Lakers Remain #1 In RCS NBA Power Ranking Averages
By Jeff Briggs
The RCS NBA Power Ranking Averages combine eight other sites' power rankings to make the most balanced and unbiased grade possible, and to offer the most accurate look at the state of the NBA on a weekly basis.
The LA Lakers are the #1 team in the RCS NBA Power Ranking Averages for the third week in a row. Last week they were the consensus top pick, but this week the Celtics and the Cavaliers both picked up some first place rankings.
Only one new team enters the top-ten this week: the Nuggets rose up the rankings from 14th to 9th, while the Hornets fell out (6th to 11th).
The team climbing up the furthest in the rankings this week was the Spurs, rising from 25th to 19th. On the other end of the spectrum, the Hawks proved that they were ranked too high last week, and have since fizzled and dropped the furthest of any team in the rankings this week, falling from 3rd to 10th.
Overall, the rankings tend to be in line with one another, but there seems to be a wide array of opinions when it comes to the Knicks, who are ranked as high as 10th (by AOL and USA Today), and as low as 22nd (by Sports Illustrated), with a standard deviation of 4.74 rankings.
The two conference remain fairly equal at the top of the power ranking averages, but seven of the bottom nine ranked teams are from the Western Conference.
It's Not Too Late To Register To Vote!
By Robbie GilliesYou know how Biden said there would be an international crisis within the first six months of Obama’s Presidency if he were elected? Well, now that he’s been elected and set to take over on January 20th, and I think I’ve figured out what that crisis could be. It’s something that would rock the foundation of the US. It would undermine American values and could embarrass the entire nation. New Jersey Nets forward Yi Jianlian could become a starter for the East in the All-Star game, over LeBron James and Kevin Garnett. Now let that soak in for a second.
First, the Chinese won the Olympic medal count, and now they might ruin the NBA All-Star game.
Jianlian is having a decent year, averaging nearly 10 points and 7.5 boards, but should be nowhere close to an All-Star at the forward position. But with the Chinese population at about 1.5 billion people, and voting occurring online, this might happen. If it does, I expect all “Free Tibet” bumper stickers to be exchanged for “Free LeBron” ones and for the United States to put a boycott on all Chinese products sending both economies into a downward spiral leading to decades of depression. So, please do your part for America and vote for LeBron. Go to NBA.com and register to vote.
H/T: Ball Don't Lie via Nets Daily via Boston Globe
What To Watch: Tuesday
By Robbie Gillies6pm ET - ESPN – NCAA Basketball: Richmond at Syracuse - This game might not mean anything to these players, but to Syracuse fans this is still a game of revenge.
7pm - Versus – NHL: Wild at Penguins - The Penguins are looking to extend their winning streak to seven games but will face the Wild and goaltender Niklas Backstrom who has given up just five goals in the last four games.
7:30pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Basketball: Boston College vs. St. John's - How in the world are the NIT seedings done that one of these two teams will advance to the semifinals and either Davidson or Oklahoma will be eliminated?
9pm - ESPN – NCAA Basketball: Kentucky at North Carolina - Hansbrough won't play but that shouldn't matter as the Tar Heels face a Kentucky team that just lost to VMI.
9:30pm - ESPN2 – NCAA Basketball: #14 Oklahoma vs. #21 Davidson - This matchup features two members of ESPN's All-America First Team. Oklahoma has forward Blake Griffin and Davidson of course has Stephen Curry.
11:30pm - ESPN2 - NCAA Basketball: Arizona vs. UAB - Arizona held off Florida Atlantic yesterday but will get a much tougher test against UAB.
Non-sports pick - 11:30pm - Late Show With David Letterman - You think Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has spoken with Sarah Palin since her husband did?
They Can Play and They Try To Write: Athlete Blog Wrap-Up
By Jeff BriggsSome athletes, not satisfied with being better at a specific skill-set than 99% of the world, choose to blog as well. This is a look at their latest efforts.
Hornets C Tyson Chandler says the Hornets are still trying to find their rhythm, he is trying to get into a routine and going fishing a lot, and he has a baby on the way. This time he is going to take Eddy Curry's advice and not look.
