COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS

Ok so I didn't get around to doing as much research as I would have liked so bear with me

(1)Clemson vs (4) Oklahoma

Winner: Clemson 31-27

Why?: Well Clemson has been the best team in the nation basically all year, they've won close games and dominated, they did struggle with fsu's Dalvin Cook and OU can run the ball well also, but I just think Clemson will win today and be playing for the title.

(2)Alabama vs (3) Michigan State

Winner: MSU 20-17

I'm not buying into the whole Alabama is dominant thing this year. Yeah they're 12-1 but they haven't really impressed me, they're still offensively challenged against good defenses, and MSU had a great defense. This will be a lot like the big ten title game, low scoring and a lot of defense, oh by the way that's exactly the kind of game MSU can win, just ask Iowa or Ohio state for that matter.

One Armed U Florida Basketball Player Scores First Basket, Which Leads To An Important Question

Zach Hodskins, the Florida basketball player with one arm scored his first collegiate points last night.
Which you can see here:


Now this kid was a great story in general before actually scoring.  A birth defect left him with one and a half arms, was talented enough to walk on at Florida, now he finally scored.  But this lead me to a question, would he be as good if he had two arms?  Now you're probably going to think that's a ridiculous question of course he would be.  But think about it, this whole one arm thing had to have gavin this kid a huge chip on his shoulder, he probably worked one trillion times as hard as everyone else to prove that he's just as good as the guys with two arms.  Maybe if he never had this he wouldn't have worked as hard and wouldn't be playing ball at UF.  Now he's obviously got a ton of talent in the first place to be playing D1 basketball with one arm, and that's a great move he makes to score, but maybe instead he just ends up going D2 or to a smaller D1 school.  I mean I have two arms, and I'm never going to play meaningful sports ever again, this guy has one arm and he's better than probably like 95% of the world at basketball.  And how would you like to be a guy he scores on?  You know all of your teammates would clown you for that.  At practice the next day when they drive on you they put one arm behind their back or something, they ask you "remember when that guy with one less arm than you scored on you?"  That may bring the competition level in the SEC up actually, now Hodskins doesn't play a lot, but I think he should.  Florida isn't going to be great again this year so why not?  That'd bring people to the gym, I would want to go to a Florida game to see him embarrass people.  I wouldn't actually I'm broke, but if I could I'd really consider actually going.  Seriously it sounds like I'm being mean or insensitive but this guy is actually really good, I heard of him somewhere on the internet, and saw like a hoop mixtape of him on youtube, he'd probably beat me in one on one to 11 like 11-2.  Maybe 11-0, my hope is that I start with ball and just hit a 2 (or a 3 in 1's and 2's for those of you who didn't get that) immediately.  So in all seriousness I hope this guy keeps working and gets serious playing time, whether that comes this year or in the next couple years.

Jalen Rose Calls JWall Dropping 47K At A Strip Club "Charity Work"

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2599875-jalen-rose-calls-john-wall-throwing-nearly-50k-at-strip-club-charity-work

^READ THE STORY

I am not a fan of Jalen Rose, I think he's the dumbest TV personality let alone sports personality.  This however is pure gold.  Jalen dropping absolute truth bombs calling tipping strippers charity work.  What makes this even funnier is that I believe he's dead serious,  this man truly believes throwing singles at naked chicks constitutes charity work.  This has to mean Jalen does the same thing right?  He seems exactly like the kind of guy who would go and just drop absurd amounts of cash at a strip club.  Maybe that's why he always seems so unprepared and does't really know what he's talking about most of the time?  I mean Chris Webber did say that Jalen's Fab 5 30 for 30 was basically a sellout move, though I love that 30for30, maybe the only good thing Jalen has ever done.  He took the job for ESPN because he probably ran out of money after an unmemorable NBA career blowing all of it at strip clubs.  Or better yet "giving it all to charity."  You gotta love how he compared it Russ West donating $1million to UCLA, giving back to the school he attended, helping them continue to rebuild their program.  John Wall just helping those strippers do...what?  Pay for college?  That's bullshit, I refuse to believe people actually strip to put themselves through college, maybe that's what they tell themselves and others for their own benefit but come on.  Nope just helping them earn more money to keep on "entertaining adults."  Gotta love Jalen for this, being a dumbass finally paid off for him because everything about this story is gold.  #supportfullbags

Oh, can't wait to go back to hating him providing nothing other than stupidity to the ESPN NBA staff and his awful awful draft comparisons.  Just comparing white guys to other white guys, tall guys to tall guys, etc. etc.

Bo Ryan Retires

Sad news after the Badger win yesterday, Head Coach Bo Ryan steps down as head coach.  Now he did this for all the right reasons.  He wanted longtime assistant Greg Gard to be his successor.  After the loss to Duke (ugh) in the title game last April he announced this season would be his last, then said he wasn't sure if it would be and so on.  But he chose now because he wanted to finish the players semester, then turn it over to Gard assuring him a chance to be head coach.  There was no indication that AD Barry Alvarez would hire Gard once Bo retired and he wanted as I said Bo wanted that to be the case, so now Gard at least gets a shot.  As opposed to retiring at the end of the year where Alvarez could search for anyone to replace Ryan.  Now following Badger basketball for basically my whole life, I'm not going to jump off the deep end and say they'll fall back to constant mediocrity, because Bo has established Wisconsin as a great Big Ten program, and Gard has been an assistant to Bo for 23 years including this year, he did a lot of the recruiting, basically don't expect the program to change much, he may not take it to the next level, time will tell, but I guarantee that they'll remain competitive.  Now obviously going from assistant to head coach is a huge change and he may not handle the pressure, but if Bo believes in him that's good enough for me and should be for anyone who roots for UW.  This year was apparent it was going to be very up and down and rough anyway, so if Gard can have this team playing better by the end of the year he should have a shot with the program.

Now as I said, I'm a lifelong Badger fan, and for as long as I can remember there has been one guy at the head of the team, that man being Bo Ryan.  (He didn't take over until 2001 and I was 6 so before then it's a little hazy ok?)  Being a Badger fan there's been a lot of highs and certainly lows.  For example back to back Final Fours, those are positives despite losing in heartbreaking fashion to Kentucky in 2014 then beating them last year (only team to do that) then losing to Duke which is always the worst.  There's been lows, certainly, some early tourney exits, most notably to me in 2007 they were a 2 seed and one of the best teams in the country all year and they lose the second game to UNLV, that sucked.  Then in 2008 they were a 3 seed and had to get through Davidson and Steph Curry to get a shot at Kansas and a Final Four trip, and they got waxed.  Though Steph already had become my favorite player and I was in awe watching him tear apart the Badgers, but it still sucked.  But let's get back to the good because there has been a ton of it under Bo, 7 Big Ten titles, never finishing lower than 4th in the Big Ten, 2 Final Fours as I said, 14 NCAA tourney appearances and all of those consecutive, of those 14 tourneys he won 25 games before Wisconsin had won just 9 tourney games, 364 wins in those 14 seasons at UW most in school history, his record overall in college (UW-Platteville UW-Milwaukee and UW) is 747-233, he won over 70% of his Big Ten games (71.7%) best ever for anyone who's coached in the Big Ten at least 6 years, he never had a losing season at UW and actually only ever had one which was his first season at Platteville.  Just an incredible coach with incredible facial expressions and a man who simply won and won a lot, I'm really upset he couldn't get that D-I title last year I mean that smug Coach K already had 4, and that's 4 too many to begin with.  Also that group of guys on the team last year was a great group and they deserved it.  His guys stayed four years (except Sam Dekker but he played 3 years) his teams played defense, fundamentally sound, efficiently on offense, and took care of the ball, and played as hard as any team anywhere, they simply played the right way and were always a great example of how to play the game.  Coach Bo Ryan, I hope you enjoy your retirement, you sure as hell earned it, it won't be the same without you there.  And in instead of a couple gifs of Bo's incredible facial expressions I will instead leave you with perhaps the greatest thing Bo has ever done at Madison.  Enjoy.




I'll miss ya coach.

