RICKY FEVER!

Finally the time has come, Ricky Rubio has just signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and will be playing in the NBA next year, if there is no lockout. I have heard for far too long about what a phenom he is, and what a great player he will be, but we will finally be able to see Rubio's greatness. I think it will take some time for him to adjust to the different style of play, but I definitely do not think he will be a superstar in the NBA.

A la flashy point guards, always go hard in the paint.

College World Series

We have upon us the men's and women's college world series. Always a staple of the spring sports diet, the college world series is a grueling tournament that always has some major ups and downs. Just like the ncaa basketball tournament, we see a ton of upsets and a ton of great games. I am hoping for the same this year.

A la championship tournaments, always go hard in the paint.

Walsh out as GM

Donnie Walsh's regime as president and General Manager of the New York Knicks came to an end today when his contract ran out. In short, at the age of 70, Walsh said he doesn't think he has the energy that it requires to be a GM. He will return to the team next year as a consultant. If you want to read more about this story, check out this article on ESPN.

Virginia Takes the Ship!

Virginia's Mens Lacross program wins the national title. Check out this video of the highlights of the game.

Michael Wilson Scholarship

I love this man. Brian Wilson establishes the Michael Wilson Scholarship in honor his late father's commitment to the US Air Force.

MLS All-Stars

New York Red Bulls coach ans Backe will lead the MLS All-Stars squad against Manchester United next month.

Blatter Re-Elected

Newly re-elected FIFA president Sepp Blatter turns to former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger to help investigate problems within the world soccer's governing body. Click here for more details.

Messi Gets Messy

In Rosario, Argentina, the best soccer player in the world, Lionel Messi, was unharmed when a youngster threw a punch at him as he was leaving a restaurant on Thursday. The assailant was among many fans looking for pictures and autographs. It was unclear if the punch made contact or what the reasoning behind it was but Messi just went on signing autographs while the assailant ran off. Witnesses noticed that the suspect was dressed in a uniform of a school that is just a few streets away restaurant. On his facebook page, Messi tried to play down the incident as to not stir and emotions. He wrote, "to relax all those people that asked us about the truth of the accident coming out of the restaurant, tell them I did not recieve any blows from anyone. I'm perfectly OK." Messi was visiting his home city of Rosario this week on holiday before practices start next week for the Copa America which opens July 1st.

That's mavtastic!

Holy Crap, is all you can say after a game like that. Can Dirk cook, or can he cook? The Mavs come back from being down 15 points in the 4th. I feel like we've seen that at some other point these playoffs, oh yeah we have. A great performance from a great team to even up the series at 1-1. This is shaping up to being an interesting series. This comeback is something that my friend Connor Witt may want to add to his article about these playoffs.

Do the Dirk and Just Score.

We'll Miss You Posey

Buster Posey suffered three torn ligaments and a broken left fibula in his home plate collision with the Florida Marlin's Scott Cousins. He underwent an intensive 90 minute surgery on Sunday to repair his left ankel. He had two screws inserted into his leg which will be removed in a second surgery in approximately 8-10 weeks. Posey has been ruled out for the rest of the season by the Giant's athletic trainer Dave Groeschner. Groeschner states, "It's a good prognosis. It's a long road from here. He just had a very devastating injury, had to have surgery and has a long rehab process to go. We'll see by the end of summer where he's at." The 2010 NL Rookie of the Year also had his ankel joint scoped but no damage was found yet, the ankel might have to be scoped in the future if scar tissue builds in the joint. The loss of Posey for the rest of the season was potentially devastating to the Giants, with other key players already on the disabled list. Eli Whiteside has stepped up to take the starting catchers role and is very hopeful for a great season.

Jim Bucked Up

Jim Tressel, one of the most inspirational and motivating coaches the Ohio State Buckeyes Football program has ever seen resigned his post as head coach last Monday. Coach Tressel concluded his resignation statement with a personal note, "We know that God has a plan for us and we will be fine. We will be Buckeyes forever." Tressel lead OSU to its first national championship in 34 years and was highly respected by all but just got caught up in a NCAA violation from a tattoo-parlor scandal. The scandel is reported to include 5 players of the team including the star quarterback Terrelle Pryor. They were found to have recieved cash and discounted tattoos from the owner of a local parlor which was the subject of a federal drug-trafficking case. The ongoing investigations served too much of a "distraction" to the university and he chose to step down "for the greater good of our school." It was a suprise to all for the coach who wrote the book about faith and integrity while covering up several major NCAA violations. Ohio State announced that Coach Luke Fickell, the assistant coach, is already lined up to take the job for the 2011 season but they will be on the look out for a permanent coach in 2012.

AUBREY! AUBREY! AUBREY!

HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

Aubrey Huff just smashed his 3rd home run of the game tonight for the Giants, giving him 8 on the year. A 3 home run game are hard to come by these days, but boy are they fun to watch and look at in the box score. Aubrey Huff's line tonight:
4-5, 3 runs scored, 6 RBI's, 3 home runs.

And remember to put your best Aubrey Huff impression on and Just Score.

LA to honor Shaquille O'Neal

Number 34 will no longer be seen on a LA Laker player ever again. O'Neal's jersey, number 34, will be retired in honor of all his accomplishments on the court for the Lakers. Click here to read more about Shaquille O'Neal and the retirement of his jersey.

Just like Willie

Adam Jones makes an amazing catch that may strip Willie Mays' catch that is now infamously known as "The Catch." See for yourself!

Adam or Willie

Miami trio!

Heat wins game one!! 84-92. Cleveland fans aren't happy about it but the Miami trio is living up to their expectations. Were looking forward to game two!!!

10-year old American to sign with Barcelona

Ben Lederer, a native of Southern California, just signed a two-year contract with the Barcelona's youth soccer academy. Only ten years old, he is the first American to ever sign with Barcelona, which is the most elite soccer club in the world. Lederer, a soccer prodigy, has been recognized for his outstanding ball skills and his unique style of play. He has been compared to some of the most elite soccer players in the world like those of Andres Iniesta; a world class player that is on the Barcelona team now. By Lederer signing with Barcelona, it also gives USA soccer a better name. It proves that the soccer level in America is getting higher and closer to the level over in Europe.

As great as this is, it sometimes makes me wonder if this ten year old boy is going to lose some of his childhood experiences. I also think it is a little crazy how early clubs are recruiting young kids. They are still so young and could change tremendously in just a few years. However, by Barcelona being able to sign kids so early, this is one reason why Barcelona has proven to be a soccer powerhouse. In ten years or so, it will be interesting to see if this young boy will be seen on the pitch wearing a Barcelona jersey.

NL Awards

I covered the American League 1/3 year awards a couple posts ago; now I'm on to the National League which hasn't had as many surprises as AL, but it's still been an exciting first two months of the season to watch.


