Big Sunday in Sports

With NHL and NBA Playoffs continuing to advance we had a very big day in Sports yesterday. Starting with the NBA, it was a game seven that nobody expected in Boston versus Atlanta. Boston won 99-65 on it's home court and proved that they are ready for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers next. The well rested Lakers beat the Jazz at home in a very good game and showed that they are ready to play. In the NHL we had two very important games in which two teams can win the series and move on to their respective conference finals. First was the New York Rangers versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins were leading the entire game 2-0 until the Rangers scored two quick goals in the 3rd period. The game went into overtime and the Penguins won the game and series in overtime. The Dallas Stars ended the San Jose Sharks dream in 4 Overtimes and moved on to their conference final versus the Detroit Red Wings. The Pittsburgh Penguins will take on the Philadelphia Flyers in their conference final.

NBA Playoffs

The NBA are in the midst of their respective playoffs. Many teams have advanced to the next rounds and many teams have been sent home early. Starting with the NBA playoffs, we see the #1 seed in the Western Conference Los Angeles Lakers who moved on by sweeping the struggling Denver Nuggets. The #2 seed New Orleans Hornets beat up the Dallas Mavericks and won the series four games to one. The Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets are still playing their series with the Jazz up three games to two. The San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns four games to one and moved on. The potential match-ups are the Lakers versus the winner of the Houston Rockets/Utah Jazz series. The other match-up in the west is the Hornets versus the Spurs. In the Eastern Conference, there have been a couple of surprises. The #1 seed Boston Celtics have allowed the Atlanta Hawks (with a regular season losing record) to win two games. The Celtics currently are up 3-2 and should close out the series. In the #2-#7 match-up, The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76'ers four games to two. The 76'ers really gave the Pistons a run for their money and made it a very interesting series to watch. The Cleveland Cavaliers are up 3-2 over the Washington Wizards. This series has been full of hard fouls and trash talking and should be a great ending. The Orlando Magic made quick work of the Toronto Raptors winning the series four games to one. The match-ups for next round are the winner of the Celtics/Hawks series play the winner of the Cleveland/Washington series. The Orlando Magic will play the Detroit Pistons in the next round.

2008 NFL "Mock" Draft

Here is my mock draft for the first 10 picks of the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft which is coming up on this Saturday and Sunday.

1-Miami Dolphins - Jake Long (OT, Michigan) Great pick here starting Tackle for years to come, can never have enough blocking in the NFL.
2-St. Louis Rams - Chris Long (DE, Virginia) Good value pick, is considered the safest pick of the entire draft.
3-Atlanta Falcons - Glenn Dorsey (DT, LSU) Will be a star in the NFL, Falcons may consider trading down, as they have way too many needs.
4-Oakland Raiders - Darren McFadden (RB, Arkansas) Everyone knows Raiders owner Al Davis is insane, and clearly taking a RB with this pick would be insane. Thus don't expect Al Davis to pass on McFadden.
5-Kansas City Chiefs- Brandon Albert (OT/G, Virginia) The Chiefs will get the most value out of this pick by trading down since any offensive lineman will be a reach, however most teams will not trade up here anyway.
6- New York Jets- Vernon Gholston (DE/LB, Ohio State) Personally I would trade down with the Ravens here and pick up the picks and let them get Matt Ryan. Even though that means sacrificing Gholston, he looks like he could be a workout warrior and disappeared in too many games in college.
7-New England Patriots- Keith Rivers (LB, USC) Personally they probably will trade down maybe with the Saints, but if they stay put, Rivers should be the pick. The Pats LB's are very old and need to get younger and fast.
8-Baltimore Ravens- Matt Ryan (QB, Boston College) Any time you can have your starting quarterback retire less than a week before the draft and still be able to draft the best quarterback in the draft at pick #8 there is no other option.
9-Cincinnati Bengals- Sedrick Ellis (DT, USC) They will get really lucky if Ellis falls to them because the Saints are dying to get either Ellis or Dorsey.
10-New Orleans Saints- Leodis McKelvin (CB, Troy) This will be the Saints consolation prize if all else fails. Getting the best CB isn't that bad of a deal after all.

