ESPN ’30 for 30′ Series to Return

ESPN announced today that the popular ”30 for 30″ series of sports documentaries will return this fall. The first installment of the series debuted in 2009. Some of the topics included the violent culture of Miami football in the 1980s and early 1990s, the life of running back Ricky Williams, the death penalty leveled against the SMU football team, and much more. The topics of the new films will include things like the 1983 UNC championship basketball team, Bo Jackson’s amazing careers in pro baseball and football, and pro athletes going broke.

In addition to the full length 30 for 30 films, columnist Bill Simmons’ website Grantland.com will feature short “30 for 30″ stories from five to nine minutes long. A new version of these abbreviated “30 for 30″ films will be unveiled each month.

I personally am excited to see a new batch of “30 for 30″ films come out. I really enjoyed watching the first set of films. I think that the storytelling in those films was superb. It was nice learning about and getting to see some important things from sports history, which is an area that I feel is often neglected. I never knew about things like the SMU death penalty before I saw the “30 for 30″ film on that topic.

I also think that it is a good idea to have the short video “30 for 30″ series on Grantland.com. Grantland is becoming one of my favorite websites with its entertaining commentary on sports and more. And these new short video stories a great addition. The first one came out today and features Pete Rose. It provides a glimpse into Rose’s life now as he makes his living signing autographs in a Las Vegas sports memorabilia store. Though the video is only about eight minutes long, the quality is pretty much on par with the full length “30 for 30″ films.

Read more about the extension of the “30 for 30″ series here: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/espn-doubles-up-on-30-for-30-documentary-series/

And check out the new short Pete Rose “30 for 30″ feature here: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7930049/another-30-films-subjects-stories-captured-our-attention

Saints Coaching Situation

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was recently suspended for a full season without pay by the NFL  for the bounty scandal involving former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and several players. Under the bounty program, players were paid to deliver “kill shots” on certain players in games and Williams ran the program. Payton had knowledge of the program but did nothing to stop it, and that is where his punishment comes in. Payton’s suspension is the first punishment of its kind for an NFL head coach. Payton may appeal the suspension, however. But, in the meantime, it is looking like legendary coach Bill Parcells may take over the interim head coaching position for the Saints if Payton’s suspension is upheld. That would be a very interesting development if it happens. If the Saints got Parcells on board for the season, they would probably not even miss a step without Payton. You could argue that the Saints should not be allowed to bring in whoever they want for this season, but I believe that it is perfectly fine. It is Payton getting punished, not the whole Saints organization. The Saints do not want to lose Payton, but having Parcells for a season is probably the next best thing.

Read more here: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AuYEtV7EPVTHKyQdQ8O9JNM5nYcB?slug=ap-saints-future

NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest

Last night, the NBA rolled out its annual All-Star Saturday Night festivities. My favorite event of the night is always the slam dunk contest, even if it has lost it’s luster. The roster for this year’s contest did not include any stars, and, honestly, I did not really know who any of them were except for former Arizona star Derrick Williams.

To start, Chase Budinger of the Houston Rockets came out and dunked over Diddy, which was a pretty nice dunk, made possible by Diddy’s excellent lob to Budinger. Then, Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz came out and did a reverse dunk, which was okay, but nothing special. Paul George of the Indiana Pacers was next, and he dunked over his 7′ 2” teammate Roy Hibbert and his 6′ 6” teammate Dahntay Jones. That dunk was impressive considering the difficulty in jumping over Hibbert, though he did push off of Hibbert’s back a little bit. To finish off the first round, Derrick Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves dunked over a motorcycle, which was nice, but not great.

The stars of the second round were Jeremy Evans and Paul George. Evans did the dunk of the night when he caught two balls lobbed to him by teammate Gordon Hayward and dunked them, all while in the air. Then, George pulled some creativity out of his sleeve when he had the arena turn off the lights to reveal his glow-in-the-dark uniform. Then, he did a 360 windmill dunk what was impressive, but hard to see considering the arena was pretty much pitch black.

The final round of the contest was not the greatest. The contestants tried their hand at ”tribute” dunks recognizing legends of the game. Budinger did a reverse dunk while “blindfolded” in honor of Cedric Ceballos’ blindfolded dunk in 1992. Evans dunked over Kevin Hart, who was wearing mailman attire, to honor legendary Jazz player Karl Malone, who was nicknamed “The Mailman”. George attempted to slap a sticker of Pacers GM Larry Bird’s face on the backboard before dunking, but he ran out of stickers before he made the dunk. Finally, Williams attempted to bounce the ball off of the backboard and put it between his legs before dunking, but he could not get it and had to settle for a regular two-handed dunk after a lob to himself off of the backboard.

After the fans voted, which was a new feature this year, Evans came away as the champ, most likely because of his two ball dunk. That dunk was really good, but, overall, the rest of the dunks really were not all that great. Maybe next year we will see Blake Griffin back in the contest or even Lebron James, but I am not banking on it. And, as I am typing this, the West just beat the East 152-149 in the All-Star game to wrap the weekend. Check out dunk champion Jeremy Evan’s performance from Saturday below, in super slow-mo.

