Spurs Scandal?

A breaking story so far this week is the controversial San Antonio Spurs' decision to rest their starters in Thursday's game against the Miami Heat. Head Coach of the Spurs, Gregg Popovich, sat Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Danny Green, and Manu Ginobili; in fact, those players didn't even make the trip out to Florida. This has angered basketball fans, and Commissioner David Stern. Here's why neither have a right to complain.

As a Head Coach of a professional team, regardless of the sport, you have to make the hard call. Of couse, you want to be as competitive as possible, 24/7. But in order to stay highly competitive, you have to keep your players healthy. Thus, you have to be proactive, and lay back. You have to lose some, to win some. This is what Coach Pop tried to do. He wanted to avoid letting his players become fatigued. This back fired, and it obviously shouldn't have.

I can understand why fans could be mad. They paid all this money to watch all-stars, and it turns out they've been benched. I've been there, done that, personally. But, David Stern needs to stay out of it. If he turns out to follow through on his statement, and sanction the Spurs, he would be abusing his powers. So, he needs to back off.

Gregg Popovich made the right call. Everyone else needs to respect his decision has a coach. There is emotion here, where emotion does not belong.

Welcome Back, Fighting Irish

Notre Dame overcame their final obstacle that was standing in the way of a perfect season. Notre Dame has a flawless 12-0 record to finish their regular season. They are most definitely playing in the BCS Championship. Who will win the other slot to play in collegiate football's biggest prize? It's a toss up between  two SEC rivals: Alabama and Georgia. How will it be decided? The SEC Championship Game. Here's your anticipation guide to the most important, as well as the second most important, game this football season.

I am actually somewhat satisfied that Notre Dame has returned to their pedestal of greatness. As a writer and sports fan who hasn't been on the planet long enough to see the 1970's or 1980's version of the Fighting Irish, I am coherent to the fact that Notre Dame is a dominant team, but up until now, I never witnessed any evidence. I now have my evidence. The cool thing about Notre Dame is that they make themselves cool by being old-school. Classic black and yellow jerseys without any names makes them sport the retro look, as well as their end-zones only having diagonal lines and every referee, coach, player, and fan being in the presence of Touchdown Jesus making the stadium old-fashioned, yet interesting. All these factors make South Bend a Mecca of College Football.

Notre Dame maybe fun and fancy, but who will get a chance to take a swipe at their perfect season? The SEC Championship is set to be a bash. Alabama and Georgia will face off in what could be the season's most interesting game. Alabama is the overwhelming favourite, but one mustn't overlook the Georgia offence.  If Alabama wins, as they should and will be ashamed if they lose, Alabama will give Notre Dame a run for their money in the BCS Championship, which is too close to call at this point. If Georgia pulls an upset...all bets are off. In the scenario in which Georgia advances to the National Championship, Notre Dame would have a more definite edge. Either way, Notre Dame should have an edge on both contestants.

Welcome to the Bowl Season everyone! Let the bash begin!

Thanksgiving Football Preview

It's Thanksgiving here in the United States. It's time to give thanks, eat turkey, and watch footanball! Here is some insight on today's Thanksgiving Day games.

New England @ New York

This game has been the most advertised of all of today's three games, but it definitely won't be the best game to watch. I  have lost a lot, if not all, hope in the Jets, meanwhile the Patriots are en route to win the AFC East. Expect a blow out.

Washington @ Dallas

This game should be pretty good. Dallas has been shaky all year long. Tony Romo has failed time and time again to hit his tempo and come through for his team.  RGIII has been red hot, while the rest of his team haven't done much better than their previous seasons. Both teams are very evenly matched and I look forward to watching this game.

Houston @ Detroit

This game has already started as I write. It's 0-7 for Detroit with 5:49 to go in the First Quarter. Nonetheless, I still think that the Texans will win because they have had a stellar season thus far. Matt Schaub has really come through for his club.

Getting out of Hand

NICK UNITED

Commentary for Futbol, Soccer, or whatever you call it!

Every professional sports league has its issues. Maybe its drug abuse, labour disputes, a biased distribution of wealth among players, coaches, and owners. The Barclays Premier League has a social issue that most leagues have been through with for decades, and it's getting out of hand.

 
The Premier League has been plagued with racial tension, and I really don't know why. So many of the American sports leagues maintain the "he's Black, and as long as he keeps scoring points I don't really care what his skin colour is," mentality. The English Premier League has failed to do that. There is know an epidemic across the FA of players, fans, and even referees, racially abusing one another. What makes the problem even more perplexing is that there is so much discrepancy whether certain claims of racial abuse are even valid. 