Dwight Howard Wants Out Of H-Town (reportedly)

Story: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2599493-dwight-howard-reportedly-unhappy-playing-alongside-james-harden

Dwight Howard needs to get over himself if he ever wants to win anything.  How little self-awareness must he have if he still thinks he can be the man on a championship team?  Honestly his supporting cast had as much to do with Orlando making the Finals in 2009 as he did.  And even he actually knows he can't be the number one, the two elite perimeter stars he has played with he didn't like it.  Star one would be Kobe, who yeah was probably starting his decline around 2012-13 when Dwight and Steve Nash came to LA and people expected them to dominate.  Dwight was hurt and collapsed under the pressure of LA for the most part when he did play.  Kobe hated his childishness and the fact he missed so much time with his injury.  It must've been better than it was if Kobe thought he could play through it, and Kobe is as tough as they come but still.  Now Harden, and James does as good a job as Kobe at chucking up shots and being inefficient, especially this year.  Personally I do think Dwight is soft, he just wants everyone to love him, and lets people do or say whatever, the only time I've seen him actually react and do anything was with fans, reeeeaaallll tough Dwight, super tough.  Now I know he's had some good years in Orlando, being dominant on the glass and on defense, but those are his only two good qualities and he doesn't even do that anymore.  He still gets 12rpg and 1.8bpg but when I watch the Rockets you just don't feel like Dwight really impacts the game.  I always thought he was overrated, he never has had a good offensive game, and probably never will.  He has bad footwork, can't actually dribble the ball, he really just gets put-backs and dunks.  Seriously though where would Dwight go?  Milwaukee might trade a promising young player for him because they're the Bucks and dumb personnel moves are their thing.  But seriously?  Who?  Off the top of my head I can't think of anyone, Boston maybe, they have enough pieces and picks to trade, and big guys who can actually score.  Now that I think about it that actually really works, I mean all the fans in Boston are considerably tougher than Dwight, and they might not like a whiney happy-go-lucky believes he's already the best guy like Dwight, but I don't like Boston and I don't like Dwight so that'd work for me.  Cleveland has Mosgov and I would love to see ultimate team player LeBron try and act like he likes Dwight.  Seriously the Cavs might not ever make the Finals with Dwight, I'm pretty sure he's cursed.  Kyrie, Bron, Love, and Dwight would be the new Nash, Kobe, Pau, and Dwight, who knows if it would actually work because locker room issues follow Dwight wherever he goes.  He got Stan Van fired in Orlando after complaining about him, though his system is what made him so good.  The Lakers issues are well-documented, and now this issue in Houston.  I would love to see the dynamic with LeBron and Dwight, if people thought LeBron was throwing shade at Love last year I can only imagine the side comments and antics, and unlike Love who seemed unphased by the media saying LeBron and Love didn't get along, you know Dwight would have his feelings hurt and would probably openly bitch about it to the media, that would be awesome to me because I could sit here and rip Dwight for forever already.  But back to the topic, Boston is realistic, Cleveland actually could I just don't know what they would trade to Houston in return.  OKC maybe, but they're more in the market for anything that would help Russ and KD offensively, that is not what Dwight would do.  Dallas is another team, and Mark Cuban and the Mavs front office aren't afraid to go after big names that might not work out (see Rondo last year).  Atlanta could use some size, but I don't think Dwight would fit well there either, Indiana maybe again I don't know what they would trade back though.  Apparently there was already talks with the Heat for Whiteside, but if I'm Miami I keep Whiteside, he has had his issues but he's younger and he does the things Dwight does but better, he's the best shot blocker in the league.  The Knicks are known to go after big names, but that would suck, I could not root for Dwight so I hope that's not a possibility, plus they're still feeling the effects of the last time they traded for a superstar.  They have no pick this year because of the Melo trade.  He could fit in DC, but he'd be option 3 behind Wall and Beal, so he'd hate that, Superman needs his touches if you want to win according to Dwight.  So all in all Boston is the only situation that to me makes the most sense and works best for SuperDwight.  Just remember everyone that Dwight should be your number guy, after all he is a champion, I guess.

Keep doing you Dwight, causing drama and not actually winning championships because you're delusional about your own abilities.

CREED

I saw this today, and I loved it.  It's a great movie, if you were a Rocky fan or not, though it probably makes it even better if you do like Rocky.  If you don't like Rocky I'm going to assume you're a girl or you just have no taste.  Rocky 1-4 are some of my absolute favorite movies, let alone sports movies, they're classics, anytime they're on TV I'm watching them, from time to time I'll burn through em on Netflix.  Creed may have surpassed the classic Rockys for me, old Rocky is just as goofy as young Rocky, Adonis Creed is an easy guy to like and root for in my opinion, it's just a great great movie.  I liked Southpaw, but I liked Creed more, that may be biased because of the Rocky connection, but oh well, awesome movie, go see it if you haven't already.

One last thing, I won't be doing much movie talk unless I see a sports related movie that's good.  I will not be doing anything about Concussion because I guarantee that it's garbage.  I like Will Smith as much as the next guy but Concussion looks awful.

Weekend (Plus Monday) In Review

So last weekend was the first without college football, minus Army-Navy, and it was still interesting, or interesting enough, I didn't really get around to posting anything mainly due to crying all Saturday because Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Golden State all lost.  (Knicks won though so I was 1-3 on the day)  Sunday I went to the Packers-Cowboys game which was great, kept trying to get people to call Eddie Lacy "feast mode" which is my clever nickname I came up with for him.  It's like beast mode, but Lacy is a beefer.  So here are a few highlights from the weekend.

Milwaukee Bucks End Warriors 24 Game Win Streak

This one was tough, watching the Warriors struggle after winning in double-OT the night before in Boston, and never really get in the game.  Then see everyone on Twitter overreact to the one good thing the Bucks will do all year.  The streak had to end sometime, and now maybe the Warriors can start a new streak and get to 34 and break the Lakers record.  Probably not, but if they can avoid injuries when the get Barnes back they'll still be nearly impossible to beat.  Also Bucks travel to Oakland to play the Warriors in the Roaracle Friday, I am predicting Warriors by 18+.

Badgers Lose (Again)

This is just a minor one, but as a Wisconsin native, and diehard Badger fan, it was bad enough the football team was slightly better than mediocre this year, but now the hoops squad is just struggling.  Losing to Marquette after making a nice comeback, but the last minute was brutal, Nigel Hayes with a couple bad shots then throwing a long pass out of bounds.  Wisconsin was expected to fall off, but I did not see a 6-5 start coming, including two losses at home (where they never lose) to Western Illinois and UW Milwaukee, just brutal.

North Carolina Falls at Buzzer to Unranked Texas

This one only sucked because the buzzer beater, it was a great game, I think Texas may be underrated, not a lot of love for the Longhorns, but they have great size, rebound extremely well, and Shaka Smart is a great coach.  The game was played in Texas and the arena was LOUD, if they can keep it up they could make noise in the Big 12 this year.  Now UNC played well offensively, though they were kept off the offensive glass all day, and they allowed Texas to shoot a very high percentage, though some of that was just Texas being unable to miss.  So that was Carolina's second loss, the first one being in Northern Iowa after UNI made a huge comeback and Carolina didn't have Marcus Paige yet.  All in all I can live with it, I still think they'll win the Championship this year, and I give Roy Williams credit for actually scheduling road non-conference games (Looking at you Duke).

Here's the shot.

NFC East: Still A Mess

Washington, Philly, and New York all won this week, so there is still a 3-way tie for first, all at 6-7.  So not great, but still interesting.  I honestly don't know who'll win but whoever does has to play Seattle and unfortunately I don't think any of those teams will beat them.

One of multiple OBJ moments from last night, guy is simply electric.

Green Bay Looking Not As Bad As In Weeks Past

Like I said, I was at Lambeau for this game, and it was great because beating Dallas always is.  The defense played well, and the offense made strides, still room for improvement, though.  The third quarter was rough, they didn't move the ball at all and the Cowboys scored and it was 14-7, but then the Packers scored two late touchdowns via a great James Starks run, and Eddie Lacy being a monster and we won 28-7 to move to 9-4, and I think securing the 3 seed in the NFC.  I don't think they'll catch Arizona for the 2 seed, they could, but I doubt it.

