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 this a wacky start to the NBA season?  A short schedule, injuries, and a few surprising teams, has made the NBA extremely interesting at the one quarter mark.

As we expected the offenses have been terrible.  Shooting percentage is down and turnovers up.  Teams are running very basic,  and ‘vanilla’ offenses which are easy to defend.  Or they don’t have the personnel to run the offense as designed.   For example, the Knicks want to run an up tempo  offense, but that doesn’t fit their best (Carmelo Anthony) player’s game.  So four guys looking to make quick offensive moves are forced to stand around and watch Melo dribble the ball playing one-on-one.  Or Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, looking to shoot every time he touches the ball.  It is enough to get a coach fired.

Dwight Howard, Orlando, and Jermaine O’Neal, Boston, got into it the other night.  I am assuming that Dwight wanted to stay in the game because he was backing up pretty quickly.  Or did he remember O’Neal’s participation in the ‘Malice at the Palace” and wanted no part  of him.  I am not encouraging fighting but…  You do have to stand, even if it is not tall.

The teams on a roll over the last 10 games are;

Philadelphia

Memphis

Chicago

Dallas

L. A. Clippers

San Antonio

Oklahoma City

The teams set to fold over the last 10 games are;

Toronto

New Jersey

Cleveland

Detroit

Milwaukee

Charlotte

New Orleans

Golden State

Latest NBA power ratings:

http://www.nba.com/powerrankings/

NBA teams continue to adjust and shape their rosters;

A list of current NBA transactions can be found at:

http://www.nba.com/news/transactions/2011_12/

Is it me…

Or is this déjà vu all over again?  The New England Patriots will meet the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, February 5, in Indianapolis.  These two teams met four years ago in Super Bowl  XLII with the Giants winning, 17-14, and destroying the Patriots bid for a perfect season.

The Patriots defeated the Baltimore Ravens in a thriller decided in the last 11 seconds by a missed field goal by the Ravens. It was an ‘ugly’ 23-20 win for the Patriots but one they will take and enjoy.

The Giants went in to overtime against the San Francisco’49ers.  and pulled out a win on a made field goal, 20-17.  Eli Manning once again proved he is  an elite quarterback  (even if he has to say so  himself) by leading the Giants to a hard fought victory.  Manning was 32 for 58 and passed for 316 yards, and 2 touchdowns.  Victor Cruz, of Paterson, NJ led  all Giant receivers with 10 catches , for 142 yards.  Note to the Giants: renegotiate Cruz’s contract NOW;  Not only can he catch the ball, he has the personality to be the face of this franchise, and he is a nice kid who deserves to be rewarded for an outstanding season.

It always amazes me that you are only as good as your last win.  Several weeks ago Giant fans were asking for Coach Tom Coughlin’s head.  This week they want to build a Tom Coughlin wing on the Football Hall of Fame.  Fans are fanatics and fickle, but they pay the bills.

Super Bowl XLVI promises to be an exciting game between two evenly matched teams who are both playing well.  The Gants defeated the Patriots during the season when they met.  However, four years ago the Patriots defeated the Giants during the regular season and lost in the Super Bowl. The Patriots are hoping that this trend continues and their lost during the season to the Giants is a sign of good things.  The Patriots are the early betting favorite.

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 did the unranked teams forget to read the rankings this past weekend.  Notre Dame, Florida State and Tennessee all unranked in men’s college basketball pulled off major upsets over number one Syracuse, number four Duke and number thirteen Uconn respectively.

I have always said that the tournament (March Madness) renders the regular college season useless.  However, the upsets make for exciting basketball and it is fun to watch the athletes play hard and really try to win a midseason game.  Another good thing about upsets during the season is that you live to play another day, unlike March Madness, were it is “one and done”.  You lose and your season is over.  But that is what makes the tournament soooooooooooooooooooo exciting.

The latest rankings are as follows:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/polls/?eref=sinav

Is it me …

Or did we put the kiss of death on Serena last week?  Serena Williams suffered a stunning 6-2, 6-3 loss to unseeded Ekaterina Makarova down under, in the Australian Open.  At 30, Serena is no longer able to dominate on just her raw ability and reputation. In order to compete in Majors again, Serena needs to recommit herself to tennis and the physical sacrifices necessary to dominate the professional tour.  Unfortunately she has committed to only four events this year, plus the Olympics.  So we won’t know for awhile if this defeat is a wakeup call for her or ‘just another day at the office’.

Is it me…

Or is it only right that Jorge Posada retires as a Yankee?  Catcher Jorge Posada will retire from baseball. Posada will go down in history as a very valued member of the Yankee family.

Posada, 40, made the All-Star team five times and also won five Silver Sluggers. He joined with Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter as the nucleus for the Yankees over an extended period of time, becoming known as the Core Four. He played 17 consecutive years with Jeter and Rivera, making them one of the most prolific teammate trios in professional sports history.

We wish you well Jorge.  J

Is it me…

Or is it with great sadness we note the passing of Joe Paterno, former head football coach at Penn State University?  Coach Paterno died of complications from lung cancer.  He was 85 years old.

“JoePa” had more wins than any football coach at a major university.  He worked for Penn State for 61 year, 45 as the head football coach.  He was fired  two months ago, collateral damage to the sex scandal at State, involving long time assistant coach Sandusky.  If anyone ever lost the desire to fight, it was “JoePa”,  who seemed to fade quickly after being removed from the head coaching position.   His life and family were Penn State.

Our condolences to his family.

Edited by D. Pride.