The primary example to help better define and identify this issue would be the John Terry Scandal. Of course, anyone who follows soccer/association football knows what happened. Basically, Anton Ferdinand of Queens Park Rangers claimed the John Terry of Chelsea 'racially abused' him. [Ferdinand] Terry and his club [Chelsea] launched efforts to try and prove Terry innocent. This included that team mate Ashley Cole, who is black, testifying on Terry's behalf. (Of course, the FA's verdict made Cole a little bit mad and caused him to go twitter-crazy, but we'll visit that in a minute.) Anyways, John Terry was eventually acquitted by the Magistrates Court, but the FA fined him and banned Terry for four games. This caused Ashley Cole to through a twitter fit and call the FA names when they declared Cole's evidence (which primarily included pointing out that Terry wasn't racist) invalid. The precise details, I'm not going to disclose, I don't really need Google kicking me out.

The solution to this issue is hard to come by. Of course the FA should expand punishments on those who racially violate others, but that doesn't totally fix the problem. The players have to not want to be racist, because its what they want, not because they'll get punished. The cliché for this situation could be, 'if white was a minority, would we [white people] appreciate being called derogatory names?' It's simple respect. A problem getting out of hand, needs to be fixed...soon.

MLB Season in Review

The 2012 Major League Baseball season was an exciting instalment into the never ending book of big league baseball. Boston busted, rookies shined, and the Giants won big in 2012. This was the first year that there was a all-or-nothing, wildcard game to get into the playoffs.  This complicated things quite a bit, after the Oakland Athletics stole the pennant from the Rangers, who went to the wildcard play-off game and were beaten out by Tampa. So, after two consecutive years going to the World Series and losing, the Texas Rangers didn't even make it into the post-season. There were also a handful of teams who completely they busted. Philidelphia, after losing Halladay to injury, finished at .500 and third in the NL East. Back in the American League, the Boston Red Sox went through the floor under Bobby Valentine; they finished dead last in the East Division.

Now, fast forward to the post season. We had the National League, the Reds being overtaken in the Giants in five games, while the Cardinals also had to take five games to oust the Washington Nationals. Things were just as tight in the AL. The Yankees took the maximum length of series to put end to the Orioles hopes. On the other hand, the Lions took five games to stop the A's in their tracks. I initially thought that the Reds would win the series against the Giants, and I thought the Nationals had the pitching ability to overtake St. Louis.

On to the next round, I don't think anyone saw the Yankees being swept, though, they never  seem to get further then the League Championship Series. It was an extremely close race between the defending Cardinals and the Giants. San-Fran eventually was able to advance over St. Louis in seven games. 

On to the World Series, I was not expecting a sweep, and neither was the majority of  baseball-loving America. But a sweep it was - the San Francisco Giants won their second title in three years. It's no repeat, but it is definitely a feat of note.

Now let's talk awards. Tomorrow is the announcement for Cy Young Awards, and Thursday is when the MVP award winners will be known. I think that R.A. Dickey will get the National League Cy Young, since he had multiple one-hitters and a minuscule earned run average. Justin Verlander, David Price, or Jared Weaver are deserving of the American League Cy Young Award, though I think it will go to David Price, as he personally had a remarkable year, while Verlander and Weaver both have a "another day at the office" sense to their seasons. Now let's talk MVP. Hands down, the American League MVP would be Miguel Cabrera for winning the triple crown. Thought, Mike Trout is definitely a candidate. The national league is another story though. Yadier Molina or Ryan Braun could definitely have a chance at getting the MVP, but if it were up to me, I think that R.A. Dickey is the most deserving.

The previous baseball season was a hit, and baseball fans can only hope for 2013 to be just like 2012.

Pink Pigskin and Girly Gridiron

With October comes cooler weather, changing leaves, spooky holiday decor, and the colour Pink. Yes, Pink. The National Football League's action starts to pick up in October, getting people to pay more and more attention each week. In light of this, the NFL has started a monster campaign for the greater good.

We live in a world where the egocentric celebrities, particularly the actors and the athletes, get all the fame, glory, attention, and of course money. This is while the philanthropists, the doctors, the scientists, who live among us, doing the most good for humanity, while the guys with a decade less of education are getting the air time on the news. The NFL has stepped forward to put aside the pointless hype of superstar quarterbacks, fantasy football, and power rankings, and united with the Players' Association to advocate for humanity. Behold, the "A CRUCIAL CATCH" campaign!