Manziel Looking Solid

Another brief one here, but Johnny Football was solid against San Fran.  Going 21-31 for 270 yards a touchdown, and a bad pick.  Cleveland was able to move the ball this week though as they won 24-10.  Johnny is now 2-2 as a starter this year, though expect a rough game next week when they play Seattle.  #pray4Johnny

The Case For Johnny Manziel

So Johnny Manziel was named the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns' last four games.  He's made 3 starts this season going 1-2 and his stats this year are 933 yards, (712 in those starts) 5 touchdowns 2 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 59.4% which isn't that bad.  In fact in his last start, which was against Pittsburgh, Johnny threw for 372 yards and a touchdown while completing 73.3% of his passes.  Now I know people don't like him because they think he's too cocky or because he goes out and parties, but I think all that is way too overblown.  Guarantee nobody would know about 90% of his antics if this was even 10 years ago.  If you put players from past era's into 2015, do you know how much of this shit would be happening?  A lot of it.  Could you imagine the Cocaine Cowboys with social media?  Even Brett Favre, great football player, but he's been accused of cheating on his wife a lot, and there are stories that Favre would be out drinking before game day regularly, Johnny parties a little on his bye week and big bad Pettine demotes him to third string.  Now personally I do not think Cleveland and Johnny are a good fit, literally anywhere else would be a better fit, owner Jim Irsay pushed for him to be drafted, and Mike Pettine really seems to hate Money Manziel.  Pettine would be that high school coach that tells you a drop of alcohol would cause you to lose a weeks worth of training or some bullshit like that.  Also the Browns have no receivers, a bad line outside of Joe Thomas, no running game, and a defense that everyone keeps expecting to be good that just sucks.  Manziel likely won't be the human highlight reel he was in college in the NFL, but football is a team game and he's been doing pretty good with minimal support.  Quick point, I also think Dallas would be a terrible place for Johnny, so anywhere but Dallas and Cleveland.  I think he simply needs time to continue to adjust to the NFL game, guys twice his size are just as fast, the playbook is 500 times as thick, he's gotta earn respect from the vets, and so on.  Also I think he needs a coach who's going to want him and support him and back him to the media or whoever, not Mike who looks for any reason to not play him, and is so back and forth and won't pump him up too much when he actually deserves it.  Now I don't know what their relationship is like off camera, but I can't imagine it's that great.  You know why Manziel ripped the SEC apart for two years?  He was confident and Kevin Sumlin was behind him 100%, he allowed Manziel to be himself and thrive.  As for what we can expect from Money Manziel these last four weeks (barring another Pettine change of heart) probably not a ton.  They play the 49ers, Seahawks, Chiefs, and Steelers.  I think he'll do well against San Fran, maybe 200+ yards and 2 TDs.  Seattle will probably be just brutal, he'll probably be under a lot of pressure and the dumpster fire that is the Cleveland receiving corps will struggle to get open.  Kansas City has a good defense but again maybe a 150-250 yard game and a TD or maybe two.  I think he can go 300+ on Pittsburgh at home, the Steelers have given up some big games to quarterbacks, and he already did it.  Then we'll see what happens in the offseason regarding Manziel and Cleveland.  If it's not going to work out there I have a couple places I'd like to see him.

New York Jets, he'd have good receivers, especially in Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, and they need a qb, and I think he'd be the playmaker on offense the Jets need to take the next step.  The NY media concerns me though, they'd hound him like no other and if he struggles they'd crush him.

St. Louis, Todd Gurley, a solid defense, not to mention the Ram's greatly need a qb and the Manziel to Tavon Austin deep connection would be much better than Manziel to Benjamin now.

Kansas City, Andy Reid is known to be good with quarterbacks, and Alex Smith is good but at this point in his career has proven he won't be anything special, and Johnny is a high risk/potentially high reward option that could help the Chiefs going forward.

Washington Redskins, eh maybe not, but I just thought about Austin-Manziel deep connection, imagine Johnny just rolling out and firing downfield to D-JAX, unstoppable.

Thats really it, I could've said Green Bay because I'd love it and he could learn a lot from Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy, or Houston because they need a quarterback, but JJ Watt is such a tool, that dynamic between him and Johnny would be poor at best.  I'd just like to point out that everyone is all over Johnny all the time, but number one pick Jadeveion Clowney had been a huge bust, he was supposed to be the next dominant pass rusher but he's been either hurt or sucking.

#TBT some of the best Manziel moments from A&M

Insane Full Court Buzzer Beater Game Winner

NEW ANGLE (via @JakeLunt07) pic.twitter.com/sPHFOa6y7l

— NBCSN (@NBCSN) December 9, 2015

YUP.  Insane, just wanted to end the day here on Balls on a high note, this happened last night I believe, incredible.  Badgers should recruit this kid to be quarterback because that takes serious accuracy.  Of course it could just be a lucky, one in a million shot but I'm keeping it positive, this kid could just drop back and throw bombs downfield all day and be right on the money every single time.

Great NFL Day in Buffalo Today

Well some nice tales came out of Buffalo today, and they were some great moments.  They may not hold a light to the pack of glorious drunken lunatics that constitutes #BillsMafia.  If you are not familiar with Bills Mafia look them up, guarantee you will not be disappointed.  So without further ado here's what happened in Buffalo, NY today.

LeSean McCoy Still Hates Chip Kelley

So earlier today LeSean was asked about his ex head coach Chip.  Well, he was asked if he'd shake his hand, because Chip said he'd like to shake LeSean's hand.  The highlights of this were LeSean saying "Chip can't shake shit."  He'd go on to say that he doesn't hate Chip, rather they have nothing to talk about.  Realllllllllly? Really LeSean?  You're going to follow up saying you don't hate him by saying you won't shake his hand because you two have nothing to talk about?  You don't have to talk about anything to shake his hand, literally all you would have to do is shake his hand.  Come up with something better, or at least don't deny you hate him, go straight from saying he can't shake shit to that being the reason.  I mean, if you are going to lead with "Chip can't shake shit" just go full I hate Chip and you all can deal with it.  I'm not saying he's wrong to hate him, by all accounts he seems to be a egomaniac and extremely arrogant, but don't try and act like you don't and say things that clearly suggest you do.  Pick a lane and stick to it LeSean.

Rob Ryan Makes an Appearance At Bills Practice

Yup, Robbie Ryan decked out in Bills apparel head to toe was at brother Rex's Bills practice today.  I hope for Buffalo's sake Rex isn't going to hire him, I mean he's proven that he just cannot coach in the NFL, and Rex really can't either, he doesn't need Robert dragging him down any further.  Can you imagine family holiday's at the Ryan household?  You probably picture a bunch of boisterous people, just being loud yelling, Robert giving a kid a wedgie calling him a nerd, Rex checking out everyone's feet or whatever, drunkenly guaranteeing a Super Bowl?  I don't know.  I picture Buddy Ryan just sitting there in silence, nobody talks, he just looks at Rex and Rob and just slowly shakes his head, takes a sip of his drink, shakes his head disappointedly some more, mutters something to himself and leaves the room.  Rex sits with his head down in shame for a while, and Rob piles food on a plate and proceeds to eat out back alone while downing a dozen PBR's.  On a serious note Rob being involved in coaching in any way for the Bills is a bad move, like awful.  I hope that Rob is just there hoping to be a part of #BillsMafia just pounding beers, smashing folding tables, and doing weird sex stuff all outside Ralph Wilson Stadium.

What The Hell is Jeremy Lin Doing With His Hair?

Started here

Followed by this

And Today THIS made it's debut

Seriously, what the hell is he doing?  I mean, I can't even find the words, straight baffled.  I guess this is what happens when you're trying to deal with the fall from the greatest of all graces a.k.a Linsanity.  Seriously, Linsanity may be the best moment of my Knick fan life, even better than the 50 win season that followed played by an infinitely better Knicks team.  Then moving to Houston only to have them trade for James Harden and have him take the spotlight from you, then being emasculated what I can only assume was daily by Kobe Bryant last year.  I mean I guarantee Kobe just ripped J-Lin apart on more than one occasion.  I'm putting the over/under at 53.  I guess if I had to deal with angry old Kobe who was trash last year, yet still shot it every time and refused to believe it was coming to an end, and I was playing like garbage as well and just had to take it from Kobes I'd be rebelling with outrageous hair-do's as well.

