No. 1 Kentucky dominates No. 5 Kansas

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The #1 ranked team in the Nation the Kentucky Wildcats blew out the #5 ranked team in the Nation the Kansas Jayhawks 72-40 on Tuesday night in the State Farm Champions Classic. The Kentucky Wildcats roster consists of nine McDonald's All-Americans and ten NBA prospects this season. The Wildcats have six would-be NBA draft picks returning from last year's national runner-ups team and four talented freshman recruits joining them making the Wildcats the heavily favorites to win it all this year. The Wildcats have ten players that are least 6' 6" or taller which resulted in 11 blocks and made it very difficult for the Jayhawk players to ever get in the game. Kentucky's largest lead in the first half was 18, but Kansas cut the lead down to 10 before halftime. In the second half it was still all Kentucky as their defense picked up and smothered the Kansas players with their height advantage and quickness. It's too early to say that Kentucky will go undefeated this season as they've only played 3 games so far but they have a favorable schedule because they play in the SEC and as of right now they only play five teams that are ranked top ten in the nation including the Kansas Jayhawks. They came up short last year losing to the Connecticut Huskies in the National Championship game so this year they are confident they can win it all with such a deep and talented team.

Alabama No. 1 in CFP

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On Tuesday night the College Football Playoff rankings were released and as everyone expected Alabama made the biggest jump from fifth to first after knocking off the number one ranked team in the nation, Mississippi Sate on Saturday night. This year the FBS ( Football Bowl Subdivision) decided to begin a four-team tournament to determine its National champion after many years of having the top two teams finishing in the FBS rankings and having them play for the BSC National Championship game. They decided that this would give schools a better chance of playing for the National title and also give schools who went undefeated to actually contend for a National Championship as some schools who went undefeated in the past didn't get a chance to do so. 

The top four teams consist of #1 Alabama followed by Oregon, Florida State, and Mississippi State as number 2, 3, and 4 respectively. Coming in at #5 was TCU, #6 Ohio St., #7 Baylor, #8 Ole Miss, #9 UCLA, and closing out at #10 is Georgia. These teams still have a chance to get into the top 4 teams in the Nation if they win out the rest of their games and if a couple of the top 4 teams right now lose a game or two. The final rankings that the committee will release will be on December 7, the day after most of the conference championship games are played. Of course the top four teams Alabama, Oregon, Florida St, and Mississippi St. control their own destiny and would advance to the playoffs if they win the rest of their remaining games. Until then we have to wait and see which teams fall and which teams are deserving of playing in the first four-team tournament to decide a National Champion.

Derrick Rose suffers another injury

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Stop me if you heard this before, Derrick Rose suffers another injury. On thursday night the Bulls visited the Raptors in Toronto and believe it or not Rose suffered another injury during the game. This injury thank god isn't that severe, depending on who you ask. Rose strained his left hamstring late in the fourth quarter in Toronto and fans are tired of hearing the same story over and over. About a week ago Rose sprained his ankles and missed a few games due to his injury now he is listed as day-to-day and the Bulls will see how he is doing on Saturday and go from there. Derrick Rose just can't seem to catch a break, but Rose said "This is going to happen," referring to the setbacks. "Talking to a lot of people that had surgeries, my agent [B.J. Armstrong] had five or six surgeries. It's just going to happen, especially when you miss two years." 

A couple of Derrick's teammates came to his defense as people were lashing out at Rose for comments he made a few days ago and of his injuries. One of them being Joakim Noah who has always had Derrick Rose's back and there was no surprise this time when he stood up for Rose on Thursday after their win in Toronto. " This is not a one-man team," Noah said. "But at the end of the day we need him, we need him and I don't want to see him down. I know sometimes it's frustrating, you've got injuries, you've got tweak. Every time something happens to him people act like it's the end of the world and that's f---ing so lame to me...So everybody needs to chill the f--- out." Noah has always been outspoken throughout his career and he's been even more protective when it comes to their star player Derrick Rose. He knows the only way the Bulls will win a championship this season or any other season is if Rose is healthy and is physically able to play.