"A Crucial Catch" is in its fourth edition advocating the fight against Breast Cancer. However, not only are they pouring lots of money towards the cause they are also committing themselves to the most valuable asset in any campaign for any charitable cause: information.  The NFL has focused a lot on the education of the mass of the people. The focus of the campaign is actually not on research for a cure, though research is a beneficiary of the campaign. The true focus for "Crucial Catch" is stressing the importance to women of getting annual mammograms. Also, the pink apparel worn my referees, coaches, and players, are being auctioned off, profits benefiting the Community Health Advocates National Grants for Empowerment (CHANGE) program, organized by the American Cancer Society. The CHANGE program's focus is outreach and mammograms to women in poverty otherwise unable to receive preventive care.

However, the best way the advocacy campaign is working out, is that there has been a domino effect between the players and their fans. My "Rec" basketball league last winter had some kids who had no tattoos, and came from otherwise okay families, but they wore arm sleeves while playing. Of course, they taught it was cool to act like a NBA player who has tattoos so vulgar on his arm, he has to cover his arm while playing on national television. Anyways, the same effect has taken place in the Crucial Catch campaign but in a positive ways. Fans, particularly kids, see professional football players wearing pink arm bands, chin straps, socks, cleats, etc. during their football games, so these kids, rush into their local sports supplier, buy pink merchandise, wear them in their [the kids'] games, and bam, they are as cool as the Pros. So now, not only do you have more merchandise being purchased, which a percentage of the purchase goes to a respective advocacy group, but the awareness is being spread further and further. It's a pollination effect!

So, to sum this up, the NFL has got it right, and the focus of heroism, which is normally on sports and entertainment, not science and medicine, is on a cause that matters. There's no politics, no "what-is-in-it-for-me?". Just successful advocacy of stuff that matters. I am beginning to love October.

Source(s):

• NFL Pink - A Crucial Catch <http://nfl.com/pink>

NFL Week 2 Fantasy Picks

Not every week, but most weeks, I plan on doing a Fantasy Overview previewing the top performers of the month. Anyway, here it goes.

QB - Tom Brady - New England Patriots

Brady and the 'Pats' are up against the Arizona Cardinals. Obviously, there is no doubt that Tom Brady will have few issues against the Cardinals' defence, especially because the Patriots won the last meeting between the teams, 47 to 7.

RB - Brandon Jacobs - New York Giants

Brandon Jacobs has become better and better over the years, and he isn't too far from the stardom of Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson. Jacobs and the Giants will host the Tampa Bay Bucs', who have an average rush defence at best. Jacobs should be able to blow up the stats, and dispel any possible losing streak.

WR - Dez Bryant - Dallas Cowboys

Bryant, despite having some recent issues, could possibly blossom in the Week Two match up against the Seattle Seahawks. The Cowboys have had a very good rhythm in their passing game, through tight end Jason Witten, and wide receivers Miles Austin and Dez Bryant. Bryant could get in a touchdown or two this weekend.

TE - Jimmy Graham - New Orleans Saints

The Saints are looking to rebound after a bad loss to the Washington Redskins. Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham will head off to Charlotte to play the Carolina Panthers in Week Two. While the panthers have a moderate offence, their defence isn't the best. I expect Jimmy Graham to get some quality passes to make him a chart-topper in week two.

Defence -  Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are going up against a Philadelphia Eagles team, who can be good, but not spectacular. The Ravens are definitely a force to be reckoned with, and they will give Michael Vick and the Eagles lots of pain.  

Premier League Preview

Nick United

Commentary for Soccer, Futbol, or whatever you call it!

It's been awhile since my last post, and ironically enough, it's already time for the greatest league on Earth to rebut: The Barclays Premier League. Many moves have been made, money traded, and squads trained. It's time to hit the pitch and get down to business.

1. Manchester United

ManU is a truly elite squad: virtually the New York Yankess of association football. I think they have the talent (i.e. Fletcher, Nani, Rooney, Ferdinand) to go a long way. I think that last season was just inches short of triumph, and United has come a long way to not gain themselves a title. Manchester has made few changes, but the edition of van Persie will definitely make the Manchester United midfielder corps a lot much better. 

2. Chelsea

While the word on the street is that Wayne Rooney is the Premier League's best striker, thou could also make a case for Fernando Torres of Spain. Torres has an entire stockpile of morale after the Spaniards' Euro championship. However, Torres isn't Chelsea's only phenomenon, opposing strikers have Ashley Cole and John Terry to deal with, not to mention Frank Lampard and Juan Mata in midfield. Chelsea won't be any more than three points behind the title, and ManUtd should definitely watch out for the blues.

3. Tottenham Hotspur

The boys of White Hart Lane aren't necessarily filled with superstars like the teams named above, but the squad chemistry and management division are superb. Footballers such as Scott Parker, Luka Mordic, and Michael Dawson aren't the big all-stars we commonly association with being 'great', but they are all team players nonetheless. Heck, eleven men could beat out a solo Pelé any day.

