Goodbye November

It was being reported the beginning of last week by the New York Daily News that according to a source close to the lockout action that Commissioner David Stern had plans to cancel two more weeks of the regular season.  Well after no deal was reached after the players and owners met on Friday Stern has decided to cancel games through November 30th.

After meeting for 30 hours over a span of 3 days the week ending October 21st, labor talks broke down on Thursday October 20th after players and owners were still having difficulties agreeing on the revenue split and salary cap system.  After those meetings were unsuccessful Stern held off on cancelling the rest of November games waiting to see if there would be any meetings held between the two sides last week.  

Sides met back up beginning Wednesday October 26th, meeting for a bout 10 hours.  Stern was scared going into Wednesday's meeting that if a deal wasn't met within that week that games may be cancelled through Christmas.  After getting nowhere in the BRI split talks the players reduced their proposed 53-47% split down to 52.5%, which based off of last year's revenue the players would gain about $100 million more than the owners.

After meeting again on Friday October 28th and no deal was reached Stern made the difficult decision to cancel the rest of November games. The split of league revenue is the only thing currently holding back the two sides from an agreement. It is being reported that the deal is 95% done but the BRI is the only thing that the two sides can not seem to agree on.  Stern went over a "tentative agreement" on most of the system issues in the meeting of Friday which included midlevel exception starting at $5 million a year and contract lengths would be 5 years for players returning to their teams and 4 years for players leaving their team for another.  Once the BRI was brought up talks broke down once again with owners refusing to go over 50% for the players and players refusing to accept anything less that 52%.

No more meetings have been scheduled thus far and it is estimated that the players will lose approximately $350 million dollars with games being cancelled during the month of November. 

"We held out that joint hope together, but in light of the breakdown of talks there will not be a full NBA season under any circumstances.  It's not practical, possible or prudent to have a full season now." 

-David Stern

Congratulations Cardinals

In an unusual twist to the World Series the Cardinals are the 2011 World Series Champions.  When it seemed like the the title was out of their reach during Game 6 being down 7-4 in the bottom of the 7th, the Cardinals fought back winning the game 10-9 in which they tied series 3-3.    The St. Louis Cardinals went into game 7 with the momentum from the end of game 6 and went on to win game 7 and the World Series 6-2 over the Texas Rangers

Congratulations St. Louis Cardinals

NFL Week 7 Recap

(Photo: Duane Burleson/Associated Press)

Week 7 was a week for the books, a couple of records wore broken and some greats stepped up to the plate.  This week was also the week of "new" quarterbacks with 4 different teams starting different quarterbacks than they started in the prior week.  A lot of football fans tuned in to see if Tebow would prove doubters wrong, if the Detroit Lions would jump back on track, if the Green Bay Packers would finally win a game or if the Dolpins, Colts or Rams would finally win a game.  The NFL also traveled across sees this week with the Buccaneers playing the Bears in London.

Week 7 Highlights:

• Carolina finally got their 2nd win of the season against the Washington Redskin with Cam Newton throwing 18/23 for 256 passing yards, 1 touchdown, 59 rushing yards and 1 rushing touchdown.  The Redskins' Beck had 279 passing yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception in his first time starting for the Redskins during regular season.
• The Atlanta Falcons broke an on again off again pattern by winning 2 games in a row after holding off the Lions and keeping them to only 2 field goals in the first half.  Matt Ryan, who gave the Falcons a scare going down in the 3rd quarter but returned after being examined by the doctors, ended the game with 218 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 rushing touchdown.  Michael Turner kept it going from last week ending the game with 122 rushing yards.

ESPN.com & TrueHoops NBA Player Rankings

In case you've missed ESPN.com and TrueHoop put out a power ranking of all of 500 players in the National Basketball Association.  91 experts were asked to rank each player on a scale of 0-to-10 based on the players "current quality of the player".  A lot of people have taken to twitter, including former players in the NBA such as Jalen Rose and Rick Fox, to way in on how the feel about the rankings, mainly the top 10.  Below is the top 10 players along with some other big name players and their ranks:

 (Getty Images)

