He's Back...

No I'm not talking about Michael Jordan. I know you immediately thought of that Sports Illustrated Cover that simply said 'He's Back...' and had a picture of His Airness; the first time he came out of retirement.

But this is another great athlete who is making a return to his sport...



That's right! Tiger Woods is back at PGA Tour action. I saw that commercial on TV earlier today and it gave me an opening for another blog post.

Before I get to Tiger and other thoughts, that commercial is actually a pretty accurate interpretation of the other Nike golfers. After Tiger won the U.S. Open last year and had to take the next 8 months off due to knee surgery, the players you see in the commercial really did have success.

Is that coincidence or is that just representing a superior group of golfers who happen to be sponsored by Nike? Stewart Cink performed well, Anthony Kim was the hero in the President's or Ryder Cup last summer. Trevor Immelman and Justin Leonard won a few tournaments. So Nike's face representative in golf was out, but their company sure didn't experience any loss in any form. The remainder of the group stepped in a showed they could perform well and earned their sponsorship.

But today marked the end of the 8 month absence as Tiger teed it up at the Accenture Match-Play tournament. Tiger has had success at this tournament winning it three times and has a record of 31-6 in this tournament. Tiger won his match 3 & 2 and will face Tim Clark tomorrow.

I am a huge Tiger Woods fan, pretty much have been ever since he won the Master's Tournament back in 1997. That was about the time that I could actually comprehend and understand who was playing. And I saw this 21 year old dominating at the most recognized tournament in golfing history, The Master's at Augusta National. From that day forward I was a Tiger fan. I also liked Greg Norman at the time too, still do.

Now 14 majors later, Tiger is 33 and has started a family and now feels the best he has in years. What does that mean? Does this mean Tiger wins any tournament he plays in? Because if he won tournaments with a bad knee, now what is he capable of being healthy.

We can all speculate and think he will be great or we could say maybe he levels out and isn't as good as he was with bad knees. You can come up with anything. Here's what I see for Tiger's future. (Of course I'm not that great at making predictions, but I still do it anyways.)

So there are still four majors this PGA season starting with The Master's Easter weekend. I think Tiger will win at least one Major tournament this year, maybe even two. He always plays well at Augusta; the U.S. Open is at Bethpage Black, that monster course he dominated a few years back. Then the British and the PGA championship. So I am giving him the possibility of two majors this year.

Actually over the next 5 years I say he wins at least one Major tournament a year. I know that isn't a big reach, but I think that is a pretty accurate thought. We all know he is capable of winning all of the majors, but if not he will certainly be in the top 10 or in contention.

So Tiger is 33 and before he turns 40 I say he passes Jack Nicklaus for the most Major's ever won. He's only four behind to tie and five to pass. So seven seasons, that's 28 majors until he's forty. I think that is pretty much a lock to happen.

He is healthy, he is motivated to pass Jack and he now is the father of two. Tiger won't be around into his fifties playing for the Champion's tour. Tiger will come out year after year and accomplish his goals of winning Majors until he feels he has accomplished enough to call it an outstanding career. Will that be at 19 Majors or 25 Majors? I think only Tiger knows that answer.

He will then retire to great success and focus full time on his family and raising Charlie to follow in his father's footsteps. He will also focus on designing golf courses, which he has already started doing. He is designing three courses at the moment, the first to open will be in Dubai probably later this year. The next which was recently started is right here in the U.S. in the mountains of North Carolina. And he is also designing a course in Mexico.

Tiger Woods is well on his way to being the best golfer of all-time...

The other topic I wanted to cover was in NCAA basketball. The Pitt Panthers lost last night for the second time in their first game following being ranked number one in the country. UNC started out number one and ran for the first two months of the season, since then there has been several exchanges at the top. UCONN, Pitt, Duke have all been number one and lost quickly. Is that due to tough conferences or does that show a lack of a dominate team?

Some of us remember last year, when in the NCAA tournament all four one seeds made it to the Final Four for the first time is many years. Well I can almost guarantee you this year that will not happen at all. Remember that come tournament time and you are picking your brackets.

Last season the top four teams were clear cut better than the rest. This season that isn't the case. Everyone thought UNC would go undefeated this season, I never thought that would be the case. If I had to pick the top four teams right now, I would choose... UCONN, Pitt, UNC and Louisville.

I'm not saying they will make it to the Final Four, though it's a possibility, those are just my picks for the best teams right now. I mean Memphis has made it's way back, Oklahoma is tough, Marquette, Duke, Clemson, Michigan State... there are at least eight teams that would win the championship this season. Remember in 2006 when George Mason made it to the Final Four, well I think this year the tournament could see that happen again. There are many talented teams out there this season.

They call it March Madness, well I expect Extreme Madness this March, which is right around the corner.

That's about it for now, please leave comments and topic ideas, much appreciated.

The Big Shaqtus doin his thing

For all of those Shaq lover's out there, you know who you are! Shaq having fun as always during introductions at 2009 NBA All Star game in Phoenix.

Felt like venting...

