May 30, 2009
John Calipari left behind NCAA sanctions at the UMass when he left the school to take over the New Jersey Nets. Is it really all that shocking that Calipari has done the same in leaving Memphis for Kentucky?
To be fair, Calipari wasn’t nailed with any personal wrongdoing with Marcus Camby’s troubles at UMass, and the NCAA has already said he won’t be blamed for what happened with Derrick Rose at Memphis. But what shouldn’t be shocking is that a program Calipari was running is finding itself on the wrong side of the law with the NCAA.
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College Basketball | Tagged: John Calipari, Josh Pastner, Kentucky, Louisville, Massachusetts, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith | 
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Posted by tbontemps1
May 24, 2009
It’s not often that we get to witness history first-hand, that we get to watch a person grow right before our eyes. But in watching LeBron James right now, we’re getting just that – a front-row seat to history.
Still now, approaching 48 hours later, it is hard to put into words just how amazing James’ 3-pointer from the top of the key over the outstretched arms of 6-foot-10 Hedo Turkoglu was. Given that there was one second left in the game after Turkoglu’s runner put the Magic up by two, 95-93, it’s impressive enough when you realize James could only catch and shoot a fallaway three over an outstretched defender and knock it home. But the physical act of making that shot goes only so far in telling its true meaning, and its true context.
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Leave a Comment » | NBA | Tagged: Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, Mo Williams, NBA Playoffs, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
May 22, 2009
It’s hard to believe now, but back in 1998 there was a lot of debate about whether the Indianapolis Colts, with the first pick in the NFL Draft, should take one of two quarterbacks: the University of Tennessee’s Peyton Manning, or Washington State’s Ryan Leaf. There were even articles, like this one, that said Leaf should have been the pick.
Now, 11 years later, we know how this story played out. Manning was the pick, has become one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history and is ticketed to Canton. As for Leaf? His life has spiraled completely out of control since being the No. 2 pick in that same draft by the San Diego Chargers. After falling completely out of the sport, Leaf seemed to have landed on his feet as a quarterbacks coach at West Texas A&M.
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Posted by tbontemps1
May 21, 2009
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t think the Orlando Magic would be able to put up much of a fight in the Eastern Conference Finals against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. James and Co. had stampeded through the first two rounds of the playoffs, looking as good as anyone in the league, while Orlando had scuffled through series against inferior Philadelphia and banged-up Boston, allowing both to go farther than they should have.
But the Magic showed the world they’re not backing down from the challenge of going up against the NBA’s best team last night, when they went into Quicken Loans Arena – a place where Cleveland was 43-1 in games James played in this season – and came away with a thrilling 107-106 victory.
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Leave a Comment » | NBA | Tagged: Cleveland Cavaliers, Delonte West, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, LeBron James, NBA Playoffs, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Stan Van Gundy | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
May 20, 2009
I made my first two trips to the new Yankee Stadium the last two days, seeing the place from as different a perspective each time as I possibly could. I didn’t intend for it to happen that way – that’s just how things happened to work out.
That being said, as I traveled home last night, I couldn’t help but think of how true all of the criticisms I had heard about the place seemed after getting a chance to experience it for myself.
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May 19, 2009
Kobe Bryant has had an incredible career. He’s won three championships, is in the top 20 all-time in scoring, has won an MVP award and helped lead the Redeem Team to the gold medal at the last Olympic Games.
But for Bryant, incredible hasn’t been enough. He has always pined for the recognition of being the “Next Jordan”. You can see it whenever you see him, whether it’s on or off the court. From the way he handles himself in interviews, the way he shoots his fadeaway jumper, how he changed his number to 24 – even the way he celebrates game-winning shots – Bryant is always aspiring to be “Like Mike”, as the old Gatorade commercial used to go.
Despite all of that, though, the fact remains that Bryant doesn’t, and never will, measure up to No. 23. A team led by Jordan never would have been demolished in the deciding game of a NBA Finals like Bryant’s Lakers were last year in Boston. A team led by Jordan wouldn’t be maddeningly inconsistent during the playoffs like the much more talented Lakers have been so far against both Utah and Houston in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
And that is why the next month is everything for the legacy of Kobe Bryant.
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Leave a Comment » | NBA | Tagged: Andrew Bynum, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Chris Andersen, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Derek Fisher, Houston Rockets, Kenyon Martin, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Jordan, NBA Playoffs, Nene, Paul Gasol, Phil Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, Utah Jazz, Yao Ming | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
May 18, 2009
The Boston Celtics entered yesterday’s Game Seven against the Orlando Magic as the walking wounded. They had already lost Kevin Garnett, their emotional leader, and bench sparkplug Leon Powe for the playoffs, and had endured one of the most intense and grueling series of all-time in their first round victory over Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls in seven games.
You could see as the game wore on last night, and the Celtics couldn’t muster the energy to make a run one last time in front of their faithful fans in the new Boston Garden, that the thrilling ride for the defending champions was about to come to an end. For a team that began the season on fire, that spent so much of its time talking about defending their crown, of being back-to-back champions, it would seem that to finish in any other way would be disappointing.
But for Boston and its fans, that shouldn’t be the case with this Celtics team. If anything, they should be celebrated even more for the incredible amount of heart and desire that they put into trying to do the impossible and make it back to the Finals with a depleted roster.
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1 Comment | NBA | Tagged: Boston Celtics, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Kevin Garnett, Leon Powe, Orlando Magic, Paul Pierce, Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
May 12, 2009
Here is Clemens during his period of suspected PED use with the Yankees.
Roger Clemens is hilarious.
Does anything more need to be said than that? It’s gotten pretty embarrassing for the now 47-year-old Clemens, who went on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning” today to again attempt to refute claims that he did not use performance enhancing drugs. After largely keeping a low profile since his, by most accounts, disastrous performance in front of Congress last spring, the Rocket was back to slamming his former trainer, Brian McNamee – the same trainer that gave Andy Pettitte HGH, and who both McNamee and Pettitte say gave them to Clemens.
“It’s impossible because (McNamee’s) never given me any,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. He’s never given me any HGH or performance-enhancing drugs of any kind, so it’s impossible.”
Again, Roger Clemens is hilarious. If Clemens expects people to believe this nonsense, he’s out of his mind. A look at both his numbers and his body tell a far different tale than the one he continues to perpetuate.
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1 Comment | MLB | Tagged: Andy Pettitte, Boston Red Sox, Brian McNamee, Dan Duquette, Mike Golic, Mike Greenberg, New York Yankees, Roger Clemens, Steroids, Toronto Blue Jays | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
May 12, 2009
The NHL has been star-crossed for years – maybe since Gary Bettman was hired as the league’s commissioner back in 1993. But while Bettman’s old boss, NBA Commissioner David Stern, is hoping for a matchup between Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, Bettman has been lucky enough to find himself looking at a Game Seven tomorrow night between the NHL’s Kobe and LeBron, Sindey Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
The series was pushed to a seventh game last night, when Washington’s David Steckel tipped in a shot over six minutes into overtime, giving the Capitals a 5-4 win in Pittsburgh. It’s been a thrilling series, with pitched battles taking place throughout. For a change, it’s a series like this living up to the hype that proceeded it.
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1 Comment | NHL | Tagged: Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Gary Bettman, NHL Playoffs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Washington Capitals | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
