Have you heard?

Rumors floating around that NFL and the NBA.

--NFL--
-This week in the NFL that have been rumors of The Cowboys bringing back Pacman Jones. I personally think this is a mistake.
-Brett Favre has booked an early passage with the Vikes? He has till the end of this week to make up his mind.
-The Cowboys are looking to trade Greg Ellis, Thomas Jones of the Jets is also on the trading block, and a big surprise, Vince Young headed north from the Titans?
-Jeremy Shockey is once again having problems making friends. Anyone surprised? It kind frustrates me only because I'm a Saints fan.

--NBA--
-The Kincks have theirs eyes on Gortat of the Magic and Rodriguez of the Blazers.
-The Jazz are going to have a rough off season and K-Fez (Fesenko) has made his way into the conversation. Do the Jazz keep him or let him and the millions they've put into developing him go?
-Chris Bosh wants a max deal, that puts the rumors of Boozer being traded for him.
-The Grizzlies trading their 2nd pick in the draft?
-Pargo, Yao, Amare, and Manu, who is predicting a full recovery, are all going to stay where they are?

These are just some fun rumors that are floating around the sports world.

The Big Unit!

There are three very illustrious clubs in baseball and only a handful will ever be welcomed into these clubs. They are the 300 Win club for pitchers, the 3000 Hit club, and the 500 Home Run club. The Big Unit, Randy Johnson is the latest to earn a spot in one of these clubs. Randy pitched 6 scoreless innings to grab is 300th win. He is only the 24 pitcher in the history of baseball to do such a thing. The leader of the 300 win club is and always will be C. Young with 511 wins. Randy Johnson joins the likes of Walter Johnson, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavin.

The 500 Home Run club is led by Barry Bonds, despite the allegations of steroids, I think he is still arguably one of the greatest players to ever play baseball. There are only 25 people in this club and the next play with a chance to join is Carlos Delgado and he has 23 more homers to go.

I believe the 3000 hit club is a very difficult one to get accepted into. Barry Bonds with 726 home runs isn't even in this club. It is led by Pete Rose with 4256 hits and he is only joined by 27 others, none of them still playing the game. The closest active player to joining this club is Ken Griffy Jr., but he only has 2711, and sad to say, hes not going to make it.

It takes a very special talent and a great athlete to have the honor of being accepted into one of these there career landmark clubs. Congratulations to Randy Johnson.

NBA FINALS

The enjoyable ride to the NBA finals is over, but the real test is about to begin. I think its safe to assume that nobody thought that we would see The Lakers vs. The Magic. The world was waiting and hoping for the showdown between Kobe and LeBron. Without a supporting cast and LeBron having to do it all himself, The Cavs were bound to fall. The Magic were able to beat the best team of the regular season, but will they be able to beat arguably the best team in the league. I think they can!

I think the biggest issue for the Magic will be to keep Dwight out of foul trouble. With 3 guys over 7 feet, the Lakers can attack the middle and have a great to put Dwight on the bench with fouls, but Dwight was not the defensive player of the year by mistake. The Lakers front court is going to have their work cut out for them in the series.

The match ups in the series are pretty even all the way around. At the point guard position, believe it or not, I am going to give the edge to the Magic. I know Fisher has the experience, but Alston was forced to be a scorer and finisher in the series against the Cavs and he rose to the occasion and delivered.

The SG matching is not even close, it will be interesting to see if the the Magic will put Courntey Lee on Kobe of if they will switch Turkoglu on him. For the Small Forwards I give the Magic the edge as well. Turkoglu has the experience and demands a defender on the outside, although Ariza is very athletic and can play some strong defense.

I think the the world champion will be decided by the play inside. Rashard Lewis is a few inches shorter than Gasol and has is work cut out for him. His quickness could cause problems for Gasol. I give a giant edge to Howard over Bynum.

The bench play is also going to be a huge factor in the series as well. If Nelson does decide to play, it could be a huge lift to the Magic. Kobe must rely on his teammates and can't do it all by himself. If he does I think we will see a similar outcome as we saw in the Eastern Conference Finals. And for the Magic, Dwight must play smart, and the 3 pointers must be falling for them to keep it close. The 2-3-2 layout plays in the favor of the Magic. If they can win one of the first 2 in LA it puts a lot of pressure on the Lakers.

Its going to be a great series to watch, and with the Magic winning the the regular season series 2-0 anything is possible. I think it goes either way in 7 games.

The 3 point shot!

There are two types of shots in basketball that will get the crowed more pumped up than any other. The Dunk and the 3 Pointer. Over the years we have seen the 3 point shot being taken more often in the NBA. Over the past decade, the percentage of possessions used by NBA teams to shoot the 3 continues to grow each year. In the 2009 season, 22% of possessions were used to shoot a 3 pointer. Players are no longer hesitating to pull of for a long 3 on a fast break instead of drive it to the hole. Is this a cause for concern?

I think that players are shooting the 3 ball more because they are better at shooting it than they ever have been in the past. Do teams need to shoot the long ball more to stay competitive? The final four teams in the NBA this year shot the 3 an average of 25% of their possessions and shot at almost 38%. That's some good 3 point shooting.

