There was a time when this site was called “Baloolapalooza.com” and I was a sports writer here. Times have changed, we are Media Rebellion now. And since I stopped writing sports columns here a lot has changed. The Big Unit has come and gone from the big apple. The St. Louis Cardinals showed us there is a reason they play the games. Sidney Crosby reminded me that Hockey was still around. The 76ers traded all world guard Allen Iverson and reminded me of why I hate Philly and they still haven’t won anything since 1983, hell maybe not that much has changed.

A-Rod… Overpaid?… If Mr. Posh Spice can make 50 million a year playing soccer and say he is doing it for the children of America then give A-Rod whatever he wants. At least people in this country watch his sport. And if you want to do something for the children of America can you please start by teaching them not to lie. There are 251 million reasons you are now in LA. What’s that? You thought it was just 250? Well the other one is because Tom Cruise told you to. Great, scientology how has the spice girls too.

On a lighter note pitchers and catchers report to camp in a month or so. Or in the case of the New York Mets catchers report because they sure as hell don’t have any pitching. I hear they are holding tryouts for ace of the staff, anyone have Brein Taylor’s cell phone number?

So Eagles fans, talk to me. Did you really think you were going to beat the Saints? The organization that has shown heart, determination and class. The Eagles are from a city that traded a warrior in AI, threw snowballs at Santa Clause and the most identifiable sports persona is a fictional boxer. Philly has no shot at a championship in any sport within the next 5 years. Their football team hates its quarterback, their baseball team has a good right side of the infield, an underperforming shortstop, less pitching than the afore mentioned Mets and only one good outfielder, and if you added the ratings of the basketball team and hockey team that any of the video games that come out next year, combined they wont equal AI’s points per game. I really do think they should just outlaw professional sports in Philly before they skin the Easter Bunny.

I realize that my article has shown a tremendous amount of east coast bias so here is my tribute to the rest of the country. The Saints will win the Super Bowl. Then again the Chargers were my last pick and we saw how well that went. Does anyone else get the feeling like New England is Andre the Giant and Indy is Hulk Hogan at wrestlemania 3?

Here are my picks for this weekends games…

Indy vs. New England

Well I guess…**puts on a robe and dyes hair white**
To be the man you gotta beat the man, woooooooooo!!!!!!

Seriously tho, Tom Brady is 12-1 in the playoffs and has Jabar Gaffney looking like an all pro. This guy couldn’t even make the Eagles depleted receiving core and he is catching touchdowns like he is being covered by the Giants secondary. But it’s hard to believe that Peyton Manning could have 3 poor playoff games in a row, this guy is the most prepared, professional player in the league. And he makes great commercials!

Indy has looked just bad on offense in its first 2 playoff games with the exception of Joseph Addai in the opener against the defensive powerhouse of Kansas City. The Colts have looked average and the Pats have looked good as only the Pats can… Still this is Peyton manning, even if he has looked like Eli in these last two games. I’m gonna go with Peyton and the colts over the Pats on an Adam Vinatieri field goal, 27-24.

New Orleans vs. Chicago

I don’t know that this game is even going to be close. The Bears have no offense and their Defense is shaky with DT Tommy Harris on the shelf and Tank Johnson looking over his shoulder making sure the cops aren’t arresting him between plays.

Reggie Bush and Duce McAllister are this generation Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen. And with no Al Davis to screw this up we might be in for a long run of duel running back greatness. And Drew Breese is better than any Quarterback that the raiders had back in the Jay Schrader era. Man I’d love to play Tecmo Super Bowl, those Raiders vs. these Saints. That would be a fun game! Anyway, back to the here and now. Saints 25 Bears 13.

It’s great to be back in the swing of writing and you will be hearing more and better from me in the weeks to come.

I don’t know if I need to tell you all, but I’m a huge sports fan. Usually when talking about sports, we talk about basketball, baseball, or football. In the past week though, I watched a great event that had nothing to do with those three sports.

I watched the 2005 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Final Four.

