at 30.8 ppg, his scoring average has increased in each round 27.6, 30.0 and 33.6 in the respective rounds.
Love em or hate em, the Miami Heat are never boring. Teetering on the brink of playoff doom in the last two rounds the Heat ripped off three straight wins in the conference semis then won a crucial road game 6 against the Celtics behind a staggering 45 point performance by James then pulled away to win a penultimate 7th game on Saturday. The Heat are led by the iconoclastic James and the often mercurial Dwayne Wade who has been battling injuries on the quiet to keep the Heat chugging toward what they feel in their manifest destiny. The return of swingman Chris Bosh have given them a dynamic extra scoring punch and enough of a versatile scoring threat with range to keep a big man otherwise occupied.
How it shapes up
This will not be a slow motion series. Both teams are high energy and can run. Durant and James are scorers of the first rank. The key will be the health of Wade if he is able to carry his part the Heat have a edge. If Chris Bosh puts up points and keeps Serge Ibaka honest the Heat have an even decided edge. But if Wade is still fighting these nagging injuries and Russell Westbrook repeatedly abuses him, and James Harden gives him no rest coming off the bench. The Thunder make this a fairly even series. Many pundits knock James and say he lacks a clutch gene. I think the basketball gods will make the King stew at least one more year. The Thunder play the Heat to a draw through the 1st four games then Durant wins a thriller in game 5 and finish it out in OKC on a Sunday night. Spolestra will have to pay the piper for back to back Finals losses with his job. Thunder in 6
Boxing: Pacquiao got the shaft
Im no Manny Pacquiao fan, I think hes ducking Floyd Mayweather and a fight that could be the biggest of the past 25-30 years. But I think the Pac Man got the shaft as he outboxed a so-called unbeaten fighter in Timothy Bradley yet lost a split decision on Saturday. The numbers say that Pacquiao hit Bradley more. Compubox has him with a 253-159 overall punch edge and a 190-109 power punch edge. Pac Man landed more punches in 10 of 12 rounds. That’s not an opinion, Those are the raw numbers. So what the fuck did two of the three judges see Saturday night? I had the fight 119-109 in favor of Pac Man, AP had it 117-111. He wobbled Bradley twice early and seemed to be in control of the fight till late. Bradley made a nice charge but never hurt Pacquiao. What were these guys thinking? Bradley even looked and sounded like he got something that he didn’t deserve in the post fight presser. Promoter Bob Arum tried to sound outraged but he got exactly what he wanted. Controversy and a rematch, anything to avoid the now jailed Mayweather. When Pac Man beats the crap out of this palooka in November they will talk of a third fight to settle it and Money will have to continue to wait.
Phat Dap/Head Slap
Phat Dap
Phat Dap to Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. Nadal won his 7th French Open a mens record Monday beating Novak Djokovic in a rain delayed finale. Sharapova completed a career grand slam on Saturday whipping Sara Errani in straight sets Saturday. These are two of the worlds best and they proved it on the unforgiving clay courts of Roland Garros this weekend. A dap and best wishes to Greg Willard the long time NBA ref who was supposed to work the game 6 of the Western Finals but was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The refs working the Finals will be wearing a #57 patch in his honor. Hoodwood sends its best and prays that Willard will take the fight to the cancer.
Head Slap
To Hoodwood’s least favorite wonk Skip Bayless who still refuses to give James any kind of dap or credit for leading the Heat back to the Finals. Bayless has repeatedly bashed James and says that he is not a clutch player. He pooh-poohed his 45 point performance in game 6 of the Eastern Finals and openly doubted that he could carry the Heat to a win in game 7. When proven wrong for the umpteenth time (how does this numbnuts stay on the air?) He suddenly became a honk for “his” Thunder, wasn’t this the same jackass that was saying that “his Spurs” would teach the still too young Thunder a lesson? Someone put a sock in this dipshits mouth…I so want Stephen A Smith to beat his ass on live TV one day.
Thats all from the Hoodwood, Until Next Post Fellow Sports Fans!
Well, the Oklahoma City Thunder fan-base has grown greatly...Now that they will be facing the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, most of Cleveland, and I think most fans watching, will be rooting for the Thunder...Christ, some joker on TWITTER has already merged the OKC logo with the Cavaliers logo...I'm not worried...As I said HERE, I think the Thunder Will take care of business...
-But there is bigger things to talk about in my opinion...It's been awhile since I've posted anything having to do with my hatred of Jerry Sandusky, and the dirty dealings at Penn State...Well, now that I have seen the jurors for the Sandusky trial that starts Monday, I'm left scratching my head...
The jurors include an engineering administrative assistant at Penn State, a dance teacher in the Continuing Education Program and a professor who has been on the faculty for 24 years...Also a Penn State senior, a retired Soil Sciences professor who had 37 years at the university...A man with Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Penn State, and a woman who has been a season ticket holder since the '70s...
Why am I scratching my head? Because with at least half of the jury having personal ties to Penn State University, I wondering what the hell is going to happen...Are these assholes going to help him get off, which would go along with everything I have thought since the beginning...That everyone involved with that place is so blinded by their loyalty for Penn State Football, that they will do anything to try and cover up their dirty deeds...Yes, there is still the story floating around out there that the President, Paterno, and the board knew all about this, and were involved in the cover-up all these years...
