2011年8月5日星期五

AFC East 2011 NFL Preview

The AFC East has been at the center of attention for the league and everyone making weekly NFL football picks for quite some time. For a decade, that has been because the New England Patriots have always been contenders, and have competed for and won multiple Super Bowls with some of the game’s best players on hand. But lately, there’s also another team that has been generating just as much, if not more, excitement and buzz.
That team of course is the New York Jets, and since Rex Ryan has been their head coach, they have been one of the major focal points of the entire NFL. That surely is going to remain the same for 2011, and they are a team that is charging head to get to that elusive Super Bowl. They’ve enjoyed a lot of success under Ryan and even beat the Patriots in the playoffs last season, but haven’t been able to go all the way yet.

The Patriots though haven’t been sitting idly by, either. Actually, thanks to some of the moves they have made in preparation for the 2011 season, they look to be the odds-on favorites with NFL football picks and bettors to go all the way. That’s because a team that was already good has seemingly added a few more crucial players.

They brought in disruptive defensive line player Albert Haynesworth, and flashy wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, and they didn’t give up much for either man. Both of those guys are risks, but they both have a lot to prove and will be eager to get it done for the Patriots.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills are trying to better themselves, and the Miami Dolphins are in a state of transition as they try to figure out the future as well. As you prepare your early NFL football picks, one look at the AFC East gives you two real Super Bowl threats, the Patriots and the Jets, and that’s always exciting.

2011年7月12日星期二

Made in Holywood: Rory McIlroy a global phenomenon aware of his roots

In search of background on "this McIlroy kid" – as many still know him in America – media from across the globe have been besieging Holywood Golf Club near Belfast, where Paul Gray, the general manager, says from a seat in the bar: "He used to beat around here in the evenings if his mum and dad were up for a meal. He had a little plastic club when he was a toddler and he would knock balls off that wall over there."

The last landmark you pass on the road to Holywood is the George Best city airport, a Northern Irish monument to genius. Past the UVF flags of east Belfast and the cranes of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, the route leads through quiet rainy streets to a modest suburban club where boys are striking balls down a range with noticeably raised enthusiasm.

Holywood is the nurturing ground of the 22-year-old US Open champion. This week Rory McIlroy will endeavour to double his collection of golf's major titles in the Open Championship at Royal St George's in Kent. In a BBC Northern Ireland documentary this week his country saw him cross a threshold. The morning after his stunning win at Congressional he emerged into fame's white light: police escorts to the airport, hug-happy sponsors and a kind of besotted glee on the faces of all who saw him.

Captured, in all its splendid and terrifying detail, was the moment McIlroy's life became a movie. "You are so gracious," gushed a hotel employee as she waved him off to a sponsor's gig in Cape Cod. The McIlroy cavalcade shifted with presidential intent. State troopers cleared a path to a private jet. Two days later, when he finally reached his £2.2m home near Holywood, the new champion told his family: "There were paparazzi at the airport – like, proper."

Gray, 37, has watched the whole McIlroy romance bloom. The golf pro at Holywood for 11 years, he is now the manager, running the club shop and overseeing the junior programme. In his own career he says he "played around Ireland, in the final stages of Open qualifying, once, won a few pro-ams then focused more on teaching. I was never good enough to get to European Tour standard." He took on McIlroy at Holywood when the wunderkind was 15. Did he beat the upstart? "Of course I didn't," he says.

"Rory was seven when he started here. The age to join was always 12. Because he was so good Michael Bannon, who was the pro here at the time, spoke to the junior convenor and said: 'This kid's brilliant. Because he's so good we need to have him as a member of the club. He's going to be great.' His whole family were members. The club then changed their rules, basically. We have about 180 kids here now and had to close it at that point because it becomes unmanageable."

On the day of our visit McIlroy is at Sandwich, negotiating a golf course for the first time since Congressional, where he won by eight strokes, 12 days after Tiger Woods had said he would miss a US Open for the first time since 1994. McIlroy's triumph evoked Woods winning the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes at 21 and was billed as "Rory's redemption" after his collapse at Augusta in April.

"Some people may have wondered why I chose to go straight from one major to another without anything in between and the answer is simple," he said at Sandwich. "Because of what happened at Congressional and the way it became such a big deal, I wanted to get everything out of the way and sorted so that when I started playing again I could just concentrate on the golf."

"What happened" is that McIlroy became a global sensation, almost as much as for his winning nature as his talent. American writers practically cuddled him off the course. "It's nice to be nice. And it doesn't cost you a penny," one golf correspondent recalled Rory's father, Gerry, saying. The counterpoint with Woods was obvious.

ESPN's Rick Reilly wrote: "McIlroy is not a member of [commissioner Tim] Finchem's PGA Tour. He's played in the US only five times this year. It's possible America won't see him but twice more this season. Without Tiger, the Tour is already dying for star power. This only makes it worse. The top four players in the world are European. And now golf's abiding dude lives near Belfast. Finchem better get the archaic 15-tournament-minimum-for-membership rule slashed if he wants McIlroy to be a member. And, unless he has had his cerebral cortex removed, he wants McIlroy to be a member."

