Tiger's roar or meow?

With the super bowl being so commercialized and so many people worship the NFL (my Dad calls it the church of the NFL), I really do not like the super bowl. I will spend one more sentence talking about this (maybe more...we'll see). The Seahawks will win 31-20. That's it. No more super bowl drama.

With the NBA in full force and close to the all-star break and spring training looming, the main event this week in my eyes was golf. Yes...golf. I really enjoy watching it. I am interested to see where Tiger Woods ends up at the end of each tournament. This was his first tournament since he pulled out of another back in August due to a back injury. Optimism was high as he showed off his new driving skills in practice in an attempt to get back to the swing he once had dominating the PGA scene. Well, it was more of the same. He shot a +2, 74 in his first round of the year. Okay, we can cut him some slack for being a bit rusty. But Friday he completely unraveled. He shot a +10, 82 in the second round! It was the worst round of his career and worst two rounds of his career. Put me on the course and I might be able to do better than that! Probably not, but worth a shot. The debate now is will he ever be the same Tiger that he was before all the scandals around Thanksgiving time of 2009? Will he ever win another major? Will he ever win again ever? These questions are very interesting to think about and ponder. It is alarming to see the difference of what he did 15 years ago winning seemingly every tournament he entered. He'll need to turn in around fast or else the only thing he'll win is a bucket of sorrow. Let's see what happens next week at Torrey Pines.

Like I mentioned, spring training is next month. The Padres' pitchers and catchers report on the 19th and then the rest of the players join them on the 24th. I am so eager to get spring training on a roll because there is so little to talk about in the sports world right now (unless you wish to talk about the super bowl or the cricket world cup -- both have the same amount of appeal to me).


I will talk about the NBA, however. The all-star lineups were released this week with some non-surprising selections but also some glaring snubs. The three that really stood out to me in my eyes were Damian Lillard (Blazers), DeAndre Jordan (Clippers) and Brandon Knight (Bucks). The game is on the 15th of next month with the entertainment portion the previous day. As far as the teams in the league are concerned, there are those who are really streaking and also those who are struggling. Look at those Hawks fly! 18 wins in a row as of tonight! The Cavaliers are in the midst of a 9-game winning streak after beating the Kings tonight in Cleveland. Those in the league that are particularly struggling have been the New York Knicks -- even though they have an all-star starter on their team in Carmelo Anthony. Then there are the 76ers of the world along with the Lakers. The latter losing Kobe Bryant for the remainder of the year with a torn rotator cuff. He is expected to be gone for nine months. Things are looking pretty exciting as the league still has until April when the playoffs begin.

That should do it this week! If you wish to see some of my schoolwork, feel free to check out kansasrm.wordpress.com I'll be sure to post next week after the super bowl calms down.

Deflate-gate

So, with all of the allegations coming out against the Patriots, what is it all about? First off, there is only one allegation from this past Sunday that has been worth mentioning this whole week. On Sunday, the Patriots annihilated the Colts 45-7 followed by the Packers' collapse (or is it the Seahawks' magic?) in Seattle 28-22 F/OT. But what was dominating the headlines the days following the game and still into the latter part of this week is an allegation that came out against the Patriots. It has been discovered that 11 of their 12 game balls during the first half were under-inflated. These balls were quickly replaced in the second half. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick both said that they had no idea what happened until the report came out. Mark Brunell, an NFL analyst on ESPN and former NFL quarterback himself, said that they were no doubt lying because before the game, the equipment manager comes up to the quarterback and has him test which balls he wants prior to the game. I don't know if each situation is different or what, but one thing is certain: something fishy is going on in Foxboro. Now a very valid argument in the favor of the Patriots (the one which I follow) is that the deflated footballs gave no particular advantage throughout the game. The score at the end of the first half was 17-3 Patriots (that was during the deflated period). The Patriots then scored 28 unanswered points in the second half with the balls properly inflated. So it is highly doubtful that the balls affected the outcome of the game, but the ongoing investigation is whether or not the Patriots deflated the balls intentionally. Whatever happens, the Super Bowl is set for February 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona with the Patriots the only team in the way of preventing the Seahawks from repeating as world champs.

Meanwhile, in the baseball world, only a couple of headlines truly caught my eye this week. The first was Max Scherzer: formerly a member of the Detroit Tigers, now a member of the Washington Nationals after signing a 7-year, $210 million deal (which will be spread over 14 years). That means he will be getting $15 million a year! That is a lot of dough. Honestly, the Nationals have probably just dug themselves into a hole that they will not be able to get out of until the end of the contract because what if he gets hurt? What if he just starts to stink? He isn't the best pitcher in the majors yet he gets one of the largest contracts ever. I just look at the Philadelphia Phillies and see how they are wasting money with everyone. Jonathan Pabelbon, Ryan Howard, and Chase Utley are all receiving large checks and are definitely not performing to the ability that they were when they signed the contract. As for right now, though, the Nationals have the best rotation in baseball, hands down. They already had one of the best (perhaps the best still) and just improved. Here is what you could potentially see throughout the year: Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, Jordan Zimmerman, and Gio Gonzalez. That leaves out Tanner Roark, another talented right-handed pitcher. Looks like he'll be relegated to the bullpen! The other news in the world of baseball is the passing of Ernie Banks (AKA "Mr. Cub"). He won the NL MVP in 1958-1959 and was the first African-American to play for the Cubs in franchise history. He loved the game so much that he was once quoted saying, "Let's play two," referring to games in a day. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1977 and received the presidential medal of freedom in 2013. He will be missed by baseball fans everywhere.

In the NBA, we have just passed the season's half-way point and have some impressive team out there including the Hawks and Warriors, both leading their respective conferences. Klay Thompson scored an NBA-record 37 points in a single quarter tonight against Sacramento, shooting 100% in the third quarter. That just tells you how good the team is with him and potential MVP Steph Curry. The Cavaliers seem to be making a comeback with a small four-game winning streak going on here while the Lakers look like they have lost Kobe Bryant for the rest of the year with a torn rotator cuff.

Another exciting event happening this week is the winter X Games! Shawn White participated in the snowboard half pipe for the first time since 2013 but left without a medal for the first time since 2005 when he was just 18 years old. The victor was Danny Davis (is that Dallin I see in that picture? Nope, just Davis), now the back-to-back champ in this event. Tune in to ESPN tomorrow from 1 p.m. through the rest of the day for some exciting snow-shredding from some of the best athletes in the world at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado!