No Kyrie? No Problem

     To all the Warrior fans about to read this article, I'm sorry. I am also sad about this particular topic as well.

     In two games so far in the 2015 NBA Finals, LeBron James has averaged 41.5 points per game. Yes, it is a miniature sample size, but it's dominant, especially without the "big three" fully healthy. When the Cleveland Cavaliers are truly broken down, it is LeBron with a band of role players. For god sakes they won game two with Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov starting. LeBron has always had the ability to completely take over a game, and with no offensive weapons with egos bigger than his, there is no one to stop LeBron from taking complete control of the rest of the series. His triple-double in game two, without Kyrie Irving shows his drive and his determination to win this title. 

    However, Lebron isn't winning this title 100% alone. With Dellavedova finally showing a sign of relevance, and defensive ability to shut down Steph Curry, who in my mind is the biggest offensive weapon in the league. When Dellavedova was on Curry, he managed to score 0 points, as well shooting 0-8 against Dellavedova. Mozgov has also filled in well for the injured Kevin Love, and is a defensive presence in the paint, which helps contest the drives posed by the Golden State Warriors.

   In my personal opinion, I do believe the Cavs will win the series. As of now, there has been no solution to stopping LeBron, and Klay Thompson and Steph Curry are incapable of guarding him to the extent they need. This can become a shoot-out type of series, so long as the Warriors have both the Splash Brothers on point. When only Thompson or Curry is on fire, the Warrriors struggle. A combination of increased defensive effort, the escape of Curry from his slump and a decrease in LeBron's production are the only things that can help the Warriors win. But as I see it now, there's no stopping the freight train that is LeBron from obtaining his third ring

3 Things to look forward to in 2015-2016

    Today marks the 100th day until the 2015-2016 NFL season officially kicks off. With those 100 days winding down, OTA's will begin and commense, training camps will open and close, and fantasy drafts will come and go. As for the regular season, here are the three biggest things I'm looking forward to this come NFL season.



1. Adrian Peterson back on the field
After playing only one game for the Minnesota Vikings before his suspension, Adrian Peterson says he's ready to go, and is back into the swing of things for football. But the success of his season can go either way, which is what I'm looking forward to. AP can either have a successful season, like seasons prior where he rushes for over 1,000 yards; or he could have a failure of a year, leaving Minnesota with the option to trade him after he is suspended and had his first bad year. I personally believe that this season will truly be a successful season for Peterson, given that when he's healthy is a machine. Peterson has never shied away from a challenge, and the 2015-2016 season will be his biggest. The vikings should be able to experience larger success than last season. After going 7-9 with a rookie QB in Bridgewater, no Adrian Peterson, and a sub-par wide recieving corp, they should have a turn around season after adding Mike Wallace to the outside, and gaining AP back. Expect big things from the Vikings, and they should be fun to watch this season.

2. The NFL Debut of Jimmy Garoppolo
Although I personally have my reservations about Tom Brady being suspended, I am very excited, as most NFL fans are, to see what Jimmy Garoppolo is capable of doing on the NFL level. In college, Garoppolo topped 5,000 yards in his senior year, and paired it with 53 TD's, and only nine interceptions. Numbers like those are what are keeping Pats fans afloat in this dark and dismal time. With Brady suspended for at least the first two games, with the possibility of a two game reduction due to appeal, Garoppolo will get two starts at least in the NFL. This un-proven "rookie" has big shoes to fill, and will be pressured to get the defending Super Bowl Champs off on the right foot in their first game against the Steelers, which is expected to be a shootout of a game. Personally, after seeing some of Garoppolo during OTA's so far, I think Patriots fans should not worry, because this man is extremely talented, and one day, could become the face of this franchise.

