US Open Preview

Usually known as the toughest test in golf, and this year's installment of the Open is going to be no exception. Now that being said Merion's East Course, located in Ardmore PA(roughly 10 minutes from Villanova) is a short, fast course. Mother Nature is seeking to eliminate the fast component of the course and the fear of many is that the course will be to easy and to this I say you are dead wrong. Let's realize who we are dealing with here, the USGA, these people will find any and every way to make this course nearly impossible and have been able to prove this year after year. Secondly, after seeing the early round play this morning, this course is still going to be fast. In edition to this the rough, especially on the really meat of the golf course, is a ft long. This tall rough can be found immediately where the greens end. This course can get in your head, especially guys who think they will be able to drive and spin their way into victory. If you attempt to spin your way to victory, these greens will destroy you. Get greedy in the driver and you will find your ball in the delightful and soggy tall grass. Ian Poulter has jumped out to an early lead and this can be attributed to his ability to hit low irons and wedges with minimal spin. This becomes an IQ course, especially when on the greens. My biggest key for the competitors, especially as the course becomes drier as we move into the weekend. I have a few guys that I think will lead the charge this weekend among the red wicker baskets.

Favorite: I am going conventional here, saying what everyone else is saying, this is an event where a guy who hasn't won it before will have an opportunity to take care of business. I love Ian Poulter as it is and I think this is a course for him, not a long bomber but a smart iron player, if Poulter can take care of business with the putter I like his chances.

Featured Group Favorite: I have a feeling the All-Star trio of Tiger, Rory and Adam will not meet expectations. Rory is still in his funk, I do not think Adam Scott will repeat as I feel he is putting a lot of pressure on himself. (Tiger and Steve Williams might be kinda awkward....) I think Tiger will be normal Tiger in the first few rounds and put himself in contention on sunday. We all know he's stopped using that driver, which makes him need to be more intelligent. The short course kind of plays to his advantage. Out of this group I think Tiger will have the best showing.

Dark Horse: Charlie Hoffman has 4 top tens in 14 appearances this year.... I think he will have a good week.

Why the hell not?: Give me Jim Furyk. He's a likable guy who has had success at the US Open before. He won it in 2003 and he's from Pennsylvania. He's a gutsy player, not a bomber, great with irons, and has a swing from the heavens. Jim Furyk is my "why not? "pick.

An unfamiliar course, with weather, and some weird flag sticks. This going to be entertaining.-Josh Neighbors

NBA Finals Preview

People begin to look at this matchup and begin to look at the contrasts between these teams, especially age. But when looking at the matchup, age appears to be the only one. Both have a big 3, all of them with rings, two great coaches, and similar game styled which depend on great ball handling, good screen and roll action, and high IQ cuts for easy layups. On defense, they each have team oriented styles which revolve around quick rotation to the ball on the perimeter and steady internal defense at the center position(except Chris Bosh/maybe occasionally Tiago Splitter). In the end of the day, we are left with two teams looking to further validate their statuses in the basketball universe. Let's break down the 5 (3 major 2 minor) categories and see who has the edge.

1.Coaching. Eric Spolestra has done a fantastic job managing the tremendous amount of talent in south beach and has done a fantastic job especially with role players. Another trait which he has demonstrated with consistency is his ability to make effective adjustments in a rather short period of time. He demonstrated this against the Pacers when using his super small ball lineup in which Shane Battier plays power forward. David West was eating him alive, so what does Spolestra do? Bench Battier, more Birdman, more Haslem, more Mike Miller. Also the decision to go LBJ pick and roll with Chalmers or Norris Cole as the screener is one of the deadliest plays in the NBA today. Bravo Mr. Spolestra, you are earning your stripes, it's just to bad Greg Popovich is managing the bench on the opposite end of the floor. He is the Michael Jordan of coaching, we could give him coach of the year every single year for the way he's managed to keep the same system throughout his entire career and his ability to insert different parts ,without any hiccups, into the well oiled machine which is the Spurs offense. As we saw last series, the Grizzlies, who have been called the best defensive team in the league, we ripped to shreds by the efficient San Antonio offense. The Spurs shot over 50% from the field in 3 of the 4 games of the series. The edge here goes to the Spurs.