In the first match of the day, Duke University ran all over the University of Maryland. However, the second semifinal match of the day was the greatest lacrosse game I’ve ever seen. Johns Hopkins University took on the University of Virginia in the nightcap. With the match tied at seven, Virginia’s captain Matt Ward scored the potential game winning goal with 12.9 seconds left. The game is over, right? WRONG! Johns Hopkins’s sophomore Jake Byrne won the face off and sprinted down the field, whipping the ball past Virginia goalkeeper Kip Turner to tie the game with 1.4 seconds left.

Holy shit…

I couldn’t believe what I just saw. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. With sticks flying and smacking him in the arms, Byrne shot and scored. The sophomore kept his composure and saved the season for his senior teammates. In the overtime period, Johns Hopkins senior Benson Erwin scored with less than a minute left, to lead the Blue Jays to victory.

The championship game pitted the number one ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays against the number two ranked Duke Blue Devils. Johns Hopkins is considered by many to have the greatest lacrosse program ever, yet they haven’t won the championship since 1987. Duke only suffered one loss this season, 11-10 in double overtime to Johns Hopkins last month. Duke wanted to avenge that loss and take home that national championship. This is the match everyone wanted to see.

The game was very physical, and Duke led at the half 7-6. With the game tied 8-8, Jake Byrne scored the game winning goal in the fourth period. Johns Hopkins held on with stringent defense and won the match. Their 18 year drought without a national championship has ended. The Blue Jays became the first team since 1997 to go undefeated and win a national championship in a season.

I’m going to be attending East Carolina University in the fall, and I now wish that they had a lacrosse team. The sport is absolutely amazing, and I recommend all of you to watch it.

February 16, 2005 will go down as one of the darkest days in NHL history. During a 1:00 P.M. press conference, Commissioner Gary Bettman officially cancelled the 2004-2005 NHL season. Bettman blamed it on the Player’s Union. The Player’s Union Chief Bob Goodenow blamed it on Bettman and the owners. Both sides knew what was coming, but there was no way to stop it.

The National Hockey League was in major economic trouble. The collective bargaining agreement would soon expire and the league and player’s union needed to draft a new one. The problem was neither parties could agree on anything.

The League pointed out to the players union that only 11 of the 30 NHL teams made a profit in the 2002-2003 season. The players were steadfast against a salary cap, and they felt they were being unjustly pressured into accepting such a limit. Goodenow was strong for the players and refused the salary caps.

One would think that a group of adults that are, “looking out for the best interest of the sport,” could have come up with some sort of solution; however, they didn’t reach one.

On September 15th, Commissioner Bettman announced the beginning of the lockout. Both sides continued to meet in hopes that they wouldn’t miss any of the season, scheduled to start on October 13th. The NHL season was supposed to start on October 13th, but it was a no go. With none of the games being played and no meaningful discussions taking place over the holiday season, Bettman had to take a stand. He announced that if no deal was reached by the 13th of February, he would cancel the season.

On September 15th, Commissioner Bettman announced the beginning of the lockout. Both sides continued to meet in hopes that they wouldn’t miss any of the season, scheduled to start on October 13th. The NHL season was supposed to start on October 13th, but it was a no go. With none of the games being played and no meaningful discussions taking place over the holiday season, Bettman had to take a stand. He announced that if no deal was reached by the 13th of February, he would cancel the season.

There was a sudden rush from both sides to reach an agreement. The Player’s Union agreed to accept a salary cap without the authorization of the players representatives. The owners offered a salary cap of $40 million at first and then, bumped it up to $42.5 million. The Player’s Union rejected the offer and counter proposed for $49 million. The League rejected it, and talks ended.

I firmly believe that both sides are to blame for the cancellation of hockey this season. The owners had the chance to save the season by raising the salary cap to $45 million. This might have met the players half way. They didn’t reach out enough to their players.

The players pull more of the blame for the way they handled this entire situation. The NHL ratings over the last season were probably more equivalent to the Arena Football League. They’ve been replaced by NASCAR in the “Big Four Sports” which includes the MLB, NFL, and NBA. The players were ridiculously greedy for a sport who’s TV ratings sometimes dip below the Weather Channel’s.

Some of the greats still active in the game are reaching the retirement age. Mark Messier (44), Mario Lemieux (39), Scott Stevens (39), Bret Hull (39), Dominik Hasek (40) and others may just hang up the skates after this and never play in the NHL again. I hope this is not the case and they all come back to play again next season.

Here are some things they could change about the NHL to make it more appealing to the fans when it returns:

1- Lower the price of tickets.
2- Remove zone defenses.
3- Make goalie gear more streamlined, allowing more scoring.
4- No tie games, have a shootout if it’s tied.

I feel the cancellation of the season could have been avoided if both sides would have acted more reasonably. Good luck to the NHL in getting the salary cap issue dealt with by the time the season is supposed to start next year. The commissioner says he does not want to play with replacement players, but the question remains: What will he do if it comes down to it?

(Read part 1 here.)

“Tobacco Road” was set ablaze when Roy Williams was named North Carolina’s head coach on April 14th, 2003.

Just one week after leading the Kansas Jayhawks to the National Championship game, the former Tar Heel assistant returned to his alma mater to become the head honcho. Athletic Director, Dick Baddour finally got the man he wanted to coach his basketball program.

Every college basketball fan across the country knew the Tar Heels were approaching greatness with the sophomore class of the 2003-2004 squad. It was difficult for the young team to adapt to Williams’s coaching style of playing as a team. Carolina failed to win 20 games in 2003-2004 for the third straight season. Tar Heel fans knew the program was headed in the right direction.

In the spring of 2004, Coach Williams was heavily recruiting J. R. Smith and Marvin Williams. Both players were high school All-Americans and sought by many universities. Smith decided to take his skills to the NBA, and he was drafted with the eighteenth overall pick by the New Orleans Hornets. Marvin wanted to be a Tar Heel. He knew going into the season that he would not be a starter, but he would receive a significant amount of playing time. He would make the most out of his playing time this year.

To begin this season, point guard Raymond Felton was suspended by the NCAA for playing in a summer league tournament. The tournament had been sanctioned by the NCAA up until this past winter, and tournament organizers failed to inform everyone of the change.

UNC traveled to California to battle Santa Clara in the opening game of the season. The Broncos battled hard and the Felton-less Heels were upset. North Carolina then went on a 14-game winning streak, beating a talented Kentucky team and destroying a gutsy Maryland team by 35 points.

With what many sportswriters call “the most talented team in the country,” the Heels have five players averaging more than ten points per game. A very deep bench allows them to keep players fresh and allows the whole team to get involved in the game. Sean May is having another monstrous year and Rashad McCants is looking to pass the ball to his teammates before he shoots. Seniors Jawad Williams, Jackie Manuel and Melvin Scott are stepping up to be leaders on and off the court. Freshman superstar Marvin Williams, whom many believe would be a lottery pick if he entered the NBA draft after the year, is averaging double figures and is constantly making SportsCenter for either stepping out beyond the three point range and knocking one down or making a flashy dunk. Either way, Marvin deserves the Freshman of the Year award.

After a shocking loss to Duke last week, Carolina went up to UCONN and pulled out a tough victory over a good Husky team. Right now the Tar Heels are 24-3, and they are my pick to win this year’s NCAA Tournament.

“In Roy We Trust.” This phrase is coming out of the mouths of Carolina basketball fans all over the country. In only his second season as head coach, Roy Williams has reestablished the University North Carolina Tar Heels back atop their pedestal as one of the nation’s top basketball programs. Why were they off that pedestal? It all goes back to the 1997-1998 season . . .

Head coach Dean Smith decided it was time to retire. The coach that holds the record for most Division 1 wins of all time has accomplished too much to list here. TarHeelBlue.com has accumulated a list of Smith’s accomplishments.