4. Manchester City

Who's the top dog in Manchester now? Well, ManCity for now. The squad of Manchester city strikes me as 'overrated' and 'ego-induced, with the exception of Joe Hart. The "Why always me"-ism of Mario Ballotelli can, at times can make me want to puke, and at other times, make me want to burst out laughing. He also seems to contradict himself, because he a) gets himself benched multiple times after blowing a goal by showing off with a fancy shot, then b) boast that he doesn't celebrate goals because its his 'job'. However, City does have talent, and a top five finish is in order.

5. Arsenal

Arsenal is a lot like Spurs in the sense the the Gunners lack in stardom, but are big on team players and teamwork. There's not a lot to be said about Arsenal, besides that they have excellent side chemistry. Expect the Gunners to poke their heads into the top five, and might even soar a spot or two higher.

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That's about all for now, I am looking forward to the season of many domestic leagues.

Sports that should (and shouldn’t) be in the Olympics

The list of Olympic Sports goes on and on. Athletics, Archery, Swimming, etc.; it almost never ends. However, there are some sports that I believe should, and shouldn’t be in the Olympiad. Here are my opinions.

For the I.O.C. (International Olympic Committee) to admit a sport into either the winter or summer Olympics, the sport must be compliant with the Olympic Charter, be administrated by an Internation Federation, be widely played world-wide and be approved by the I.O.C.  There are some sports that will be a part of the 2016 Rio de Janero Olympiad, that weren’t part of the London Games. These sports are Golf and Rugby Union. I am perplexed by golf, because, it should have been a part of the games a long time ago, which it was, but then taken off. Golf is pretty widely played worldwide, thank you to an international Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour. Most Americans are wondering how Rugby, but not American Football, is going to make the games, but actually, Rugby Union, is very wide spread. It’s played a lot in Canada, and believe it or not, Rugby Sevens is somewhat of a major thing in NCAA. And, of course, Rugby is huge in Europe, and a little bit of Asia.

Well, there are only a few Olympic sports I think should be added. Baseball has a decent international base. It’s played in America and Canada, much of the Carribean, and South Africa, and last but not least, it’s huge in Japan, which is why all most all of the gloves I’ve ever owned have been Mizouno. Of course, the main agreement against, what I am saying is, “Only men play baseball.” Well, true, in a way, but you see, there is always softball. Softball may be seen as a totally different game, but you can also look at it as a modification of baseball. Ice Hockey is a good example to help my case. Womens’ Hockey is non-contact, which may seem minor, but the lack of contact is totally alien to the mens’ version. Also, many other sports, such as Swimming and Track have abbreviated distances for women. I really don’t see why not to add Baseball/Softball to the list of Olympic Sports.

The one sport I think should be removed from the roster of Olympic Sports is Table Tennis. Table Tennis, or simply, ping-pong, doesn’t really strike me as a sport any more than poker or billards. Maybe it is just my personal bias, and I will be the first to admit, that it very well does fit the criteria set by the I.O.C. I guess it is very opinionated to say such a thing, but it is just my personal judgments and you can disagree with me if you like, just saying.

London 2012 has been very entertaining, and it can only get more exciting from here!

Source(s):

• International Olympic Committee Website

Joe Paterno: A Fractured Legacy

Joe Paterno’s Legacy, is a confused mess of triumph, greatness, and disgust. Paterno was one of the best college football coaches, if not the best football coach, period, of nearly all time. How do you judge Paterno’s legacy? Should his statue be removed? Finally, does the football program of Penn State deserve to be dismantled?

Joe Paterno was a great coach, and is an intriguing story of a life. Joe Paterno, the leader of men, who apparently was able to build fine football players, excelling students, and complete men. But, when push came to shove, and the results of the so-called Freeh Report, reported what to me seemed obvious, Joe Paterno, and other administrators, covered up Jerry Sandusky’s heinous sins. The fact is, Paterno, broke a law. If you know of Child Abuse you are legally obliged to report it to authorities, or you can be charged and tried in the criminal court of law. So, did he (Paterno) did all he possibly could to stop the malicious abuse of children? No. Plain and Simple. It was Paterno and other administrators who thought they could deal with the problem themselves and ultimately prevent a colleague from being arrested. In the end, Paterno might have done a lot of good things for Penn State and college football, but after what he has done, I find it morally hard to accept him as a great man, but I can buy him as a legendary football coach.

The status of the statue is a very sensitive subject. I honestly do not believe that Paterno deserves to have such a grand and embellishing statue outside of the stadium. At the same time, I do not think that he deserves no credit to how much he has contributed to the on the field success of the football program. Instead of a statue, I can see and approve of a mural of Paterno, maybe of him being carried off the field by a championship team, and a plaque on the mural reading “JOE PATERNO 1926-2012”. I think that wouldn’t be so heroizing (New word!) but would still recognize him for coaching such a good team.