1.  Lebron James

2.  Dwight Howard

3.  Dwyane Wade

4.  Chris Paul

5.  Dirk Nowitzki

6.  Kevin Durant

7.  Kobe Bryant

8.  Derrick Rose

9.  Deron Williams

10.  Blake Griffin

Now I don't know about you, but as much as I'm not a fan of Kobe he would definitely be in my top and I can't believe they have Dwight Howard ranked 2nd and Griffin in the top 10 at all.  Carmelo Anthony (who's ranked #12 and his teammate Amare Stoudemire trailing at #13) is not even in the top 10.  The big name Celtics are not on the list as well with Rajon Rondo being ranked the highest from the team at 17th, Paul Pierce ranked 21st, Kevin Garnett ranked 22nd, and Ray Allen ranked 35th.  Although 2/3 of the Miami Trio was ranked 1st and 3rd, the 3rd player of the trio Chris Bosh is ranked 24th among the list.  The highest paid player in the league Joe Johnson didn't even make the top 20 ranked 32nd and was placed lower on the list than his teammate Al Johnson who was ranked 25th.

What do you think?  Do you agree or disagree with the player rankings?

For the complete list check out the NBA section of ESPN.com

NFL Week 6 Recap

Week 6 ummm yeah what can I say.  The talk of week 6 was definitely the near brawl between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Lions coach Jim Schwartz.  Battle of the Jims almost occurred after a handshake went wrong between the 2 of them and Harbaugh shoved Schwartz in the back while celebrating his teams win over the Lions.  If you have watched anything sports related since Sunday they have showed it over and over again.  But besides the battle of the Jims overshadowing some of the playing in the NFL for week 6 there were still some exciting things that happened around the league and with the 49ers handing the Lions their first lost of the season the Green Bay Packers is the only team in the league that is still undefeated.

Week 6 Recap

• Eagles ended their losing streak against the Washington Redskin.  Vick had 237 passing yards 1 touchdown and 54 rushing yards and although the Eagles won Vince Young was the talk whom entered the game for one pass that was an interception SMH.
• Before the Battle of the Jims broke out at the end of the game the story from this game was that the 49ers handed the Lions their first lost of the year even though the Lions held the 49ers to a scoreless first quarter compared to their (Lions) 10 points.  49ers Gore led both teams in rushing with 15 carries for 141 rushing yards. Lions Stafford led both teams in passing with 293 passing yards for 2 touchdowns.

Newton Returns Home

AP Photo
"Atlanta I'm home.. As they say I'm Backkk." -Cam Newton

Cam Newton returned home to Atlanta this pass weekend as he Carolina Panthers took on the Atlanta Falcons.  Fans packed the Georgia Dome ready to see the hometown phenomenon in  person, some fans with Cam's panthers jersey on, some with Cam's Auburn jersey and the rest in the Falcons red and black.  The game started out going toe for toe between the Falcons and Panthers but Cam and the Panthers were unable to hold on falling to the hometown Falcons 31-17.

Falcons returned to the running game with top draft pick Julio Jones being out this game due to a hamstring injury that was suffered in week 5 against the Packers, a running game that was very successful last season when the Falcons went 13-3.  Michael Turner had a big game, which some expected would occur, and already had 62 rushing yards before halftime when the week before he only had 56 rushing yards for the entire game.  

During halftime the Falcons had a tribute for Deion Sanders as owner Arthur Blanks presented the Pro Football Hall of Famer his bronze bust.  During the 3rd quarter Newton gave Sanders a tribute of his own as Newton did the famous "Sanders 2-step" after rushing into the endzone for a touchdown, a touchdown which put the Panthers on top of the Falcons. Soon after the table would soon turn for the Cam Newton and his Panthers during the 4th quarter.  Falcons' Peters intercepted Cam Newton's pass with 6:06 left in the game giving the Falcons the ball back on the Panthers' 39 yard line.  Michael Turner later sealed the deal for the Atlanta Falcons scoring a touchdown with 1:56 left in the game putting the Falcons up 31-17.  Cam Newton ended the game at home by being picked off by Falcons' DeCoud in the endzone.

Turnovers played a big key in the game with the Panthers having 3 turnovers compared to the Falcons having zero.  Newton had 237 passing yards and 50 rushing yards, 14 yards rushing for the touchdown during the 3rd quarter.  For the Falcons Matt Ryan ended the game with 163 passing yards and 1 touchdown, and Michael Turner had 27 carries for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns.  It will be interesting to see if the Falcons will continue with the running game which was successful for them this week or continue to try the passing game once Julio Jones will return.   I do know that with Cam Newton once the Panthers get these figured out in Carolina they will be a key team in the NFL.

