London 2012

The summer is fast approaching and this summer there is an event that happens every four years. I am talking about the summer Olympic that are taking place in London, England. The London games are only eighty-eight days away and will start on July 27 through August 12. The London games will have total of twenty-six sports which breakdown into thirty-nine specialties. The London games are expected to have about 205 countries that will take part in 300 events during the two weeks of the games. London, England has hosted the Olympics two other times in 1908 and 1948, so this is the third time. One major difference at these games will be that NBC will be broadcasting all the events live online.

Two sports were eliminated from the Olympic Games and they were softball and baseball.  No new sport was added to London 2012 games but now there will be mixed doubles in tennis and three weight classes in women’s boxing. I cannot wait to see what the U.S does this summer at the London games. I wonder if we can win the total medal count again. Will Michael Phillips top his last Olympic performance from 2008?  Will the USA basketball repeat with the gold medal? So Many questions for the summer games, but we all will have to wait until July 27 to find out.

Legendary Basketball Coach Larry Brown hired by SMU

A week ago coaching legend Larry Brown was hired by Southern Methodist University.  SMU is moving to the Big East in all sports, so to hire a well known coach like Larry Brown is a great move. Coach Brown has won a NCAA Championship with Kansas and an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons. The SMU job is his first college job in nearly a quarter century that is crazy to think about. SMU is hoping that Coach Brown can turn around their basketball program which has not won an NCAA tournament game since the late 80’s.

However Coach Brown in the last few days has been making headlines that I believe that do not put him in a positive light. First on the Dan Patrick radio show, Larry Brown questioned the people around Michael Jordan. I have no problem with him saying that, but I believe he should have kept to himself. I do agree with what he said about Michael Jordan and it would be nice to see the Bobcats doing well. So you agree with what Coach Brown said about Michael Jordan and the people around him? The other headline Larry Brown has made is that he has cut a few of the SMU basketball players. My problem with what he did is that he has only been the SMU coach for a few days. I understand that things like this happen all the time in college sports but to do that in the first few days is just unprofessional in my opinion. So what do you think about Larry Brown cutting several players? Was it the right time or not the right time?

Minnesota Vikings stadium Bill passes in the Minnesota Senate

This past Friday in St. Paul, Minnesota the Minnesota Senate committee closely approved a public subsidy to help the Vikings build a new Stadium and stay in the Twin Cities. This action ends the rumors of the Minnesota Vikings moving elsewhere for now. It is interesting to note that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney made a visit to Governor Mark Dayton. Basically they met with the Governor and the Minnesota officials to let them know that if they cannot build a new stadium that they could lose the Vikings. This issue has been going on for many years now and the Vikings and the NFL have grown tired of the Minnesota government dragging their feet on this issue.

However the bill still has a long way to go but the Minnesota Senate committee voted to give the new stadium bill $ 975 million. This all happened only few days after the Minnesota House committee voted down the Stadium bill. Commissioner Goodell said that the meeting posed no threats or ultimatums but I find that hard to believe. So who knows what will happen next in the saga of the Vikings pursuit of a new stadium. What do you think will happen to the Minnesota Vikings? Will they end up leaving for sunny California or will they stay in the Twin Cities?

Fenway Park Celebrates it's 100th Birthday!

If you love or hate the Boston Red Sox the one thing that you cannot hate is Fenway ballpark, which is turning 100^th this year.  Fenway ballpark is the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball. Fenway ballpark opened up on April 20, 1912 with a game against the New York Highlanders (Yankees) in which the Red Sox won 7 to 6 in 11 innings.  Red Sox owner at the time John I. Taylor decided to call the Fenway ballpark because it was in the Fenway section of Boston. Taylor is also credited for changing the team name from the Americans to the Red Sox.

Fenway has many famous parts of the ballpark, the most famous is the Green Monster which is the highest outfield in baseball. The wall was originally made of wood but it burnt down during a fire at the ballpark in 1934.  So how did the Green Monster get it’s name?  Well it wasn’t until 1947 when the Red Sox decided to paint the wall green over the advertisements.  The next famous part of Fenway is Pesky Pole, which is named after famous lefty Jonny Pesky. So you wonder how it became Pesky Pole? It is because Jonny Pesky hit so many homeruns of the pole which is only 302 feet from home plate. The interesting fact about the Pesky Pole is that much of the truth is tied up in urban myth.  Many people said that Red Sox Broadcaster Mel Parnell is the person who is credited with giving the Pesky Pole its name.

 However Fenway ballpark is also know for the many great moments that have happened in the last 100 years.  There are so many of them but here are few of my favorite movements at Fenway Park.  First is Ted Williams hitting a homer in his last at bat at Fenway ballpark on September 28, 1960. Second is Carlton Fisk’s winning home run of game six of the 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.  My next favorite is the dramatic comeback that the Red Sox made in the 2004 ALCS against the New York Yankees. The final favorite of mine is getting the 86 year curse of Babe Ruth to end, and living to see the Boston Red Sox win a World Series.