 Special Unreleased LINSANE hair style

Reggie Miller Says He Was a Better Shooter Than Steph Curry Is

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2597549-reggie-miller-comments-on-comparisons-to-steph-curry-warriors-success

First off, HA!  Reggie Miller is still probably a top-5 shooter of all time, an all time great trash talker, and I don't mind the guy, but let's all stop the bullshit right now, Wardell Stephen Curry II is the best shooter to ever step foot on an NBA floor no question.  Let's stop with the "he's great, but he has done it as long as" Ray Allen or Reggie, or Steve Kerr, or whoever.  I mean come on, he's done it his whole career, 7 years.  He's a career 44.2% 3 point shooter (46% so far this year).  40% is considered great, Steph has never shot lower than 42% in a year.  Reggie Miller was a career 39.5% 3 point shooter and his career high percentage for a season was 42.9% in 97-98.  Miller was primarily catch and shoot, Steph creates a lot of his own shots, which is a harder shot generally.  Ray Allen was a career 40% 3 point shooter, his career high for a season was 45.3% in 2011-12.  Ray another catch and shoot guy.  I mean come on Reg, its bad enough you spend half your breath on TNT sounding like a moron but now you can't get past yourself and give credit where credit is due?  I'm not writing this as a Steph fanboy or whatever, it's simply a fact, all I want is for one of these legends to man up and just admit that yeah, Steph is ridiculous and he is in fact a better shooter than I ever was.  C'mon Reg, you at your peak?  You at your peak was as good as Steph in his worst shooting season to this point, the numbers are there.  Didn't at some point Steve Kerr, who was as good a 3 point shooter as there has been in the Association, admit that Steph is the best shooter he has ever seen? Oh that's right, he did. (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/sports/basketball/warriors-steve-kerr-and-stephen-curry-share-a-bond-beyond-the-arc.html?_r=0 it's right away he admits it)  Wait, didn't Kerr also play agains Miller and Allen and these other names that get thrown in there?  Yes, he did.  Now some people want to argue that there's more to a shooter than 3 point shooting, I agree with that.  Free throw shooting? He shoots 90% for his career, which is incredible.  Overall field goal percentage? 47.5%, also very good.  This season which has so far been easily his best, he shoots 61% inside the arc (52% overall) including 73.7% in close, which is better than most big guys.  So not only can he hit shots from 30 feet, break everyone's ankles, put 15 moves on you then step back and drill a 3 in your face, but he can get to the rack and finish better than nearly everyone.  I can sit here and continue to throw out stats, but just ask yourself when have you ever see Reggie Miller do this?

or this?


orrrr this?



Now please, let's all get over ourselves and admit he's the best shooter ever.

Here's some great Steph Videos just for you all.





Just youtube "Stephen Curry Highlights" literally thousands of videos, all gold.

Stats courtesy of basketball reference.

Day In Review

So I didn't really have anything as far as posts today so I'll just point out some things from the sports world from today and give a few thoughts

Warriors Still Can't Lose

The Golden State Warriors are now 23-0, Klay Thompson went off for 10 threes and 39 points, before suffering what, as far as I know, was a minor ankle injury, after a slowish start the Warriors ripped off a 22-0 run and never looked back at PG13 and the Indiana Pacers.  My man Steph had 29pts 7reb 10ast and 3stl, shot 11-23 but struggled from deep going 3-11.  Paul George had 33 points.  Ended up being only an 8 point win for the Warriors (131-123) but the reserves played most of the fourth quarter and as deep as GS is their second unit can get sloppy in extended time out there.

Manziel Named Browns Starter (Again)

Johnny Football is back as Cleveland's starter.  I support Manziel, I know a lot of people hate him, and just refuse to believe he is capable of anything good now that he's not tearing apart the SEC anymore, but I think he can still be a very good NFL quarterback.  He won't be as dominant as he was in college by any means, but he can use his legs to either run, or buy time, and make plays both ways.  He appeared to be adjusting well to the speed of the NFL game when he was in there.  He does have 1 of the Browns 2 wins, and he also has 2 losses.  The losses came to Cincinnati who legitimately could go to and maybe even win the Super Bowl, and Pittsburgh who I mean, when aren't they at least decent?  I have a lot more on Johnny, but I'll save that for a bigger post this week.

MNF Was Brutal

I didn't watch much of the game last night, what I did see should barely be considered football.  I saw it didn't get much better thanks to twitter, and yet it ended up being a good finish.  Or at least it was close, Dallas won on a field goal in the closing seconds.  Hope they enjoy this one because though Green Bay has struggled lately, I highly doubt they're leaving Lambeau with a win on Sunday.

I thought I had more, but it is really late and I have to college tomorrow, so I'll come back with more tomorrow, I should have the time.

Byron Scott Benches D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle

(Laughing at his own evil plot)

(link to story) http://www.sbnation.com/2015/12/7/9868770/la-lakers-dangelo-russell-julius-randle-benched-byron-scott

Wow, Laker Nation has to be just bamboozled, flabbergasted, perhaps just utterly frazzled at this news.  What on Earth goes through Byron Scott's head?  Benching the number 2 pick Russell, and last years number 7 pick, who have been playing well lately, and are both in their first full seasons. (Randle played almost a whole game before breaking his leg last year.)  For a team that should be looking forward to the future this is just stupid.  Why take minutes away from two of your main building blocks of the future to try and turn this season around?  Look at your roster Byron, you have NO TALENT, kinda hard to win in the NBA when that is the case.  I'm not at all a Laker fan but this is gross, I want D'Angelo to do well (only OSU guy I'd probably say that about but I liked watching him last year) and its hard to do that when you're losing minutes because your coach is apparently delusional.  Though Byron has kept Russell out of the fourth quarter of some games for no apparent reason, the kid's got talent just let him play, honestly LA's ceiling is 25 wins no matter what five guys on this team they start.  Both guys are pissed about this and they should be, Laker fans should be calling for Scott's head if they aren't already, they may not be I mean a lot of Laker fans are just fair-weather/bandwagon/Kobe Bryant fans.  And how about Byron saying no way he'd bench Kobe, I get it's his farewell tour and fans want to see him but bench two of your young guys who actually have talent (and I think will actually be stars in the league) because you're unhappy with a 3-17 start.  Newsflash, that's the kind of start everyone expected anyway, your job is to be bad enough to keep your top-3 protected pick this draft and then begin the post-Kobe era.  As a basketball fan I hope this ends, I wasn't real inclined to watch LA outside of Russell and Randle, but now why should anyone?  Oh well, guess everyone will get to see more Kobe chucking up airballs.



Sorry LakerNation.

LeBron Signs On To Be Team Nike Forever

Earlier today it was announced that LeBron James signed a lifetime deal with Nike, the terms of the deal weren't announced, or at least I haven't seen them as of writing this, but it's supposedly the largest deal in company history.  This isn't really that significant, I mean do you really think LeBron would sign with any other shoe company ever?  Exactly, my only point in writing this is really that I think his shoes aren't really that good anymore.  I had the 10 low's, but none of them since have been a shoe I really would want to wear even on the court, they just don't look as nice to me.  There have been some great LeBrons, mostly ones before the 11.  Maybe it's just me, I'm not really a sneaker head, but I'm just not really loving the LeBrons anymore, but Nike will still make an assload of money off his shoes so I guess to them it doesn't matter.  Also LeBron could wear any shoes and as long as Golden State is healthy he won't win a ring this year.

Here's a link to a timeline of LeBron's kicks, just so you can see if you agree his shoes have been nothing special lately. (does not include the soldier's which he wears in the playoffs, also they follow the same pattern though)

http://www.cardboardconnection.com/complete-history-of-the-nike-lebron-james-shoe-line

I'm Back For Good

Hey those of you that actually see this, I haven't posted anything since my Finals predictions (which I killed by the way) and that is because I was busy working and stuff all summer and was really busy in school this semester.  Now that the semester is winding down and I have time again I have decided to get serious with this thing, I should be pretty active with hopefully a post a day at least, but with out further ado I will give you my reactions to what I've seen in sports since June.

NFL

It's been a weird season for the shield in 2015.  Carolina undefeated?  Not even the most delusional of Panthers fans saw that coming.  My Green Bay Packers going 6-0 and are currently fighting having a complete meltdown?  The Patriots winning?  Okay, everyone can expect that until Brady retires, but what about the Ravens?  A lot of TV's experts were saying they were a dark horse Super Bowl team, and they have compiled 4 wins, and now half their team is sidelined.  The Seahawks sucking was nice but now they're starting to get on a roll and are up to 7-5 and likely will be the second wildcard team.  I don't think a lot of people expected Detroit to be as bad as they were to start the year and even less expected them to turn it around, which they did, but after losing Thursday on a hail mary to the Packers any hope they had is probably gone.  I just want to take a second and say I think Matt Stafford is one of the most overrated players in the league.  Announcers love to talk about his arm talent, but that arm misses his receivers a lot, even Calvin Johnson.  He should never overthrow Megatron, just put it up and let him make the play, he's 6'5" and a freak athlete, I bet he makes the play.  I honestly didn't expect the Minnesota Vikings to be seriously challenging the Packers for the NFC North, but also Green Bay struggling is helping that happen.  I don't think Cincinnati will actually do anything in the playoffs, maybe win a game, but the AFC is New England's to lose, especially if they get their key injured players back.  Going back to Carolina I'm also not sold on them, I know nobody's beaten them yet but I just don't see them making the Super Bowl, let alone winning it, but I could be wrong.  One final thing is the NFC East, I think we all expected it to be bad, but not this bad, we could easily have back to back years in the NFC with a division winner under .500.  Obviously the Romo injury is a huge blow to Dallas, and the Eagles are just a train wreck, though they still have a chance and beat the Pats today.  Honestly I think Washington will win and then lose to Seattle (or Green Bay/Minnesota if the Hawks stay hot and get the first wildcard and GB or MIN lose enough games for that to happen)  the Giants are just, I really don't know, they won two rings with good defense, and they don't really have that. I'll have playoff predictions for the NFL in January, also I may do weekly predictions as well, we'll try 'em this week and see how it goes.

