King of What?

Have you checked the LeBron Tracker on ESPN.com? It’s a full page dedicated to what the two time MVP, LeBron James will do with free agency. The opinions and polls are endless and vary from one reference to the next. For the next 44 days the LaBron Tracker will continue to update with any news about if the King will stay in Cleveland or build his castle in a bigger city.

KINGJAMES23 is the name of the fantasy basketball league I play in. I couldn’t help but ask the league manager (my twin brother) what is KingJames King of? His response was that in the world of baseketball, LeBron is the King. Yes, I remember him on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was a sophomore in high school and I know that he skipped the experience of playing at the college level to be the number one draft pick in 2003. The state of Ohio and SI appointed LeBron as the Chosen 1. As a three-time “Mr. Basketball” recipient of Ohio high school basketball, they nicked named him “King James”. So what will we call him if he actually wins a ring…? KingGodJames..? KingHasARingJames..?

Don’t get me wrong, I love LBJ and I’m pretty sure he would beat me in a game of horse. But, Charles Barkley and Steve Nash are some of the past league’s MVP’s and they never held a Championship trophy. They were (are) superstars but we didn’t call them King, maybe Sir, but they played the in the league and earned their Super-Star status. LeBron was the King of the NBA before he graduated high school.

With six more weeks of speculation, I just want to know that LeBron isn’t going to pull a Ricky Williams and that he will be playing in the NBA next season. All this New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Cleveland; it’s more like Jay Z vs Obama vs Ohio. If President Obama thinks “LeBron will look great in a Bulls uniform” and when anything is “speculated” from John Calipari’s reps it’s a pretty good sign that the Chicago Bulls are turning into Looking at Lucky in this race.

I just hope that one day my twin brother and I can WITNESS King James with Ring.


PS: Phil Jackson: Nash didn’t carry the ball.

Is Washington, DC on the ineligible list for a Championship?

Dear Sports Gods:
Please remove Washington, DC from the list of teams banned from winning a Championship. Thanks, -Alison

The Washington Capitals won the Presidents Cup, Strasburg should make his major league début this month and Dan Snyder still has more money than God. Sounds like championship city, but the Capitals haven’t held the Stanley Cup, the Nationals haven’t celebrated a World Series win and Dan Snyder still can’t buy a Super Bowl ring.

The city is still morning the loss of the NHL conference quarterfinals. The Capitals lost to the Canadians and some say it was the biggest sports upset in Washington. There was no Obama bailout for the Caps and the number seven doesn’t seem so lucky in Washington, DC. How dose the best team in the league lose in the first round? Is Halak on HGH? Can Ovechkin win in the post season? Some questions may remain unanswered, but all the talent of: Ovechkin, Green, Backstorm, and Semin will return next year and the feelings from game seven will skate the Capitals back to the playoffs.

I always laugh when I hear “And now for the main event…The President’s race” at the Washington National’s games. Is that the main reason to spend $8.00 on a bottle of domestic beer? For the first time in five years the Nat’s have a winning percentage above 500 and a $15.1 million dollar draft pick who has a fastball clocking 100 miles per hour.. maybe there’s a prospect for a winning future…

Mr. Snyder Sir, money buys championships for the Yankees. However, it’s not paying off for the Redskins. Jason Taylor and McNabb are just a few of the over paid superstars whose careers have already peaked and are full of disappointment. I wouldn’t say you are the worst owner in the NFL, but I can’t say you’re the smartest either.

I’ve met Mr. Snyder before and I will admit he wasn’t the jerk he’s made out to be. I enjoyed the conversation and I know he’s better than a 80-90 record. Honestly, I think he’s just as frustrated with the team and at least he is trying to buy wins. Just invest in draft picks, not the leftovers.

Washington, DC has talented athletes, an investment in a fastball, the money to win championships and still the Capitals and the Nationals remain on the banned list and the Redskins have been put on the ineligible list for the past 18 years.

If you believe in Sports, pray. If you believe in God, pray. Sports in Washington, DC need a lot of prayer for a Championship team.

Do you believe in Magic?

An NHL hat trick is the term for a player that scores three goals in a single game. To honor the player the fans litter the ice with hats -“hat trick”. This tradition dates back to the 1950’s.

But what happens when the player scores four goals in a single game? Personally, I think the hats should be replaced with toy rabbits- (watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat). Who doesn’t love a magic trick?

Now, for some real magic… The Capitals dream of Stanley.

Alex Ovechkin said Saturday’s win was because Montreal’s Halak was suffering from some playoff jitters… I hope Ovechkin’s hockey stick becomes a magic wand for the playoffs.