SF Giants C Bengie Molina gives a tribute to his recently deceased father.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban releases a statement on his SEC matter, and a follow up from his lawyers.
Dustin Pedroia Wins A.L. MVP
By Ryan HudsonIn what was supposed a close race but ended up being a comfortable win, Dustin Pedroia was named the 2008 American League MVP today.
Pedroia joins Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in consecutive years.By prevailing in the Baseball Writers' Association of America voting, Pedroia became the first Red Sox player to cart home the coveted MVP Award since Mo Vaughn in 1995. But unlike Vaughn, one of the most physically imposing figures in club history, Pedroia will go down as one of the slightest.
Officially listed at 5-foot-9 in the Boston media guide, Pedroia is probably two or three inches shorter than that.
After a grand slam at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 27, a revved-up Pedroia informed his teammates that he was "the strongest 165-pound man in baseball."
Pedroia, who already had won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award this off season, received 16 first-place votes from the 28 ballots.
The 2007 AL Rookie of the Year batted .326 with 17 home runs and 83 RBI while establishing single-season franchise records by a second baseman for runs, hits, doubles, batting average, total bases, and extra-base hits.He led the majors with 54 doubles, tied Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki for first with 213 hits, and ranked second with 118 runs and 61 multi-hit games, both AL highs. He also stole 20 bases in 21 attempts.
Additional accomplishments for Pedroia in 2008:
- The third major league second baseman ever to tally 100 runs, 200 hits, 50 doubles, and 20 steals in a season, joining the Yankees' Alfonso Soriano (2002) and the Astros' Craig Biggio (1998).
- Hit .345 with an OPS of .949 in the second half of the season.
- Committed just six errors.
Minnesota's Justin Morneau finished second, and Pedroia's teammate, Kevin Youkilis, finished third.
ESPN Gets The BCS (OMG)
By Ryan HudsonSay goodbye to Joe Buck and an over-abundance of crowd shots during the college football national championship game (and hello to Chris Berman? shudder) - the BCS is moving from Fox to ESPN, beginning with the 2010-2011 season.
Fox, who pays an estimated $82.5 million each year to broadcast four of the five BCS games (the Sugar, Orange and Fiesta bowls and the BCS National Championship Game; ABC has its own deal for the Rose Bowl), pulled out of the bidding war with ESPN yesterday, after topping-out at $100 million each year. The deal with ESPN is reported to be as much as $125 million per season. The new agreement will keep the BCS on the Disney/ESPN family of networks through 2014.
"The BCS will thrive on ESPN," ESPN president George Bodenheimer said. "Our slogan is 'College Football Lives Here' and the BCS will now top college football's best regular-season and studio coverage, the sport's top awards shows, Bowl Week and other national championships all carried on our family of networks. This is a proud day for ESPN and an exceptional day for this great sport and its passionate fans.""We are tremendously pleased to reach an agreement with ESPN and feel that the BCS games from 2011 to '14 will be in good hands," said BCS commissioner John Swofford, who is also the commissioner of the ACC. "With the continued growth of technology and the depth of coverage that ESPN gives to the college football fan on all its platforms during the regular season, this postseason partnership is a natural fit."
Good news: ESPN covers college football all year long, unlike Fox, so they know what they're doing (and anything that involves Kirk Herbstreit is OK in my book).
Bad news: First off, ESPN is unavailable in 16 million homes (which may end up being a non-issue, since they have ABC at their disposal), but more importantly, this means no playoff system until at least 2014. Oof.
Mr. Slinky Is Here To Entertain, Frighten
By Ryan HudsonThere are things in this world that once viewed by your eyes, they can never again be unseen. Hafltime entertainment specialist, Mr. Slinky, is one of those nightmarish images.
Like most instances when you wake up in the middle of the night, covered in a cold sweat, frightened by something too unreal to be thought of during daylight, Mr. Slinky forces you to ask questions.
Namely, why? Who would create such a thing? Did the Cleveland Cavaliers think that was a good idea? Doesn't something like that belong in Vegas? The guy in the slinky-suit -- does he have a regular day job, and if so, has he ever needed to ask his boss for time off because he's, ya know, Mr. Slinky? Does he have a Mrs. Slinky at home, smiling proudly at her husband's accomplishments?