College Football

First off, thank god Ohio State missed out, I could not have handled seeing them win back to back titles, though they wouldn't have had they made it.  That being said I enjoyed Championship Saturday yesterday, Florida looked like they might possibly shock the world and make it a game, but they still couldn't figure out how to play offense.  North Carolina hung with Clemson for a while, and USC played 3 solid quarters against Stanford before rolling over and dying in the fourth.  Michigan State and Iowa did not disappoint at all (unless you go to or are from Iowa).  Great game, even when nobody could find their way to the end zone it wasn't a boring defensive game, at least not to me.  Then MSU goes on a 9 minute (!!!!) drive before scoring the go ahead touchdown to punch their ticket to the playoff.  First of all how insane is a 22 play, 9 minute drive?  Not even Wisconsin can do that and they can't throw, Alabama couldn't do that, nobody could, but MSU did and Iowa had Scott wrapped up all they had to do was make him touch the ground but they actually were holding him up and then he reached out and scored.  Overall I was pretty indifferent to this season, the Badgers were mediocre, so I was just looking forward to OSU losing, and they did.  The SEC was laughable but the big media people don't seem to want to talk about that, had Bama lost and no SEC team made the playoff the world might've ended.  The committee may have put Florida in even though they were ranked 18 by said committee.  Actually the easy solution would just put Stanford in and be done with it, but we don't even need to worry about it.  So the playoff begins December 31, with (1) Clemson playing (4) Oklahoma and (2) Alabama playing (3) Michigan State.  Right now I like Clemson to win, and MSU to upset Alabama, but those thoughts could change and I'll have official predictions later.

NBA

As I'm sure everyone knows the Golden State Warriors are incredible.  22-0 to start and they might not lose ever.  I just want to quickly say that, as a huge fan of Steph Curry since I first saw him in his first game in the 08 NCAA tourney when I was 12, seeing him dominate is awesome.  He is incredible and honestly already a lock for MVP and may be taking over as best player in the league right now.  Other early observations is that outside of the Warriors and Spurs, the West is an absolute mess.  I mean the Rockets have been disappointing, as have the Pelicans (though they were really unhealthy)  but if you look at the standings (found here: http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html ) there's a 2 game gap between the Thunder (third at 11-8) and the Rockets (eighth at 10-11) and some very underwhelming records, and I know its early and that could all easily change, but it's still surprising.  Also the East is much improved so far all of the top ten teams are above .500, let alone the top eight, and when's the last time that has happened?  I can't even remember.  Though I still don't think anyone can stop the Cavs come playoff time, even though LeBron may have back problems/is losing his mind (see: him banning hover boards and having player only meetings and just treating his 13-7 team like they're 5-17 because he knows there is no stopping Golden State and he can't handle it)  The Heat may be able to if they're healthy because they are playing great defense.  Also I still like the Bulls to beat them if they are healthy, which is always an issue with them, but they may need home court advantage and it looks unlikely they'll get that now.  If Derrick Rose can be a 16-18 point and 6-8 assist per night guy and be okay with Jimmy Butler being the number one option that will be good enough.  At least as long as they keep playing good defense and can figure out their offense.  Also quick shoutout to my Knicks not sucking this year and Porzingis dunking on the whole world to begin his career, all those Knicks fans from New York hated the pick and I was ok with it.  (I'm from Wisconsin, always liked NY don't know why, and the Bucks always found ways to piss me off and I could never get behind them so I gave up on them a long time ago.)  So my early finals prediction is Golden State vs. Cleveland and Golden State will win, probably in 4 but it won't surprise me if it goes 7.

College Basketball

Well after my Badgers tore my heart out by losing to Duke (who I also can't stand) they began this season by losing to Western Illinois, but they've been okay since then.  But can you say...UPSET??!!?!?  There has been many an upset early in this college hoops season, and you hear the experts talk about parity in college basketball and how far it's come in recent years and how they just really love it.  Also it helps that the quality of players is higher across the board and the best teams this year are not as good as they usually are.  I like North Carolina (really I am a big fan, again don't know why I just always have been) but I admit they're not as good as last years Kentucky, Wisconsin, maybe even Duke teams.  Still I like them to win it all this year.  Thats really it here, I'll have a lot more on college hoops throughout the year and my bracket predictions in March.

NHL

Haha I know nothing about hockey.  See you in April when I'll again try my hand at Stanley Cup Playoff predictions.

MLB

Not a big baseball guy, wanted a Cubs/Bluejays World Series to see hella home runs, but that didn't happen.

Other

Shout out to the US Women winning the World Cup.  Even bigger shout out to Alex Morgan, wasn't a huge impact player this summer, but she's still fine.

2015 NBA Playoff Predictions: The Finals

Golden State Warriors

Cleveland Cavaliers

Prediction: Warriors in 6

Why?: It's been a long time since the Dubs won a title, and it's been even longer since the city of Cleveland had won anything. The best player in the world, LeBron James, taking on the best team in the NBA. Cleveland is missing Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving was really banged up in the Chicago and Atlanta series. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson had head injuries but should be back to 100% by the time the Finals start. I think Golden State had a more talented starting 5, and easily a better bench, they are too good and too deep and think with the injuries, and the wear of 5 straight finals on LeBron will take a toll as the series goes on.  The Cavs may look to slow down the Warriors, which is nearly impossible, and out rebound them, but Golden State showed they can still beat that game plan against Memphis.  I don't think the games will be blowouts, but I do think that Wardell Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors will win their first title in 40 years.

2015 Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions: Finals

Tampa Bay Lightning
Chicago Blackhawks
Prediction: Lightning in 7
Why?: If you've read any of my other predictions for the Stanley Cup Playoffs you've seen that I don't know a ton about the NHL, just enough to slap some predictions together.  Here is what I do know, both teams have star power, Chicago probably has more but they're older.  The Hawks have been here before, twice in the last 5 years, now looking to win their third cup since 2010.  The Tampa Bay Lighting can flat out score, they lead the NHL in goals this season.  Both teams played great in the conference finals against the other two best teams in the NHL this season.  So this could go either way, but it should be a long, entertaining series that I think the Lightning will win.

Hey Readers!

I know there aren't that many of you, but if you like what you've read on here, and would like for me to post more often, please tell people!  The more views I get, the more inclined I would be to post, I have enjoyed doing this so far, and have a lot more planned, but it's kind of pointless if nobody sees it right?  So thanks those of you who have been visiting and reading my stuff so far, and again if you like it, share it with everyone you know!  Or at least some people.  Oh, also feel free to leave comments about your thoughts on my stuff, like if you agree or disagree, or give me your own predictions if you don't agree with mine.  Let me know other things you'd like to see, I know some people probably want some football posts, tell if you do!  I'll do my best to honor your wishes.

