For those that don't know me, just know this- I do not like the Ohio State Buckeyes. I never have and I never will. No offense to my friends that went to/have connections to OSU, but for real- shady-ass athletic department. Jim Tressel was NOT a saint no matter how the university tries to twist it around. Guess what: he got busted for the same thing he did at Youngstown State!! Was anyone REALLY supposed to be surprised to hear that he lied about not knowing that his players were getting other benefits? I wasn't. Terrell Pryor did what he had to do...I mean after all, you really do believe you should get whatever you want, especially when your mentor is LeBron James (who got busted for "benefits" in high school). Anyway, we know all of the stuff that has been in the news that the NCAA is investigating Ohio State for. I won't go all into that, but I will say that if there's a school that would deserve the "death penalty" well, OSU would be it.
On the flipside, Penn State is a school that has never been in trouble with the NCAA for any of their sports. PSU does actually take NCAA rules seriously and the Compliance Department actually does their job. According to an article on rivals.com, Joe Pa admitted to breaking what would be a minor rules infraction. On one of his walks through campus, he saw some of the football team having an informal practice. He stopped and looked and didn't speak a word to anyone. Eventually he mentioned to one of his assistants that one of the players looked good. Technically that was an infraction. To keep in good moral standing, it was then reported to the Compliance Dept. and in turn to the NCAA. This SHOULD end up with a slap on the wrist and a "don't do it again". Why even bring this up? Because it's the right thing to do.
So, Ohio State, maybe in the future, you should pay just a bit more attention to how Penn State operates and maybe people outside of Ohio will actually not mind you so much. Oh wait, you do bring in a lot of $$$ for the NCAA, so you'll probably just get a slap on the wrist for all of your million major violations anyway. Nevermind.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
NBA Draft Lottery 2011
With the Dallas Mavericks becoming the 2010/2011 NBA Champs, we've moved into the off-season and the draft is upon us. First, I'll start by saying a big "THANK GOODNESS" that Miami did not win the title. I used to be a LeBron fan when he was in Cleveland. It's not so much that he left the Cavs, but HOW he did it and how the "big 3" acted when they signed their contracts. In my opinion, all the extra hype came off as being pretty douchey. Now then, let's get to the matter at hand- the draft.
How ironic is it that the Cavaliers have the 1st and 4th pick for the first draft right after Bron Bron's departure? Yes, I know- "the first pick really belonged to the Clippers, but it's Cleveland's because of a trade". Yeah, nice cover, NBA brass. Fix the lottery to help them out, but try to make it look like it's not fixed. We know the deal and the NBA is probably the shadiest professional league there is in the US. I'm not going to hate on the Cavs getting some help though. (insert anti-LeBron message here). Here's my take on the draft- WEAK.
The GMs across the league swear that this draft class is deep. I'm not buying it. Did the actually watch the NCAAs this year? It was apparent to me, with the exception of Derrick Williams from University of Arizona, that it's a very heavy guard draft. Granted, I'll admit that I don't know much, if anything at all about the international players. Sorry- I work a lot and am not a scout, so I don't travel oversees to give my opinion to any NBA teams (I would accept a job doing that, however).
From what all the drafts are saying, Kyrie Irving (Duke) is going as the #1 pick and is the "sure-fire standout". I'm not sold on him honestly. In fact, I'm generally not sold on Duke players making the jump to the NBA. While there have been some very solid players over the NBA's history, there's just really been no absolute superstar. Duke is a very system-based organization. That's nothing against Coach K, but it's just the way it is. I feel the same way about Indiana University. For me, I'm just not sold.
The mock drafts then have Derrick Williams going to Minnesota at #2. While not a bad choice, is it really what the T-Wolves need? Not really. In my opinion, they need a whole new front office, a new owner, and they need to move somewhere else so people can forget the debacle of a franchise they've been. There are rumors about that they're going to trade Kevin Love. Seriously? That's the only thing they have going for them, although Rick Rubio finally decided to come over to the US after his stats have dropped in the Euro league over the last 2 seasons.