But really...why?
Thanks to the brilliant Spencer Hall at The Sporting Blog.
Tracy McGrady To 'Shut It Down'
By Ryan HudsonIn the Houston Chronicle's recap to last night's Rockets' win over the Oklahoma City Thunder (still getting used to that), the tease was "T-Mac hurts knee; Artest, Yao injure their ankles." It was a rough win, to say the least.
Tracy McGrady sat on the bench during the second half, with a towel draped on his shoulders. The Big Sleep had surgery to clean up his knee during the off-season, and it now may be time to "shut it down," according to him.
"My knee gave out on me," McGrady said. "They told me if I was to go back in, and they saw me limping they were going to take me back out. I was like, "Well, that’s what you’re pretty much going to see.’ My knee is feeling right. I hate to do this, but I’m going to get an MRI tomorrow and until, further notice, I’m going to have to shut it down."Tonight, I went back to square one, like before even surgery. I’ve always been feeling it, but tonight, before that particular play, I came up and it just gave out on me. I’ve been trying to work my way into playing shape and strengthen my leg. I’ve never been 100 percent. I’ve just been hoping playing on it would put me over the edge and I won’t have any more pain, but it hasn’t worked."
With McGrady expected to go for an MRI today, the already struggling Houston offense (averaging 92.3 ppg, 26th in the NBA) could be on its way from bad to worse.
Baseball's Most Controversial MVP Winners
By Ryan HudsonYesterday, Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals was selected as the 2008 National League MVP. To some, it was surprising, given that the Cardinals finished fourth in the Central Division, 11 ½ games out of first-place, and the man who finished second, Ryan Howard, not only led the Phillies to the N.L. East crown and the second-best record in the league, but he also led all of baseball in both home runs and RBI.
Amazingly, he is just the second player in the history of the award to lead MLB in homers and RBI for a team that advanced to the postseason, but still not win the MVP award for his efforts. But the MVP-argument is hardly something new to baseball, and it will no doubt continue today when the A.L. winner is announced.
In Pictures: Baseball's Most Controversial MVP Winners
The Most Valuable Player Award was born in controversy. The first effort to reward baseball’s best came in 1910, when the Chalmers Automobile Company decided to give a Chalmers Model 30 to the leading batter in each league. The American League battle was tight, only a few points separating Ty Cobb and Napoleon Lajoie on the season’s last day. Cobb was widely hated around the league, and the St. Louis Browns, in an effort to boost Lajoie’s final statistics, kept their third baseman unusually deep when Lajoie was batting; Lajoie tripled in his first at bat, then bunted for seven more hits during the doubleheader, bringing his average to .384.
There was an immediate outcry over the suspected collaboration, and Browns manager Jack O’Connor, who had ordered the rookie third baseman to play on the outfield grass, never managed again in the major leagues. It appeared that Lajoie’s (and O’Connor’s) efforts would win him the title, but AL President Ban Johnson announced that a discrepancy had been found in the records for Cobb, raising his average to a fractional point above Lajoie’s.
Chalmers wound up giving a car to both Lajoie and Cobb, and the National Baseball Commission decided to prevent future manipulations by creating the Chalmers Award for each league’s Most Valuable Player, as determined by vote of a committee of baseball writers.
The exact meaning of “most valuable” has never been determined, and this has caused some curious results, like most things decided by vote. We’ve chosen ten of baseball’s most controversial MVP selections through the years.
NFL Rookie Watch: Week 11
By Robbie Gillies
Matt Ryan (Falcons) – Ryan has been so solid all season but made a big rookie mistake against the Broncos. Late in the 3rd quarter with the Falcons driving, Ryan threw a pass cross field with pressure in his face while on his back foot. The ball was picked off and led to a field goal for the Broncos. Ryan has made very few of these mistakes and the fact that it’s surprising to see him make such a bad decision shows hot mature he has been all season long.
Jerod Mayo (Patriots) – Jerod Mayo was everywhere Thursday. With Adalius Thomas out for the regular season, Mayo is the leader in among the Linebackers and he played like it against the Jets. He had 20 tackles in a losing effort to the Jets.
