Pujols On The Run?

The Los Angeles Angels weren’t always known as a championship caliber team, but now it is easy to say things are going to change. The angels usually have it the hard way making it to the playoffs because of their tough division. They are in the America League with the big dog teams like, Yankees, Red Sox, Tampa Bay, Detroit, and the Texas Rangers who have made it to the championship the past two years. Both years the Texas squad failed to win, coming short against the San Francisco Giants, and most recently the St. Louis Cardinals. Speaking of the Cardinals, the main thing I am going to be talking about is the big discussion of their former 1^st Baseman.

Cardinal’s former 1^st baseman Albert Pujols has been the biggest talk of the MLB since his former team won their Championship. Everyone believed that Pujols would most probably land in Miami with newly acquired All Star, Jose Reyes. Everyone is now going to be surprised with the latest breaking news that was reported this morning. Albert Pujols has decided to take his talents to Hollywood. Pujols signed a mega contract with the Los Angeles Angels that earned him 250-260 Million dollars over the next 10 years. This is the second biggest contract in MLB history, and now put him as the highest paid 1^st baseman in the MLB, which belonged to Philadelphia Phillies Ryan Howard. Pujols is now behind Yankees, Alex Rodriguez for most paid player in baseball.

The Angels weren’t really a championship contending team before, although they made their last trip to the conference finals in 09 when they swept the Red Sox, but then would go and lose to the Yankees that ended up wining the Championship that year. Now it seems that Angels will have no problem passing both of those teams and the other contenders in their conference. The Angels are way stronger before with adding Pujols, but soon after that deal was made the Angels went out and bought C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers. These two guys were the biggest talk of the MLB off-season, and now they are joining forces with Los Angeles Angels. Pujols is a three-time MVP who batted .299 with 37 homers and 99 RBIs in 2011, the only season in his 11-year career that he didn’t have 100 RBIs or hit better than .300. But the 31-year-old did battle an arm injury. Wilson was 16-7 with a 2.94 ERA for the Rangers last season and made his only All-Star team (ESPN). These are outstanding stats, and I also believe that they two will help lift the Team to their first championship in 10 years.

New Owner

The Los Angeles Dodgers went through a lot of tough times last year. It started with the beating of Bryan Stow, after the opening game for the 2010-2011 season. It was a classic rivalry between the San Francisco Giants, and the Los Angeles Dodgers when two Mexican guys had beaten Stow after the Dodgers game. He hadn’t done anything to harm, or threaten the two men, but it was just because he was showing his Giants pride at the Los Angeles Stadium. This incident made national news, talked about for months on local news networks, national news, and of course headliners for ESPN for quit a while. The two men put Bryan Stow in critical condition and he was unstable for a very long time, now he is getting 24-hour treatment and is always being watched over till he is healthy to be on his own.

 The next thing that struck the Dodgers was that they were having many money issues and things seemed to be very bad for the organization.  The team filled for bankruptcy, and this caused the dodgers to play without an owner. The temporary owner would be the Commissioner Allan H. Selig. He would have to watch over the team and take care of them till the season is over, and wait for the bidding for a new owner to begin.

 It has been said in most recent news that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson are very interested in buying the team.  ESPNs Buster Olney, reported an interview on Johnson saying, “I’m a big baseball fan,” Johnson said by phone Friday, “and you think about what the Dodgers have meant to baseball and to Los Angeles, and that part’s a no-brainer. … I’ve been to that place [Dodger Stadium] hundreds and hundreds of times.” The sale process for the Dodgers could begin as soon as next week, when financial details of the team will be released to prospective buyers. The Los Angeles Times reported in Friday’s editions that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban intends to bid for the Dodgers. (ESPN).  This will be great for the origination either way, whether it`s Magic, or Cuban who win the bid. Both of the two have a great revenue, and sports background and would be a great fit for the Los Angeles Dodgers. We will just have to see where this goes and who will be granted the owner later in December. 

Maybe This Time?

Just when the NBAs fans started to get their hopes up higher than before, thinking this NBA lockout would come to an end. They would all be wrong because the news was brought to them that there would be another conciliation to the season, and no games will be played before December 15. Representatives of the league had another meeting on Thursday the 147^th day of the lockout, but this time it actually might look better than before. Discussions that went on in that conference “re-opened negations to make one last run at trying to start the season Christmas Day.” (ESPN) If it goes beyond the point of not starting on Christmas Day, there will be a very high possibility of no NBA season.

