Opportunity may knock, but it is how you answer the door that makes the difference. Take this clever Ravens fan. He was the beneficiary of two tickets to the mecca of all sporting events; the Super Bowl. Most of us would cherish the opportunity to attend the "Big Game," and leave it at that... However, this young man saw his opening, a chance at glory... and he is taking his shot. Hate him for being crass, rude, and presumptuous. Call it gross and masogonistic. Heck, call it desperate... but dont see what the fuss is about. He has something to offer of great negotiable value (Super bowl tickets), and he seeks something of equal or lesser value (HJ/BJ/ZJ). It is barter at its finest. There is no fine print, there is no hidden agenda. The deal is right out there on the table. Take it or leave it! In case you can't read the image above, here are the highlights: Good News for someone... My uncle got 4 tickets to the superbowl and gave me 2. My (biatch) girlfriend broke up with me on the day of the New England game so I will be taking someone along with me to spite her. I will pay for tickets, hotel, food, drinks, etc. - Harry Dunne
Iron Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, these are some of the names that come to mind when I think of boxing at its prime. I remember being a little kid staying up late to watch the fights on HBO, ordering the Pay Per Views, and thinking this sport could never fail. Well I was wrong... boxing has hit an all-time low in the past ten years whether it’s failing to deliver fights that fans want to see, having the weakest heavyweight division in the history of the sport or just plain getting destroyed in the ratings by UFC. Boxing has numerous problems one is the 354 titles, I do not think there are that many boxers any more. Another problem falls on, the lack of Heavyweights. In the 60's, 70's, and 80's it was about the biggest guys throwing those hard hits, now you get a jab fest in boxing which amounts to nothing but 10 to 15 rounds of love taps with the winner usually being the one who threw the most. When boxing failed to deliver us a great heavyweight we went to middleweights and lightweights. There we had guys we could root, cheer, rally behind, but then the promoters decided to take the two best fighters Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather and tease us with the fight of the century. To no avai.... from boxers not wanting to take a drug test, to the money not being right, and even letting the boxers control who the other should fight, so we never got to see the fight. So we turned our heads to the UFC. Ex-boxing promoter Dana White took saw boxing was at an all-time low and capitalized by making every division hard-hitting, adding kicks and grappling into the mix, and having premier fighters we can rally behind. Will boxing ever regain success I know like most people? I hope so. I miss the days of thrilling uppercuts, courageous left hooks, and a jab that only followed up with a right cross heard from around the world. There is a lot of work to do boxing get to it. -Stephen Moul The WWE made history last night by hosting one of its most successful and hyped events not named WrestleMania. The undercard didn't feature too much action, as the Royal Rumble match and the return of The Rock to take on reigning WWE Champ Cm Punk were the two hyped matched which took up most of the card. For those who missed the Rumble, the undercard had Kane and Daniel Bryan retain their tag team championships, and World Champion and former Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio retained his belt over The Big Show. Prior to the World Championship match Bret "The Hitman" voiced his approval of World Champion Del Rio, calling him a Mexican Hitman. The undercard could definitely be described as forgettable; however the two main events certainly left an impact on wresting fans worldwide, for both positive and negative reasons. The Royal Rumble match started off with a bang. Dolph Ziggler was the number one entry and would be met by the first big surprise of the night, the returning Chris Jericho. Other surprise entries in the Rumble included: Goldust, The Godfather, and former World Champion Rey Mysterio. The Rumble came down to former 12 time Heavyweight Champion John Cena and the young dominant power house Ryback. John Cena would eliminate Ryback to win his second Royal Rumble, becoming the first multiple time winner since Stone Cold Steve Austin who is the only three time winner in Royal Rumble history. This was the first of two match endings that featured a strong mixed reaction by fans throughout out the world. Well it was a bitter sweet day at the TD Garden against the Heat Sunday afternoon for the Celtics. Boston recorded its first win of the season against the defending NBA champs in Ray Allen's first game back in the TD Garden as a member of the Heat. The Celtics were classy in Allen's return, even playing a video of Ray's time with Boston which was met with cheers by the Boston faithful. Paul Pierce, who had been in one of the worst slumps of his career, finally broke through with a triple double as well as hitting the game winning shot in double overtime. Pierce, KG, Bradley and the rest the Celtics are going to have to step up, as Boston was dealt a tough blow before the game started involving their All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo. Despite the Boston Celtics recent struggles; Rajon Rondo had been having one of his best seasons so far. Rondo for the second straight year was one pace to win the assists title as he was leading the league with 11.1 assists per game. He was also tops in the league with 5 triple doubles this season, and was voted in by the fans to