Fantasy Baseball (Group Blog)

For this blog two of my classmates and I decided to do a group blog. Me, Frank Proscia, and Luca Giacona We are all in a fantasy baseball league together. Fantasy baseball is a fun thing and we had a live draft a couple of weeks ago with more than ten people present. Each of us think that our team is the best and will win at the end of the MLB regular season. Here is my analysis of my team:
Catcher- B. Molina (Great Value Pick and is very consistent)
First Base-R. Howard (Top 3 First Basemen, Capable of 50 HR's and 150 RBI's)
Second Base-B.J. Upton (Ready for a Breakout Year)
Shortstop-J.Rollins (Top 3 SS, Last year's N.L. MVP)
Third Base- G.Atkins (Great Year Last Year very underrated)
OF-M.Holliday-(Top Rated OF in all of MLB)
OF-C.Young (Nearly had 30 HR's and 30 SB's Last year as a rookie)
OF-B.Hawpe (Great Year Last Year can always put up numbers in Colorado)
DH-T.Hafner (1 Year removed from near 50 HR season)
B.Butler- Ready For Great Year in KC
SP-C.Sabathia (Contract Year, Top 5 SP)
SP B. Sheets (When on field is unhittable and ace of good team)
SP-F.Carmona (18 wins last year)
SP-B.Bannister (Near ROY last year ready for big year.)
RP-T.Saito (Top 5 closer in game)
RP-T.Hoffman (Well over 40, all time saves leader)
RP G.Sherill (Up and coming Orioles closer)

Kansas Wins the NCAA Tournament??

I have seen many college basketball games in my life. I can honestly say I have never seen a better college basketball game in my life. Everybody in America thought that Memphis would win easily versus a good Kansas team. Memphis was the better team in my opinion and had many more opportunities to win. However, they let these opportunities slip away and in such a crucial time. Memphis was up by eight points with less than two minutes left. Kansas realized that something had to be done. They started fouling Memphis because typically during the season Memphis had failed to make free throws at the end of the game. Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose, two potential top fifteen NBA Draft picks made a combined one free throw in the final two minutes of the NCAA Championship game. Kansas came back and with a game tying three pointer as time expired from Mario Chalmers they went into overtime. Kansas clearly had the momentum and won the game in overtime.

And Then There Were Two

What a weekend in sports. The first weekend of the new baseball season kicked off, the NHL and the NBA are wrapping up their regular seasons and are about to head into their respective playoffs. But nine out of ten people don't care about any of the above sports. Sorry but the NCAA tournament was down to its final four teams and only two would be left after Saturday night. The first game pitted the PAC-10 Champion UCLA Bruins versus the one loss C-USA Champion Memphis Tigers. Each time has their respected All-American Freshman in Center Kevin Love of UCLA and Point Guard and future top five NBA Draft pick Derrick Rose. The matchup was well hyped and Memphis prevailed with excellent play of Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts. Even though Memphis won by a big margin of fifteen points and this turned out to be the close game of the two. North Carolina and Kansas was supposed to be a very tough and physical game with North Carolina taking the win. It was the complete opposite. Kansas played the best basketball I have ever seen in my life in the first half turning a mere 15-10 lead to a 40-12 lead close to halftime. North Carolina got it close in the second half but Kansas went on another great run to finish the game and won by nearly twenty points. Memphis versus Kansas in the championship game will be a fabulous game but I am confident Memphis will win despite their constant free throw troubles.

The MLB Season Is Underway

The 2008 season of baseball has started. There have already been many injuries and many surprising starts. Already Pedro Martinez of the New York Mets, Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox, J.J. Putz of the Seattle Mariners, and John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves have already hit the disabled list with injuries. All of these pitchers have once been on an all-star team in their careers and their respective teams will miss them. Even though most teams have only played five to six games there has been many surprising starts. A lot of people picked the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series. Many experts believe they have the most feared lineup in all of baseball. However the Detroit Tigers are off to an 0-5 start. The New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox all have losing records. The Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles, two teams that are normally at the bottom of the pack are off to fabulous starts.

