Remember the Eagles?

Posted on February 9, 2012 by christoph131

Boston College was a great basketball team once upon a time. Well, they showed that kind of life again last night when they stunned #17 Florida State in a conference battle. The 8-16 Eagles were led by 5 Foot 8 guard Jordan Daniels. Although he normally only averages 5.8 points per game, he was able to dish in 21 on Wednesday night. He shot 7-13 from the field, and 4-7 from 3-point range. Jordan is merely a freshman, but then again, BC has 9 freshmen on their roster, so they are definitely built for the future. So, although I’m a not a fan of Boston college Hockey (because I go to Merrimack), I am still happy for their basketball team.

Crazy Rivalry Night

Posted on February 9, 2012 by christoph131

This night seemed to turn out a little bit better for my picks than usual. #10 Kansas topped #6 Baylor 68-54. Junior 7 foot center, Jeff Withey was able to drop 25 points on 8-10 shooting from the field. Thomas Robinson added 15 points of his own while snagging 11 rebounds. On the flip side, Baylor’s Perry Jones III shot 1-8 from the field and only scored 5 points against the Jayhawks.

#2 Syracuse barely escaped an upset from #11 Georgetown in an overtime thriller. The final score was 64-61. Syracuse senior forward, Kris Joseph, was able to put up 29 points against G-Town while Fab Melo was only able to pitch in 11 of his own.

Finally, in case you somehow missed it, #9 Duke shocked #5 UNC at the buzzer as Austin Rivers made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give them the win, 85-84. Doc’s son finished with a career high 29 points and the biggest shot of his career thus far. Both Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes both finished with 25 and 23 points, respectively. This was probably the most exciting game to watch this season, with an NBA-like vibe and score.

A Tough Article to Write

Posted on February 7, 2012 by christoph131

Listen, I hate the Lakers just as much as anyone, but this was an article that deserves to be written. Kobe Bryant, you know, that guy with 5 championship rings, has passed Shaq, you know, that guy with 4, on the all time scoring list. He is now in 5th place all-time. He now only trails Kareem, Karl Malone, Jordan, and Chamberlain. He did this in 80 less games than Shaq. However, he has been able to knock down 1,452 3-pointers in his career. Shaq has 1. He has also hit 2,000 more free throws than Shaq who is statistically one of the worst shooters of all time from the line.

“He told me when he was 18 years old that he’d go down as the greatest Laker ever, and one of the greatest players of all time. And he wasn’t lying.” – Shaq said

He truly is one of the best players to ever wear the yellow and purple, and will go down as one of the best scorers of all time. 81 points in a game? Unheard of in this day and age. Of course he averages like .2 assists per season but still. Congrats to Kobe and may you never win another championship.

College Weekend Review

Posted on February 7, 2012 by christoph131

Since we are pretending Sunday didn’t happen, I decided to take Monday off as well. Let’s call it a “personal day”. Scores are a bit late but seeing as everyone was focused on the game that didn’t happen Sunday evening, I figured none of you would care.

Just as predicted, Kentucky & Syracuse both won with ease. #3 Ohio State beat #20 Wisconsin by 6 points in a tough battle where Sullinger had to drop 24 points and grab 10 boards in order to hold on. Unfortunately, my other prediction was wrong… barely. #8 Kansas was unable to upset #4 Missouri because they decided to heave up a contested 3 pointer with 3 seconds left rather than kicking it to the wide open 3 man for a clear shot.

Anyways, there was some good in the weekend (on the basketball court, not football field). #5 Duke was upset by Miami. HA. #10 Michigan State was able to beat #22 Michigan by 10 points in an in-state rivalry game. If only I could pick my bets as well as I pick these games.

Since it’s a day late, we also know this week’s rankings so here is the top 5.

Kentucky
Syracuse
Ohio State
Missouri
North Carolina*

*Denotes overrated team

College Basketball Weekend Preview

Posted on February 3, 2012 by christoph131

A few high magnitude games this weekend beginning on Saturday. Yes, once again I am leaving out the face that Harvard is playing on Friday. #1 Kentucky & #2 Syracuse both have conference games but against teams that are 2 games below .500. The first dual-ranked game is between #3 Ohio State & #20 Wisconsin. This is both a ranked game, and a Big Ten conference game.

Prediction: Ohio State

The other big game is between #4 Missouri & #8 Kansas. Once again, this is a conference match-up and I think it’s going to be real close. I am really tempted to pick Kansas because I think Thomas Robinson is a beast. However, Missouri is home and they have only lost 2 games all season. I just haven’t fully bought into the Mizzou hype yet.
Prediction: Kansas

On Sunday, #5 Duke takes on unranked Miami. Miami is 13-7 so they are not a team that will be walked right over. However, I do not see the Blue Devils losing this game. #10 Michigan State is home against rival #22 Michigan in a battle of the Big Ten. Gonna be another close game as always but since State is home, I think they can hang on.

Prediction: Michigan State

Tragic A and M

Posted on February 2, 2012 by christoph131

Just days after he was offered the head coaching job at Texas A&M, former Murray State coach Billy Kennedy had been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease. Often starting with something as little as a twitching hand, Parkinson’s is no joke. His wife had been poking fun of the way his arm moved because she thought it was due to a shoulder injury. However, a neurologist discovered that it was something more. Parkinson’s is an incurable disease. Kennedy explained:

“I just threw it to the side and kept going. I tried to hide it. I thought I could keep going without anyone ever knowing a thing.”

A&M decided to put this off as an “undisclosed medical condition”, in order to protect Coach Kennedy’s privacy. Although the Aggies were picked in the pre-season to win the Big 12 conference, the three weeks that Kennedy had to take off seemed to be disastrous. That coupled with a few key injuries. He has since turned things around but they are nowhere near where they were projected to be, at only 12-8 overall.

There have been other famous people who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s as well. Michael J. fox, and Muhammad Ali to name a few. Coach Bill Kennedy vows to get back to each and every individual who sent him letters and prayers throughout his struggle.

Nike’s New Uniforms

Posted on January 26, 2012 by christoph131

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.

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 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.