Complicating Finish

Posted on January 23, 2012 by christoph131

This is clearly old news by now but an article of this magnitude deserves a lot of careful thinking rather than just my normal routine of writing down the first thing on my mind. Former Penn State Coach Joe Paterno has passed away due to complications from lung cancer (AKA Jerry Sandusky inadvertantly murdering him after touching children (allegedly, but totally happened)) Joe Pa lived just over 85 years and coached a 46 seasons for a total of 409 victories. He now holds the record for most wins by a BCS coach when he won his 409th game on October 29, 2011. So at least he finished on top. Sort of. Unfortunately, he will forever be linked with the scandal that we are all sick of hearing about.

I believe that he should be remembered as one of the greatest coaches of all time and the face of NCAA football for years to come. Keep in mind, he didn’t molest anyone, he was just protecting a friend that he believed was innocent. If someone told me that my best friend touched a little boy without any evidence, I don’t know that I would report him either. I do not agree that he should have kept it a secret, but to blame him completely for this is just absurd.

Years from now, no one is going to remember that Sandusky douche. They are going to remember Joe Paterno, the winningest coach of all time, as a man who is linked with the molestation of a child. This is certainly not fair. Obviously I have my opinion and you will have yours, but I am just curious where everyone stands on the subject. If you just select the latter answer because of the media and negative connotations towards him, just forget it. I would like to see how many people believe that he was really a bad person or not.

Weekend College Round Up

Posted on January 23, 2012 by christoph131

Tough weekend for top teams as #1 Syracuse was handed their first loss by unranked Notre Dame. This loss means that only #10 Murray State is undefeated in the top 25. #3 Baylor was handed their second loss in as many games in a one point battle against #5 Missouri (their other loss was last Monday against #7 Kansas), so chances are they will still be top ten or at the very least top thirteen.

Florida State is quickly becoming my favorite team with victories over my two least favorite teams (Buzzer beater 3 pointer over #4 Duke this weekend, and over #3 North Carolina last weekend)

#7 Kansas barely snuck by unranked texas with a 3 point win over the Long Horns. Unfortunately for any Husky fans (like myself) #11 UConn was handed their fifth loss by a sub-par and sub-.500 Tennessee team

Getting a little off topic, I hope everyone enjoyed their break and is ready to see Boston Sports Blog do big things and I hope you all keep up with us, as we will try to bring you the best of the sports world every day.

College Recap

Posted on January 16, 2012 by christoph131

For those of you too focused on the NFL playoffs this weekend, you missed a pretty good weekend in college basketball. #5 Ohio State defeated #8 Indiana in a battle of the Big Ten powerhouses. #6 Duke came back against unranked Clemson to upset them late in the second half. More importantly, #3 UNC got smoked by 33 points against unranked Florida State (FSU). I only put that because we all know what FSU stands for and thats exactly what they did. #16 UConn handed Notre Dame their first home loss in 29 games, and #1 Syracuse and #2 Kentucky both held on to keep their top rankings in tact.

#1 Syracuse looks to stay perfect against unranked Pittsburgh tonight in a battle of the Big East. Another good game to watch for those of you who don’t wanna watch the Bruins win and the Celtics lose, is #4 Baylor vs. #10 Kansas, where Baylor looks to stay undefeated in a conference battle.

Player’s Gonna Play

Posted on December 29, 2011 by christoph131

Deion Sanders is the man. Enough Said. But in case you don’t know why, let me elaborate. Deion Sanders came out the other day and announced to the world the following:

“Pilar (his wife) and I have decided to end our marriage and move on to the next phase of our individual lives with mutual respect… We arrived at this decision prayerfully and carefully in order to be able to pursue what is in both of our best personal interests.”

Just one problem, he forgot to inform his wife first. She was under the impression that Deion and her gold-digging self would work things out. However, he decided to become a divorcee for the second time and test out his game on the market. I’m sure he will do fine for himself.

College Round Up

Posted on December 29, 2011 by christoph131

Wednesday was not a good day for undefeated teams in college basketball. Both #4 Louisville and #13 Indiana lost their games, leaving only Syracuse, Baylor, Missouri, and Murray State as the undefeated teams in the top 25. (Keep in mind that Murray State has not played any high ranked teams, and won’t for the rest of the season so it is tough to tell how good they are) Baylor barely slipped by #14 Mississippi State in the final seconds of a close match.