The biggest issue of this everlasting scandal, which seems to add a new chapter to the saga every month, is what will happen to the football program itself. I have heard different reports about different opinions and demands. I have heard/read about people calling for the football program itself, to be eternally terminated. I am not sure about that, but that is why you pay the people in the position to lead, the big bucks. You, as a work place superior to someone like Joe Paterno or the head of the Penn State Athletics Department, would hope that the people in charge would do the right thing. Thus, when you are a leader, and you screw up, you make your organization suffer as well. An argument countering argument to the permanent death penalty of Penn State football is, “What about the players?”. The thing is, if a football player is good enough to go to play, as a non-walk-on, for somewhere with as much reputation as Penn State, he could probably play anywhere else. But, as a program itself, I do not believe that the football program being taken away, is the right choice. I think that Penn State should ban themselves from playing in bowl games.

There are also a lot of other interesting opinions across the web. The most intriguing one is a Fox Sports rticle about how things would have turned out differently if there was a female in charge of some part of the athletics department.

Anyways, those are my opinions, and it was announced yesterday that the statue would come down, and it has, and NCAA fined the football program $60 Million, and all their wins since 1998, and suspended the program from any bowl games for the next four years.

Switching Around

The NBA offseason is heating up, and almost every team is running around, trying to pick up some new talent. There's been a lot of talk, but so far, few things have happened. The primary big name transfer was Steve Nash going to the Lakers. However, many other possible traders are in the works. Ray Allen wants to move to Miami, Jeremy Lin is contemplating going to the Rockets, and Dwight Howard, well, he could go just about anywhere now.

I am going to start off my commentary, with Nash and the Lakers. I think, Nash will offer a lot of leadership and teamwork to the Lakers. Steve Nash works very hard, and has a great attitude that will have a positive effect on the team. I think that, while the Miami Heat has a great group of forwards, the LA Lakers have the NBA's most elite, point guard-shooting guard match up with Nash and Kobe Bryant. I don't see why the Lakers can't go a long way in the 2013 playoffs.

Now, we have Dwight Howard in the middle of talks with the Orlando Magic. I find the Saga to be really long, and bland. Basically, the Magic can't make Howard happy enough to be able to resign him. So, there are a million other places he could end up. I have seen articles on the internet stating that there a rumors he could go to Houston or the Lakers, but really, it is impossible to tell. The fatal flaw of sports writing, is predicting what's going to happen, whether it's who wins a game, or which free agent ends up where. Honestly, I couldn't see him playing for anyone else, but the Magic. Eventually, Howard and the Orlando Magic will be able to strike a deal.

Jeremy Lin signed an offer sheet with the Houston Rockets, so the deal is almost half done. But, what does an offer sheet do? An offer sheet basically states, that an offer has been made to a player, and the team who the player belongs to, has 72 hours to make a counter offer to keep their player. I think Lin will fit right in with the Rockets, and even if the Knicks decide to counter, Lin would like the center stage of Houston a lot more.

Finally, we have Ray Allen and him wanting to go to the Heat. Why? Don't ask me that: you already know. Obviously, he wants to win a championship, which obviously isn't possible via the Celtics and hard work. That's probably his view, which I don't really understand. And honestly, how much more stacked can the Miami Heat get. Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, and even Shane Battier would be a star if he wasn't over shadowed by these goons. So much for the CBA. However, if the Heat have the room to sign him, there is no question that they will. But, I doubt he will ever get down to South Beach, probably at the end of it all, he will find himself in Boston, which isn't a bad thing. In my opinion, winning a title with the Celtics isn't all that hard.

Well, it looks like the NBA will have itself a hectic offseason. Perhaps, this post-lockout after shock will be just makes this offseason more busy to make up for all the inactivity last summer due to the lockout. The one thing I always remember is, every offseason is a soap opera.

2012 Wimbledon Review

In a way, this year's Wimbledon brought all of us back to old times. Serena Williams and Roger Federerhad a pretty long drought until recently when both won their respective singles titles in the 2012 Wimbledon Championships.