start the NBA All-Star game for the first time in his career. All that came to an end Sunday as it was announced the Rajon Rondo suffered a torn ACL Fridays loss to the Hawks. Rondo had discomfort in his knee before shot around on Sunday before the game against the Heat. During halftime of the ABC broadcast of the Celtics vs. Heat game, news broke the Rondo indeed had a torn ACL which would keep him sidelined for the rest of the season. The Celtics were already in trouble, barely clinging to the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Names like J.J. Redick and Demarcus Cousins had been rumored to be coming to the Celtic's via trade. However, perhaps making a panic trade just to keep the Celtics in the bottom of the playoff picture is the wrong move at this point. Kevin Garnett decided to take a pay cut and finish his career with the Celtics, and Paul Pierce has been a Celtic for his entire career, I believe it would be disrespectful to the hall of fame bodies of work to trade them at this point. The Celtic's know they have a young core to build around for the future including: Rondo, Avery Bradley and Jared Sullinger. If Boston misses the playoffs, then lucks into drafting a game changer (like the Spurs did with Duncan in 1998), then the Celtics may be on the fast track to rebuilding this ancient team. However, if they mortgage their future by trading Bradley or Sullinger just to keep false hope alive this season, then the Boston Celtic's may degenerate into a bottom feeder faster than you can say Rick Pitino. - Joe "Spelling Bee" Passarelli With the Trade Deadline approaching on Feb. 21st I have five possible trades that could happen. These percentages are strictly my opinion on how strongly I feel where these players will end up. My first player on a lot of team’s radar, J.J. Redick is the Celtics a player yes, but i have a wildcard team that may be even a better fit. The L.A. Clippers Have enough pieces to acquire Redick the question is are they willing to mess with the chemistry. Orlando wants to acquire draft picks and take on light contracts so another possibility is Chicago they need a 3pt specialist to make a run at a championship i say the Bulls are a factor as well. J.J. Redick trade possibilities: Celtics 22% Chicago 38% Clippers 15% Stays with Magic 15% Other: 10% The next candidate for trade Possibilities is Rudy Gay. The six year veteran is averaging 17.2 points per game this season and could help out numerous NBA teams for the second half of the season. i know there were rumors speculating a mega deal involving the Lakers and Celtics, which would of sent pierce to Memphis, Pau Gasol to Boston, and Rudy Gay to the Lakers, but with Rondo being hurt and the Celtics Lacking trade candidates My wildcard team is Phoenix, The suns are struggling they need a wing man to play the three spot. Jared Dudley is a Sixth Man at best and they are lacking a scorer. It seems to be a trend for this season. For the sixth time, the Celtics lost a game. Just now, they lost a heart breaker in 2 OT to the Atlanta Hawks 123-111. But at the start of the game, you would have thought the Celtics were going to cruise with a 29-10 score after 1 period and being up 57-38 by halftime. But then the Hawks stormed back to outscore the Celtics 60-41 in the second half and then dominate in the 2OT periods 16-4. This is the 2nd consecutive multi-game losing streak the Celtics have had this season, the first came from 12/27-1/2 when they lost 4 games in a row. What's disheartening about this current losing streak is that they lost 3 of those games to under .500 teams (16-27 Detroit Pistons, 12-32 Cleveland Cavaliers, 14-29 New Orleans Hornets). Not to mention that the Celtics squandered the chance to take advantage of another brilliant performance by their All-Star PG Rajon Rondo (16 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds in the 123-111 loss against the Hawks, his 3rd consecutive game with a triple-double). So who is to blame for this recent skid? Since the NBA is a star-led league, everybody will no doubt try to pin all the blame on Doc Rivers. However there is more than just one culprit. First, look at the 'captain' and 'face of the franchise' SF Paul Pierce. During this 6 game losing streak, he's got a field goal percentage of 30.7% on 24-91 shooting, averaging about 13.5 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 3.6 APG, but also 5.1 turnovers per game. Second, the supposed defensive captain in Kevin Garnett has at times looked very winded and confused after long stretches of being on the court. Not to mention that he's been easily dominated by the likes of a Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, Greg Monroe, or Anthony Davis to name a few big men he's faced. Finally, look at the bench itself. At times this season, you can see the likes of Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, or a Courtney Lee to come in and make a big impact (against the Hawks, Celtics bench scored 45 points compared to the 21 points scored by the Hawks bench, against Detroit Celtics bench scored 48 of the team's 88 points). Other times, fans end up scratching their heads and wonder what Danny Ainge was thinking when he assembled this team (25 points scored by Celtics bench against Chicago vs. Bulls' 36 bench points, 24 Celtics bench points vs. 30 bench points by the Knicks). But perhaps the most disappointing was that after their loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Doc Rivers flat out said that if the situation does not improve then there will be roster changes in the future. The Celtics response: 2 more losses where the team had the lead at the end of the half or had a chance to take the lead late but made costly errors. With the trade deadline only a few weeks away, GM Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers will have to take a deep look at this roster and make the decisions of who should stay and who should go. They should put sentiments aside and realize that unless changes are not made, then this whole season will just be a waste. Time is still on their side but for how long? -Ryan L. Fox I, for one, am a huge baseball fan; and I have a little spring fever with pitchers and catchers two weeks away I wanted to give you my teams to watch for in nine innings. 