No Wonder Why It's Called March Madness

What a great weekend of college basketball in the NCAA Tournament. There were more upsets, more surprising victories and much more. Many people had their brackets busted by the lowly 10 seed Davidson upsetting a 7,2,3 and nearly a #1 seed. Finally the Kansas Jayhawks held off the Davidson Wildcats and there was a lot of tension with Davidson missing a shot at the buzzer to go to the Final four. The biggest surprise was all four #1 seeds making the Final Four. The North Carolina Tar Heels, the Kansas Jayhawks, the UCLA Bruins, and the Memphis Tigers became the first four #1 seeds to all make the Final Four in the entire history of the NCAA Tournament. Every year there is always the sleeper team that beats one of the #1 seeds. This year a couple of teams came close but the four best teams prevailed. There can be no argument of the selection committee as they got the four number one seeds right. I am rooting for the two underdogs Kansas and UCLA as I am in a couple of brackets and both have them in the championship game. Honestly I believe that North Carolina and Memphis have better chances to win but you never know what could happen. All of these teams are extremely talented and all have incredible coaches that will benefit each team.

2008 MLB Preview

In this blog I will write about the upcoming season of baseball and my predictions for each division winner and who will be in and who will win the 2008 World Series. Although the baseball season has officially started with the two games the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics played overseas in Japan, the games were filled with minor league players. Starting with the AL East I think the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays will give the Red Sox a run for their money but in the end the Red Sox will prevail in the East. In the AL Central the battle will be intense between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers but pitching will help the Indians prevail in the end. In the AL West I believe the Seattle Mariners will be very good but will not be able to match up with Anaheim Angels offense and the Angels will prevail. I think that the Red Sox will once again come out of the AL for the second straight year to make the World Series. In the NL East I believe that the New York Mets will coast with the addition of ace Johan Santana. The Phillies will contest but will be no match for the Mets. In the NL Central I believe it is the Chicago Cubs year to win the division and will get little to no competition. In the NL West I believe that the Arizona Diamonbacks and their starting pitching will lead them to a division crown. I believe the World Series will be a rematch of the 1986 World Series and once again the New York Mets will be World Champions

2008 NCAA Tournament: Bracket Busters Galore!

The first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament have come and gone. Many teams expected to be in the Sweet 16 are still around while there are many teams that nobody could have guessed would be here. there are teams that should be here but heading home instead of sticking around. All of the #1 seeded teams are still around whom are North Carolina, UCLA, Kansas, and Memphis. Very surprisingly two #2 seeds have been sent home prematurely and they are Georgetown and Duke, respectively. The other two #2 seeds Texas and Tennessee are still going strong. All four of the #3 seeds are around and this includes Wisconsin, Stanford, Xavier, and Louisville. Only one #4 seed is left and that is Washington State. Only one # seed as well in Michigan State. Now come the teams that nobody expected to even win their first game. They are Villanova, Western Kentucky, West Virginia, and finally Davidson. Davidson perhaps the slimmest of them all of making it this far. You can see a picture of their star player Stephen Curry above. I feel that the rest of the tournament will be extremely interesting and I will cover more as we go along.

Houston Rockets 22-0 and still counting?

The Houston Rockets have won twenty two games in a row. They have won 13 games without arguably their best player Center Yao Ming. Nobody could have ever pictured this after the day everyone found out that Yao would be out for the rest of the season. They have played great team basketball and each one of their role players have stepped up huge since the absence of Yao. Rafer Alston, Shane Battier, Chuck Hayes, Dikembe Mutombo and rookie Luis Scola have all helped star Tracy McGrady fill in for the absence of Yao Ming. Many people have questioned their wins since they have beat good teams also missing many of their star players. This has included Pau Gasol of the Lakers, David West of the Hornets, and many others. Even tonight they face the league best Boston Celtics without Ray Allen in which figures to be another great game.

NFL Free Agency Roundup

NFL Free Agency has been going on for nearly two weeks now and many major moves have been made. Most of the moves made involved a lot of teams resigning their own players due to the increase in the salary cap. Some notable players who either resigned or received a franchise tag include Randy Moss, Jared Allen, Albert Haynesworth, Terrell Suggs, Lance Briggs, Marcus Trufant, and Nnamdi Asomugha. In recent years this may not have happened but since more teams have a lot of cap room they feel that they would rather contain their own players. Some big name players moving to other teams either through free agency include CB Asante Samuel to the Philadelphia Eagles, G Alan Faneca to the New York Jets, RB Michael Turner to the Atlanta Falcons, WR Bernard Berrian to the Minnesota Vikings, WR Javon Walker to the Oakland Raiders. Also there a ton of trades involving many impact players and they include Shaun Rogers, Marcus Stroud, Jonathan Vilma, Corey Williams, Kris Jenkins, Leigh Bodden, Brian Griese, Troy Williamson. All of these moves will affect the upcoming NFL Draft.

