Sometimes I feel like I don’t write about enough topics in
sports. With so many different and interesting things happening in the entire sports
landscape, I couldn't possibly give you a full and rich post on them all, but
I’ve figured out what to do. Why don’t I just do a full post on the WHOLE
weekend? Countdown style. So here it goes. These are my top five stories from
the weekend in sports.
5: Michigan Beats Michigan State
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| Trey Burke leads UM over MSU. |
Talk about getting a big time victory when you need one.
Michigan was falling apart at the worst possible time of the year. They were coming off an
ugly lose to Penn State and were losers in three of the last five games, but they righted the
ship with a thrilling victory over the number nine Spartans in Ann Arbor Sunday
night. Trey Burke proved that he still deserves to be in the National Player of
the Year discussion by making every critical play Michigan needed to seal the
win.
The Wolverines let a 10-point lead slip away but at
this point, a win is a win. If they can win their next two games (At Purdue and home versus Indiana) and
make a nice run in the Big 10 tournament, I can’t see why they still couldn’t
get a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. (Full disclosure, I’m a huge Michigan fan so I’m more than a little
pumped about this win. Give me a second please… I just did a chair
dance. GO BLUE!)
4: Rory Withdraws
This is why I love Tiger Woods. I’m sorry to say this, but golf is just better when the
“black” guy is good. I’ve got a huge piece coming on the greatest sporting
event I’ve seen in my life, so I’m not going to go into too much detail, but I will tell you that it was Tiger Woods’ victory at Torrey Pines in the 2008 US Open. (And saying that is a big deal because 2008 was
the greatest year of sports in my lifetime. Go back and look it up. And of
course it was the greatest year in sports because I wasn’t even in the United
States of America when all that great stuff happened. Thanks Bush, that time I spent in Iraq was
super useful… can you smell the sarcasm coming from your computer screen
because I can.)
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| Rory McIlroy takes his ball and goes home. |
Tiger Woods won a freaking major championship on one leg! He
even played an extra playoff round of golf on that following Monday to boot.
People already say golfers aren’t athletes and when the number one player in
the world, Rory McIlroy, dips out of a tournament because of a "toothache", that narrative isn’t
going to be helped. I always think back to that amazing performance in ’08 when
I start to think that golfers aren’t tough. (I wouldn’t walk to the end of my driveway for free money on a torn ACL
so I couldn’t imagine walking 18 holes of golf and swing a club. That’s tough!)
McIlory has to at least finish that round out. I’ve had
tooth pain before so I know how hard it could be trying to do anything in that kind of pain, much
less play a round of golf, but he’s getting paid just for BEING THERE. Fans
want to see him play and when you hear that weak excuse, he just comes off
like a guy that was having a tough day and decided to throw in the towel. Me,
you or any regular Joe Blow and Susie Q, can do that, but not the number one
player in the world. Want to hear something even crazier? Dude still cashed his
appearance fee check. Rory McIlroy, you’re a true gangsta indeed.
3: Lakers Get Even
It’s about damn time! The Los Angeles Lakers have finally
gotten back to .500 after beating the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. It marks the first
time they’ve been at least even in the win-loss column since December 28…of
2012!! Kobe Bryant had a monster game, included a thunderous jam over Josh
Smith and the game winning layup with nine seconds left. True, the Lakers were
in control for most of the game and they did blow a big lead, but LA still
found a way to win a tough game against a quality opponent.
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| Josh Smith will have nightmares for months. |
The team is playing much better over the last 14 games to
the tune of a record of 10 wins and 4 losses. They’ve only allowed over 100
points in 5 of those games and they even managed to win one of said games.
Kobe’s been on a scoring tear as of late and what makes that so great is
they’re actually winning while he’s scoring 30 plus. Something the Lakers hadn’t been doing all season. It seems like
they’re finally finding a groove, playing better defense and actually looking
like a real “team” for the first time all season.
The Lakers are only three games back of the eight seed in the
Western Conference and have the makings of a troublesome team if they can get into the playoffs. I’m still not sure they get in because they need the teams
ahead of them to slip a little. This time of year, you’d much rather be in control of your own
destiny. But hey, they at least got a shot now.