Golf's abiding dude had nailed the Augusta demon at the first opportunity. Four shots clear after three rounds at the Masters, he imploded from the 10th hole. "Maybe I just wanted it a bit too badly," he told the BBC. "I was flustered, my mind started to race a bit." The standing ovation that accompanied him off the 18th green was both a kindness and an embarrassment. Consultations with Jack Nicklaus, a perspective-restoring trip to Haiti as a Unicef ambassador and some straight, cool reflection at his impressive home had sorted his mind out by the time he reached Congressional, where he played like the ultimate baby‑faced assassin.

"He doesn't act like the whole world's his spittoon," another American writer said, referencing Woods again. At Holywood it's not difficult to see why egocentricity and coldness are not McIlroy traits. "People from Northern Ireland don't tolerate that in general," Gray says. "People from here don't respect that at all.

"He's doing a thing in August for us. The Rory McIlroy Classic is to raise money for the junior club. We have an open day and he's coming to present the prizes. After he won at Congressional I was thinking: 'He's definitely not going to be here now.' But Gerry helps me run it and he said to Rory: 'I suppose you're big-time now and you're not going to be coming to present my prizes?' Rory said: 'No, no, I'll be there.'"

In the clubhouse where we sit, 150 locals gather to cheer him through the final rounds of majors, "if he's in contention", Gray emphasises. The bar shuts at the normal time, regardless of any time difference. A sense of order and proportion prevails. The mind keeps trying to picture a mop-haired McIlroy skipping about with his plastic club.

"When he was eight he looked like a scratch handicap golfer. He didn't play off that mark, obviously, but he had that look: the swing, the pitch, the way he putted. He had a proper little game," Gray says. McIlroy, who first held a club at 18 months, won a world championship for nine- to 10-year-olds in Miami. "Then when he got to 11, 12, he became a low handicapper, and from 12 to 15 started to beat people who were five or six years older than him. That's the age when he started to look extra special.

"He copied his dad, who was a scratch golfer. Gerry had a nice swing. He used to bring Rory up in the buggy before he could walk. Rory would sit and watch. When Rory could get about, Gerry had a little club for him and he used to knock about the tee. Kids are great copiers. A kid of that age you should never give any instruction to. You should show them a good swing and let them watch it. They'll copy it.

"He was always winning things, bringing silver home. Everyone was really proud of him as an amateur [he was world champion at 17]. He was always breaking all sorts of records. Rory played all sorts of other sports, too, which is important, because if you don't do that you don't have all the physical skills to be a great golfer. You'd be very one-dimensional and wouldn't have the athleticism."

Gray looks a little frazzled from the media invasion: "USA Today, radio stuff from Australia – all over the place. Sports Illustrated. ESPN. We were doing about 1,300 hits on the website and it went up to 28,000 on the Monday after he won the US Open."

A 10-minute walk away in this mostly middle-class community of 12,000 souls overlooking Belfast Lough is Sullivan upper school, where McIlroy paid a visit after his victory at Congressional. Its motto is Lámh Foisdineach An Uachtar or "With the gentle hand foremost", a spookily appropriate adage for a golfer. Also close is the home where he revolutionised preparatory routines by building his own mini-course, much as the great Vincent O'Brien constructed a replica of Tattenham Corner for his Derby contenders further south in Co Kildare.

McIlroy's home laboratory has four greens, four tee boxes, three types of sand and different roughs and types of grass to replicate tournament conditions. Gray says: "At the time you could hear people saying: 'What's he doing that for? He's mad.' But it's been a fantastic move. If he was home for three weeks before the Open and he wanted to practise, there's nowhere of that standard within an hour and a half's drive of here. Secondly, if he did go to that place he'd be mobbed by people wanting his autograph.

"He has the privacy there, he's left alone, it gives him great focus and he can prepare for whatever's coming up. It's been a brilliant move. I was up there a few months ago and they were getting the sand ready for the bunkers, different types for the US Open. Each bunker has different sand from around the world. It's all details."

"I see myself always being here, always living here," McIlroy told the ubiquitous but well-treated BBC camera crew. So no 12-bedroomed, sun-toasted Orlando mansion, then. In his re-emergence in Kent this coming week, he enters a familiar phase in which everyone wants a piece of him, colleagues view him in a new expectant light and the camera's eye bears down with a special scrutiny on every shot. No longer the prodigy, he is instantly the icon of golf, the new George Best in a land with a preternatural gift for bequeathing virtuosity.

"If you look how many golfers have won the Open and never won anything else in their life there are plenty. It's been the ruination of them," Gray says. "I hope it doesn't happen to Rory. I really don't see it."

Outside a group of lads who are the age McIlroy was when the club rules were rewritten to allow him to join are taking lessons under a bruised, rain-swollen sky. "Before Rory," Gray says, "the best we had here was a PGA pro like me or an Irish international. They would have been looked up to. The kids here are buzzing. It sets the bar for them so much higher. Their dreams become bigger."

