Wednesday, January 22, 2014

A Little bit of Everything

SENSELESS IN SEATTLE:

Look, it is pretty straight forward that regardless of your education and the amount of time you spend slumming it with us civilians gives no right for Richard Sherman to act like he did. Blame it on the over-dramatized media, blame it on his adrenaline, blame it on the fact that Sherman just finished off arguably the greatest play of his career so far on his hyped up behavior, calling out individuals and sounding like an ass. Imagine two years ago, Tim Tebow making arguably the greatest play of his career since actually being allowed to start in the NFL, when he upset Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs by throwing a prayer down field to Demaryius Thomas, over the head of Ike Taylor for what truly was an incredible win. Now imagine the end of that game Tim Tebow running off the field to reporters and saying, "Ike Taylor runs like a little bitch, I knew all along I was going to keep targeting him cause I, Tim Tebow am the greatest QB of all time, ain't nobody stoppin' me now, with JC on my side and weak ass secondaries like Pittsburgh we're going on all the way!" But because he is a Stanford man and apparently spends a lot of time with the community all is at rest in Seattle. I cannot wait to see Andrew Luck's next post game interview after a big win. 

HALFWAY THROUGH: 

The NBA is approaching the All-Star break and the East has proven that they're about as good as PAC 12 basketball (with the exception of Miami and Indiana). Here is a couple of things I have noticed thus far...

1. Kevin Durant might finally win his first MVP and become the next Karl Malone of the NBA. 
2. J.R. Smith finally convinced everyone that he is a horrendous basketball player who shoots his way through the boo's of the fans. 
3. The Rockets need a new point guard, but I'd be afraid to do that because it seems every PG we trade away become superior on their team, take a look 
                     A. Kyle Lowry: 16.5 PPG, 7.4 APG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.6 STLPG
                     B. Goran Dragic: 19.4 PPG, 6.0 APG, 3.4 RPG and 1.3 STLPG
Fuck... in all fairness Patrick Beverley has been looking better and better, despite the injury. 

4. Blake Griffin might actually be getting good and I hate that...
5. Greg Popovich might be the greatest overall coach of all time (suck it Phil Jackson).
6. The media needs to cool their jets on the Miami Heat, as long as LeBron James is on that team, they will be in the finals again this year. 
7. A new wave of big men are finally starting to get the respect they deserve, (LeMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, Anthony Davis, and DeMarcus Cousins) 


GOALS, MONEY, AND TROPHY'S: 

Manchester United are actually looking to make moves?? Juan Mata's arrival will be nice, but be overshadowed by The Red Devils woeful play so far this year. A Champion League spot this year is certainly still possible, I'm a believer, but it seems that I'm in the minority. Oh, and please, for the love of God, will someone please, I beg of you, please take Chris Smalling off of our hands, because honest to God I'd rather watch the game with 10 men on the field. 

For whatever reason people keep suggesting the Arsenal is going to crumble faster than the Romans during the 2nd half of the season. The difference between the Gunners and everyone else? They don't drop points to teams they are supposed to beat, they win even when they are playing bad, and they are winning on the road (City better start taking notes). Chelsea is equally as dangerous, City has the best attack in the EPL, Liverpool will not make Champions League, and lastly, whoever you support, it seems that everyone is sort of pulling for Everton to turn heads throughout the season! 

Neymar is turning out to be exactly who I thought he'd be. The next Robinho. I undersized, fancy-footed striker with good pace, who occasionally shows up to games and scores goals. The truth is, he's about 8-12 years late in the soccer world. There was a time and place where the Joga Bonita players were the real deal (Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo (look how he used to play)) and the list could go on, but the footwork used to work, and don't get me wrong, it still does, but not like it used to. Even if you look at the best, Messi and Ronaldo, though their ability to beat players 1-v-1 is impeccable, it is done used speed and strength, small chops (Messi) and space. The step overs, flip flops, and spins have become less part of the game, which is Neymar's best attributes.

I hated the FIFA best XI: I posted this earlier and here is why: 

  I think that Dani Alves first and foremost should have no business on that list, not to mention they toally disregarded the LB position as both Alves and Lahm play RB. If you compare those two, Lahm is twice the outside back that Alves is. I would have picked someone who made a difference for their team. Look at one of the defenders for Borussia or Juventus. Secondly, Ibrahimovic? are you kidding me, just because his goals shows up on the ESPN and what not, playing on the only recognizable team in the French league, which could be argued as one of the weaker countries to play in, he better be scoring 30+ goals a year. But guys like Robin Van Persie, or Luis Suarez aren't on that squad, it's a joke. Thiago Silva is highly overrated in my opinion, huge fan of Brazil, but there are 3 or 4 center backs I'd pick before him (Kompany, Vidic, Hummels, Chiellini (sp?)) just to name some. and finally two guys who I felt got snubbed, even though I see why it is difficult to put them in there is, Ozil and Bale. Ozil for Madrid last year was unbelievable and Bale literally carried Tottenham on his shoulders to even keep them remotely relevant in the EPL. Lastly, and somehow I am in the minority on this one, I think Franck Ribery is highly overrated as well. Statistically alone, last year Ribery had 16 goals and 23 assists in all competitions, and he was nominated for the 2013 Ballon d'Or, here are just a few guys who had better or equal stats as that, Juan Mata (21 goals and 29 assists), Eden Hazard (17 goals, 21 assists), Wayne Rooney (22 goals, 14 assists), and Mesut Ozil (16 goals, 35 assists). I know that is looking at stats alone, but if him winning competitions is what is separating him then they could have picked a few guys from Bayern, not to mention any of the guys I just mentioned could go there and do they same exact thing.


CAN YOU BELIEVE THE MLB IS A TOP 4 SPORT STILL?? 


Seriously, baseball has to be the worst ran sport in history. If you think baseball is America's past time, that's because your a boarder-line racist. The Hall of Fame voters have chosen to ostracize an entire generation of baseball due to suspected steroid use. What they didn't look at is that baseball had its highest ratings ever during that time (Thank you Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds). Instead they elected Greg Maddux, an 84 mph fastball pitcher who looks like Ferris Buehler's big brother. The biggest news right now is A-Rod again denying steroid use on a career that is falling apart at the seams. Oh, and the Yankees just signed a new Japanese pitcher that everyone will forget about as soon as opening day comes. On the plus side, the MLB has finally OK'd the use of replay...congratulations on that, only about decade behind on a technology update that will now make your game even slower, if that's even possible. 


My new rules for baseball: 


1. if the ball is hit out of the infield a player must be forced to attempt 2nd

2. if any player (with the exception of the 1st baseman) can field a grounder and jog over to 1st for the out before the runner gets there, it should be two outs. 
3. anytime a player is HBP, as long as batters don't bring their bat with them, the pitcher better watch out, because it is fucking go time, clear the benches. 
4.  if a pitcher's routine takes longer than 15 seconds once the catcher throws it back to him, it is the equivalent of a balk. Stop touching your hat so god damn much, we know the heater is coming again, you're not fooling anyone. 


Sometimes I honestly wonder why I even follow sports anymore....