Lattimore Out For Season

After dismissing quarterback Stephen Garcia earlier last week, the South Carolina Gamecocks have now lost tailback Marcus Lattimore but not at their hands.  Lattimore will miss the remainder of the season after leaving the game during the 4th quarter versus Mississippi State on Saturday with a knee injury.  After further examinations by doctors Coach Steve Spurrier announced that the injury to Lattimore was more severe that had been expected and that Marcus would not return for the season.

AP Photo
"Our worst fear were realized," -Coach Steve Spurrier on finding out Lattimore
will miss remainder of season.

Lattimore suffered a torn ligament and cartilage damage in the left knee.  Marcus will be required to wear a brace and keep the knee stabilized before undergoing surgery in several weeks.

Before leaving the game Saturday Lattimore had already rushed for 818 yards and 10 touchdowns for the season and was well on the way to having an outstanding season for the Gamecocks.  Marcus' injury was suffered during the 4th quarter when a Mississippi State defender rolled under his left leg.  Freshman Brandon Wilds will likely be the tailback filling in for Lattimore beginning on October 29th when South Carolina take on Tennessee.

Hail Southern

Photo Credit: Randy Thompson/Savannah Morning News

Being an alumna of Georgia Southern University I can say first hand that football is a BIG, BIG deal not only at the college level but also the high school level in Statesboro, Georgia.  We take football serious and winning is what we are known for, GSU and Statesboro High School.  And before you ask, YES it is that big of a deal.

Saturday October 15th Southern took on rival Furman at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia, and Furman was just another team to fall victim to the Georgia Southern Eagles.  Southern continued their undefeated streak  now 6-0 (5-0 in the Southern Conference) beating Furman 50-20.

Southern began the game aggressive scoring 16 points in the first quarter and sending a message blocking Furman's extra point attempt with 6:58 left in the 1st quarter.  Georgia Southern kept the ball rolling going into halftime up 26-13.  Furman remained scoreless from the time they scored their 2nd touchdown with 10:59 left in the 2nd quarter up until their last touchdown with 4:19 left in the game.  During Furman's scoreless streak the Eagles continued to pound on the points scoring 10 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarter and then scoring 14 points in the 4th ending the game with a total of 50 points.

Southern's Shaw had 171 passing yards and the team rushed for a total of 361 yards in 60 carries led by Bryant with a total of 10 carries for 95 yards.  Furman's Forcier had 217 passing yards 1 touchdown and 1 interception in the defeat as Furman is now 3-3 (2-2 in Southern Conference).  Georgia Southern remains number one in FCS (Division I-AA) Southern Conference.

GEORGIA....     SOUTHERN

UGA Defeats Vanderbilt

Scoring on six consecutive possessions in the game, Georgia held off to defeat Vanderbilt 33-28.  UGA needed to victory last night to remain in 2nd place in the SEC East behind the South Carolina Gamecocks.  The victory made UGA 4-1 in the SEC East Conference and 5-2 overall.

The game went down to the wire and came down to a penalty with 7 seconds left in the game.  With 1:12 left in the game Vanderbilt's Rodgers pass was intercepted by Georgia's Rambo which sealed the victory for the Bulldogs.  Vanderbilt continued to fight blocking Georgia's punt getting the ball on Georgia's 19 yard line.  During the punt Vanderbilt received a 5 yard penalty pushing the ball back to the 24 yard line and within 7 seconds the Bulldogs had officially gotten the victory over Vanderbilt.

Georgia's Aaron Murray had a career high in passing yards with 326 yards for 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.  UGA's Brown also had a great game with 4 receptions for 121 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns.

Gamecocks Escape Bulldogs

Alshon Jeffrey catches a 4-yard touchdown pass from
Connor Shaw with 3:50 left in the game 

Earlier this week South Carolina's quarterback Stephen Garcia was dismissed from the team which resulted from Garcia testing positive for marijuana and alcohol.  Garcia's positive testing for alcohol was a violation of agreement between with Garcia that stipulated he would not drink alcohol.  South Carolina was unable to play pass the controversy and get the 14-12 victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Shaw which has started the last 2 games in place of Garcia was 20 for 38 in passing with 155 passing yards 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. The Bulldogs' Russell had similar numbers with 165 passing yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.  

The 'cocks trailed the 'dogs 10-7 with 4 minutes left in the game when a touchdown pass from Connor Shaw to Alshon Jeffrey with 3:50 left in the game put the Gamecocks on top of the Bulldogs by 4 points.  With less than 3 minutes left in the game the Bulldogs were unable to capitalize during their possession and Russell threw an interception with 1:45 left in the game, sealing the victory for South Carolina as they proceeded to run out the clock.  Both teams great defense was the key to factor in this low scoring game and also led to a Bulldogs safety on the final play of the game.  

