Nothing Compares to a College Education

Troy Polamalu, the all-pro safety from the Pittsburg Steelers, made a good use to this NFL lockout. Troy left the University of Southern California after his senior season of college to enter the NFL Draft.

Being drafted in 2003 didn’t allow Polamalu to finish up his college degree in history, because he had to forcus his entire self on The Pittsburg Steelers. Many top draft picks do not have the opportunity to be able to the finish their college education because of the high demand that NFL teams has for their players.

Most National Football League players don’t have the time of day in the off-season to do anything for themselves because they all prepare for upcoming NFL season in the fall. Mini camps usually start in the spring and last until the summer. Once the summer starts, training camp begins. Most NFL teams start at different times with their training camps and they all don’t last the duration of the summer.

With the NFL lockout this season, all the players got to have an actual offseason for the first time in many years, most since grade school. With Chad Ochocinco, of the Cincinnatti Bengals, riding bulls and trying out for an MLS team, Troy Polamalu decided to finish his degree from the University of Southern California. On Friday, May 13^th, Troy Polamalu walked with about 1,000 other students who received their Master’s or Undergraduate degrees in Alumni Park.

Polamalu went back to get his degree not only because it is very important to him personally, but he wants to emphasize to people that education is the most important thing. Although he was able to go to the NFL and is blessed to be able to use his talents at the highest level, it most certainly cannot replace an education.

NBA Playoffs

The NBA Playoffs. Some of the most anticipated parts of the year. With the best players and the best teams on show case for everyone to see it’s the stars time to really step up and prove they are the best of the best. With the first round match up of the Boston Celtics versus The New York Knicks, it a knock down drag out fight.

In game number two of the series the Boston Celtics had a big lead going into the second half and going into the fourth quarter. The New York Knicks, without Amar’e Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups, two of there key starters, the weight of the team fell onto Carmelo Anthony’s shoulders. With his 42 point, which ties his career playoff high, he couldn’t put his Knicker-bockers into the win column.

Down 11 at the start of the fourth quarter, Melo went on a run of scoring 16 of New York’s next 18 points. Putting the Knicks on top by 2 points. There were a total of 18 lead changed and 16 times that the Celtics and Knicks were all tied up. With New York without two of their top three players, they were playing with a significant amount of bench players playing more time then usual.

At the end of the game it really showed how experience does pay off when it comes to the playoffs. Boston executed their plays and their offensive possessions with more precision than New York and that was the deciding factor in this contest.

New York could not capitalize on their offensive possessions in the last few moments of the game when Boston did. Boston’s Kevin Garnett made a baby hook with 12.5 seconds left and when New York got the ball after they called time out to run a play, Boston’s defense prevailed and won them the game. Gotta love the excitement!

MVP

Derrick Rose is the most dominating and most profound basketball player in the NBA this season. Rose has taken his team to the number one overall seeding in the Eastern Conference, the best record in the NBA, and has already taken two wins and added them to his belt en route takign their series lead to 2-0 against the Indiana Pacers in their first round match up of the NBA Playoffs.

Chicago is excited to finally have another basketball star in town, the last one was Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time. Rose is a hometown kid who is living the dream, being an NBA basketball star in the city that raised him. Rose has taken his game to a whole nother level this season averaging 25 points per game in the regular season and a whopping 37 points per game in the playoffs. In the regular season Rose made 45% of his field goals, 86% of his free throws, 4 rebounds per game, 8 assists, and 1 steal per game. This is a very impressive stat line no matter at what level you are playing at, especially the professionals.

Rose is most definitely the front runner for this seasons MVP award that will be given during the second round of the playoffs. Rose has established himself as one of the best players in the NBA with the most dominating skill set. He seemingly is faster with the basketball in his hands rather than without. He also makes clutch shot as clutch shot to propel his team to victory every night.

Rose is an unselfish point guard with the mindset of “team first”. Every coach wants a player like Derrick Rose on their team, a player that in the heat of the game you can give the ball too for points, count on him to make the right decision in rough situations and a player with a well rounded game that is respected by his teammates and peers around the league. He is an all around basketball player.

LeBron Denied As He Returns to Cleveland

The entire state of Ohio, and most of the United States to be honest, roots against the Miami Heat to win basketball games. But when LeBron comes back to Cleveland, only the city of Miami wants them to win. LeBron betrayed our city, and state and offended many people across the world with his decision to “take his talents to South Beach”.