2: Blackhawks win… Again
These bastards just won’t lose. It’s getting down
right comical and I'm honestly not taking it well. The Chicago Blackhawks have yet to lose a
game in regulation this season while recording a point in a NHL record 22
straight games to start a season. What really makes this streak mind-boggling
is the moment you realize they’re playing this well without the benefit of a
full training camp.
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| Why won't you f*$%ing lose already!!! |
The Blackhawks are first in the NHL in goals against with a 1.7 goals
allowed per game average, so they’re streak really stands on the amazing play they’ve
been getting between the pipes (Pause.
For those who don’t know, that’s a hockey term so it’s not “that” bad. I
still felt like a “pause” was needed.) from goalie Corey Crawford. My
Detroit Red Wings were expected to be the first real road block in Chicago’s
road to “perfection”, but the Wings came up short in a shootout.
This team looks ready to make another run at the Stanley Cup. The core of that title team is still intact and
still very young. Team captain, Jonathan Toews is only 24 as is Patrick Kane
and Crawford is only 28. When all your stars are still on the north side of 30,
your team's in great shape. (Damn, I
hate you Blackhawks and I truly hope this post jinxes you and you lose.
Sincerely, Bitter Red Wings fan.)
1: Heat Win… Again
The Miami Heat are starting to become that unstoppable juggernaut we
all feared they’d become when they got together two seasons ago. They’re just on a whole other level right now. They’ve won a franchise record 15 straight games and it’s looking like
they could get to at least 17 before they face a team that could actually beat them. (Oddly enough, that team is the last team to
beat them, the Indiana Pacers.)
LeBron James has been scary good this season. (27-7-8, 56% from the field and 41% from
beyond the 3 point line?! What the hell?! I honestly wouldn’t be surprise if
news broke on SportsCenter that dude was an alien sent to Earth from a faraway planet to play
basketball and dominate the NBA. He’s so good I’m seriously starting to
question if he’s human.) He’s the only player in NBA history that can legitimately
guard all five positions, at an All-NBA Defense level no less, he can pass with the best
point guards in the league, he’s improved his jump shooting and he drives the lane
better than any player in the last 20 years not named Michael Jordan. Remember when people really thought Kevin Durant had a chance at winning
the MVP this season. That seems like a really long time ago now. When you see the way James is playing for the defending
champs, I’d argue that he should win the award unanimously.
It was just a season ago that this team was still reeling from their embarrassing lost to the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals and almost lost to the Celtics in six
games during last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. The next thing you know,
Lebron goes into beast mode, the Heat win game six, win the series, then the Finals and then James leads the USA Team to a gold medal in London. (He seemingly hasn’t come out of beast mode since game six versus the Celtics.) With the pressure of
winning that first title finally off his back, Lebron James' is playing that fun
loving style of basketball we've come to know from him.
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| Greatest at its finest. LBJ. |
I feel like most of the “heat”
(Awesome pun, I know.) is off of James and the team for
this craziness. Just look at the
“Harlem Shake” video the Heat released last week. They were about two weeks late, but it still got
a ton on buzz. The Heat just look like they’re having a ton of fun together and
like that genuinely enjoy just being around each other.
(Seeing Miami’s team chemistry makes me so jealous as a Laker fan. The
only video I could seriously see the Lakers doing together is snuff film where
they torture Mike D’Antoni to death. AND NO THAT’S NOT A GOOD IDEA LAKER
NATION.) The only people that don’t like Lebron James are from
Ohio... or their name rhymes with “Slip Dayless.”
I think most people just want to marvel at greatness. We’re
watching this era’s greatest player, and a top 10 all-time and soon to be top
5 all-time player, during his prime. So enjoy because just like the way my dad gets to rave about how great Wilt Chamberlain was, we'll get to say the same thing about Lebron James one day.
Time to let me know what you guys think. Did I miss a big
story from this weekend? What are your thoughts on my list and who do you think has been the best player in the NBA this season?
Leave a comment below and don’t for
get to subscribe to the blog and to follow me on Twitter @ParisLay. Thanks for
reading and until next time, ENJOY THE VIEW!