2011年7月5日星期二

NBA, players quick to make their 1st moves after lockout

No formal talks have been scheduled between owners and players for about two weeks as the NBA lockout reaches Day5.
The last NBA lockout reduced the 1998-99 season to 50 games. Players are preparing to hang in as long as necessary this time, rather than agree to the financial changes owners seek.
The landscape already is shifting:
• Free agent centers Nenad Krstic and Hilton Armstrong will play in Europe next season, as will undrafted guard Ben Hansbrough, the 2011 Big East player of the year from Notre Dame.
MORE: With lockout in place, NBA and players prepare for next step
STORY: Midnight strikes, NBA locks out players
MORE: What is at stake in labor negotiations?
Armstrong, a little-used reserve since being drafted in 2006, finished last season as an Atlanta Hawk. He signed with the French club ASVEL.
Krstic, who started 67 games with the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder last season, left for CSKA Russia and received a two-year, $9.8 million contract. Krstic, however, told the Boston Herald that jumping abroad won't become a trend among NBA players.
"I don't think you will see a lot coming here," Krstic said from his home in Kraljevo, Serbia. "Europe is not in a great situation financially. There are only four or five teams now that can offer much to NBA players, and those teams right now are almost full.
"That's a problem for NBA players. It was a reason why I had to go right away. I got maybe the best contract in Europe because of that."
Hansbrough will play for Germany's FC Bayern Muenchen, and fellow undrafted forward Matt Howard of Butler also is looking to Europe.
Mundo Deportivo of Spain reported that Rudy Fernandez, traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Dallas Mavericks last month, is being offered a six-year deal to return to Real Madrid of the ACB, Spain's elite league. Because Fernandez isn't a free agent, however, he can't leave the NBA until after 2011-12.
• Player contracts are not insured by the NBA during the lockout, so simply working out has its risks. If a player without insurance gets hurt and misses time once the lockout ends, he faces the possibility of forfeiting money. National teams with NBA players are scrambling to find ways to insure contracts for Olympic qualifying events.
• NBA.com and team-affiliated websites have deleted players' images, video involving current players and 2010-11 box scores. That includes those from the Mavericks' NBA Finals victory against the Miami Heat. Even the NBA's touted Stats Cube statistical analysis database has been disabled, though player statistical pages remain.
• NBATV is focused on the WNBA and slam-dunk contests from before 1996. "We do not think it is appropriate to be using video and photography of current players at this time," NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement.

2011年6月30日星期四

Lakers Trade Rumors: Iguodala for Odom talks died because of Odom

Trade talks between the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers for a swap between Andre Iguodala and Lamar Odom may have died because of Odom himself.
According to HoopsWorld, "Philadelphia wasn't going to trade Iguodala for Odom if the latter was going to be unhappy and unmotivated. That's when the talks died."

Essentially, the 76ers didn't want Odom to come to the team if he didn't want to be there.

Odom has been the subject of numerous trade rumors since weeks before the draft. He has been connected with the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard, the Golden State Warriors for Monta Ellis, and other teams around the NBA for their draft picks.
Odom is perhaps the Lakers' most tradable asset because of his contract.

He is a quality power forward in the league making only $8.9 million next year. He also has a team option for the same amount next year, or the team can buy out his contract for about $2 million, freeing up salary cap space for the team.

In addition, Odom is only 31 years old averaging 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in his 12 year career.

Iguodala is younger than Odom and may have more potential at 27 years of age. In his career, Iguodala has averaged 15.6 poitns and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Like Odom, Iguodala has also been linked in numerous trade rumors including with the Golden State Warriors in a trade for Monta Ellis.

2011年6月26日星期日

Vietnam and China Pledge to Peacefully Resolve Maritime Dispute

China and Vietnam pledged Sunday to resolve their maritime dispute in the South China Sea through peaceful dialogue.

Chinese media says Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vietnamese Vice Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son met in Beijing Saturday and agreed to address the dispute through negotiations and peaceful, friendly consultations.

However, no details on specific plans or timing were given.
Meanwhile, about 100 Vietnamese rallied in the capital of Hanoi Sunday for the fourth consecutive weekend to protest against China's role in the escalating dispute.

The crowd grew as it marched through Hanoi's streets, chanting and singing patriotic songs. The demonstrators were outnumbered by police, who let the peaceful protest continue.

The rare demonstrations are in response to rising tensions in the diplomatic dispute over competing claims to the Spratly and Paracel island chains and other maritime territories.

Last month, Vietnam complained that a Chinese patrol ship severed an exploration cable trailing from an oil survey ship operating in waters inside Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. The Philippines also has complained of Chinese patrol boats interfering with oil exploration off its western coast.

In each case, China insisted its ships were operating appropriately in waters under Beijing's administration.