Jonathan Stewart (Panthers) – Stewart had 15 carries for 130 yards. But it was against the Lions, so does it really count?
Continue reading "NFL Rookie Watch: Week 11" »
What To Watch: Monday
By Robbie Gillies7pm ET - NCAA Basketball: Eastern Michigan at #10 Purdue - These two teams aren't very familiar with each other. They haven't played since 1971 but for some reason I bet Purdue has no trouble handling the Eagles.
7:30pm - NHL: Bruins at Maple Leafs - This is already the third time these teams have played each other. They've split the first two.
8:30pm - ESPN - NFL: Browns at Bills - The good thing about these two teams playing each other is that one team has to win. It's not like there are ties in the NFL.
Non-sports pick - 12am - ABC - Jimmy Kimmel Live - Kanye West performs a week before his new album "808s and Heartbreak" drops.
Shaq's Scrabble Skills
By Jeff BriggsIn ESPN’s new commercial featuring Shaq, he is playing Scrabble on the bus with Stewart Scott and Mike Breen. In case you didn’t catch a glimpse of the board to see what “words” Shaq used, here is a screen shot.
His words - Shaqattack, Shaqalici, Shaqtastic, Shaqfu, Shaqzilsa, and Shaqesque
And for the record, Stewart Scott and Mike Breen don’t seem to be very good at Scrabble; the other words on the board: an, to, up (on the board twice), kis, swim, seat, sofa, zoo, also, and power.
They Can Play and They Try To Write: Athlete Blog Wrap-Up
By Jeff BriggsSome athletes, not satisfied with being better at a specific skill-set than 99% of the world, choose to blog as well. This is a look at their latest efforts.
Gilbert Arenas discusses politics and his new tattoo, the state of the Wizards, his injury, and the NBA in general.
Chris Cooley has video to prove that he can play every position. He also has video of himself wired-up and being interviewed during training camp.
Rasheed Wallace checks in quickly, enjoying the West coast weather.
Falcons FB Ovie Mughelli is having a contest in which he wants you to tell him what you are most thankful for; the winner gets a prize from Ovie Claus.
Raiders rookie RB Darren McFadden is having a hard time standing on the sidelines.
Dodgers OF Andre Ethier shares his thoughts on the last two months of his season and promises to come back with some restaurant reviews during spring training in Phoenix.
Albert Pujols Wins N.L. MVP
By Ryan HudsonSt. Louis Cardinals' slugger Albert Pujols won the 2008 N.L. MVP today, easily gaining more votes than the Phillies' Ryan Howard.
Pujols hit .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs while playing with a sore right elbow. He was rewarded despite the Cardinals' fourth-place finish in the NL Central.Los Angeles outfielder Manny Ramirez and Milwaukee pitcher C.C. Sabathia also drew strong support after being traded by AL teams in July.
Pujols got 18 of the 32 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and had 369 points. The first baseman added to the MVP award he won in 2005.
Now for your Scary Fact of the Day: Pujols, whose stats compare to Joe DiMaggio, is just 28 years old.
Just A Heisman Trophy Winner Dancing to NKOTB
By Ryan HudsonI spent a large part of my childhood growing up in Papillion, a small (4.2 square miles) suburb of Omaha, Nebraska (it was named the sixth-best place to live by Money Magazine in 2007, thankyouverymuch). With no professional sports teams within 170 miles, Nebraska Cornhusker football pretty much becomes a way of life there (department stores and shopping centers play the radio broadcast over their loud speakers on game days).
I grew up rooting for the Huskers when they were still, ya know, good: Tom Osborne was the head coach, they were competing for a national title every year and the quarterback was always in the running for the Heisman Trophy (I'll argue with anyone that this run by Tommie Frazier is one of the top-five most ridiculous plays in college football history). One of those option-QBs was Eric Crouch, who won the 2001 Heisman and became one of just three quarterbacks in FBS history to rush for 3,000 and pass for 4,000 yards in a career (and earned the acclaimed distinction of having his jersey owned by me; let's just ignore that 2002 Rose Bowl).
Hopefully, that helps to explain just how much it pains me to see him dancing at a New Kids on the Block concert last week.
Sigh.