2. Best Player. Obviously it's Gary Neal.... Wow aren't I a comedian? Okay so we know the Heat have the advantage here with LeBron James, so we will focus on how the Spurs will try to limit the current best player on the planet. Kawhi Leonard will be tasked with guarding LeBron out of the gate, a guy whose defense is underrated in my mind. He's from SDSU and played under coach Steve Fischer whose team was one of the premier defensive clubs in the country and Leonard might have been the best defender on that team. He's been slowed by some knee issues lately, but due to his quiet and hardworking nature, he's not one for exucses. Now we all know that ball screen is coming with the PG, so the way the Spurs need to counter that is by either hedging that screen, or putting a bigger defender on the Chalmers or Cole so that in the event of a switch there is no huge mismatch. My suggestion would be Danny Green or Gary Neal and occasionally Manu. On another alternative would be to keep Splitter and Duncan close to the middle and let the mismatch happen. Last series when George Hill was forced to switch onto LeBron, I don't think I ever saw him pull up, he almost put his head down and just went straight to the rack. By putting Duncan and Splitter close to the middle the Spurs can give themselves a shot blocking presence. Yet this is exactly the reason LeBron is so good, he requires so much attention to where his teammates are open in almost all of these situations, if you pack Duncan and Splitter in the paint, Bosh or Haslem will be open. Slowing LeBron is no easy task, but if I had to pick one coach to do it, I'd pick Pop.

3. Which weak link will show up? Well D-Wade finally showed up in game 7, and Chris Bosh didn't. He failed to score in double figures in the last 4 games of the series against the Pacers and was an exposed as a sub-par interior defender. Although his 50% shooting from behind the arc was a key factor in the earlier part of the series in some close games. For the Spurs, Manu Ginobili's slump was noticed against the Grizz as he was the only player to not produce consistently on offense for SA.  But he is rested, Bosh is not and for that reason I'm giving him the edge. Bosh will be frustrated on defense by Timmy and it might carry over to offense for the slumping member of Miami's big three.

4. Bench. Im going to make these last two quick. I like Miami's bench, their personal is just a tad better than the Spurs with Ray Allen and Chris Anderson.

5. Rebounding. Guess who has this category on lock? The Heat are the worst rebounding team to make it to the finals since the 96' Rockets. If the SA bigs can pick up where Roy Hibbert left off Miami will find themselves in a difficult spot.

Prediction: I'm not a huge LeBron fan. I Spurs saw what the Pacers did and I think they will build off of that. The Heat haven't played like a champion consistently and the Spurs have. The veteran leadership on this team is unmatched and they will not make the mental mistakes the Pacers made. The Heat have been fortunate with their last two match-ups missing crucial members of their teams. I like the Spurs in 7, Pop wins the chess match and he and Tim Duncan will get their 5th ring.-Josh Neighbors

You Let The Whole Team Down

Derrick Rose tore his ACL on April 28, 2012. The last game the Bulls played was on May 15, 2013. For all of you math wiz-kids out there your calculations did not fault you, Derrick Rose had 382 days and nights to put on a Bulls jersey again. But yet he never was able to accomplish this miraculous feat.

First of all, I want to make it very clear that I know Derrick Rose’s “brand” of basketball is not that of the typical NBA player. His success is fully dependable on his explosiveness, agility, and ability to twist and turn his body in route to getting to the basket. I also happen to be fully aware that this style of basketball causes Rose to be increasingly more susceptible to injuries. Taking this into account, I do not blame Rose for being cautious about his return. However, waiting a year and one month to come back crosses the line that falls between cautious and cowardice. Maybe cowardice is a tad harsh, but at least you can say that it is undoubtedly overcautious.

Lets all take a moment or two or twelve, if you’re into that type of thing,  to reflect on another one of the premier athletes in the world of sports. Adrian Peterson is unarguably one of, if not the best player in the NFL at the toughest position in an already extremely difficult as well as exerting sport. Adrian Peterson suffered a torn ACL like Rose, yet he managed to return to his more physical and wearing sport in just over nine months. Indeed this is quite the stupendous return, and it is absurd to expect Rose to return in the same timetable. However, if Peterson can return in nine months and statistically be the best running back in the league, is it absurd to expect Rose to be able to return in over a year?

The answer to this stumper of a question can be answered in only two simple words. Absolutely not.

