We all know about the Oregon Ducks and their uniforms that change every week. Now Nike has released a new Platinum line for 9 powerhouse basketball teams (both men and womens? because everyone cares about that) . The teams that were chosen to wear the Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms are Arizona, UConn, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina and Syracuse men and the Baylor and UConn women. Being a big UConn fan, I like the idea of changing it up, maybe they can play better too! On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind seeing UNC and Duke lose in those colors, or any colors for that matter. These jerseys will debut on Sunday when UConn plays Notre Dame. Each teams jersey has a little bit different coloring, but for the most part look the same.
Monster free agent signing in the MLB yesterday. Prince Fielder joined Miguel Cabrera and the reigning AL Cy Young and MVP Justin Verlander in Detroit. I thought two things when I saw this signing. First, was HOLY SHIT. This was simply due to Fielders NINE year $214 million dollar contract. I can’t believe the Tigers agreed to such a long contract with a 27 year old guy like Prince.
Second thing I thought of (and the point of this article) was that this has created one of the best 3-4 batters in a lineup in a while. Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder have a chance to do something real special over in Detroit. I immediately thought of Manny-Big Papi for the Red Sox in 2004 and 2005. They were the best in business (maybe steroids had a bit to do with it) and they were a force for years. More importantly, they were consistent and incredibly clutch, clutch enough to break an 86 year old curse.
Here is the 2004 and 2005 seasons in stats for Manny and Ortiz and Feilder and Miguel Cabrera’s individual stats for last year:
Before anyone gets on my case, I understand Prince just came from a pretty good 3-4 punch on the Brewers with Ryan Braun, but Miguel has never batted around the type of talent Prince has, thus inflating his stats in future years (and no Victor Martinez, who batted behind Cabrera last year, does not count). Braun has had the protection of Prince for 5 years and I like to think this has influenced his stats a great deal. Don’t get me wrong, he is a great player, but I like Miguel Cabrera as a hitter more than steroid boy Braun.
After throwing up this comparison, in some ways I feel stupid. The numbers from Ortiz and Manny are jaw dropping. That’s all that can be said. Granted they may have had some help from a few friendly needles up their ass, but those numbers are rediculous. I think Cabrera will have an incredible year this year and Fielder might even have a better year in hitter friendly Comerica Park, but who knows if they can touch Manny and Papi’s numbers. The big factor will be whether they can win a couple World Series rings together, like the former two led the Sox to do.
Today we will take a look at the linebacker comparison between the Giants and the Patriots.
The Giants linebacker presence often times goes unnoticed. This isn’t because they aren’t good, or they don’t get their job done. It’s because of their QB hungry defensive line. Giants linebackers aren’t on the field to be pass rushers like many other teams use their linebackers. The linebacking crew consists of Michael Boley, Mathias Kiwanuka, Jacquian Williams, Greg Jones, and Chase Blackburn. Boley and Kiwanuka are both above average linebackers, with great speed. The others are mere average defenders. Often times you will see Kiwanuka line up at the end position when they are in passing downs. Overall the linebacking group is average at best, and Perry Fewell does a great job making sure they don’t get exposed.
Overall Grade: C
Like the Giants, the Patriots have a seamlessly never ending linebacker rotation. Brandon Spikes coming back from injury was huge for their run defense, and it showed last week when the Pats basically shut down the most explosive part of the Ravens offense. Jerod Mayo is a top tier middle linebacker, and Rob Ninkovich has been improving all year and is showing he can be solid NFL talent and consistently put pressure on the opponent’s quarterback. Overall the Patriots linebacking crew is very solid when healthy, and that’s how it is right now.
This honestly never gets old. I think Barstool put this up Monday, but my buddy Jake Hixon showed it to me the other night and I couldn’t not post it. Absolutely hilarious. We laugh at his reaction but he handled it pretty well for being that thrown off. I mean it wasn’t too far off any of his other post game interviews. Dominating the NFL, the party scene, and now Spanish interviews. How much more dominating can Gronk be? “Yo soy fiesta!!”
If you had to guess who had the best TV Ratings among NHL teams who would you choose? Flyers? Penguins? Blackhawks? Rangers? Guess again. The Buffalo Sabres statistically have the most people tuning in to watch them lose. Probably because they have nothing else to watch (i.e. Buffalo Bills) and they are basically a part of Canada. Typically, the Sabres and the cry baby Ryan Miller are usually a good squad. However, they are only 20-24 this season, sitting last place in the Northeast Division.
“The league’s biggest feel-good story locally is in Boston, where the Bruins have carried over the momentum from their 2011 Stanley Cup win to post the biggest local TV ratings increase this season. NESN’s average rating of 5.25 (third-highest in the league) is up a whopping 89.5 percent from last year. The average of 125,000 homes that tune in to Bruins games is the highest in the NHL.”
-Sports Business Journal
Clearly, Boston has found a revived love after seeing the Celtics enter into senior citizen status. It also probably helps that our hometown Heroes won the Stanley Cup last season (in case you guys missed it). The lockout in the NBA definitely has helped this as well, because you either watch hockey, or find a reality TV show to watch, which ironically is probably more exciting than watching the Celts this season. So keep tuning in after this all-star break as the Bruins make their second run towards the cup. Even if you don’t watch it, waste all of your schools power by turning on every TV in your dorm to NESN during game time to get the ratings up so we can get ahead of pointless Buffalo.