Chicago Cubs hire Maddon as new manager

The Chicago Cubs hired former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon days after Maddon opted out of his contract with the Rays. Joe Maddon is considered to be a top 5 manager in Major League Baseball and the Cubs were desperate to find a coach of his caliber after 5 consecutive losing seasons and over a century without a World Series. Joe Maddon was the Rays manager from 2006-2014 and led them to their first World Series appearance as an organization in 2008 but lost against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cubs have a lot of young talent mostly because of team president Theo Epstein who was the youngest General Manager in MLB history at the age of 28 when he was hired by the Boston Red Sox in 2002. He was a big part of the Red Sox first World Series title in over 86 years when they won it in 2004 and again in 2007. Epstein was hired in 2011 as team president for the Cubs and he's been trading the best talented players in order to have a strong farm system; which according to MLB.com the Chicago Cubs had the best farm system since July of this year. But after promoting a few talented prospects to the big leagues during this season like Javier Baez and Jorge Soler the Cubs are now ranked #6. With the addition of GM Maddon and the Cubs looking to pursue top free agents in the off season along with their young talented prospects the Cubs are looking to make a push for the playoffs this upcoming season. The goal is obviously to win a World Series and by signing Maddon to a long-term deal the Chicago Cubs are serious about contending. 

Bears travel to Green Bay to keep playoff hopes alive

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The 3-5 Chicago Bears will play the Green Bay Packers who are 5-3 on Sunday Night Football. The Bears have missed the playoffs the last 3 seasons and would be in trouble if they lose this Sunday night at Lambeau field. The Bears defense is really bad this year again they are giving up 27.8 points per game and are ranked 23rd on pass defending giving up 262.3 yards per game. Chicago needs to win this game in order to have a chance to make it to the playoffs, meanwhile the Packers are in good position. They are just one game behind the Detroit Lions in the NFC North and four of their next five games are at Lambeau field, which they are a hard team to beat at home. Even though the Packers are favored over the Bears this Sunday night the Bears have a favorite matchup in the running game because Green Bay is the worst defending team in the NFL in terms of stopping the run, letting opponents run for an average of 153.5 yards per game. Matt Forte is ranked 7th in rushing yards per game amongst running backs in the league and should be able to move the ball against a weak rushing defense. 

The real question is, which Jay Cutler will we see this Sunday night? Will we see the efficient and safe Cutler who can make plays with his arm and be smart with the football or the old gunslinger Cutler who tries to force the ball into double coverage and getting picked off? Jay Cutler is 1-9 in his career against the Green Bay Packers, while Aaron Rodgers is 8-2 vs the Bears in the regular season with a quarterback rating of 102.7. Rodgers has definitely had his way vs the Bears since he became the starting quarterback in Green Bay including a postseason win in the NFC Championship game at Soldier Field. This will be the 190th time these two teams have faced each other, which is also the oldest rivalry in the NFL. The Bears definitely need to come up with a win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive and also break their streak of missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year.

Derrick Rose returns vs Bucks after missing two games

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Derrick Rose returned Wednesday night to play the Milwaukee Bucks after missing two games due to ankle sprains. Rose sprained his ankles on October 31st against the Cleveland Cavaliers in which he didn't play in the fourth quarter or overtime in that game. Why is this a big deal you might ask? Well the last couple of years hasn't been the best for Rose or Chicago Bulls fans due to the fact that Rose has had two season ending injuries. So when Derrick Rose got hurt in the Cleveland game, every Bulls fan held their breath including yours truly. Rose went to the locker room and didn't return, but the good news was that he (Rose) just sprained his ankles, which every Bulls fan can agree because it's a whole lot better than losing him for the entire season. Of course many Chicago Bulls fans are tired of hearing the same song over and over with Rose, but truth of the matter is without Derrick Rose the Bulls are not a Championship caliber team and we all know that. The Bulls won the game 95-86, Rose played 31 minutes the most so far this season and ended up with 13 points and seven assists. After the game Rose was asked about his sprained ankles and if he could ever be the same player he once was before his injuries. 

"I can't pay no attention to it," he said. "It's going to always be there. Even if I make it through the season healthy, my first playoff game is going to be like, 'OK, this is a new journey. Is he going to be healthy through the playoffs?' So it's fine. Even if i play the whole year and I don't get injured again, next year it's going to be the same thing. So I can't get mad at it; it's just the way people think. Just people's opinions about the situation." Of course everyone wants to see the old Derrick Rose, but the reality is that Rose is injury prone and anything that happens to him will be blown out of proportion. He knows that and so do his teammates and coaches, all they can do is ignore the media/people keep playing and looking forward to their next opponent. 

