Ty-
It's tough to argue against Florida right now. They have won a lot of games purely based of the strength of their great defense. In that way they are a lot like Syracuse. Although they too have flaws offensive, their defense will probably not be as vulnerable to great shooting like Syracuse is. But they did have their scare against Ole Miss. I honestly think that come tournament time the best team will be the Kansas Jayhawks. They have played the hardest schedule in basketball both because of their non-conference schedule and how good the Big 12 conference is. They had a lot of hype going into the year because of Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid but they have clawed their way into the top 5. Their combination of good defense and solid offense will be formidable against any opponent.
Spencer-
I think the AP rankings got it right after last weeks upsets. Florida was number two last week, and despite having a near scare against Auburn, they pulled it out and showed even in close games they can keep their composure. That is, in my opinion, a necessary characteristic for a number one team to exemplify. The Gators are playing solid basketball right now. They haven’t lost since December, they recently got a win over a solid Kentucky team and they play really great team basketball. They have several guys who can score and unlike a lot of these top ranked teams don’t have a popular star freshman running the show but three experienced seniors in Casey Prather, Patrick Young and Scottie Wilbekin. Quick note though I think Wichita rightfully stays at second because of the strength of their schedule. I understand they are the only unbeaten team left but they haven’t played most quality opponents. The Shockers are a great team and will be a number one seed in the tournament especially if they finish undefeated. Unfortunately I can’t hand them the number one ranking based on just that.
2. The NFL Combine has begun and there has already been scrutiny over Johnny Manziel's height being 1/4th of an inch shorter than 6 feet. Does it really matter?
Spencer-
No, no and no. If you think 1/4th of an inch dictates whether a player will succeed in the NFL you’re ignorant. As part of my argument I will give you exhibit A: Drew Brees and Exhibit B: Russell Wilson. Brees stands at an exact 6 ft tall, 1/4 of an inch taller than Manziel, has thrown for over 5,000 yard for three consecutive seasons, previously held the single-season passing yard record until this year and has a Super Bowl ring. Russell Wilson is only 5 ft 11 in. and although he isn’t breaking passing record through his first two seasons has become a franchise QB for Seattle and won the Super Bowl. These are two prime examples of why it shouldn’t matter at all that Johnny Manziel is less than 6 ft tall. If the kid can play football, he can play football. He has been doing it at a high level in college at the height he is and I can see him doing it in the NFL. Makes me wonder what the NFL really learns fro the combine, which segues perfectly into my rant for for what I learned this week. Keep reading...
Ty-
Didn't we already know that Manziel was shorter than the average quarterback? Are NFL executives still using the old school mindset of draft grades after all 5' 11'' of Russell Wilson just led his team to a Superbowl victory. Russell Wilson had all the intangibles and talent coming out of the draft as anybody but slipped in the draft because of his size. Size is important in some cases but it shouldn't handcuff people. Johnny Manziel is probably more prolific than Russell Wilson was coming out of college so I think the size issue is an overreaction. This is why the combine is a joke for the most part. They measure a lot of things that wont tell you how good a player will be. What they should worry about is wether or not Manziel can make all the throws you want an NFL quarterback to make and if he can lead your team to more victories.
Ty-
This NBA Season might be as wide open as any for the championship. There are a lot of teams that can challenge the Heat for the Title. So I can really see any of these teams winning the championship if everything breaks right for them.
Top 5 NBA Contenders:
1. Miami Heat (If Dwayne Wade is healthy)
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
3. Indiana Pacers
4. Los Angeles Clippers
5. Houston Rockets
I think that Dwayne Wade wont be able to stay healthy throughout the playoffs which will be the downfall of the Heat. So my pick to win the championship is Oklahoma City right now. The other teams behind them all have a chance. The teams that I left out, Portland and San Antonio, where left out because they have huge weaknesses. The Trail Blazers aren't just a bad on defense but they are borderline terrible. I have no faith the Blazers can beat any of the top 5 teams in a seven game series. The Spurs, on the other hand, can beat one of the top teams because of their experience. Yet they haven't been able to beat any of the contending teams beside the Clippers. They have been to injured and it's tough to see them in the Finals again.
Spencer-
1) Indiana Pacers: Despite everyone talking about the Heat gaining on them in the standings, I think from top to bottom they are still the most solid team. You have Paul George, Roy Hibbert, David West, Lance Stephenson kind of running the show. Then they have depth with guys like George Hill and Luis Scola who give get good minutes and produce for Indiana. Then add in the recent acquisition of Evan Turner as well. This team isn’t missing much. They have lost a few games here in the last couple weeks but I see them finishing on top of the east. I also think they are a better team than the Heat and they have a guy in George who can actually guard Lebron and a guy in Hibbert who plays right into Miami’s biggest weakness which is a down low presence.
2) Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Durant is going to be the MVP this year and he is going to continue putting up ridiculous numbers. With Westbrook now back for them the team will get familiarized to a lineup with him on the floor and they will be fine. I don’t think one loss to Miami speaks to how good or bad this team is. They will be more than fine and look like a team on a mission this year.
3) The Miami Heat: People wanted to write them off early and say they were coasting, well coasting or not the Heat proved they are still a team to beat in the league with their blowout win over the Thunder. Again I don’t think they got the Thunder’s A game, but it at least showed that they are going to play with the other top teams. Even with an often injured Dwayne Wade and Lebron’s broken nose, they will be right there.
4) Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers were missing Chris Paul for nearly a month, and dropped some winnable games in his absence but Blake Griffin seemed to have a coming out party while Paul missed time as well and now with him back and healthy they are in the mix. They got a big win yesterday over the Thunder, which definitely made a statement in the tough Western Conference. They have dropped some silly games against opponents like Cleveland and Charlotte and they have struggled against the leagues top teams. Despite all that though I think they have proven they can hang with those teams and with Paul back and in usual form, I expect a playoff run from them.
5) San Antonio Spurs: I know they are old, and have lost to some teams they should be beating, such as the Knicks, I just can’t not put the Spurs on this list. They, like the Clippers, have also been hit or miss against some of the best teams in the league but they have hung in those games as well. Every year we count these guys out and then they surprise us. Last year they were a play away from being NBA champs. Got to believe that Pop and the boys still have some gas in the tank, and if they make it again this year, I now won’t have to be so surprised.
4. Does Jason Williams' warm reception translate to how Michael Sam will be treated in the NFL?
Spencer-
I don’t know if it translates completely but I think it is a step in the right direction for all sports. Unfortunately a lot of people see football as the “Ultimate man’s game” and I think have a hard time imagining a gay player in locker rooms and on the field. I think that is extremely sad, but I think Sam could face harsher scrutiny from fans than Collins. Also all eyes are on the NFL, from media to spectators worldwide so for the attention Collins got for his appearance last night, double it for Sam. Nonetheless I have always thought sports has this unbelievable ability to unite people, so if the highest level of sports can make a statement with openly gay players being accepted and participating I think it can have an astronomical impact on the way society accepts homosexuals in general. At least I hope it does. This is something that goes beyond the lines on a field or a court and I think it can be a huge step toward equality.
Ty-
It should give some sense to how the athletes will embrace an openly gay player. But in this case it is different. The NBA has always prided itself on being ahead of the other sports in social problems of this nature. But Adam Silver said it best, "No one in sports should be too proud. Sports has led society in so many critical areas. [Here] we fell behind." The NFL is one of those sports who have lacked the hardest in this issue. In this day and age it shouldn't be a problem and for most in the NFL I suspect it wont be a problem. This will be big because this is the first in the sport but most of society has been okay with this for a while now. But we are being Naive if we think everybody will accept this and that there wont be some hiccups along the way.
What we learned last week?
The NFL and the N-word.
Let me try to do this without diving into the merit of the word and wether I feel as if people should be able to say it or not. This word only has the power to hurt one group of people in the world. African-Americans had to live with the word, the history, and the racism so it seems weird for others to tell them how to use that word. The biggest thing that needs to e realized is that if your not apart of a certain race, than it becomes pretentious to try to tell people how to feel about a word and wether or not they should use it. That goes the same for any race and any derogatory term. The word is one thing but it's not everything. A person can be extremely overtly or covertly racist and not use that word at all. It's more of a symptom than the disease that racism is and this hip hop/ n-word use debate seems to be shifting the blame back on African-Americans instead of looking at racism as a whole. I'm not saying anybody should or shouldn't say it, but that should be left up to those people the word hurts.
This is a tough situation to tackle for society as a whole, let alone the NFL. I just don't get why this is being done. I'm not sure what effect it has on the way the NFL is played. Will the NFL outlaw profanity as a whole? Because that would make more sense. If they use the logic of, "This is a work place, profanity should not be allowed in the work place." In this case it seems like they are creating a rule that doesn't need to happen and would be hypocritical to how the rest of the NFL operates. There isn't a need for the NFL to police this word only. I think that it would be hard for the NFL to enforce this rule. The players will also be against the rule for the most part and hopefully this doesn't come to fruition.
The NFL Combine Measures Nothing.
Look I understand sports networks are reaching for the NFL topics to increase viewership, but the NFL Combine is so overblown and doesn’t really tell us anything about players headed to the NFL. That’s great that Jadeveon Clowney ran a 4.53 forty time. I’m glad a 266 lb guy has that much force behind him, but the question isn’t how much force he has, but how he uses it. The only way to really gage that is by seeing them in a game or game like scenario. Clowney will literally never be lining up and be able to run forty yards clear down the field, full speed with no one in his way like he did in the forty today. He is going to be getting blocked, double teamed, held, pushed around, ran into etc. by ruthless lineman whose job it is to put him on his butt. Not to mention he is going to have pads on for all of this as well. If you put any of these guys in pads no way they are running 4.53 forty times.
Before you tell me “Well that isn’t all they make them do,” and other nonsense I want to say this doesn’t just apply to Clowney and that I’m not saying he or other potential players won’t pan out in the NFL. All I’m saying is that these drills shouldn’t hold so much weight in a guys draft status.
If you think a quarterback throwing to wide-open guys tells me he is has NFL potential then you are delusional. Just like if you think a guy only bench pressing a set weight a certain number of times tells you that too. First of all if a guy has made it that far to where he has a chance to try out for an NFL team, I think he knows the potential ability is there. You could have the best arm in the world as quarterback, but if you can’t read NFL style defenses then you’ll never make it. Sorry. Same with the strength thing, I knew guys that played football that couldn’t bench 225 17, 18, 19 times but were tremendous football players. Being strong is important but playing any position in football takes more than strength. It takes thinking, and aggressiveness. Maybe these drills measure a guy’s potential aggressiveness? I don’t know. But potential doesn’t mean a sure thing. All I’m saying is the combine doesn’t necessarily translate to this guy or that guy is going to be a great NFL player. It barely even scratches the surface. There needs to be less emphasis on those tests and more on what they do in a game situation, and the reality of it is you never truly know how a guy is going to pan out in the pros.
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