When Smith retired in October of the 1997 season, Bill Guthridge was handed the reigns of the Tar Heel program. Guthridge’s first season as the Tar Heel head coach was outstanding. The Tar Heels finished the season 34-4, won the ACC Championship, finished Number 1 in the Associated Press Poll, won the NCAA East Regional Title, and competed in the Final Four. Carolina also produced the National Player of the Year in Antawn Jamison, and they had two players selected in the top five picks of the NBA Draft for the second time in four years.

Guthridge won almost every coaching award possible that year. The Tar Heels went into the 1998-1999 season with a very inexperienced team. With four starters leaving from the previous year the Heels compiled a record of 24-10 and another berth in the NCAA Tournament. The season was a bust however, as the Tar Heels were upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Weber State.

The next season saw the arrival of superstar Joseph Forte. The freshman averaged 16.7 points per game and led the Tar Heels back to the NCAA Tournament. Carolina had impressive wins over Stanford and Tennessee until falling to Florida in the Final Four. Guthridge retired at the end of the season.

UNC Athletic Director Dick Baddour went searching for the next coach of the illustrious program. The target: the University of Kansas head coach and former University of North Carolina assistant coach Roy Williams. Williams decided that staying at Kansas for the time being was the best decision for him and his family. The search for the next Tar Heel basketball coach, led Baddour to South Bend, Indiana.

Notre Dame University’s head coach Matt Doherty returned to his alma mater as the new head coach of UNC. Doherty was a member of the Heels 1983 National Championship team. The Tar Heels won 26 games in Doherty’s first year, and he was awarded the National Coach of the Year award. Joseph Forte was awarded Co-ACC Player of the Year, yet the Tar Heels were upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Penn State. Doherty and the Heels realized that All-American Brendan Haywood would be graduating, yet they were not prepared for the loss of Joseph Forte.

The glitz and glamour of the NBA drew Forte out of college after only his sophomore year. After only two seasons in the NBA, Joseph ran into trouble with the law, and he was later cut by the Seattle Supersonics. Forte now plays in the NBA’s Developmental League.

The 2001-2002 season was the worst in North Carolina history. The Heels won only eight games that season and accumulated embarrassing losses to Binghamton and Davidson. Throughout the season and off-season, many Tar Heel fans and alumni called for the firing of Doherty, yet Baddour stood by his coach.

The Tar Heels went into the 2002-2003 season with arguably one of the most talented freshmen classes of all time. They opened up the season with big wins over Kansas and Stanford, but they quickly saw their season begin to unravel before them. After many embarrassing losses, Carolina did not live up to the hype. After being snubbed by the NCAA Selection Committee, UNC was defeated by Georgetown in the “Final Four” of the NIT Tournament. (Georgetown went on to win the tournament).

Shortly before the end of the NCAA Tournament, the University of North Carolina fired Matt Doherty as the head coach of their basketball program. The season before, sophomores’ Brian Morrison, Adam Boone, and Neil Fingleton transferred out of UNC citing Doherty’s temper. Rumors were spreading that freshman star’s Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, and Sean May were going to transfer out for the same reason. Things began to look bleak in Tar Heel town, but Matt Doherty was always meant to be a transition coach . . .

Coming Soon: In Roy We Trust: Part II

As a die hard fan of the New York Mets I have been praying for years to god for my team to go out and make the moves to bring us back to respectability. Just when I had lost all hope and stopped “believing” I learned a valuable, yet controversial lesson. There is no proof that Jesus Christ was our savior, but Omar Minaya sure is.

When first introduced as GM I was skeptical at best. This is the guy who ran the lowly Expos and got no where. He traded Javier Vasquez to the Yankees when Boston was offering a better deal. Nothing else he did made any sense. Why were the Wilpon’s so willing to hand this guy the keys to the kingdom? Well for once they either knew more than I did or the old adage “even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while” came true.

The first move he made that I loved, even if no one else did, was hiring Willie Randolph as the new manager. Willie was a hell of a player and had been a coach with the Yankees for quite a while. Having played and coached in the big apple means that he knows the media firestorm he is getting himself into. Him working for the Yankees also means he has been around egos and more importantly winning. He won’t come into our clubhouse with a negative, losing attitude.

Now some have called me a profit for this, but sometime during the World Series I said that Pedro Martinez would be in New York, but not playing for the Yankees. Some laughed at me, some called me crazy, hell I’m sure some said worse but no one believed me. Well on December 16th (my little brother’s birthday and I got a present.) my vision came true and we introduced our new ace. Then came another bold prediction from me…

A new national holiday was put on the calendar of every Mets fan this year. January 11th will forever be known as Carlos Beltran day. While the big off season acquisition by the Yanks was busy beating up a camera man and “trying” to apologize for it, Carlos was busy flashing his charismatic smile and saying all of the right things. Talking about the “new Mets” and the new direction of this once proud franchise. Part of that new direction maybe adding another Carlos in former Blue Jays first baseman Carlos Delgado.

Was Jesus able to turn water into wine? Eh, maybe. But taking an underachieving Mets team and turning them into contenders, that’s a real miracle. Now if Omar could just help me out with some of the other things I prayed for I would get a “wwomd” tattoo.

Over the last year, Kobe Bryant has learned that as a professional athlete IMAGE IS EVERYTHING!

It seemed so easy for Mr. Bryant. The years of 2000-2002 were the greatest years of this young man’s life. The Los Angeles Lakers won three straight NBA Championships, a feat that has only been accomplish by four teams in it’s illustrious history (’52-’54 Minneapolis Lakers, ‘59-’66 Boston Celtics, ‘91-’93 Chicago Bulls, ‘96-’98 Chicago Bulls). I might add, that an unstoppable force known as Shaquille O’Neal was the MVP of those three NBA Championships.

All that changed on that fateful June night in 2003. Kobe took it upon himself to commit adultery with a 19-year-old high school cheerleader. Of course it seemed like a good deal at the time. I bet it was hard to pass up a cute little blonde who felt that she and the superstar had “chemistry” between them. I do not want to get too deep on the “Rape Case”, as I do believe Bryant was innocent, and the girl was just after money. (In fact I believe she was taking the case to California because she could not get a lot of money in Colorado) This is, however, the point at which Bryant’s image started to decline. Kobe was booed at the American Music Awards. He was booed at a Jay Z concert in Los Angeles.

Kobe spent most of this past off-season figuring out how to get rid of his coach and arguably the best big man in the history of the NBA, and he succeeded. The 2004-2005 Lakers team is totally different from last year’s Western Conference Champion team with three key departures. The Lakers saw the departure of Phil Jackson and Shaquille O’Neal in the off-season, and Karl Malone, who has recovering from surgery and has not played in a game this year, refuses to return to the Lakers. Let’s take a look at the Phil and Shaq situations.

Phil Jackson is arguably the greatest NBA coach of all time. He has been the coach of some of the greatest teams of all time. One of his Chicago Bulls team acquired the best record in NBA history (72-10). The man knows how to coach. He has nine NBA Titles, and in his 14 years of coaching has a record of 1007 wins and 385 losses including playoffs. What more could you want from a coach? In my opinion the man is a first ballot hall of famer. He coached a few guys with huge egos, but Kobe’s was the worst. Kobe and Phil had their differences, and the Lakers front office couldn’t take the chance of their star player and star coach colliding, so they did the same thing they did with then player and coach Magic Johnson and Paul Westhead. “Sorry, Coach, you gotta go.” One of Kobe’s problems was out of the way.

Shaquille O’Neal is a physical specimen. The man is 7 foot 1 inch tall and weighs in at a staggering 340 pounds. “Diesel” dropped a lot of the bulk he had gained the last couple of years and is in tremendous shape. Everyone heard about the petty squabbles that O’Neal and Bryant had during their tenure in Los Angeles, but they always seemed to work things out. At the end of the 2004 season, however, the Lakers had two options: keep Shaq and trade Kobe or keep Kobe and trade Shaq. Now, if you look at why the Western Conference has won 5 of the previous 6 NBA championships, you could see the obvious choice would be to keep the big man. The Western Conference thrives on having the big forwards and centers. The Lakers could have very easily traded Kobe Bryant for Tracy McGrady and kept the big man and perimeter player that has made them so good these last five years.

Jerry Buss has a hard on for Kobe though. Shaquille was shipped off to Miami for the fair Caron Butler, the average Lamar Odom, and the bad Brian Grant. The Lakers also received a future draft pick. You would think that by picking up three players the Lakers would benefit from this trade. HAHA! Not in the least! Looking at the Lakers record (14-11) and the Heats record (20-7), it is quite obvious who is reaping the benefits of this trade. Dwayne Wade was good at Marquette University, and now that he has Shaq to play with he’s emerging as one of the league’s stars. The Miami Heat have a very good chance of winning the NBA Championship this year, and Kobe can stick that in his pipe and smoke it.

On Christmas day, Shaquille O’Neal and the Miami Heat travel to the Staples Center to take on Kobe and his Los Angeles Lakers. At the end of the game, when Kobe Bryant looks at the scoreboard and realizes that HIS team just lost by 20+ points, he realizes that he is not the superstar that he wants to be. I hope Kobe Bryant finally realizes that he cannot carry a team on his back.

Good Charlotte once said “if money is such a problem, I think we should rob them” They were talking about the “hardships” that come along with being a celebrity and how ridiculous it is for these people to complain about the fame and fortune that they were given by the public. And they are right; there are occasions where celebrities complain for no good reason. They complain about having to sign autographs or not getting enough personal space when they go out in public. In my personal opinion that comes with making 20 million for making a movie or getting paid 25 million to play third base for the New York Yankees. But where is the line drawn, where do they stop being “rich and famous” and start being people. I think the Kobe Bryant trial is a clear indication that sometimes the public can go to far.
On June 30th 2003, Kobe Bryant had sexual encounter with a 19 year old resort worker in Vail, Colorado. The young woman went to the authorities the next day and filed charges against the Lakers superstar and there was a whirlwind of controversy that followed. This turned into a trial by the public long before an actual trial was to take place. Kobe was vilified through the media and by some of the very fans that cheered him on. This young lady went to parties and bragged about it while Kobe struggled with the marital troubles it caused him and constant heckling by fans across the country. One such incident occurred in Utah, when the public address announcer made comments about Kobe’s teammate Karl Malone and said “Well at least he’s not Kob…”
The afore mentioned Good Charlotte song begins with the line “You see it on T.V. or in magazine, celebrities who want sympathy…” Kobe never asked for sympathy or forgiveness. All he asked for was to be able to go to work and do what he was paid to do.
This “trial” lasted 14 months and put Eagle County Colorado through so much stress, both financially and literally. At one point this young woman was quoted in the New York Post as saying she didn’t want money, just jail time for what he did.
On September 1st, 2004 she proved herself to be a liar once again stating that she couldn’t put up with the stress of a criminal trial but she would follow through on a civil suit. My thought process throughout this whole trial has never changed, I knew she was in it for the money and now she proved to the nation that she was never after justice, she just wanted to make a quick buck off of a one night stand she had with a celebrity. In the mean time she put Kobe, his fans, his family and her entire county through a rollercoaster ride just to get her 15 minutes of fame and make a quick buck.
The only person Kobe needs forgiveness from is his wife, if she chooses to forgive Kobe for cheating on her then that is their business, but this young woman owes an apology to the entire nation for the trip she took us on in her quest to get rich off of having sex. And to think, they say prostitution is illegal in this country.

Anyone who reads my article may remember a while back I wrote an article called “Hector Mercado”. The article focused on my personal sports accomplishments and there was to be a part two that showed how those memories led to A-Rod making 25.2 million dollars a year. Well you can consider this my part 2 although some recent frustration may have changed the tone of this article as opposed to where I thought I was going to go with it.
When I am watching a NY Giants game and I see Jeremy Shockey catch a pass and break 3 tackles before he gets into the end zone it certainly does remind me of, well me. As a matter of fact a lot of things pro athletes do on the field bring back memories of Dean’s field of dreams or club Attardi. However the key phrase in these first two paragraphs is “on the field”
Recently coach K, a god as far as duke basketball is concerned, was offered the head coaching job of the Los Angeles Lakers. After much thought, and one heart felt email from a Duke student, coach K decided to stay on at Duke and turn down almost 10 million dollars a year. It would have been a huge pay increase, not to mention all of the extra endorsements he would have received for being in a major market like LA. But he decided to stay where his heart is. I knew he would make the right decision but I was worried, I mean who turns down 10 million a year? But I realized he was a Blue Devil through and through and he could never leave us (us being duke fans).
Knowing that coach K made the right decision and stayed with his beloved Cameron crazies, one would only assume that Cleveland Cavilers forward Carlos Boozer would have made the same decision. Boozer had one year left on his contract making almost $700,000 but the team wanted to insure that Carlos and his family was happy and wanted to lock him up long term. So the two sides reached an agreement, the Cavs would not pick up the option for the last year and then they would sign him to a 6 year 41 million dollar contract (that’s almost 7 mill a year). So the Cavs live up to their end of the bargain and let him go. They then offered him the contract they mutually agreed upon and he turned them down and signed a larger contract somewhere in Utah. Yeah the same organization who made fun of Kobe and Karl Malone over the PA system, even reaching so low as to make reference to Kobe’s rape trial. In my opinion people like Larry Miller (owner of the Jazz) and Carlos Boozer have are a black eye on the sports community. What really is the difference between the 7 million a year the Cavs offered him and the 10 million the Jazz offered him? Would he or his family suffered by signing the lesser contract? Athletes say it’s not all about the money and then they do these things and we see their true color, Green!

Here at BP we are an entertainment based community. That being said I know this isn’t going to be a popular statement due to the large number of people we have that music is so very important to them. I have boycotted FM radio. I am sick of the same 3 songs being played over and over. So every morning on the way to school I listen to Mike (Greenberg) and Mike (Golic) on ESPN radio. Every morning for the past few weeks they have been talking about Tiger Woods and what’s wrong with him. And on the way home I listen to the Dan Patrick show and they one day fielded responses from club pros and scratch golfers on what’s wrong with Tiger. I almost feel like I am once again listening to FM radio without the bad sound of Britney Spears or the some times offensive lyrics of Slim Shady. The reason I say that is it is the same topic over and over again. So I guess as the official BP sports writer I should chime in.

Tiger is 28 years old and has won 8 majors. He has won close to 49 million dollars since 1999 and that doesn’t include his endorsements or any appearance fees he may get. At 28 years of age he has already won more money than any other golfer, ever. He was also named PGA golfer of the year in 1997, 1999-2003. So he has won all this money and all these majors and we want to know what’s wrong with Tiger. Well here’s the thing, all of the other people on the PGA tour are professionals too and I bet they got really sick of Tiger kicking their asses all the time. So maybe they train harder, maybe they watch more tape. Maybe Tiger has just made everyone around him want to be better.

All of these sports writers want to talk about how Tiger’s getting married or Tiger needs his old swing coach Butch Harmon back. Well if getting married makes people lose their drive can somebody please explain Michael Jordan to me? He won all six rings while married. And if Butch Harmon is so great why isn’t he winning 50 million bucks on tour instead of bashing Tiger through the media? What’s wrong with Tiger you ask? Well he’s 28 years old, has well over 100 million dollars and is about to get married to a smoking young woman. I don’t see anything wrong with Tiger; the question we should be asking is what’s wrong with us.