Monday, February 22, 2010

The Pistons are a Huge Disappointment

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The Detroit Pistons went out and got two very good free agents in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. These two players were expected to help the pistons get back to form and become the dominating team they have been for the last ten years. Instead the free agents who have helped them more is former Detroit Piston Ben Wallace and surprisingly Chucky Atkins has done a very good job when playing. Another Unexpected playing who has done very well is rookie Jonas Jerebko. He is a rookie from Europe and he has had to log a lot of minutes and has been very good. Two more players have been disappointing with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva are Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. They have both been injured for a lot of the year but even when they are playing they are not doing good. Neither is living up to the expectations they have created for themselves the past few years. Having four players who were expected to do very well do poor does not help a team be good. With these disappointments the Detroit Pistons have a 20-35 record and are far from a playoff team. In most games the Pistons do not compete and they lose to many teams they shouldn’t lose to. The Detroit Pistons have many problems that one offseason could solve if the players start to play they can. If the four disappointing players live up to the expectations they will be a very good team next year. After they add the inevitable lottery pick player in the offseason they could turn into a good team again. These are two important things in the Pistons turn around. It is all up to their veterans to get back to the way they can play. They have no chance to make the playoffs this year but next year is another story.

Detroit Lions First Round Pick

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The NFL draft is coming up and the Detroit Lions need to do well in it. In the past the Lions have drafted an abundance of offensive players. Some say that they needed to go defense with some of those offense picks. To be a little more specific the lions have drafted a lot of WR’s. Last year the lions drafted a QB and a TE in the first round. The team has its number one WR along with QB and TE. It can also be said that the Detroit Lions have their starting running back also. They can also probably say for now they have their starting right tackle since he was just drafted two years ago. Other than that on offence the lions could pick anyone. The real question is will any of those players be worthy of a first round draft pick. Odds are no offensive lineman are worthy of a first round draft pick. That is why the Detroit Lions will more than likely go defense in the draft.

The Detroit Lions on defense are a very bad team. With who they have as of now the Detroit Lions could use two defensive ends and a middle line backer. They could also use two new starting corner backs on their team. To go along with those needs they could use another safety. It is clear with all those needs on the team that the Lions defense was not up to par. They were one of the worst defenses in the league yet again. Their newly acquired coach Jim Schwartz was supposed to improve the defense last year but that really didn’t occur. One reason for that might be because he needs to get his own players that fit his style on the team. This is where the draft comes into play and the Lions need to get his players.

The main players the Lions are expected to get are on the defensive side of the ball. They are expected to get either defensive tackle Ndamuknong Suh from Nebraska. Another defensive tackle they are predicted to possibly get is Gerald McCoy from Oklahoma. They are clearly at need in their opinion at defensive tackle. The Lions have also been in talks in getting defensive safety out of Tennessee Eric Berry. The Lions are probably going to get a defensive player with their first pick. A change in their draft strategy that is very much needed.

College Basketball Player Dies

A North Carolina Community basketball player had a game this last Saturday. He thought it was just like any other game and didn’t think anything special was going to happen. That is not the way it turned out for him though. This was Vance Granville last game he will ever play. The sophomore guard collapsed on the court and never got up. He died instantly on the court in front of all the fans that attended. This is something that happens on a rare occasion to athletes but when it does it is very unexpected and sad. It makes some people wonder if playing sports is really worth. These people do not realize that it is not something that happens all the time. It is just something we hear about every time it does happen. The chances of it happening are not very likely but player instantly worry about it when this happens. This is not something people should worry about even though it is a possibility. It is almost as if we would worry about getting in a car crash every time we drive. It is a possibility but more than likely it will not happen.

LT Done With The Chargers

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The San Diego Chargers drafted LaDainian Tomlinson in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft. He is a 5 foot 10 inch running back that weighs 221 pounds. He came out of Texas Christian after having a very good college career. In LT’s first 8 years he had over 1,000 yards in every single year. He has also had double digit rushing touchdowns in the 9 years he has played. He earned the single season rushing touchdown record for the chargers in 2006 with 28 touchdowns. The chargers should be very grateful for the years he spent with them. He was one of the best running backs during his time and will probably be considered for the hall of fame when it is all said any done. LT does not plan on retiring now that he is a free agent. He wants to find a new team.

LaDainian Tomlinson wants to continue his career in the NFL with a new team. He believes he still has plenty left in his career to be a very good running back. He just needs the chance and to be given the carries required to be considered a starting running back. If he can get his 300 plus carries he truly believes that he will be able to be the running back he has always been. Now LT just has to find that team that will give him the chance to start. There might not be very many teams out there that will be looking for a starting running back but he is determined to find a spot. LT wants to play for a contender and he wants to start. He is a very hard working running back and will still contribute to teams in the NFL. The only problem is finding a place to be a starter.

