The New Orleans Saints clobbered the 49ers in week 1 of the 2011 Preseason. The score was a devastating 24-7, and was such a huge blow it had many fans writing off San Francisco entirely for this season. However, was this a case of San Francisco dropping the ball or is New Orleans really bulking up to greatness again?
Many San Francisco 49ers fans admit that the team looked sloppy, though it’s hard to be overly critical, considering that most teams are bound to look rusty after an extended lockdown period. The 49ers offense lacked depth, and seemed to operate without smooth communication. It may be a case of preseason jitters, or it may be indicative of a major overhaul to come.
New Orleans, on the other hand, is looking powerful, considering its 24-7 victory and a great defensive strategy (credit defensive coordinator Gregg Williams) that is on full display. New Orleans blitzed early on and shook up San Francisco, who seemed confused and unable to protect their quarterbacks.
New Orleans fans are obviously excited, as this looks like the New Orleans of 2009 again, a team that is powerful in defense and innovative in offense. Even last year the Saints were looking good on defense, so it may be too early to suggest that defense alone will win it all this season. Besides, New Orleans has much to prove when the season begins, including regular season games against Atlanta and Tampa Bay. The key will be in improving their rush defense which was lacking last year, and keeping their pass defense up to par. As for San Francisco, even offensive guard Adam Snyder sensed a problem, stating that a lack of communication was to blame for the poor performance. Nevertheless, New Orleans was part of that long offseason too, and they looked great.
Elsewhere in the NFL, we have seen plenty of impressive rookie performances, including some great showings by Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers (who helped bring in a 20-10 win over the Giants) and Jake Locker, who helped win over the Vikings 14-3. There are some decisive victories being reported in August, and it may foreshadow one ultra competitive season–a season that will undoubtedly be marked by post-lockdown fever! For now, keep your eyes on New Orleans, a team that’s difficult to predict, and as we’ve seen before, very hard to beat.
The Atlanta Hawks have a new future in the NBA, as they will soon be owned by California businessman Alex Meruelo, who now owns a majority stake in the team. This will be a history making deal, as he will be the first Hispanic owner of an NBA official team. Meruelo will also have exclusive operating rights to the Philips Arena. By the end of the year, the deal should be closed.
Contrary to what some sources are reporting, California-based Meruelo does not plan to move the franchise. In interviews, the businessman speaks highly of the local fans, the Atlanta community, the Phillips Arena and the team legacy. Indeed, the team has been running since 1946 and even won the championship back in 1958. Meruelo speaks with great respect and enthusiasm. “I am a lifelong basketball fan…and this is a dream come true for me.”
This is not the first major transaction for Atlanta this year. Earlier this year, the Atlanta Spirit Group sold the Thrashers (of the NHL) to a Canadian source who moved the team to Winnipeg. At least we can still watch the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons…though they were both clobbered last season respectively. Hmm, maybe it’s all that Atlanta summer heat!
The big question is, will this ownership change affect the regular season of the Atlanta Hawks? As with most NBA owners who make a huge financial investment in a floundering team, Meruelo is expected to be actively involved in the team’s success. While few sources are concerned about a change of venue (it would simply cost too much money), a lot of people are talking about new strategies, new players, new coaches and a new direction for 2011-2012.
Since the Hawks have had a disastrous and embarrassing history over the past six years, the only place for the Hawks to go is up. Coach Larry Drew and manager Rick Sund certainly haven’t been winning championships, though they did help the Atlanta Hawks to finish the 2010 and 2011 season with a record of 44-38, which was formidable. They placed third in the Southeast Division behind Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.
Will new ownership affect the Hawks? Or will Atlanta continue to be a stepping stone to other great NBA teams?
It’s official–the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 3-2 at Fenway Park August 7th, 2011. This one is in the record books, as is 10 out of 12 other games in which Boston prevailed. As of now, Boston is ahead in the ALE. All of this happened despite powerful performances by Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner. Much of the media scrutiny fell on Mariano Rivera who threw a pitch that brought on a leadoff double in the ninth. Though one also has to consider New York’s 0-10 performance by runners in scoring.
The Boston Red Sox have dominated the Yankees for the season series, a feat that was last accomplished in 2004. Their victory was a tremendous win not only in the record books, but also psychologically speaking, as they now have an edge over New York for the rest of the season. In particular, they humbled shining star Mariano Rivera, who proved he is far from a perfect pitcher. The game itself was not exactly a classic. In fact, Boston itself seemed uninspired for most of the game, missing scoring opportunities in the 2nd and 6th innings. However, Boston took advantage at the end of the game, whereas New York struggled.