1st Inning: The Cleveland Indians, the biggest addition off the offseason had to be in the clubhouse Terry Francona brought not one but two World Series championships to the Boston Red Sox in his tenure. The intrigue in the Indians is can Terry Francona have the same success with a team which is pretty similar to that scrappy Boston team in 2004. 2nd Inning: The Oakland Athletics, yes Brad Pitt made the Athletics a team you want to root for, but the play of the Athletics last season makes them a team you can’t take your eyes off. When a team with no big names, small cap, and a will to win make the playoffs, I tend to pay close attention. Will they keep the success up? That is million dollar problem with the Oakland Athletics. 3rd Inning: The Cincinnati Reds, Brandon Phillips and company shocked the National League with their success turned into disaster after being up 2-0 The Reds lost 3-2 to the World Champion Giants. What I will be watching for is can they make it out of the first round and extend on the success they had in 2012? 4th Inning: The Detroit Tigers. Why so low on my list for the World Series Runner ups, you say? I feel we saw the best out of the Tigers last season, but for the sake of the Tigers having the Triple Crown (44 HR .330 BA and 139 RBI) Miguel Cabrera on their team you have to still feel they will be a playoff contender just not a World Series winner in the near future. 5th Inning: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, After A disappointing 2012 and oh boy, it was disappointing, You still have to love the addition of Josh Hamilton to help out with the production of Albert Pujols and AL Rookie of the year Mike Trout this team is sure to be a lot better 2013 than that destructive 2012 season. 6th Inning: Baltimore Orioles, They do not wow you with stats just wins. Where some would say a loss to the Yankees in the ALDS would be a failure I say a team that most pegged to be at the bottom of the barrel of the AL east i would call it the starting point for success. Yes, the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Rays are all playoff contenders could the Baltimore Orioles send them to the back of the line? They just might. 7th Inning: The San Francisco Giants: In my opinion the best team in the National League, the Giants have little to prove NL MVP Buster Posey, stud pitcher Matt Cain, and the Kung Fu Panda, Pablo Sandoval, the Giants are threat to go back to back, with a slumping Tim Lincecum last season San Fran were the talk of the baseball world in the playoffs epic NLDS with the Reds, followed up with a great series with the Cardinals, the Giants capped off their season with a World Series victory what more can I say? 8th Inning: The New York Yankees, not for the skin of my teeth season they had, but mainly for this team has dominated for years now and can Joe Girardi get this team in gear, lose the off the field issues, defy the age of this team and go out and win the AL east? All signs point to no, but it makes an interesting watch. 9th Inning: The Toronto Blue Jays, The BIGGEST offseason moves possibly ever the Blue Jays woke up and said yup, it’s time to spend money. R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonafacio, Mark Buhrele and Melkey Cabrera were all acquired by a Blue Jays team that already had talent such as Jose Bautista, Brandon Morrow, and Rickey Romero. Wow this is my number one team to watch for just for the fact they have an All Star team put together in Toronto, of all places. Will the Jays win it all we are couple months away from witnessing it all? Are you ready? - Stephen Moul
Well the hot and cold Celtics lost their fourth straight game in come from ahead style against an undermanned Cavs team Tuesday night, which was ignited by a 40 point showing from second year point guard Kyrie Irving. The Celtics recent losses have come against horrible teams such as the Pistons, Cavaliers, and Hornets. The other loss in this awful four game slate of basketball for the Celtics came against the without Derrick Rose Chicago Bulls in overtime. The Celtics have hit another big slump following their recent six-game winning streak, which has coaches, Danny Ainge and Celtic's fans looking for answers. The one positive of the Celtic's has been rookie big man Jared Sullinger. The former Ohio State big man returned to his roots with his parents in the crowd in Cleveland and put up a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Sullinger also had 15 rebounds in the Celtics recent loss to the Chicago Bulls. The rookie forwards play has been one of the few bright spots for the Celtics in recent weeks. The recent winning streak seems to be a distant memory as Boston appears to have followed in the Patriots footsteps in terms of finding ways to lose games. It does not get any easier for the Celtics, as they have primetime matchups with the Knicks on TNT and their first showdown with Ray Allen and The Miami Heat this Sunday on ABC. If Boston can't get its act together they may be torched by these championship driven teams on national television. - Joe Passarelli The San Francisco 49ers punched their ticket to a sixth