Most Surprising Team: St. Louis Cardinals
This is not because I didn't think the Cardinals would do well this year, they have a great squad. The reason why they're my most surprising team is the way in which they've done so well. It's amazing that they're 33-24 without some of their most important players playing up to their usual level. Albert Pujols hasn't hit like he has in the past (he's only on pace to hit 26 home runs this season); Chris Carpenter is 1-5 with a 4.52 ERA. Adam Wainwright has missed the whole season due to injury. Matt Holiday has missed some time this season as well. The reason they've been able to play so well is the resurgence of Lance Berkman, and other players picking up the slack as well.

Most Disappointing Team: Colorado Rockies
For the most part in the NL teams lie were most thought they would at the beginning of the year, so I feel that I'm getting a little nit-picky with calling the Rockies the most disappointing team. For me, they've been the most disappointing since their hot start. When they got off to that great start many people were quick to jump and say that they're going to be the National League Champs, I'm not saying that they still don't have a chance. They always seem to get hot in September, but this team has it's weaknesses. Aside from Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, and Todd Helton, this team has some serious question marks in its line up. But unlike the Giants, they don't really have the pitching to cover up those whole's in their lineup especially with the recent loss of Jorge Dela Rosa for the rest of the season. Ubaldo Jimenez has not pitched like he did last; in fact he recorded his first win of the season last night. The Rockies haven't been that bad this year, but they're my most disappointing by default when you look at their expectations going into the season.

Most Surprising Player: Lance Berkman

I can't be the only one that didn't see this coming? Berkman's numbers had been declining the last couple years, especially last year when he hit only .248 with 14 home runs and 58 RBI's. Those are not the numbers of a middle of the order hitter. Well this year he has been reborn in St. Louis, hitting .329 with 11 home runs and 36 RBI's already at age 35. My theory is that Berkman hit rock bottom last year and this motivated him to get into great shape in the off-season, and it shows. I remember watching him last year on the Astros, he looked like a corpse out their. But this year he looks rejuvenated, which his numbers show, especially his power numbers. Last year he played for the Astros and Yankees in two of the most offensive ballparks in the majors and only hit 14 home runs. This year he's already got 11 for St. Louis. 

Most Disappointing Player: Ubaldo Jimenez

How can he not be the most disappointing player so far this season? He recorded his first win of the year YESTERDAY in June. I think by June of last year he was around 6-0 or 7-0 with an ERA around 1.00; this year it's a different story where he sits at 1-5 with an ERA of 4.98. He's already walked 30 batters in 59.2 innings. That's nearly a walk every 2 innings which is terrible. Yesterday he flashed the Ubaldo of old throwing a complete game shutout to record that first win. Maybe that will be the start that propels him back to his form of last year, but so far, he's been a disappointment.

MVP: Jay Bruce

Jay Bruce has burst onto the scene this year, leading the NL in home runs at 17 and RBI's at 46, with a respectable .292 average to boot. He's helped keep the Reds afloat in a tough NL Central division in which the tough Cardinals stand atop. Bruce is finally starting to show the hitting tools that made him the top prospect in all of baseball in 2008.

Cy Young: Jair Jurrjens

7-1, 1.51 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 65.2 innings pitched over 9 starts (that's an average of around 7 innings a start). I don't even have to write anymore about Jurrjens, he's been the clear cut Cy Young in the National League so far this season. He's been down right dominant. Oh and by the way, the one game he lost, he only gave up 2 runs. Get at him.

Predictions:

West: San Francisco Giants
Now, don't be too quick to count these Giants out of the NL West race just because of the loss of Buster Posey last week. In any other division in baseball such a loss probably would count them out, but fortunately for the Giants they reside in what I believe is the weakest division in baseball. The Giants weren't scoring many runs with Posey in the lineup anyways, but their pitching has been fantastic. The highest ERA on the entire pitching staff is from Jeremy Affeldt at 5.40, the next highest is Matt Cain at 3.88 which is still pretty good. Their biggest problem is their hitting, but they are bound to pick it up at some point especially with the imminent return of Pablo Sandoval to the lineup next week. Another reason why you have to like the Giants is that they're 15-6 in games decided by 1 run. That has to be the most important statistic a team like the Giants can have on their side.

Central: St. Louis Cardinals
I really like the Cardinals especially with the way they've played without some of their top players producing. This scares me. Once they start hitting on all cylinders they're truly going to be a tough team, and I don't know if anybody else in that division will be able to bypass the Cardinals to win the Central this year.

East: Philadelphia Phillies
I've got Five reasons: 1) Roy Halladay, 2) Cliff Lee, 3) Roy Oswalt, 4) Cole Hamels, 5) A deep line up with no easy outs minus the pitcher's spot. They're just starting to get Chase Utley back too which is only going to help them more and they've already got the best record in baseball at 34-22.

Wild Card: Atlanta Braves
I like Atlanta to get hot in the last couple months of the seasons and to take the wild card and run with it. I've already covered before why I think the Braves are going to be contenders before, but just to review, they've got a stacked rotation 1-5, a very good young bullpen that's only going to get better as the season goes, and a nice lineup with a good mix of veterans and youngens that's also going to improve as the season goes.

NLCS: Braves Vs. Phillies

NL Champions: Braves in 7

World Series: Red Sox over Braves in 6

And as always Just Score.

Alex Smith, Team Leader?

After finishing off his 6th year in the NFL and on the 49ers this past season, I bet the last thing Smith expected to happen was to come back to the Niners. But a lot has happened since then. The Niners hired Jim Harbaugh, the NFL entered a lockout that is still going on, and the Niners drafted Colin Kaepernick to develop into their quarterback of the future. But before they drafted Kaepernick, with the lockout looming Harbaugh sensed that the Niners probably wouldn't have many options to have start at quarterback in 2011 other than Alex Smith or drafting a quarterback in a shortened off season. That's when Harbaugh came out and backed Smith for having the potential to be a successful NFL qb. You see, Harbaugh knew that it would be incredibly difficult to prepare a rookie qb to start this season without being able to tutor him for most of the off-season. The leap from college to the NFL is probably toughest to do at the qb position. Therefore Harbaugh wanted to make sure he had a veteran that knows what playing in the NFL is like and without being able to talk to free agents like Matt Hasselback because he is still technically a Seahawk, Harbaugh looked in house at Smith and saw in him the tools to be a successful qb.
Now for many Niners fans this is the last thing they wanted to hear from their new head coach who they expect to bring glory back to the franchise, but for me I love the move to bring back Smith. For the first six seasons of his career, he had a defensive minded head coach that didn't know much about the offensive side of the ball, so they hired very good offensive coordinators the first couple years, which is smart in theory, but the problem is, if you truly are a good offensive coordinator, a team is going to want to come and swoop you up to be their head coach. Smith's first offensive coordinator was Mike McCarthy. You may be asking why that sounds familiar to you, oh yeah, he's the Head Coach of the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers, who hired him right after Smith's first year. He eventually tutored Aaron Rodgers, who many thought should've been the number 1 pick instead of Smith, but that's a different story, into being one of the most prolific passers in the NFL the last couple year. In Smith's second year, they brought in Norv Turner, who is a fantastic offensive coordinator, and it showed in Smith's and the offense's play in that year. But Turner, like McCarthy, was swooped up to be a head coach, this time by the San Diego Chargers. The next year, Smith was blessed(HAHA) to have Jim Hostler as his offensive coordinator. That was a lost year, along with the next year in which he was out the whole season due to shoulder surgery. In that time Mike "Physical with an F" Singletary took over as head coach and hired the very uncreative Jimmy Raye to be his pawn at offensive coordinator instead of Scott Linehan, who has done a fantastic job with the Detroit Lions offense the past couple years.


