First thing's first: I have links on this blog post, and this time they go to the websites I intend to have them go to. I found that problem last time and fixed it up on the last blog post.
Anyways, now with the hockey and basketball postseason done and the College World Series over halfway done, now begins the long march through the summer towards football. The PGA's U.S. Open is this weekend, and I'll get to that a bit later. Now, normally this is a football based blog as I have said many times before. But there are other big stories this week, and I think I'll start with the NBA Finals, then the mess involving the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Golden State Warriors are the NBA champions for the first time in 40 years; first time since the Rick Barry days that the Warriors have been to the top of the mountain. They are more than worthy to hold the crown. They were the best team in the Association all season, 67 wins, and they lost just three games while going through a tough Western Conference.
Granted, they didn't have to play either of last year's Western Conference finalists (Oklahoma City missed the playoffs due to injuries and the Spurs lost in that epic seven game slugfest with the Clippers), but that's not their fault; they can only play who is in front of them. And they had to survive two tough series against a really physical Memphis team and then against the game's best player.
Two things about the Warriors: One is that the team's future is really bright. This is going to be a team right back in contention next year and for many years to come. High-caliber forward Draymond Green is a free-agent-to-be, but I'd really be surprised if he leaves this group. Everyone else is locked in, except for assistant Alvin Gentry who will be off to New Orleans to coach the Pelicans.
Two is that they made a really bold decision to fire Mark Jackson, who won over 50 games last year, but they wanted to get to the top of the mountain. And by hiring Steve Kerr, that's exactly what they did. Kerr is a championship caliber coach who played under Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, and has spent time in color-commentary watching games. He was arguably last offseason's most sought-after coach and Kerr was able to take the Warriors to that elusive next level which they so badly wanted to get to.
That's not to say that Cleveland didn't show well though. They were without two of their three best players and still had Golden State nervous through the first three games of this series until Kerr made the necessary adjustments. Kevin Love will probably leave to go to the Lakers (he's an LA native and played at UCLA), but if they can get another good player to go with Kyrie Irving and Lebron they will be right back in the hunt next season.
At present, they're probably the only team in the East that could hang with any of the West heavyweights. The top four teams preseason next year will likely be the Spurs, Thunder, Warriors and Cavs, not necessarily in that order. The rest of the pecking order will likely be decided by free agency.
Now, on to baseball and the Cardinals situation. For those living under a rock, the St. Louis Cardinals are in a little bit of hot water with none other than the F.B.I. and it involves actions taken against the Astros, of all teams. You can read more about the details here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/sports/baseball/st-louis-cardinals-hack-astros-fbi.html?smid%3D=tw-nytsports&_r=0
I've already seen comparisons between the Cardinals' actions and those of the Patriots; for those comparing the actions of the Cardinals to what the Patriots did by allegedly deflating footballs last year in the playoffs, that's really not a fair comparison. No matter what you think about the Patriots, they never got in trouble with the feds for deflated footballs. Also, if the NYT report is true that the hacking was done by vengeful Cardinals employees looking to get back at Jeff Luhnow for leaving the Cardinals to go to Houston, then it looks really bad for the Cardinals.
It looks really bad especially considering that they have the best record in the sport right now at 21 or 22 games over .500, whatever it is and that the Astros, until now, have been trying to get their team back to a respectable level. The Cards have also been to the league championship series each of the last four years and have been to a World Series once since he left, so why would any Cardinals employee or fan be angry with Luhnow? If anything they should be thankful for Luhnow helping to build the core of that team to what it is now.
And in case you're wondering, they've already said that "the alleged conduct has no place in our game." Pretty much what I'd expect them to say under the circumstances. If this investigation is proven to be true, it will be interesting to see if they actually take action against the employees who pulled this off.