Super Bowl appearance with a stunning 17 point comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Colin Kaepernick didn't light the fantasy scoreboard like he did against Green Bay, but he showed poise beyond his years by not panicing and sticking with the game plan. Frank Gore and rookie LaMichael James each recorded rushing touchdowns as the 49ers continued to run the ball and stuck with a ground and pound attack despite being down big early to the dirty birds. Even Vernon Davis got in the act, finally connecting with Kaepernick and recording over 100 yards and a touchdown. San Francisco is 5-0 in the big game. This is their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1994-1995, when this sports writer and 49ers fan was in the 5th grade. For more than a decade, the once proud 49er franchise has been a bottom feeder with a revolving door head coaches from Dennis Ericson, to Mike Nolan to Mike Singletary. That all changed with the hiring of Stanford head coach and former Colts and Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Who would've guessed that less than two years later Harbaugh would be leading the 49ers back to the big game for the first time since Bill Clinton was in his first term. Harbaugh has had great success, taking San Francisco from a door mat to back to back NFC championship games with two different starting quarterbacks. Jim Harbaugh is certainly in for a challenge with the John Harbaugh led Baltimore Ravens. For the next two weeks these two brothers are going to be the center of the sports world. If Jim or John Harbaugh gets caught up in the upcoming media fire storm, it would be quite surprising, as both coaches have trucked through distractions all season long from quarterback controversies to firing coordinators mid-season. The two brothers, who once put a piece of tape on the floor to separate themselves when they were young, will be joined at the hip as the media blitz that is the new age Super Bowl coverage feeds on their story. These two Harbaughs will certainly dominate the headlines for the next two weeks, along with the Ray Lewis saga, however it'll be the players on the field who will determine the outcome. From the Rice's to the Gore's, the Suggs' to the Bowman’s, the Reed's to the Goldson's, the Flacco's to the Kaepernick's, this rematch from last year's evening thanksgiving showdown is going to feature some prime time matchups. As the 49ers go for the 6th championship and the Ravens their 2nd, these teams are sure to deliver a tough hard hitting performance that will have fans on the edge of their seat. - Joe "The Dictionary" Passarelli * Matt Ryan has finally answered the perennial question of “Does he have what it takes to win a championship?” Unfortunately that answer, delivered during the NFC Championship Game, was a resounding “No.” The questionable Douglas reception for Atlanta late in the 4th quarter was an optimal setup for a game-winning touchdown that resulted in incompletions on 3rd and 4th down. Despite some clean hookups to Julio Jones earlier in the game, the Ice melted when it meant the most. I’m predicting offensive coordination changes in Atlanta, ROTY going to Kaepernick, and Alex Smith going to Jacksonville. * Aqib Talib going down with a hip injury late in the first half was an AFC Championship game changer, forcing the Patriots to realign a defensive strategy that had been working very effectively for them in the second half of the season and had held Baltimore to 7 points through half time. Strength and size advantage aside, the sheer absence of him in at the corner left glaring gaps in the adjusted NE secondary that, once the dust settled, allowed 21 unanswered second half points. I now have to mentally prepare for the upcoming two weeks of sports reporting doldrums that will be exacerbated by the media’s pants tent over the ensuing Har-Bowl or Super Baugh or whatever semi-clever moniker is assigned to the spectacle. At least we’ll get a Destiny’s Child reunion out of it. * Super Bowl prediction? Wait until next week. We have plenty of time. * The NHL has begun their shortened season. America continues to not care. * From the “You don’t know what you've got ‘til it’s gone” file, reports have surfaced that the Sacramento Kings are in the early stages of moving their team to Seattle and resurrecting the SuperSonics franchise that was mutated into the OKC Thunder in 2008. At the time, there was an outcry of support for keeping the Sonics, whom had recently drafted young phenom Kevin Durant and had the makings of a championship-caliber team, evidenced by OKC’s recent success. However, local sentiments may change after the move when fans are greeted in an outdated arena on opening day by John Salmons and Aaron Brooks. * Manti Te’o’s fabricated girlfriend controversy can be seen from two angles: 1) Te’o was in on it the whole time and did it to gain publicity and notoriety, which he gained in spades thanks to the media’s obsession with the story, or 2) Te’o really was truly tricked by the person perpetuating the lie, and the media’s attention is basically pointing out what an idiot he was by being duped for years on end. The first makes him seem deceptively clever by manipulating the media for a personal gain, while the second gives him much less credit and paints him as a sympathetic dimwit. Though the truth lies somewhere in between, it did not involve a murder, rape, or trading jerseys for tattoos. Despite the attention it has received, the controversy isn't severe enough to detract from his stellar 2012 season, his future potential on the field, and the positive impact he has on the Notre Dame Football program. - Chadillac |
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