2015 NBA Playoff Predictions: Conference Finals

Western Conference:

1) Golden State Warriors

2) Houston Rockets

Prediction: Warriors in 5

Why?: I picked the Warriors to win quick last round, but I should have known Memphis would show up and win more than once.  The Rockets after appearing dead in the water after going down 3-1 to the Clippers, roared back and stole the series to set up a matchup between the top two teams in the better conference, and the top two vote getters in the MVP race.  That's actual MVP Stephen Curry and runner-up James Harden if you somehow missed that.  In the regular season the Warriors swept the Rockets, actually they destroyed them all four games winning by 11, 12, 25, and 13 points for an average margin of victory of 15.3 points.  Now Houston was without Dwight for the first two games, and you may not put any stock into what happened between two playoff teams in the regular season, but there is one key point I'd like to make here.  Houston won't have Patrick Beverly, who may be abysmal on offense, but is an absolute pest on defense.  Now Trevor Ariza is Houston's best perimeter defender.  James Harden is not the cone we all saw in last year's playoffs on defense anymore, but he's still far from a lockdown defender, as for the rest of Houston's perimeter defense?  Pablo Prigioni, Jason Terry, and then Corey Brewer.  Of that group, Brewer is the only good defender.  Who is going to stop the Splash Brothers, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry?  Sure you can put Ariza on one, but they can both go by Harden, Klay can shoot over Pablo and Jason Terry, Brewer won't play huge minutes, also if you go Harden and Ariza on Curry and Thompson, Harrison Barnes (who has stepped up in this postseason and continues to impress me) would abuse either Terry or Prigioni.  And then Klay Thompson is the best two way shooting guard in the NBA, and in all four match ups between these teams this season he has done a good job getting Harden out of his rhythm.  You're not going to shut him down, but Klay can definitely slow him down.  Both teams like to play fast and score a lot, another bit of bad news for Houston, you can't beat the Dubs that way.  Sorry for piling on you, H-town, but the only thing stopping me from calling a sweep is that it's the conference finals.

Eastern Conference:

1) Atlanta Hawks

2) Cleveland Cavaliers

Prediction: Cavs in 7

Why?: Atlanta was great in the middle of the regular season, but I don't know what to make of them in the playoffs.  Sure they won both their series so far in six games each, but they didn't do it very impressively, they didn't really look like a 1 seed other than when they destroyed Brooklyn in game 6 in the first round.  Washington was great this postseason, but Atlanta should have still handled them especially when John Wall was out.  The Cleveland Cavaliers on the other hand have over come the Love injury and they proved that when they punked the Bulls three games in a row after Derrick Rose's buzzer beater gave the Bulls a 2-1 lead in the series.  LeBron is being LeBron, and the Cavs appear to be clicking here in the playoffs.  I still think Atlanta can push the series to 7, maybe even win it, if they can get back to doing what made them so great this regular season, before they went into coast mode and apparently got stuck there.  They are called "Spurs-East" for a reason, and we all remember what the actual Spurs did to a LeBron lead team in the Finals last year.  It's still hard for me to believe the Hawks will magically find their grove again at this point in the season and take this series from Cleveland, but hey, it's the playoffs, you never know what could happen.

2015 Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions: Conference Finals

Western Conference:

1) Anaheim Ducks

3) Chicago Blackhawks

Prediction: Ducks in 6

Why?: Chicago is always good, I mentioned that in ,I believe, every other series prediction I made involving the Blackhawks.  That being said, the Ducks are just rampaging their way through the playoffs sweeping Winnipeg in the first round, and having little problem with a Calgary team I thought would have been tough.  I'm taking the Ducks in this series because they have looked like the best team in this postseason without question so far, but I still think the Hawks will steal a few games, because let's face it, they're the Chicago Blackhawks.

Eastern Conference:

1) New York Rangers

2) Tampa Bay Lightning

Prediction: Rangers in 7

Why?:  I liked the Rangers to win the Cup coming into the playoffs this season, because they were the best team, and have a lot of great players on their team.  They have been a letdown for me, as a casual fan their games have been exciting because they have ALL been decided by ONE goal.  However as a guy pretending to know something about hockey they have been frustrating because I expect the best team in the NHL this season to show up and win by at least two goals one of these games.  I mentioned after the first round that Tampa Bay was disappointing to me, well they were great in the conference semis after taking down Montreal in 6 games.  This one has become a toss up, but I'm sticking with the Rangers, even though they may never win by multiple goals, I still think they can win 4 before they lose 4.

2015 NBA Playoffs: First Round Reactions

Surprises:
There were a few surprises in the first round in this years edition of the NBA playoffs.  First and foremost my home state Milwaukee Bucks.  54 point blowout in game 6 aside, they really came out and played hard, I expected they would but I didn't think they'd be keep it up long enough to win a game, let alone two.  Games 1-5 in this series were highly entertaining, and if it weren't for the forgettable implosion in game 6 I think this series would've been just as entertaining as Clippers-Spurs.  Another surprise from that very series was Derrick Rose.  I hoped he'd play well and he actually did for much of the series.  He had some blunders (missed late free throw in game 3, got burned for game winner in game 4 after turning the ball over), but all in all I was elated to see Derrick Rose play somewhere between pre-injury D-Rose and this season's D-Rose, hopefully he can build on the Milwaukee series and continue to improve against Cleveland and beyond.  Surprise three for me is the Washington Wizards, I thought they had a chance to win the series, but I never thought they would do it with a sweep, and an emphatic one at that.  That being said Toronto looked horrible, but I'll get to that in a bit.  Next surprise has to be the Brooklyn Nets.  Not only did they play Atlanta tough in games 1-5, but they actually won the first two games in the Barclay's Center.  They were not playing very good basketball for much of the season, but they played well enough to be thorns in the Hawks side, and you can say the Hawks were still stuck in cruise control like they were in almost all of April, but still a 60-win team should handle a 38-win team.  Unfortunately this series was much like Bucks-Bulls as it ended with a blowout, not 54 points but 24.

Disappointments:
The Toronto Raptors.  They were a Jurassic-sized disappointment as they were smashed by the Wizards much like the real dinosaurs were smashed by a comet.  They let 37-year old Paul Pierce walk all over them, yeah he's a future Hall-of-Famer but still, the man is 37!  I expected this to be the most competitive series in the East, even Boston was thousands of times more competitive that had more talent in it's starting five than the Celtics had on their entire roster.  The Raptors played some of the worst offense I've seen a playoff team play in a while.  I've seen better offense in pick up games at my local Y.  Kyle Lowry was worn down, and he looked it.  DeMar DeRozan, while not known for his ball-handling, looked like he never dribbled a ball before, he couldn't get anywhere.  Yes Washington is solid defensive team, but they are no Chicago, Golden State, Memphis, or even Milwaukee.  This team played so bad 51 year old Michael Jordan and his prized number one pick, Kwame Brown, could've joined the team and been their best players.  Hell, Jordan probably would've been their leading scorer.  I still can't believe how bad they played, the only reason game 1 went to overtime was because for the majority of that game Washington was equally bad.  From there they went on to lose by 11, 7 (but they shot 37%), and 31.  Yes in game 4, playing for only pride at that point, the Raps heroically laid down and died.  A crushing disappointment not only for Raptors fans, but basketball fans, instead of a competitive series, one team was prepared and played like it mattered, and the other team was softer than a Drake hook.  Unbelievable.  Oh yeah, Toronto wasn't the only disappointment, though they were by far the biggest.  I expected more from Portland, though it's hard to blame them due to the rash of injuries that hit them late this season.  Also Dallas.  Rick Carlisle is hailed as a genius and even he couldn't pull his team together to avoid a loss in a mere 5 games.  Dirk looked old, the Rockets sheer athleticism of their front court alone was enough to force Carlisle to try and hide Dirk on Ariza, worked for one game, but for that one game all the Mavs played a great game, the series was competitive enough, but from a team that pushed the all-mighty Spurs to their only 7 game series last year, I expected more.

Mayweather Pacquiao Reaction

Wow.  That word effectively and simply sums up the "fight of the century."  However this is not a "WOW!!  What a great fight by the best boxers of this generation!  This fight was definantly worth the $100!"  No, sadly this is a wow, I can't believe people were forced to pay that much to watch an atrocity that should in no way qualify as a boxing match.  Where was the fighting?  Every time Manny Pacquiao tried to swing at Floyd "(just robbed you of your) money" Mayweather, he was met with a duck and quick jab, a clinch of Manny, or he simply just backpedaled and danced around the ring.  Before any member/supporter of "The Money Team" who happens to be reading this decides I have no idea what I'm talking about because that's how Floyd fights, I am fully aware that this is his strategy.  It just flat out sucks, and at the same time it epitomizes Money Mayweather.  It's known that the man is the quintessential coward, the fact that he is a serial woman beater is a prime example of this, it's just disappointing that in boxings biggest fight in the last 20 or so years he continued to fight like one.