2014 NFL Power Rankings: Week 10

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We are a week over the halfway point through the 2014-2015 NFL season and the rankings keep changing from week to week. This past sunday the New England Patriots hosted the #1 ranked team in the NFL, the Denver Broncos. The Broncos had been on a roll going 6-1 and winning 4 in a row with their only loss coming in overtime to the defending champions the Seattle Seahawks, but the Patriots were also on a 4-game winning streak of their own. The New England Patriots dominated the Broncos leading 27-7 at halftime before blowing them out 43-21. Many NFL analysts have both of these two teams playing for the AFC Championship with the winner going on and playing in Super Bowl XLIX. Other important games that had a playoff atmosphere was between the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys both ranked in the top 5 teams in the NFL. The Cardinals defense came up huge in the game and secured a victory in Dallas winning 28-17 and are now 6-1 in the season. 

Week 10 rankings have the New England Patriots as the #1 ranked team in the NFL, up two spots from last week. While the Arizona Cardinals stay at the #2 spot, while the Broncos drop 2 spots to the #3 spot. Rounding up the top five are the Philadelphia Eagles (6-2) and the Indianapolis Colts (6-3) #4 and #5 respectively. To see the top 10 teams and the rest of the league, I posted a link above so you can see how the other teams are doing.

Chicago Bulls vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls will face off against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at 7:00 pm in a clash of the the two favorites to come out of the East conference. Chicago improved their roster in the off-season by adding All-Star Pau Gasol and drafting rookies like Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic from Spain. While the Cavaliers landed the best player in the NBA when James decided to come back to his hometown after leaving 4 years ago to join the Miami Heat and also traded for another All-Star in Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Bulls won their season opener in New York blowing out the Knicks by 24 points, while the Cavaliers lost their home opener on Thursday night to the same New York Knicks that the Bulls blew out. The Bulls home opener will be electrifying because Derrick Rose is making his debut after another injury that ended his season last year. This year the Bulls are better than ever and the expectations are higher as well, it's either Championship or bust for them. This will be a battle of the giants and even though it is early in the season both teams want to prove a point and set a statement. At the end of the day both the Bulls and Cavaliers are expected to play for the Eastern Conference title in which a trip to the NBA finals would be up for grabs. 

Giants are World Series Champions!

On Wednesday night the San Francisco Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in game 7 of the World Series, this is the Giants third World Series title in the last five seasons. A big reason for the Giants success was due to the left handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner (pictured above holding the World Series trophy) who pitched a World Series for the ages. Bumgarner went 2-0 in his two starts this World Series and then came out of the bullpen on two days' rest to throw five scoreless innings to secure the title for the Giants. Both teams scored two runs a piece in the second inning, but in the top of the fourth inning Michael Morse drove in Pablo Sandoval on a single which proved to be the game winning run. Bumgarner, the World Series MVP came in at the bottom of the fifth inning and the Royals didn't get a single hit off of him until the bottom of the ninth with one out remaining when Alex Gordon hit a single to center field, which skipped by Gregor Blanco, as a result Gordon ended up at third. The very next hitter Bumgarner got Salvador Perez to foulout to third basemen Pablo Sandoval for the final out of the World Series. Kansas City Royal fans were left in disbelief that they came so close to a World Series title, but came up short. The fans still thanked the Kansas City Royals for a great season in a gesture of chants and cheers, as much as they are disappointed they are still very proud of what they accomplished this season.

