Olympic Disgrace

Every year the ice fishing world championship takes place.  But this year after the winners took the podium in celebration they were called away for a drug test.  Ice fishing is mostly about strategy and older and more experienced contestants often win, so it's unclear a physical advantage would make a difference.  The championship takes several days on the ice.  Each fisher is bundled up with everything essential including lots of beer to pass the time.  Most of he time is spent sitting around so the drug test was a complete shock.


But fishing isn't it.  Competitors in Mini Golf, Darts, and Chess have also been tested.  Several people tested possible but again how could it have given them and advantage.  Darts and Mini Golf are mostly about precision and accuracy so strength doesn't matter.  And in chess the only thing you use is your brain.  And i'm pretty sure HGH doesn't make you smarter.

But Ice Fishing, barely considered a sport is in the conversation for the next Olympics!  And guess who it might replace, Wrestling.  The classic test of strength, Wrestling was one of the pioneer Olympic sports and has been around for thousands of years.  But a recent vote has decided to discontinue the Olympic sport by the 2020 games.  If a sport where most of the time you sit on your butt drinking beer can replace one of the pioneer sports.  Just think of what could happen next.  Juggling or Pool could replace a sport like swimming.  Several former champs have already returned their medal in protest to this terrible decision.  So please everyone can help in the fight to bring back the true Olympic sport.

mamba's never out

It's looking pretty grim in L.A., a 28-29 record makes it pretty clear but you have to look deeper to find the true problems.  The most obvious thing is that they're getting older and must find a defensive rhythm fast if Kobe is to get a sixth ring.  The addition of star center Dwight Howard didn't help but through fuel on the fire as he didn't mesh Kobe at first and then with his lack of scoring fell asleep on defense.  And with the recent death of owner Jerry Buss everything is in chaos.

But not the Black Mamba.  Kobe has proved himself leading great teams to the championship but can he even lead the struggling Lakers to the playoffs?  Well he turned up the gas last night in Dallas finishing with 38 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists.  Yes assists he's passing too.  And many of those crucial points and boards came in the fourth but Steve Nash should be recognized for his season high 20 points as well.  These two players together almost singlehandedly won the game.

But the Mavericks didn't take it easy.  Dirk put up 30 points shooting 4 for 4 from behind the arc but that wasn't all.  Vince Carter and Elton Brand came off the bench and combined for 29 points keeping it close.  The final score was Lakers: 103 Dallas: 99.  The next game is against Denver who is second in the Northwest and this will be hard because they have already lost to the Nuggets three times.  This game would put them at 500. and could set the tone for the rest of the season because they will need to start winning the hard games.  But never count them out!

All-Star Weekend

Well, All-Star weekend has come to a close, so I'll take you through a quick recap of the events.

The Slam Dunk contest was it's usual high excitement low skill affair.  None of the major NBA stars participated Saturday or for the years before.  Many executives want to get rid of the event since many participants don't deserve to make it, but I'll take you through the highlights.  Kenneth Faried went off the backboard and through the legs for all 10's but did not advance.  James Flight White ran through a line of flight attendants to dunk from the free throw line but choked the first two times and dunked from a foot past the line on the third.  But it all came down to Jeremy Evans and Terrence Ross.  Evans started off by reverse dunking over former jazz center Mark Eden.  He also dunked over a painting of himself then signed it but it wasn't enough.  Terrence Ross the champion started with a 360 windmill from behind the backboard and sealed the deal with a through the legs dunk over a kid.

The participants for the skills challenge were Jeff Teague, Brandon Knight, and Jrue Holliday for the East (all new participants) and Jeremy Lin, Damian Lillard, and Tony Parker for the west. But the contest started off on a bad note as Teague missed shot after shot and wasn't much better with the passing.  But Brandon knight finished in almost half his time to give the East a good chance.  But Jrue Holiday finished with an even better score of 29 seconds putting the pressure on for the west.  Lin started off the West with a okay 35 But Lillard backed him up with a first place 28 allowing Tony Parker to relax.  But Tony choked and ended up with a 48 putting the East in the lead.  Now time for the championship round Lillard facing off against Holliday.  Jrue finished with a 35 second time worse than his first and Lillard took advantage of that finishing with a 29 to take the trophy.

The celebrity game was it's usual low scoring joking affair and defending Mvp Kevin Hart showed his skill putting up 8 points 6 assists and (kind of) beating Usain Bolt in a race.  He picked up his second Mvp and led the West to a 58-38 win.  The game is fun television and a good way to kick off the weekend.

In the three-point contest the East squad consisted of Paul George, Steve Novak, and Kyrie Erving and the West consisted of Stephan Curry, Ryan Anderson and Matt Bonner.  The West bested the East 54-45 in the first round and Erving took it away for the East in a 23-20 win over Bonner in the final round.