I'll start with the Men's Singles Tournament. It was one of the more interesting tournaments I've seen in awhile. Nobody expected Rafael Nadal to make such an early exit. It is hard to explain what might have happened to Nadal to cause that lose. Honestly, every once in a while a professional tennis player is going to be upset, no matter how dominant you are. Now, let's fast forward to the Semifinals. Probably, the most interesting match of the entire event was the semifinal between Roger Federer and Novack Djokovic. Surprisingly, Djokovic was finished off in four sets, and never won more than four games in any one set. Now, on to the other semifinal, Andy Murray defeated Jo-Wilfred Tsonga to become the first Englishman to reach the finals in a long time. (I believe it was 74 years) This match also took four sets and ended with the final set being won by Andy Murray 7-5. I honestly thought that Andy Murray was going win. Main;y because Federer, (no offense to him) is getting 'up there' in age, and he had issues with his back in earlier rounds of the Wimbledon; I wasn't sure how much he had left. Nonetheless, Federer was able to pretty much dominate the match in win three sets to one. The second set was won by Federer with seven games, but other than that Federer won with a decent majority.

Now, on to the Women's side of things. Maria Sharapova was the definite favorite, and I was expecting her to win. However, her loss in the fourth round changed that. I thought that Victoria Azarenka had a chance, but then there was Serena Williams. Serena, before the Wimbledon, was in somewhat of a drought, there was awhile before the Wimbledon which Serena wasn't very present. However, she battled the entire way throughout the tournament, and was able to defeat Agnieszka Radwandska in three sets, which is the maximum number of sets in Ladies' play.

I found a couple other things interesting in this year's Wimbledon. The Williams sisters (Serena and Venus) won yet another Women's Doubles title. That was their thirteenth title, and a very amazing feat. Also, when I was watching the Men's Doubles final, I was very amazed by Jonathan Marray's sportsmanship. He admitted missed  calls by the line judge multiple times. Once, in a tiebreak, Marray accidentally hit the net with his racket and won the point. He admitted it to the umpire, and the point was reversed. That was some pretty stellar stuff. Finally, my last point of interest is that both the Boy's and Girl's Singles were both won by Canadians. Maybe in the next few years we will see Canada enter the international tennis stage.

Source(s):

• "2012 Wimbledon Championships", Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Wimbledon_Championships>
• Wimbledon Official Website <http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/index.html>

Well, no one expected that.

Nick United

Commentary for Soccer, Futbol, or whatever you call it!

Spain and Italy, eh, well I saw Spain, but Italy? Well, the Euro 2012 ended somewhat unexpectedly. Well, let's dive right in, shall we?

To start from the top of the Euro 2012 Elimination Stage Bracket, an all-Iberian Semifinal was expected, hands down. Obviously, Portugal was going to beat the Czech Republic and Spain was going to beat an in-a-slump France. That was pretty straight forward. Now the battle of the Iberians was somewhat of a different story. Of course Spain, was going to win, but no one thought it would be so close. But in the end, Spain advanced on PK's 4-2, and the Portugese manager came under fire after the match when Paulo Bento put Cristiano Ronaldo last in the PK order, but the PK's ended before Portugal got a chance to take a fifth shot. Some people even blamed Ronaldo for not cutting line and helping his team, which is somewhat preposterous in my opinion.

Things get slightly more interesting as you look at the bottom of the elimination tree. Germany completely wiped out Greece 4-2, more-or-less expected. However, I personally did not see Italy coming out over England. England, I think, has one of  their better sides since Beckham's era. However, Italy dominated the entire game despite the score being even at zero goals a piece. England pulled ahead on PK's 2-1, and I thought the Brits were going to have it, (for once a English PK win!) but Italy rallied back and won the match 4-2 on PK's. 

It was an Italy-Germany semifinal, I think there was a boatload of upset gamblers at the end of this match. Ballotelli had a brace (two goals in one match) and Germany didn't score their single goal until the last couple minutes of the match. 

I could have sworn that the finals would be a lot more entertaining, for sure, but not so much I guess. Italy came along way to get to Spain, and then Spain completely walked over "the Blues". Four-no was the final score; Silva, Alba, Torres, and Mata all scored in that order.  It was exciting for some but boring for other to watch such a one-sided.

Well, besides MLS, soccer/association football will have a break until Premier League action starts up this fall. Untill then I will blog about other thing, particularly the Olympics in London.

Corrections:

• My last Football Friday (now known as Nick United) post, said, "...Ronaldo and Spain...", it was supposed to say Torres and Spain, I do not know how I managed that error.           

Football Friday: Premier League, Champions' League, Euro 2012

Football Friday will be a monthly special I will do on Association Football/Soccer. It won't be published every Friday, but a couple Fridays throughout the month. Despite not be European, I named this series Football Friday to get in the spirit of things!

A Manly Finish

This year's Barclays Premier League finish was highlighted by both Mnchester clubs. It was Manchester City who won the championship on goal difference. Both teams had 89 points each which was an astounding 19 points ahead of third place Arsenal.

*Note: I hope you guys like my clichè! 