#1 Syracuse, #2 Ohio State, & #3 Kentucky all won by more than 20 points, and with Louisville losing just their first game, they will most likely still remain in the top 8. #9 UConn rode Jeremy Lamb’s 22 points to a slight win over USF. As much as I hate to admit it, UNC will most likely move up to the 4^th rank and Duke & Baylor will round out the next two spots, due to their weak upcoming schedule.

College Athlete Contracts

Posted on December 28, 2011 by christoph131

There is much debate over whether or not college athletes should be receiving multi-year contracts, or if they should stick with their one-year renewable scholarships that they have now. Many schools have objected to this new NCAA ruling, which means it will be put on hold until they can reach an agreement. There are pro’s and con’s to each side.

Players- Even if they are injured on the field, or they fail to produce the highest numbers, they will still be able to attend school with their original financial help. This means, if there is a freshman star quarterback, the team will still need to cover the costs of the sophomores, juniors, and seniors, even though they are not playing.

Teams- These are mostly cons. They are stuck with players even if they have bad conduct issues, bad performance, as long as they can obtain the minimum GPA. Players have all the power, they can leave and opt out at any time for professional leagues.

I don’t know if it will go through but the board of the NCAA seems to be pushing it pretty hard. It would not be implemented for at least another year or two but it’s a good thing to think about.

Championship Hangover?

Posted on December 27, 2011 by christoph131

The 2011 NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks have started the season 0-2. They got spanked against the Heat, until they stopped trying in the fourth quarter, and even lost against a Ty Lawson-led Denver team by 22 points. Is it possible to have a championship hangover, even with the extra 2 months before the season started? Will they be like the Bruins and instantly go from the worst team to the best? I don’t think so. They lost a couple of key components from last year’s surprise championship team. First off, they lost Tyson Chandler to the Knicks. He was a huge defensive presence and averaged over 10 points per game an almost 7 rebounds. They even lost some role players such as JJ Barea and Caron Butler. They have an aging point guard in Jason Kidd who is on his way out, and he really only has one or two people to pass to now. What do you guys think?

Tis’ the Season of Giving

Posted on December 26, 2011 by christoph131

UConn Freshman star Andre Drummond gave red-shirt freshman Michael Bradley the best gift ever this season. Since Drummond is using UConn basically as a stepping stone to his NBA career, he has decided to forego his scholarship, and remain on the team as a walk-on. He basically took the scholarship from Bradley because he is a much better player. However, Bradley does not have much to work with. He is an orphan who grew up with very little. People were constantly accusing Drummond of “taking a scholarship from an orphan”, but since they were trying to resolve this without the media, they both had to remain silent, and just accept the verbal abuse.

With Bradley sidelined with an injury for now, he can only sit and watch his team move up in the rankings. Drummond will most likely go this year in the draft, barring any injuries of course. He is 6-11 and can score and rebound better than most at his size. As soon as he gets stronger, he will be a force in the middle.

Jersey’s Newest Problem (as if they didn’t have enough)

Posted on December 23, 2011 by christoph131

Just when you think things may be turning around for the New Jersey Nets, one of their best players goes down. Brook Lopez is now sidelined with a broken foot, and will be out until at least February, probably even longer. This could be deadly to the Nets, who seemed to be the front runner in acquiring Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. Unless the Magic actually do hold out until after the all-star game that they are hosting to avoid an awkward return of a certain all-star, shortly after they have traded him. Lopez was the centerpiece of this trade, and hopefully they can still make it work, so he doesn’t go to that yellow and purple team in Los Angeles.

As much as I would hate a Deron Williams-Dwight Howard duo in the Atlantic Division with the Celtics, I would rather see them win it than see the Lakers tie Boston’s record of 17 championships, and I hate Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, and dislike greatly Kobe Bryant (hate is a strong word for a player of his caliber… reminds me of rapist version of Derek Jeter).

Barkley to Remain a Trojan

Posted on December 23, 2011 by christoph131

University of Southern California Quarterback Matt Barkley has decided to forego the NFL draft and complete his senior year next season. He would have most likely been a top 10 pick and had the potential to make millions next year for whichever team needed a quarterback after Andrew Luck gets chosen. I can go along with this decision for the sole fact that I respect his chase for a national championship after being royally screwed the last two seasons because of Reggie Bush and others taking bribes.

Hopefully Barkley can go through his final season the same way he did this season—on top. He threw for 3,528 yards, 39 touchdowns, and only 7 interceptions. If he keeps up with this pace, he could go down as the best quarterback in the elite school’s history. The Trojans (insert condom reference here) will most likely be pre-ranked in the top 3 teams next season, and he will almost certainly be the front-runner for the Heisman (even though their pick doesn’t always win.. See Andrew Luck)