Month: June 2013

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David Stern’s legacy as we see him for the last time at the NBA Draft

The Hakeem Olajuwon-David Stern exchange was truly a Throwback Thursday!

Call me sentimental, but I am going to miss David Stern as the NBA commissioner. I know he hasn’t been the perfect commissioner, having gone through two work stoppages in my lifetime and making decisions for “basketball reasons.” But without him, the game of basketball would not have grown to the way it has become today.

If anything, his positives outweigh negatives in his career. Simply look at how he put together the Dream Team and made international appeal to basketball real. That alone made the NBA such a great global market. That alone makes him a great commissioner.

I can’t ignore the fact that the officiating has been poor and there are possibly conspiracy theories out there. But I can’t say no to the first sport I fell in love with the the commissioner that made it possible. So thank you David Stern! Continue your work and finish strong in February. You’ve done good for the NBA.

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22 Worst NBA Draft Suits

Some of them aren’t that bad. But the mismatching and the long jacket just don’t work.

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Knicks supposed orange alternates actually work out well

Iman Shumpert wears what appears to be the new Knicks alternate.

On the day we found out about one team emphasizing orange, another team has decided to do the same.

Iman Shumpert’s photo on Instagram shows what appears to be the Knicks’ new orange alternate. It’s essentially the same design as their other set just with the switch of color. I was hoping that the numbers and lettering would be white, but blue actually works out well. Especially in a league where orange isn’t seen as often, this alternate is welcomed.

A part of me feels like this had to have some influence from Carmelo Anthony. Him wearing orange just looks so right.

And who knows? There might be another alternate coming for the Knicks? Christmas Day disaster again? Or maybe a sleeve jersey?

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Lakers unveil ‘Stay’ billboards urging Dwight Howard to re-sign in free agency

#KeepD12
He’s bad news and just a bad handful for any team.

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Aaron Hernandez charged for murder, released from team and the continuing struggle for a drama-free offseason

Aaron Hernandez was arrested this morning and later charged with murder.

There’s a sad running joke among me and my friends who are fans of the NFL. During the offseason, we joke among ourselves about who would be the next player to get into some off-field trouble. It’s funny for a bit but it sadly shines a great light on a serious issue: NFL players are getting into trouble way too often.

Today’s arrest of Aaron Hernandez is another example about how the NFL offseason has become a dangerous time for the players. It isn’t injuries on the field that’s hurting players, it’s the offseason.

The problem athletes face today is the hardships of balancing fame, fortune and free time. Many of these players have never been taught how to handle all three at once. In fact, so many of these players are so inexperienced that they have leechers ready to pounce on them at any moment. That’s what sometimes gets these players in trouble. Without any idea how to handle the fame and fortune, the free time is used trying to figure out how to do it.

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Ilya Bryzgalov out of Philadelphia

Ilya Bryzgalov just did not play well with the Flyers.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren issued the following statement:

“I met with Ilya this morning and informed him that we are going to exercise a compliance buyout of his contract. This was a very difficult business decision to make for us and we want to thank Ilya for his time here and wish him all the best moving forward.”

This had to happen. Bryzgalov under-performed big time with the Flyers. I thought the signing initially two seasons ago would be a good since he had that great run in Phoenix, but a part of me was skeptical just because it wasn’t a long consistent run and the team threw a lot of money his way. The team will now pay two-thirds of the nine-year, $51 million contract they signed him to back in 2011. (More detail on the contract here.)

Now I wonder what the Flyers will do now about their goalie situation. I bet now they regret letting Sergei Bobrovsky go — this year’s Vezina trophy winner. Oops!

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Blackhawks beat the Bruins for the Stanley Cup in a fantastic finish

The Blackhawks are champions again!

The Blackhawks are champions again!

How crazy was that? Both goalies were pulled at some point in the final minutes. The Blackhawks, down 1-0 scored two goals in 17 seconds, take the lead and fend off the Bruins to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in four years.

This was one of the best Stanley Cup Playoffs I’ve seen in a long time. And to end it with a great final series where we see this kind of ending, amazing! The first game went into three overtimes. We’ve had outstanding play from both sides and the aura of the Original Six truly made this series a great one.

With the realignment, we have a lesser chance of an Original Six matchup again.

I’m going to cherish this series. Despite my team not being in it, this was the kind of run throughout the entire playoffs that really made hockey big again in America. And maybe, the game gained some new fans from this. Lockout or no lockout, we had a fun season.

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Another reason why I dislike Adidas: Look at what they did to UCLA’s football uniforms

Looks like UCLA's new uniforms are trying too hard.

Looks like UCLA’s new uniforms are trying too hard.

UCLA football player Caleb Benenoch has unveiled what appears to be the new uniforms Adidas has created for their team.

Benenoch’s Twitter features the new image. On his Instagram also, we have a closer view of the new uniform.

I don’t know where to begin with this. The inclusion of a black outline to the numbers doesn’t work well with this set, especially now that it’s thicker on this set. And the fact they continue to go with a truncated shoulder stripe really leaves a lot to be desired in what should be a good a classic uniform.

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The trend of former player to head coach in the NBA is growing

We’ve seen former players become head coaches in the NBA. Look at Phil Jackson, Byron Scott, Pat Riley as a few names on the list. They’ve had success.

Even most recently the success of Mark Jackson and the hiring of Jason Kidd shows that it’s not that crazy to hire a former player.

With the move of another former player turned coach, Doc Rivers, to Los Angeles, this prompted Antoine Walker to ponder if coaching is for him.

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Chargers making minor changes to uniforms

The Chargers officially announced three minor changes to their uniform set.

  1. The nameplates will be a two-tone look (see image below).
  2. The neckroll is gone and the collars will match the color of the jersey.
  3. The socks will feature a gold stripe midway up the calf.

This is what the nameplate will look like.

The Chargers are going through a minor nameplate change.

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