2011年6月17日星期五

Dallas Mavericks beat Miami Heat to win their first NBA Championship

Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks captured their first NBA championship on Sunday with a 105-95 win over the Miami Heat - the team that denied Dallas the title five years ago.
Jason Terry scored 27 points and Nowitzki finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks won the best-of-seven championship series four-games-to-two.
Germany's Nowitzki was named Most Valuable Player of the finals, finally earning the NBA's biggest prize to secure his place among the NBA's greats.
"We are world champions. It sounds unbelievable," said Nowitzki, who turns 33 next Sunday. "This feels amazing."
Terry ran the clock down in the final minute then passed to a wide open Shawn Marion who chose not to shoot as the seconds clicked down.
When the buzzer sounded Marion handed the ball to 17-year veteran guard Jason Kidd who tried twice before in the finals with the New Jersey Nets but failed to get a Championship ring.
"Everybody wrote us off but ourselves," Kidd said. "No matter how old you are we understood how to play the game.
"I don't feel 38 mentally or physically. I feel great."
Kidd and J.J. Barea combined to finish with 24 points and 13 assists for the Mavericks, who clinched their first NBA championship in their 31-year franchise history.
LeBron James scored a team-high 21 points and Dwyane Wade finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Heat, who failed to send the series to a decisive seventh game despite having home court advantage.
"Hats go off to Dallas," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. "There is an emptiness to it. It was a tough series. Sometimes you just come up short. Crunch time needed to be done, they made bigger plays than us."
This year's final was a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, which Miami took in six games for its first title in franchise history.
With Terry having a superb start to game six, the Mavericks led 53-51 at the end of the first half in what began as a game of runs by either side. Terry came off the bench to score 19 points in the first two quarters on eight-of-ten shooting.
James had his best start of the series by scoring nine points and dishing three assists in the first quarter. But he never did get the synergy going with his fellow superstars Wade and Chris Bosh, who finished with 19 points in game six.
"It hurts of course," said James, who made his first four field goals of the contest.
Tempers flared halfway through the second quarter when the Mavericks' DeShawn Stevenson and Miami's Udonis Haslem got into a shoving match.
Haslem was celebrating an Eddie House three pointer when he brushed past Stevenson who shoved him. The Heat players came charging off the bench and Mario Chalmers made a bee line for Stevenson.
Chalmers, Haslem and Stevenson all received technical fouls but no one was ejected because a timeout had already been called before the players left the bench.
"Our guys took it personally tonight," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. "They were not going to be denied. Dirk and Jet (Terry) have had to live for five years with what happened in 2006 and as of tonight those demons are officially destroyed."
Nowitzki struggled early Sunday, scoring just a single point in the second quarter, and finishing with three points on one-of-12 shooting in the opening half. But once again he finished strong by scoring 10 of his 21 in the fourth.
"He goes one-for-12 in the first half and then in the second half he was just absolute money," Carlisle said.
Dallas's Ian Mahinmi, of France, nailed a buzzer-beating field goal at the end of the third to give the Mavericks a nine point lead at 81-72. Dallas got their own rebound and Terry ran down the clock and then pump faked James before slipping a short pass over to Mahinmi who got nothing but net.
The Heat had almost twice as many free throw chances as the Mavericks but hit just 60 percent of them. They also had 16 turnovers.
Although the Mavericks had several players in foul trouble in the fourth, they built their biggest lead of 13 points in the final period.

2011年6月10日星期五

Gilbert Arenas, athletes still causing Twitter headaches

Likewise for the deluge of regrettable tweets by athletes and coaches, like the ones that brought Orlando Magic guard Gilbert Arenas an NBA fine Wednesday and brought criticism to New Orleans Saints halfback Reggie Bush last month.

What we don't know, and what coaches, teams and leagues are scrambling to figure out, is how to deal with a medium built upon spontaneity.

"Twitter was especially designed to be the world's most promiscuous communication medium," says Robert Thompson, Professor of Popular Culture at Syracuse University. "Forget the editorial process, forget a second draft, and forget simply a second thought. It just comes out."

But the pitfalls of Twitter are nothing new in sports. As early as 2008, pro and college players were being fined or suspended for their 140-character missives. Yet some athletes have endured Twitter backlash on more than one occasion, including Arenas.

So why can't athletes avoid the trap?

"That's like asking 'Why does a guy keep lining up on the wrong side of the formation?' " says former NFL quarterback Rich Gannon. "It's because they're just not thinking."

But social media researchers say there's more to it. Homero Gil de Zuniga, assistant professor at the University of Texas School of Journalism, points to an aspect of human-computer interaction that makes tweeting a socially risky undertaking.

"The misuse of Twitter is due to a lack of understanding of the power of social media," says Gil de Zuniga. "If you were in the middle of a public square, you wouldn't yell something you might post on Twitter. But in reality, when you tweet, that's what you're doing.

"That's hard to understand when it's you and a keyboard. There's a sense of intimacy and to some degree anonymity. It doesn't feel like you're talking to 2 million people."

That might explain why Arenas tweeted June 1 that he would be "direct sexting in no time" and comments that could be interpreted as sexual innuendo.

Or why Bush tweeted last month that he was enjoying the NFL lockout: "Right about now we would be slaving in 100 degree heat, practicing twice a day, while putting our bodies at risk for nothing."

Bush endured fan backlash and later tweeted that he was only kidding.

Arenas tweeted Wednesday that he was fined for his actions, but did not specify which tweets were in question. Arenas had just rejoined Twitter on May 31, the night of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, after he quit the social website in the wake of his January 2010 suspension by the NBA relating to his felony gun possession charge, and the following tweet:

"i wake up this morning and seen i was the new JOHN WAYNE. lmao"

Orlando Magic spokesman Joel Glass declined Wednesday to reveal the offending tweet or tweets or the fine amount. The NBA declined to comment.

