Real American Hero

I know everyone is probably sick of hearing about the NBA trade rumors, and Melo to the Knicks, but I am not! I love Melo always have, ever since I saw him JAM on people at the Prime Time Shootout. But there is one key component to the trade that EVERYONE is missing, except for us always stingy media professionals/ amateur like myself!

That key element was point guard Cauncey Billups, the Knicks needed him, and he will fill that role admirably, but what people don’t know is what Billups lost coming to New York, his family. Now I don’t mean loss as in; his wife divorced him, he no longer has a house or any of that, what I mean is he lost the ability to see his wife and three daughters. It’s a rarity in sports to see an athlete so distraught over leaving his family back in his hometown.

Billups grew up in the Denver area, and played his college basketball at Colorado University, but when he made it to the NBA he traveled a lot playing for: Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Minnesota, Detroit, and up until recently the Denver Nuggets. When the Nugget acquired him, it was like a dream come true for him. He told his daughters that there will be no more of this switching schools, moving into different houses, and making new friends, this was their home for good. Obviously, he figured this would be the last place he’d play and retire where it all started for him, a true Hollywood story. That storybook ending is over, sadly.

Which leads me to why I am writing this entry; I read an article this morning about the pain Billups had felt since Tuesday night. It’s something that between the coverage of where Melo would end up (Knicks or Nets), how will the team gel together, how will Melo will perform his first time in the Garden as a Knick was: how does Chauncey Billups feel? The answer; horrible, and from reading the article Melo’s wife and kid being there through the whole day and night didn’t help.

But it is really refreshing to see professional athletes, who are under scrutiny wherever they go show real human emotion over his family. In a time where adultery, rape (accused and convicted), allegations against college’s for recruitment (Tennesse, Uconn, Auburn) to name a few. So when I read this article I immediately was choked up to see that athlete’s do have human emotions! (Which is obvious, but rarely seen).

After their first game ended in a 114-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Chauncey was back to him old self, smiling and laughing. Saying, "Just to get out there on the floor it's good, it's our safe haven and it's where we let everything else go in the world. For the fans to embrace me and Carmelo the way they did, it just felt good." A total 180-degree turn from early that day. But this was great to hear from Chaunce (being a fan since he joined the Nuggets), even though no matter how unhappy he would be, he would still do his job, and that was to be the floor general for the new look Knicks. 

I would like to personally thank him for being a true family man, because in a country where 50% of first weddings end in divorce, we need people in the spot light 24/7 to set an example for the rest of the country. Thank you Chauncey, keep loving your wife, and kids because they’re the real miracle in life!

ESFN: Game of the Week

I’m going to bring something new to the ESFN blog and add a game of the week each week (obviously), that I believe could be a surprising match up. Hopefully I start with a bang (fingers crossed).

Bare with me on this but my inaugural game of the week is Michigan State vs. * #1 team Ohio State. Now I know what your saying, with all that is going wrong with Michigan State this year, the game will be a blow out. But never, ever count out a Tom Izzo team, his passion will not let him give up on his team.

Not only that, he still has a team filled with lots of talent to win with, there is no reason they should be losing this many games. With seven upper classman returning, including last year’s top scorer Kalin Lucas (14.8 PPG this year), and two of the other four top scorers (Durrell Summers 11.3, and Draymond Green 9.9). There is no way they can’t be successful right? Wrong! To be successful they will need better play from all of their role players. But I believe there is still hope and this is just the game that can spark them to a streak that guides them right to the NCAA tournament (which they are on the bubble for anyway)

Now on to the buckeyes, coming off their first loss of the season, it will be interesting to see how a senior dominated squad responds to a loss. I am very interested to see how Aaron Craft (freshman) will play, after under performing when the game was on the line. I am certain this was a shot to his confidence, so his performance is very important to the team’s success. This is the beginning of a tough stretch that will really test the team chemistry, with a very tough Purdue team, on the road in hostile Mackey Arena.

Knowing Thad Matta he will not let his team falter after one loss, but Izzo is the same way, making this matchup an even better one. The matchups (player vs. player) that I’m really looking forward to seeing is how Derrick Nix will defend the young and talented Jared Sullinger. Nix a sophomore is a wide body in the pain (6’9’’, 270 lbs) should have no problem matching up with Sullinger in size, but the separation in talent may be the deciding factor. This is when freshman Keith Appling and Junior Delvon Roe will fill in, if Nix gets into foul trouble.

The second matchup I’m looking forward to is a battle of seasoned veterans taking one another on. Kalin Lucas vs. David Lighty is what I’m talking about, it will be tough for each to get baskets, but they will score. The first one to become frustrated with their lack of scoring will be the one’s who team will lose the game. This will prove how important these two players are to their team’s success.

In a final word, my prediction, it will be a good game, and my confidence in a Mike Izzo coached team is being tested a lot this year, and I will continue to be disappointed. In a home game, Ohio State will win; quite handedly 75-68 is my prediction. The offense of Ohio State will be too much for Sparty to handle in the end, especially when they will find it hard to answer and trade baskets, let alone separate themselves from the Buckeyes.

St. John's: The Rise Back to Fame

Since the 3^rd grade recreational basketball league draft, when a young sharpshooter was drafted by St. John’s in the first round. After playing for Duke the previous year, this young child was devastated that the school didn’t want him anymore. So with this New Year and a new team, his love for St. John’s basketball was born, and this little kid happened to be me of course.