Various members of the New York Yankees responded to the loss with dignity, reminding everyone (as well as themselves?) that it’s not the end of the season yet. And although Yankees fans are eating it at the moment, the game result should be kept in proper perspective. For one thing, as many Yankees fans point out, Alex Rodriguez was a no show, as he has been on the disabled list since July. Boston’s lineup was filled by power candidates (MVP-caliber ones at that), and hence overpowered New York’s Rod-less team. Rafael Soriano has been picked on by fans and the media, but one must also remember that he just returned to competition in late July, and thus only has a few days of solid practice behind him.
Overall, the Yankees are still performing well, with a 69-44 record. There was also another history-making performance by Rivera who made pitching appearance #1,023, pushing him up to #10 overall. The Yankees are far from a finished this season and are scheduled to play a grueling 30 games in 30 days from this point. This will be the true test of New York’s spirit. What do you think? Are the Yankees officially cooked for this season?
It sounds like something New York would do, to look past a man’s prison record and notice his outstanding talent instead. (Just Kidding NYers!) The New York Jets have been interested in Plaxico Burress for quite some time–even before he began his prison stint, which lasted almost two years. Plaxico Burress was released by the New York Giants in April of 2009, and then sentenced in the summer of the same year. Now, as of summer 2011, Plaxico Burress has paid his debt to society, and the New York Jets are first in line to sing “Amazing Grace”, as they have now acquired one helluva wide receiver.
The Jets expressed interest in signing Burress, even when he was at his lowest ebb, in spring 2009, and this is something that the reformed Burress remembers fondly. “[They] were really the first to support me with everything I was going through at the time.” The Jets were not the only NFL team looking up this Super Bowl champion player. The Giants, Steelers (both of whom he played for), as well as Eagles, 49ers and Rams all expressed interest in the Virginian power-catcher.
Lesson learned, when you really want to sign someone to your roster, beat your competitors to the punch–and especially when that guy’s down and out. Head coach Rex Ryan and owner Woody Johnson never stopped believing in Burress’ talent, and it’s obvious from watching his performance at Super Bowl XLII (especially that game-winning pass that made the score 17-14) that he’s no fluke winner.
Burress just signed a three million dollar guaranteed contract with the team, so he is rested, pumped and all hyped up for the new season. He told the press that he has kept himself in shape while in prison, working out four times a week. Of course, the big question is whether Plaxico Burress can still play, since he hasn’t actually played a high-stakes competitive game since 2008. Face it, prison football just isn’t as challenging as the real thing!
Nevertheless, Burress is itching for some field time, and football experts know better than to discount his abilities. Now that the NFL lockout is history and we are definitely seeing a season this year, keep your eyes on the Jets!
It was announced on Monday that the NFL lockout was officially over with all parties finally getting their desired result in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. But many fans still held their breath, not wanting to really believe it until they saw it with their own eyes. And today’s the day! The Denver Broncos are the first to take the field in an official practice since the lockout began, and no one could be more excited about it than Elvis Dumervile, the team’s defensive end who’s bought out on account of injury since August 4 of last year.
While two of the team’s vets, Wesley Woodward and Matt Prater, won’t be on the field as they’re still both free agents and unable to sign until Friday, there will be some faces that fans will be excited to see. One of those is Mario Fannin, who came to the Broncos after entertaining offers from several different teams, as well as Virgil Green, who the team signed to a 4-year contract on Wednesday.
These announcements coming from the Denver Broncos are definitely just a taste of what NFL fans have to look forward to in the next several weeks as more teams take the field for the season that almost never was.
The unthinkable has happened in the WWE — the WWE title has been taken hostage! CM Punk (Phillip Jack Brooks), who was recently suspended, and who has admitted his desire to leave the WWE for another organization, won the WWE Championship by defeating John Cena at the “Money in the Bank” PPV. CM Punk was reinstated after his suspension (which resulted from an on-air tirade against the WWE-owning McMahon family) presumably for just one night.
Wrestling fans predicted that Cena would defeat CM Punk, as is the WWE tradition, allowing Punk to end his WWE career in shame. This tradition is as old as the sport; as Vince McMahon once explained to the press, it would be an insult to the company for a wrestler to take the WWE Championship to another organization. The last time this happened was when Medusa (Debra Miceli) took the WWE Women’s Championship to WCW Monday Nitro and threw it in the trash–thereby mocking the company at the peak of the “Monday Night wars.”
Vince McMahon prevented this scenario from happening in 1997 when he “screwed” Bret Hart out of the WWE Championship, just before Bret Hart could jump ship to WCW the next week. McMahon suffered massive backlash from the fans, from the press, and from Bret Hart himself (who punched him out backstage as the documentary “Wrestling with Shadows” pointed out).