The Washington Capitals have Alex Ovechkin- arguably the best player in the NHL, the best fans in hockey and consecutive sellouts for all their home games, but they haven’t tasted champagne from the top bowl of the Stanley Cup trophy. Will this be the year that for the first time in team history “Washington Capitals” is engraved on the Stanly Cup? If you believe in magic; Rock the Red or Rock the Hawk- and just believe in the C-A-P-S CAPS! CAPS! CAPS!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Brackets are busted, the azalea’s are in bloom and hot dogs just taste better this time of year: It’s the most wonderful time of year in sports.

Tomorrow is the NCAA men’s Championship game between number one seed Duke and number five seed Butler. While Duke is the number one seed, no one was talking about taking the Blue Devils to the Championship game. And I wouldn’t call Butler the underdog if center- Matt Howard stays out of foul trouble. The name Duke has a ring to it. To say “91’, 92’, 2001 and 2010 NCAA National Champions” is a phrase that just sounds right.

I’ve always said that college is where the heart is. The words team and coach have a different meaning and every game played is about building a stronger team. No one is worried about a paycheck; they just worry about each other. The heart of the game was apparent as everyone who watched WVU’s coach Huggins fall to his knees to console an in-pain Da’Sean Butler. It didn’t matter who you were rooting for, we all felt their emotions. The reaction by Huggins to Butler was like a father and his only son. Their interaction broke the hearts of everyone watching. Referees are always trying to speed up the game, but for those moments on the court no one was worried about the clock, just the broken hearts that embraced on the floor.

In sports, there’s no off season. When one season ends, another one begins.

The Masters begins tomorrow and the tournament goes beyond golf and becomes The Master of tradition. Not much has changed since Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts dreamed of having the most prestigious tournament in golf. It’s one of the few sporting events that is rich in the tradition of the game and not rich in the media. There’s meaning on every inch of the grounds. The walk through Magnolia Lane that leads to Founders Circle and then meets at the clubhouse is beginning of the sincerity for the next eighteen holes. Amen Corner is landmark for being able to lift an embedded ball and drop it without penalty. President Eisenhower suggested the perfect place for a pond and Roberts named it Ike’s Pond.

Tiger will return and with limited media coverage, it’s just how the Masters should be: Only about The Maters.

The sounds of summer are back. There are no other sounds that are more associated with sports than the crack of the wooden bat and a 90 mile an hour fastball going deep into left field. The sound of a change-up hitting the catcher’s mitt while the batter swings and miss. The deep voice of an umpire calling a strike and hot dogs taste better when you hear “HotttttDogs! Get your HOTDogs!” It’s a long season, but once you hear the sounds of summer, you’ll know it’s the most wonderful time of year.

The Last ONE Standing

Out of the number one seeds from each region 86% of the brackets picked Kansas, 65% picked Syracuse, 67.1% picked Kentucky and 56.1 % of the 5.4 million brackets completed on ESPN.com picked Duke to reach the final four.

The Blue Devils are the last one standing.

Baylor’s size worried Duke Fans. Baylor’s average size outranked Duke by five inches. That’s a huge size difference and an advantage in college basketball. If this was baseball, Baylor would have been mentioned in the Mitchell Report.

The Bear’s held junior Kyle Singler to just five points the whole game. The close game back and forth had Duke fans praying to Christian Laettner Gods. No coincidence that it was the 18th anniversary of his game-winner that beat Kentucky in 1992. But the Laettner Gods didn’t send a miracle, instead they sent an untouchable Nolan Smith who scored 29 points- a career high.

It came down to last three minutes of the game and Baylor’s size didn’t matter as Nolan Smith hit a 3-pointer and John Scheyer followed putting Duke on top 67-61.

Duke won 78-71 and will return to the final four for the first time since 2004.

O-D-Who?

The first game of NCAA tournament and we are already on upset alert!

But was it really an upset? Of the brackets completed on ESPN, only 14.9 percent of them picked ODU to advance although they were the slight favorite.

The 11th seed Old Dominion University Monarchs knocked off the 6th seed fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The luck of the Irish held for most of the game until a 3-point attempt from Carleton Scott in the closing seconds that rolled off the rim and the Monarchs to a 51-50 victory and a second round game.

But for those of us who know anything about college basketball we know that the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) is a conference that can make a lot a noise. Remember the Cinderella story of 2006? We were all cheering for George Mason as they upset Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and Connecticut.

VCU upset Duke in the first round of last year’s tournament (only the second time Duke has ever lost in the first round in the last 25 years).

In the last six seasons, ODU won 145 games; a school record and the most wins among Virginia’s division I schools. No wonder Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg ended their contract to play Blaine Taylor’s Monarchs; the Monarchs are 4-1 over the Hokies.

Greenberg knows the chant goes O-D-U!