NBA 2014-2015 Season Opening Night

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The 2014-2015 NBA season is under way tonight when the defending champions the San Antonio Spurs play against the Dallas Mavericks in San Antonio. The Spurs will be getting their Championship rings and raising their banner before today's game. Many sports analysts have the Spurs and the Chicago Bulls as favorites to reach the NBA finals, but San Antonio is in a harder conference which is the Western conference and it is very hard to repeat as champions in the NBA. The link above is about some of the trades that happened during the off-season, in which some teams improved their roster and have a better chance to reach the finals then they did last year. The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls are the favorites coming out of the Eastern conference while the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and depending on when Kevin Durant comes back for the Oklahoma City Thunder those are the favorites coming out of the Western conference. The biggest question in the Eastern conference is how well Derrick Rose plays coming off of surgery the past two years, if he plays anything like he did during his MVP season a few years ago the Bulls are favorites over the new and improved Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers added LeBron James in the off-season and also traded for the All-Star Kevin Love from the Timberwolves, on paper these two teams are matched very well against the other but the Bulls have the edge with a deeper bench. The Bulls and Cavaliers play against each other on Friday at the United Center, we'll see how the two favorites play against each other and see if this game is an indication of what's to come this season. Other headlines for this season is whether Kobe Bryant will be the old Kobe after last season's surgery, if the San Antonio Spurs are getting too old and if they have enough gas in the tank after the 82 game season going into the playoffs. Also how Kevin Durant will come back after having surgery in the off-season, if Carmelo Anthony made the right decision in staying with the New York Knicks instead of signing with a contending team. So many questions surrounding teams and their players so the fans have to see how their teams will do this season.

Kobe Bryant's response to Ranking

On Thursday night after the Los Angeles Lakers lost against the Utah Jazz Kobe Bryant was asked what he thought of him being ranked the 40th best player in the NBA by ESPN.com. Bryant's response, "I've known for a long time [that] they're a bunch of idiots," he also called that ranking "silly" and "laughable." Kobe Bryant was questioned during the 2012-2013 season about his Achilles injury that ended his season. In the following season Bryant played just 6 games after suffering a left knee fracture, Bryant turned 36 years young this past August, his age plus his knee and Achilles problem are all reasons why ESPN.com ranked him so low. 

Kobe Bryant is a 5x NBA champion, 2x NBA Finals MVP, 16x NBA All-Star, the list goes on and on. Bryant is well decorated so him being ranked so low is like a slap in the face for him, but he says he is not going to use this year's ranking as motivation. To clarify on his statement Bryant said, "it really doesn't bother me too much. I'm going to do what I do regardless. God willing, I can stay healthy, and if I wind up proving a lot of people wrong in the process, that will just wind up being collateral damage." Kobe Bryant is easily one of the top 10 best players in NBA history and a future hall-of- famer, I'm sure this year he will look to prove all of his critics wrong and knowing Kobe he will remind them at the end of the year.

Royals vs Orioles; Game 1 of ALCS

The American League Championship series begins tonight when the Kansas City Royals travel to Baltimore and face off against the Orioles in a seven game series. There's a lot riding in this series because the last time the Orioles won a World Series title was back in 1983 and for the Royals it was in 1985. Both fan bases have suffered year after year, disappointment after disappointment and this year the Orioles or Royals can finally end the long drought. 

The Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles have gone a combined 60 years since their last World Series title still far less years than the disappointing Chicago Cubs but that's a different topic for a different time. Many people didn't give any of these teams a chance of making it to the playoffs let alone the World Series so that gives each team more motivation to win the ALCS. As much as Royal and Oriole fans are ecstatic to see their team on the verge of going on to the World Series it's sad to think that one fan base will be heart broken at the end of the series. Yes Royal fans and Oriole fans are used to their team mathematically being out of the playoffs in early June, July, or August but losing in October is much more painful. This would be like the Chicago Cubs in 2003 when they were outs away from advancing to the World Series after almost a century of misery, losing year after year and not having much to cheer about. Chicago Cubs fans were devastated myself included, the pain lasted for months even years after that thinking back that we were so close. Of course the infamous Bartman had a thing to do with it and we keep blaming him for the dismantle of game 6. Let's just hope we don't have another Bartman in the Orioles vs Royals series.

Opening Night for NHL

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The NHL is officially under way for the 2014-215 season. The reigning champions LA Kings raised their 2013-2014 championship banner on wednesday night when they faced off against the San Jose Sharks. Last year the LA Kings came back from a 3-0 deficit against the Sharks and won it in 7 games in the opening round of the playoffs. That was only the 4th time that an NHL team has came back from a 3-0 deficit and win, the Kings went on to win their second Stanley Cup in three years. 

San Jose didn't forget about that series and they came into Staples Center and defeated the Kings 4-0. As for early predictions for the playoffs many analysts have the Chicago Blackhawks and LA Kings in the Western Conference final, as for the east the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers are the top two teams in their conference. The western conference is without a doubt the hardest conference, according to Barry Melrose the top 5 teams in the NHL are from the western conference. He has the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup this season but they it will pretty hard going through the western conference. We'll just have to wait and see if Melrose was right with his prediction. 