Now the Niners have have this guy at the helm, an offensive guru, a former NFL coordinator, and the man who molded Andrew Luck into the top qb in the nation. If Harbaugh sees something in Smith I believe him. Also, the Niners are moving to a west coast offense which requires having a mobile quarterback, which is one of Smith's greatest strengths. Harbaugh gave the unsigned Smith a playbook as a leap of faith that he would rejoin the team, and Smith is now doing more with this leap of faith than probably Harbaugh even expected. Smith has plans to lead minicamps with the offense while the lockout is going on. He says that now that he has a pretty good grasp of the offense, he's ready to teach it to the other positions, so that this isn't a complete loss of an off-season for the Niners. For the last couple weeks Smith has been going out daily with his receivers and throwing the ball around. All this work from Smith is very encouraging and parallels his college career. Smith credits his improvement and his success in his Junior year at Utah to all the work that he put forth in the off-season with his receivers going into that year. It's one thing to be doing all this work in the off-season, but Smith still needs to prove his worth on the field. But these are very encouraging signs that maybe Smith could be coming into his own as a leader. Another good sign that Smith is developing into a leader is the small shot that he took at Michael Crabtree about not being present at the workouts Smith has been holding this off-season. Since coming to the Niners, Crabtree has been notorious for doing the bare minimum to get ready for the season. This could be the year that Smith finally leads the Niners to a winning record and possible playoff birth, which is not too far-fetched in an extremely weak NFC West.

Here's to hoping Alex Smith Just Scores.

An Angel Looking Over the Angels

Looks like the Angels have a Guardian Angel these days. After finishing their series with the Kansas City Royals today, the Angels charter plane had to make an emergency landing at LAX airport. The whole team is safe, thankfully, and the Angels will get ready for their home series against the New York Yankees over the weekend.

A la guardian angels in the sky, always go hard in the paint.

Shaq, Can you dig it?

As my Whole Lot'a Chatter counterpart Chase Arthur mentioned earlier, Shaq has announced his retirement today. He was one of the greatest centers of all time on the court and had a flair for entertainment off the court, which is what I'd like to focus on in this post. Some may remember him as a burger dealing shaft, but how can you forget a 7-foot genie?

This is the last memory I'd like to leave of Shaq, because that is the most efficient way to ensure that you Just Score.

AL Awards

With the first two months of the baseball season gone, we're a 1/3 of the way through the season. To celebrate this strange couple months of baseball in which the Indians find themselves on top the AL Central while the Minnesota Twins find themselves bottom feeding (almost a complete flip flop of those two teams from a year ago), I'm going to hand out my 1/3 of the season awards for the American League.

Most Surprising Team: Cleveland Indians
I don't think this selection will surprise anybody. As mentioned above they have almost had a complete flip flop from last year. Last year they finished 4th out of 5 teams in the AL Central; this year they sit on top of the division by 4.5 games currently. This sort of improvement was not seen by any of the professional baseball analyst and has shocked most of the baseball world, probably even a lot of the people in Cleveland.

Most Disappointing Team: Minnesota Twins
As surprising as the Indians climb to the top this year has been, the Twins descent to being the worst team in all of baseball this year has been equally if not more surprising. Last year the Twins had the 4th best record in baseball. Oh how the times have changed. Justin Morneau hasn't been the same hitter since returning from his concussion problems of last year. After a breakout year last year, flashing the power he was thought to have, Delmon Young has taken a step backwards with only 1 home run in 123 at bats, while hitting only .211. To top it all off, Joe Mauer has only played in 9 games this season.

Most Surprising Player: Jose Bautista
This is simply because no one saw this coming...for a second straight year. What's even more impressive after his breakout season last year is that he's improving. I know how do you improve on 54 home runs, 124 runs driven in, and a .260 batting average? By hitting .360 through 48 games while adding 20 home runs (on pace for 58) and driving in 40 runs (on pace for 116, a slight decrease, but hey, nobody's perfect). Bautista has a chance to be a triple crown hitter this year, which to just be mentioned in having a shot at that is a huge compliment.


Most Disappointing Player: Carl Crawford

Although he's begun to heat up a little over the past couple weeks, his arrival in Boston can't be described as anything else but a disappoint. When you consider that he's making nearly 15 million dollars this year and he's only hitting .235 with a .269 On Base Percentage while walking only 8 times and striking out 39, you have to consider him the most disappointing player in the AL so far this year in relation to his contract, expectations, and production.

MVP: Jose Bautista
As stated above Bautista has been a beast this year and has a shot at the triple crown (leading a league in home runs, RBI's, and average). Without him the Blue Jays wouldn't be close to the 28-28 record that they hold.

Cy Young: Jered Weaver
There are many deserving pitchers of this award at this point in the season, but Weaver has been everything that the Angels have needed out of him this year. He's near the top of every important pitching category, including 2nd in innings pitched (his teammate Dan Haren has him by 2/3 of an inning), 2nd in ERA, 3rd in WHIP (Walks and Hits per innings pitched), and tied with a few people for third most wins with 6.


Predictions:

West: Texas Rangers
Although they barely sit on top of the West right now, I think they're going to take hold of the division as the season goes on. Everyone knows about their powerful lineup, and it's only going to get better with Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz Jr. coming off injuries, but the starting pitching for this team has been very underrated this year. They're young and acquiring a veteran with some playoff experience could be a good idea. The bullpen can be a question mark for this team, but they've got some talent in the minors they can call up or make a move or two at the deadline, you can always acquire quality arms for the bullpen.

Central: Cleveland Indians
The scary thing about the Indians is that arguably their two best/most talented hitters in Carlos Santana and Shin-Soo Choo haven't even performed to their highest abilities this year and they're 13 games over 500.  A couple of reasons for this is the resurgence of their DH Travis Hafner who seemed all but checked out of playing the game these last couple years. The emergence of Michael Brantley and Asdrubel Cabrera have helped as well. Their lineup is fairly strong up and down with the exception of 2nd base and 3rd base, but the thing is that they have options down in the minors that seem to be ready for a chance at those positions and could possibly give them a boost in the second half of the year. Their starting pitching hasn't been too shabby either. To top it all off their bullpen has been ridiculously good this year. They're playing good ball, believe in them.

East: Boston Red Sox
After getting off to a rocky start, they've started to put it together as a team. They have a great line up with catcher being their only weakness in that line up, but any deficiencies that their line up has can be covered by their solid rotation. This is a team made up of veterans that knows what it takes, especially in the playoffs and this is why I like them.