Big Saturday in Basketball

Today was a huge day in the wide world of basketball. On the NCAA front Duke faced off with North Carolina in the most heated rivalry in all of sports. North Carolina led by All-Pro foward Tyler Hansbrough won on Senior Night in Cameron for the third straight year. Duke played with a high intensity but North Carolina prevailed in the end. Georgetown wrapped up the Big East with a win over Louisville. Next Sunday is Selection Sunday and we will see the outcomes of the conference tournaments this week.
On the NBA front the Houston Rockets won their 18th game in a row despite the season ending injury to Yao Ming 2 weeks ago. They beat another very hot Western Conference team in the New Orleans Hornets. Also Jason Kidd faced his former team in the New Jersey Nets. Despite Kidd's 3 points he had 13 assists leading the Dallas Mavericks to the easy win. The New York Knicks lost again as usual to the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite Nate Robinson's career high 45 points the Knicks were no match while missing stars Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph, and Eddy Curry.

Brett Favre: The Epitome of Class

Brett Favre hands down is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time. Also he is probably the classiest quarterback to ever step onto a football field. On March 4th, 2008 after seventeen years in the NFL Brett Favre walked away and retired. There has been retirement speculation for the past couple of seasons. I truly thought Favre would play one more year considering how close he was to the Super Bowl last year. The Green Bay Packers now will finally hand the reigns to young quarterback Aaron Rodgers who was drafted a couple of years ago to be Favre's successor in time. Aaron Rodgers has some giant shoes to fill in Green Bay. Favre will walk away with many records including the most Passing Yards, most Touchdown Passes, the wins by a QB starter and the most interceptions. He also has the most memorable Monday Night Football performance of all time. Favre played less than 24 hours after his father suddenly died in a car accident, and had probably his best and most emotional game in his career. This showed the class that he had and he will truly be missed by all NFL fans. You can watch the press conference below.

Political World

Today I will take a change of pace and steer away from the world of sports. Instead I will focus on the political spectrum and the major news going on in the world of politics. John McCain has basically wrapped up the Republican Presidential nomination since every major Republican nominee has withdrawn with the exception of Mike Huckabee. McCain has a major shot to win the presidency as he fits the stereotypical president. Now I'll shift to the Democrat side with the intense battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Obama has won ten straight contests over Clinton and she is reeling. She needs to come back very strong in the next two in Texas and in Ohio. Many political analysts believe that Clinton is hanging by a thread and if she doesn't do extremely well in the next two contests her chances will be slim to none. Personally I believe Obama has the inside track to the nomination and will be a very strong candidate for the presidency if he gets the nomination.

Wide World of Sports

Today my blog will not focus on one sport but just a range of different things going on in many sports. First I will touch on the NHL which I rarely touch on. The New York Rangers last night were up 5-0 in the middle of the second period. This is a huge lead in hockey and practically always the game is basically over. Well the Montreal Canadians came back to tie the game in the third period. After a scoreless Overtime period the two teams went to a shootout. The Rangers couldn't even score in the shootout and wound up losing the game. This made history as this comeback from 5 goals down is extremely uncommon.
Tonight in the NBA will be Shaquille O'Neal's first game with the Phoenix Suns. He has been sidelined with injury but something tells me he wouldn't miss the game unless he was severely hurt. The Suns will be taking on the Los Angeles Lakers, which is Shaq's former team and he left in a bad way bashing the Lakers other star player in Kobe Bryant. I will be watching this game and many people are looking forward to the meeting between Kobe and Shaq.

News on the NBA Front

So very busy weekend for the NBA. Obviously the NBA All-Star Game alone attracts a massive amount of people but to tell you the truth people enjoy the two nights more than the actual game itself. On Friday night they have the Rookie vs. Sophomore game which is always entertaining and many fans really enjoy to watch the future talent in the NBA. Saturday night which is my personal favorite contains the Skills Challenge, the 3-Point Shootout and the Slam Dunk Contest. The Skills Challenge is very underrated in my opinion and is very enjoyable. The Slam Dunk Contest this year was extremely entertaining with a young star tickle me elmo in Dwight Howard showing his incredible talent with some great dunks. Dwight Howard made some dunks that nobody else ever could make and this is going to make the NBA a lot of money. Also on the NBA front is the news that Jason Kidd will finally be traded to the Dallas Mavericks. This instantly improves the Mavericks and I expect them to a major contender in the playoffs if the trade is finalized.