So I was sitting at my desk eating dinner while I was watching my two favorite ESPN shows from 5 to 6; Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption. I'm sitting there listening as they go through story after story and then I remembered I had this blog thing.

It has been hit or miss that I write on my blog, especially since I haven't wrote since October. But my brain got to thinking about a bunch of stuff and I felt like sharing some thoughts and opinions.

We are half way through February of 2009 and there has been plenty of interesting stories in the sporting world over the past few weeks. Michael Phelps doing drugs, A-Roid comments on steroid use, NBA all-star weekend, Steelers are now 6-time Super Bowl Champions, Tiger Woods' return is right around the corner, I know there are other stories, I just can't think of them at the moment, but I am sure I will address others.

Another reason I am writing is because I just felt like "venting" in a sense as I have had a lot on my mind lately. My college career is quickly coming to a close and I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I've been looking around site after site for things that I could inquire about and see if anything strikes my interest. I'm hoping to get a job at a local newspaper in my hometown and go from there, but who knows.

I'm watching PTI and I think to myself that I could certainly do this job. I know it isn't a full time job but it would be 5 days a week for 30 minutes and I would be working for ESPN, which is probably my dream. But yes I know you have to work up to that opportunity and would need to write for a big time newspaper and also need probably like 20 years experience.

But see I would have to start out as a reporter and I really don't see myself being a reporter. I would much rather be a columnist so I could write about whatever struck my interest like with this blog. But that's another thing, I know I would have to prove myself before I could get that opportunity.

I guess it's obvious that I am nervous about graduating and moving on to "the real-world." But I know I can do this, I am a motivated individual and even as a future college graduate with the way the economy is, I know it will be hard finding an ideal job right away.

But that's enough of the mush mush stuff...

I wanted to talk about a few sporting headlines that have struck my interest.

First off, the Alex Rodriguez story of him admitting to using steroids from 2001-2003 as a member of the Texas Rangers. A-Roid had a press conference today discussing and acknowledging that he did us performance enhancing drugs, or PEDs for short, while he was a member of the Rangers.

Here's what I think about this. If McGuire, Bonds, Clemens don't get elected to the MLB Hall of Fame based on their use of PEDs, I feel that A-Roid should get the same treatment and not be allowed to become a member even though he did come out and admit as soon as the story came out.

Yeah McGuire never admitted truthfully, but he said he wants to move on from the past, Bonds hasn't admitted to it but he is dealing with the legal system, and Clemens is still in denial, even though proof has been presented.

So even though A-Roid has admitted to using and "wants to be judged from this moment forward," if you use steroids I think you should be restricted from being elected to the Hall of Fame. I mean A-Roid was expected to break the Home Run record, whoever is the leader Aaron or Bonds, so now we might have two steroid users with the most home runs of all time, so I think Hank Aaron is still the home run king in a sense.

But then there is the argument that PEDs have helped his performance, but is MLB all about individual play or team play? The only player that has had team success is Clemens, who won a world series with the Yankees. But A-Roid hasn't really had much team success since going to New York. (By the way, on paper they should be the run away favorite to with the World Series this year).

If you want to be judged from this point forward, let's erase your stats from previous years and start from scratch, you still have a good 8 years left to play. No Hall of Fame for A-Roid.

A story that got stretched out longer than it should have was Olympic Champion Michael Phelps. He was pictured in an image, well doing a bong hit, or smoking marijuana. Yes this was stupid and obviously his fame and freedom got to his head, seeing as he is "young and stupid" and obviously thinks he can get away with whatever.

Yes he did get away unharmed and no criminal charges, but he did loose respect and endorsement from many people. All I got to say is yo Mike, take your swimming self and stay in the pool and stop parading around still celebrating. You want to prove something, get ready for 2012 and come back and do the same thing, now that might help your reputation a little bit. Or go be a Olympic champion and continue to eat 20,00 calories a day and fade into the sunset.

Steelers won this year's Super Bowl over the Arizona Cardinals... We now have a new President, Mr. Barack Obama... Tar Heels are going to win it all this year... Lebron James, NBA MVP 2009 and Slam Dunk Champion 2010 in Dallas.

So NBA All-Star weekend was this past weekend and sadly it wasn't as hype as I was hoping. Dwight still should have won, Nate is a freak athlete, but Dwight still should have won because he is also a freak. I want to know who would be joining Lebron in Dallas next year. Dwight has done 3 contests, Nate has done 2. Would Lebron be encouraging any other superstars to join him in a showdown? I'm not sure anyone other than Dwight is on Lebron's level.

(I just remembered what the other thing I wanted to talk about, I'll save it for another post).

Today is Michael Jordan and Jim Browns birthday... Jordan is 46 and has been selected as a finalist to enter the NBA Hall of Fame this year.

Tiger Woods is now a father of two. His wife gave birth to their second kid a few weeks ago. Tiger is still recovering from knee surgery and the latest word is he could be back before the Master's Tournament in April.