3. The revamped Buffalo Bills
This offseason was an omen to the Buffalo Bills, a franchise who was stuck in the rebuilding phase for years. With the addition of players like Percy Harvin, Matt Cassell, and LeSean McCoy, the Bills are hoping to make a splash in the AFC East this season. Granted, Harvin and Cassell may not be as respectively talented as McCoy is, but it's a vast improvement from where they were before. On top of that, new head coach Rex Ryan comes in with a defensive geared mentality, which can work well with the talented defense Buffalo has, led by Mario Williams. This team will surely improve on their 9-7 season last year. The addition of McCoy adds a much needed running weapon into their arsenal, something that was lacking in effectiveness with C.J Spiller in the backfield. Spiller should find his role to be more of a pass-catching back, which is something that fits better with his speed. The dynamic WR duo of Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods will be great weapons for Matt Cassell to target, and these wide-outs should find more success with an experience QB at the helm this year, rather than an untested rookie in E.J. Manuel. I expect the Bills to make a legit case for the AFC wild card spots.

Who is Slade Heathcott?

      Yankee fans now have a new name stuck in their head. Slade Heathcott. Heathcott was the 29th overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft, and after six years of bouncing around the majors, he has tasted the big leagues. In four games this season, Heathcott has batted .417 with a home run and three RBI's. This past memorial day, Slade got his first start, when both Ellsbury and Beltran were out.
     
     So who is Slade Heathcott and what's so special about him? When Slade was a junior in high school, he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, and thus started his alcohol problem. On top of that, Slade was also arrested for pointing a 12 gauge shotgun at his father's head during an argument. He grew up in a tormented house with divorced parents, and his upbringing was not perfect. His alcohol abuse continued until the Yankees learned Slade was blacked out and lost his passport the night before he was to fly to the Dominican Republic. The Yankees introduced him to Sam Marsonek, a former MLB pitcher, who took Heathcott to AA meetings. Heathcott also found a new life through religion, and claims that god saved his life.
   
  This man made it all the way from the bottom, and he has the skills to make it in the MLB. In seven seasons in the minors, Heathcott had a .270 average, which is fairly strong. He doesn't necessarily hit for power, but like Yankee fans saw this past Memorial Day, he can hit the occasional dinger. In the minors he was a great fielder, with an almost perfect fielding percentage in the minors. This kid is an all around strong player, who could play a significant role in the Yankees future. With an up and coming outfield, Heathcott could certainly find a spot somewhere in there. Beltran will be on his way out, and Ellsbury has been injury prone. Once Heathcott proves himself more worthy to be in the outfield than Garrett Jones, who is a 1B as well as RF, he will find himself in the rotation with Chris Young for the outfield spots.

    Personally I have become fond of Heathcott after hearing his story and watching him play. The fact that he turned his life around and now is doing great things, and has a family now is inspiring. His play on the field was fantastic. I truly think that Slade Heathcott belongs in the MLB, and I urge you all to keep an eye out for him.

Tom Brady is Innocent

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE WILL BE HIGHLY OPINIONATED

    Ridiculous. That is the only word I can use to describe the punishments dished out to the New England Patriots because of "Deflate-Gate." The loss of draft picks and $1 million fine is reasonable, because there truly was evidence of cheating. But what is unreasonable is the four game suspension given to Tom Brady. If anyone looked at the specific texts between Patriots employees, it is explicit that those employees were plotting against Tom Brady.
 McNally: "Tom sucks...im going to make that next ball a f---in balloon." (Oct. 17, 2014)
 On several other occasions, there were more texts exchanged between employees discussing ball inflation and deflation
 McNally: "Make sure you blow up the ball to look like a rugby ball so tom can get used to it before Sunday" (Oct. 21, 2014)

McNally: "F--- tom....make sure the pump is attached to the needle.....f---in watermelons coming" (Oct. 23, 2014)

Clearly Tom Brady was not the protagonist in this situation. The evidence is explicit in favor of Tom Brady being innocent. So, if the NFL saw all these texts, why did they suspend Brady for four games? It's absurd! Tom Brady did nothing in this situation, and the four game suspension was way out of line from the NFL. 

What should have happened? If they, being the NFL, were still stupid enough to suspend the greatest QB of all time, it should have been for the pre season games, AT MOST. 

I sincerely hope that the NFL reduces the suspension on Brady during his appeal. It is absolutley absurd that the NFL would have dished out this kind of suspension on an innocent player. Roger Goodell can redeem himself here by reducing the suspension he so unrightfully came up with.