                When James returned to Cleveland for his second “homecoming”, the 15-61 Cleveland Cavaliers, made up of nothing but a bunch of no-name 23 year old athletes, spoiled LeBron’s Return. Despite his triple double and having practically an all-star starting line-up to help him, the crowds boo’s and the Cavs ability to shut down the rest of his team led the Cavs to victory.

                The crowd heckled James with taunts and nasty names, saying things about his mother and her one time relationship with Delonte West, a former teammate of James while in Cleveland. Every time he touched the basketball the arena filled with boo’s and was so loud you could barely hear yourself talk to the person next to you.

                With the fourth quarter about to begin, and the Heat breathing down their necks after erasing a 21 point deficit, the Cavs turned on the after burners and ran. They stopped the Heat with every run they made, like a chess match by counter-acting every move they made. The Cavs and the city of Cleveland emerged victorious from this long drawn-out battle with their once ruler. To put it all in perspective, the greatest basketball player on the planet left our city and went to South Beach to play basketball. The team he left is now the worst team in the NBA and is guaranteed the first pick in the draft. LeBron comes home and gets completely denied by the no-name kids on his previous team and the city loves every second of it. This game will never be forgotten.

Final Four

Who would’ve expected a final four like this? No number one seeds, an eleventh seed and an eighth seed. Eleventh seed Virginia Commonwealth will face eighth seed Butler in one of the Final Four matchups. The other will be played between fourth seeded Kentucky Wildcats against the third seeded UConn Huskies. No one anticipated Butler making it back to the Final Four after losing their top player to the NBA last year and being seeded so low in their region. They lost 7 out of their last 11 conference games to end the season so no one really anticipated clutch performances by the Butler Bulldogs when crunch time rolls around allows them to advance to the Final Four in back to back seasons.

                Virginia Commonwealth is the biggest surprise in all of March Madness this season. The eleventh seeded VCU Rams will Face the Butler bulldogs in their Final Four matchup which should be a great game given the circumstances, and adrenaline from all of the players. This is the lowest seeded Final Four game in NCAA tournament history. Combined, their seeds equal 19, before this game, the highest was only 14, surpassing that by 5.

                Kentucky Wildcats are the fourth seed in their region and knocked off number one Ohio State Buckeyes and number two UNC Tar Heels to reach their Final Four. The crazy thing about Kentucky is the amount of nails biters that they have been in this years tournament, which allowed their stand-out freshman guard Brandon Knight to really shine. UConn has their own stand-out point guard, Kemba Walker. Walker has lead the Huskies to five wins in five days to win the Big East Championship. Now he has taken his game to a whole nother level in order to bring his Huskies to the Final Four. I always have to root for the underdogs, GO VCU!

Sweet 16

The Ohio State Buckeyes basketball team was the number one overall ranking when the seedings came out for the March Madness tournament. With the number one overall seed and number one spot in the East bracket, the buckeyes still have a tough road into the Final Four and to the National Championship.

                In the first round of the tournament they faced the University of Texas- San Antonio with an obliterating win over the 16^th seed Road Runners. They weren’t fast enough to out run the Ohio State Buckeyes fast, up-tempo pace. They were physically over powered by the buckeyes and overall beat in every aspect of the game. The Buckeyes advance to the second round.

                Against George Mason, the Ohio State University Buckeyes got off to a slow start but that was seemingly erased when the buckeyes hit a couple of key three pointers and some easy fast break dunks. The Buckeyes, lead by senior David Lighty, was  7 for 7 from beyond the three point arc which was one away from setting the record for the NCAA tournament. The buckeyes ended up with a blow out win over George Mason and moved on to the Sweet 16. The Sweet 16 is the elite of the elite, only 16 teams remain in their stride for glory and the right to be crowned a National Champion.

                The Buckeyes face the Kentucky Wildcats tonight for the right to be in the elite 8. Only 4 more wins for the Buckeyes until they can be the National Champion. If the Buckeyes happen to win tonight, they will play the winner of the Marquette and North Carolina game that will be okayed tonight also, in the elite games that will be played later this weekend. Hopefully everyone’s bracket will take another turn for the worst and North Carolina will lose tonight to the Marquette Golden Eagles, but everyone will be right in the pick of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Go Buckeyes!