 Owners and players were not really on the same page in the last meet, but some deals caught the eyes of the players, and they seem to agree with more terms with the owners than before. The players demanded, “The players want the money in escrow to be capped at 10 percent. They want the maximum salary for superstars to be 30 percent of the salary cap, as opposed to the owners’ proposal of 25 percent. They want four-year contracts for the mid-level exception to be available every year, not in alternating years as the owners have proposed. They also want an increase in the $3 million mini mid-level for teams in the luxury tax.” (ESPN) This was the latest and greatest proposal so far by the players I think, it brought a spark to the owners’ attention and things seem to be going better than before for the two sides.

 If things go as planned, the NBA will have their first game begin on Christmas Day, and it would be the perfect start for the season. Christmas is already a jolly day, but if there was the addition of the opening start for the NBA season on that day, many people would be satisfied and grateful. I think that’s one of the top things NBA fans were “Un” thankful for this Thanksgiving… No NBA season. For me being a big time sports fan, and an even bigger basketball fan, the start of the NBA season would truly make me a very happy camper. I hope to see this deal come through; and get that season running. 

Not Friends?

There is no doubt in my mind that Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest centers to play the game of basketball. He has achieved so much in his career, such things as 1999/00 MVP award, the 1992/93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, 3 All-Star Game MVP, 3 Finals MVP, 2 scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and 3NBA All-Defensive Team selections, and now he is posted as fifth in all time points scored. He is up there behind NBA legends, Wilt Chamberlin, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Speaking of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in one of the most recent news in the sports world, its been said that Shaq criticized Kareem for the lack of a mentor like figure. Kareem has been there for the Los Angeles Lakers young star, Andrew Bynum. He is always present to the Laker games, sitting behind the bench whispering to Bynum during the games while he is on the bench. There is more than just whispers that Kareem has done for Bynum, he is his training coach, and was hired by the Lakers to do so. Obviously Bynum is nowhere near where Kareem was at his age, or ever was, but Kareem is there to help that happen one day.

Shaq was speaking about “Shaq Uncut My Story” in an interview and stated something about the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He said “”Kareem was never around. And, whenever I did see him, he usually ignored me. The disappointing thing to me was, being in L.A. all those years and trying to fill those shoes, I would have liked to have a conversation with him …”He’d say hello, but I was looking for, ‘Hey, do this’ or ‘Watch out for that.’ He knew everyone was comparing me to him. He knew better than anyone what I was up against, but he gave me nothing.” Kareem was told about this and he responded by saying, “As a pro I never approached Shaq because I thought he was pretty successful dunking everything and I assumed he didn’t want my help. Additionally, I was never on the coaching staff of any of his teams. I was never unfriendly to him and I would talk to him, but Shaq was enjoying his success, doing it his way. He never asked me of what I thought he should be doing and he never tried to reach out to me for any instruction and I respected that decision.”(ESPN) This case is different than what he has with Andrew Bynum because Bynum actually approached him, and asked for help unlike Shaq. I feel the attentions of O`Neal was to make Kareem seem like a bad guy, because Shaq him self is a humorous person, and very friendly off the court.

Could This Be It?

The NBA could have had a couple great games nationally televised this week. That was not the case because of course the owners and players couldn’t come to an agreement last week, pushing the season more back. Most importantly the Dallas Mavericks, and their fans were hoping earlier this week that they would see their team raise their Championship flag and get their rings. I`m sure its very difficult for those Dallas players because they still are ring less, with no actual Championship ring on their hand because you don`t technically get a ring until the season opener, whenever the commissioner gives them out to the players. I doubt that there will be much claps for commissioner David Stern.

Players have done a great job trying to keep the NBA players involved in charity events, scrimmages, or fundraisers. In the past couple of months some super stars have been putting out these events and doing something great with them, but most recently what would have been a charity game from the NBA players wouldn`t be exactly a game held of super stars. The latest event was called “King of the Castle” which was brought up by some of the NBAs all stars and more above average players. The players were Mario Chalmers, Rookie John Wall, All Star Zach Randolph, and Eric Gordon. The game was scheduled for Sunday in New Castle Indi, but it was canceled because the players were advised to prepare for possible agreement with the owners.

