Slappin' Backboards

I'm ready to have my favorite sports teams on the west coast. I rock with the Lakers so I'd love to have my football rooting interests there.  

The LA Rams. 

I'm pretty excited about the new team/city. Rebrand the whole team with a high sexy draft pick coming in 2015. The LA Rams will be the same players in a different city. Where the community will support them and love them and attend all their games.  The Rams will be play in a great state of the art arena playing to a sold out crowd.  The team could be successful because they will have the audience to support the team and not be cannibalized by the baseball fans. Everyone will share equally. I'm excited for a new team and new attitude. 

The LA Rams. 

St. Louis will lose the Rams. There is no effort from the general public and public officials to keep the team in the St. Louis area. The Rams have only had 4 winning seasons in their history in St. Louis. 4. I remember all of those years. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003. Other than that, Rams have been pretty much shit. In the last 10 years they have been especially awful.

The fan base was rocking in the early years then fell off a cliff. Fan support at a low while the city eats up the recent Cardinals success. With that went public interest and popularity of the Rams.As the fans left and the TWA Dome...I mean.... Edwards Jones Dome continues to fall behind the times.  Recently the Dome book a concert event. For the first time in 10 years. The Dome couldn't land a 60,000 seat act because of the amenities are so bad. The Rams want a new arena with the help of the public and the people of STL don't want to foot the bill. This is the where the Cardinals have been killing Rams fans. For the last 10 years the Cards have been consistency successful while the Rams have been woefully terrible.  The people of St. Louis don't care if the Rams left for LA. Public officials don't have a plan to keep them in the area. 

I'm happy for Michael Sam and the Cowboy organization. He was added to their practice squad this week after the Rams released him.  

1. Happy for Sam being given chance. He has some serious skills. Once he's able to crack the rosters he will produce. He can be a great rotation guy this year. He plays the run well and has quick hands. Give him some time and he will be a quality player. Plays with a chip on his shoulder. 

2. Sam was a long shot to make this roster. With a top 5 defensive line that has depth and youth, Sam was 3rd on the depth chart coming into camp.  Sam needed to excel on Special Teams to make this squad and he didn't do that. He was battling with Ethan Westbrooke and he had a great camp and made his mark in the preseason games.  

3. Happy that the Rams took him in the draft. It was a win/win for everyone.  Keep the boy at home and show that he can be productive in the league. 

4. I do think that teams were afraid to pick him up because he is a gay athlete. Let's be completely honest people. It wasn't about skills or scheme fits, the preseason proved that he can play in this league. Teams didn't want to handle to media coverage. ESPN proved that with the shower coverage last week.  Their coverage of his status on the daily is as constant as Johnny**does money sign** Manziel. Teams didn't want that problem. 

5. There is only one team that would love to be front and center on ESPN.com and lead story on Sportscenter, The Dallas Cowboys. Jerry isn't dumb. Add some much needed depth to the defensive front for cheap and skyrocket to top in jersey sales.  Win/Win.  

When I first heard about what happened in the city of Ferguson I wasn't surprised. I've lived in the Metro East of St. Louis through my adolescent years and I can tell you the racial tension is palpable. Countless times, I've heard my Dad tell me stories about him growing up in STL and I've experienced some of that tension myself. Pulled over in St. Louis County by the cops, funny looks when we're out shopping in The Loop, racially lead dress codes at new nightclubs in STL.  Just recently I was home and went to the new Ballpark Village area around the Busch stadium. White and black people mingling together enjoying a night out of fun. When the club closed you could feel the tension as white and black folks headed to their cars. I said to my brother, "it's only a matter of time before a dress code is enforced and they kick all the black folks out." 

The city and surrounding Metro East hasn't dealt with their racial problems, whites/minorities just try to stay as far apart as they can. White flight further this divide as the majority of white residents fled to the surrounding counties and left minorities in the city.  This is where the divide starts, when black folks go where white folks usually go then the trouble starts. It could be anywhere in STL - The Loop, Galleria, Riverfront, any popular nightclub. 

Last week, Steve Ballmer bought the LA Clippers for $2 Billion dollars. The sale is significant because its outs one of the longest tenured owner in the NBA in Donald Sterling.   My initial reaction to the sale was WOW. That is a pretty high number based off the recent sale of the Milwaukee Bucks for the then record of $550 Million.  The NBA ownership is slowing changing and is skewing more toward young businessmen who are self-made men. People are now seeing the NBA as an exclusive club where you invest will triple or double in years time.