Erik Qualman, author of a best-selling book Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business on the impact of social media, says the youth of the average tweeting athlete helps explain why players get into hot water.

"You're talking about a younger generation, Generation Y, whose interpersonal communication skills are different from Generation X," Qualman says. "The younger generation is more comfortable saying something through a digital mechanism than even face to face."

Qualman explains that athletes such as Bush, who are constantly in the news media spotlight, don't have their guard up when tweeting.

"He's always been in the spotlight," Qualman says. "So when he's in front of reporters he puts the filter on. But then when you're tweeting you don't put up that mental block."

But avoiding reporters is one of the reasons athletes flock to Twitter.

Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely sees Twitter as a way to connect with fans on a previously unreachable level.

"It gives us the ability to not have to go through the media," Feely says. "You get the opportunity to not go through a writer, whose going to write the story the way he wants to write it. You have the chance to create your own narrative. "

Leagues on the lookout

The risk is something teams and leagues are struggling to come to terms with. More than half of NBA players have Twitter accounts, according to USA TODAY research. In the NFL, more than 1,000 players spread across 32 teams maintain active accounts.

The popularity of the medium forced the NBA to draft policies concerning when and how employees can use Twitter. In 2009 the league drafted a social media policy that prohibits players from posting to social media sites 45 minutes before a game until media leave the locker room postgame. The NFL adopted a similar policy in 2009. The NHL is working on a policy now.

"There are players that use it judiciously and those that don't," says Julie Fie, VP of communications for the Phoenix Suns. "We keep our fingers crossed when we say that nobody's crossed the line. I won't be surprised if something like that happens."

Major League Baseball, which has just over 200 tweeting players, does not have a Twitter policy, but it did set a precedent by fining Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen two games and $20,000 for his bitter tweets after being kicked out of a game in late April.

In the college ranks, where tweets have brought suspensions upon numerous athletes, several coaches have decided to ban social media among players.

At Mississippi State University, men's basketball coach Rick Stansbury instructed players not to use Twitter last season after a player criticized the team's performance in a postgame tweet.

"Twitter has allowed the outside world to come into your locker room," Stansbury says. "I think that's affected coaches' ability to keep things in-house and to build team unity and togetherness."

He says his ban on Twitter isn't permanent.

"I think it's based on the maturity of the team," he says. "Some players don't show enough maturity to understand that they can't take back what they say and the world sees it."

Stansbury's stance is an increasingly popular one. Boise State and North Carolina are among the football programs that have banned Twitter.

"If I were a head coach … my temptation would be to say, 'Look, we can't have you out there spewing whatever you're thinking at any given time,' " Thompson says. "On the other hand, I don't think people should be allowed to tell other people what technology to use ."

Miami football coach Al Golden weighed both sides of the argument when he inherited a Twitter ban by previous coach Randy Shannon. A tweeter himself, Golden sees social media as a teaching tool.

"Everything that we're trying to do is about empowering the kids," Golden says. "Rather than have systematic control, I would much rather say to them, 'Look guys, I know everybody in your age group does this. Just understand that you're a little bit different. People are going to be watching you.' "

But such a stance can create a nightmare for public relations departments who seek to control the message. In the NBA and NFL, newcomers are lectured on the dangers of social media at educational rookie camps in the preseason. In college, some programs turn to outside consultants to monitor social media use among students, alerting coaches and staffers of missteps.

This sort of institutional control will soon mean tamer tweets, and less fun for the voyeuristic public, Thompson says.

"Among sports figures there's going to be a progressively more careful and sophisticated and managed way that they go about doing this," he says. "The longer this stuff is around, the more filtered it will eventually be and it will be a lot less fun to follow them.

"Enjoy it now."


2011年5月31日星期二

Power Rankings: Peterson and C. Johnson

Ranking the NFL's top 10 offensive players required an exercise similar to last week's defensive players project: Melding a number of individual rankings into one coherent list. In the end, it left us with two NFC North representatives despite my efforts to make it three.

Minnesota Vikings tailback Adrian Peterson finished tied with Tennessee Titans tailback Chris Johnson for the No. 1 spot. Each received 70 points in our voting formula. Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson finished No. 5, and Green Bay Packers receiver Greg Jennings garnered only one a vote (from me) on the way to a No. 18 finish.

