LBL Really?

Wow, I have heard of Lingerie Football League, but now a Lingerie Basketball League sounds a little ridiculous. I feel like LBL is good for a little summer league, but that's it. The way this league is based on is sexual appeal and some elite basketball. Between the WNBA and the LBL the LBL wins out in the sexual appeal, but the WNBA has the better basketball. However I feel the LBL kinda over does it with the sexual appeal factor in that these women are playing half naked in underwear with some lace going down their leg. Now these women are gorgeous; however, I feel like these women are not playing for the love of the game, but to be an object to attract dozens of men to them. However, I could be wrong because from some of the video footage it showed that these girls play hard, but some get a little overly aggressive. At on point you will see a player get pushed down even when she was doing nothing. That aggressiveness is just to get men riled up and get them more anxious to see if they players will break out in a hot fight. Overall I think that it is a great marketing strategy to appeal more to the male fan base in trying to get more men to watch women's basketball, but it is mostly likely the the LBL is just for men to watch sexy women play around for their pleasure. The LBL will never out do the WNBA. Here's a little snipped of the LBL...      

NBA LOCKOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The NBA is on day 114 of this lockout and it doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. Out of the 30 teams about 22 of them are losing money, which is a cause for concern. Due to this Recession people have been losing a lot of money making it harder for most NBA teams to sell there expensive tickets to the general public. Who would want to go to an NBA game with a $50 ticket and sit all the at the top of the arena and barely see the game? No one! So these small market teams like the Charlotte Bobcats and the Minnesota Timberwolves have lost a lot of revenue due to the fact that their general fan base do not feel the need to buy a ticket and the fact that some of these teams do not have a star player like the Los Angles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. What we should do is take all the revenues that the teams make and split it even across the league so that everyone will be stable. The main reason why the Owners and Players are at a disagreement is because while the owners are loosing money they are having to spend more and more money bringing these players to their team for a $100 million contract, which is ridiculous.   I also agree with the rumor going around that owners are trying to implement the 'Carmelo Anthony Rule' where it makes it harder for a star players to leave their team. I feel that star players need to stick with their team and not demand to be traded to another team like Carmelo Anthony did. Players like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird are one of the few players who have stuck with their teams and made a legacy out of it which helped keep the fans interested in the NBA. With a player like Carmelo Anthony, who brought clutch game winning shots, leaving his team for the New York Knicks brought disaster to the Denver Nuggets. Now without their star player fans are less likely to come to the games, which causes the Denver Nuggets to lose revenue. One perfect example of a great player leaving his team is Lebron James. He was the most electrifying player to ever play in Cleveland let alone in the NBA. Some compared him to Michael Jordan, but now that he has left Cleveland Cavaliers he has caused  a huge rift in the NBA. The Cavs not only experienced one of the worst losing streaks in sports history, but with Lebron gone they lost a lot of fans, which caused a lot of local businesses to suffer with no fans to cater to. People hated Lebron now, every where he goes he is always yelled at by angry fans.
Overall due to this Lockout the first two weeks of the NBA are canceled. Even when the lockout is over it will take a month to get the league going. It will take two weeks to gets teams going, one week to deal with trading players, and another week for training camp. If the league stays the way it has been then teams like the Wizards and the Timberwolves will not make it and owners will continue to loose more and more money. Currently the owners and players are meeting with a mediator so hopefully things will get situated soon. This will be a long process!    

Minnesota Lynx 2011 WNBA Champions!

This is a great day for Minnesota because not only did the Lynx win Rookie of the Year with Maya Moore and coach of the year with Sheryl Reeve, but the have now won the franchise's first WNBA championship

   The Lynx swept the Atlanta Dream 3-0, and the final score of Game 3 Lynx 73-67. This was the dessert that the Lynx were looking for to top off this great season. Seimone Augustus was named WNBA Finals MVP after having three great games. Game 2 of the series was her breaakout game where she score 36 points, only 2 behind Angel McCoughtry, Game 3 she scored a team high 16 points along with Maya Moore's 15 points. I knew from the start that this team would be one to reckon with. Rookie Maya Moore has won 2 NCAA championships, 90 consecutive game winning streak (longest in basketball history since John Wooden's UCLA's 88 game winning streak), and is the most decorative basketball player ever, with her experience she made a huge impact with her work ethic. However, Maya was the only who made a huge impact. Seimone, Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson and Taj McWilliams-Franklin all made huge impacts with all of their experience. Seimone's constant attacking the rim made the Lynx a threat on the offense. Lindsay's leadership with the ball made it easier for everyone to score. Taj's and Rebekkah's experience with winning championship also was key for the veteran experience factor. Overall the energy of the bench is what also helped when the starters needed a break. The bench players averaged roughly 17ppg during the playoffs, which outmatched any other team in the playoffs. CONGRATS MINNESOTA LYNX ON BEING THE 2011 WNBA CHAMPS!

Game 1

Game 2

(Game 3 video will be coming soon)

Determination

     
         Taylor Statham was a regular kid in high school pursing his dreams of playing Division 1 basketball on scholarship, but one day in a game he decided to take his coach's advice and take the charge in the game rather than block the opposing player. Taylor took a knee to the groin and was taken to the hospital to get it checked out to see if he had any injuries after the fact. It turned out after the X-ray showed that he had testicular cancer!!! If he had waited a couple months the cancer would have spread throughout his whole body eventually killing him. Now Taylor had to go through the ultimate test of strength, chemotherapy. Chemotherapy will break even the strongest of people and make them want to give up the fight on cancer; however, it was his determination to get back to basketball is what got him through it. There were some days like when he lost his hair in the shower due to the chemotherapy that he would break down a feel like giving up, but he didn't and finally got cleared of cancer in April of last year. The worst part of it all was when he called a coach that he was being recruited by and the coach says, 'I heard that all of your hair fell out, and now you are not playing basketball anymore'. For a coach to say something like that to a player that has gone through two six week chemo session is very inconsiderate. 

         However, this made Taylor even more determined to get back to the game he loved. He had lost a good 25 pounds since cancer, and in his last game of his high school career he managed to score 25 points. In the end he was able to score a tryout with California Baptist University, a Division two basketball school. With his skill and hard work he was able to get a scholarship. Hopefully one day Taylor will fulfill his dream of playing pro basketball overseas, but whatever he does he will always give a hundred and ten percent. 

WNBA Finals Here!

After 4 months of basketball the WNBA Championship Finals is here. With the Atlanta Dream going against the Minnesota Lynx. 

 The Lynx went 2-1 with the Silver Stars, 2-0 with the Phoenix Mercury, and now they are 1-0 with the Atlanta Dream. From the start of the season I knew that the Lynx were going to win it all. With players like Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Bruson, Maya Moore, and Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who didn't think that the Lynx would win it all. With Maya Moore on the team it brought a winning mentality from day 1, and it has stuck with them all the way through. Siemone's scoring ability is amazing combined with Lindsay Whalen being the top point guard in the league and Rebekkah Bruson being one of the top rebounders this team had it solidified at being one of the toughest teams to beat. However, I would not doubt the Atlanta Dream coming back with a surprise win over the Lynx. Angel McCoughtry is the most unstoppable player in this league. She reminds me a little of Magic Johnson in that they both have two personalities when it comes to basketball. When Earvin Magic Johnson was on the court he became the fierce competitor Magic, but off the court he was known as Earvin. Angel McCoughtry on the courts is known as the hard playing of Lori Ann, but off the courts she is same old Angel. Angel had a great game of 33 points, but she needs to get her team involved because when she stops making shots then her teammates need to start making them, which is the reason why the lost in the first game. The Lynx's 11 blocks were also another reason why the Dream lost. This was a great night for Minnesota sports having a little over 15,000 fans in attendance is the second highest in franchise history. My future predictions will be that Minnesota will go 3-1 and win the championship because there is no way to beat a team as solid as that.

A Big night in deed!