Derrick Rose talks about the Bulls Upcoming Season

The Chicago Bulls held their media day on Monday and Derrick Rose talks about his return from knee surgery and the upcoming Bulls season. Derrick Rose was the 2010-2011 league MVP and led the Bulls to the best record in the NBA. The following season in the first playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers , Rose tore his ACL and was out for the rest of the playoffs. Every single fan in the arena held their breaths hoping for the best, but the next day the Bulls announced that Derrick Rose tore his ACL and the city of Chicago went numb. An ACL tear usually takes up to a year to comeback from but Rose took the entire 2012-2013 season off because he felt he wasn't 100% mentally ready. Many Bulls fans were mad because they wanted to see their former MVP play. Rose came back for the 2013-2014 season but tore his meniscus on his right knee just a few games into the season. As much as a Bull fan was disappointed to go through another year of Rose not playing they felt bad for Derrick Rose because he just couldn't catch a break. This year Rose says he's healthier then ever, he played in the World FIBA competition with team USA and won the Gold medal. Although Rose didn't have the best tournament he's right were he should be and the clip above Rose talks about his injuries and that he knows those questions will always be there especially this upcoming season. He also talks about how he feels the team is going to do this year and that he is excited because he believes the Bulls are so close to winning a championship soon. As a Bulls fan myself I can't wait to see hoe the Bulls play especially the former MVP, Derrick Rose.

Royals Walk Off In Extra innings

Kansas City Royals Walk Off vs A's

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On Tuesday night the Kansas City Royals came back from a 7-3 deficit to defeat the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals had not played in a playoff game in 29 years and it was a hell of game between the Royals and A's. Kansas City took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third inning when Hosmer singled in Cain, but the Oakland A's took the lead in the top of the 6th inning scoring 5 runs. It came down to the bottom of the 9th inning when J. Dyson scored on a sacrifice fly by Aoki to tie the game 7-7. In extra innings the A's tallied a run in the top of the 12th making it 8-7, but that lead didn't last long when Kansas City tied it up in the bottom of the inning and eventually winning it in walk-off fashion when Christian Colon scored on a single by Salvador Perez. Kansas City Royal fans waited 29 years to see their team play in a playoff game and it was worth the wait. Not many people gave the Royals a chance to win the Wild Card game against the A's but they proved them wrong and they have their support of their fans. The Royals move on to the next round as they travel to Los Angeles and face the Angels. Can they come up with another upset? We'll have to wait and see as the series begins October 2nd.

Derek Jeter's Farewell

Derek Jeter's Farewell

Earlier this year before the baseball season began, Derek Jeter announced that he was retiring after the 2014 season was over. Many if not most New York Yankees fans were saddended and hurt that their long time captain of 20 years was not going to be wearing a New York Yankees uniform after this season. Derek Jeter announced his retirement in early February, flash forward 7 months and on Thursday night Derek Jeter played his last home game at Yankee stadium. He did it in grand fashion as he singled the game-winning run in his final at bat at Yankee stadium vs the Baltimore Orioles. This video shows some highlights of Jeter's career, his accomplishments and it also shows players from different teams thanking him for 20 years of his unbelivable career and how much respect they have for him not only as a player but as a man. Derek Jeter is without a doubt a future hall of famer, his last game ironically is going to be against non other than their bitter rivals the Boston Red Sox. I'm sure he will get a warm reception at Fenway park this weekend for how he carried himself as player on the field and Red Sox fans can really appreciate that!

Ray Rice has been cut by the Ravens, Suspended Indefinitely by NFL

Last week the Baltimore Ravens cut star running back Ray Rice after TMZ leaked the video of him(Rice) striking his then fiance Janay in an elevator, which knocked her unconscious. The same day after being cut by the Baltimore Ravens, Roger Goodell the commissioner of the NFL suspended Rice indefinitely for the remainder of the season. The incident happened back in February at an Atlantic city hotel elevator, Ray Rice received a two game suspension by the NFL for that incident. The video surfaced last week and the NFL said it was the first time they saw the video and since it was so violent Roger Goodell had to increase the suspension. Ray Rice was a big piece during their Championship run in the 2012-2013 season were they defeated the San Fransisco 49ers in the Superbowl 34-31.