Monthly Archives: December 2011

Xavier, Cincinnati Game Ends With Bench Clearing Brawl

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As I’m sure most are aware, there was a bench clearing brawl with just seconds left in Saturday’s Xavier vs. Cincinnati NCAA basketball game. The game was very physical in the first half, and both coaches were warned during halftime that actions would be taken if it didn’t stop. With just under 10 seconds left in the game, a player from each side started pushing and shoving, which led to Yancy Gates throwing the basketball at a Xavier player along with several punches, one which drilled Xaviers Kenny Frease directly in the face sending him to the floor. That wasn’t all Frease got. While he was on the floor attempting to get up, Cincinnati’s Cheikh Mbodj decided to kick him in the face. The fight eventually ended and the game was called with just under 10 seconds left. Yancy Gates received the longest suspension, six games, while the others got anywhere from one to four games.

What I find most disturbing is Cheikh’s Mbodj’s actions. What a coward. You can see in the video he pretty much had nothing to do with the fight and the only thing he can think to do is kick the guy in the face while he’s down. There is absolutely no room in sports for things like that. That guy is a complete coward and should be suspended longer than anyone else involved. An Ohio prosecutor also said he is considering bringing charges against some players involved.

This brings me to the other two players would made absolute idiots of themselves during their postgame press conferences. Xavier guards Tu Holloway, and Mark Lyons. When asked about the fight they replied by saying “That’s what you’re going to see from Xavier and Cincinnati, we got disrespected a little bit before the game, guys calling us out. We’re a tougher team. We’re grown men over here. We’ve got a whole bunch of gangsters in the locker room — not thugs, but tough guys on the court. And we went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game.”

How stupid can two kids that attend Xavier University be? Apparently pretty stupid. The only reason most of these “gangsters” are able to attend these schools is to play basketball, not do what they did back on the streets. Yes, Yancy Gates deserved the six game suspension, but it should not have been the longest suspension handed out from this mess. Just because of their stupidity and unprofessional manners, both Tu Holloway, and Mark Lyons should be severely punished. It was a disgrace that this happened in the first place, but then when they are given a chance to show remorse they acted like the thugs they truly are and referred to themselves as gangsters and basically said Cincinnati had it coming. That’s class at his finest. Both schools ought to send those gangsters a message and show them that their actions are not acceptable by suspending the players involved for a minimum of 10 games.

MNF Pick ‘Em – Week 14

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Monday, December 12, 2011

Rams @ Seahawks 8:30 PM

Tonight the Rams head to Seattle to take on the Seahawks on Monday Night Football. This seems to be the norm for the prime-time schedule this year; two underachieving teams. This certainly won’t live up to the shootout that was on prime time last night when the Giants came from behind to beat the Cowboys. The Seahawks come off a long week after their impressive stomping of the Eagles last Thursday night, and like I said last week, I would not want to be a team that is fighting for a playoff spot that has to face the Seahawks. They have gotten it together later this season and I expect it to continue. It looks like Kellen Clemens will be making the start for the injury depleted Rams and that certainly doesn’t look to fare well for their chances of leaving with a victory.

Prediction: Seahawks 24 Rams 10

 

Gronk Nation Lives On

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20111212-113212.jpgWelcome to Gronk Nation! (as if you needed an introduction) You can talk about Tim Tebow all you want, and don’t get me wrong I’ve hopped on the Tebow bandwagon, but we’ve got our own Messiah right here in New England. Rob Gronkowski. Fourteen weeks into his breakout season, Gronk set the NFL tight end receiving touchdown record with 15 thus far, passing both Vernon Davis and Antonio Gates, both with 13. Now, there’s no need to complain but what gets me here is the whole “receiving touchdown” record. The all-time single season record for touchdowns, in general, by a tight end was also 13, by the same two guys. Gronkowski had 14 total coming into this week’s game, so as far as the record is concerned, he broke it last week against the Colts. This week merely improved his record to a total of 16 TDs. But the NFL is the NFL and they have their guidelines and what not on how to determine records so I guess he did it this week. In a sense, he actually broke two records. Receiving touchdowns and total touchdowns. Gronk now sits pretty in the record books two “receiving touchdowns” (three if your want to be realistic) ahead of the the next guy with a bit more football to play.

And on a side note, Gronk went absolute beast mode (per usual) on those two Redskins defenders. I mean having the skill to make a diving catch, the intelligence to get up and run immediately, the power to drag them 5 yards down the field on his back, the command to stay in bounds, again the intelligence to keep running with the play, and finally the absolute beast mode mentality that it takes to turn a short pass play for a first down into a 49 yard explosion that set up his record breaking touchdown reception. Boom! Get Gronk’d!

