L.A. Pride is a true sports enthusiast. A former youth, and division II assistant basketball coach, who studied the martial arts, he enjoys and follows all sports, even hockey. His quick wit and insight brings a fresh view to the world of sports. You may not always agree with him, but you will enjoy his highly opinionated thoughts.
Is it me …
Or was it about time Chris Paul be traded, somewhere? Paul was finally traded to the Los Angeles Clippers last week. There he will team up with Blake Griffin to form the nucleus of a young and upcoming team.
The NBA, i.e., David Stern had voided the original Paul trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, because it supposedly did not benefit Paul, the New Orleans Hornets or the league. Stern wanted the league owned Hornets to receive draft picks and younger players to make the Lakers-Hornets deal work. It is still questionable if the Hornets received true value for Chris Paul from the Clippers. Paul led the Clippers to a victory over the Lakers Monday night.
The Knicks picked up Mike Bibby, Baron Davis, and re-signed Jared Jeffries. They also signed Tyson Chandler. Chandler gives them exactly what they need at center, for a reasonable price considering he’s coming off winning the Finals as a difference maker starter and compliments Amar’e Stoudemire well. This could wind up as a disaster, for pursuing defense over offense and size over speed. Hopefully, D’ Antoni has been reading defensive manuals and will install some type of defensive scheme. As we know, offense sells a lot of tickets, but defense buys a lot of rings, as in championships.
The Miami Heat picked up Eddie Curry, formerly of the Knicks; guess what, he is having conditioning issues. What was the Heat thinking? Curry couldn’t get in shape in NY and was a joke, a beached whale. Did the Heat think they were getting Flipper, or Curry would show up in shape so he could sunbathe nude on South beach?
Note to the Orlando Magic: Giving Jason Richardson and Glen Davis mid-size contracts is not the way to keep Dwight Howard, I don’t care how good a friend he is with them. They can’t win with these guys and Howard knows this.
Kobe Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, have filed for divorce, irreconcilable differences. Vanessa was a trooper and stood by Kobe when he needed her (sexual assault trial) but has had enough. It appears they did not sign a prenuptial, therefore Vanessa is entitled to a lot of money, in addition to the huge ring he gave her during his trial, her championship ring.
NBA teams continue to adjust and shape their rosters;
A list of current NBA transactions can be found at:
http://www.nba.com/news/transactions/2011_12/
Is it me…
Or was this a week of firsts in the NFL? The Green Bay Packers lost their first game of the season, to the Kansas City Chiefs, who were horrible last week (against the Jets) and had fired their coach. The Indianapolis Colts won their first game of the season against the Tennessee Titans. There will be no perfect( or imperfect) seasons in the NFL this year.
- Tim Tebow ran in to a bump in the road, the New England Patriots and was handed a loss;
- San Diego Chargers maul the Baltimore Ravens to stay in playoff hunt;
- Detroit Lions rallied from 13 down to beat the Oakland Raiders;
- New Orleans Saints roll;
- Carolina Panthers behind Cam Newton cooled the Houston Texans, hurting the Texans chances of a top seed;
- Seattle Seahawks “Knox” the bears out and rolled to a win. Chicago Bear’s receiver Johnny Knox was injured during the game and is out for the rest of the season;
- NY Giants fall out of first after losing to the Washington Redskins (we really have to do something about Washington’s name; it is racist.);
- The dream team, Philadelphia Eagles, showed up and routed the NY Jets. LeSean McCoy set two team records for the Eagles;
- Arizona Cardinals rallied to defeat the Cleveland Brown;
- Reggie Bush rushed for 203 yards leading the Miami Dolphins over the Buffalo Bills;
The playoff picture as of today:
AFC
New England, Pittsburgh, Jets, Houston, Baltimore and Denver.
NFC
Green Bay, New Orleans, Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Dallas.
We said it last week, but it is worth repeating, the NFL did a wonderful job scheduling the Jets –Giants game. The game will have an impact on the playoffs, as it may determine if either team get in.
NFL teams continue to adjust and shape their rosters;
A list of current NFL transactions can be found at:
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/transactions/
Is it me…
Or did the Baylor Women’s Basketball team send a message this past weekend? Britteny Griner led Baylor to a come from behind win against perennial favorite, the Uconn Huskies. In a matchup of the number one rated Baylor versus the number two rated Huskies, no punches were pulled. The two teams went at one another with all they had and produced a great basketball game.
Not many teams can go in to Waco, Texas and go up by eleven points against Baylor, as Uconn did. But then again not many teams can erase an eleven point deficit against the Huskies, as the Bears did. Baylor proved they are an elite team deserving of their number one ranking.
You have to tip your hat to women’s college basketball, they are not afraid to play each other. They routinely schedule tough games throughout the season, making it exciting from beginning to end. Let’s hope these two great teams meet again in the tournament.
Is it me …
Or did Barry Bonds get away with one? Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants , was sentenced to two years of probation, 250 hours of community service, a $4,000 fine and 30 days of home confinement. Bonds was convicted of purposely misleading a jury during his steroid trial .
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Parrella called the sentence a “slap on the wrist” and the fine “almost laughable” for a superstar athlete who made more than $192 million for playing baseball.
It is widely believed in the baseball world that Bonds knowingly took performance enhancing drugs. Mrs. L. A. pointed out that Bonds’ head has gotten smaller since leaving baseball, proof positive he was taking something while playing.
Bonds has stated that he will appeal the sentence. It will take time to determine whether he serves any of his sentence. His appellate specialist, Dennis Riordan, estimated it would take nearly a year and a half for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule.
Note to Bonds: By the time your appeal is heard and decided you could have this behind you. 30 days of confinement in your house is not exactly hard time. I am sure you have cable!
Is it me…
Or do the colleges have the athletes over a barrel? Todd O’Brien graduated from St. Joe’s in Philadelphia with a year of eligibility left. He decided he wanted to go to the University of Alabama-Birmingham for graduate school. He also wanted to play Basketball for another year. St. Joe’s refused to “release” him and is not allowing Todd to play for UAB.
This is hypocrisy at the highest level. The school is allowed to prevent an athlete from moving on for whatever reason, but a coach can resign and start a new job tomorrow; or a school can jump conferences as they wish. But Todd O’Brien is held captive out of vindictiveness. Mind you, under the current rules, Todd’s scholarship is for one year only and is renewable, so the college could have taken away his scholarship at the end of any of the previous years and left him high and dry. But Todd can’t transfer to another school without the blessing of St Joe’s. Go figure!
Edited by D. Pride.
