Spencer-
I don't think Stewart intentionally hit Ward, but I can see why some people think otherwise. In the video you can clearly hear Stewart speed up as he get's close to Ward and obviously he made Ward spin out in the first place, adding to the suspicion. Regardless I don't think there is enough evidence to say Stewart did it on purpose though, which is why he won't be charged or get in any legal trouble. I was happy to see he decided not to race at Watkins Glenn yesterday though. It should of been obvious from the start that racing was a bad idea after the accident the night before. I know he is a competitor and wants to race but it was obvious what the right decision was. Glad he made the right one.
Ty-
I don't think Stewart wanted to intentionally hit Ward. This story is tragic but it could have possibly been prevented if Ward remained in his car. Once he left his car and stood in the middle of the track he lost all of the safety afforded to him. It was also reported that several other cars almost hit Ward as well. The story just looks really bad because Stewart caused the spin out in the first place. But to think that Stewart intentional hit him with his car then you are questioning Stewart's morals. Either way he has to live with it the rest of his life. Stewart was right to not race the next day, But I'm sure it would have made the situation much worse.
Ty-
As much as I wanted to see Durant tear it up per usual, I think that he made the right decision. I am sure that the Thunder is happy with his decision. But honestly Durant played the most minutes in the league last year by far. The Thunder have made it to at least the second round of the playoffs in each of the last few years. You couple that with the fact that Durant never really ever took time off and always played at the Rucker or in the Drew League. Not to mention the olympics and the last FIBA World Cup. So Durant might be dealing with super progressive fatigue. He honestly deserves to be able to relax. That being said I'm not sure if Paul George's injury had anything to do with it. It could have just been too much with the fatigue for Durant to play but either way I wouldn't blame anybody who didn't want to pplay after seeing that.
Spencer-
No problem with Durant's decision to forgo the World Cup and focus on getting rested for the NBA season. The way I look at it Durant is coming off an MVP year that took a lot out of him. He played a record number of minutes for his career and he is key to the Thunder winning a championship. I don't buy the garbage that playing for his country doesn't mean something to him cause I think Durant does take a lot of pride in wearing the Red, White and Blue. I just think he needs some rest. He's worn down and playing more basketball is going to cause fatigue and potentially injury. Speaking of injury I do think seeing Paul George go down the way he did played into the psyche of Durant a little. Although it was a freak thing that happened, it was gruesome and disturbing and Durant probably processed it as he could be more injury prone playing these live games and becoming more worn down. I don't believe it was a huge factor in his decision but it was part of it.
Spencer-
This is tough for me because Cleveland is potentially winning in both cases. On one side you're getting an all-star power forward who will make the offense even more dominant than it was going to be with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving at the forefront. But then on the other end you have the chance to keep a young electric player who is defensive minded and has the potential to be great down the line. I think that down the line part is why the Cavs are making this deal though. They see that LeBron isn't getting any younger and so their window to make use of him in his prime is small. They want to compete for a title now. I will say with Love Cleveland has to be a favorite in the East especially with Paul George out for an extended period of time. But that being said we saw how tough the West was this year and by trading guys like Wiggins and Bennett the Cavs lose some of that depth that will help them compete with those teams like San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Add in that Love doesn't really play much defense, at least he hasn't with Minnesota. Maybe that will change on a team with LeBron as the leader, but if it doesn't I see a team that will take the starting five off the floor and struggle against deeper teams.
P.S. There is a lot of talk that the trade could get blocked by the NBA much like the CP3 trade to the Lakers got blocked a few years back...so if that happens Cavs may have to tough it out with Wiggins or go after someone else.
Ty-
There is still time for the trade to not go through but it seems as though the chance that it doesn't happen is like less than one percent right now. I have been an opponent of the deal but honestly the Cavaliers were in a win win situation. Either they keep a guy who had the potential to be a superstar and carry the torch after LeBron leaves or they get maybe the best offensive power forward and top 10 or 15 player in the league. The biggest reason that I said that I wouldn't have made the deal is because they just lost out on two cheap options that could have been at least productive the next few years. They also lose out on some depth that they had. But with Love it puts the Cavs into another stratosphere of talent but more importantly it put a whole heap of pressure on guys who never did it before. Yeah LeBron has a ton of experience but now Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love will be under the bright lights of expectations that the Heat have had for the past 4 years. Irving and Love will probably play more TV games this year than they did all of their whole career combined. Irving gets a pass because he has only been in the league 3 years but Kevin Love has been in the NBA for 6 years and has never been to the playoffs. This might not be his fault but those lights shine bright for players. The biggest obsticle that the Cavs have to overcome now is mesh those three stars and including guys like Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters. For Wiggins it might actually be a good thing for him to be able to develop in Minnesota. That way he learns how to play and has a chance to go through some growing pains that he wouldn't be able to with the Cavs.