A few notes from my perspective:
Some of you will note that Chris Johnson finished ahead of Peterson on the running backs ballot earlier this offseason (by one point). Remember, the criteria for the best running back and the best player aren't necessarily the same. Running ability is foremost in both, but receiving, blocking and other jobs play a larger role in the latter. Also, Johnson and Peterson were competing against players at other positions. Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson, for example, received three No. 1 votes.
On the issue of Andre Johnson, I faced a quandary of consistency vs. accuracy. On our receivers ballot, I ranked Johnson No. 6. That was too low. So as you'll notice, I made a change for this ballot. I voted Johnson No. 4 overall, my second receiver behind the Arizona Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald. Consider it a mea culpa if you want, but that should explain the inconsistency I'm sure you would have noticed and pointed out on your own.
My decision on Andre Johnson forced Calvin Johnson down the list. Calvin was now my No. 4 receiver, and I couldn't find room for a fourth receiver any higher than No. 8. You might argue that he deserved to be higher than Roddy White of the Atlanta Falcons, who I had at No. 7, but White's production has been far superior over the past four years. Over that stretch, White has 371 receptions. Johnson has 270.
I didn't have much hope that Jennings would crack the top 10, and my vote was totally biased. But the sentiment wasn't from a rooting interest. It was based on experience. I had the advantage of seeing Jennings play far more often in recent years than any of my fellow voters. And if I was given 10 slots to build an offensive team for 2011, I know I would get high production and character from Jennings.
For those wondering, yes, there were two offensive linemen on my ballot, left tackles Joe Thomas (Cleveland Browns) and Jake Long (Miami Dolphins). Offensive linemen, specifically left tackles, will be the subject of a future ballot. But suffice it to say, I value offensive linemen enough to put arguably the best two in the league on a top-10 ballot.

2011年5月21日星期六

Yao Ming wants to stay with Houston Rockets

HOUSTON (AP) — Yao Ming says his surgically repaired left ankle is healing properly and he would like to remain with the Houston Rockets.
Yao said Thursday that he won't know until later this summer if he'll be able to play next season. He becomes a restricted free agent July 1.
A stress fracture in the ankle kept Yao out of all but five games last season and he had surgery in January.
Yao spoke during a visit to a Houston elementary school. He answered questions in English, and taught the children to say "good morning" in his native Chinese.

2011年4月10日星期日

Paul Grizzlies have no goals in the victory over the Hornets

MEMPHIS, Tenn.—O.J. Mayo scored 18 points, Marc Gasol added 16 and the Memphis Grizzlies continued their march to the postseason with a 111-89 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday.
Hornets All-Star guard Chris Paul was held scoreless for the first time in his career, missing all six of his field goal attempts. An 88-percent free throw shooter, Paul went to the line once and missed both shots. He did have 10 assists.

Both teams already have clinched spots in the Western Conference playoffs but are now jockeying for seeding position. The victory pulled Memphis even with the Hornets for the seventh spot. The teams split the season series 2-2, but the Hornets own the second tiebreaker with a better record in the Southwest Division.

Sam Young and Zach Randolph scored 14 points apiece for Memphis, which won for the sixth time in seven games. Greivis Vasquez added a career-high 13 points, hitting all five of his shots. Randolph had six assists.

Marco Belinelli led the Hornets with 18 points, 16 of them in the first quarter. Trevor Ariza, Carl Landry and Willie Green added 11 each for New Orleans, which saw its three-game winning streak snapped.

Memphis continued its season-long trend of dominating inside with 56 points in the paint, compared to 28 for New Orleans. Memphis outrebounded the Hornets 41-34, although New Orleans did grab 11 offensive boards, leading to 19 second-chance points.

Belinelli went 6 of 9 from the field in the first quarter, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, to help the Hornets shoot 52 percent in the period. But Memphis countered by going 13 of 16 in the first to leave the game tied at 30 heading into the second.

The Grizzlies would maintain a strong shooting percentage, ending the half at 66 percent and carrying a 52-48 lead.

Randolph had 10 points for Memphis, which was stymied by 10 first-half turnovers, part of 15 Memphis miscues in the game.

The Grizzlies opened the second half on a 17-8 run for a 69-56 lead, their biggest of the game at that point. Mayo's leaner with 2 seconds left in the third gave the Grizzlies an 82-67 lead as Memphis outscored New Orleans 30-19 in the period.

Memphis then opened the fourth quarter with a 13-3 rally to push the lead to 95-70. At that point, most of the starters for both teams had taken a seat on the bench to rest.

NOTES: A number of the Grizzlies' players and personnel had a different look Sunday. By clinching a playoff berth with Friday's win over Sacramento, the vow not to shave until they reached the postseason was over. Several of the players and coaches modified their wooly look. Others got rid of the facial hair altogether. F Shane Battier shaved his off immediately after Friday's game. ... Memphis is 4-12 in home finales. ... The Grizzlies' first-half shooting percentage was the best for the franchise since April 2, 2008, against the Knicks when they shot 68.2 percent. ... Paul got a technical foul with 3:08 left in the third when he got upset about a plastic sports drink bottle ending up on the floor during play. He kept complaining to the officials about it until it drew the tech.

2011年3月25日星期五

Draft Dose: Two-sport athletes

With the possibility of a blockade of the NFL next season, there was speculation that QB Jake Locker could try the absence of an NFL season as an opportunity to try their luck in a career in baseball. Local twice by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who have developed their rights. A baseball scout quoted anonymously in Baseball America, Locker said a possible Hall of Fame could be.  However, Locker has reaffirmed its commitment to the survival of football.

In this sense, in 搂 19 of the draft dose series, we investigate the case of famous athletes in both sports were in their respective projects.

Prime Time  was the fifth pick in 1989 by the NFL Falcons. But a year ago, the New York Yankees as an outfielder selected Sanders in the series 30 of the MLB draft. Sanders played for four teams in nine seasons in the majors, but never played a full season, and he was still juggling football and baseball. His best moment baseball have helped the Braves in the World Series in 1992. Sanders, of course, made his fortune on the football field as one of the best cornerbacks in the league history. The eight-time Pro Bowl ended his career with 53 interceptions, nine of them in return for scores. Sanders will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.


