5/26/2009
Here's my new Blog...
Guarantees Suck!
After going down 2 games to 1 to the Magic, Cleveland Cavs All Star guard Mo Williams came out a guaranteed that the Cavs would win game 4 and win the series. What if they don’t? Not everyone can be a Joe Namath, Mark Messier, or the great Muhammad Ali, and come through with there guarantees, here are a few that failed;
Anthony Smith guaranteed his Steelers would be victorious over the undefeated Patriot. Patriots route the Steelers 34-13, and Smith found himself beat like a drum and victimized over and over again as he became Brady's favorite target.
In ’97, Patrick Ewing said “See you in Chicago” meaning his Knicks would beat the Heat in a game 7 and head to the Eastern Conf. Finals to face the Bulls. Of course the Heat won. In 2000, Ewing ended his career by guaranteeing a victory in game 6 over the Pacers in the Eastern Conf. Finals. Unfortunately Patrick missed his final 6 shots and the Knicks lost 93-80.
Ray Buchanan wore a dog collar to media day For Super Bowl XXXIII, where he declared that the underdog Falcons would defeat the highly favorite Broncos. Come Super Bowl Sunday, the Broncos manhandled the Falcons, and once again a guarantee came up short.
My personal favorite was an in game guarantee. Heading into a Playoff OT in Greenbay vs. his old team, Seahawks Matt Hasselbeck guaranteed victory after winning the coin toss by saying, “We want the ball, we’re gonna score!”. Instead, Hasselbeck threw an interception that was returned for the game-winning touchdown by Al Harris, which was the first time that a playoff game was won on a defensive touchdown.
As a huge Lebron fan, and a guy who is pulling for the Cavs to win it all, I hope that Williams guarantee comes true, but I have to say that I am tired of the guarantee, it’s play out! Go out and play the game, don’t talk it, just do it! Mo Williams, despite averaging 17 pts a game, is only shooting 32% from the field needs to pick his game up as well as every other Cav not named Lebron if his prediction is going to come true. King James, averaging 41.7 points, 7.3 assists, 5.7 rebounds and shooting 53% is the only player on the Cavs at this point who should be issuing any guarantees. I know the sports guarantee will never leave, but I wish that these players would just shut up and play! As we all know, there are only 3 guarantees in life, you die, Megan Fox is hot, and the Phantom is old!
5/4/2009
There's no more Ricky Hatton!
Saturday, May 2 2009, a straight left courtesy of the Pacman, Manny Pacquiao, knocked the popular Ricky Hatton out, and may of ended his great career. At 30 years of age, and after his second lost in 4 fights, most critics are saying that Ricky should hang the gloves up. I'm not one of them. I'm not leaning either way, but if he ends up retiring, I want to say thank you Ricky and reflect on the greatest event I've ever experienced.
December 8 2007, I was fortunate enough to attend a Hatton fight, which is much more then a fight, it's an experience! The Rise Guys show was broadcasting live at the MGM Grand to preview the worlds most popular fighter, Ricky Hatton, and the worlds pound for pounds best fighter, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Reports were that over 30 thousand Brits flew over seas to watch their underdog hero take on the hated American. The MGM Grand Garden Arena only seats 17,157. They didn't care that most of them wouldn't even see the fight live, they had to be there to support their man. And all they did was drink and sing.........all day! We would wake up with these drunk Brits singing, "There's only 1 Ricky Hatton!". We would go to bed with them signing, "There's only 1 Ricky Hatton!". The bars were slammed always, they never slept. And leading up to the fight, you truly felt like they hated each other, that it wasn't just hype. Then Friday before the fight, the weigh in proved it was hate not hype!
The line for the weigh in started before our show. The weigh in was at 1pm, our show starts at 5 in the morning. After the show, and a couple of beers (had to try to catch up with the Brits), FP and I made our way to the weigh in. We didn't enter through the media access, FP and I somehow maneuvered ourselves with the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis, Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe, Shane Mosley and their entourages, and entered from underneath the arena. You can feel the thunder from the thousands stomping and hear the roars from the different songs and chants they had for their man. When we actually made our way into the arena, unbelievable! Thousands of Brits, and maybe a handful of Mayweather fans, and it was on! The near fight pre fight, as they eyeballed each other and pushed and shoved, entourages getting involved, it was awesome! The weigh in was almost as big as the fight!