 

College Round Up

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It was a weekend full of upsets in college basketball.  And it wasn’t just me feeling upset that Duke and North Carolina both won.  #1 Kentucky was upset by unranked, but undefeated Indiana at the buzzer.  Probably the most exciting game of the year so far in my opinion.  #2 Ohio State was also upset by #13 Kansas.  It should be mentioned, however, that the Buckeyes were playing without the best player (in my opinion) in the league due to back spasms.  I think they will still be ranked near the top once he is back and well.

Usually, I wouldn’t comment on a team like Xavier that no one cares about, including myself, but if you watch the news at all, you should know what happened.  A bench clearing brawl, including everyone that could reach an opposing player, ended a blow out by #8 Xavier of Cincinnati before the game was even over.  The only thing that was missing was Ron Artest running into the stands and punching fans in the face.  I am willing to bet that Artest (or as he now likes to be called Metta World Peace??) is laughing like hell remembering his ‘glory’ days with the Pacers.

Flyin’ under the Radar

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With all this CP3 drama going on – which is a total mess – a lot of people have failed to notice one of the biggest acquisitions of this off season, Shane Battier. As Chris rightfully mentioned yesterday, Shane Battier will be the “biggest role player in the league this year.” I think that he hit the nail on the head with this assumption. The 33 year old defensive veteran is the final piece of the Heat Puzzle. That team doesn’t need scorers, we get that, but this signing will allow each of the Big 3 to specialize. First, you’re taking some weight off of Lebron, who normally has the duty of guarding the opposing top scorer. This will further allow him to focus on creating on the offensive side and dropping for help-D down low. Second, he is a perfect fit for the clubhouse. This guy is a total gamer, loves to win, and is a veteran presence amongst superstar egos. This move also bolsters the Heat bench a bit, too. A stronger presence on the defensive side will also allow the Heat to ramp up their transition game. The list goes on and on. I really think that this could be the biggest off season acquisition, and it could be a catalyst to a dynasty…

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

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With Christmas right around the corner, the NBA is definitely back. You can’t change the channel or put on the news without hearing something about basketball. It’s great. Unfortunately, as we wait for training camps to open, most of the news has been just rumors. Regardless, it keeps everyone on their toes so here’s some more.

20111209-134749.jpgLet’s start off close to home. It looks like the C’s have sent Big Baby to Orlando for Brandon Bass in a sign-and-trade. I liked Baby because of the vibes he brought, but let’s be honest. The guy is not a great player. He’s far too inconsistent. I hate to say it but I remember times where I’d find myself yelling “NOOO” when he went to shoot. On the other hand, Bass is young, up and coming threat that can shoot the ball better, rebound, and is all around more athletic than Baby. The Celts definitely came out on top of this deal.

With all the hype of the Lakers wanting Howard once the Paul deal was finished, this one kind of slipped through the cracks. Last night, Dwight Howard met with the Nets without the Magic knowing. Because his current team did not know, the meeting was in violation of the NBA’s tampering rules. Results of the meeting were to have Howard ask Orlando to trade him to the Nets Friday morning. We’ll see how that works out for Superman. The Magic, instead, may be filing tampering charges against the Nets and Rockets. Whoops.

Stern Being Stern

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How awesome is the ScoreCenter app? An absolute must have for any smartphone. Anyways, last night I got a notification that Chris Paul was heading to LA. Not exactly what Boston fans wanted to hear. Not to mention they made it happen without getting rid of Bynum. Lookout Howard. Within 20 minutes, I got another notification saying the trade had hit a snag. Come to find out, big bad David Stern stepped in after several NBA owners complained vigorously about the trade. The cause of the problem: The NBA-owned Hornets presenting a conflict of interest. After all, did we not just miss two months of basketball due to issues of “making teams more equal”?

Well today is a new day. And with this new day comes an appeal from all three teams involved in the Chris Paul trade to reverse Sterns decision. One of the NBA’s spokesman said that the deal was blocked for “basketball reasons”. Sure…and the Indianapolis Colts will make the playoffs. The NBA found themselves in a sticky situation and Stern’s just trying to cover the tracks. Good try. The league is making a mockery of itself right now and it’s getting pretty pathetic. Either way, if the trade does end up going through, I’m not concerned. The Lakers are giving up two big names and the hopes of Howard following suit are getting slim. I guess we’ll just have to wait to see how things turn out in the next week or so.