Lets fast forward to 2013 playoffs. The Chicago Bulls somehow manage to take down the higher seeded  Brooklyn Nets in seven games. If this wasn’t enough to motivate Rose to come back, surely taking down the best team in basketball, the Miami Heat, in game 1 in Miami would be. However, to quote the incredibly incompetent Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend!” Rose remained inactive for the rest of the series, which ended in five games with the Bulls falling. Now for the big whopper of a question: Where was Rose? Do I expect him to start, put up big numbers, and play 40+ minutes? Absolutely not. But if you want to be one of the stars you have to start acting like it. Simply the presence of Rose on the court is enough to give them that extra boost. Him picking up some significant minutes, and giving guys like Jimmy Butler and Nate Robinson a much needed break would have been monumental. Having his veteran leadership on the court could have changed the game for good. If David Lee can play through a torn hip flexor just nights later after it occurring, I think Rose can give his team some incredibly helpful minutes more than a year following his injury.

At the end of the day, we do not know what would have happened if Rose had played in this series. Maybe they still would have lost. There is a good chance of this considering the Heat are a quality squad, and the refs give them every single call. Nonetheless, they never had a true chance without their star on the court. In my eyes, a star is the guy that you can count on night in and night out to give your team a chance to win no matter the circumstances. And although Rose’s talent is through the roof and beyond, he never gave his team a shot to win. For that Derrick, you should be disappointed in yourself. Don’t worry, we all are.

-Ben Greer

Solving the Split (part 1)

Despite the injury laden state of this year's NBA playoffs, they have surpassed their billing to this point and have been quite the spectacle. Each series in this conference semi-final round have become 5 game series we are faced with 4 splits, and in everyone single series the lower seed has home court advantage. Let's figure out who will move on and who's going to be left with some questions.
Golden State vs. San Antonio: Klay Thompson went bananas last night in San Antonio, scoring 34 points and going 8 of 9 from behind t

he ark last night. It was a huge lift on a night when Steph Curry was off, going 7 for 20 from the field. I'm not sure what isn't to love about this series, the contrasting styles are so prevalent. Offensively, San Antonio takes very few bad shots and are very methodical; never afraid to work the shot clock down to below 5 before getting their look. And on the other side we have the Warriors, who want to gun threes. You know what they want to do, yet guys like Harrison Barnes( a great driver) Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut(monsters on the boards) complete this team. Which makes you think, how good could this team of kids be with David Lee in the rotation? But, hes not there and they still have a legitimate shot of defeating the Spurs. With 3 games left in the Oracle, I doubt the Spurs can win 2, in fact winning 1 of the 3 is a success in my mind, meaning the Spurs have to win their remaining 2 home games. Highly Unlikely.
Bottom line is, Mark Jackson may not have been wrong with the "greatest shooting back-court" comment and I like the Warriors to win this series. The key for the Spurs to get back into this series is Manu Ginobli. He needs to be more consistent and he is getting open looks. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson play huge minutes, and their not the best defenders as it is, you must knock down the open looks and in Pap's offense he can get plenty of those. I am going to go basketball nerd here, but the best look would we Tim Duncan setting an off-ball screen which Ginobli can use to fade down to the wing, causing a switch and a miss=match which he can use to drive or shoot depending on how the switch works out. Golden State hasn't become frustrated yet, and once they do it's advantage San Antonio.  But that hasn't happened yet and Steph Curry is the playoff MVP and he will continue to be. I like Golden State in 6 or 7.
New York vs. Indiana: This series is boiling down to 4 guys. Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton for the Knicks. For the Pacers it's Roy Hibbert and Paul George. the Lance Stephenson JR Smtih match up is a wash, Smith has been bad of late anyway and Stephenson isn't really an offensive threat, Stephenson will find himself guardingShumpert and Prigioni. Hibbert must succeed, and he is a good defensive force but Tyson Chandler isn't out there to play offense so once again another Pacer defensive advantage which is canceled out. He needs to take Chandler into the post and keep shooting. Hibbert will get discouraged and defer to the other players. 6 points in game to, that won't cut it. On the other end, Carmelo is averaging 30 points over the last 10 games, so this perception that he's in a slump is unfair. Shooting percentages in the playoffs

 

  aren't pretty, and even though he's under 30% from behind the ark, he is still producing. Game 2 needs to be every game in this series. 

What it boils down to is that the 6th man for the Pacers is Tyler Hansburough. No bench for Indiana, Knicks in 6.-Josh Neighbors.

Always Money

Hard work. Dedication. Hard Work. Dedication. The two words yelled everyday at Floyd Mayweather's gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. As any boxing fan knows, Floyd Mayweather is 44-0 and fresh off of a dominant performance over Robert Guerrero, a result which most everyone saw coming. People look at Mayweather and the words "rich" "spoiled" "eccentric" "cocky" are used to describe him, but if you looked at the boxing style of the 5'8 183 pound welterweight champion, it does not seem to matchup with the lifestyle.

