Westbrook Goes to the Niners

Brian Westbrook has been looking for a new home all off season and even tried to get one with the Redskins and his former QB, Donovan McNabb. After that didn't work, time passed and he waited for a good position to open up. The 49ers offered that position signing Westbrook to a one year deal with $1.25 million guaranteed. After the sudden retirement of Glen Coffee, the 49ers needed a 2nd back for Frank Gore. Westbrook is as good as it gets. This might be the perfect backfield combo with Frank Gore being the main HB and Westbrook being the 3rd down back. This move will make the offense better, making for more of a complete passing game.

P.S. Now only if the 49ers had a good QB.

NO MORE TIES!!! NO MORE TIES!!!

If there is one thing that I can't stand about certain sports it's that a game can end in a tie. This rarely happens in American Football, used to happen in Hockey until they changed the rules, and happens quite frequently in REAL Football. That may change for Football, however, as FIFA is considering getting rid of all ties at the World Cup. This of course is designed to get rid of ties during the group stage. This steps needs to be taken. The point of sports is to find out who wins. A tie is a slap in the face to all the fans that watch the game. I say let's consider getting rid of ties in Football all together. Hockey has changed the rules and it's worked out for them. Why not Football?

P.S. Not that ties are really a problem in American Football, the overtime system is a problem. Let them play a full 15 minutes without sudden death rules. Then go into college overtime rules if you don't have a winner.

Pippen and Malone Enter the Hall of Fame

The 2010 Basketball Hall of Fame class were inducted today and two of them stood out. One was the great Karl Malone who spent most of his career with the Utah Jazz and then one year with the Lakers. In his career, Malone scored the second most points of all time with 36,928 points being only behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points). Despite his numbers, Malone never won an NBA Title even with his one year stint with the Lakers. He was blocked from a title by the Pistons that year and the Bulls twice before. Karl Malone enters the Hall of Fame as one of the best scorers of all time but without a title.

The other noticeable inductee was the greatest wing man a star could ever have: Scottie Pippen. Michael Jordan was there to introduce Scottie as he should. As great as Jordan was, he would've never won all those titles without Scottie by his side (well at least one). Scottie was there for all 6 NBA Titles won by Jordan and the Bulls. Pippen of course was humble calling Jordan the Best Teammate. I am happy for Scottie getting the Hall of Fame nod. Today was truly the second fiddle's day.

P.S. The Dream Team was inducted into the Hall of Fame as well. I didn't know that whole squads could get in. Though most of 1992 Olympic Team had already earned the Hall of Fame spot individually. Hence the Dream Team.

K-Rod Going for a KO

Francisco Rodriguez is facing some serious trouble and no, it is not the 3 4 5 spots in the Yankee lineup. After Wednesday's game against the Rockies, K-Rod was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend's father. He was charged with 3rd Degree Assault and 2nd Degree Harassment. He was later released without bail. The Mets have shown their displeasure of K-Rod already by suspending him for two games. A reason for a quick punishment from the Mets is the fact that the assault happened at Citi Field. The Mets don't need him anyway as they are considered out of playoff contention being 57-57 and 9 games behind the Braves in the NL East. Two games, however, means nothing as K-Rod faces up to a year in jail if convicted. Any chance he'll room with Plaxico Burress?

The NL Central Brawl

Baseball has become a little dull lately what with all the great pitching performances and lack of drug scandals. What could be better to help spice things up than a rivalry going overboard. Apparently Brandon Phillips of the Reds made comments about the Cardinals before the game that insulted the defending Division Champs. He used some expletives that George Carlin would be proud of as he expressed his hatred for the Cardinals. This didn't sit well with Yadier Molina as he had a few words with Phillips in the first inning that would lead to a good old fashion brawl. There was a lot of pushing and shoving as both benches cleared for the altercation. However, only the managers, Tony La Russa and Dusty Baker, would be ejected, not Phillips or Molina.

Tension is obviously forming between these two teams as they are approaching the end of the season. The Reds have surprised many people in being in the NL Central race and having a good chance of getting into the playoffs. This brawl elevates that race even more and makes for an exciting finish. The Game would end with a Cardinals win, 8-4, as both teams are now tied for division. MLB will likely hand out some fines and/or suspensions for this but it was still worth it.

P.S. How come hockey players are allowed fight (to a degree)? Not that there should be fighting in the other sports but it's just interesting that the NHL has seemed to have allowed it provided the parties involved go sit on time out for a while. Probably because half the fans expect at least one fight between two toothless hockey players.

The NBA Goes International

For the past few years, the NFL has been hosting games in London in hoping to expand the brand further despite the fact the NFL Europe ceased operations. It seems that the NBA is continuing the international trend. The Nets and the Raptors will play two regular season games in early March at the O2 Arena in London which has already hosted NBA Preseason games.

These moves seem to be continuing the international trends of the major sports: MLB had the opening series in 2008 in Tokyo, the NHL has had some games in Europe, and the NFL incisively promotes American Football in London. Now to be fair, it has worked the other way around. In REAL football, the prestigious European teams, like Real Madrid and Man U, have come over here and played a few friendlies during their off season.

So the question remains: Is this a good move for the NBA? Yes and No. I do think that games overseas can be a good a thing for the sport. Basketball has much more prominence in the world than American Football. There's FIBA and an event for Basketball in the Olympics. American Football doesn't have an Olympic event. It is a bad move, however, by making the games feature the Nets and the Raptors. What about the Bulls, the Lakers, the Heat, or even the Mavericks. Of course, the big teams wouldn't want to give up any home games but it is still a lousy international selection.

P.S. I would usually say that all regular season games deserve to be played at home but it's only basketball.

P.P.S. Well, American Football does have an international organization for the sport. It's called the International Federation of American Football or IFAF. No, I'm not making that up. Wikipedia is.

Morrow's Near No-No

In the year of the No Hitter, Brandon Morrow of the Blue Jays was looking to become the 6th man to accomplish the feat this season. He was facing the Rays (of course) and he had their number throughout the game. He was brilliant on the mound and had a no hitter in 9th and a 1-0 lead. There was two outs with a man on first due to a walk and Evan Longoria was up. He managed to hit Jay Morrow's fastball to the right side. Aaron Hill tried to get the ball with a diving effort but couldn't control it. Ruled a base hit. So much built up for nothing. Well not nothing. Morrow still got the complete game shutout with an amazing 17 k's, something that might be more impressive than a no hitter. Hill and Morrow must feel awful as this was the second time this year a no hitter was broken up in the 9th with two outs to go.

P.S. JOYCE!!!