After a dominant career at Auburn that included Heisman Trophy, Jackson was the first choice for Tampa Bay in the 1986 draft in the NFL. However, Jackson chose to play baseball, rather than after the Royals selected him in the fourth round of the 1986 baseball draft. Jackson made his debut in Major League September, a stunning achievement in itself, and one of Steve Carlton in his first major league at-bat. However, Jackson returned to football after the Raiders selected him in the seventh round and offered him more money and flexibility for both sports play again. Jackson played four seasons with the Raiders, so that the Pro Bowl in 1990, but he only played in 10 games this year. Jackson played eight seasons in baseball, was an All-Star game as a left fielder, but at the end of his career was cut short in two sports after he had to have his hip surgery. He played two seasons in baseball, but back in the NFL.


After a career in football and basketball in the state of Florida, including a Heisman Trophy, is not sure he wanted Ward to play professionally. Ward said NFL teams he would play basketball, unless it is a first round pick was. Like most teams did not have great value, Ward was drafted in the 1994 NFL draft, he went to play basketball. Ward was playing one of the first round pick of the New York Knicks in the NBA in 1994 and went to 12 seasons in the NBA, averaging just over six points per game in his career.


Elway was drafted by the Royals in 1979 but not yet signed. Two years later, the New York Yankees and signed Elway, who hit .318 in 42 minor league games. Elway then uses his keen sense for baseball as a lever to force him from Baltimore. The Colts took Elway with the first pick in the NFL in 1983, but Elway publicly declared their intention to never play for Baltimore. The Colts gave up and traded Elway the Broncos, where he went to Denver to two Super Bowl victory. The nine-time Pro Bowl was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004, and the conversation over a quarter of all time.


If you saw a couple of Fame, a league All-Star and the head so far in this list, sometimes does not attempt the two sports. can be taken after a solid career at Michigan as an example of A. Henson, Henson was drafted in the third round of the 1998 draft by the Yankees in the Major Leagues. Fast forward to 2003 and Henson had just nine plate appearances as a registered player in the majors. In the hope of more success on the field, Henson joined the Cowboys after the change of third-round pick for the Texans, the Henson as trade bait worked out in the sixth round of the QMJHL for 2003 NFL. The Cowboys thought they had found a potential franchise quarterback, but Henson has started one game for the  boys to forget an initial laboratory ended Day, when he spoke of Vinny Testa Verde has been replaced. Henson has recovered in the years prior to the in two roles in  08 with the Lions. Henson was one of the two-action game and moved shortly thereafter, resulting in a promising career to an end.

2011年3月17日星期四

Sacramento Kings trade name file Anaheim

SACRAMENTO, have Calif.The Sacramento Kings a step toward a possible route for the relocation of South Anaheim taken explore California.With Reyes, an attorney for the Sacramento, the owners of the plants at least four states trademark registrations in that month.

The names that are in line with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site to be announced: Royal Anaheim, Anaheim Real Southern California, Orange County and the Royals Royals Los Angeles. The presentation took place on 3 March by attorney Scott Hervey, on behalf of the League of crickets, a company in Nevada.

Hervey worked for Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof in the previous fiscal sports, including skate competition Maloof Money Cup in Orange County. A message left on a comment that was not immediately seek to Hervey again Wednesday.

Joe Maloof declined to leave a comment on the statement of marks and a message with a spokesman for the NBA was not immediately returned.

The name change would be a return to the days before the franchise.

The franchise has been extended trips, known as the Rochester Royals in the first season in the NBA in 1949, winning the title in 1951 before moving to Cincinnati in 1957. If the Cincinnati Royals in Kansas City back in 1972, it was decided to change his name to avoid conflict with the Kansas City Royals Baseball, he joined the American League in 1969.

The Kings kept their nickname when they moved to Sacramento in 1985, but another name change is very likely that if the club 35 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, where the NHL Los Angeles Kings have played since 1967, moved.

Coincidentally, the Kings have played several home games this season in uniform, leaving the NBA champion Rochester Royals in 1951.

The NBA already has an extension of the Kings by 18 April granted a request to transfer file next season. Teams normally have until 1 March, a measure for the upcoming season apply.

The Kings have the option of their options in the meeting of the NBA Board of Governors from 14 to 15 discuss Season finale in Sacramento on 13 April at home against the rival Lakers.

Sacramento has refused for years a public body, the support is crucial for the financial recovery Maloof build long-term.

Sacramento Johnson also said that building work on a new stadium for a franchise in the NBA  with or without kings.

