L.A. Pride is a true sports enthusiast.  A former youth, and division II assistant basketball coach, who studied the martial arts, he enjoys and follows all sports, even hockey.  His quick wit and insight brings a fresh view to the world of sports. You may not always agree with him, but you will enjoy his highly opinionated thoughts.

Is it me…

Or is it weird how certain Olympic Athletes fare after the games?  Michael Phelps will make about 7 million dollars in endorsements, Gabby Douglas will earn 2.5 million, and Usain Bolt over 10 million.  The Redeem Team , men’s basketball was millionaires before they came to London.  Yet, the Tae Kwon Do participants, the Judo players, along with most of the athletes will go home and back to work.  Yes work, not all the Olympic gold medal winners get an opportunity to cash in.  Many are just thrilled to have participated.  And winning was the cherry on top.  I know , I am being naïve, but that has a nice feel to it.

A test for you, can you name the swimmer who won several gold medals, but refuses to cash in on her success, because she wants to swim in high school and college and therefore must remain an amateur?  I hope you didn’t miss her story.  That’s truly Olympic gold.

If you must know, you may follow this link to the Final Medal count by country:

http://www.cbssports.com/olympics/story/19784217/us-dominates-medal-count-sets-new-gold-standard-at-london-olympics

Is it me…

Or did Chad Johnson miss Ocho Cinco this weekend?  Chad Ocho Cinco changed his name back to Chad Johnson and married Evelyn Lozado (Basketball Wives).  He did so at her request.  She also requested that the police arrest her new husband on a domestic violence charge stemming from a head-butting incident between them.

Chad was released on bail, and immediately dropped by the Miami Dolphins.  Additionally, his new reality show, Ev and Ocho was cancelled before it  was aired.  Evelyn has reportedly filed for a  divorce after one month of marriage.

Coach Philbin, Miami Dolphins, claims it was the body of work that resulted in Chad being dropped.  According to the Coach, Johnson was warned about his behavior early in the process, and he chose not to live up to his end of the deal.  You have to ask yourself, if this were “The Ocho Cinco” of five years ago would the Dolphins have been so quick to  drop him?  Probably not!  You are only as good as your last catch.

The Oakland Raiders lost an exhibition game to the Cowboys by the score of 3-0.  It is a sad commentary when two former great teams can only score 3 points between them.  How far have the mighty fallen!  The Cowboys are a .500 team over their last 240 or so games.  Hard to believe, unless you are a Cowboy’s fan.

(Chad’s an offensive player and he’s available.  What do you think Jerry Jones?)

Do the Jets really think it is necessary to clear the field when they practice the wildcat offense?  The wildcat has been around for a while and I am sure other teams have seen it.  So all this secrecy is a bit much.

The players and the coaches in the NFL have finally agreed upon something…The replacement referees are horrible.  The new refs are lost and don’t have a clue how to control an NFL game.  The players are too fast and big for these amateurs.  Someone is gong to be hurt due to their incompetence.

What is really scary is that they might actually referee games that count.  The owners have once again demonstrated that they are more interested in saving money than the safety of the players.

The rookie quarterbacks, Luck and RG III looked good in their respective preseason games.  We’ll keep our eye on them.

NFL teams continue to adjust and shape their rosters;

A list of current NFL transactions can be found at

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/transactions/

Is it me…

Or was Dwight Howard ending up a Laker a forgone conclusion?   It was pretty well known that Howard was not going to play for Orlando this upcoming season.  The question was, how do you get him on a contender-gotta keep it interesting.  Well it took four teams to do it but they found a contender – the Lakers, who always had the edge over Broolkyn.  (Dwight had his surgery where and was recovering where?)  Oh well the rich get richer.  And Kobe Bryant still has some pull.  He said Gasol was going to be a Laker as long as he (Kobe) was a Laker.  Guess who wasn’t included in any of the trades, Gasol.

NBA teams are adjusting their rosters.  Please follow this link for the latest information on your team:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/teams/?eref=sinav

Is it me…

Or is Tiger Woods beginning to sound like a broken record (okay a broken CD).  He has an excuse and reason each time he blows an opportunity to win a major tournament.   Tiger was tied for the lead at the PGA, and looked to be in great shape to win his 15th major, but his third round never got going, posting a 2-over 74 to fall out of the lead.

Woods told reporters  “Yesterday I think I came out with the wrong attitude, I was too relaxed, just trying to enjoy it, and that’s not how I play.”

It’s rare to hear Tiger be critical to the public, but at least he admitted that his approach wasn’t right for the final 36 holes.

But enough with the excuses, just play and win one.

Edited by D. Pride.