South Carolina's Matt Lattimore left the game early during the 4th quarter with a leg injury. Lattimore ended the game with 39 rushing yards and 1 touchdown before being escorted to the locker room.

Does Tebow Deserve Starting QB Position?

With 1 second left in the game Tebow dodges the defenders, byes time, throws the ball into the end zone for hoping for a touchdown that would have won the game....

The debate of whether Tebow or Orton should be the starting quarterback in Denver has been on the lips of analyst, coaches, and NFL fans since before the season started.  Even after the fans chanted Tebow name throughout the entire 4th quarter of the 1st Broncos' home game Orton was still named the started for Denver throughout the first 5 weeks of the season.  But after Sunday's game the Denver Broncos have had a change of heart and will be starting Tim Tebow instead of Orton after their bye week this week against the Miami Dolphins on October 23rd.  The decision came after Tebow entered the game during the 2nd half of Sunday's game against the Chargers for Orton.  Orton left the game with only 34 passing yards and 1 interception.

Once Tebow entered the game it was like a breath of fresh air for the struggling Broncos team.  Tebow ended the game with 79 passing yards and 1 touchdown, rallying the Broncos to within 2 points of the Chargers team.  The Broncos scored 14 points during the final quarter and would have tied the game if the attempted 2-point conversion attempted by Tebow was a success. The Chargers did go on to win the game 29-24.  In the 1st 3 drives of the game, with Orton, in Sunday's game the Broncos only had 1, yes I repeat 1 1st down conversion and failed to score in the 1st quarter.  In the last 3 drives of the game, with Tebow, the Broncos had 7 1st down conversions.

Tebow made a play in which he scrambled, bought time, and threw the ball into the end zone for a waiting receiver, if the receiver would have caught the ball the Broncos would have had a tally in the win column Sunday evening instead of the lost column.  Tebow has in the past made plays for the Broncos and was 1-2 last year in the games in which he started for Denver.  That last play had me thinking maybe Denver should spice things up a little and have Tebow starting or have him switching out with Orton because obviously there is something broken that needs to be fixed among this team.

Maybe Tebow is what the Broncos needed to improve, to try something different, but the question is if Tebow has been performing like this then why haven't the front office and the coaches given Tebow a chance?  Other players from different teams have stated that Tebow during warm-ups before the game is a joke, that he just can't play.  Maybe it's one of those things where you perform better under pressure but who knows.  Going back to training camp, analyst that attended the practices and even the coaches said that Tebow wasn't ready to play he needed more practice.  So is he goofing off in practice or does Tebow feel that he's gifted and doesn't need to practice?  How do you reward somebody with a position when they haven't shown you that they deserve it at practice?  "Practice makes perfect" right?  But all the plays that Tebow has made for the Broncos in the past from the outside looking in has looked like it was all pure luck, that's including the touchdown he scored last season in which he forgot the play they were running and ran the ball in for a touchdown.  But with this new change I guess we will soon see if Tebow really has skills and will improve at the National Football League level or will his "luck" eventually run out.

"I do believe he'll be successful, and he'll play well, for a small window of time," former NFL quarterback, current ESPN analyst Trent Dilver

100 Games Gone

"Both sides are very far apart on virtually all issues." -David Stern

David Stern has cancelled the first 2 weeks, 100 games, of the NBA regular season.  Games scheduled from November 1, 2011 through November 14, 2011 will not take place including exciting games that were taking place during that time frame like the Mavericks/Thunder, Heat/Bulls and Heat/Magic to name a few.

The owners and players are so far apart on issues that need to be solved that the cancellation of games were sure to come.  The main issue is the players wanting 53% of basketball related income.  The owners have offered a 50-50 split of the BRI and have already stated that the only way they would agree to a 53-47 split of the basketball related income is if the 53% was in the owners' favor.  The players received 57% of BRI in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement.

NFL Week 5 Recap

Week 5 in the NFL was very interesting.  The Eagles continued to struggle, the Lions and Packers are still undefeated, and Tebow finally got to play for the Broncos.  This week also proved that no lead is safe in the NFL. The Falcons held the Packers to only 6 points in the first half after the Packers had averaged 20 points in the first half before Sunday night's game.  The Falcons remained scoreless in the 2nd half.