NFL Championship Weekend Predictions

Well, well, well. Here we are at championship weekend in the NFL again, and it is shaping up to be a good one. In the first game of the afternoon on Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens will travel to face the New England Patriots. In the second game of the day, the New York Giants will travel to face the San Francisco 49ers. Here are my predictions for the two games:

Ravens at Patriots – 3:30 PM ET – CBS

This game will pit one of the league’s best defenses (Ravens) against one of the league’s best offenses (Patriots). The Patriots do not have the best defense, but their offense has picked up the slack by outscoring opponents. However, with the tough defense of the Ravens, it will be hard for the Patriots to put up a ton of points. The hardest defense that the Patriots faced during the regular season was that of the Pittsburgh Steelers and they lost that game 25-17. The Steelers defense is a little better than the Ravens defense, but not by a lot. The difference in this game will come down to how well the Ravens can perform on offense. The Ravens are still young on offense, and I think that will be tip the game to the Patriots. Tom Brady has been through several big games before and he knows how to win them, especially at home. Also, the Patriots defense played well against the Broncos last week, and I believe that they can have a decent game this week to send the Patriots back to the Super Bowl. My Prediction: Patriots 28 Ravens 17

 

Giants at 49ers – 6:30 PM ET – Fox

The Giants have surged in the playoffs, coming up with two huge wins after a regular season that was not spectacular for them. The 49ers had one of the best records in the NFL this season under first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has turned the team around. The 49ers went 6-10 last season and 13-3 this season. Last week, both teams came up with huge wins over teams with very potent offenses. The Giants beat the Packers and the 49ers beat the Saints. This game has the potential to be a shootout, both teams can put up a lot of points. It is going to be fairly close, but I believe that the 49ers will win. The 49ers already beat the Giants in the regular season, plus, I believe that the illness that Giants QB Eli Manning has been suffering will affect him on Sunday and the 49ers will advance to the Super Bowl in front of their home crowd. My Prediction: 49ers 31 Giants 21

The Real Bowl Season

To me, New Year’s marks the start of the “real bowl season”. Yes, there are 26 bowls prior to New Year’s day, but after that date is when the best schools suit up for the best and biggest games. Bowls are supposed to be rewards for good seasons and most of the schools that play on and after New Years deserve to be rewarded; they are the best of the best from that college football season. This year, the bowl s from Jan.2 and later have been amazing games so far. On Jan. 2, prolific QB Case Keenum from Houston threw for a ridiculous 532 yards and three touchdowns to lead his team to a 30-14 win over Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl. On the same day, Michigan State and Georgia played an amazing game in the Outback Bowl, that saw Michigan State come back from a 16-0 deficit and eventually win the game 33-30 in three overtimes.

If that was not enough, there were two more great games on Jan. 2. In the Rose Bowl, Oregon and Wisconsin faced each other in what turned out to be a shootout as both schools flexed their offensive muscle. Oregon pulled out the 45-38 win in the end in their chrome-finish helmets. To finish off the day, Oklahoma State beat Stanford 41-38 in overtime in what was also a shootout. Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon had 186 yards and three touchdowns in what will turn out to be his last game at the college level; he will enter the NFL draft.

On Jan.3, Michigan played Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. This game turned out great as well as Virginia Tech tied up the game in the fourth quarter and it went to overtime. In overtime, a Virginia Tech touchdown was erased in a controversial call. Then, after the touchdown was called back, Virginia Tech missed a field goal. After that, Michigan kicked a field goal and won the game 23-20.

On Jan. 4, West Virginia and Clemson will play in the Orange Bowl. That should be a great game as well. Then, on Jan. 6 in the Cotton Bowl, Kansas State will play Arkansas in a big matchup. There are a couple of small bowls over the weekend, and then the bowl season will conclude with the big one; the national championship game of LSU vs. Alabama on Jan. 9.

College Football Rivalry Week

Well, rivalry week has rolled around again in college football to cap off what has been another great regular season. Two of the biggest games of the week have already been played, as Texas beat Texas A&M on Thursday night and LSU beat Arkansas on Friday. The Texas vs. Texas A&M is traditionally a big game, but the stakes were even higher this year as this was the last conference matchup between the two foes. Texas A&M will be moving to the SEC out of the Big 12 starting next season. The game offered a good finale to a longtime Texas tradition. Texas A&M had the lead until the third quarter, and then they took the lead back in the fourth quarter, but lost on a last second Texas field goal.

Today, LSU really showed how great of a team that they are, beating Arkansas 41-17. Arkansas actually had a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, but then the explosive LSU Tigers scored three touchdowns before the half, including a 92 yard punt return by Tyrann Mathieu, to take the 21-14 lead. Arkansas only scored a field goal in the second half, and LSU pulled away in the fourth quarter.

On Saturday, I am personally looking forward to the Virginia Tech vs. Virginia game, being a native Virginian. It is great that the stakes are high this year, as the winner of the game will take the ACC Coastal Division title and go to the ACC Championship game. The last couple of years, Virginia Tech has been head and shoulders better than UVA, but not this year. UVA is looking really good, and should get even better in the next couple of years under second-year head coach Mike London. London seems to really be turning that program around.

I am also looking forward to the Notre Dame vs. Stanford game. Beating Stanford would be a big win for the Irish, but Stanford QB Andrew Luck will be looking to pad his Heisman Trophy resume after a bad loss to Oregon.

And, oh yeah, I definitely cannot forget about the always big Alabama vs. Auburn game, pitting the last two national champions against each other. And also, the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech and Clemson vs. South Carolina games should be great this year as well. There is a full slate of great games this weekend, and it will be fun to sit back and watch how it all unfolds.

MLB News

Some big news in Major League Baseball came out today. First off, the sale of the Houston Astros was finalized. As part of the sale, the Astros will move from the NL Central division to the AL West division  starting in 2013. This will create a balance of 15 teams in both the AL and NL Also, possibly starting next season, there will be two more wild card sports for the playoffs, increasing the total number of teams in the playoffs to 10. In addition, the Chicago Cubs hired former Milwaukee Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum as their new manager. Lastly, Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw was named the NL Cy Young winner, garnering 27 of the 32 first-place votes.