Wild Card: New York Yankees
The Yankees are very similar to the Red Sox, but I give the Sox the advantage with the pitching which is why I like them to win the division over the Yankees. Having said that, the Yankees are still a good club, and I expect them to win the Wild Card with a good shot at winning the Division. Basically I like the Yankees and Red Sox to take the Division and Wild Card with who wins what not making that big of a difference once they're in the playoffs.

ALCS: Red Sox Vs. Rangers

AL Champions: Boston Red Sox in 5

Here's to hoping these teams prove my predictions right and Just Score.

Indy 500

Ok, so I know that I have already written about the Indy 500, but it deserves a second post. For anyone who watched the last fifty laps, or for that fact matter for anyone that did, the winner may not be an obvious guess. At one point, Danica Patrick was ahead nearly five seconds and was in the lead for multiple laps. While a simple gas pit stop should have allowed an experienced racer to keep her lead, changes to her car's engine didn't allow her to accelerate at the speed that other racers were reaching and she ended up finishing in 10th. Secondly, the rookie J.R. Hildebrand had the lead, and the announcers had already started singing his praises. The announcers were talking up how this would be the first time a rookie would have won, the amazing race he is driven and how impressed they were by his team. On the last lap, with only one turn to go, less than half of a mile, JR crashed. While trying to pass another racer, whom he was about to lap, JR's car drifted a mere two feet to the right, and he crashed into the wall. The crash wasn't severe enough to hurt the driver or really damage the car. He still finished in second place, but allowed a previous winner, Dan Wheldon, to take first place. The race was interesting, and well driven by many people. While I don't usually think car races are quite as interesting as other sports, this was a very well driven race and I enjoyed watching it!!

NBA Finals

Dirk Nowitzki broke a finger, but has reported that it won't harm his shooting game in the NBA finals against the Heat. This report is important because Nowitzki will be a key player if the Mavs hope to win.

The Man In the Middle

Today, basketball said good bye to one of its greatest players of all time, Shaquille O'Neal. Most people knew him as Shaq, but the NBA fan knew that he went by numerous nicknames, most notably "the Big Diesel," however my favorites are "Shaq Fu" and "the Big Aristotle." He was one of the greatest personalities the NBA ever witnessed, and he revolutionized the game during his era, and was simply unstoppable at times. He was the cornerstone to the early 2000s Lakers dynasty, and he went on to be a 15 time all star, 3 time NBA Finals MVP, one time regular season MVP, and winner of 4 NBA championships. He truly was fun to watch, and for me he was the dominating center that I grew up watching. He is a part of my childhood, my adolescence, and my teenage years. Even if another dominating center comes around later on, like Dwight Howard, I don't know if I ever will be able to say that he is better than Shaq, because I grew up loving the guy. So all I have to say in the end is; thank you Shaq for getting me to jump off my seat, for dropping my jaw to the floor, and for making me spontaneously get up and yell in my living room, "O BABY!"

a la Shaquille O'neal everyday of the week, always go hard in the paint.
Warning: This guy probably went the hardest in the paint.

The Best of The Best

One of the most prized possessions in baseball is the franchise player. Whether he's a pitcher or a hitter, every team is always looking for their guy. ESPN just had an interesting draft of 30 players (because there are 30 MLB franchises) in which they would like to start their own franchise with. Check it out here.

These players know how to Just Score.

Say it Ain't so Jim

We have heard the past couple months numerous reports about scandal in the Ohio State football program; it has resulted in the resignation of head football coach Jim Tressel. For me personally, I haven't really held much respect for Ohio State football or Jim Tressel. I am not a fan of the Big Ten Conference, that is why I hate seeing my beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers move there, because the stats show that they don't play well against other conferences and they can't win the big games. Take Ohio State for example; they were ranked number one all year in 2006 only to be absolutely clobbered by Florida in the national championship game, 41-14, simply because they weren't a better team. The next year they played the LSU Tigers in the national championship game, and again lost 38-24, in a game that LSU controlled throughout. The only big win on Ohio State's record, over the past couple years while Tressel has been at the helm, was against the Miami Hurricanes in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, with a 31-24 double overtime win. However, a vividly remember Miami was supposed to win the game after they scored first in overtime and then Ohio State got the ball. Miami stopped them on 4th down to seal the victory, but an extremely late flag came in for pass interference, which was not only a late call but a bad call. I understand that Ohio State is a huge market and this deserves a lot of attention, but let's not jump the gun here and give Ohio State or Jim Tressel a ton of credit. They have been huge disappointments over the years, and frankly they play some non-entertaining football. Whoever Ohio State chooses to replace Tressel better be able to revitalize the program, and actually win a big game or two.


A la those who put the beatdown on Ohio State, always go hard in the paint.

Injured Dirk Nowitzki

Nowitzki has just recently tour a ligament in his finger during a game against the Heat. Lucky for him, though, because the injury is in his non-shooting hand. However, with the task of trying to cover two of the most skilled basketball players in the world, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, Dirk will still have his hands full. He will continue to play the rest of the series, but he will have to wear a splint for the time being.

The Djoker

Why so serious you ask? Well because Novak Djokovic, a.k.a. the Djoker, has a chance to break John Mcenroe's record of 42 straight wins to start a year as he closes out the French Open tournament. Things got a little easier for him, as his quarterfinal opponent had to pull out of the tournament due to injury. However, Djokovic will have to be on his A game, because Roger Federer will be staring him down in the semifinals, and then most likely clay court specialist, and number one player in the world, Rafael Nadal in the finals. If Djokovic can get through that mini gauntlet, we could be seeing the best tennis year in a while right before our eyes. We will soon see.

A la the Djoker's perfect streak, always go hard in the paint.

Things are getting HEATed

We are nearing the end of the 4th quarter and the Heat lead 74-69. Bosh, James, and Wade have yet again been the main offensive scorers for the Heat, but Mario Chalmers and Mike Miller have made some clutch three pointers and have thus stretched out the Mavericks defense. I have been thoroughly impressed by Miami's defense, as their defensive rotation has been extremely effective and bothersome to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas shooters. Dirk still has been effective in shooting and scoring and Shawn Marion along with Jason Terry have helped carry the offensive load. Looks like were in for an exciting finish and an epic series.

A la superstars in the 4th quarter, always go hard in the paint.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble

It's here ladies and gentlemen; I have for you the 2011 NBA and NHL finals. Both match-ups feature heavyweights against heavyweights, and there are a lot of big names involved. From Dirk to Chara, and Sedin to James, we got the big name players and the big name teams. The West 3 seed-the Dallas Mavericks, led by Dirk Nowitzki and his band of sharp shooters, pesky defenders, and crafty penetrators, take on the East 2 seed-the Miami Heat, led by the trio of Chris Bosh, Lebron James, and Dwayne Wade (actually I've heard rumors that the Heat will only have them three on the court the whole time, who knew?). On the colder side of things, the West 1 seed-the Vancouver Canucks, led by the Sedin twins and Roberto Luongo, take on the East 3 seed- the Boston Bruins, led by mammoth defense-man Zdeno Chara and goalie Tim Thomas.

