2013 Festivus Airing of Sports Grievances

In honor of the wonderful holiday of Festivus, made popular by the TV show Seinfeld, I will be performing the opening tradition, the ‘Airing of Grievances,’ where I will lash out at all those who have disappointed me this year. Since this is a sports blog, here are some of the sports related grievances I would like to air out (I will try and write them in a similar fashion that I believe Frank Costanza would                                                                                   write them in):

Why The Knicks Should Trade Carmelo Anthony

This article is meant to convince everyone that the New York Knicks should trade Carmelo Anthony this season and why they should absolutely not give him a maximum contract worth about 5 years and $130 million when he inevitably opts out of his current contract at the end of this season. I hope to convince you using both the “eye test” and through statistics. In the end, if Anthony is the problem, I will provide some solutions with some possible trade options.

United States 2014 World Cup Preview

          It could not have gotten much worse for the United States during the World Cup draw. In addition to being drawn into Group G, the Group of Death, with Germany, Portugal, and Ghana, the U.S. also has the toughest travel schedule, having to go about 9,000 total miles between games in the group stage. It will not be easy moving on from this group, but what the USA has proven over the years is that the team is best when they are the underdogs, which is certainly the case coming into the summer of 2014. Here is an analysis of each positional level of Team USA, as well as how they may fair in each game.

2014 World Cup Preview

         With the World Cup draw officially in the books, it is time to get excited for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Here are the results of the draw as well as a preview of each group and predictions for the knockout stage.

Group A

1) Brazil

2) Croatia

3) Mexico

4) Cameroon

         The host team looks like they will have no problem moving on to the knockout stage, but once they get there they will have the most difficult second round matchup, likely either Spain or Netherlands.

2013-2014 NBA Preview: Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics

2012-2013 Record: 41-40 (7th in East)

Key Additions: Kelly Olynyk, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace

Key Losses: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry

Projected Starting Lineup: Rajon Rondo, Courtney Lee, Gerald Wallace, Brandon Bass, Vitor Faverani

The Celtics have gone head first into rebuilding mode, the team has been almost completely stripped down and sold for parts. Future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were traded within the division to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for mostly expiring contracts and draft picks. Coach Doc Rivers

2013-2014 NBA Preview: Central Division

Chicago Bulls

2012-2013 Record: 45-37 (5th in East)

Key Additions: Mike Dunleavy, Mike James, Tony Snell

Key Losses: Marco Belinelli, Richard Hamilton, Nate Robinson

Projected Starting Lineup: Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah

Did you hear that? There it is again. That was the sound of every single person in Chicago holding their breath. Every time Derrick Rose hits the ground after jumping high up in the air, nobody in Bulls territory is going to move until he gets back up, praying that he does in fact get back up. The biggest addition to the Chicago Bulls roster this season is not someone they signed in free agency or traded for but rather their former MVP coming back from injury. Rose, Chicago’s superstar point guard, is coming off of a torn ACL suffered in the first round of the 2012 playoffs that caused him to miss all of last season. Rose will

2013-2014 NBA Preview: Southeast Division

Atlanta Hawks

2012-2013 Record: 44-38 (6th in East)

Key Additions: Paul Millsap, Elton Brand, Gustavo Ayon, Dennis Schroeder, DeMarre Carroll

Key Losses: Josh Smith, Devin Harris, Zaza Pachulia, DeShawn Stevenson, Ivan Johnson

Projected Starting Lineup: Jeff Teague, Lou Williams, Kyle Korver,                                                                           Paul Millsap, Al Horford

The problem with Al Horford over the last couple of years has been that Horford, a natural power forward, has been forced to play more down low as a center because of the lack of much rebounding on the Hawks. With the additions of Paul Millsap and Gustavo Ayon, Horford can take more of an active role outside the paint, showing off more of his midrange shot. Millsap and Ayon bring plenty of energy and rebounding ability to a team that lost big men Zaza Pachulia and Ivan Johnson this summer. A move for Horford

2013-2014 NBA Preview: Southwest Division

Dallas Mavericks

2012-2013 Record: 41-41 (10th in West)

Key Additions: Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Monta Ellis, Devin Harris, DeJuan Blair, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, Fab Melo

Key Losses: Darren Collison, O.J. Mayo, Chris Kamen, Mike James, Elton Brand

Projected Starting Lineup: Jose Calderon, Monta Ellis, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Samuel Dalembert

Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion. Those are the only two players left on the Dallas Mavericks from their 2010-2011 championship season. The team has seen almost a complete turnover in the last two seasons. With Nowitzki, 35, coming to the end of his career, the Mavs hope to make one final run to the Finals with him as the centerpiece. The main players who are hoping to help the team make a playoff run behind Nowitzki are relatively playoff inexperienced. Newly acquired Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis will compose the starting backcourt that hopes to keep Nowitzki rested until playoff time. The two guards, in a combined 16 years in the NBA, have only made the

2013-2014 NBA Preview: Northwest Division

Denver Nuggets

2012-2013 Record: 57-25 (3rd in West)

Key Additions: Nate Robinson, J.J. Hickson, Randy Foye, Darrell Arthur

Key Losses: Andre Iguodala, Corey Brewer, Kosta Koufas

Projected Starting Lineup: Ty Lawson, Randy Foye, Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, JaVale McGee

The Nuggets did the unthinkable this offseason, and I am not talking about letting go of All-Star Andre Iguodala. On May 2, 2013 the Denver Nuggets, the 3rd seed in the West, lost Game 6 of their opening round matchup against the 6th seeded Golden State Warriors and were bounced from the 2013 playoffs. Six days later Nuggets coach George Karl earned his first ever NBA Coach of the Year award after a regular season that saw

2013-2014 NBA Preview: Pacific Division

Golden State Warriors

2012-2013 Record: 47-35 (6th in West)

Key Additions: Andre Iguodala, Toney Douglas, Jermaine O’Neal

Key Losses: Jarrett Jack, Carl Landry

Projected Starting Lineup: Stephen Curry, Klay Thomspon, Andre Iguodala, David Lee, Andrew Bogut

If everyone can stay healthy, a tough order to fill for injury prone center and former number one overall pick Andrew Bogut, the Warriors can sport one of the best starting lineups in the league this year. The addition of Andre Iguodala takes this team to potential conference finalist, a label they almost fulfilled last year in a surprising run to the second round of the playoffs. ‘Dala, a very underrated defender, comes in with a defensive presence that

Trades Shake Up NBA’s Atlantic Division

Intra-Division Trades

The Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics agreed to a trade on draft night that sends two future Hall of Famers to Brooklyn. Just three days later, the Toronto Raptors agreed to send a former number one overall pick to the New York Knicks. It’s very rare for teams within the same division to trade with each other. When a intra-division trade involves key players it is lunacy. Two trades involving key players that happen only a few days apart, both between teams within the same division, is flat out unheard of. But that is exactly what happened in the Atlantic division as two teams that share the same state hope to make final pushes to win a championship before the window closes.

2013 NBA Draft Recap

Knicks Pick a Rival

As a recent University of Wisconsin graduate (wow, still not used to that), I am horrified at the thought of watching a Michigan man wear a Knicks jersey. As a Knicks fan, I am very happy with Tim Hardaway Jr. as the 24^th pick in the 2013 NBA draft. As a Badger, I was able to watch Hardaway Jr. play many times throughout his career at Michigan and I think he fits in very well with the Knicks. Hardaway Jr. seemed to drop in this draft because he was overshadowed this past year by his Wolverine teammate Trey Burke, the national player of the year, but Hardaway Jr. is a very good player who clearly has no problem deferring to a better player (something he will have to do as a teammate of Carmelo Anthony).

The Bounty on Arizona Coach Sean Miller

T-ing Him Up

         There were 4 minutes and 37 seconds left in the Pac-12 tournament men’s basketball semifinals. The Arizona Wildcats were up two against the UCLA Bruins with a trip to the conference tournament finals on the line. Arizona point guard Mark Lyons was called for a controversial double dribble and their coach Sean Miller repeated to the ref “He touched the ball, he touched the ball,” referring to the Bruins’ defender who put his hand on the ball as Lyons picked up his dribble and then dropped the ball again, a play that calls for a play-on, not a double dribble. Miller was given a technical foul by referee Michael Irving for his comments, UCLA’s Jordan Adams made both technical free throws, and UCLA ended up winning the game by two, 66-64.

         In the press conference after the game, Miller stated that he used no curse words nor did he act in a condescending way towards the referees after the double dribble call, essentially, there was no

Gays in Sports (and the Chris Culliver Comments)

Ignorant Comments

In light of the recent comments made by San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver regarding gays in the NFL, I felt compelled to write this post. In case you missed it, during Super Bowl Media Day, Culliver was being interviewed by comedian Artie Lang. The topic came to the possibility of a gay teammate being on the 49ers and Culliver responded “I don’t do the gay guys man, I don’t do that. Nah, we ain’t got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff. Nah, can’t be in the locker room.” Culliver later gave an apology that could not have sounded any more feigned and scripted.

Culliver obviously is not the first athlete to speak out against gays, see Tim Hardaway: “I hate gay people.” But since Culliver and the Niners are about to play on the biggest stage in American sports, his comments are magnified.

I can open up a whole new can of worms and talk about the issue of marriage equality, but this being a sports blog I want to try and keep the conversation closer to homosexuals in sports.