But could it be that their loyalty to Penn State could automatically lead them to wanting "the Book" thrown at Sandusky for tarnishing the school and Joe Paterno's reputation...Maybe, but which ever way things go, people will have questions and doubts about it...Hell, we could even get a mis-trial...Fuck, I just don't trust anything that goes on there...
-And speaking of not trusting things...Boxing has reared it's ugly head again...Saturday night, Manny Pacquiao lost to Timothy Bradley...Now I haven't bothered paying for a fight in years, because Boxing has been garbage...But I still try to keep tabs on the news...And the easiest way to track something as it happens, without watching it, is Twitter...If you follow the right people, you'll get nearly punch to punch updates...So Saturday night I kept an eye on Twitter...From the tweets I was seeing, Pacquiao was leading throughout the fight...Shit, Pacquiao landed 82 more punches then Bradley...
But then the fight went to the judges scorecards, and the Twitter-verse exploded...The judges, and the world of boxing were getting thrashed for this decision...We have heard about fights being fixed, and fighters taking a dive, but this seemed like the fix was in, and no one told the two guys in the ring...
I remember when Boxing was still a big deal...The night of the Hagler/Leonard fight, every kid on our street was in my parents living room, watching that fight...Now most kids don't know shit about boxing...They either watch MMA, or they watch wrestling, which while I think it's crap, at least they're up front about it being bullshit, unlike Boxing...No one respects Boxing anymore, and that's because Boxing doesn't respect itself...
- Off the topic of sports...I often bash my city, Cleveland...I especially bash the horribly run Cleveland Browns...Then I was watching the Nightly News...I try to do it as often as the kids let me...That or get my news later in the evening when everyone is asleep...But the thing I noticed recently is the weather...Blazing heat and wild fires out West...The South East got it's ass flooded with buckets of rain...Earlier in the spring tornadoes hammered big chunks of the country...The Gulf and East Coast get their Hurricanes...Any day now the great quake is going to snap California off...
And here in the Cleve...We've had great weather...Mild Winter (I only shoveled twice)...Great Spring, and Summer came early...I don't actually like Summer, I'm a Fall guy, but still, no shitty, ass beating weather here...So for all the crap I dump on my town, I have to say, I may be living in the best location, weather wise,(and natural disaster wise) in the country...
That's it for now...Have a week...Oh, and go Thunder!
Yeah, Kate Upton, you can milk me! How we love the Sports Illustrated cover girl...Don't worry, there will be more of her later...But first, we have to talk about Basketball...
Basketball!?! WTF!?! On my blog!?! Are we in some kind of alternate universe? Well, just for a few minutes...
First, this Jeremy Lin bullshit...It's pretty sad how quickly the media (ESPN especially) jumps all over a story...The hype machine gets rolling, and you better look out...I'm shocked that Tim Tebow hasn't been given credit for teaching Lin everything he knows...But seriously, why are people acting like he is the second coming of Magic Johnson? Dude had 54 turnovers in 17 games...What the fuck is that...It sure as fuck isn't great!
And then there was this...
I'm sorry, but people also need to calm down with the politically correct bullshit too..."Chink in his armor" isn't about his Asian background...It's a common phrase...And most likely, this ESPN dolt wasn't thinking about race when he asked Walt Frazier the question...Poor bastard got suspended 30 days...I'm sorry if I offend, but not really...But people are to fucking sensitive...Anymore people have it in their head that it's against the law for them to be offended...Like it's in the Bill of Rights that no man/woman should ever be offended...Guess what, it's not...Fuck yourself!
Sorry, about that...Little Beeze dropped the silverware rack down the stairs...
Then, there was this fucking LeBron James story...I thought it was just going to make noise in Cleveland, but no...It spread all over...He said he'd be open to coming back to Cleveland...Bo, people could stop talking about this horse shit...Personally, I hate basketball, so I don't care what he does...I wouldn't care if he got AIDS, and Magic Johnson wouldn't give him the cure!
Check that shit out, two Magic Johnson lines in one post!
If I'm the Heat, or one of there 72 loyal fans I'm pissed...This guy got the Miami hype machine going crazy, then shit the bed in the Finals...It's been a year and a half in Miami and he's realizing he doesn't like being the bad guy...He's realizing how good he had it when all of Cleveland (except for me) was swinging from his nuts...Well fuck you dummy! And all the dopes in Cleveland saying they would like to have him come back, fuck you too...He did so much last time, that you burned your LeBron jerseys!
Then there is the now dead sport of boxing...Saturday night there was a Heavy Weight Title Fight...Did you know that? Of course not...There hasn't been a good heavy weight fight since Tyson was chomping on Holyfield's ear!
One of the Klitchko boys beat the crap out of a nobody named Dereck Chisora...At the post fight press conference, some other nobody named David Haye starts popping off to Chisora...
Yeah, he doesn't want the guy that won the fight...He wants the joke that got his ass handed to him...Well Boxing once you have guys pulling WWE shit, you know it's over...
It's really sad to see the once great sport of boxing dying off...I remember my dad coming home with two sets of gloves, and teaching my brothers and I about it...I remember watching countless great fights on TV...I remember boxing so fondly, and now it's joke...
But if you want to see some good fights, check out a Hockey game...
That's all I've got right now...Well, except a little more Kate...