To talk about the NBA finals for a bit, you have to start with the stellar play of late by the two big stars; Lebron James and Dirk Nowitzki. While the Heat's production comes predominantly from its three stars, Lebron James has taken on more of the load on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court. While Wade and Bosh had their games, James more of a consistent scorer and assist man while also taking on the role of guarding the other team's best player, especially when he virtually took Derrick Rose out of every fourth quarter by his stingy defense. And while myself, and probably a good majority of the NBA fans, still loathe the choice made by Lebron, and all the coverage and shenanigans that came with it, he has proven that he made a good choice and that he is one of the best players in the league. However, the championship does not yet belong to the Heat, and I know Dirk Nowitzki and his crew will have a lot to say about that. Dirk has been on fire of late, making acrobatic shot after acrobatic shot. He makes just about every open shot, can make shots falling away in any direction, sinks shots with defenders draped all over them, and gets to the foul line consistently where he has almost been perfect this playoffs. All the credit does not belong to Dirk though, the defense by the Mavericks has been sensational. Tyson Chandler has been a beat in the post, Jason Kidd has locked down superstar after superstar, and Shawn Marion made Kevin Durant look like a high school player. Not to mention this team has great bench play, especially coming from Jose Barea and Jason Terry. They have been great slashers and shooters and has caused defenses nightmares. Having said all of this I think it will be a great series. Both teams will have their hands full with mismatches on both sides of the court. I won't make a prediction, but I will say that the Mavericks on paper are the better team, however the Heat have the superstars and the firepower to take this series. I'm hoping for a 7 game thriller that comes down to the last possession, where we are able to see which superstar will propel their legacy to the next level.

Now to address the puck, I think that we are in for another great series. While we have a 3 seed versus a 1 seed, many people have argued that the Bruins always were the best team in the East, evident by their run through the playoffs. The Bruins are a tough physical team, with strong blue line defenders, and experienced forwards. Their assistant captain, Mark Recchi, has hoisted the Stanley Cup before and will no doubt have his team hungry for the series win. Tim Thomas in goal has been consistent and sensational, he shutout the Lightning to get to the Stanley Cup Finals. On the other side of the ice, we have the most consistent team in the NHL all year, the Vancouver Canucks. The league leader in overall points, the Canucks are led by their twin forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who have been dominant all year. In the net, they have one of the best goalies in the league, Roberto Luongo. He played out of his mind against the San Jose Sharks in game 5 of their last series, ending in an overtime win for the Canucks to get them to the Finals. The Canucks are a fast and technically sound team, who have all the pieces to win the Stanley Cup. We are in for another great series, where both sides have a legitimate chance to bring a championship back to their towns.

Playoff sports brings out the best in competitors and this year is no different. Enjoy everyone.

A la the playoffs, always go hard in the paint.

High School All-Conference/State Selections

After each high school sport ends, coaches from every team come together to vote on what players they think deserves to be All-Conference and All-State. This award is an honor and should not be easy to get. However, as the years have gone on, the selection of kids picked has more to do with what year they are than how well skilled they are. For example, if the voting comes down to the last spot between a freshman and a senior basketball player, guess who will most likely be picked? Yes the senior will be. Now that is fine if she proves to be a better player than the freshman, however, a lot of times, this is not the case. A lot of times a freshman will have better stats, wins, and an overall better record than the senior, but because the senior was selected in the previous years and it is her last year to win this award, the senior is usually chosen. This is not right. It should not matter what grade an athlete is in or if they were chosen in the past. All-State athletes should be the best athletes in the state; there should be no exceptions. Hopefully over the next years of high school sports, we will see some changes being made for the better.

Stanley Cup finalized

The Boston Bruins will meet the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup finals. Game one will kick off on Wednesday, June 1. These two teams have met only a few times throughout the year so this series will most likely be one that will not be forgotten!!

Champions League Final!

Millions of people all across the world sat down today to watch the Champions League Final, located in Wembley, England, to see two of the most skilled soccer teams in the world play: Barcelona and Man United. After a very exciting match, Barcelona pulled out the win!! Sorry to all those Man United fans out there...

Simply put, it's baseball

Last night in the latest installment of Giants "it's torture" baseball, Buster Posey took a brutal hit at the plate when the Marlins' Scott Cousins scored the winning run in the top half of the 12th. Today we've learned that Posey did in fact break his ankle, but they're still waiting to hear more about the extent of the injury. I'm a die hard Giants fan, and this hurts, but quite frankly I'm tired of hearing all this talk that it was a dirty play or that they need to change rules; most of this talk coming from Giants fans. I'm sorry guys I know he's a great player and a great person, but it's BASEBALL, it's part of the game, and I'm willing to bet my life savings that Posey has the same sentiments. He knows the risk that he takes when he goes behind the dish to catch a game. Here's to wishing that the injury isn't as serious as many think and that he has a speedy recovery.

All the Giants gotta do in this post Posey era is just score.

Attention all Warriors fans

If you're a true Warriors fan, then you've got to be excited about the move they made last week to bring in the legendary Jerry West. Well they had the first formal news conference with him today. Here are some quick notes from the presser, compliments of the great Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News.

And remember, Just Score.

Woods no longer in Top 10

Tiger Woods is known to be one of the best golf players in the world. His determination, mental toughness, and skill level has led him to many tournament victories and championships. In addition, his name has always been able to be seen in the top 10 best golfers in the world. However, for the first time in fourteen years, his name can no longer be found there. He has dropped to twelfth in the rankings. Although this may seem pretty good to the outside eye, for him, it is not. Woods has not been ranked below tenth since April of 1997. Why all the sudden is he not doing so well anymore? One reason could be the fact that he is battling two injuries right now; an injury to the left knee and a damaged Achilles tendon. Another reason could be all the issues that happened in Wood's past with his wife a year or so ago. What ever the reason may be, Woods is falling behind and new and better golfers are taking over. However, knowing Woods persistent and love for the game, sooner or later I am sure we will all see him back in the top ten and back to the great golfer he once was.

June 5th and the Women's National Soccer Team

On June 5th, you will want to make sure that you are either at the Red Bulls Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, or tuned into ESPN2 at 2:00 pm eastern time because the US Women's National Team will be taking on the Mexico National Team in what will be a match that will be full of action. This will be the Women's National Team's last match before they take off for Germany for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Come out and support them for one last time before they go on the long road to Germany!

Small town repeats for 4th time

The Jackson Lady Bronc Soccer Team, from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, just recently won their forth consecutive state soccer championship. They took the championship game with a score of 5-1 over the Lander Tigers.

