How Will USA Basketball Look This Year?

I’d like to preface this post by letting everyone know that NBA TV will televise the live USA Basketball team selection on July 7, at 7 p.m est. By now everyone knows how directly or indirectly the NBA lockout has affected the way Team USA will look this summer. There will be no Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and now rookie Anthony Davis all due to injury or rehabilitation to a prior injury. Recently Lamar Odom dropped his name from consideration. The wear and tear that some of these athletes endured throughout the season and playoff runs increases the likelihood of replacements once all of the training and exhibition games begin. I am very excited for the London Olympics this year. Here are my predicitons for the 2012 Olympic National team:

PG:Chris Paul

SG:Kobe Bryant

SF:Kevin Durant

PF:Lebron James

C:Tyson Chandler

Reserves: Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, Andre Iguodala, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Love, and Blake Griffin

Baseball’s Home Run Derby

The most exciting event at the All-Star game for baseball is the Home Run Derby where you can see a collection of some of baseball’s best hitters. This year is no different as Robinson Cano and Matt Kemp were the captains for their respective leagues. The event takes place on Monday, July 9. It’ll be broadcasted on ESPN. Robinson Cano is the defending champion.

American League

Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
Mark Trumbo, Los Angeles Angels
Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays
Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers

National League

Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers
Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals
Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins
Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies

Who Will Fight Canelo Alvarez?

Last night the sport of boxing hosted the Victor Ortiz/Josesito Lopez battle. The goal was simple for Ortiz; defeat Lopez to set up a PPV battle with Saul Canelo Alvarez. Ortiz was originally scheduled to fight Andre Berto but a positive test for performance enhancers derailed that fight and in came Josesito Lopez as a replacement. Well things didn’t pan out so well in a great fight as Victor Ortiz’s jaw was broken by Lopez causing Ortiz to retire on the stool after the ninth round. This decision has put the September 15th mega fight with Alvarez in serious jeopardy. Who would you like to see Canelo Alvarez fight now that there seems to be a lack of an opponent?

Is It Time to Officially Coronate Lebron James?

For the first time in his glorious career Lebron James will finally get his ring. After certainly being one of the most polarizing figures in sports, Lebron led the Miami Heat to its’ second franchise world championship. Coming out of high school, Lebron was crowned with the moniker “King James” but this is the first time where he’ll actually be sitting atop the throne of the NBA as a champion. This isn’t about how many MVPs he has won, this isn’t about All-Star appearances, this is only a taste of what separates you from the rest. Lebron will no longer be mentioned in the same breath with Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, and other all-time greats who will never know what it feels like to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy. This is Dwayne Wade’s second time hoisting the trophy with the first being back in 2006.Lebron’s decision to take his talents to South Beach on national television broke a lot of hearts in Cleveland and was met with a level of hate and scrutiny that we may never witness again. Though it all paid off  for Lebron, Wade, Bosh, and the rest of the Miami Heat organization, the next step will be if they can repeat.

La Kings Win Stanley Cup

The Los Angeles Kings have won their first Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history bringing yet another championship of sorts to the city of angels. The Kings went on to win the the game with a score of 6 to 1 against the New Jersey Devils, who had won two straight games to avoid a sweep.

 

 

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Bradley Shocks The World

Last night not only saw the Boston Celtics unable to maintain a lead in the second half of game 7 against the Heat, but something else happened that has already had boxing and sports fans talking. I’m at a lost for words as I sit here writing about it. Timothy Bradley defeated Manny Pacquaio last night in what was a shocking upset who many still can not even fathom how. Though Manny did not really hurt Bradley, he was the much busier fighter and landed more power shots and punches in general. Though there was a slim chance that we would have saw Mayweather lace up the gloves against Pacquaio at some point in the future, you can bet your bottom dollar that the fight of the century will never ever happen for sure. Bradley won in a split decision and I’m perplexed understanding how he even won more than three rounds on a judge’s scorecard. I predicted Bradley to win since it made sense for the future of boxing but I was expecting a closer fight in my eyes. This prediction made it seem like boxing would share something with professional wrestling and that’s the idea of putting a guy over so he too can become a prize fighter, a big star. Why have one star in the sport when you can create another. Some say that this was Bob Arum’s doing, some say Pacquaio was punished for delaying the fight. This may have put a grey cloud over the sport,  but it may create more business while Floyd Mayweather Jr remains inactive due to his current incarceration. It looks like a rematch between Bradley and Pac Man was already set in stone for November 10th before the fight even began. Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley did not begin the fight until after the Eastern Conference Finals was over for what was seen as a good PR move. Manny, who was cheering the Celtics in his locker room ultimately suffered the same fate via the judges.