MayPac = Hug Fest

       One word can be used to describe the Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather fight this past May 2nd. Underwhelming. This was supposed to be the most anticipated, the most exhilarating fight of the century, and it fell way flat. With all the hype leading up to this fight, viewers at the MGM, and at home were yearning for a knockout. What did they get? A 12 round hug and jab fest, which was not worth their $100 at home, and thousands of dollars at the MGM. It became apparently clear to me that Mayweather has one motive. Money. He does not love the sport of boxing, and he does not love to compete. Floyd Mayweather "fights" for his nine figure check. For every second that passed by, Mayweather made $83k. No wonder he dragged the fight out. If this fight was against anyone else, with any other circumstance, he would have gone for the KO. But his strategy for the entire fight, was to drag it out, and there are a few things that make me believe this.

     1.Fight Style: Floyd played defense the entire night. Just by watching, I could tell he was running around, and one could say he fought scared. On several occasions, Pacman would work Mayweather into the corner, and begin to land a sequence of punches, culminating with one heavy left hook. Instead of fighting his way out, and landing a few return punches, Mayweather would slip out of the situation, and reboot the fight. That lack of offensive fire-power shows his lack of interest in the fight, in my mind. If Mayweather really cared about the fight, he would have gunned for Pacquiaos head, and left no mercy. On May 2nd, he jogged around, and gave the occasional hug. Seriously? Mayweather's lackluster fight style also restricted Manny from going after it. Because Floyd took Manny in for a tender hug everytime a 66 pound per punch fist was cocked for his head, Pacman couldn't fight like he normally would. Mayweather's cowardly fighting style made it impossible for Pacquiao to make any moves on Floyd.

     2. Too Much Hype: This fight was five years in the making. Every TV station had a Mayweather vs Pacquiao commercial running. T-shirts were sold in large quantities. ESPN didn't even have coverage of the actual fight, but they moved their live SportCenter shows out to LA to have a week full of coverage for the fight. With all the anticipation for the fight, there needed to be a bloody match, where both men poured their heart and soul into the match, culminating in a knockout. To avid boxing fans, it may have seemed like a good fight. But the majority of the audience were not avid boxing fans, merely just people looking to see a good fight, potentially the fight of the century. Most people wanted to witness history, not a match where someone outboxed the other. All the hype leading up to it was too big.

This fight barely satisfied it's viewers. To be honest, I almost turned the fight off after two straight minutes of a black screen because Charter couldn't handle all of the traffic it was getting from its hundreds of thousands of Pay-Per-View buyers. And to be honest again, I was dissapointed in the fight as a whole. The week leading up to the fight was filled with hype, but the fight did not fulfill my hopes and dreams. This was my first, and probably my last boxing match I'll ever watch. Even IF there was the possibility for #MayPac2, I probably wouldn't even watch. MayPac1 might have ruined boxing for me.

99 Problems but a Win isn't One

While the Knicks continue to trudge along in the debacle of a season this one was, one thing stands out to me like a sore thumb with this team. Melo needs to go. Plain and simple. Phil Jackson recently made the worst trade imaginable by ridding J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert. Those two guys could have been the foundation to building a better team in the 15-16 season. But no. Phil Jackson needed to clear cap space immediately it seems like. Well Phil, if I were in your shoes, here's what I would have done differently.

    1. Keep Shumpert. He was the best defensive player the Knicks had, and was still on his rookie contract. Yes he is injured, but he could have been the building block for success for this potentially up and coming Knicks team. But no. Knicks need the cap space NOW! Losing Shumpert and Smith dumped $20 million in luxury and salary tax, which makes $35 million available for free agent shopping this summer. Lamarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, Kawhi Leonard, and DeAndre Jordan are just some of the names they can pursue this summer.

    2. Trade Melo. Jesus god almighty. As much as I love Melo, HE NEEDS TO GO! All he's doing right now is taking up cap space! With Shumpert and Smith gone, there's no one for Melo to work with. So keeping Melo means that he'll take all the work onto his shoulders, make all the other players un happy and un willing to play with him. On top of that, he's injured. Melo has a 5 year contract, for $124 million through 2018. A team like the Hawks, with the most cap space in the league, can maneuver some players around and make a big trade to acquire Melo, and send some players to New York. Someone like Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver would help the Knicks out substantially.