NBA Lottery Mock Draft

With the NBA Lottery happening this past Tuesday, the first 14 picks in the draft are finally set and some teams hit it big. The biggest winners this year were the Cleveland Cavalier who landed the number 1 and 4 picks and the Utah Jazz who jumped from pick 6 to pick 3. It's still early in the draft process, but here's my take on how the first 14 picks could unfold.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers: Derrick Williams, Arizona, SF/PF. The best, most NBA ready player in this draft, just ask him yourself.  Most people see Kyrie Irving here which wouldn't be a bad direction to go either, but keeping in mind that the Cavs have another pick at 4 and if they were to take Irving then there options at 4 would dwindle to unproven Euro players or a reach for Kawhi Leonard possibly. Taking Williams 1 gives them the chance to still pick up Brandon Knight at 4 as their point gaurd of the future.
2. Minnesota Timberwolves: Enes Kanter, Turkey, C. It's too early to give up on Jonny Flynn, and they're still waiting on Ricky Rubio to come over from Europe, so taking Irving here would not be the best fit for them. Kanter would be a good fit alongside Kevin Love and could possibly give the T-wolves a very solid front court of the future.
3. Utah Jazz: Kyrie Irving, Duke, PG. Kyrie Irving would be the point guard of the future for the Jazz, and they would be able to bring him along slowly behind Devin Harris. Also with the contracts of Ronnie Price and Earl "The Pearl" Watson expiring, the Jazz could be looking at a point guard anyways, and it'd be nice to see the top one in the draft fall to them here.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers: Brandon Knight, Kentucky, PG. After the Cavs take Williams at number 1, they snag who they think could be their point guard of the future in Knight. If they don't take Williams at 1, and take Irving, then Knight would not be the pick here, and I would like to see the Cavs exploring their options on the trade market with this pick.
5. Toronto Raptors: Tristan Thompson, Texas, PF. Could be a bit of reach here, but I really like his game, and he would add some much needed toughness, shot blocking ability, and offensive rebounding to Toronto's front court. 
6. Washington Wizards: Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State, SF. Simply put he's a beast. The Wizards could use a small forward and some more toughness and Leonard fits the bill. He's a tough player that has a nose for the ball and could eventually develop into a Luol Deng type 3.
7. Sacramento Kings: Kemba Walker, UConn, PG. A back court of Walker and Tyreke Evans would be too much for Sacramento to pass up. Another reason why this pick would make a ton of sense to the Kings is because of the state of their franchise. They are on the verge of a possible relocation, and they could really use some better play. Kemba Walker is a winner and a warrior. He will pour his heart out on the court night in and night out and do whatever he has to do to help this team.
8. Detroit Pistons: Bismack Biyombo, Spain, PF. Here's your annual player with great measurables and shot blocking ability that he rises up the boards. He's very very raw, but if developed properly could become a shot blocking and rebounding beast. With Ben Wallace still on the Pistons, he would have the perfect role model to look up to.
9. Charlotte Bobcats: Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania, PF. The Bobcats are lacking in size and could use a power forward of the future. Valanciunas can be that guy. He needs to put on a very good amount of bulk, but he has the height to be an effective 4 around the basket, but it's going to take some patience as most Euro players do.
10. Milwaukee Bucks: Alec Burks, Colorado, SG. Versatile 2 that could add depth to the Bucks backcourt possibly being able to spell Jennings at the one for a few minutes a game as that was what he had played for most of his life until he hit a massive growth spurt. Right now his offensive game is limited to slashing and driving with his jump shot still needing some development, but that can be improved in the future.
11. Golden State Warriors: Jan Vesely, Czech Republic, PF. Vesely is sort of the classic Warriors' big. A guy with a lot of height that doesn't have much of a back to the basket game. He's got good range on his jumper, and he runs the floor well. This would add depth to their front court and could be a very valuable asset off the bench to stretch the floor. I personally have a feeling that the Warriors would love to have Burks here as I have a sneaking suspicion that they're looking to deal either Ellis or Curry this summer and trying to piece together a bigger back court that would be able to operate better defensively.
12. Utah Jazz: Klay Thompson, Washington St., SG. You can never have enough shooters on a team. This statement holds very true for the Jazz who already have C.J. Miles and Gordon Hayward who can rip it from the perimeter. Thompson could be their 2 of the future and pair this pick with Irving and the Jazz have a very bright future. They're front court is fairly set for the future especially if last year's number 3 pick Derrick Favors can make the progress this next year that they think he can. Watch out for the Jazz to make a return to the playoffs next year.
13. Phoenix Suns: Jimmer Fredette, BYU, PG. Too good of a shooter for the Suns to pass up here and with Steve Nash nearing retirement this could be his eventual replacement. He would be a perfect fit because most teams are scared off by Jimmer's porous defense, but considering the Suns haven't been worried about Nash's defensive liabilities over the years, I'm sure they're not too worried about Jimmer's either.
14. Houston Rockets: Chris Singleton, Florida St., SF. The best defender in the draft, can guard 3 different positions on the floor. He'll develop into a very valuable lock down defender for the Rockets.

And as always, just score.

Indy 500

Next Sunday is racing's biggest event: the Indy 500. Qualifiers have started and all the favorites have shown up!!

Benched

Last night, in yet another exciting playoff game, starting Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook was benched in the 4th quarter. Known as crunch time, the 4th quarter is reserved to the best players on your team. I mean after all, it is the deciding time in the game. But Thunder head coach Scott Brooks felt that his reserve pint guard, Eric Maynor, was playing better. Westbrook said after the game taht he was just happy the Thunder got the win, but you know that there is anger in his mind for being benched. All athletes have a competitive drive, and that is what propels them to the top. I don't blame Westbrook for being angry, I'm just happy we still have players in the league that are worried about getting on the court and helping their team, rather than getting in their Mercedes and Beamers and cashing checks. I can remember when Stephon Marbury was benched and he didn't care because he already had his money. That disgusts me, and it is not what sports is all about.

Stow opens eyes

Here's some positive progress for Bryan Stow although there is still a long ways to go. Keep him in your prayers.

Like to Play Games?

Play the New MLB 2K11 with characters like Giant's Pitcher Brian Wilson.

Jousting Anyone?

Watch this funny video of baseball players jousting durring a rain delay.

Draft Time

The Cavaliers are the big winners of this year's draft lottery. They snagged the number one overall pick as well as the number 4 overall pick. You got to like the options they have come June when it is draft time. I'm not sure if they go with Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams, both are explosive. Some would say they shouldn't draft Irving because they just acquired Baron Davis, but I think they should draft Irving and have him be mentored by Davis. He is a unique point guard and he can do many special things. Another winner in the draft are the Utah Jazz. They got the number 3 overall pick, projected to be the number 6 overall pick, as well as the number 12 overall pick. I expect them to pick Enes Kanter and maybe even Jimmer Fredette. Even though experts say this is a down year for the draft, it always brings surprises and excitement.



A la the ping pong balls in the lottery, always go hard in the paint.

Brian Stow Update

Brian Stow, the Giant's fan critically injured at the season opener at Dodgers stadium, has been moved to San Francisco. His recover has been going well, though in small increments the doctors guess it could take up to a year to recover completely. He is still in a medically induced coma, but thousands of dollars have poured in to help the family. Hopefully the transition back to SF will help him out! Let's keep praying.