In the wake of the Chicago Blackhawks' recently NHL Stanley Cup title which they won on Monday, a Korean newspaper made a huge mistake in a headline. As someone who has done copy editing/proofreading in the past, I find this worth a look. Right city, wrong team, editors. You can see it here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2498698-korean-newspaper-runs-headline-proclaiming-chicago-bears-stanley-cup-champs?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national
Time for some football news now. So apparently, TheScore, a sports news app centered towards mobile devices such as the iPhone, did an NFL likability list based on each team's front office. Unsurprisingly (in my view) the Washington Redskins came in dead last and it's mainly because of owner Daniel Snyder, who just can't seem to get out of his own way in the Redskins' front office.
If you want a general picture of how deep the agony in D.C. goes, take a listen to this epic rant by D.C. sports radio host Chad Dukes following a 59-28 beatdown by the Eagles several years back on Monday Night Football; this was when Shanahan was the coach there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXwzlXEipc
The names have generally changed with the Redskins, but the frustration remains and the team cannot get out of the gutter and I sense they won't get out of the gutter until Snyder leaves. By the way, if you're wondering who is the No. 1 most likable team based on the front office, it's the Green Bay Packers which to me is not that surprising.
Besides the Cavs losing in the Finals, the other big piece of news today in Cleveland is that Johnny Football's going to put away the money sign that he has taken to doing since his last year at A&M. It appears, at least through words so far, that Johnny's stay in rehab in the offseason has done him some good as he also conceded today that he was a distraction to the team with his off-field behavior.
Granted, those are just words and actions always speak louder than words. But the first step to fixing the problem is admitting you have one, and by going to rehab and addressing the media, Johnny appears to be willing to try to fix that problem.
From college football, the big news today from a meeting of the Collegiate Commissioners Association is that a proposal to create an early signing period for recruits has been tabled for one year. This proposal, if passed, would allow high school players to make commitments binding to schools in mid-December. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that if it's passed, to be honest.
Here in Texas, the big college football news is that the U of Texas athletic director Steve Patterson approved alcohol sales beginning this fall at UT home games. My response to that is this; like college football needs alcohol to be sold in stadiums. I don't think it enhances the fan experience, the last thing we need is fans actually drinking during a game. At Nebraska, alcohol is expressly prohibited inside Memorial Stadium, which I think is the correct stance.
Speaking of the Huskers, QB commit Patrick O'Brien from California got some very high marks at the Elite 11 quarterback camp last week, where he made the finals of that camp. In addition, in 247 Sports recruiting database he was upgraded to a four star because of his performance at that camp.
While we're on the topic of four stars, score one for Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh's program today. Offensive line Ben Bredesma from Wisconsin, who was rated No. 31 overall by 247 Sports, committed to Michigan's 2016 class today; this thus far is the biggest catch that Harbaugh has been able to land since taking the Michigan job a little less than six months ago.
And this is a really highly touted lineman: he had offers from many of the SEC's heavyweights such as Alabama, Auburn and LSU as well as Michigan's blood rivals Ohio State and Michigan State. Nebraska also offered him too, so score one for them. I believed when he was hired and I still believe now that Harbaugh is going to give Urban Meyer heartburn in the years to come.
I also like Harbaugh's stance on the satellite camp issue, which I touched on in a previous blog. He said, "In my America, you're allowed to cross state borders. That's the America I know."
Harbaugh's busy week though hasn't been without some jabs at his program, namely from their neighbors in East Lansing. Michigan State recently received their Cotton Bowl title rings for their win over Baylor. Take a look at the bottom right photo in this picture collection and notice the apparent jab at Michigan. It's a little hard to read, but it's there: https://twitter.com/RBOkerstrom/status/609852939121758208
A little piece of advice, Sparty: It's best not to poke a bear with a large stick, because that bear's eventually going to wake up.
Finally, as far as the U.S. Open golf tournament which starts tomorrow, Mickelson is my pick. He played his best golf maybe ever at Augusta, it's on the West Coast, he won't get many more shots at the career slam, and he finished very strong at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. I do think this tournament will be won by a big name, whether it be Rory, Phil, Spieth, or someone like that. I don't think you're going to see some middling golfer rise up and win this tournament. If you're looking for sleepers though, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Kevin Kisner might be worth looking at.
Until next time....
No comments:
Post a Comment