For the years, after that season I followed the Johnnies, which was easy to do being from the tri-state area, but what was harder to do, was maintain interest. Their programs tradition is right up there was the Dukes, UNCs, and Kentucky’s, with many tournament appearances, whether it was the big dance, or the NIT, the Johnnies were frequent participants. But post either the; ’99 or ’00 season the programs prestige started to diminish, as they couldn’t hang with the tough Big East Conference, and so they began harder to follow, because I would just assume they were just going to lose. As a little kid this was very demoralizing to see his team falter, which sparked my hatred for Duke University, because I thought “why should I suffer on a yearly basis, when they have all of the success?!”

Before I delve to deep into my feelings for Duke, I must remember this entry is about my beloved Johnnies, not my opinions. So, to the point, this year under the tutelage of coach Steve Lavin, St. John’s has had two big games make headlines, first was their 15 point win over the hated Duke University, and then just this week a 17 point win over number 9 UConn.

This year marks the beginning of their resurgence to the top, and they have just the players to do it with; 10 seniors, 1 lone junior, 4 sophomores, and another lone freshman. Not to mention that they have the second highest rated incoming freshman class, it looks like they will be set for the next few years.

I am proud to say that I have stuck with them through thick and thin, to prove so I want to let everyone reading in on what it was like to be a St. John’s fan last year. I remember these two games clear as day, big game against Georgetown starts out just the way we wanted it too, making almost every shot, creating separation from the Hoyas on the scoreboard. Going into half time the Johnnies were up 20, I’m thinking, “here we go, no way they will let them back in this game.” BOY WAS I EVER WRONG, everything that could go wrong, went wrong, missed multiple easy looks, transition points were few and far between, and the Hoyas could not miss! Obviously they ended up losing, by 7, that is a 27-point swing in just 20 minutes. Now to the next game, practically the same situation as the last game, just a month later, against another ranked team in West Virginia, up 23 now going into the half, same old, same old by the Johnnies easy made baskets, high percentage shots, and the three’s were falling from everywhere. Second half, same as against Georgetown. Huge let down, that ultimately ended up in a loss 79-60. To summarize that it was deflating being a St. John’s fan, especially last year, because they had so much promise it made it even worse

The offseason for St. John’s did not start out the way they wanted it to, with the immediate firing of head coach Norm Roberts. Many felt that he should have been able to finish out with the group of seniors he had taught for their whole careers. But sadly he never got that opportunity. This gave people a lot of doubts about; what looked like a promising season coming up, all of those voices were silenced when coach Steve Lavin was announced as St. John’s head coach. Lavin, who had quite a record at UCLA (145-78), seemed a perfect fit at St. John’s, gritty, gutsy, and young to relate to the kids. He is lucky to have his first season to be with a great group of experienced seniors, but he is the brains behind everything that goes on for St. John’s basketball, and when he signed 6 ESPN top 150 players for next season, people are now beginning to wonder, “what was going on over in Oakdale?” And boy is there ever something going on in Oakdale, but their record of 14-9, 6-5 in the Big East doesn’t really scream top 25 caliber. But in arguably the best conference in college basketball (Big East), a record of 6-5 is not to bad. Especially when stacked up to some of the powerhouses in the conference (UConn, Syracuse, Louisville). I'm not saying they are a great team; yet, they are showing potential to be great down the road. Once the beginning of next year is over (due to the loss of 10 players), and all the freshman get the system, look for St. John’s to make a pretty big splash in the Big East Conference and the NCAA tournament.

Why not soccer?

America, I have one question to ask, and that is, why not soccer? I was skeptical at first, but since I started watching I have grown to love it. One of the huge reasons why I started to love it was the fact there is only commercials at the major breaks in the game:  Half time, and end of the game. Because I know when I watch the NFL or any sport here in the U.S. there are, TOO MANY COMMERCIALS! If a ball goes out of bounds, here comes the red hat. Everyone is ready and waiting, but the red hat is still out there, being a pain in the, you know what! I don’t think I am alone when I say that sometimes the commercials are way too much, why would I want constant interruption while I’m trying to watch a game, I don’t!

            With the future for the 2011-2012 NFL season looking grim, it looks like America may need something to fill in their Sunday afternoons, of drinking and eating with another sport. “ ‘Ello ‘ol chap; want to kick the ball around the pitch? That’s right people I’m talking about the “evil” game of soccer! Put the good, English premier ship matches on in the morning/afternoon, and then later put the Serie A league on at night or even on ESPN2. People maybe skeptical at first, like I was when finding new sports to watch, but I feel that people will soon have less of a hatred for soccer.

            It will probably be hard for companies to give in to the fact that they can’t get their product/company as much air time as they want. But it will in turn save them money on time slots, because you only get half time (which is 15 minutes) to pick a spot. So really it comes down to, how willing these companies are to give up the moneymaking spots that they had. In the end, I feel that they will ultimately find a benefit to the new commercial time system.

            What I think will draw people to the game other than the no commercials, is the passion of the fans. They cheer, they sing, they curse, and they even get drunker than us Americans! With so many things they have in common with American sports fans, they will soon find common ground with one another. If you’re looking for more evidence of our similarities I suggest the public watches the movie Green Street Hooligans, a great movie that follows the West Ham United soccer teams “firm” or cheering section. Now this movie does get a little Hollywood, but it shows the passion the fans have for their teams, that they will fight for their team. Again, great movie, if you don’t believe watch it, you’ll love every minute.

            In a final word, if this were to happen, I just asked/beg ESPN to be the first to jump at this opportunity. If not, the rights to these games could be sold to the dreaded Fox network. As I’m sure we all know, Fox is not the best at picking their on-air talent, i.e. Joe Buck, Tim McCarver (my dad’s favorite). This could lead to disastrous things for soccer in America, just like it almost ruined bowl season for me, having to listen to Joe Buck in the BCS bowl games. Again this is all hypothetical, but please ESPN, do your part and keep soccer growing in America.