    3. Play for 1st (pick). Let's be real here. With a 10-45 record as of February 24th, there's nothing left to look forward to for the Knicks besides 1st pick in the draft. By doing that, they can build and get younger. Jahil Okafor or Emmanuel Mudiay can help the Knicks tremendously

    4. Make a splash in the Free Agent Pool. How about some fresh talent in NY huh? It seemed to work when the Knicks brought in Carmelo, Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler in back in 2010. If I was in Jacksons shoes, and Melo was already traded, the first thing I would look for is the SF position. Guys like Luol Deng or a Kawhi Leonard (at the right price) could serve great in NY as Anthony's replacement. The next desperatley needed position would be Center. With the power forward position potentially locked down with Cleanthony Early in the D league, the Center would be the next need for the Knicks. If we're going to be honest, the Knicks haven't had a reliable center since Patrick Ewing in the 80's and 90's. A reliable guy like Omer Asik, who is great on defense, and scores when he needs to is just what they need. Or, if the room is there, Lamarcus Aldridge or DeAndre Jordan will be potentially shopping for new teams.

   This Knicks franchise needs a complete revitalization. Phil Jackson needs to realize that the way he has constructed this team is not fit for winning more than 20 games in a season. Getting Shumpert back, trading or dumping Melo, building through the draft and shopping for Free Agents will help this team take a 180 degree turn talent wise, and maybe even record wise. Lord knows they could use it. 

Arod's 2015 will be a Hit or Miss

    When I typed Alex Rodriguez's name into google, the first three related people that came up were Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Manny Ramirez. Those three have one major thing in common with Arod. STEROIDS. But, Yankee fans have been assured this is a new era. A clean era for Arod. With the PED and BioGenesis scandals behind him, Rodriguez can now focus on the more important things, like getting his 39 year old PED reliant body back in baseball shape.

   As a Yankee fan, I'm concerned, yet anxious about Arod's 2015 campaign. He could bomb the season, proving to everyone that he can't play without the juice, regardless of what he's told the fans. He could struggle to bat his weight, and be replaced as the Designated DH by the barely younger Carlos Beltran. Arod could also make a fool out of himself in front of all the booing fans, and walk away from the team after this season with his $61 million and quickly be consigned to oblivion by the baseball world.

  As realistic as all of that sounds, some little part of my pinstriped heart tells me that this could be an omen. Arod could FINALLY produce like he used to back in the mid 2000's. After taking his suspension from the 2013-2014 seasons, he could have gotten 100% healthy again, and play his first full, 162 game season since 2005 with the Yankees. 2005 was also Arod's arguably best year ever in pinstripes, where he posted a .321 average, 130 RBI's and 48 homers. Ever since, loyal yankee fans have seen Arod's numbers decrease. But, 2015 could be the year he actually contributes to this team since 2009, where they won a World Series. His offseason work could all come full circle, and develop a swing that is explosively efficient, making balls pop like popcorn, while simultaneously reducing his strikeouts. IF all of that comes together, Yankee fans could be blessed with a potential post season push.

   But being realistic here, the Arod of 2015 won't be able to hold the jockstrap of Arod of the mid 2000's. Granted, he was on the juice back then, but at least he was a valuable member to such a storied organization! Yankees fans have been sick and tired of hearing Arod this and Arod that in the news, and even more sick of him stinking up the field when he's playing! This year needs to be a tell all for Arod. With three years left on his contract, he needs to make some big changes. If he fails, which is likely, the once glorified Yankee will be pressured by the fan base, and even the front office to take his money and get out of the Bronx so there is more room for actual talent. But, if by chance he manages to pull off a successful season, and lead the Yankees to the playoffs, Arod will once again be worshiped by fans. He once again will be mounted on top of a pedestal for all to view. And potentially, could be forgiven of his dreadful sin by the fans, which, in reality, would be the biggest victory of his career.