The numbers are getting closer to what the players want. David Stern gave the players an offer and a deadline: “Accept a change to earn up to 51 percent of basketball-related income by Wednesday or get ready for a deal that’s a whole lot worse.” (ESPN) The players have been asking for a 52- 48 split but the commissioner gave the players his greatest offer yet at 51-49. If the players don’t take this I think they’re acting very selfish and idiotic. Stern gave them a really close offer to what they wanted and he threatened them to a horrible offer to come. If the players don’t take this offer, David Stern will most probably bring it down to 48, 47%. This will really tick players off and probably put an end to the 2011-2012 season, with no games played. We will just have to wait and see what the situation is Wednesday, if the players and owners can get the season to run.

No Game November?

Today would have been one of those exciting days that sports fans would look forward to. You’re probably thinking what exciting events happen on Tuesdays? Well not much except toady would have been an exception. Today, Tuesday November 1st 2011 was the original date for the tip off of the 2011-2010 NBA season. The games would be nationally televised with Chicago Bulls at the defending champions Dallas Maverick, followed by Oklahoma City Thunder playing at Staples Center against the Los Angles Lakers. That wont be the case for this first day of November.

Many of us basketball fans were really hoping for the games to begin today, but as we all know the NBA is still on lockout and there is no signs of any games beginning. Today reaches the 124th day of the Lockout, reaching to four months exactly of the start of the lockout. Its been recently said by commissioner David Stern that there will be two more weeks added to the lockout, putting the toll to a month and meaning that there wouldn’t even be any games through November 30th if the lockout was put to an end today. Most people are hoping that the games will begin on Christmas day, which is usually a day of the most entertaining Basketball games.

Since there are no games today for the NBA players, they must be sitting at home burning that they wont be on the spotlight tonight, or starting tomorrow. The latest news from NBA players keeping them selves busy during the lockout is from Oklahoma City`s Kevin Durant. He has been a significantly talked about during the lockout with all the different fundraiser, or charity events being held by him, or that he has attended. Most recently he has been on the scene of a flag football game in Oklahoma City. The game was brought upon by a group of guys that invited Durant, after seeing him Tweet about wanting to be apart of a flag football game. This is the most recent news from the NBA, and the NBA lockout.

Just Another 2 Weeks Burnt

Just when we thought things would maybe turn out better for the NBA, but the latest meeting with the players and NBA owners didn’t turn out positive. In the most recent events that associate with the NBA players was the game held by Kevin Durant. He has been a big part of the NBA lockout with all the exhibition games he has hosted in the past few months. The most recent one that was held in Oklahoma City, which consisted some of basketballs greatest players. It wasn’t anything serious, although, it was a charity game and the host Kevin Durant and his team took the win, with a high scoring game of 176-171.

Even though these players were doing what they love best, they still were not getting a penny for it, but I think its great that they do this and that they’re trying to show owners that they can`t take the game they love away from them, and all they ask for is just a better deal for the players. One of the NBAs greatest point guards Chris Paul made a statement about the lockout. Paul stated, “We just want a fair deal. At the end of the day, that’s what its all about. We want a system that works and we want a split that’s doable. So, we`re not being greedy or anything like that. We just want a fair deal.” (ESPN). You can see that he’s eager to get this season going and I`m sure this applies for every other NBA player.

The NBA has already been cut by 2 weeks by Commissioner David Stern, and now there is more on the way. Its been reported by ESPN that David Stern has cut another two weeks from the NBA season, which means now there is four weeks of the season cut. The bad thing about this is that its not just two weeks that has been taken away from the NBA schedule. Why I say this is because even if they were to come to an agreement between the owners and players… the NBA would have to put a date on the calendar to begin, and would have to add 30 days or so to prepare for the games in advance. The commissioner is trying to show the players how strong he is and that they need to come with an agreement, so now every time the players and owners meet for a deal and there is no agreement, he is going to make decrease the season with 2 week blocks. I think it is crazy that the players are asking for so much, they are already over paid and they are going to work every day doing something they love. They already get hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is the minimum! And most get millions. I don’t see anything these players should disagree on and start the season going and begin this years hopeful 2011-2012 season.