 There are a couple of  factors playing into the high price paid for the Clippers.  To start, the NBA is a very exclusive club. There are only 30 franchises and they rarely are available. Numerous people have been clamoring to join the ranks of the club.  Ballmer knew he had to make a splash to get his team and sole ownership. He saw an opportunity in LA where the Lakers had a uncharacteristic down year.   

The Clipper deal is interesting because of the pending NBA TV deal and how lucrative the money can be for franchises.  There are a number of TV networks and companies looking to profit off one of America's only global sports.  There are huge opportunities in India, China, and Europe for the NBA to continue to expand into.  LA is the second biggest marketing with a huge potential local TV deal looming.  Ballmer knows what the Lakers got from Time Warner for their TV package and he is eyeing something similar. 

To preface this I'm a new Soccer fan. I've learned to appreciate the game, watching great players make sensational plays. The heighten tension in a nil-nil game with time running out for your team to pull of the victory. I got hooked last World Cup watching the US team come back from behind to beat Ghana.  Landon Donovan was a key piece to that team. 

That won't be the the case this year.  

USMNT manager Jurgen Klinsmann's Donovan, America's all-time leading scorer, off the roster.  Donovan was the most experienced player at camp, amassing 12 WC appearances.  It was a very controversial move to say the least.  I can understand why Klinsmann left Donovan off the roster. Age, production, and  the rise of  younger players were all legitimate factors in his decision. 

The US got a tough draw at this year's World Cup.  Ghana, Germany, and Portugal. That's murder's row if you ask me.  Over the weekend I caught up on the fantastic 30 for 30 documentary series following the USMNT on their path to the WC.  In one particular scene, you see the younger players in awe watching Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. You can see the fear written across their face. They wanted no parts of him at all.  Shook.    

That is the one thing Donovan brings to this team: experience.  With the tough draw, I think you need all the experience you can get.  Leaving Donovan off this roster you lost a significant player who could (or could not) add a little something to this team. Maybe he could offer some advice to the young defensive men on the team. Maybe he could give some insight into Nigeria's defense from his experience last year.  I don't know what he could offer in terms of playing time but I know that I would love to have the old vet in the ear of my younger guys.  

Last week, it was reported that Apple was in the midst of purchasing headphone maker, Beats by Dre for $3.2 billion dollars.  The shocking news was confounding to many:  Why Beats by Dre? The deal would be Apple’s largest acquisition to date and many pundits wondered why the company would spend this amount of money on this particular headphone maker? Here are two likely reasons why Apple is making such a bold move.

Music Streaming Service

 Pandora and Spotify are real competition for Apple's slowly growing iRadio music streaming service. There are few times in Apple’s history when the tech powerhouse released products that were not well received by consumers; iRadio is one of those times.  To remedy this, Apple is seeking to purchase Beats by Dre to, in a word, compete.  The Beats Music app improved the music streaming landscape by infusing music bloggers, executives, and tastemakers to curate their own individual playlists. Beats improved upon what Spotfiy was already offering with a specific and intelligent music selection process included.  

 Spotify has over 25 million subscribers to its music service while Beats Music has only a reported 110,000 paid subscriptions.  So why not purchase Spotify?  While Spotfiy offers users a massive subscription base, Beats by Dre offers users hardware and a steaming music service. Apple wasn't just interested in the steaming music service and hardware it was interested in something more important. The only real reason to pick Beats over Spotify is….

Beats by Dre's Cool Factor

 Beats by Dre is undeniably cool. From famous athletes to music superstars, the headphone company has marketed its product to a certain demographic:  the young, music savvy, social media age generation.  On metro rides or walks through my neighborhood, I see the headphones on a daily basis.

Here's Light Skinned Leon aka AG with a Grammy recap:

The Grammys are voted on annually by credited music industry professionals who belong to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (aka the Recording Academy); but how exactly does the academy make their decision? What exactly was it that made the academy determine that Macklemore had a better album than equally deserving Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar? After taking home four Grammys Macklemore reached out to his fellow artist admitting he felt like K Dot was robbed of his victory for best rap album of the year. As grateful as he was, the independent artist tweeted a screenshot of his text to Kendrick stating how he thought Kendrick should have won the award for his critically acclaimed Good Kid Mad City. Now, both rappers are great. Fresh and new and Stepped into the hip hop scene to make a huge name for themselves by making good music. And they did it without stupid gimmicks or hoodrat ass dance tracks. However, there is a lot of hate out there for Macklemore's winning over Kendrick with the suspicion that race had everything to do with it. Macklemore is a duo group composed of two white artists. Kendrick Lamar is a black kid from Compton LA. Mack won four awards. Kendrick won zero. Now this race thing is touchy because it isn't absolute. Meaning you can't say for sure that the panel of judges are total racists that wouldn't give Kendrick an award if his life depended on it. Maybe they really thought Mack had the better album. But fans beg to differ. Fact of the matter is this isn't the first time fans believe their favorite black artist was over looked by the academy for a lesser deserving white artist. And now in days unless you have status like Jay-Z a young black artist has to completely sell out in order to be recognized by the academy. And some would say this is why we have the BET awards. That This is why we have movies, music and television produced with only the black community in mind. Because America refuses to admit black people not only exist in the entertainment industry, but are striving in it. Idk though. I personally didn't like Kendrick at all until I heard Good Kid MADD City, which was phenomenal. And everything he has touched since then seems to glitter like gold. But in the same breath Mack is dope too. I can't say for sure that racism is a predominant factor in the deciding of a prestigious award given by the academy, but it sure does look fishy sometimes. What do yal think? That Performance by Kendrick and image dragons though??? I know kacey musgraves had to feel stupid following that epileptic seizure inducing, blood spraying rock/rap show with her dainty Christmas lights on her cowboy boots.

The injury bug is a mother.  

Nash down.

Blake down. 

Farmar down. 

Kobe down. 

Man down.

The Lakers have been ravaged by injuries this year and now Kobe is down again for the foreseeable future.  I couldn't  help but think of Nash when I heard about his knee injury.  At his age these injuries will only slow him down more. I hope for a speedy recovery from Kobe Bean Bryant. The injury could take 6 weeks to recover from so we are looking at the All-Star break for his possible return.  This is a lost season, I'm almost at the point of not rushing him back at all this year. 

What's the point? 

Bean, take all the time you need. Plan for 2015 and 2016 get as healthy as you can to make the final push.  The Lakers are at best an 8th seed, bound for an early round exit in the playoffs. That is the BEST case scenario. 

Be bad and improve that draft position, I want them to miss the playoffs. A playoff spot doesn't help the Lakers in the long run, I want them to be bad. Not tanking bad, but pretty bad.  This team needs youth and a good draft pick in a loaded 2014 draft class.  

I have to admit, I loved Kobe's intro music. 

After being away from the game for nearly 8 months it showed as soon as the game started.  Kobe looked pensive and a bit slow his first game back.

I think it will take a couple of weeks for him to get his legs back, he didn't have that lift to hit his shots consistently.  I'm not worried about his game, his skill set is still unmatched.  I think Kobe will alter his game a la Jordan and take more easy mid range jumpers.  Kobe's footwork will still allow him to get those pull up and fade away jumpers pretty easily from any place on the court.  

Through the 1st quarter the Lakers were caught Kobe watching a bit, waiting from him to make his move then react. I'm more concerned with how the rest of the team will adjust to having Kobe back.  D'Antoni is going to have to tweak his lineups to find the right mix of athleticism to put around Kobe.   Guys like Nick Young and Xaiver Henry thrive with the ball in there hands, but will the ball get sticky with Kobe in the lineup?

D'Antoni usually keeps the lineup in the game who is playing well.  He took out Xavier Henry midway through the 4th quarter right as he was heating up. I think that took the life out of the Lakers and stifled the momentum the bench players created. Someone is going to lose minutes with Kobe's return. 

Please don't let it be the Swaggy one. 

By:  KS

As a sports fan, you learn that witnessing true greatness is rare and exciting but you always have tucked in the back of your mind one inescapable truth in every sport:  all good things come to an end.

Since he first put on #7 for the Virginia Tech Hokies, I was a Michael Vick fan.  The quarterback from Newport News, VA, in just over one quarter of play, scored three rushing touchdowns in his first collegiate game as a redshirt freshman.  On one play he would somersault in grand fashion; however, that celebratory move caused an ankle injury that would sideline him for the remainder of that game and the game to follow.  To me, that single incident sums up Michael Vick’s career and perhaps was more prophetic than any of us ever knew.

 Vick would go on to finish his collegiate career with 1,216 rushing yards (an average of 5.5 yds.), 17 touchdowns, and a completion percentage of 56.3.  At his Pro Day workout, Vick ran a 4.3 40-yard dash though his time has been clocked as low as 4.25, the fastest ever for an NFL Quarterback.  Drafted as the 1st overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, Michael Vick would have a dazzling, sometimes abysmal first half of his career.  Known more for his elusiveness and incessant injuries than his passing accuracy, Vick would be named to three Pro Bowls before his career was halted.