You can throw all the numbers from the fight you want at me, I know Floyd landed 138 punches to Manny's 81, and the fact that Floyd even threw a few more punches than his offensive minded opponent did.  But how many of those punches were combinations?  How many did any real damage Pacquiao physically, not just damage his scorecard?  Manny, like 47 other fighters before him, could not crack the Mayweather defense, and like almost every other big fight of his career Mayweather did just enough between, avoiding any punches and landing a counter-jab every now and again, to win the decision.  Manny on the other hand actually provided some entertainment in the few times he was actually able to get in on Floyd and landed some impressive combos, but before he could really get going Mayweather predictably clinched Pacman.  I should have known this fight would suck, I heard all about Mayweather's defensive tactics, he duped me into watching this disgrace to any and all fighting, just so he could play the decision and walk away with more money in one night than most people will ever have in a lifetime.  Obviously he would win the decision, Manny hit air on 81% of his punches, but it feels like Manny should've won because he looked like the only one in the ring trying to actually box.

If you couldn't tell I was pro-Manny for this fight, not because of the whole "good-vs-evil" hoopla because that was really Freddie Roach and Team Pacqiao feeding America a load of crap because Manny's a bad dude too (though I still feel he is the lesser of two evils) I was sick of hearing Money claim he's the best of all time simply because he hasn't lost a professional fight.  A lot of guys probably could go or could have gone unbeaten if they danced around and refused to do any real fighting.  You want to know why boxing is so unpopular now?  Floyd Mayweather.  You could tell a lot of people hate the guy because of who he really is outside the ring, that isn't the kind of man you want to be the face of any sport.  Boxing has had it's share of villains at the top, most notably (outside Mayweather) is probably Mike Tyson, but he at least fought his opponent, Tyson may have been a really messed up guy, but he was at least entertaining.  Someone was going to get knocked out in a Tyson fight, whether it was Mike or who ever he was fighting.

Which brings me to my second and final point on primarily why boxing is so unpopular.  Not only is the face of the sport synonymous with villain, he simply is completely boring.  In a world where people expect to be forced to the edge of their seat with high octane, ultra-entertaining offensive sports, boxing's best continually delivers the opposite.  Why do you think baseball is growing less popular and football and basketball continue to look for ways to increase entertainment by tweaking rules to implore more offense and a quicker pace?  Mayweather the person sells more tickets and pay per view viewings because want to see him go down, however people fail to realize they will be watching Mayweather the boxer, a man who evades more punches than he does convictions, dodges more blows than Manny does taxes, and when he does hit it's sure to be quick and boring, his offense is there only so he can escape and reset his defense.  Who wants to watch a sport where it's headliner throws more punches at women than he does at other actual boxers?

Floyd announced he will fight one more fight in September then retire.  Unfortunately it's almost guaranteed not to be "Mayweather Pacquiao II" because the man is too prideful to take a chance that Pacquiao may get the better of him in a rematch, he'll probably fight the number 82 boxer in the world, bore the world to a victory (by decision), and then leave only to make headlines for more domestic abuse cases where he won't get convicted.  So in conclusion, the fight was so bad that it produced the rant you just read, and it made me wish I had watched Saturday Night Live, or the replay of Cippers-Spurs game 7 instead.

Here are some great stories from Deadspin:
http://deadspin.com/floyd-mayweather-is-a-coward-1701842801
http://deadspin.com/this-is-how-las-vegas-protects-floyd-mayweather-1699848463
http://deadspin.com/dont-believe-the-hype-mayweather-pacquiao-is-not-good-1696609726

2015 NBA Playoff Predictions: Conference Semifinals

Western Conference:

1) Golden State Warriors

5) Memphis Grizzlies

Prediction: Warriors in 5

Why?: I was almost burned picking the Warriors to sweep the Pelicans, but thanks to the Warriors incredible resiliency they did sweep New Orleans. Golden State proved they're not just a flashy, finesse, 82-game running highlight reel that wouldn't hold up in the post season.  They faced serious adversity from a game Pelicans team that gave them fits at times in that series, they won game 3 on a 20 point comeback driven by toughness (and an absolutely incredible shot by Steph). That same resiliency is why I am confident in saying the Dubs will have little issue handling the slow and Conley-less Grizzlies. Golden State went 2-1 and their two wins saw them smashing the Grizz, except for the fourth quarter of the third game in which the Warrior reserves nearly blew a 93-66 lead. Steph Curry dropped 38, while handing out 10 assists in a 107-84 waxing in the Grind House. Memphis won the first meeting, also in Memphis, by 7 thanks in large part to one of, if not the best showing from Vince Carter this season, and the Warriors not playing up to their usual standard.  And if we're being honest a blown travel call that resulted in a petty tech given to Andre Iguodala.  I credit Memphis for pretty easily handeling Portland, but Golden State proved they can be a matchup nightmare for Memphis, that plus no Mike Conley equals Golden State swiflty advancing to the West Finals.

2) Houston Rockets
3) Los Angeles Clippers
Prediction: Rockets in 7
Why?: I loved how the Clippers played against the Spurs in the only series that went 7 games this first round.  The Rockets dismantled a 50-win Dallas team that felt like it was slowly falling apart with the Rondo Drama, and on defense an old Dirk  was being exposed like a creepy man beneath a trench coat.  I think this series could still go either way because they are very evenly matched.  Both have exceptionally athletic front courts in Dwight and Josh Smith (I know he doesn't start), and Blake and DeAndre.  Both have elite superstar guards in CP3 and James Harden.  Both have older 3 and D small forwards in Barnes and Ariza.  Also both are not very deep.  I say Rockets win because as of now Glen Davis and Chris Paul are hurt.  Paul put on an Isaiah Thomas-like performance, seemingly stepping it up with his bad hamstring, like how Thomas took over in the finals on a bum ankle.  However it will be seen on Monday if, like Isaiah, the injury limits and badly hurts CP3's game, if he plays at all in game 1 Monday.  Big Baby's injury hurts the Clips because they have no real quality reserve big men behind him, that Doc is willing to give extended minutes to.  If you thought Dirk had trouble with the Houston bigs, Hedo Turkoglu and Spencer Hawes will have an equally hard time, if not an even harder time, containing them.  Also the Clippers ended their series last night and have to play tomorrow, the Rockets were done early last week so they are rested, the Clippers are unhealthy and unrested, so I think Houston will win this series, but will be pushed by the Clips.

Eastern Conference:

1) Atlanta Hawks

5) Washington Wizards

Prediction: Hawks in 7

Why?: Wizards were ultra-impressive in destroying a Raptors team that looked just plain horrible.  The Hawks were actually very disappointing in their 6-game series against a Brooklyn group that I honestly expected to look plain horrible (which they did in game 6).  Atlanta looked like they forgot it was the playoffs and they can stop coasting until that game 6, and credit Brooklyn for actually playing very good basketball for 5 games in that series.  Atlanta has to pick up their intensity because you know the Wizards will bring it and give the Hawks a fight.  They have all the confidence in the world after what they did to Toronto.  Washington does have a big advantage in their big combo of Gortat and Nene, but the Hawks have faced front courts bigger than theirs almost all year, and they have a 60-22 record to show for it, so I don't think that will be as big a factor as some might.  I believe the Hawks won't dominate, but will do just enough to advance to the East Finals where they will face either Cleveland or Chicago.

2) Cleveland Cavaliers

3) Chicago Bulls

Prediction: Bulls in 7

Why?: I've liked the Bulls to come out of the East for a while, even though they've had a lot of injuries and have been up and down this season.  Kevin Love is a huge loss for Cleveland, his size, rebounding, and shooting are huge for what they do, now they'll have to likely give a lot more minutes to Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, or if they go small Iman Shumpert.  Also J.R. Smith out for two games is big because he stretches the defense as well, now the Bulls can pack it in a little more and take away driving lanes for Kyrie and LeBron.  Cavs can't put LeBron on Rose like he did for the Heat in the 2011 East Finals, because Kyrie is a shaky-at-best defender.  You leave him on Rose, and Rose has an easier time getting to the rim, put him on Butler and same for Butler, you put him on Dunleavy and he can shoot right over Kyrie, and Irving might get a forearm to the jaw, which I'm sure David Blatt does not want.  Don't get me wrong, Cleveland is still ultra talented but they lose almost any depth they have with the Love injury/Smith suspension, but Chicago (on paper) is just as talented, and much deeper despite Thibodeau's tendency to over play his starters.  The key to me is Chicago's intensity, if they come out like they did in games 1-5 vs Milwaukee against Cleveland they might get swept; but if they play like they did in game 6, with high intensity and great ball movement on offense, they may not win a game by 54 but I think they will win this series.