B’s Unable to Tame Panthers

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The Panthers aggravate me. I mean is there even ice in Florida? Anyways, I guess all good things come to an end. The Bruin’s went into last night’s game hoping to brush off their first loss (with no points) in over a month by snagging a W against the Panthers. Unfortunately things didn’t fall their way. The Panthers broke a scoreless tie with 2:32 left in the game and put in an empty netter just to add insult to injury. Thomas and Jose Theodore were both solid in net, as Thomas stopped 28 of 29 shots, and Theodore let none of the 40 put against him. Not too much you can do. The opportunities were there, but the offense just couldn’t find the back of the net. I mean they hit the post like 3 or 4 times in the first period alone. Rough. But not to worry. I hear people saying the B’s are on a 2 game losing streak, blah blah blah. Already being counted out. Remember, they’re still sitting atop the Northeast Division and aren’t going to give up that easily. After such an incredible winning streak, the past two games means a lot to the team. They haven’t been used to losing so even such a small skid will be an eye opener. Expect the boys to come out ready to play Saturday, returning home from Columbus with another tally in the win column.

Blue Hills Regional AD Says Ref made a “Great Call”

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This story has gotten a lot of national attention this week, and its well deserved. I’ve been following a lot of the backlash on it and if you’ve seen some of my recent posts about the Cathedral High School Senior who was called for taunting while scoring the teams would-be super bowl winning touchdown you understand whats going on. When I was reading the article on ESPN today I came across something I hadn’t seen before. Apparently the Blue Hills Regional AD was interviewed after the game and this was his take on it.

Blue Hills Regional Technical School athletic director and head football coach Ed Catabia told The Boston Globe on Sunday that the referee made “a great call, the right call.”We try and play by the rules, and the rule is ‘no celebrating,’ ” he said.

No celebrating? Seriously? Like how big of a pussy could this guy possibly be? I’m sure not a single player on his team has ever celebrated a big play before. I would have loved to see this happen to this idiot and then hear his reaction after the game; my bet is he would have a different opinion on it. I bet you could have interviewed almost any Blue Hills Regional player and they even were mature enough and wouldn’t have said it was a “great call”. This guy has to be one of the most asinine individuals around. It would be one thing to maybe refer to the call as justifiable based on the rules, but after your team steals a super bowl on some BS call you go out and say it was “great”. I would love to see a video of this interview. I can only picture him as some Sandusky look-alike smiling ear to ear after he knows damn right his team just stole a super bowl from the more deserving team. Christ, I really hope he somehow sees this article so he can realize how pathetic he is.

Rondo, Green and Two Picks for Paul is Not Worth it

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ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported earlier today that the Celtics are still in the running for Hornets point guard Chris Paul. Reportedly the Celtics have offered Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, and two future first-round picks.

First off, I am all for the Celtics making a run at Paul but this trade makes absolutely no sense to me unless one thing comes from it; and that is if they are able to get Dwight Howard to join up with Paul here in Boston. I am content with trading away Rondo for Paul, and even including one or two draft picks.

Yes, Paul is better than Rondo, not by a landslide, but he is better. How can you also throw Jeff Green into the deal along with two first-round picks though? Let’s reverse back to last season. The Celtics gave up Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to land Jeff Green, so they must have some faith in him. I was one of the few who were not very upset when that deal went down. Jeff Green is a quality player who has averaged just less than 16 PPG as a starter in the NBA. Then you are also going to throw in two first-round picks? I think the Hornets would be stupid not to take the offer, but that’s not the argument here.

Lets just say that trade does happen. How do the Celtics get Dwight Howard? Does anyone actually think Orlando would deal Howard to the Celtics in exchange for what is left on this roster? Obviously they wont trade Pierce. So what is left? You have no draft picks to trade, and no young talent without Green. Orlando doesn’t want Allen or Garnett. They would much rather ship him to L.A. for a Bynum/Gasol combination. Not only do they get more value for Howard, they also keep him out of the conference. So assuming they can’t land Howard this is what their future will look like in three years or so. Chris Paul. That’s it. Allen, Pierce and Garnett are all on their way out and the Celtics would have no picks to draft a quality player, and no Jeff Green to help build around Paul.

The fact that they are willing to trade Rajon Rondo and his underpaid $11 million a year contract, along with the only other player on the team with some upside, and include two first round picks just to have a somewhat minor upgrade from Rondo to Paul just doesn’t make any sense to me. Not to mention they will have to sign Paul to a deal paying him almost double of what Rondo makes.

Some people will try to say if we get Paul, Howard will follow here next season when he is a free agent. The only issue is that Howard won’t be a free agent. If he won’t resign in Orlando they will trade him. There is no way they take the chance Cleveland took and just let their star player walk away and get nothing in return.