Yesterday President Obama welcomed the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins into the White House. Only one thing was missing. The 2011 Goaltender of the Year and Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP, Tim Thomas. This wasn’t a Home Alone situation, though. Timmy chose not to attend the prestigious ceremony on grounds of his own beliefs, stating, “The decision to stay away was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country.” I’m not big into politics or anything remotely close to it so I don’t have a firm stance in those terms. Personally, I’d be ecstatic to meet the President no matter who it is. But that’s just me. Some people have really strong feelings in this regard. I mean, any time the President’s involved it’s going to hit the news, let alone when he’s snubbed by an all-star athlete. So what do you guys think? Was it selfish and not classy of Thomas to bail on the White House trip with his team? Or does the man get away with his right to decline the visit because he’s a brick wall between the pipes?
After Carl Crawford’s surgery on his wrist last week was announced, the Red Sox suddenly had a glaring weakness in outfield depth. Ben Cherington has clearly been in the process of addressing this issue for the past week. When the Sox dealt Marco Scutaro last weekend to the Rockies, they freed up $6 million for free agent acquisitions.
Cody Ross joins the outfield and immediately brings depth to all positions in the outfield. Ross is mostly known by baseball fans for his performance during the 2010 postseason, where he was named MVP for the San Francisco Giants after hitting five home runs, two off Phillie ace Roy Halladay. Ross provides a much needed righty bat in the lefty heavy Red Sox lineup. He should have a crucial role in the Red Sox outfield and at least be a platoon right fielder with Ryan Sweeney. Hopefully his batting numbers will improve since he will be playing in his most explosive offense in his 10 year career.
Although this is a great move for the Red Sox organization, I’m still hoping they make a big splash in the market for starting pitchers. I’m pulling for Roy Oswalt, but we will see how everything plays out in the next few weeks.
Talk about beating the odds. With both Rondo and Allen sidelined with injuries, an undermanned Celtics team left it all out on the court to win BIG against an 11-4 Orlando Magic squad last night at the Garden. The Celts held the Magic to just 56 points, while putting up 87 themselves. Struggling out of the gates this year, the Celtics have sneakily been solid defensively, ranking third in the league while holding their opponents to an average of 88.3 points. On the other hand, our woes come in the form of offense, where the C’s are ranked 26th in points scored, averaging around 89 per game. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You’re not going to compete with the best teams in the NBA when you can’t score.
Luckily the C’s proved me wrong last night, as their defense shone through. Sticking out were Avery Bradley and Sasha Pavlovic, as both stepped into starting spots and held their own defensively while also putting up a combined 15 points. If anything, last night’s win was a big mental boost for the team which has definitely been suffering harsh criticism over the past few weeks and rightfully so. The team has gone in spurts of brilliance but never quite long enough to hold out for the big wins. Example, coming within a point of Chicago in the 4th quarter just to watch Rose and crew rip our hearts out down the stretch. Anyways, there is talent on this team, no doubt. We showed last night that we can compete with the best of them. Throw Allen and Rondo back into the mix and continue blending in the newcomers with the team’s historic chemistry, we’ll be alright.
Okay so from today until next Friday before the Super Bowl I will analyze the Patriots vs Giants matchup position by position. Today I am going to begin with the Secondary.
We’ll start with the Giants. Their secondary has been one of the worst in all of football, and the fact that it has been that bad with the pass rush they have is pretty pathetic. Opponents’ quarterbacks are always under pressure and they still allowed 28 TD passes and over 4000 yards. If the Giants were up 20 points in most games this year and opposing QB’s were forced into situations where they had to throw the ball this stat would be somewhat inflated. That’s not the case. The lone bright spot of their secondary is that they ranked 6th in the league with 20 interceptions. If the Patriots O-Line are able to keep Brady on his feet, expect some serious numbers to be put up on this defense.
Overall grade: D+
The Patriots’ secondary has been in shambles all season. The move to switch McCourty to safety was a great one in my opinion. The Patriots’ secondary allowed over 4700 passing yards this season and allowed 26 touchdowns against, both ranking amongst the worst in the NFL. Like the Giants; the Pats also ranked amongst the best in the NFL with 23 interceptions. The Patriots secondary has been slowly improving and the pieces seem to be falling into place. They are going to be tested early and often against this confident Giant offense, and their performance may be the deciding factor in this game.
A little over a month ago, I took a poll to see who everyone thought the MVP of college basketball was. Jarred Sullinger received the most votes, with Perry Jones III came in second. I thought it would be fun to take it again to see how players have grown (or fell off). I used the same exact players that I did a month ago, with updated stats and ranks. I think that many things have changed since the last poll. UConn completely fell off and I don’t see Jeremy Lamb as being a top 5 player anymore. Even though Kansas has lost 3 games, they are still one of the top teams thanks to their superstar Thomas Robinson, who averages a double-double and is a beast on both ends of the floor.
Just about everyone’s stats have dropped off a bit, but that is to be expected with the heart of the season playing out. So who do you guys think is the MVP of the league so far, just over halfway through the season?
Boston Sports Blog 