Do teams like the Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls , and Detroit Pistons, who only used about 17% of their possessions as threes, need to change their style of play to stay competitive? All 3 of these teams lost in the first round to teams that shoot almost double the 3 pointers. I think that with the talent in the league will only get better and better, and the number of 3 point shots will continue to increase.

Will Michael Vick play again?

     Now that Michael Vick has been been released from prison all fans of the NFL are wondering if he is going to play again.  I don't think the question in not if he is going to be reinstated to the NFL, but who is going to want him to play for the team.  Vick has served his time in jail and is finishing off his sentence on home arrest, and I dont have any doubt that Commissioner Goodell will give Michael Vick one more chance.

     Who will sign Michael Vick? Michael Vick is remembered for his amazing speed and athleticism, but if you look closer at the numbers he had the last few years, there might be better options out there.  His last year playing in the NFL he led the Falcons to a whopping 7-9 record, completed only 52% of his passes, only threw 20 TDs and 13 INTs, and had quaterback rating of only 75. Those numbers have been declining the past 3 years.  He just spent time in jail where the types of workouts he could do would be very limited.  Is Michael Vick in playing shape?

     All if these questions will soon be answered.  The start of the NFL season is only a few short months away.  GO SAINTS. 

Will Tiger ever be "Tiger" again?

The 2008 US Open was arguably one of the most impressive rounds in golf's history, when on a bad knee, Tiger Woods came from behind, and with an amazing birdie put on the final hole, forced an 18 hole playoff with Rocko Medeate. With every shot hit he would grimace in pain, but some how managed to pull it off.

After the Open, Tiger under went knee surgery to repair the damage. After 8 months of rehab, he reentered. After watching him the past 4 or 5 tournaments we are all asking the question, "Will Tiger ever be 'Tiger' again?" If you take a step back and look at what he's accomplished, it's still quite amazing. All top ten finishes and one win. Playing like that is more than an amazing career for any other golfer, but just because we are talking about Tiger its not the same.

Tiger has come close the last few tournaments but has just come up short. He made a run at the players, but his drives just weren't there. And at the other tournaments he's played in, he has had trouble hitting the fairways and has been missing makable putts.

I think the competition is getting better and better every year, so Tiger doesn't look quite as dominate as he once did. Once his tee shots are back to full strength and he can start hitting fairways consistently, he will once again be a force to be reckond with, but I personally think the days of Tiger being the sole ruler of the golf world are slowly coming to an end.

NBA Western Conference Salary Porblems

The salary cap in the NBA is based on the revenue the NBA makes from the previous year. The problems with the economy has lowered the luxury tax substantially for the coming 2009-2010 season. It is predicted to be somewhere between 69-70 million dollars. If a team decides to go over the tax then they will lose millions of dollars. Each NBA team is required to have a minimum of 13 players on their roster and the money is distributed between these players. Living in Utah I know the jazz are in big trouble for the coming year with 5 players who have the decision to opt out of their contract, and all of them want more money. If the Jazz want to keep them all there is no way they can pay them and stay under the cap. But if you look deeper into the western conference a lot of other teams are facing the same problem. I figure there are 6 teams in the west that can compete over the next couple of years: LA, Houston, New Orleans, Utah, Denver, and Portland. Each of these teams, with the exception of Portland, has issues with their team and the luxury tax.

UTAH JAZZ~ For the 2009/10 season, as of right now the jazz have 10 players on their roster and are just over $71 million. That’s already over the cap. And Milsap is not one of those 10 players. The Jazz need to add a minimum of 3 more players and have no money to do it. As you can see, the Jazz are going to have to make some big changes.

LA LAKERS~ The Lakers are in even bigger trouble than the Jazz. Currently for next season the Lakers have 9 players on their roster and at sitting at $74 million dollars. Lamar Odem is not one of those players. Bynum is set to make $12 million next year, Gasol is making $16, and Kobe $23. The lakes will want to keep Odom, and will still need to sign 3 others. But being in a bigger market its not as big of a problem of that facing the Jazz.

DENVER NUGGETS~ The surprise team in the league this year. The Nuggets have a little more room to work with their players. The need to had 3 players and have about $7 million to do so. I am assuming that 2 of those players will be the resigning of JR Smith and The Birdman Chris Anderson.

HOUSTON ROCKETS~ With Ron Artest being a free agent after this season once again, and wanting to stay in Houston, that causes problems for the Rockets. Not only is Artest a risk to have on your team, if he wants a raise, that alone will put them over the cap, still needing to add one more player.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS~ The Hornets might be in more trouble than any other team. For next season they have 10 current players on roster which are slated to make a combined $76 million. They are already $5 million over the cap with a mandatory need to sign 3 more players.

The Western Conference is always exciting to watch. With the teams 2-7 being decided only by 3 games anything can happen. With the way the luxury tax is, its going to make for an exciting off season. Changes with each team are inevitably going to occur.