Draft Lottery

With the NBA Draft Lottery coming up tomorrow, I'm sure there's a lot of chatter going on about where your favorite team will land in the draft. To help further your interest in where your team will land tomorrow check out ESPN's lottery+mock draft machine.

Remember, just score.

Marathon Olympian Passed Away

The Beijing Olympics were not very long ago, as we watched hundreds of gold medals given out to champions. The whole world dreams of getting that gold medal, being the best in their field and honored in front of billions of people. Sammy Wanjiru lived out this dream. The now 24 year old won a gold medal, running a marathon in record breaking time, passed away. His performance in Beijing was considered one of the most impressive marathon times in history, and he has since run in various countries winning the London Marathon as well as the Chicago Marathon twice. Since his win, Wanjiru's personal life has gone downhill. People question if this downward spiral was due to his huge success and wide acclimation in Beijing. He once was charged with threatening his wife and maid, waving a gun in the air. The charges were dropped but more serious injuries kept him out of races. The death was first ruled a suicide but then details emerged that it was possible that the incident began as a domestic dispute, which started as Wanjiru's wife found him with another woman. He was supposed to run again in London's olympics next year, and strongly favored by marathon runners around the world. This death, and Wanjiru's great success followed by hard times poses much question of what lies ahead of athletes who have reached their dreams. While many athletes are able to persist and look toward the next Olympics or World Cup, for example, that is a long time to train with little reward in between. Regardless of why, the entire athletic world mourns the death of the young Kenyan gold medalist.

USAAAA

The US Women's National team defeated Japan today 2-0. Wombach and Rodriguez are the two that scored the goals today for the US. Keep following the team as they prepare for the 2011 World Cup in Germany!!

Sharks Movin' On!

The Sharks are moving on! San Jose let's all tune in Sunday at 5:00pm against Vancouver!!

Heather Mitts Battles Back

As soccer players, many girls dream of being on the World Cup team to represent their country, and play the game they love most. Getting there though, is one very tough road. Heather Mitts is a prime example of how much work and dedication it takes to finally be one of the twenty-one players to get to go to the 2011 World Cup hosted in Germany. However, her way of getting on the team was not easy. The one thing that can hold some of the greatest athletes back are injuries. Mitts was diagnosed with a severe hamstring injury back at the end of January. Hearing that it would take up to three to four months to recover from this injury, her hopes and dreams of making the World Cup team were not looking good. How Mitts responded to this issue though, was what allowed her to finally reach her dream. She battled back from an injury that was supposed to take at least 3 months to heal, and recovered in only six weeks. These six weeks were the most grueling six weeks of her life. She went to therapy for hours everyday while undergoing any type of surgery or procedure to make her heal faster. She even spent long hours away from her husband when it was some of the only days she could have spent quality time with him. Her mind was focused on one thing; getting healthy in hope of getting to the World Cup for the last time. Mitts knew she had one last shot so she had to do everything she could to get back onto the field because then if she did not get picked, at least she would know she would have no regrets. As the day came when head coach, Pia Sundhage, announced the roster, her name was called.

Seeing how much dedication and work Mitts put in to get back and prove everyone wrong really motivates and inspires many young athletes that they can over come anything. To see how she does on the field this summer, follow the US Women's National Team in Germany beginning in June.

MLS on campus

Interested in watching some high quality soccer?? Tomorrow night, May 14th, the San Jose Earthquakes take on the Columbus Crew at 7:30pm right here at Santa Clara University. Come to the Buck Shaw Stadium tomorrow night and cheer them on!

Manny Being Manny

We saw over the weekend another episode of Manny being Manny. No, I'm not referring to Manny Ramirez, I'm talking about Manny Pacquiao. He beat Shane Mosley on Saturday night, in a triumphant fashion. He was too fast and strong, and he simply made Shane Mosley look old. If he is not the greatest fighter of all time, he is definitely in the conversation for who is. People like to talk about whether or not Manny and Floyd Mayweather will fight, but at this point who cares. Let's just revel in his greatness, and hope to see more of Manny being Manny.


A la the champ Manny Pacquiao, always go hard in the paint.

Game 7 @ SJ!

The San Jose Sharks have always had a pretty solid team. Their only problem comes in consistency; much like many sports teams, they are having difficulty bringing their A game to every game. This is no more apparent in the 2011 Playoffs that they should have won two games ago against the Detroit Red Wings. The Sharks were once winning the series 3-0 (in a series out of seven, this means they only needed to win one of four to move on), but will now be entering game seven tied, three games to three games. Games 1-3 were all close, but the Sharks came out on top due their ability to but the puck in the net. Game five however, they blew a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3. Like all playoffs, the Sharks and Red Wings have been switching off where the games are held and LUCKILY game seven is here in San Jose. All of the games have been decided by one (or two in Game 6) goal (2 were even in overtime). Game 1: 2-1 SJ; Game 2: 2-1 SJ; Game 3: 4-3 SJ; Game 4: 4-3 DET; Game 5: 4-3 DET; Game 6: 3-1 DET. While some may say confidence will bring the Red Wings out as the victors, stats in the NHL prove that only four teams have ever come back from a 3-0 game deficit, but none have come to win the last and final game. Hopefully this will be the boost the Sharks need to never have a close game again. I’m still betting on the Sharks, and now I’m Just Kickin’ it Around….

LeBron Apologizes

After game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals a reporter asked Dwyane Wade if the play that dislocated Rondo's elbow was dirty. LeBron acciently replied "that's retarded" and immediately covered his mouth with his hand. LeBron formally apologized the next day.

US Roster Announced!

Abby Wambach and Heather O'Reilly talk about the Women's World Cup and the US roster is posted.

Happy Monday

Last week was a great week of baseball with great pitching performances all around the league. Now that we're a good month into the season, you can start to see what teams are for real and what teams just got out to a hot start. Check out ESPN's power rankings here.

So Sorry

SOOOO LONG LAKERS!!! (sorry to my fellow authors but it had to be said)

Women's National Team announced!

On Monday, the finalized roster for the 2011 Women's World Cup for soccer will be announced on ESPN. Their head coach, Pia Sundhage, will bring the roster down to twenty-one players. This will be a very difficult choice due to the fact that the team is loaded with great players. Watch live on Monday and see who gets left behind..

Legendary Downfall

There isn't anything more sad and disheartening than seeing the downfall of a great player, a legendary player at that. As an avid Yankees hater, I absolutely despise the team, I can feel for the downfall of Derek Jeter. I grew up hating the Yankees, but Derek Jeter was my brother's favorite player and I had to hear about him all the time. I came to respect the Yankees captain, because he was a no nonsense guy who produced on the field. He was a leader and a great ball player. Unfortunately, we are watching his downfall play out as we speak. All of his numbers are down, and he clearly looks old and over the hill. It is sad to see, but that is the nature of the beast. Let's embrace the run Jeter had, and respect what he meant for a great, albeit hated, organization. He was the centerpiece to their dynasty, and he is a baseball legend.



A la Derek Jeter in all aspects of baseball, always go hard in the paint.

