Hey everyone so obviously I haven't updated this blog in a while and I do have a reason I have started writing for a different site and should have posted a link earlier. Everyone should check out The Independent Sports News it's a nice new site dedicated to amateur writers. Here's the link http://www.theisn.net hope you all enjoy.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
NFL: Favre & Revis Edition
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Friday, July 30, 2010
Cowboys Training Camp
We'll get to more updates once they start playing preseason games and once they trim down from the 80 man roster to the regular season 53 man roster.
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Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thoughts on the NBA
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Friday, July 2, 2010
A Dream Vanished
Asamoah Gyan calmly places the ball at the 12 yard mark and walk back into position, the hope of Ghana’s, and the whole continent of Africa’s, World Cup dreams rests on his shoulders. Gyan had been at this spot twice already during the World Cup and each time has come away with a goal. So nothing made us think that anything else would happen. Most saw Ghana already advancing to the semifinals making them the first African nation to do so. As we all know Gyan ran up and struck the ball with great pace and when the Uruguay goalie Fernando Muslera, dove it looked good but the ball struck the crossbar and bounded out of bounds. The entire Ghanaian team was awestruck with what could have been while the Uruguayan team celebrated as if they had already won. Fast forward to the penalty shootout and Gyan was the first to take one for his side, he calmly placed the ball in the upper right corner as I watched I couldn’t help but wonder what could have been if he had done that a few minutes earlier.
At the conclusion of the match Uruguay prevailed by winning the shootout 4-2 sending Africa’s last remaining team home. It was a sad sight for me to see; one team celebrating on one half of the pitch while seeing the Ghana team collapse in tears. Gyan was so distraught that it took a few of his teammates to get him off the ground and off the field. This wasn’t the greatest match of the World Cup so far but it definitely is going to be one of the most remembered, not for the plays that won it but for the one that slipped painstakingly away and also for the handball that saved the game for Uruguay.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
The End of An Era: Farewell Rasheed Wallace
Just a short few days ago the Los Angeles Lakers went on to win the franchises 16th NBA Championship in game 7 against their rival Boston Celtics. In the aftermath of their celebration Celtics F/C Rasheed Wallace waited patiently outside the refs locker room. Normally hearing this one might think that Wallace was there wanting to argue with the refs about fouling out in the finals minutes of the game but it seemed that Wallace had another reason. He just wished to speak with the veteran refs as a farewell to his playing career. He might not have always gotten along with the officials but you cannot deny the respect he has for their profession and the game of basketball itself. After a few minutes arena security came by and had ‘Sheed leave still dressed in his jersey with a towel wrapped around his neck he made his way back to his team to leave the Staples Center for the final time.
In the postgame interview Doc Rivers praised ‘Sheeds play, "He was a warrior. You know, I don't know if Rasheed will ever play again. You know, he's one of them. I think he took that out on the floor with him. I think he's thinking about retiring, and I thought you could see that in his play." After hearing this, the reports started coming out that Rasheed was set to retire nothing was final but we all knew he was done. Knowing that he has 2 years left on the contract he signed last summer Wallace hasn’t and probably won’t sign and turn in his retirement papers so that the Celtics can use him as a trading chip to clear up cap space or bring in a player who can help them. It’s these little things that show us who Wallace really is. He has always been portrayed as a person who can’t keep his anger or immaturity in check, as he’s the NBA leader in career technical fouls; he’s just a player who wears his emotions on his sleeve. He’s going to let you know how he feels about something but all his teammates and coaches say he one of the best teammates around.
For me personally this is a sad day in sports, Rasheed might not have always done the right thing while playing basketball but when called upon he was always up to the challenge. A lot has been said about him coasting through the regular season this year and playing his way into shape instead of coming in that way. That can’t be denied he stated himself that he wasn’t brought in for the regular season but for the playoffs, and that’s exactly how he played. Rethinking about game 7 makes me recall a younger ‘Sheed when he played for my hometown Portland Trailblazers. He didn’t have the greatest stats but he played his usually great low post defense, voiced his opinion and concerns during play and timeouts and was an emotional leader.
Wallace may not make it into the Hall of Fame but nobody can say he didn’t have Hall of Fame talent; he was a player who just enjoyed playing the game. Back in 2007 Charles Barkley stated that if Wallace had the mindset of Kobe Bryant he would have been the best player in the league. He didn’t want to be a superstar even though he has all the tools, great low post threat that can get his shot off against anyone and someone who can go out and spread the floor. Maybe he played away from the basket to often but when your 6’11 and can shoot the 3 as well as him it’s easy to stand out there and fire them up. For the last 15 seasons we have all been fascinated with Rasheed whether it was with his on court outburst, his postgame interviews or his suburb talent the NBA won’t be the same without him.
On a closing note I wanted to list a few of my favorite ‘Sheed stories, the first happened the summer after he graduated high school. He was selected to the McDonald All-American game as one of the best senior players in the country. In the game he played his normal game he went 4-7 with 9 points but the thing that really stands out is that he became the first and only player to ever be ejected from it. Another story was during practice while at the University of North Carolina “during a scrimmage Wallace’s freshman year. Montross and Salvadori had been pushing Wallace up and down the court, double teaming him down low and talking shit the whole time. Evidently Wallace went up for a turnaround jumper in the lane only to have Montross and Salvadori club him and block his shot. Each telling him to never bring that shit inside again. Next time down the court Wallace caught a ball coming off of the rim at which time he did one of his backboard shaking monster dunks (a 9.5 on Pat Sullivan's grading scale) on Montross and Salvadori. Upon landing on his feet Ra pushed Montross into Salvadori and yelled, "You better recognize. Motherf***er! Your job is mine!" This outburst infuriated Montross as he chased Wallace down the court as the entire team tried to break it up. Rasheed ran laps for the rest of the practice.” (story courtesy of http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2006/4/3/1214256/100-reasons-and-more-to-love). Anyway we’ll obviously see another player who doesn’t play up to their talent level but we will never get another player with the personality of Rasheed. Here’s a quote from former Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy on ‘Sheed that sums him up nicely, “When I was coaching in Portland, I had Rasheed Wallace. He was a great player and somebody everyone on the team liked. The thing was, he just didn't want to be the go-to guy at the end of a game. He didn't want you to call a play for him, yet if you gave him the ball at the end he would deliver. To counter that, I would run a play for somebody else, even though the ball would ultimately wind up in Rasheed's hands. I'd tell him, "OK, Rasheed, we're going to run a play for Scottie Pippen. Pipp, you come off that screen and knock down that 17-foot jumper." And then as they were walking away from the huddle, I'd grab Pipp and tell him, "Don't even think about shooting that jump shot. Drop the ball into Rasheed." And he'd do that, and Rasheed would turn around and hit the game-winner off the glass.” Well there you have it I wish Rasheed the best in his post career endeavors and I will miss watching him play this game that he so loved.
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Saturday, September 5, 2009
Then & Now: The Evolution of a Sports Fan
In the past few weeks I have discovered that I get a variety of sports channels that I didn’t before. Since I’m not that much of a baseball fan the summer is really dull for me. Imagine my excitement when I stumbled across NBA TV, NFL Network and NHL TV I got to relive my youth while watching old school games. Looking back to when I first started watching sports back in 1991 at the tender age of 6 to the 24 year old person I am today I miss the kid I was. Growing up in
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