UEFA Champions' League: Bayern Munich vs Chelsea

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A couple weeks after the closing of the Premier League, was the UEFA champions' league finale between the German squad, Bayern Munich and the English side, Chelsea. It was a very good match and despite continued efforts from Bayern, Chelsea narrowly won the match in penalty kicks, 4-3. 

Euro 2012 Preview

The biannual contest between European national team is here, and will be contested in the nations of Poland and Ukraine. I expect Ronaldo and Spain to perform well defending their title, and England also looks promising under new management. Overall, it looks like a good tourney. 

Didn't Expect That...

I am getting bad at predicting stuff. It seems every time I make a guess and publish it, the exact opposite happens. I thought it would be a New York-Phoenix finals, but it turned out quite the opposite: New Jersey-LA.


It is about time that Brodeur and the Devils get into the Stanley Cup playoffs, it's been a long hard career for Brodeur, and he definitely deserves to win the Cup. However, the Kings have been hot lately, they took down the one, two, and three seeds, however, this battle will be very unpredictable.


According to here, a Sports Illustrated article, many teams have been hot, and then had their weaknesses exploited in the Stanley Cup Round. I have another conclusion that could lead to the down fall of Kings. These one, two, and three seeds may or my not have played with their best effort, meaning that the Canucks, Blues, and Coyotes blew off their opponents as an easy sweep, and were quickly caught off guard. However, New Jersey is a six seed and they won't fool around.


I am not going to make a prediction this time around. I don't want to drive my readers broke due to gambling based off my so-called expertise. However, I will say this, Brodeur and the Devils have a lot of talent and might, just might, have the upper hand. Don't bet on it though, it might be the last thing you do before you get foreclosed upon. :D

Last Minute Preakness Preview

The Kentucky Derby came along and I botched that, I will fully admit. Predicting Gemologist to win was a definite screw up after seeing the horse finish in sixteenth. Now, we have a field of eleven horses. However, two of them seem to be taking centre stage.


Bodemeister
Bodemeister had the derby in the bags if it wasn't for I'll Have Another. Bodemeister is a great horse with great past performances. Bodemeister had a 99 Beyer Speed Figure during the Derby. His best ever was a 108. To put things in perspective, Secretariat had a 139 during the Belmont. Anyways, Bodemeister's Beyer at the Kentucky Derby wasn't very good. If his Beyer can be better, maybe he'll be able to win this one. I expect him to at least show.


I'll Have Another
After his win at Churchill Downs, I'll Have Another is the odds favorite at the Preakness with odds of 5-2. After looking at his previous races, I think I'll Have Another is at the peak of his career. The Derby was I'll Have Another's third consecutive win. To be successful in the Preakness, I'll Have Another will have to have a slightly better run. His jockey needs not to leave it up to the last seconds of the race to make his move. Other than that, I'll Have Another should place or win.


It looks to be a great race between Bodemeister and I'll Have Another. I am very excited to see who comes out on top.

Stanley Cup Final Four

A grueling season and two rounds of intense NHL playoff competition have brought us to this, four teams, who are looking to bring home hockey’s most notorious prize: the Stanley Cup. On one side of the bracket we have two teams who beat the odds and after years of drought, are ready to face the big boys. On the eastern side of things, two regular season powerhouses look to one up the other and make into the finals. The question is who will make it? Well, I suggest you read this.

Western Conference Finals

The LA Kings have come a long way. Not only did they beat the number one seed Vancouver Canucks in five games, they managed to sweep, and yes I said sweep, the number two seed St. Louis Blues, who were absolutely dominant during the regular season. Now they have a chance to take out the three seed, which f accomplished, would make a very, very memorable post season performance by the Kings.

The Great One is great at playing, but not so much coaching. Since Wayne Gretzky stepped down, four years after naming himself head coach in spite of having zero coaching experience, the Phoenix Coyotes have been on an upward spiral. Now, the Coyotes are in the Stanley Cup semifinals for the first time in a while. The Coyotes have been doing very well, and after an impressive series against the Nashville Predators, they have a bunch of momentum on their side.

*Conference Note: Wayne Gretzky in a way influenced both these teams. He played for LA after being traded from the Oilers, and Gretzky had a 10% ownership stake in the Phoenix Coyotes franchise.

Prediction: Phoenix wins series 4-3. The Coyotes will struggle, but in the end, they should overcome the Kings

Eastern Conference Finals

The Rangers didn’t exactly dominate the Washington Capitals like expected. However, I will admit, the Caps are a pretty talented team. However, if the New York Rangers don’t bring their A Game they will be in trouble against the Devils. However, if the Rangers can just relax and play like the Rangers they are, they shouldn’t have a problem.