2011年3月3日星期四

The decision of the NBA trade deadline infected: The Book of Norman

The root of the decision is still devastating to travel to the multinational corporations, franchise basketball and professional speakers: LeBron James lottery month after a man, played with the cable TV network is still ashamed of ESPN NBA team its recovery and maintain Jim Gray-mi-Mike-o-te-foot radio career continued to grow.
Today we focus on the impact of the NBA, because, frankly, a couch slouch only focus on one thing at a time.
In his dedication to a remote beach in southern Florida, James has transformed the landscape of the NBA, so that the continental drift and suddenly reverse generations of immigrants to the West. If Horace Greeley were alive today, no doubt, he said, Behold the man, young, or at least book a trip for three days on Staten Iceland.
With an intense period of trade, here's a look at it again after the decision NBA? In Miami, the three tenors James, Dwyane Wade and the other is a night show with standing ovations, but the show could be closed before the end of the NBA.
? With the help of a thousand miles away Isiah Thomas, the Knicks have shot known to the act of singing and dancing, Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony as the first, ask questions after a tragic comedy work in the world's most famous stadium maintained.
(We'll talk in our special Kim and Kourtney Take New York. NBA version of the article)? Nugget and cracked, bad Danilo Gallinari is a city full of Italians in a city full of olive gardens.
? The Celtics also a single list (Jeff Green), they think of Kevin Garnett always trash talking, finger-pointing to achieve eye-catching antics are bar to another championship.
? Kendrick Perkins is now in Oklahoma City, where his signature is the latest sensation cow tipping scowl.
? Deron Williams, now with New Jersey. The agreement included an EZ Pass.
(Was Former coach Jerry Sloan Jazz sit in a Ramada Inn lounge, sipping a whiskey and water, if new trade Williams appeared on the big screen. Immediately paid his tab, hailed a taxi and told the driver twice as long at EnergySolutions Arena but half way I did not need it, and asked the waiter to bring him back to his barstool. You made the right choice Jerry.)? Kirk Hinrich is in Atlanta. The Hawks have done that, to preserve only the face, because in the grand scheme of things, where he played Hinrich no influence on the outcome of a contest NBA.
? Mo Williams, left less than LeBron in Cleveland have the option of a witness protection program or the Clippers. Unfortunately, he chose the Clippers.
? The Clippers Baron Davis trade because they could.
? To their credit, the Wizards no matter where LeBron planned on the budget and the game for a 60-loss season.
OK, you can see, dealing the Knicks-Nuggets-Timberwolves. It was a severe blow, in broad daylight for Denver, with the help of their network management Knicks Mikhail Prokhorov bait with a bid-to-know-Melo to refuse the tactics. Hey, if the Nuggets had kept for 12 hours, the Knicks Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and the Statue of Liberty would be thrown.
That's what I say about the czar Knicks, James Dolan: If you have never had the formula for Coca-Cola, had come when they are ready, it tastes like cough syrup disadvantages.
Of course, some fans of the Knicks are now thinking that they are ready for a career in the title. To that I say and Melo Amare appropriate means that the Knicks are clearly now the fourth or fifth best team in the Eastern Conference. Congratulations.
Amare Melo and we will take you to the promised land, they will lead to Foot Locker. They are the two scorers in the wonderful and amazing defense. Melo could not stop when the bus is a bus stop.
The idea of the pressure on the Knicks defense is that to stop Spike Lee.
In a related development, Jim Gray hopes his film career with an interview on YouTube a tirade Charlie Sheen end.

2011年2月22日星期二

Fans gush as news of Melo trade hits bars

New York City basketball fans were excited Monday night as news spread that the Knicks finally acquired Carmelo Anthony as part of a three-team, 12-player deal.

“Oh my god, I’m so excited,” exclaimed Angel Macias, 21, from Brooklyn. “It’s a jump. This will make everything better. He’s definitely going to carry the team and they are definitely going to go to the playoffs.”

“The Knicks really needed someone to play with Amar'e and they finally got that go to guy,” Todd Brzozowski, 26.

That was the overwhelming feeling is that this was the move that would finally put the Knicks over the top. But being New Yorkers just trading for Anthony is not enough, now he has to provide the results.

“Just trading for Anthony is not enough,” explained Charlie Sanchez, 23. “It takes a lot more than just getting a guy. They have to mesh well together and the moral has to be strong otherwise the team will be weak.

A few felt a sting in the amount that the Knicks gave up, but understood that getting a player of Anthony’s stature usually stings.

“It is rough what they lost,” Brzozowski said. “That’s what has to happen to get a premiere player like that. It’s going to be especially bad losing Gallinari because he just had so much potential. He’s a big guy and a good shooter, you don’t just find those.”

The bartender at the Bean Post Pub in Brooklyn, where the Nets will soon call home, Dave Qualben, 25, was especially excited at the prospect of the Knicks making the playoffs.

“The best thing for New York bars are its teams making the playoffs,” Qualben said. “If it were up to me every New York team would make the playoffs every year.”

There were a few skeptics, but the overwhelming feeling is that this is the move that puts the Knicks over the top. Almost everyone felt that the playoffs were inevitable and some even thought that a NBA title was even possible.

“They can challenge any team in the league now,” Macias said. “I don’t see why isn’t not possible for them to go all the way. It’ll be tough, but they might be able to do it.”

The deal has yet to be official, but according to ESPN's Chris Broussard the Knicks will send Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, and a 2014 first-round draft pick to the Nuggets along with additional picks and cash. In return the Knicks get Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and Renaldo Balkman.

The Knicks will also send Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry to Minnesota as part of the deal and Corey Brewer will now be a Knick, according to the newspaper.