In another words, by all conceivable logic, WWE management (or scriptwriters, or whatever you call them) should not have let CM Punk anywhere near the WWE Championship — especially if the dissatisfied employee was on his way out. Nevertheless, we witnessed one of the most surprising match finishes in recent years at Money in the Bank.
So what happens now? CM Punk is still in possession of the WWE Championship, though he is no longer under contract to the organization. This has led many fans to speculate that the entire angle is a work. Is it possible that CM Punk signed an extension with WWE in secret? Or is this a bizarre case of real and fake worlds colliding? Perhaps the WWE was unhappy with CM Punk but decided to keep him around (and give him the WWE title) in spite of bad blood, simply because Punk is the most “over” wrestler in the sport today. Indeed, Punk’s shoot promo was one of the most talked about moments in the WWE within the last 10 years.
Perhaps the WWE and Punk are testing each other, seeing just how much interest they can build up with this angle before making an official decision regarding contracts. We do know from the follow up Monday Night RAW, that Vince McMahon is no longer a player in this scenario, since Triple H has now resumed McMahon’s duties as chief executive officer of the WWE. Triple H is not punishing John Cena, as McMahon indicated he would, should CM Punk do the unthinkable. For the first time in ages, WWE is the talk of the sports world!
Just in case you haven’t seen WWE Monday Night RAW in ages, it’s about time you familiarize yourself with CM Punk. CM Punk has been a main event on the WWE roster off and on for quite some time now, but only within the last two months has he truly stepped into the role of mainstream greatness. Now however, it appears as if all of his momentum and buzz is being nipped before he has the chance to come into his own and make the WWE some real money.
First a little back-story. CM Punk, whose real name is Phillip Jack Brooks, recently told wrestling fans that his contract with WWE is expiring and he plans to leave the company with the WWE Championship at the “Money in the Bank” PPV (during which he presumes, he will defeat John Cena). As if that wasn’t daring enough, he also gave a now legendary “shoot” interview on WWE Monday Night RAW a few weeks ago, during which he insulted several top name wrestling superstars, as well as the McMahon family which owns and controls the WWE.
Naturally, CM Punk was suspended for airing his controversial opinions, but not before setting the Internet wrestling world on fire with one of the best wrestling promos in recent memory. Many fans, and even some WWE past and present athletes, proclaimed it the best promo of the last ten years, recalling the glory days of Rock and Austin.
Some of the wrestling superstars that had to give Twitter props to CM Punk included John Bradshaw Layfield, MVP (“who called it CM Punk’s “3:16 moment”), Bret “The Hitman” Hart (who said it was comparable to Steve Carrell leaving “The Office”), Tazz, Chris Jericho, and Mick Foley who said it was “captivating stuff.” Caesar himself, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin said it was one of the best promos he had ever seen!
What’s the latest coming from the WWE locker room? CM Punk was reinstated into the WWE by Vince McMahon at the urging of John Cena who has a score to settle. However, it still appears as if this will be CM’s last WWE match.
There is a rumor that this is all a “work” (a common term in the wrestling world meaning it’s all part of the script), but there is also legitimate talk of CM Punk leaving WWE to help beef up another wrestling federation that wants to challenge WWE’s monopoly on the sport. (Perhaps TNA or Ring of Honor) Many insiders and wrestling fans are stating that WWE really dropped the ball with this one, and is going to lose one of their most promising stars (just after delivering a killer promo). What do you think?
The National Hockey League (NHL Tickets) will start its 95th season shortly (specifically, on October 6, 2011). Its final game will be played on April 7, 2012. However, what will happen between now and the Stanley Cup Championships remains anyone’s guess. It might help to know some of the pre-season details being released over the summer. (Ah, the long hot summer…a cure for those pre-hockey season shivers!)
We already know that the Winnipeg Jets are back in business, as True North announced June 24, 2011 that Winnipeg is taking back ownerships of the Jets franchise name. Soon, True North will debut a new logo and new colors for the team.
Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Flyers made off with four free agency signings, a major score over the rival PA team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, since Jaromir Jagr and Maxime Talbot signed with the Flyers. The Flyers also managed to sign Andreas Lilja (of the Anaheim Ducks).
St. Louis Blues managed to keep Matt D’Agostini and sign Brian Elliott of Colorado Avalanche. Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed James Wisniewski and the Boston Bruins, this year’s Stanley Cup championship team, released Michael Ryder. Ryder went to the Dallas Stars, while Boston took home Benoit Pouliot.