I am certainly awaiting his return and looking forward to seeing if he still has that ridiculous talent and seeing if he can make a run towards Jack's record. I'm pretty sure that is Tiger's top priority at this point of his career, now in his early 30s and a father of two kids. Though that was Tiger's goal since he was young, but I am saying I know he is just out there to win Majors and will no longer enter 20 plus events during a season.

Lakers, Celtics, Cavs, Spurs, Magic... the top teams in the NBA at the half way point. Any of those teams could make it to the Finals representing their respective conferences.

MVP race is between Lebron James and Kobe Bryant.

I'm about to go on to another post and do a Lebon, Kobe, Jordan rant...

The Great Debate

You know I am getting pretty tired of hearing about the Lebron James and Michael Jordan comparisons. Anytime you hear Lebron James, some how Jordan's name gets thrown into the picture. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the matter because I think it is unfair to both athletes.

Michael Jordan is a legend of our lifetime and set the standard for all basketball players to look up to as the best player of all-time. Jordan is a one of a kind individual who was blessed with unbelievable athletic ability and all types of skills. Jordan wasn't a four year varsity player in high schoo, but he used that as motivation and wanted to prove that he was the best and wanted to become the best.

Jordan went on to player 3 years of college basketball and North Carolina, winning the National Championship his Freshman season and went on to leave his mark on UNC's legacy. After that the rest is history. NBA Rookie of the Year, 5 time NBA MVP, 6 time NBA Champion and NBA Finals MVP and countless records for his name.

Then came along Kobe Bryant. An athlete who didn't go to College, entered the NBA straight out of High School. Bryant had early success with the LA Lakers being paired with Shaq O'neal. Kobe showed that he was a prolific scorer and was well on his way to being one of the NBA's elite. He and Shaq went on to win 3 straight NBA Finals a year after Jordan retired the second time.

Year after year, Kobe showed signs of being a great scorer and he began to garner the title of "the next Jordan," which quickly became a phrase of use once Jordan officially retired. Was this because he really was as talented as Jordan or was this because everyone missed Jordan and were hoping to find the next great athlete.

Then in 2003, the next High School Phenom entered the scene. It was a kid out of Ohio, but this guy was no kid. He was a freak athlete in a body of a 30 year old, but he was only 18 years old. Standing at 6'8" and weighing around 240 pounds, maybe more, Lebron James had the speed of a running back and the power of a freight train.

To cut this shorter, Lebron became the first pick of the 2003 draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and his career took off from there.

Lebron is now in his sixth season at the age of 24 and Kobe is 30 and in his twelfth season. These two are are the face of the NBA and both are clearly the most talented players in the league in their own ways respectively. Lebron has always looked up to Kobe and always said Kobe is the best player in the league.

Lebron is only 24 and has made 1 NBA Finals appearance in his fourth season and has always been at the top of the league scoring wise and even in the running for MVP. But this season is looking like his best opportunity to win his first MVP award and even an NBA Championship.

Kobe won his first NBA MVP award last season and is doing his best to lead his team to an NBA title.

Now here is my argument that neither of these two players should be compared to Jordan.

First off, the NBA now a days is way different than it was in the 90s when Jordan was playing. Jordan was a shooting guard. He rarely played out of that position, the other may have been point guard. Kobe Bryant is a shooting guard and is about the same size and frame as Jordan. Leborn James is a Small Forward, who with his freakish ability can easily play positions 1 through 4 and have much success. Now his shooting has been streaky early in his career, but he is coming around year after year.

I say let the comparisons go. There is no need to compare players. Jordan is probably the best player in the history of the game not based on his success, but by how he played and his desire, drive and will to win. He never wanted to lose. He always wanted the ball and wanted to carry his team to victory. He is a one of a kind leader and a natural born athlete. He was determined to be the best.

Kobe has developed that killer instinct over the past few seasons and is the most prolific scorer in the league to date. But Kobe is a different player and plays his own way. He doesn't like loosing and can out score anyone.

Lebron James is a one of a kind athlete that we will likely not see for another 10 or 20 years. Size, speed, strength all in one package. Lebron wants to be the best player and win championships, but he does it in his own fashion. A team leader the day he was drafted, James is a natural born leader who has the will and power to get any shot he wants on the court. He has improved in every area year after year and is now the face of the league along with Kobe.

Both of these athletes are special in their own way and in no right should be compared to Jordan or anyone. Let's leave the comparisons alone and let's move on to a new generation with the two faces of the basketball world in Kobe and Lebron. These types of athletes come along every few years and there is no reason to compare players. Let them represent themselves and prove that they can be apart of the best players in basketball history as Jordan did.

Yes Jordan set the mark for today's generation, but it was players like Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson among others that Jordan looked up to that inspired him to become the greatest.

Now let Kobe, Lebron and the other great players of today's NBA set their standards for future NBA prospects.

And just to throw another fact out there, as my man John once said, "the best shooters in the NBA have been white, Bird, Reggie..."

That has nothing to do with what I was talking about, it was just a funny comment I wanted to share.

Let me know what you think.