There is still time for the trade to not go through but it seems as though the chance that it doesn't happen is like less than one percent right now. I have been an opponent of the deal but honestly the Cavaliers were in a win win situation. Either they keep a guy who had the potential to be a superstar and carry the torch after LeBron leaves or they get maybe the best offensive power forward and top 10 or 15 player in the league. The biggest reason that I said that I wouldn't have made the deal is because they just lost out on two cheap options that could have been at least productive the next few years. They also lose out on some depth that they had. But with Love it puts the Cavs into another stratosphere of talent but more importantly it put a whole heap of pressure on guys who never did it before. Yeah LeBron has a ton of experience but now Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love will be under the bright lights of expectations that the Heat have had for the past 4 years. Irving and Love will probably play more TV games this year than they did all of their whole career combined. Irving gets a pass because he has only been in the league 3 years but Kevin Love has been in the NBA for 6 years and has never been to the playoffs. This might not be his fault but those lights shine bright for players. The biggest obsticle that the Cavs have to overcome now is mesh those three stars and including guys like Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters. For Wiggins it might actually be a good thing for him to be able to develop in Minnesota. That way he learns how to play and has a chance to go through some growing pains that he wouldn't be able to with the Cavs.
Ty-
I think that it is slightly early to judge but I do see the teams like Atlanta, Washington, and Tampa Bay to have a little bit of a bounce back year. The Falcons have been good for so long and have a ton of talent. Last year seemed like a fluke. Although I do think that they wont be as good as they were in the 2012 season I do think they will be much more competitive with Roddy White and Julio Jones fully healthy. Washington will probably be better as well. RGII actually gets a full offseason to get better while the team added DeSean Jackson and Andre Reed to really have a potentially potent offense. The Buccaneers added Josh McCown, who is a game manager but Lovie Smith has usually been able to over achieve with a non-star quarter back. But the NFL is pretty different each year so I'm probably wrong.
Spencer-
There are a lot of great answers to this question because a lot of teams have the potential for a bounce back this year. Obviously there is the Redskins who I think will go as RGIII goes. There is also the Falcons who no one expected would be in the basement of the NFC South last year and had to play through a lot of detrimental injuries. Despite a lot of choices though I'm going with the Houston Texans to have a bounce back year. Their biggest question mark is the quarterback position where Fitzpatrick may start but Case Keenum could grow into the starting job later in the season. Otherwise though we know Arian Foster can be effective at running back and he'll come back from injury to have a good year. Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins are solid receiving targets for whoever is at QB. Their rushing defense struggled last year but I see it improving this year and with the scary pass rush of J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney their pass defense will continue to be dominant. Add all that with a new coach in Bill O'Brien and I think their improvement is apparent. New coaches offer a breath of fresh air, a new start, and Houston will forget about last season and come out ready to go. I think Indianapolis wins the division because of Andrew Luck, great QB's run the NFL, but I see Houston finishing second and potentially grabbing a wild card spot.
5. What we learned
Spencer: Rory Mcilroy is ready NOW
We debated how ready Rory Mcllroy was to be the face of golf a few weeks back on a Monday Spread Option, and after this weekend's performance in the PGA Championship it is evident that he is ready for that now. Sure when Tiger is actually playing he will draw the attention and support till the day he retires because of who he is, but the new generation of golf has arrived in Mcilroy and he is taking the baton from Tiger in stride and off to the races. He's the number one golfer in the world and if this summer taught us anything about him, it's that he is starting to hit his peak at just 25 years of age....All I know is it will be a lot of fun watching him compete and win major after major for years to come.
Ty: Johnny Manziel Must be Transcendent
Johnny Manziel might be in the middle of a quarterback battle with a guy that nobody knew about for about 4 seasons of his career but just the fact that I typed those words tells you the power of Johnny Manziel. Manziel is such a polarizing figure that NFL network purposefully showed a Cleveland Browns preseason game.
Not only did they show it but you watched it! I had a friend text me to see if I wanted to come over to watch the game. A preseason game! One that included the Browns and the Lions. The Lions didn't even play Stafford and yet people watched and the game was trending on Twitter. What is even crazier is that most people probably watched the whole game. What is crazier than that is that you wanted to watch the second half of the game more than the first half. Why did you do all this? Johnny Manziel. He may or may not be out Bryan Hoyer for the starting job but he has definitely already elevated the Browns into something they haven't been in forever, relevant. It might not be the relevancy that comes with winning but that might come later.
Not only did they show it but you watched it! I had a friend text me to see if I wanted to come over to watch the game. A preseason game! One that included the Browns and the Lions. The Lions didn't even play Stafford and yet people watched and the game was trending on Twitter. What is even crazier is that most people probably watched the whole game. What is crazier than that is that you wanted to watch the second half of the game more than the first half. Why did you do all this? Johnny Manziel. He may or may not be out Bryan Hoyer for the starting job but he has definitely already elevated the Browns into something they haven't been in forever, relevant. It might not be the relevancy that comes with winning but that might come later.
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