 In any sport, offense is great, but on days when the offense isn't producing the defense better be there. You can't win 44 boxing matches by being a terrific puncher, it's not going to happen. So where does Mayweather's dominance come from? Many of his fights are the same, he's not a heavy hitter and many times it will appear his adversary will have the upper hand in the opening rounds, throwing a majority of the punches. Floyd progressively frustrates opponents with beautiful defense and phenomenal blocking ability. Frustration= risk taking and risk taking leads to losing in the ring.For opponents, their precise quick jabs from the opening rounds, become sloppy hooks in the latter rounds leaving themselves susceptible to counters, and Mayweather's right hand counter is the best in boxing.

 He spends money with reckless abandon, but boxes with a discipline that doesn't seem like him, that is Floyd Mayweather Jr.

For his challengers, the theme has been re-occuring, they want to be the one to put an the 1 next to the 44. Money isn't fighting to keep the tally going, his opponent is fighting to put one in the L column, and that is where the pressure lies. For the champ, it's just another fight, for challengers like Guerrero it's their shot of a lifetime and that is the problem. For the 36 year old pressure is non-existent and this has translated to success on a sclace never been seen before in the sport.
So where does the hard work and dedication come for Floyd? It comes from nothing, because that's what he had before boxing. From coming home to heroin needles on his mother's kitchen table in elementary school, to a 32 million $ payout for 1 night. He enjoys his lifestyle, which motivates him to fight to maintain it. It might appear his spending may be reckless at times, but he does love people which triggers some of his lack of monetary conscience. After the Final Four, he was in a waffle house with "the money team" and a collection of Witchita State fans visibly upset about their loss. After conversing with the fans for a short while Mayweather brightened the mood and soon everyone was laughing and having a good time. At the end of the meal, Mayweather took the tab, for everyone. His willingness to extend an invitation into the money team is visible and the perceived image of a former criminal and person who struggles to relate to the average person, but his upbringing and his literal fight to the top gives him an understanding often overlooked by the masses. Mayweather lives the high life, but he has earned it each and every day. His 44-0 record will remain unblemished until something changes. Outside the ring, it's all fun and games, but inside the ring clarity of his hard work and dedication is evident and continues to be at the age of 36  in the most physically demanding sport in the world.-Josh Neighbors

Photo credit

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Jason Collins and the Art of Trailblazing

The attitude with sports in general is leave everything extra going on in your life at the door once you step on the field/court/whatever. It sounds like for Jason Collins' 11 years in the league, that is exactly how he went about his business. Jason Collins is a normal guy attempting to make a living as is everyone else in the league and the question is why should his homosexuality change his work? It doesn't. Bill Simmons said today "sports is our toy store with our heroes and villains. We have so much invested in guys we barely know and we like it to be as life-like as possible, and this is exactly what this does". I completely agree with him. Someone please tell me where this is wrong in coming out? It's in no way selfish, it's merely drawing attention to an issue that sooner or later was going to be addressed. For the gay athlete community, the perfect guy stepped up and began to blaze the trail.
But in reality, is this a big deal? It is but it isn't. Yes, he is the first openly gay player in professional male sports, but it is not a big deal in the respect that he is a normal guy and this should be a normal situation where the overwhelming reaction should be "well okay, nothing wrong here". And for all those out there who believe it is wrong these individuals in sport who are coming out get more support then a christian Tim Tebow are insane. Is it harder to be openly gay or openly christian?..... Okay thank you, I hope this becomes normal and players no longer have to publicly announce they are are gay. It is offensive that in modern ay society we are so intolerant to the point where an individual has to come out and announce their sexual orientation in order to start a movement. I hope eventually that we can get rid of this "closet" in sports so that players no long have to come out of the closet, they may just interact as normal people like many of them already do.
Lastly, I'd love to applaud Collins. In the conference finals a couple years ago, LeBron James played like complete garbage and we all assumed he had some problems conflicting with his play causing the terrible play. Imagine being Jason Collins and always having this internal fear within you as a black male in a culture which was not always the most welcoming to players who are different. African American males carry an image as homophobic, while not always true, carries a some truth in the NBA. A culture which thrives off of individual success, translating into wealth, which translates into women. Countless NBA players have stories of players of a contingent of their team partying and going to strip clubs night in and night out. Players having girlfriends various cities aside from their wives. Being an individual who does not fit that mold, yet surrounded by it, must be somewhat overwhelming and it takes a strong mental individual to persevere through it. Collins went to work for 11 years with the prospect that one of his teammates may notice that he didn't partake in any of this and that is why it is so impressive. Jason Collins stayed true to who he was throughout his entire career. He came to his work everyday and was a true professional who has assumed countless leadership rolls on various teams. That is who Jason Collins is.-Josh Neighbors