Georgia State leaving the CAA for the Sun Belt Conference

The news of Georgia State University leaving the CAA for the Sun Belt conference took me by surprise. I was surprised because the CAA just signed a television deal with NBC Sports network. Georgia State has been in the CAA since 2005 and before that they were in the Sun Belt. Georgia State was one of the founding schools of the Sun Belt Conference.

 I believe the surprise of changing Conference by GSU has to do with football, just like all the others. Georgia State University did not have an active football program until 2010 and the next season will be their only season in the CAA before they join the Sun Belt conference in all sports. Georgia State will have to pay the CAA $250,000 exit fee and then they have to pay $300,000 to enter the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia State becomes the 11^th football school in the Sun Belt conference and the Sun Belt wants to add one more football school to the conference.

However I wonder what is the CAA going to do now that Georgia State University is leaving the CAA. I believe that the CAA will replace another school in GSU spot. Some of the rumored schools to replace GSU are Radford, VMI, Costal Carolina, Davidson and UNC- Charlotte. I believe the best school to replace GSU would be Davidson. Davidson would be a great replacement because in the last few years their basketball program has done really well. The CAA is known best for its basketball schools, so adding a school like Davidson would be a plus. Another reason that Davidson is a good fit for the CAA is because it is in Charlotte, North Carolina giving the CAA another big market to go into. So what you think the CAA will do about Georgia State leaving? Who do you think they will find to replace GSU?

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson surprised the sports world when he bought the New Orleans Hornets for $338 million dollars from the NBA on Friday April 13. This means that Hornets will be staying in New Orleans for the foreseeable future. As the new owner of the Hornets Mr. Benson has been rewarded with hosting 2014 NBA All-Star game.

I wonder why Mr. Benson waited so long to buy the Hornets, when they have been for sale for quite awhile. I question Mr. Benson’s ability to manage a NBA Basketball team because Mr. Benson has only owned football teams in the past. In addition, Mr. Benson had to be pushed into the bidding war for the Hornets by Gov. Bobby Jindal and NBA Commissioner David Stern.  Jeff Duncan from the Times- Picayune confirms my suspicion and says that “only a few years ago Benson so detested the Hornets he wouldn't even return owner George Shinn's phone calls. At best, his organization gave the Hornets the cold shoulder. At worst, he tried to run them out of town.” One huge advantage for the New Orleans Hornets and their fans is that they do not have to worry about being moved to Seattle or Sacramento. I hope Mr. Benson leads this team in a positive way and changes New Orleans attitude toward NBA Basketball. So what do you think will happen to the New Orleans Hornets under Mr. Benson?

Possibility of a new stadium in Richmond,Virginia

Many of you probably do not know, the struggle that Richmond teams have been going throught for as long as I can remember. The Diamond which is the current Baseball stadium in Richmond, Virgina is twenty- six years old. The Atlanta Braves had their triple A team the Richmond Braves there from 1966-2008. The Atlanta Braves tried for many years to get a new stadium in Richmond and they had trouble with finding the financial support for the project.   Most recently the Richmond Flying Squirrels who came to Richmond year after the Atlanta Braves move their triple A team to Georgia. The Flying Squirrels are getting farther than the Richmond Braves did in their pursuit of a new stadium. The Flying squirrels have a great location in mind that would be the best fit. The location is the city of Richmond Vehicle Fleet Depot that is right behind the Diamond.

 A new stadium is necessary for both the sports community and the city of Richmond as a whole. First of all the construction of the stadium will bring jobs to Richmond and the surrounding counties. Secondly, it would bring revenue to the local restaurants and help businesses during the season. The new stadium would revitalize the area and give Richmonders  another reason to come downtown. Richmond has so much to offer why not add a new stadium to the list of well known Richmond landmarks.  

So do you remember Ryan Leaf? You will now!

So do you remember Ryan Leaf? Well let me remind you who Ryan Leaf is: In 1998 he was the second overall pick in the NFL draft behind Peyton Manning.  He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers for a four year contract totaling $42 million dollars. However he did not perform well in his time in San Diego and was released by the Charges in March of 2001. After that he was with a few other teams but still did not have any success with them.  After he retired, he was considered to be the biggest bust in NFL history.

He is no longer playing for the NFL but he is getting a lot press for his arrests in the last week. He was arrested in this hometown of Great Falls, Montana on Friday night and again on Monday morning for allegedly stealing painkillers. He was charged with two felony counts of burglary, two felony counts of possession of dangerous drugs, two misdemeanor counts of theft, and probation violation. There have been more people that are coming forward about possible claims of Ryan Leaf stealing their prescription drugs.

To hear about former professional athletes who are struggling with life after being in the spot light, really saddens me.  Professional athletes get really fat contracts and live the life but some of them do not know how to handle it when it is over. Does anyone know if any of the major sports leagues have programs to help athletes adjust to life outside their sport?