2012 CAA Men's Basketball Tournamnet opening rounds

This Friday is the start of the CAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Richmond Coliseum.  I want to preview the Friday and Saturday games.  Here are pick games being play on Friday March 2,2012: First is #8 James Madison (12-19) vs. #9 UNCW (9-20). I think that UNCW will put off the upset win here because they have played well against the higher rank CAA teams this year and almost won.  The next game is #5 Delaware(17-12) vs.  #12 Towson(1-30), I think this match is the easiest one to predict because Towson is 1-30. Enough said. #7 Northeastern (13-6) vs. #10 William and Mary (6-25): I believe that Northeastern has this one because they are around better team this season. The last game on Friday is  #6 Georgia State (20-10) vs. #11 Hofstra (10-21), I predict that Georgia State will breeze thought Hofstra, because George State in recent years has done well in the opening  round of  the tournament.

On Saturday the CAA Men’s Basketball Tournament resumes with #9 UNCW (10-20) vs. #1 Drexel (25-5) and I predict that Drexel will wipe the floor with the Seahawks. The next game will have #4 Old Dominion (19-12) vs. #5 Delaware (18-12), there is another possible of an upset here but I pick Old Dominion to win this match up.  At six pm is the #2 VCU(25-6) vs. #7 Northeastern( 14-16). This game is going to be close but with VCU’s great defense, I predict VCU to win. Then to close out the action packed Saturday you have #3 George Mason (23-8) vs. #6 Georgia State (21-10).  I predict that George Mason will win this game but hopefully will not turn the ball too much and it they get lead, do not let Georgia State get back into the game.

Was justice served for Yeardley Love?

On Wednesday, February 22, the verdict came down in the George Huguely trial in Charlottesville, VA. The Jury convicted George Huguely a former University of Virginia lacrosse player of second –degree murder of Yeardley Love and of grand larceny conviction.  Love was a student at UVA and a star on the Women’s lacrosse team. Later in the day, the Jury recommended to the judge a 25 year prison sentence and one more year for the grand larceny conviction.  George Huguely was found not guilty on few other charges including breaking and entering and burglary. The Jury convicted Huguley on second degree instead of first degree or life in jail because there was no premeditation of George Huguely wanting to murder Yeardley Love. George Huguely will formally be sentenced on April 16 and from what I have read and heard is that the judge will gave George Huguely the 26 years recommend by the jury.

So was justice served for Yeardley Love and her family? Well I do not believe that Justice served for Yeardley Love and her family. No one really comes out as the winner in all of this. First both families lose, the Charlottesville community loses, The University of Virginia loses, Love’s teammates lose, and Love’s friends lose to name a few. My Cousin knew Yeardley Love since he played Lacrosse for University of North Carolina and one of his teammates was dating Love off and on. He told me that she was a very smart person, who cared about others and who would have very success once she graduated college. So to lose someone like Yeardley Love is beyond words and 26 years cannot bring Love back and all the pain it has caused. I personally wish that he could have gotten a much longer sentence or life in jail because once he gets out jail, he can start a new life.  Yeardley Love will never have a chance to start a new life or anything else.

Which major sport in the United States has the best All-Star game?

 

This weekend is the 2012 NBA All-Star game in Orlando, Florida. These gets me think which major sport in the United States has the best All-Star game. Is it Major league Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Football League, or National Hockey League?

Well the MLB All-Star game hosted in July and it the halfway point in the season. They have the Homerun Derby and the Futures Game. The winning conference in the MLB All-Star game gets home field advantage in the World Series. The NBA All-Star game happens in the month of February and has few events over three days. Starting with the Rising Star Challenge, then skills competition like the Sprite Slam Dunk and ending with All-Star game itself. The winning conference does not get an advantage in the NBA finals, they only the satisfaction of beating the other conference. *The NHL has its annual All-Star game in the month of January, which is the midway point of the season. They have skills competitions over few days leading up the All-Star game. The Winner of the NHL All-Star game gets trophy and the satisfaction of beating the other conference. The NFL has it’s annual All-Star game (Pro Bowl), which is held in January before or after the Super Bowl. It is usually held in Hawaii, but in recent years they have moved to different locations.  The winner of the Pro Bowl gets a trophy for their conference, but the interesting thing about the Pro Bowl is that all the players in each conference get paid.

I think that when it comes down to which major sport in America has the best All-Star game, the winner is the MLB All-Star game because one team will get home field advantage in the World Series. The American and National league players take this game seriously unlike the NFL Pro Bowl, which is becoming a joke. What do you think? Do you agree with me?

Will the Sacramento Kings stay or leave?

