Monday, August 27, 2012

Did You See That: Restrictions for Athletes With Character Issues

The guidelines placed on Cowboys WR Dez Bryant have been seen by many, and criticized by almost as many for their strict nature. Even if it is all in good taste in order to help him grow as a man and football player, it's almost too strict, right? Many other players have been in this position as well. Here are some guidelines that other players have received when they ran afoul of the laws of the game, or the land.

Melky Cabrera: He is no longer allowed to use sites such as Blogger or Wordpress, and is also not allowed to take any computer science classes if he decides his baseball career has gone down the toilet.

Justin Blackmon: He received alcohol restrictions, but strangely enough, not after games because he might need a drink after working with the other Jaguars receivers.

Chad Johnson: No longer allowed to use twitter in general, especially to meet women, but he still is allowed to use online dating services, oddly enough.

Delonte West: He's the entire reason Michael Bloomberg was just screaming about gun control laws. He's not allowed now within 1,000 yards of a military base because of it.

Marty McSorley: No longer allowed anywhere near Donald Brashear, and was enrolled in serious anger management courses for learning how not to instigate a fight.

Todd Bertuzzi: Not allowed to be on the same team as Aaron Rome (no problems there), and was encouraged to stay as far away from Dan Marouelli as possible.

Miguel Cabrera: The Tigers thought being on a good team would help him with his alcohol issues, but since they haven't, he's been given an alcohol ban, which has been incredibly useful during the 2012 season.

Zinedine Zidane: He's been left off of Real Madrid alumni teams if he has to play an Italian on the other side, and do not put him anywhere near the World Cup Trophy, or Marco Materazzi.

You didn't know these until now, and you're probably thankful you didn't.

Friday, August 17, 2012

2012-13 Barclays Premier League Predictions

The amount of soccer on this blog has increased exponentially from the start of this 2 years ago. Here are my predictions for the 2012-13 Premiership.

1. Manchester City 91 pts: When world class isn't even enough to get you a starting position, you know a team is really, really good. The UCL is a bigger challenge for City.

2. Manchester United 86 pts: Prolific scoring force as well as a solid defense, but lack of creative midfielders hurt.

3. Chelsea 76 pts: From the midfield on, they might be one of the best in Europe. Their back 4 could be a stumbling block.

4. Arsenal 73 pts: No Van Persie hurts, but what would hurt more is the loss of Alex Song. They need to hope their back 4 stays healthy if they want to challenge for a title.

5. Tottenham Hotspur 70 pts: Once they find a quality striker, they could overtake the Gunners. But since we don't know who that is yet, it's hard to put them above their North London rivals.

6. Liverpool 65 pts: The long climb back up to the top has begun, and Brendan Rogers has made good progress towards achieving that. But they still have too many holes to challenge the North London clubs for 4th.

7. Everton 60 pts: This club honestly deserves better. Whether they are poor (money-wise) or not, they have a quality side. They don't have enough to truly challenge the big boys.

8. Newcastle United 54 pts: They are going to take a hit this year because they haven't brought in the quality to challenge up. And, they have been torn apart by injuries.

9. Stoke City 51 pts: They might be the most annoying defensive team to play against. Doesn't mean they offer too much in attack, though.

10. Fulham 48 pts: If Clint Dempsey leaves, they could fall further. But, they have a decent side and Martin Jol can be counted on to produce some results.

11. QPR 47 pts: Spending tons of money doesn't usually guarantee good results, but they've added some interesting players this summer. It should make them a better side.

12. West Ham United 47 pts: Sam Allardyce will make it tough on any team they play this season with his style. Whether he has the quality enough to help the Hammers overachieve is debatable.

13. Aston Villa 46 pts: They have a much better manager in Paul Lambert and have made some interesting purchases this summer. I hope they can find the goals somewhere though.

14. Sunderland 44 pts: The Black Cats have some deficiencies in many places, but are strong enough in some that they should avoid the second tier.

15. Southampton 43 pts: Their spending has been marked, and offensively, they should produce tons of goals. They might also allow just as many.

16. Swansea City 41 pts: They have sustained too many major losses to keep up their remarkable pace from a season ago. But, Michal Laudrup's style should suit the players at Swansea well enough to stay up.

17. Norwich City 39 pts: A championship side that did really well in the Premiership is usually odd enough, but for them to do as well as they did is pretty remarkable. Losing the manager that helped them do that is a big blow.

18. Reading 37 pts: Anton Zingarevich has tons of money to spend. He might have needed to spend more of it on his club in order to keep them up.

19. West Bromwich Albion 35 pts: Last year under Roy Hodgson was an aberration honestly. They lack quality in most places, even though they have a very good strike force.

20. Wigan 30 pts: The magic of Roberto Martinez has to run out at some point, doesn't it? This might be the season it does, with teams 9-20 so crunched up together.

I'm probably wrong, but it can't hurt to try.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Did You See That: Rejected Hard Knocks Ideas

Since Hard Knocks on HBO is very popular right now with the profile of the Miami Dolphins, one can wonder what HBO would be focusing on if other teams were under the microscope. These were ideas for segments for other teams that didn't see the light of day, but now you're seeing them here, first.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Wait, this is an NFL team? Why have I never heard of them before?

New York Jets: How can we show Tim Tebow's running in the rain while including this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9nPf7w7pDI?

Atlanta Falcons: Can we ask Mike Smith if he'd allow a "Dirty Bird" dancing contest?

Dallas Cowboys: Jerry Jones made a comment about beating the Giants. What about if we show him the film of the Giants games last year, and will he change his mind?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Will we be allowed to do an entire segment on Tiquan Underwood's haircut?

Seattle Seahawks: Let's bring in some fashion critics to comment on the new Nike Uniforms, and bring in comedians to comment on what they see.

Chicago Bears: Jay Cutler, even a year after the fact, tries to respond to Maurice Jones-Drew's toughness comments.

Buffalo Bills: Mario Williams explores the thought of playing American football permanently in Toronto.

And finally...

New York Jets (AGAIN): Lets see what the team thinks of the QB battle between Sanchez and Tebow:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9nPf7w7pDI