Saturday morning, hung over from Oscar De La Hoya's party that somehow we found ourselves rolling VIP, got ready for the fight! Well, more like Saturday afternoon. Head still pounding, but we bounced back had a couple more beers, and put the suit on to head down stairs to the fight. The singing, the chants, loudest they had been, and that was just entering the arena for the fight. Diddy, Beckham, Tiger, Jack......they all were there. It was huge! Tom Jones sings God Save The Queen, but he was canceled out by the 16 thousand plus Brits singing. Tyresse, sang our anthem, however you couldn't hear him due to the boo's from.......you guessed it. A classless move from a group for the most part who were very classy. Drunk, but classy until then. Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton came out to a punk version of Blue Moon. Arco at it's loudest never was as loud as MGM was that moment. Then the champ, the hated American, "Pretty Boy" Floyd "Money" Mayweather entered the arena to Born In The USA, and it turned ugly. The boo's were almost as deafening as the eruption was for Hatton. Have to say, I was pulling for Floyd at that moment just because of them booing the anthem. But during the fight they never stopped. "There's only 1 Ricky Hatton!", the entire fight! In the 10th, a much better fighter knocked Ricky out.
After the fight, they continued to sing and support their man, and talking with them, they gave all the credit to Mayweather. Prior to the fight, you could find them in the bars celebrating their man, and after the fight, the same thing. Still in the bar celebrating their man, true passionate fans. Experiencing a Ricky Hatton fight, (and that's what it is, an experience) was the most amazing event I have ever been to, he's a freakin Beatle! The atmosphere, incredible! If he does plan on retiring, good for him. His only 2 defeats were to the best fighters in the world! He has had a great career, made enough to give all his fans Guinness for the rest of their lives, and is still young to enjoy his life outside of boxing. If he does decide to hang them up, 1 of the greatest sporting events ever, and the greatest most passionate fans ever will be done too. And for that, I am extremely thankful to have been apart of and seen the phenomenon that is Ricky Hatton.
The Madness is here, let us all rejoice!
3/12/2009
I have a fever and the only cure is MORE COLLEGE HOOPS!!!
By far the BEST time of the year is here! Trees are starting to bloom, the weather is changing, the girls are starting to wear less, and of course, the brackets are here! Well, almost here...selection Sunday is just a few days away. Schools waiting to hear their fate, will they dance, or will their bubble burst? Who will be that 15 to upset a 2? Will there be another Davidson or George Mason? Questions that I can't wait to find out the answers to. March Madness is the time where college hoops takes center stage, if your a sports fan or not. Offices will soon have people who know nothing about the game picking teams because of their colors or mascots, and after a first round with a few upsets they will find themselves leading the way, then of course they talk..."hey, look sales guy knows more then you!" Well, no you don't douche, but thanks for playing!
This is the best time of the year because every fan or non fan feels a passion that no other sporting event can provide outside of maybe the Super Bowl. And if you have a horse in the race, there's nothing like it. As many of you already know, there are fewer things that I care more about then the UNC Tar Heels. The last 2 seasons have hurt! 2 years ago, they lose an 8 point lead with about 2 minutes to go vs. Georgetown, as the Hoyas send it to OT. Well, needless to say the momentum had turned and the Tar Heels lost that Elite 8 matchup. Last year, 1 step closer. But they didn't even show up in their Final 4 appearance vs. the National Champion Kansas Jayhawks. It was embarrassing, and GOD was it painful! Sure, they made it more respectful towards the end, but watching that game........ouch!
Both those defeats, extremely hard to swallow, unlike the numerous alcoholic beverages that shortly followed to drown the pain away. Last year most touted the Tar Heels heading into the tourney as the team to beat, and the Jayhawks did just that. Well, again this year most "experts" are saying the Tar Heels are the team to beat. As for my pick...........come on! Of course I'm picking the Tar Heels! They are stacked! Last year's player of the year, Tyler Hansbrough came back as well as Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green so they can be the team to cut down the nets in April, and this time...it's going to happen!
As a true die hard college basketball fan, this is the best time of the year brackets or no brackets. College basketball is played with a passion by young men with a dream of making it to the next level. It's played hard every night, with a love for the game, not for the paycheck.....well, not for most of them at least. It's basketball to it's truest form. And I know that the NBA is the best of the best, but not every game in the NBA do you see played hard, with a passion (hits a little too close Kings fan, doesn't it) and I argue that in college, they always play hard.......except for last years Final 4 match up, UNC/Kansas, but hey, why do I insist on reopening the wounds?
And the 1 and done, brilliant! You get to see an 8 seed Villanova upset the powerhouse Georgetown to win it all in '85. You get to see a little George Mason make a Final 4 run, or the brilliance that is Stephon Curry lead Davidson to the Elite 8. The excitement is at it's highest! I do like these Cinderella stories, but I must say, last year having all number 4 seeds make it to the Final 4 for the first time EVER, pretty cool. Without knowing the seedings, I can't say if that will happen again this year, but I can say that I believe the teams that will be in the Final 4, will be familiar with where they are. I believe that the Michigan St. Spartans will make a deep run, as well as Louisville and Pitt. I think the season ending injury to Jerome Dyson will keep UConn from going any further then the Sweet 16, however there are Huskies that I do like, and that's the only Pac 10 team that I see doing anything, Washington. And of course, the conference that is used to winning, the ACC will have deep runs by Wake Forrest and your champions just like in '05, the North Carolina Tar Heels!!!
Let The Madness Begin!!!
ARod Blog
2/12/2009
Alex Rodriguez’s name is just 1 of 104 positive steroid tests from 2003 that came out recently…And all you hear now is shock and surprise, people were hopeful that ARod could be the savior for the league, now he’s just 1 of the many who have tainted this game…
Growing up baseball was by far my favorite sport, it was America’s pastime…Baseball had prestige and class, and now it’s a joke…From Balco to the Mitchell Report, ARod is just the latest to put his stain on the game…ARod said he first used in 2001 when he joined the Rangers because of the “pressure” of signing the largest contract ever, and he felt like he had the “weight of the world” to perform at the highest level everyday…And then in 2003 after a neck injury during spring training he was in bed questioning these decisions he had made…So just for a 3 year period because of the pressure and the weight of the world we are suppose to believe that those years were the only time he used? I’m not buying it…Texas is pressure? So we’re to believe that the move to NY and then signing an even bigger contract, that’s not pressure, that’s not the weight of the world? I’m sorry, I’m not buying it…
I heard ARod get praise for coming out, of course he’s coming out, he got caught! I will give him this, I’m thankful that he’s not going the route of Bonds or Clemens, but still what did he answer? He doesn’t know what he used, or how he got it, he was just “young, stupid and naïve”…And oh by the way, you were already in the league 6 years, you weren’t that young…I’m tired of the generic apology…ARod talked about how prevalent steroids were, but didn’t know how he got them, and pretty much blamed GNC…He also almost blamed MLB, but stopped…Sure baseball turned a blind eye to this era because it put butts back in the seats after the strike, and there is plenty of blame that baseball deserves, but the blame always starts 1st with the players…
ARod also ponders why media still listens to Jose Canseco, um…….’cause he’s been right this whole time!
ARod you are a cheater and a liar, how can anyone trust what you say…I believe that the skill set that God has given you was good enough to be 1 of the best, but just like the Rocket and Bonds, that wasn’t good enough for you…I know that this was the steroid era, but If Pete Rose still has to view the Hall from the outside, I pray that none of these cheats will ever get in…And oh yeah, Alex, why so orange?
Thank you Chris, we miss you!
2/05/2009
The Sacramento Kings were just humiliated in Phoenix by 48 points, and at one point were down by 50. They lack of effort on the court was absolutely embarrassing. The previous night the Kings barely escaped with a W at home in overtime against the 11 win Oklahoma City Thunder in front of the smallest crowd I have ever seen at any game in any venue. As a Kings fan, the lack of effort you see on the court these days, and the lack of fans in the arena, makes you really appreciate everything that Chris Webber brought to this team, and more so, this town.
Chris Webber was the star this "cow town" has never had. From his smile to his game, he transformed Sacramento from the laughing stock of the league to the most exciting team in the NBA. He brought this franchise respect as he became the face of this city. His play came with much criticism, and he had a few off court run ins, but as a fan of those Kings teams he lead, I long for those days again.
Chris recently joined the Rise Guys, and said that he was proud of what he accomplished here in Sacramento, but will always feel he failed by not bringing Sacramento a championship. We were so close, and it hurts, but Chris the last thing did was fail. You came here and gave us something we never had, and something we may never have again. We had a glimpse of greatness, and were beloved by across the nation. You would see Sacramento jerseys from Vegas to NY, we had the greatest show on the court, and we owe it to you.
I was the first to rip Webber for his play or being too sensitive, but I would almost do anything to have his electric personality, his all star play, and of course that smile back on the Kings to give this team an image, to give this team some life. From Center Court to his foundation, he still has his roots embedded in this city, and retiring his jersey is the least we can do to repay him. I pray that this current Kings team plays with effort and passion Friday night in honor of the best player ever to wear a Sacramento Kings jersey, because one thing Chris always did was play hard, with a desire for us. Thank you Chris for the memories, we will always miss you!
Little Joe's Predictions for 2009!
1/27/2009
2008 was an amazing year in sports; NY Giants defeating the undefeated New England Patriots on a ridiculous throw and catch by Eli Manning to David Tyree. Tiger Woods winning the US Open on a busted leg. Michael Phelps 8 gold medals to become the most decorated Olympian ever...An incredible year! The bar was set high, but I believe 2009 should be just as good, if not better!