Week 5 Highlights:

• Colts continue to panic with Manning. The Colts are now 0-5.  Colts scored all 24 points in the first half with Painter throwing for 277 passing yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Big Ben threw a career high 5 touchdowns with 228 passing yards.
• After only throwing 6 interceptions in 12 games last season, Vick threw 4 interceptions in Sunday's game alone.  Michael Vick also passed Randall Cunningham for the most yards rushed by a quarterback in NFL history in Sunday's game against the Bills.

Al Davis Passes Away at 82

"Just Win, Baby" -Al Davis

Oakland Raiders' well known owner, Al Davis, passed away Saturday morning in his home at age 82.  Davis was with the Raiders for 50 years as the coach, general manager, and owner of the "bad boy" team of the AFL and NFL.  Under Davis ownership the Raiders appeared in 5 Super Bowls winning 3 of them.  Davis is known for his controversial ways and for his role in the combining of the NFL and AFL. Davis is also known for hiring the first African American and Latino coach in the pro football world.  Al Davis was the AFL's Coach of the Year in 1963 and was also inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

"He is a true legend of the game whose impact and legacy will forever be part of the NFL," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Minnesota Lynx WNBA Champions

Maya Moore is once again a champion.  Moore and the Minnesota Lynx became the WNBA Champions on Friday after sweeping the Atlanta Dreams in a best of 5 series.  Maya Moore returned to her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia on Friday and scored 5 points and had 7 rebounds in the Lynx 73-67 victory over the Dreams.

During the first game it looked like the Lynx were going to have their way with the Dreams beating Atlanta by 14 points in game 1.  In game 2 and 3 the Dreams fought hard, giving the Lynx a run for their money only escaping with a 6 point victory in game 2 and 3.  Atlanta's McCoughtry led both teams in scoring in game 3 with 22 points as well as the series, scoring 93 points over the 3 game series.  In game 3 there were 5 lead changes and 4 ties but the Lynx were able to hold off and get the victory in Atlanta winning the franchise's first WNBA championship.  The Minnesota Lynx finished the regular season with a league and franchise best record of 27-7.

NBA UPDATE

With no agreement between the players and owners the NBA has cancelled the remaining preseason games and if there is no agreement by Monday October 10th there is a chance that the NBA will lose the first 2 weeks of regular season.  To keep up with the lockout check out the following websites:

NBA
Sports Illustrated
ESPN

With the lockout continuing a lot of players have turned to playing overseas with the uncertainty of the NBA season.  Kobe Bryant was offered a major deal but an Italian team and have recently stated that his decision about playing overseas is up in the air.  With the conditions of Kobe's contract with the Italian team, if he decides to sign, he would be able to opt out of his contract and return to the Lakers if the Lockout ends.  Other players have already signed to overseas teams and won't have the luxury of Kobe to return to the states if the lockout ends. Below is a list of players that have already signed contracts overseas:

Toronto Rapters:
Leandro Barbosa/Brazil

Denver Nuggets:
Wilson Chandler/China
Danilo Galinari/Italy
Kenyon Martin/China
Timofey Mozgov/Russia
JR Smith/China

NJ Nets:
Jordon Farmar/Tel Aviv Israel
Sasha Vujacic/Turkey
Deron Williams/Turkey

Boston Celtics:
Nenad Kristic/China

Chicago Bulls:
Brian Scalabrini/Italy

NFL Week 4 Recap

With week 5 approaching here are the recaps from week 4 in the NFL. If week 4 taught us anything it taught us that NO lead is safe and that this season is going to be interesting the whole way through.  The Lions are 4-0 (who would have thought) as well as the Packers, the Falcons almost threw another game away against the Seahawks, and the Bills received its first lost of the season at the hands of the Bengals. The Eagles "Dream Team" suffered another devastated lost that has everyone baffled at why they can't hold on and win a game. This season has been crazy, surprising, and very entertaining thus far and I can't wait to see how it end up going.

Week 4 Highlights:

• Shocker of the week: Michael Vick had 416 passing yards (the most out of any quarterback this week), 2 touchdowns and 75 rushing yards and the Eagles were still able to hold off and get the victory against the 49ers.
• The Cowboys held the Lions to only 3 points in the 1st half and in the 2nd half the Lions scored 31 points, held the Cowboys to a scoreless 4th quarterback coming back to get the victory making them 4-0 thus far for the season.