2015 Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions: Conference Semis (Round 2)

Western Conference:

1) Anaheim Ducks

3) Calgary Flames

Prediction: Ducks in 7

Why?: The Ducks had the only sweep of round 1 over a Jets team that put up a fight.  Calgary beat a good Vancouver team in 6 games (just as yours truly predicted) and was impressive throughout the series.  The Ducks still have a talent edge and no matter how you do it, to sweep anyone in any playoff series is no easy task, the Flames will no doubt challenge the Ducks, but Anaheim will make it to the West finals this year, even after losing to last years 3 seed the LA Kings in 7.

WC) Minnesota Wild

3) Chicago Blackhawks

Prediction: Blackhawks in 7

Why?: Wild stayed red hot after beating the Blues in 6 games, the Blackhawks also took care of business against Nashville.  I love how the Wild have been playing since mid-February when they traded for Devan Dubnyk with Arizona.  However, it's the Blackhawks, and love them or hate them, they just win, especially in the playoffs.  I think they have just enough to hold off the Wild and once again advance to the West finals.

Eastern Conference

1) Montreal Canadiens

2) Tampa Bay Lightning

Prediction: Canadiens in 6

Why?: Even though they beat the always tough Red Wings in 7, Tampa just didn't seem all that impressive to me, I wanted to go Montreal in 5, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they pick up two wins, but I don't see them taking this series or seriously threaten to take it.

1) New York Rangers

2) Washington Capitals

Prediction: Rangers in 6

Why?: Rangers handled Pittsburg without too much difficulty, other than not scoring a whole lot.  The Caps gutted out an impressive 7 game series win over a good Islanders squad, but as I said in my round 1 predictions; the Rangers are loaded, and they went 3-1 against Washington in the regular season.  The Capitals may push the Rangers, but New York will take this series in no more than 6 games.

2015 NBA Playoff Predictions: Round 1

Western Conference:

1) Golden State Warriors

8) New Orleans Pelicans

Prediction: Warriors in 4

Why?: NO does have Anthony Davis, who could lead New Orleans to a win in this series, but Golden State has a loaded team, headlined by likely MVP Steph Curry, who has been red hot since the All-Star break (over 50% from 3).  Not to mention Klay Thompson seemed to find his grove again in the last week, all this plus a healthy Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut means the Brow's playoff debut will be short-lived and the Golden State Warriors step up and pull out the brooms in round 1.

2) Houston Rockets

7) Dallas Mavericks

Prediction: Rockets in 7

Why?: Houston has had a great year, and now they have Dwight Back, but Dallas is also very talented and may get Chandler Parsons back.  Though things don't run very smoothly in the Rondo-Ellis backcourt, this is still a more talented edition of the team that took the Spurs to 7 games last year, the only team to do so, and they won't let Texas rival Houston advance without a fight.

3) Los Angeles Clippers

6) San Antonio Spurs

Prediction: Spurs in 7

Why?: LA has been tearing it up to end the year, but the defending champs have seemed to find their form as well.  The Clips starting 5 can matchup toe-to-toe with San Antonio's but where SA has a goldmine of depth to fall back on, LA has next to none after Jamal Crawford, and that is where the Spurs will gain an edge in the series and wear down the Clippers starting 5+Jamal, and once again move on to the Western semis.

4) Portland Trail Blazers

5) Memphis Grizzlies

Prediction: Grizzlies in 6

Why?: Memphis is getting some of its injured players back, key players in Mike Conley and Tony Allen, and Portland is trotting out Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge with a beat up supporting cast to try and win a playoff series in back to back seasons in a stacked through the roof West.  With key players in Afflalo, Batum, and Aldridge playing through nagging injuries, and with Wes Matthews out until next year, the Grizz advance, giving Portland more time to try and cure their long lasting injury plague.

Eastern Conference:

1) Atlanta Hawks

8) Brooklyn Nets

Prediction: Hawks in 4

Why?: A 60-win Atlanta team vs and underachieving joke of a Brooklyn squad lucky enough to be in an extremely weak East.  No way Atlanta struggles in this series, I don't even need to mention that during the regular season ATL swept the series winning by an average of 17.3 points.  Hawks roll.

2) Cleveland Cavaliers

7) Boston Celtics

Prediction: Cavs in 5

Why?: Cleveland is the superior team no question, and they will dominate the series.  But Boston came from out of nowhere to end up as the 7 seed in the East.  They looked dead in the water and all of a sudden they are in a "playoff race" and end up with a surprising 40-win season when most, myself included, thought them to be a lottery lock when the season started.  They earned those 40 wins by competing and playing hard, though LeBron and co. dispatched them twice, Boston won twice easily, at the end of the year (LeBron sat those games though), not to mention King James usually dominates in the first round, Boston's tenacity will help them steal a game before ultimately wishing they did have a lottery pick instead.

3) Chicago Bulls

6) Milwaukee Bucks

Prediction: Bulls in 4

Why?: The East is so top-heavy that it's boring.  Milwaukee was a nice surprise going .500 this year, J-Kidd has them playing great defense, but Chicago defends as well, and they have the vastly superior offense in this series.  Milwaukee doesn't have the fire power especially with Jabari Parker sidelined until year 2 with a torn ACL, and because they made the unbelievably stupid decision to trade borderline All-Star PG Brandon Knight to get the incredibly poor shooting, turn-over prone, mega-project known as Michael Carter-Williams.  (Just another reason the Bucks are the only major team from my home state that I refuse to root for, not that I want them to do poor)  Also Milwaukee is the home away from home for the Bulls, say what you will about home-court advantage and if it helps or not but all games in arenas dominated by Chicago fans playing a fairly inferior team? Sounds like a sweep to me.

4) Toronto Raptors

5) Washington Wizards

Prediction: Raptors in 7

Why?: I take the Raptors in what figures to be the only competitive series in the East's first round.  Both teams started off very strong, but have crawled their way to disappointing finishes.  I do think Toronto has the slight overall talent edge, due to their bench vs Washington's, as well as 4 games at the Air Canada center, where the Hockey-loving folks from the Great White North also love their Raptors hoops, and Toronto will win a game 7 there.  Despite getting a fight from the Wiz, it's all chalk in a (another) disappointing East.

2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs: 1st Round Predictions

NOTE: I am by no means a hockey expert, the playoffs are the most hockey I watch all year, I am basing these predictions off what I know of this year and past years of watching.

Western Conference:

1) Anaheim Ducks
wc) Winnipeg Jets
Prediction: Ducks in 5
Why?: Anahiem took the Kings 7 games last year and even had a 3-2 lead, back with one of the best records in the NHL this year the Ducks shouldn't have much of a problem reaching the West Semis again this year.

2) Vancouver Canucks
3) Calgary Flames
Prediction: Flames in 6
Why?: I'm not sure, but I do know these teams hate each other.  I'm going on a limb and say Johnny Hockey and Calgary get off to a 3-2 start and finish Vancouver on their home ice.

1) St. Louis Blues
WC) Minnesota Wild
Prediciton: Wild in 6
Why?: Minnesota has been red hot to finish the year, I believe this will carry over into consecutive upsets over 1 seeds for the Wild.

2) Nashville Predators
3) Chicago Blackhawks
Prediction: Blackhawks in 7
Why?: Separated by only 2 points, these teams are pretty evenly matched, the Blackhawks have much more experience, having won 2 of the last 5 Stanley Cups, and made the West finals last year, they get the job done in round 1 this year.

Eastern Conference:

1) Montreal Canadians

WC) Ottawa Senators

Prediction: Canadians in 5

Why?: Last year Montreal swept Tampa Bay, and took down the Boston Bruins in 7, they know how to win in the playoffs and that's just what they do in round 1.

2) Tampa Bay Lightning

3) Detroit Red Wings

Prediction: Lightning in 6

Why?: Tampa Bay has had a great year, Detroit is always in the playoffs and they don't call themselves "hockeytown" for nothing.  This year the Lightning don't get beat in round 1 and hockeytown will have to wait another year for a shot at the cup.

1) New York Rangers

WC) Pittsburg Penguins

Prediction: Rangers in 5

Why?: New York was the best team in the league this year for a reason; they got talent, and a lot of it.  Not to mention they are looking to make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals and this time finish the job.  The duo of Crosby and Malkin are the only reason I see Pittsburg taking a game.

2) Washington Capitals

3) New York Islanders

Prediction: Islanders in 7

Why?: Both teams finished with 101 points in the same division. Both have two stars, Washington with Russian goal machine Alex Ovechkin, Islanders with John Tavares. NYI went 2-1-1 against the Caps in the regular season, that is why I give them the edge and set up and all New York semifinal.