Oh Roger...

Today my blog will focus on the recent cheating scandals going on in the MLB and the NFL. Roger Clemens and Roger Goodell are both directly involved in these scandals.

First is Roger Clemens, please advise being a Mets fan I am extremely biased towards Roger Clemens already. We all know the famous incident during the 2000 World Series when Roger Clemens through at Mike Piazza's head and then threw the splintered bat at him. Well according to the Mitchell Report released in December Roger Clemens was on steroids while as a member of the 2000 New York Yankees as well as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. So since we mostly assumed he was on steroids like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Jason Giambi our tax dollars are hard at work investigating this meaningless cause. So his accuser Brian McNamee and Roger Clemens were in court last week to attempt to decipher the situation. Basically nobody believes Clemens and I think he is lying and guilty and should be thrown in jail for perjury.
Now we get to Roger Goodell who is the commissioner of the NFL. First came Spygate and how the New England Patriots secretly were stealing New York Jets signals during the first game of the regular season. Allegedly he destroyed the tapes for no apparent reason and this angered a senator and thus more tax dollars were wasted under this stupid investigation. Next are more allegations that the Patriots cheated but this time was back in the 2001 Super Bowl and they taped the St. Louis Rams practices. And now Goodell apparently promised money to the wife of the a paralyzed man hurt by troubled player Pacman Jones. This woman has publicly stated that they received no financial help from the league and is very upset.

NBA Trades

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3226203

Some new news on the NBA front with major trades going on in the last couple of weeks. Two top NBA stars were traded to major playoff contenders in the Western Conference. Pau Gasol was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers from the Memphis Grizzlies for Kwame Brown, Aaron McKie and Javaris Crittenton, the draft rights to Marc Gasol and first-round picks in 2008 and 2010. My analysis of this trade is that Memphis simply waited too long to trade Gasol. Over the summer they had better offers from the Chicago Bulls and didn't pull the trigger. Now they got a bust of a former top 5 draft pick and two future picks that are sure to be late in the first round. The Lakers are now a major threat and an instant Finals contender.
Next was the biggest trade in the NBA in the past few years. It brought Shaquille O'Neal from the struggling NBA worst Miami Heat to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. I think that Miami got a great deal out of Shaq who hasn't been the same since they won a couple years ago. They got an all-star player and a decent backup for Wade. On the other hand I understand that Shawn Marion wanted out of Phoenix but they could have gotten a better deal for him instead of getting an aging overpaid Shaq.

Giants Win Super Bowl

Well I have to give the New York Giants kudos for winning the Super Bowl. Although I am a New York Jets fan and was torn by who to root for as I hated both teams equally. I thought Eli Manning would have no chance against an experienced defense and I was wrong. The Giants played well and played tough on defense and this led to the win. Their defensive line got intense pressure on Tom Brady and he was forced to rush his throws thus causing many badly thrown passes and a lot of incompletions. Congratulations to the Giants and Eli Manning who finally showed his true colors. It must be nice to be Archie Manning to have two sons who have won Super Bowls which is the highest plateau in all of football. It is a great day for The Manning family.

Johan Santana

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3227403
After making many met fans nervous for the past 73.5 hours, Johan Santana and the New York Mets came to terms on a record breaking deal. The deal which was just announced 30 minutes ago is for seven years and 150.75 million dollars. It must feel nice to wake up in the morning and know all you have to do is pass a physical to make 150 million dollars. The MLB had to grant an extra two hours past the original 72 hour window they were given so the two sides could continue negotiating. It must feel nice for his agent too who just made 15 million dollars after his 10% cut. It is a good day for met fans knowing that they have the best pitcher in baseball for the next seven years.

Welcome Post

Welcome to the exciting world of New York Sports. A lot of things going on in the news right now involving New York Sports. One big story is the New York Mets trading four young prospects to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Johan Santana who is perhaps the best pitcher in baseball. Met fans have been waiting all offseason for them to make a big move after their terrible collapse last September in the stretch run. Also the New York Giants are trying to win their first Super Bowl for the first time since 1990. The Giants will be playing the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII on Sunday. The Giants have been underdogs throughout the playoffs and that won't change this Sunday. The current line on the game is the Patriots favored to win by 12 points. Personally I feel that the Patriots will win but the game will be closer than expected.