Miami Heat Losing Streak

Miami Heat. The “dream team” of the NBA, lately has fallen apart into a slump that has all of Florida scared, but the rest of the NBA fans jumping for joy. LeBron James ditches Cleveland to “take his talents to South Beach” and Chris Bosh departed his lovely Canadian friends up in Toronto for a beach house and a Heat jersey. Dwayne Wade stays in Miami because he is a faithful player who loves where he plays. Its not his fault that the two best free agents of all time happened to come down and play with him, he was probably loving every minute of it. Until they started to lose. They lost their opening game to Boston Celtics in a miserable game. And lately they’ve lost 5 straight games.

It all started with a loss to the new-look New York Knicks. They blew what was at one point a 16 point lead, and ended up losing the game. Then they blew a 24 point half time lead too the Orlando Magic. And to top it all off, they lost by 30 to the San Antonio Spurs two nights later. Chicago Bulls beat them by one point the next night after blowing a lead, the Portland Trailblazers two nights later. so over a span of about a week, they have lost 5 games, and all in miserable fashion. Tonight they play the Los Angeles Lakers and hopefully will get dumped just to show them that because you have three superstars on one team, doesn’t mean your always going to win.

I hope LeBron feels terrible for leaving the city of Cleveland the way that he did and loses in the playoffs to a sub-par team. Kobe will win another NBA Finals and have another Finals MVP under his belt. That will solidify his greatness in the NBA as on of the greatest players to ever play this game. Suck is LeBron.

The "New" New York Knicks

                New York Knicks make the biggest blockbuster deal in recent years right at the trade deadline. Negotiations about where Carmelo Anthony would end up calling “home” was under speculation for a couple of weeks. After long negotiations and meetings with several teams, Carmelo was traded to the New York Knicks.

                Carmelo wasn’t the only new face joining the New Yorker’s. Chauncey Billups was also traded to the Knicks for a large amount of many, several players, and two first round draft picks. The nuggets will be good in years upcoming due to the new talent added to their team and the money they have to get good quality players into their organization.

                The Knicks are sitting pretty right now with two all-stars and a handful of could-be all-stars. Amare Stoudemire is one of the most dominating big men in the league with shooting skills like a guard and the post presence of a big man. He is an all around gifted player and is one of the front runners for this years NBA MVP award. With Carmelo and Chauncey added to his side, the Knicks will be running down the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls’ throats with intentions of reaching this years NBA Finals. The Eastern Conference has gotten much stronger this year and can handle the Western Conference’s style of play.

                A few nights ago, in Miami, the New York Knicks beat the Miami Heat, even though they were down by 16 at one point. With a 15-2 run to close out the second quarter, it boosted their moral with a buzzer beater to go into half time. The ended each quarter from there on out strong and topped the Heat by 4. It was only Carmelo’s second game in New York and it made a big statement to the rest of the league that the Knicks are a force to be reconed with.

           

2011 Ohio State Recruiting Class

            The Ohio State Buckeyes football program has taken big steps by signing some of the nations top recruits this past Wednesday on National Signing Day. The Buckeyes improved all three levels of their tough defense with two of the top defensive linemen in the nation with Canton McKinley’s Steve Miller, and Centerville’s Michael Bennett.

After not locking-in some of Ohio’s top prospects of the 2010 class, they sure did this year. In total they have seven of the ESPNU 150 prospects and many who just missed that cut. All in all, this year they have added great talent to make up and possibly exceed the talent that was lost by the graduating senior class, and the five suspended players that will be suspended for the first five games of next year. Although Jim Tressel gets great ball players out of Ohio, he seems to get some great talent from all over the United States. In past years and including this year he has gotten some great talent out of states such as Florida, Virginia, Indiana and Illinois.

Even though the beginning of the 2011 season will be without our star quarterback, Terrelle Pyror, and many other important starters, Tressel will have to determine on many underclassmen and upperclassmen without much experience to fill those voids. In the 2011 recruiting class, he has done a great job in getting players to fill those gaping holes and hopes that his recruits pan out the way he anticipates. Good luck to all of those new recruits with their Ohio State careers.