So we all just got off out 4th of July
weekend… None of us are ready to go back to work yet… the sports world is
moving slow… and football was on the screen Sunday morning teasing me that it
is 16 days until the first training camp is scheduled in all of the NFL. Since
you are not working at this moment (and either hung over, on lunch break,
unemployed, or just extending your already extended July 4th holiday
weekend), enjoy this blog that actually has some juicy topics and idea’s that
Sports Illustrated decided to take a week off on. Sit back, relax, and give
your eyes a reading extension they so desperately need after a weekend of drinking,
fireworks, and awkward family interactions. Let’s get it started.
Back on Monday, after I had previously said she was
going to break the match streak, she got dumped the day after her praise on
this blog site. Serena’s 34 match streak was snapped by Sabine Lisicki in the middle portions of Wimbledon which
ended the chances of an American finishing in the Wimbledon Finals. Let’s face
it America, we are just not with it in the rest of world when it comes to
tennis. The talk of our society getting softer because Americans don’t dominate
tennis anymore is similar to that of how the world has finally caught up to us
when it comes to sports such as basketball, baseball, and golf. We aren’t getting
softer, the rest of the world is just getting better. As much of a bummer it is
to not see an American dominating tennis courts across the world, I also
understand how much better some of the top tennis athletes are these days. For
an American to jump to that top stage it would take a serious Tiger Woods effort
and the last time that happened, since Tiger Woods jumped onto the scenes back
in the mid-90’s. Until I see a young superstar phenomenon on the David
Lettermen show hitting 70 mph serves at the age of 6, I won’t have faith yet.
Speaking of the rest of the world, Andy Murray was
the first British tennis player to win the Wimbledon Championship since 1936 (77 years).
I will admit, I am not an expert at tennis, but if you weren’t riveted by that
performance against the best tennis player in the world (Novak Djokovic) with the
crowd at the back of Andy Murray the way it was, you clearly don’t have a pulse
and need to be sent back to Mars because hairs were standing on every winning
point Murray scored. Also with the quality of tennis and the intensity that was
being played with on every volley, I was absolutely enthralled with the effort
and was asking for more by the end of the match. Granted, this is the Super
Bowl of tennis, and this quality of tennis probably isn’t an everyday thing,
but the intensity of that match and the way both players was dishing it out
between one another could be put in a dictionary next to definition of sports.
That was some absolutely amazing stuff from Andy Murray on Sunday.
There needs to be a wink and a nod to Marion Bartoli
as well. I didn’t watch the Women’s Championship match at Wimbledon, but I did
watch the Venus VS documentary on ESPN celebrating the success of Title IX over
the past 40 years since the inception of allowing women to play in collegiate sports.
Considering the amount of work Venus put into trying to get Women equal pay in
the Wimbledon Championship payout and eventually succeeding, I have grown to
appreciate Venus Williams a lot more after that documentary, and understanding
the importance of what she did, it should help you recognize that the
difference between men and women competition in the realm of tennis is no
different from one another. Maybe next year I’ll check out a bit of the women
final next year, whether there is a Williams sister in it or not.
The 4th of July is a holiday known for its
flare, heat, and (the most American thing ever) gluttony. Joey Chestnut only
enhanced the ideal of how fat our country is getting especially with breaking
his own record of 68 hotdogs in 12 minutes now having the record of 69 hotdogs
in 12 minutes and winning his 7th straight hotdog eating contest.
Let me make this very clear everybody, Joey Chestnut is not an athlete. He’s a
human being that puts hotdogs in water, helping them slide down his gullet, to
give America a spectacle of pure gluttony that we have a serious problem with. We
shower these pigs with glory and give them respect for shoving processed food
into their ever churning stomach when our country doesn’t have the heart to
accept the problems of obesity in our youth. The reason why I hit this topic so
hard and spit the truth people often avoid is because it is problem. It’s
summer time! Go outside! If you are reading this blog and feel out of shape, go
on a walk, go on a run, and get active. It is summertime, and I could care less
if it is 170 degrees out because if you sit outside for 10 minutes in that type
of weather, you’ll lose 10 pounds. Get fit America! I’ll now step down from my
soap box.