Walk Off - Best Sports Ending

As an avid Giants fan, I try to make it out to as many games as I can each year. Tonight was my first of the season and my Giants did it again. They came back from a 3-0 deficit in the first few innings to winning it with a walk off hit by Freddy! Proud to be a Giants fan once again... Just Kickin' it Around!

Phillies in a little bit of a hole

Being the Philly fan that I am, I am not too happy with them being down to Boston 3-0 in the 7 game series. However, if there is any hockey team that can come back and win four games in a row it is the Philadelphia Flyers. Just last year they were in this same exact situation and came back and ended up winning the series. As Sean O'Donnell said, "we just have to win a period at a time, and hopefully win a game, and get to Game 5".

Callin' it Quits

I am happy to say hello to the lovely spring weather, as we are now in May! The one downfall to entering the sweltering summer months means that we have to wait another eleven plus months for March Madness to consume our lives and TV’s once again. As this year’s brackets were thrown off, the upsets didn’t prove to be the biggest story out of MM2011. Instead, we now reminisce with Coach Gary Williams as he retires as the head basketball coach for Maryland. While he believes it was time to stop, everyone else wonders why. Including his playing years, Williams was 461-252 at Maryland, giving him a .646 winning percentage. Being a three-year starter, Williams was also the head coach for 22 years (impressive!) at Maryland. With a national title under his belt, Williams left the school after one of the more disappointing seasons, 19-14. Overall, 33 years as a coach has made him a legend to the basketball world, having an overall winning percentage of 668-380. While it may be ironic, with the iconic coach left sophomore forward Jordan Williams as he is looking to be eligible in the draft. Maryland will continue being coached by familiar face, as six-year assistant coach Patrick Stevens will take over the team with the same coaching style, tenacity and fight as Williams did for so many years. While its so sad to see him go, I’m mostly left wondering if it was always his plan, or if it was a wakeup call following a more weak season. Either way, I believe Coach Williams will stay apart of the team, school and community, as he has clearly influenced so many people around him. We wish you well Coach!! Just Kickin’ it Around…

High school wrestling fined in Flordia

In Orlando Florida, a power house high school who is known for its wrestling program, was just recently fined 57,000 dollars by the state athletic association. The reason the state is fining Oviedo High School is because the school allowed kids to wrestle when the school knew those kids were illegally living in the other district. Due to this, the wrestling program is banned for three years from all district, regional and state competitions. Many kids will most likely try to transfer out of Oviedo High in order to get noticed by college coaches.

The Oviedo wrestling team has won five team state titles dating back to 2004. In these past 7 years, the wrestling team has won state titles in 2010 and from 2004-2007 the team won a four-peat. The wrestling program has produced many athletes that have gone to Division I schools all across the country and serve to be some of the top wrestlers in America. The program at Oviedo instilled in their athletes a "win at all costs" attitude which is one of the main reason why the team and individuals were so successful while they were there, and another reason why many of the past athletes are successful today.

SCU CASINO NIGHT!!

Come support the Santa Clara University Women's Soccer program at their annual Casino Fundraiser Night. There will be an OPEN BAR, raffles, Black Jack tables, a Live Auction and more! Come meet the team and have a great time with friends and family. For more information you can look at the SCU women's soccer webite and click on 2011 Casino Night registration. Hope to see you there!

SaberCat's Legend Returns to the Pitch

The San Jose SaberCats are off to a great start to their 2011 season. With a record of (5-2) The SaberCats average over 60 points game and average over 17 rushing yards per game. They line up to play this Saturday (5/7/2011) at the HP Pavilion in San Jose against the Arizona Rattlers who are also have a good season of their own. With big names like Chad Cook, Mark Grieb, and Samora Goodson, the Cats announced today that San Jose’s all-time leading receiver James Roe has returned to the team for the remainder of the 2011 season. Roe is said to be one of the greatest Arena Football wide receiver to ever play the game and the Cats are very excited about the addition. During his none seasons in the AFL (2000-2008), Roe set the SaberCat’s franchise records for receptions (762), receiving yards (9,452), receiving touchdowns (232) and points scored (1,450). Roe is a three-time All-Ironman pick and received second -team All-Arena honors at wide receiver in his 2007 season with the Cats. He played a part in all three SaberCats ArenaBowl championships and will hopefully contribute to a fourth in this 2011 season. Owner and Head Coach Darren Arbet claims, “His addition will boost a deep receiving corps and we couldn’t be more excited…” To find out more on James Roe click on the SaberCats Home Page.

Battle For San Jose Pt.2

Whatch as San Jose Earthquake's John Busch and San Jose Shark's Will Demers battle it out in the Longball contest. This is their second competition for the battle for San Jose.

Sharks!

The SJ Sharks pull out another amazing victory! They could be goin all the way!!!!

Draft Mania

It is unclear who the big winners and losers of the 2011 NFL draft are, however I really do like what Cincinnati did getting A.J. Green and then having Andy Dalton fall into their lap, but the real losers might be NFL fans. With a lockout looming, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was booed at the podium on Thursday night, and there seems to be no advances in talks over the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Riddle me this NFL; when you have fans with as much passion as this guy, how can you even think about having a lockout. Just let them play, that is all we are asking for. Come on Roger.


Unlike NFL commish Roger Goodell, always go hard in the paint.

Bin Laden Dead

The breaking news of Bin Laden's death today has affected a lot of people in many different ways. This can be seen in the sports world, and specifically in tonight's ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game between the Mets and the Phillies in Philadelphia.

PHILLIESSSS

Whether you are a Philly or a Boston fan, (hopefully a philly fan), make sure to keep up with the conference semi-finals between these two NHL teams! Boston is leading the series 1-0 after tonight's game at Philadelphia.

The Story of Tom Brady

Almost every person in the United States knows the name Tom Brady. People know him as an amazing quarterback that has led the New England Patriots to many victories including some at the Super Bowl. He has become one of the most well known and respected quarterback in the NFL, but many people do not know what he had to do to get there. A lot of times when people think of stars, like Tom Brady, they think these type of people were just, lets just say, given their talent and career and did not have to work too hard for it. They say that they did not have to over come many obstacles to get to where they are today. Tom Brady is a perfect example of an athlete that was not handed everything he wanted. In college, playing at the University of Michigan, he was a top football quarterback. As the draft arrived for the NFL that year, the names of the people drafted kept being called off as his was not. The 4th round came and went, along with the 5th. Finally, in the last round, he got picked to go to the New England Patriots. Not only was he picked in the last round, but was picked as one of the last in the overall draft. Although this was defeating that coaches did not see the type of player he wanted them to see, he was determined to prove everyone wrong. During his first years at the Patriots, he did not start, nor hardly play. However, one game when the starting quarterback was playing badly, he got his chance. And this chance was one that he did not take for granted. From that game on, he stole the starting quarterback spot and worked his way to the top by the use of his strong work ethic, determination to learn and continue to improve, and by taking everyday as if it was his last. This right here is my idea of a real athlete that is always looking to get better everyday and expects the best from himself day in and day out.