 We are all intimately familiar with the 2007 dogfighting investigation and subsequent conviction.  I won’t get into the racial politics of sports or how the media demonized this man, though that story is prime to be written; I will only say that Vick’s incarceration would occur at the height of his career.  Sports fans would miss out on a host of what-could-have-beens during his nearly 2-year imprisonment.

 Upon his release, the great Andy Reid gave Michael Vick the chance of a lifetime, a chance at redemption and a chance to remind the world of his ability to be great.  After the McNabb trade and the Kolb concussion, Vick was named the starting quarterback.  He was impressive, in one game throwing for 333 years and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 80 yards and an additional two touchdowns.  His remarkable effort led the Eagles to a playoff birth and his forth Pro Bowl selection at the conclusion of the 2010 season.

 The 2011 Eagles season is one that, as a diehard fan, I’d like to forget.  After several notable offseason acquisitions (to include Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, and Vince Young) and the now infamous “Dream Team” praise, the Eagles looked like hell.  Failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007, this season marked the beginning of the end for Michael Vick. 

The emergence of Nick Foles should not come as a surprise to anyone.  At the start of the 2012 season, Vick was named the starter, though Foles had turned in a very solid preseason performance.  It was during this season that Michael Vick started to look defeated.  He had been taking a lot of hits, his O-line was complete trash, and after the passing of his son, Andy Reid had completely checked out (rightfully so). The state of the Eagles locker room was in utter and irreparable shambles.  The Eagles would finish the 2012 season 4-12 and Andy Reid would be fired. 

I was extremely excited about the announcement of Chip Kelly as the Eagles head coach.  I felt as though Chip’s offensive mind at Oregon would be very well suited for the athletic prowess of Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy and, initially, it was.  The Eagles were mind-blowing in the season opener against the Redskins, though in the second half….well nevermind, a win is a win.  Things were moving along fairly well for the new coach and the rest of the Eagles; however, a week 8-hamstring injury would be the end for Michael Vick.  Since then Nick Foles has turned in quite a resume and most Eagles fans have long forgotten about Vick as the Eagles sit atop the NFC East with an 8-5 record.

Childish Gambino did something really dope. I follow him on Twitter and kept seeing him tweet "Roscoe's Wetsuit" last December. I'm a big fan of TV so I knew that he was leaving Community to do his own thing.  FX picked up a pilot of his new show about a rapper living in Atlanta that is loosely based on his life.  As the year went on Gambino released a short film called Clapping For All the Wrong Reasons.  At the time I thought it could be the beginning of his new TV show.

Gambino set the release date for his new album for December and he started his press run doing all these radio interviews.  I watched a couple of them and I noticed he was wearing the same outfit in every interview. When KS and I visited Philly he came into the bar we were at and I noticed that he was again, wearing the exact same outfit.

His album Because the Internet leaked last week and I wanted to hear the whole project.  I liked '3005' but 'Worldstar' and 'Sweatpants' didn't stick with me when I first heard them.  

I really enjoy this project as a full body of work.  I immediately thought of the flow, pace, and storytelling from Kendrick on G.o.o.d Kid M.ad.d City.  I have been listening to it non-stop and I've put so many people on it, telling them it's really good.  

A couple days ago, Gambino tweeted "becausetheinter.net" and it was a screenplay that continues the story of Clapping For The Wrong Reasons.  That short film served as a prequel to this script.  I thought the script was incredible. The website ties in the songs on the album like the acts of the play.  Gambino also incorporated short silent videos throughout the screenplay. 

My Dad is from St. Louis so naturally I'm a diehard Rams and Cardinals fan.  I still remember watching the Rams win the Super Bowl in '99. I been there for the highs and the extreme lows.  The horrible free agent signings (Drew Bennett's), terrible draft picks (Tim Couch anyone?) and abysmal head coaching decisions (Linehan and Spags) I was there for all of them. 

Then the Jeff Fisher/Les Snead era began in St. Louis in 2012. Snead was the brains behind the massive hall the Atlanta Falcons gave up for Julio Jones. He was coming to St. Louis to rebuild the franchise to it's former Super Bowl glory.  In their first year, they made a choice that changed the franchise forever.  They passed on a franchise changing QB to reload with extra picks.

 Passing on RG3 will save the Rams franchise. 

Last year, I believed it was the right play to rebuild a terrible roster from top to bottom.  The Rams had journeymen and practice squad guys starting on both sides of the ball.  With the RG3 swap, the Rams have netted a nice crop of young talented starters to add to the youngest roster in the league.  