There is a debate raging in Northern California this week. The Sacramento Kings are fighting once again to stay in Sacramento, California. A year ago they fought and petitioned to the NBA to halt the Maloof brothers from moving the team from Sacramento to Anaheim, California. The reason they were able to get one more year in was due to Kevin Johnson former NBA point guard who is now the mayor of Sacramento, and has energized the city to the point where now they have a plan and they are approaching some key deadlines in order to get a new arena. They have a hedge fund billionaire who will help out with the money so hopefully that will get them to the 400 million mark to build the new arena. The one thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that the Power Balance Arena was built in 1988 and lacks many of the new amenities in arenas now including club seating and suites. Power Balance Arena is the smallest arena in the NBA today and is the most outdated. If they do not get a new stadium agreement reached, there is the potential that they could still go to Anaheim but there’s been a lot of talk of them going to Seattle to replace the Supersonics that left in 2008 for Oklahoma City, OK. I hope they stay in Sacramento because the fans of Sacramento are definitely worthy of keeping them and it is the only team in the city so it is nice to see cities with a team to root for.  

CAA Signs a Five- Year Deal with NBC Sports Network



        Yesterday the CAA agreed with NBC Sports network to a five year deal. The CAA is the first college conference to sign on with NBC Sports Network, which is available in 75 million homes. There will be 12 games minimum televised and minimum of five regular-season football games per season. This is great exposure for other universities that do not receive as much attention from the media and the national exposure could serve as a recruiting tool too. This agreement benefits the entire CAA sports community including alumni who no longer live in the area. According to Commissioner of the CAA Tom Yeager “it was an opportunity, I think, to look at something where we could expand upon the existing relationship that we have had (with regional providers), and had a very viable national exposure opportunity.”

      I think this means we can celebrate as CAA fans because the little conference that could is now on a national network with 12-18 games with national exposure. So what do you think of this new television  deal? What impact does this new television deal have on George Mason specifically?  Are there any consequences to having less exposure on ESPN? In the end CAA and its members maintain their position as one of the best mid-major conferences in the country

The upgrades to the Patriot Center

When I went to the Homecoming game at the Patriot Center on Saturday, I noticed for the first time a new scoreboard and 15 LCD screens surrounding the arena. To my knowledge, in my research, the scoreboard weighs the same amount as the old one did, but it has more features like player fouls and individual points. I also noticed the end-zone LCD screens which was great because you could see a player’s profile picture and stats. I also found out during the homecoming game that they are going to put up 10 High Definition TV’s on the concourse, so that should be a bonus for the fan experience.

I think these improvements are good, but there are still many issues that need to be addressed in the Patriot Center. First, we need to replace the seats that are there now with some new seats. They need to find a better way to entertain fans who pay season tickets. They also need to repaint the stairs in the arena, and the section numbers, too.

I hope these improvements that have happened already, and the ones I’m hoping for, keep the Patriot Center thriving, and make the experience better for players, staff, concert goers and everybody who visits the Center. The University needs to think about the future of the Patriot Center: do they want to do an addition? Do they want to rebuild? Either way, we need to make sure that the Patriot Center is an updated, comfortable venue so that fans and players want to participate in Mason Sports.

So is Virginia Tech athletics overated?

Growing up in Richmond, Virginia I was constantly reminded by friends, radio hosts, and TV reporters, that Virginia Tech was and is one of the top athletic programs in college sports. I am biased because I am a diehard Virginia fan, but I do not understand why Virginia Tech gets so much attention when they have not even won a national championship in their two main sports in almost 20 years .

 The football program at VT has come a long way since its national debut in the Sugar Bowl in 1995. However, they have not lived up to hype! First, they are 1 in 5 in the Bowl Championship Series. Second, they have never won a national championship. Yes, Virginia Tech has won a lot of ACC Championships, and have gone to some big BCS ball games, but the ACC is a basketball conference, not a football conference. Another fun fact is that Virginia Tech football has never been number one in the country in the final college football rankings.   After knowing these facts, does Virginia Tech deserve to be called an elite program?

As for their second big program, the Virginia Tech basket ball team, they have also been inconsistent for many years.  Virginia Tech, to their credit, has won two national championships in the NIT (in 1973 and 1995) but the NIT tournament hasn’t been relevant for quite a long time. That leads me to the NCAA tournament where championships DO matter, and the Virginia Tech Hokies have not been in the NCAA basketball tournament since 2007. Fans, coaches and players feel like they have earned a right to be in the NCAA tournament because they’re always on the bubble.  But critics say they haven’t had enough good conference wins or a good non-conference schedule to help their cause in the end to get them in. One of the basketball program’s biggest problems is also that they cannot compete on the level that their football team competes when it comes to recruiting athletes. They have had a few good players that have helped elevate their program, but they haven’t had enough.

Now that I’ve talked about both programs I hope you see that V-Tech is not as great as they perceive themselves to be.