What about the Vancouver Canucks, last year’s threat to Boston? The Canucks signed four free agents as well, including Steve Pinizzotto, Andrew Ebbett, Marco Sturm and Mark Mancari. The Canucks will be defending their Western conference championship and will start their season against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The question is, who has the advantage this early in the season (or pre-season, to be precise?) While the Los Angeles Kings and Tampa Bay Lightning are looking promising, more experts have their eyes on the Washington Capitals, who have power players in Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin and Green. The Bruins and the Canucks have momentum, but that doesn’t break the case for Flyers and the Penguins as favorites.
Nevertheless, the most promising team is the Chicago Blackhawks, who will recover from a disastrous season thanks to returning players back from injuries, as well as a powerful roster that includes goaltending master Corey Crawford.
What do you think? Is Chicago the favorite or will Boston repeat their victory?
The NBA is getting serious about 2012, which could very well be the end of the NBA as we know it –at least if you believe the NBA lockout rumors. That’s right, the NBA, not the NFL. According to news stories online, including Fox Sports, NBA owners publicly stated that 22 of the 30 total teams lost money in the 2010-2011 season.
Reportedly, the losses were huge–up to $340 million. It’s not so hard to believe, especially if you’ve been to a live game within the past two years. Stadiums are not filled to capacity as normal. So what is the league’s solution? The owners desire to restructure the sports league’s business model. They also want a salary cap that would prohibit teams from going beyond the $62 million dollar mark.
This is big news, considering that the LA Lakers spent nearly $100 million on team salaries in just one season. Furthermore, league and team owners want to cut some eight billion dollars over the next decade. This is much more than players have offered: a half a billion-dollar salary cut over the next five years. Current negotiations are scheduled to end July 1, 2011 at midnight.
As usual, if the negotiations do not proceed, the league will pause all team games and events. Not only will there be no NBA games scheduled, but there will also be a halt on trades, players signing and all business contact. Experts are stating that the negotiations could easily continue past the summer, since most players are inactive in the summer. Charles Barkley commentated that the 2011 to 2012 season could very well be wiped out in lieu of the difficult negotiations taking place.
Miami Heat is certainly not delaying in addressing their roster concerns, fresh off of championship defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Miami Heat Norris Cole was introduced to the team, toured the facilities, and met with coaches. He will also take part in a three day camp with fellow prospects. His future with the team is dependent on whether or not the season continues as planned. Other players that will attend the team’s summer camp include Chaisson Allen, Chris Daniels, Papa Dia, Marquez Haynes and John Holland.
Will we see a repeat of 2011 and see Miami Heat avenge their defeat against Dallas? Or will Miami have to wait two years (or more?) to settle the score?
Tiger Woods has won 11 Arnold Palmer Awards on the PGA Tour over the past 14 years. However, the newest golf phenom has to be Rory McIlroy, living proof that no matter how good you are, there’s something out there itching to be better. Nowadays, McIlroy is getting the PGA attention, while poor Tiger has to contend with personal life scandal, which has to be affecting his game.
McIlroy has become the first golfer since Tiger Woods to win a PGA Tour before turning 21. He has been shattering records left and right, ever since his debut, including the 72-hole aggregate score of 268 (16-under), which defeated Tiger Woods’ own (272 12-under). Much of the golfing world has traded allegiances, naming McIlroy as the PGA’s best, even comparing him to the old Tiger Woods in ability, youth and golfing accuracy.
Adding insult to injury, though it could also be called a reflective statement of the golfing world in general, McIlroy said Tiger has been “playing like an ordinary golfer.” He also noted, “I’m not sure we are going to see him dominate again the way he did.” That’s one of the joys of turning 35, Tiger!
It’s hard not to be on McIlroy’s side, as he is a young Irish athlete, every bit as charming and gracious in person as he is confident in his game face. He has represented Northern Ireland and has won prestigious honors even as a teenager. Before he won the PGA Tour in 2000, he won the European Tour in 2009. Add to that U.S. Open Championships and a Top 10 spot on the Official World Golf Rankings and you have yourself a hungry young lion eyeing an aging tiger.
Tiger took a leave from the golfing world in 2009 and returned in April of 2010. Woods still has plenty to lose – he’s the richest sportsman in the world, having earned approximately $100 million. However, in the golfing world he has fallen (even before McIlroy) to Lee Westwood, who took Tiger’s #1 spot. After an unfocused year, Tiger is now ranked #17, which is his lowest since his debut, and hasn’t enjoyed a victory in nearly two years.
What do you think? Is Tiger going to make a comeback any time soon or is that even possible given how much things have changed? Is this the decade of McIlroy, or can Tiger ease his way into the role of victorious veteran?