Tebow Changing His Style

In college Tim Tebow was considered one of the best QB’s in the game. He had the most touchdowns in college history all time for any player. He also had a Heisman trophy and two national championships in his college career. Those things alone make him one of the best QB’s to ever play the game. He was also very well rounded. Tim Tebow was able to pass very well but he was also able to run the ball to. The combination of these two things made Tebow very hard to defend. He even created the jump pass and used it to keep teams off guard. It consisted of a fake QB draw and then jumping and passing right before the line of scrimmage. This would make sure teams did not commit to the QB draw right away they always had to have that pass in their mind. Tim Tebow is not a player that comes around very often. The University of Florida was very lucky to have him playing for them for all four years of his college career. He got Florida back on the map and made them a nation championship contender every year while he was there. Time will only tell if The University Of Florida will still be a contender now that he is gone.
Now that Tim Tebow is going into the NFL he has decided to fine tune his game. Tebow is clearly a very good QB considering all that he accomplished in college. He just thinks if he becomes more fundamentally sound he will be a better pro QB. Since the end of the year Tebow has been working on shortening and quickening his release. This will allow Tebow to get rid of the ball much fast and lower the chance of getting sacked. It will also help him with his accuracy because there will not be as much movement in his arm while throwing. Tim Tebow hopes that this will make teams see that he is a very good QB. He thinks this will improve his game and make him better prepared for the NFL game. He has decided not to participate in the scouting combine and will use that time to practice his new technique. He will however show of his new throwing style in The University of Florida’s pro day. At this time Tebow hopes to have mastered his new style and be able to show the scouts how good he really is. The video below is of Tim Tebow throwing the ball his old way. The Video is provided by youtube.com. This thorwing is not good enough to make it in the pros and that is why he has worked on making it better.

Mark McGwire Uses Steroids

Mark McGwire was one of the best players in the MLB during the 1990’s. He stood 6 feet 5 inches and weighed 250 pounds. With the size and strength he had in the 1990’s he became the single season homerun record holder. In 1998 Mark McGwire hit 70 homeruns in a close chase with Sammy Sosa. They battled out for the record all the way to the end of the season until Mark McGwire pulled away. McGwire set himself into the history books during this time with his homerun hitting ability. His other statistics were not anything spectacular but his homeruns were up there with the best. Mark McGwire is known as a homerun hitter because that is what he was best at. After he retired the question began to come up did Mark McGwire take steroids. Most didn’t ask to much and just believed he didn’t. McGwire even implied that he didn’t in a court testimony and said the past is the past.

This year Mark McGwire came clean and let everyone know that he did take steroids during the 1990’s. He said it was only to recover from injury and that it did not improve his homerun hitting ability. This could be true because other than his record setting season his statistics in homeruns stayed relatively close to the same. He didn’t have an unusually large jump in homeruns anytime during his career so it is very possible the steroids didn’t help his homerun hitting. McGwire finally came out after all of these years being retired. If this was true that the steroids were not taken to help his homeruns then why did he not come out sooner. If the steroids strictly helped him recover then why would he not admit to taking steroids much sooner than now. Why did Mark McGwire wait until he starts to coach and gets back into the MLB to admit to this? He should have come out much sooner if it really didn’t help him hit homeruns. The steroids obviously helped him hit homeruns or he wouldn’t have waited until he had to come clean. Mark McGwire took steroids and it helped him hit homeruns. It is a good thing that he finally came out and admitted to his steroid usage hopefully he can get passed this and become a good MLB coach. The Video below is provided by youtube.com and is of McGwire talking about his steroid use.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

USA WINS!!

Picture Provided by ESPN.com
The United States Hockey team played Canada on February 21, 2010. The United States was not expected to win this matchup. Canada is host of the Olympics so the loss to the United States is a stunning unexpected one. The Canada Hockey team had better players including the best player in the NHL Sidney Crosby. Sidney Crosby was one of the Canadians who scored, joining him were Erik Staal, and Dany Heatley. The Canadians Goalie only had 22 shots on him with 18 saves. He did not have a top of the line game and neither did the rest of the Canadian team. It could be just a bad game by the Canadians but it also could be something the United States team did. Brian Rafalski led the way for the United States team scoring two goals. Jamie Langenbrunner, Ryan Kelser and Chris Drury all added a goal to the United States winning cause. The United States Goalie Ryan Miller had 45 shots on him and stopped 42 of them. He had a very nice game and was a key contributor in the United States victory. This victory by the United States over the Canadians could be the biggest upset by the United States Hockey team since the victory over the Russians in 1980. This is a very big win for the United States and advances them into the quarterfinals. The United States now hopes it can finish the job and receive the gold medal in this year’s hockey Olympics.


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