The only people that jump out to me are Kemba Walker (UConn) and Jimmer Fredette (BYU). Kemba has this "it" factor about him that he just doesn't want to lose. If he drops to #6, the Wizards (my fave team, but PLEASE go back to being the Bullets) need to go on and pick him up even though they really don't need another guard. Right now, supposedly they're taking Jan Vessely, a big boy from the Czech Republic. Yeah they need size, but from what I hear, Mr. Vessely is missing a lot in his game. I don't see Jimmer as being the next superstar. He's a pure shooter, but I'm getting Adam Morrison feelings with that. However, if he's available at #6, I can see Washington picking him up just in an attempt to continue to clean up their image. Thanks, Gilbert Arenas- Mr. Agent 0. Yeah you had talent, just nothing between the ears. Whatever. We've moved on. I think John Wall and Kemba Walker could be an exciting, albeit small, backcourt.
That's about as deep as I see the draft going as far as stand-out potential. I'm guessing I'll be wrong. In fact, I'm hoping for the NBA's sake that I am. It's gotten so watered-down it's ridiculous. With that said, I'll sign off for now, but with one parting sentiment:
How ironic is it that the Cavaliers have the 1st and 4th pick for the first draft right after Bron Bron's departure? Yes, I know- "the first pick really belonged to the Clippers, but it's Cleveland's because of a trade". Yeah, nice cover, NBA brass. Fix the lottery to help them out, but try to make it look like it's not fixed. We know the deal and the NBA is probably the shadiest professional league there is in the US. I'm not going to hate on the Cavs getting some help though. (insert anti-LeBron message here). Here's my take on the draft- WEAK.
The GMs across the league swear that this draft class is deep. I'm not buying it. Did the actually watch the NCAAs this year? It was apparent to me, with the exception of Derrick Williams from University of Arizona, that it's a very heavy guard draft. Granted, I'll admit that I don't know much, if anything at all about the international players. Sorry- I work a lot and am not a scout, so I don't travel oversees to give my opinion to any NBA teams (I would accept a job doing that, however).
From what all the drafts are saying, Kyrie Irving (Duke) is going as the #1 pick and is the "sure-fire standout". I'm not sold on him honestly. In fact, I'm generally not sold on Duke players making the jump to the NBA. While there have been some very solid players over the NBA's history, there's just really been no absolute superstar. Duke is a very system-based organization. That's nothing against Coach K, but it's just the way it is. I feel the same way about Indiana University. For me, I'm just not sold.
The mock drafts then have Derrick Williams going to Minnesota at #2. While not a bad choice, is it really what the T-Wolves need? Not really. In my opinion, they need a whole new front office, a new owner, and they need to move somewhere else so people can forget the debacle of a franchise they've been. There are rumors about that they're going to trade Kevin Love. Seriously? That's the only thing they have going for them, although Rick Rubio finally decided to come over to the US after his stats have dropped in the Euro league over the last 2 seasons.
The only people that jump out to me are Kemba Walker (UConn) and Jimmer Fredette (BYU). Kemba has this "it" factor about him that he just doesn't want to lose. If he drops to #6, the Wizards (my fave team, but PLEASE go back to being the Bullets) need to go on and pick him up even though they really don't need another guard. Right now, supposedly they're taking Jan Vessely, a big boy from the Czech Republic. Yeah they need size, but from what I hear, Mr. Vessely is missing a lot in his game. I don't see Jimmer as being the next superstar. He's a pure shooter, but I'm getting Adam Morrison feelings with that. However, if he's available at #6, I can see Washington picking him up just in an attempt to continue to clean up their image. Thanks, Gilbert Arenas- Mr. Agent 0. Yeah you had talent, just nothing between the ears. Whatever. We've moved on. I think John Wall and Kemba Walker could be an exciting, albeit small, backcourt.
That's about as deep as I see the draft going as far as stand-out potential. I'm guessing I'll be wrong. In fact, I'm hoping for the NBA's sake that I am. It's gotten so watered-down it's ridiculous. With that said, I'll sign off for now, but with one parting sentiment:
Congrats to Rory McIlroy for his win at Congressional. Keep being you. That's why everyone likes you- you're not arrogant like a certain other golfer that used to be at the top.
Back To Blogging
I've created a blog here or there in the past and have stopped for one reason or the other. Well, it's about time that I hop back into it. I'm not going to get into discussions based on politics or religion. It's just really not my thing- or at least not to the point to get argumentative about it. What I am going to do is just talk about things on my mind, sports, and other misc. things. So, hopefully some people will start reading this and see what's going on in my mind. If you are reading this, you may agree with me on some things and disagree on others. I always value opinions and constructive criticism.
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