The best thing about this swap is that the Rams won the 'Skins 2014 1st round pick.  The latest draft pick is looking like the most coveted of them all.  If the 'Skins continue to lose (cross your fingers) at worst the pick with be a top 5 draft pick in a incredibly stacked class.  I hope the Rams continue to lose so they can have 2 top 10 picks next year. Year 3 is when the fruits of the RG3 trade should begin to show.  Hopefully the Rams make some noise in the insanely competitive NFC West in 2014. 

 Keep rebuilding Rams and keep believing Rams fan. 

I admit, I love watching this Laker team play. 

The front office did an amazing job of finding young guys (not you Chris Kaman) who want to make a mark in LA.  They work hard on every play and keep fighting until the final horn.  Watching the Lakers come back from 2 (!) 20-point deficits against Portland was exciting and maddening at the same time.  

I can't say I have the same feelings for last year's team.  I loved the drama that surrounded every single game last year. Love it.  I loved when they fired Mike Brown and I hated the D'Antoni hiring.  I loved the "We Want Phil" chants at Staples.  Loved Weekend at Bernie's. It was drama to the highest degree and it was like that the the whole season.  It was fun, but incredibly exhausting.  The ups and downs, will they or won't they, Dwight this Kobe that, everything about last season was so emotional.  I didn't enjoy watching them play basketball I really think in a sick way I enjoyed watching the team become a complete train wreck.   

I enjoy watching this year's team play, a bunch of hungry young guys who just want to hoop. I love how D'Antoni has them playing unselfish ball. I love that Steve Blake is their best player right now (Yes, you read that correctly).  I repeat, STEVE BLAKE is the Lakers best player, hands down. I love everything about this year.

I have the same emotional attachment similar to last year's team, but in a different way.  Less of "I've never seen a fan base so viciously turn on a player as LA did toward Dwight, I love it" type feeling to more of a happier "I'm openly calling another man Swaggy P instead of his real name and I'm OK with that" mindset.  

*Cues up Hollywood Hulk Hogan's intro music*

"When you're N.W.O brother you're N.W.O. 4 LIFE!"

Kobe Bryant just signed a contract extension that will keep him a Laker for the remainder of his career. 

A few things come to mind reading this: 

1. Playing for one team your entire career is done

It's unlikely we will ever see a player play his entire career with one NBA team.  With the new CBA rules and the crop of young guys willing to team up together to win, it's less likely a superstar will stay with his team for longer than 10 years.  

2. Unmatched competitiveness 

We will never see a player like Kobe again. Straight out of the Jordan mold, his fierce competitiveness will never be matched. I'm seeing glimpses of it in Durant and Westbrook but nothing like Kobe. 

3. Kobe's longevity. 

The amount of players we've seen come and go while Kobe has been in the purple and gold is staggering. He fended off the guys like Grant Hill and Reggie Miller.  He's still playing at a high level while fending off the likes of Durant, LeBron, Wade, and now the younger guys like Curry and Westbrook. 

4.  Kobe's "One Over Jordan' moment. 

Kobe finally has the one thing Jordan never could achieve in his career.  The ability to know when he's ready to hang it up for good.  Kobe signed a 2 year extension and that's it. He has two years to win a another ring (unlikely) or catch Jordan on the all time scoring list (very likely). Kobe has accepted that he will go out on top and not pull a  Jordan and come back. 

Weekends all across America in the fall are filled with football. From the college game to the NFL, fans all across America gather in front of their TVs to watch America's new favorite pastime.  The NFL continues to have record number TV viewers on Sundays and this year's Super Bowl will undoubtedly break worldwide viewing audience records again.  But the NFL has a huge problem: the growing concern from fans and players alike on the impact of head injuries and concussions. 

Watching rabid sports fans (myself included), I feel like the NFL is the modern day Coliseum and the players are our gladiators. The crowd is Caesar and what we want is violence, pure uninhibited violence.  We want the violent hits and touchdowns to entice us to cheer.  That's the problem in the NFL, they know the violence is what draws the crowds but it's also killing their gladiators past and present.  

We've all seen the stories about some of our favorite players who are suffering from brain injuries caused by playing football. Recently we've heard more stories of high school players who have died from head injuries sustained on the field. Brett Farve was recently asked, if he had a son would he let him play football? He stated he would have trouble justifying letting him play the game.  

Do fans care about the NFL's problem?

ESPN released an article on the decline of Pop Warner from 2010-2012. Parents have responded and they are taking a stand against the violent game and not letting their sons play.  I've asked myself the same question: would I let my son play the game?  I played in high school and I think it was a great way to learn some important life lessons on teamwork, discipline, and hard work.  Are those lessons important enough to risk his mental health for?