National League Preview

The National League. The league with more strategy involved, the league where pitchers get to embarrass themselves at the plate, and the league that has produced the past three World Series Champs. As the season is in its preliminary stages, it is quite too early to see who is going to be the best of the best, but I am going to give you a little idea as to who to look out for in this upcoming season.

NL East: The NL East this year will definitely be the most exhilarating race to watch. I am sorry to say that the hardships endured by Mets fans will have to continue for at least another year to come. The Marlins may have the strongest man in baseball in Giancarlo Stanton and a decent lineup, but a severe lack of pitching is what will prevent them from being able to do any sort of damage. A veteran Phillies team has potential to possibly make an impact in the East, but my main concern is the age. I just do not see them being able to endure a whole season without being affected by the injury bug. Where it really gets interesting is starting with the Braves. They arguably made the biggest offseason noise in the Bigs by acquiring the ever-so athletic Upton brothers, helping them create a pretty solid lineup, and an impressive pitching staff followed by the best closer in the game in Craig Cimbrel, they look like a sure division winner. But to quote the great Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend.” The Washington Nationals are the best team in the NL East because If you try to find a flaw in the Nationals it is quite the tough task. A young team but extremely talented led by young superstar Bryce Harper, and Cy Young candidate Stephen Strasburg. You put a deep bullpen with live arms behind that team, well its safe to say they are a lock.

NL Central: The teams in the NL Central lost a multitude of wins with the departure of the Astros. However, they can still rely on my good ole Cubbies. The Cubs are in fact on the right track but are definitely still in a rebuilding mode. The Pirates lack a quality pitching staff, and even though they have a decent lineup led by Andrew McCutchen, they have some serious work to do. The Reds and Brewers are in similar spots with a few bright spots on their teams, but really nobody that blows you away. Besides Uroldis Chapman, but you just cannot win games because of one reliever if you are the Reds. The Brewers had a nice pickup in Kyle Lohse, but again this is not enough. This leaves the St. Louis Cardinals. Although their pitching staff isn’t incredibly impressive, their high powered lineup is enough to take the Central.

NL West: There is going to be some fun out west. However, this fun will not be taking place in Colorado as the Rockies, despite a high octane outfield consisting of Dexter Fowler, Michael Cuddyer, and Carlos Gonzalez, lack the pitching to do anything special.

The Diamondbacks also lack just about everything.( Although Paul Goldschmidt is one of the more underrated players in all of baseball). The Padres are really nothing short of a disaster this year, as they have nothing that makes you have any optimism for their season(but those camo uniforms are sick). This leaves us the Giants and the Dodgers. The only thing that separates the two is the fact that LA has a stronger lineup have one of the top pitchers in Clayton Kershaw, who also demonstrated his hitting ability with a solo shot in his first game. Thus, the Dodgers will win the West.

Cy Young- Despite Clayton Kershaw having a very impressive year, the NL Cy Young will be awarded to Stephen Stasburg this year. His stuff is nasty and supported by one of the best defenses in the MLB, he should have no trouble getting the job done this year. He has served his time with the injury precautions ending his season prematurely last year, but this year is his time.

MVP: Also from the Nationals, Bryce Harper will be the NL MVP of this year. Even though it is only his second year in the majors, he has already shown this year what he is capable of. With the Rookie season out of his way, he will be lighting up the National League this year in route to an MVP.

Overachiever: The team that will overachieve this year are the Pirates. This may seem like a bold choice, but the past two years, they have made great progress. I have no reason to think that even with another young, unproven team, they can not do what they have recently, and catch the interest of everyone.

Underachiever: The biggest underachiever will be the Philadelphia Phillies. Although they do have a plethora of talent, this talent will struggle to remain consistent throughout the season. As a result, a playoff capable team will be nothing but a pretender this year.

NL Champions: The NL champions this year will be the Washington Nationals. If they can stay even relatively healthy, they should have no trouble winning the NL this year. With the potential MVP and Cy Young candidates, a top to bottom high quality lineup, and a reliable bullpen, you can count on the Nats to win it all this year.-Ben Greer