Just like the Tampa Bay Rays, the Arizona Cardinals are a great story, but just like the Rays the Cards will lose to a much more historic franchise...The Steelers will win a ring for their thing, and will be the first to 6 Super Bowl Championships, unfortunately (DIE HARD NINER FAN HERE)...Big Ben will be your MVP, and stamp great by his name...Cowboys need to take notice, you build a successful franchise the way the Steelers do, not by getting loud mouth problems and doing reality shows, God I hate the Cowboys...
The UNC Tar Heels, my UNC Tar Heels will win their 5th NCAA Championship this year beating bitter rival Duke in the NCAA Finals and reward guys like Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington for coming back one more year...Tyler Hansbrough will be named the Player of the Tournament, a fine finish to an amazing collegiate career...
Tiger Woods makes his much anticipated return to the tour and wins the Masters by 6 strokes over Anthony Kim, the 1st win of his best season yet...He will have his major grandslam as he finds himself inching closer to Jack by winning every major including a British Open that finds him 3 strokes down to Sergio Garcia with only 3 holes to play...He goes birdie, birdie and holes out an eagle from 128 yards out on the final hole to win...His already untouchable legacy becomes even more legendary...
Dave Grohl will once again be inspired by the birth of his second child and write another platinum selling Grammy award winning album for the Foo Fighters as he did with Echoes Silence Patience Grace right after his daughter was born...Awesome that Dave Grohl and I are having another baby in the exact same year!
Amy Winehouse will finally OD...Sorry, but it's probably going to be true...
The Kings will draft Blake Griffin with the #1 overall pick after winning the lottery as they finished the season with a league low 26 wins...
An epic NBA Eastern Conference Championship will go down between the 2 Big C's...The Cleveland Cavilers will beat the Boston Celtics in a classic 7 game series...Lebron will be too much for the big 3, and lead the Cavs to their 2nd NBA Finals...Then he will lead the Cavs to their 1st NBA Championship over Kobe and Lakers in 6 games...Kobe will never be the next MJ, but Lebron will soon be far and above Kobe as best player in the league...He will win the season MVP, All Star game MVP, Eastern Conf. MVP and Finals MVP...
The Phillies will repeat as World Series champions as they will beat the Detroit Tigers in 6 games...Chase Utley will win the NL MVP for the season, but Cole Hamels will win the World Series MVP yet again to go along with his NL Cy Young he will win...The AL MVP will be Ichiro and the AL Cy Young will David Price...The Yankees will have spent over 420 mil in the off season to watch the post season from home for a second straight season...Mark McGwire will finally come clean about being a cheat after his brother rats him out in a book (what an ass)...But Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will continue to hold their middle finger up to the world while trying to convince us they are innocent...2 guys who will continue to suck at life...
Lindsey Lohan will realize that she's straight and will try to regain a career by posing in Playboy, but her spread will be a bust because they can't touch up that many freckles...Plus, she's ugly and highly overrated...
Megan Fox will finally figure out that she's hot and Brian Austin Green is a giant turd and will dump his ass...A friend of hers will be showing her a funny video blog at KHTK.com, and sees how awesome I am, tracks me down for some fun lovin, sorry Laura...
President Obama will not fix the BCS, being that he has a little more important schedule of things to fix, and we will have another controversial ending to the season that will see a 1 lost Oklahoma team lead by then 2 time Heisman Award winner Sam Bradford, beat Tim Tebow and the Gators in an epic rematch for the BCS Championship...Don't worry Tebow lovers, he shortly after will walk on water and find a cure for cancer...Utah will once again go undefeated but will finish 3rd in the BCS...
The Niners will be lead by a mix of Sean Hill and rookie sensation Mark Sanchez, and will finish the year 11-5...They will make a run in the playoffs with wins over the Panthers and Giants, and will find themselves in the Super Bowl...The Raiders will go 6-10, the Cowboys will go 9-7 and miss the playoffs, and the Lions will go 0-16 again...The New England Patriots with the return of Tom Brady will find themselves back in a familiar game, the Super Bowl vs. the much improved pant-less Mike Singletary coached Niners...For the winner of that game you have to wait for my 2010 predictions, but come on, Niner fan here! Brett Favre will of returned, this time for the Panthers...He will finish the year with 22 TD's and 23 INT's, and yet again he will be undecided on his future...Deangelo Williams will win the league MVP and Patrick Willis will win Defensive Player of the year...TO and Tony Romo will get in a fist fight in the final game of the season as the Cowboys get destroyed in a must win at home to the Seattle Seahawks...After the game, TO will regret the fight and cry while saying "that's my quarterback"... Al Davis will pass away, but he still won't give up control of the team from beyond the grave...
President Obama will clean up our image and will have a very successful first year as president...He will spread the wealth, but in a pick up basketball game, he won't spread the ball...Have you seen him play, he's a ball hog!
The Rise Guys show will become a huge online success and will become nationally syndicated, and Little Joe will become the next big thing...Megan Fox and fame, hey a guy can dream can't he?