Oh, Brodeur, you sly dog. You’re killin’ me bro. One game you are a star the next time you completely choke on me. You are going to force my readers to chase me out of town with a pitch fork. A pitch fork! Yes! That’s how unpredictable about you. You are going to completely bomb it. Anyways, Martin Brodeur from the New Jersey Devils can be very unpredictable. Sometimes he’s a star, sometimes he just doesn’t perform. Nonetheless, I respect as one of the better goalies in the NHL’s expansion era. But, I don’t expect much from the New York offense, seeing as they are a very defensive team.

Prediction: New York wins series 4-2. Defense wins championships, no?

It looks to be a good one! Let’s see who will get a chance to engrave their name on the great Stanley Cup!

The Art of Stadiums

Stadiums are often the difference between a happy crowd and a angry crowd. The latter should be avoided at all costs. Rarely, has it been defined, what exactly makes a stadium great. In this post I will take an in depth look at what makes a stadium great.

Playing Surface

Let's talk about grass. Everyone loves a turf field. They're sooo pretty. So does a turf field make a stadium great? Not Necessarily. In contact sports such as rugby and American football, athletes hit the ground almost constantly. So, the deal is, underneath most Turf fields is a solid slab of concrete. So, it adds to the hurt after getting hit. It's the same way in baseball, you go for a slide in the outfield, and it's that much harder to scrape your bones of the turf. That is why I think well manicured Grass is the way to go.

Let's turn to hockey. Ice is just ice. There's not a lot of different kinds of ice. So, I am not going to give a run down about hockey rinks anytime soon. 

But wait, my friends, but here comes basketball my friends. There are a lot of different pattern to display wood. On the left is the court of the Boston Celtics. If you look closely, you will see a square pattern. This sticks out and makes the court look unique. However, if you take a common court, say Madison Square Garden, you have your normal court pattern. I tend to prefer the normal pattern, but it depends what interests you.

Spectator Environment

There are small details that makes me, a fan, happy. Obviously there are more tangible factors, like the rowdiness of the fans around me that are hard to control. However, things like that can be somewhat curbed via a good security staff. However, there are lots of intangibles that should be discussed. 

The most crucial, overlooked stadia detail in my opinion, is the presence, or lack of, cup holders. I can't say how many times I have bought a soda and had to put it underneath my seat or next to my foot where it is just waiting to be knocked over and spilled. Cup holders are small details that make a fan's experience just that more comfortable. 

Staying on the topic of food/drink, concessions also make a fan happy. As a stadium owner, you want to have a good variety of choices, from just snacks to small meals such as hot dogs or sandwiches. A good strategy would be to partner with fast food restaurants such as Subway to provide food during your games.

On a different note, seats are a big part of keeping spectators happy. Seats need to be big enough to accommodate a man on the heavy side, but you don't need to go out of your way to appease a person who is 100+ pounds overweight. Also, you need to keep your seats maintained; there's nothing worse then a seat that squeaks as you sit in it.

Source:   http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17977841

Kentucky Derby

It's that time of year again when handicappers from all over the world get set to watch America's most prestigious race. It's been 34 years since Affirmed won the triple crown in 1978. Can Union Rags, Gemologist, or Bodemeister pull of a triple crown this year?

What I Expect

Gemologist has a great grandsire (great grandfather) of Northern Dancer. Northern Dancer had a great history. He was rode by Ron Turcotte, who was the jockey for Secretariat, which in itself shows he was something major, but he also won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. This, in my opinion, shows, that the Crystal Shard (of whom Northern Dancer is a grandsire) side of the family has great speed traits, with a lack of endurance.

If you look on Gemologist's other side, you will see a great grandfather of Seattle Song. Seattle Song himself wasn't that impressive, but his Dad, Seattle Slew, was an extraordinary thoroughbred who won the Triple Crown the year after Secretariat did. 

Gemologist has a great bloodline. In my opinion, it's almost similar to the characteristics of Secretariat's inheritance. He too had speed on one side, and endurance on the other side of the family. However, there's a lot more to horse than just bloodline. Gemologist hasn't lost a single one of his five starts. He even won the Wood Memorial, which is a very prestigious pre-derby race.

If you look at the video to the left you can watch him run in the Wood Memorial. Gemologist had a close call, but if you watch his stride, it's absolutely beautiful. One of the key things I look for in a good horse is his anatomy and how muscular he his. Gemologist, in my opinion, has a great muscular body and is great at tracking down leaders.

So, I expect Gemologist to at least show in the Derby. If he doesn't win, I think Bodemeister probably will. Union Rags' recent performances have been sub par in my eyes, He should get a third or fourth finish.