The beauty of March Madness is when your brackets are busted! Who would have thought the Sweet 16 would be without Georgetown, Villanova AND number one seed Kansas? Who would have thought Cornell and St. Mary’s looked so sweet? I LOVE it!

I admit, I’ve been a DUKE fan for as long as I can remember and I expect them to play smart and to shoot well. To me, Cameron indoor is one of the 8th wonders of the world and it’s an experience that any college basketball fan should add to their bucket list. But, the next best thing in college basketball is the MADNESS of March Madness.

Today is my favorite holiday: Selection Sunday!

This is the time of year when suddenly, EVERYONE becomes a college basketball fan. And while I love that March Madness brings out seasonal fans, I know that the true fans were apart of the madness that took place all season.

Finally, DUKE swept a 16-16 UNC and reclaimed the ACC Championship! John Scheyer’s facial expressions became the official hazing banner for all ACC home games and the defending Champs- UNC didn’t do much defending or scoring the whole season.
Maryland fans still fear the classroom as their only crowd chant is the F bomb followed by the visiting school’s name or player(s) name. Clemson, Georgia Teach, Wake Forest, and Florida State all proved they are still competitors in the ACC.

But does being a fan the whole season boost your bracketology? There’s always that one person in your office bracket that didn’t watch a game all season and they pull off the biggest upset of the year by selecting who has the best dancing shoes.

I like to treat Selection Sunday as a national holiday and I dedicate the entire day to bracketology. Before the teams are announced I wonder if the best 65 teams will get an invitation to the big dance and why isn’t Coach Knight on the selection committee? While most of the committee members are college Athletic Directors, have they had time to really watch the season outside of their conference games?

As the teams are announced I start thinking: Will Wofford (who upset South Carolina and George and almost pulled off the upset on Pitt) be this years Cinderella story? Or could Siena, Cornell or ODU be the mid-major upset? No one wants their brackets to bust, but it’s so exciting to see a mid-major upset!

Can Tennessee standout more than Pearl’s orange blazer? Can Syracuse and their seven starters get their endurance back; will Kansas State knock them off? Will DUKE’s shooting and coaching outrank Villanova’s athleticism or Kentucky’s size?

So many possible outcomes and only one bracket: let the Madness Begin!

The State of Sports

On Friday, the world came to a pause as Tiger Woods addressed the media. All three major news networks covered his public statement and millions of viewers were waiting to hear what Tiger was going to say. The world paused for a 13 minute speech from Tiger Woods; not the President, not the Pope but for the man who has dominated the game of golf for the past decade. I couldn’t help but wonder… can an athlete impact our lives the way they impact the game?

Yes, they can.

I too was one of those viewers and yes, I rescheduled a meeting so I could view his speech live. I can’t say I've ever rescheduled any part of my life for a State of the Union address, but when it comes to the State of Sports, I can’t take my eye off the ball.

I knew Tiger was sorry. I just wanted to know when he would return to golf. I felt like Tiger just made a bogy when his speech was over. The word golf was only mentioned twice. I’m awestruck by Tiger’s ability to play the game of golf, not for his ability to play the field. Unlike most women, I see Tiger as the most successful golfer to ever play the sport and not as the world’s worst husband.

I’m not saying that I agree or support his game off the course, but I’m not surprised either. Not that I thought Tiger was a bad husband before Thanksgiving, but given his fame and fortune Tiger had no one telling him "No". His wife has a dozes reasons to call him a cheater. As a fan of golf, I’m not calling him a cheater because he never cheated the game of golf.

I do believe that Tiger will return to golf and when he wins his next PGA Championship we all will be calling Tiger a winner.

For the Love of the Game

Today is Valentine’s Day and I dedicate this blog to the true love of my life: SPORTS!

Thank you for always giving me a reason to believe that you can love something more than yourself. No one else can bring out my emotions the way Zorn calls a fake field goal or the sight of an 83 year old Yogi Berra saying goodbye for the last time in pinstripes.

JoePa smiles and I see that our love will never be too old. You’ve taught me that Coach Knight’s passion, intelligence and sense of humor are the keys to finding love. And if I’m honest and play smart, I can find love my way.

Ted Williams and Charles Barkley remind me that love comes from each season. Sometimes even the best to ever play the game find that true love is in the game itself and not in the prize at the end.

With every George Mason and Appalachian State you remind me that love is blind and yes, mid major upsets inspire us all to believe that a little love can go a long way.

My love for you continues to grow every time DUKE beats UNC in Chapel Hill and no one will ever come between my love for 762* and 162.

So tonight while couples are out to dinner, I will stay home with you and listen to our song, DaNuhNuh DaNuhNuh and enjoy my HD view of just how clear our love is.