The NBA this week was overshadowed by the Dwight
Howard saga so most of the other news was a side of fries. Tyreke Evans was traded
to the Pelicans in a three team deal, Josh Smith signed with the Detroit
Pistons, and Andre Iguodala was dealt to the Golden State Warriors making them
look like a pretty attractive team coming into the 2013-2014 season. There were
more moves, but we all know the biggest fish in the pond was Dwight. The
Houston Rockets signed the biggest baby superstar in all of sports and only his
actions can save him now. America, name the last big time superstar to flee
from the money, spotlight, legacy, and the best franchise in his respective
sport? I can’t think of one. Dwight is going to a better team at the moment,
and I don’t think anybody would dispute that, the real problem here is this guy
is being given a free pass to leave an opportunity of greatness after he told
the media he was SO EXCITED TO BE IN L.A. This guy is a complete head case and
will become a no name a year from today. Quote me on that. Who leaves the best
opportunity in sports to play on a team that has less pressure to give themselves
a better chance to succeed? Do true warriors decide to fight on less powerful
grounds? Here’s a better analogy, do great division one athletes want to play football
at Alabama A&M over the University of Alabama? Dwight Howard chose to play
at a less powerful franchise because he didn’t get what he wanted and because
his head started overhearing the hate, he flied like the little girl he is! The
guy is a 16 year old girl locked in a 7’0 man’s body! I guarantee he will find
a way to dig the Rockets into a hole of despair through the burying of his
coach, his teammates, and whenever he gets injured he’ll play through it and
blame his lack of energy on his “ailing” shoulders. I don’t know if you’ve seen
this man Dwight Howard, but this guy looks like he’s sculpted by the sculptures
of god. With the amount of pampering these athletes get, and how much treatment
they receive and the money they make, with how Dwight Howard looks, all I see
is a big excuse. From now on, I’ll be calling Dwight Howard “The Big Excuse.”
That’s all this guy is. There is nothing that shows me he has the maturity
beyond a teenager. To be quite frank, it makes sense considering he never went
to college. So you really can’t blame him for that, but at the end of the day,
come on man… seriously? YOU LEFT THE LAKERS. Let’s anoint someone else as the
best center in the league and get this pre-teen girl off his pedestal. All you
need to do is read his constant comments towards the media about his “image”
and how they portrayed him as “flip-flopping.” Seriously Dwight? You are the most
talented powerful big man in the league and you are worried about 5’5 media
heads writing about how you were flip flopping when you really weren’t? Who
freaking cares what other people think! There’s no wonder Kobe freaking hated
you. You are the most pansy athlete I’ve ever seen with the amount of stardom
you have, and I’m going to rip you on every single chance I can because guess
what Dwight, superstars don’t shy away from the bright lights. You did.
Let’s get to some awesome news that I absolutely
loved this week when it came to the NBA. Brad freaking Stevens! If you don’t
love this move, you have got to be on some serious drugs. This guy is the
definition of class and critical thinking. The former Butler head coach is only
36 years old and received a 6 year 22 million dollar deal this week to coach
the Boston Celtics. Doesn’t that just sound smooth and almost like it came out
of a movie box office? I would not be shocked if this guy became the next Gregg
Popovich with his players. The amount of interaction he had with his players at
Butler will be insurmountable at the NBA level, especially with the rebuilding
they will be going through over at least the next couple seasons. This guy will
be studying other teams, he’ll be studying systems that will work in the NBA
through a “team” mentality instead of this garbage “pass the ball to the
superstar and watch” B.S. that the NBA has gone through since the retirement of
Jordan. I personally am hoping that Brad Stevens becomes the savior of this
league and ultimately makes the NBA a more watchable product then it has been
the past 15 years. If he can bring a hint of the college game to the NBA, we’ll
see the NBA start marketing the way we all wish they would; the team.
Let’s get to baseball before we head out of here.
Homer Bailey threw another no-hitter on Tuesday and he’s the first player to
throw the last no-hitter as well as the next no-hitter in baseball in
consecutive seasons since Nolan Ryan in the 70’s. With the amount of no-hitters
occurring these days, they are almost a dime a dozen, but non-the-less, it was
the first one of the season and it was well deserved. Congrats to Homer Bailey!
To the All-Star selections, the American League pretty much got it right. Those
fans got the starting lineup correct and the reserves were selected properly. The
National League, not so much. The starting lineup is nowhere near who should be
starting and the popularity contest was quite evident in the voting for this
team.
Get off this blog and go back to work, outside, and
get in shape America. See y’all next week.
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