And finally the big event, the NBA All-Star game.  The game was dominated by point guards: Kyrie Erving and Chris Paul putting up outstanding numbers and keeping the D guessing.  But the big men were having fun too Blake Griffin threw down at least 5 ally-oop's and the Dunking was more impressive than the dunk contest.  Even Kobe passed last night ending up with 6 assists.  And even struggling center Dwight Howard shot a three. And immediately after KD stole the casual inbound and threw it down.  And Kobe kept tight on Lebron stuffing him twice including at the last possession.  But CP3 ended up with 20 points and 15 assists beating Durant's 30 points for Mvp honors and led the west to a 143-138 victory.  

Miami problems?

One conference, the best and worst teams, the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Bobcats.  How could the defending champion Miami ever be contested by a team like Charlotte, turns out they are.  The Heat are rolling on a 4-game winning streak and with a lineup as star-heavy as theirs how can you lose.  Well the Laker's found out it isn't so hard struggling to be a playoff caliber team.  Could Miami be having the same problem?

The Heat aren't showing any sign of slowing down but have been losing to teams that they are highly favored to win against such as the Warriors and Sixers.  Even if they haven't lost the games have been to close for comfort.  They have played the Bobcats twice this season and in both games they won but it was close until the end.  Even in the last game it took Lebron 31 points to finally bury the Cats.  The Heat have proved themselves against rival's and top conference contenders but the key to success isn't just stopping there but dominating every team you play and not stepping off the gas for a second.  If the Heat are to be a top contender again that will be the key.

And if Lebron is really the best player in the league he needs to be a leader as well as a scorer and show the younger players some of the experience that has helped him stay on top in the NBA.  Wade is getting older and is not playing as aggressively so I think Chalmers needs to start driving a little more.  But mostly the Heat just need to play their game.  Stay relaxed and play every night like its the finals and they'll go big in the postseason.

Rookie Stars

Several weeks ago Robert Griffin the Third tore his already injured ACL in the biggest game of the season!  After a bad snap Griffin fumbled the snap and ripped open his knee reaching for the ball.  The Redskins went on to lose to the Seahawks in the thrilling wild card matchup.  This injury was inevitable  RGIII's playing style forces him to sacrifice his body for yards.  With a hyper-extended knee earlier in the season the rookie was already only about 75%.  But last saturday in New Orleans his offseason got a little better as he won the Rookie of the Year award.  His jersey topped NFL.com's sale charts and his play-style and attitude are model for every QB in the nation.

But we've got more last years draft offered yet another running QB Russell Wilson who dominated the NCAA in Football and Baseball!  Why was he able to succeed in both sports?  His bullet arm.  Through the second half of the season he blew past Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers to become the NFL's best QB.  And he didn't stop there he took his team deep into the postseason beating Washington and falling to Atlanta by 2 points in a game where he threw for 385 yards.  He will be top ranked on everybody's fantasy lists next year.

And how could we forget Andrew Luck the number one pick in the NFL draft who if it wasn't for these other two QB's would have been the top story.  And what do these players all have in common?  They all turned franchises on the downhill around and led three teams with losing records to the playoffs.  Hopefully they will get the spotlight until freshman Heisman winner Johnny Manziel comes calling.

Super Ravens

In the brother vs. brother spectacular when the lights went out so did the ravens momentum but the 49ers comeback wasn't enough!  San Francisco looked like they were on the the practice field the entire first half leaving gaps in the line and losing their men.  One of the main reasons for Joe Flacco's 287 passing yard was Anquan Boldin.  The 32 year old receiver has been hot all postseason and finished with a bang piling up 106 receiving yards from just six catches!  Although Rice didn't have an outstanding game the long-ball kept them going and combined with a 109 yard kick return touchdown by Jacoby Jones dug San Fran's grave.  Jones helped set 7 of the 18 records that were broken last night.

San Francisco decided not to play for the first half of of last nights game but early in the third everything changed.  After Beyonce's literally stunning halftime show, half of the stadiums power suddenly went out.  The players stretched to avoid getting their muscles tight and everyone wanted and explanation.  The thoughts of Super Bowl Monday and did Beyonce use to much power were going through everybody's minds when about 15 minutes later the stadium was lit up again.  This turned out to be a blessing for the niners who had previosly been trailing by 22 but scored 17 points in two and a half  minutes to bring the score to 28-23.  The ravens got back in the game when two straight field goals bumped their lead to 34-29 after Kaepernick's record setting 15 yard td run.   

But it all came down to the last drive.  San Francisco had to make it to the end zone to win and the ravens desperately needed the stop.  Sure enough Kaepernick drove the the red zone but threw the ball three times with no result.  On their last play of the game Kaepernick barely stepped back in the pocket when he lofted a pass deep in the end-zone.  Crabtree was sprinting back on the fade route when Jimmy Smith grabbed his jersey with both hands resulting in the incomplete pass.  The referee decided it wasn't worth his time to make the call so the ball switched sides.   The Ravens ran the clock for 3 plays then then the punter dropped back but ran out of bounds for an intentional safety.  The score was now 34-31 but with 4 seconds on the clock and no timeouts the 49ers needed a kick return td to win.  They didn't get it and Jon Harbaugh was victorious over his brother Jim.