Trade Deadline Talk

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards, and Los Angeles Clippers completed a three-way trade that sent Antawn Jamison and Sebastian Telfair to Cleveland, Al Thornton, Zydrunas Ilgauskaus, and a 1st round pick to Washington, and Drew Gooden to Los Angeles.

This is a big move on Cleveland's part, as they are clearly doing whatever it takes to try to keep LeBron James from signing with another team this summer. By bringing in Jamison, the Cavs get a versatile 6'9 forward that averages 20.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Before they traded for Jamison, the Cavs were rumored to possibly be trading for Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns. Danny Ferry and the Cleveland management want to show LeBron that they are willing to do whatever it takes to win a title THIS season, even if it means trading away a guy in Ilgauskas who was the face of the Cavs before LeBron showed up.

On paper this looks like a great move for a Cleveland team that already has the best record in the NBA (43-11), and perhaps the best player in the game in James. But in my opinion this move may actually hurt Cleveland more than it helps them. Now you probably think I'm crazy for saying that, but let me explain my reasoning here.

I think we can all agree that Cleveland is the clear cut favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, and rightly so given the way that they have played this season. Now we can probably also agree that the team they would face should they get to the finals is the Los Angeles Lakers. The Cavs have beaten the Lakers twice this season, including once without their All-Star point guard Mo Williams. I think one of the main reasons why the Cavs had so much success against the Lakers is because Zydrunas Ilgauskas gave the Cavs the size to matchup with the Lakers big men, as he and Shaquille O'Neal would guard Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Lamar Odom is a matchup problem for any team the Lakers face, but now the Cavs just gave away one of their two seven-footers for a guy who's three inches shorter, and certainly is not as much of a presence down low.

If the Lakers and the Cavs do face each other in the finals, the Lakers will have almost every matchup to their advantage, with the exception being LeBron James and Mo Williams. Think about it, now the only true presence down low the Cavs have is Shaquille O'Neal. You can't tell me Shaq is going to play 35+ minutes in an NBA Finals game, because we all now that won't happen. He's old, and he'll get too tired if he does. In the two games against the Lakers this season, Shaq only played 22 and 28 minutes. The Lakers now have Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol to throw at Shaq, in addition to the 6'11 Odom who is a huge matchup problem from the start.

I'm not saying Ilgauskas was the reason why the Cavs beat the Lakers, but it certainly didn't hurt having him in the lineup. Jamison is a better scorer and rebounder on paper than Z has ever been, but you also have to consider that Jamison was the number one option on a mediocre Washington team, where as in Cleveland he could be the number three option once Mo Williams returns from his injury.

A lot of basketball experts always talk about how important team chemistry is, and how critical it is to not mess with anything when a team is rolling. The Cavs are currently on a 13-game winning streak, yet they just traded away an important piece to their team. I don't cover the Cavs and I'm not an expert, so I very well could be wrong, but I'm assuming that Ilgauskas was a great guy to have in the locker room, and that he was probably very well liked by his teammates given that he had played all of his 12 seasons in the NBA in Cleveland.

I'm not as worried about this move as other Laker fans are. The Lakers are still the team to beat, but they have clearly had problems with Cleveland this season, and that has a lot of Laker fans worried. When you really look at it, this move may have just reversed the roles and put the Lakers in the drivers seat to win another title should they face the Cavs in the finals. I could be completely wrong about all of this, but hey, only time will tell if this was the right move for Cleveland.

Dunk Contest Letdown

I'm not sure NBA in-game dunks translate well to a competition, because if that was the case then I could guarantee that Shannon Brown would have won the 2010 NBA Dunk Contest, a contest that will certainly go down as one of the worst in history. I'm not sure what went wrong with Shannon's performance. Maybe he had stage fright, or maybe he was overhyped, but one thing I don't understand is why people I'm friends with had so much hate for the Los Angeles Lakers' reserve after the contest.

For about a month and a half I had been one of many that had been hyping the movement for Shannon to be in the dunk contest. The movement simply became known as "LetShannonDunk", a website whose title states its purpose. The website got recognition shortly after its launch, as ESPN SportsCenter Anchor Robert Flores and TNT's Marv Albert and Kenny Smith gave the site shoutouts during live broadcasts. On January 18th it was announced that Shannon Brown would be a participant in the dunk contest, along with Gerald Wallace, Nate Robinson, and either DeMar DeRozan or Eric Gordon.

As soon as I found out who the other participants were, I immediately assumed Shannon would win because of one reason: he has had the best dunks of all the participants this season. From his ridiculous highlight reel poster dunk in the preseason to his dunks in which he jumps like a kangaroo , Shannon has electrified Laker fans around the world with his amazing vertical leap.

With that being said, Shannon was a huge letdown in the contest on Saturday night. Both of his dunks were subpar, at least for Shannon's standards and for dunk contest standards. His dunks were dunks that would've brought a regular season crowd to its feet, but not a crowd that was expecting to watch the best dunkers in the league.

In his first attempt, Shannon attempted a 360 Statue of Liberty, but he missed, which surprised just about everyone, including himself. He then went on to take off from the foul line area and switched from his right hand to his left hand in a dunk that scored a 38 from the judges. In his second attempt, Shannon attempted to do a double-pump dunk on an alley-oop from Kobe Bryant, but he overjumped the pass and had to settle for a left handed slam that scored a 40.

So after all of the hype and all of the expectations people had for Shannon, he didn't even make it out of the first round. Was I disappointed? Absolutely. I truly believed Shannon was going to win the contest, especially after he said a couple of weeks ago that he had some special ideas up his sleeve. But you know what? It's not the end of the world. At the end of the day the only thing I and other Laker fans hope to see Shannon do is help the Lakers win another NBA Championship. This is an obvious statement, but I'd rather see Shannon sport another ring than hoist up a slam dunk contest trophy any day of the week

I was amused over the fact that some people I go to school with thought I'd be heartbroken if Shannon didn't win the contest. A perfect example of this is with the sports director of the Blaze. He put the following on his twitter a few minutes after Shannon was eliminated: "The NBA wishes they never LetShannonDunk. He really let down his fans who supported his campaign." I found that funny because he only has 27 followers, none of whom are Laker fans other than me. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he wouldn't even know what LetShannonDunk was if he hadn't seen my tweets, so why not just joke around to my face as opposed to try to mock me indirectly?

I also heard from a friend that someone was rooting for anyone other than Shannon for the simple fact that he did not want to hear me "shoving it in everyone's face" had Shannon won. I love the fact that people know I'm a dedicated Laker fan, but come on I really wouldn't be doing much trash talking if Shannon Brown had won a dunk contest. It would have been great had it happened, but all I care about is the Lakers winning another title. Like I said before, I still believe Shannon Brown is the best in-game dunker out of the four that participated in the contest. In-game dunks may just not translate well to a competition.

One final word for those reading this: the guy who launched LetShannonDunk.com is an ASU alum, and is a friend of mine. So I hope all you morons from ASU that were mocking LetShannonDunk take that into consideration after reading this.

Second Semester

I told all of you in one of my final posts in 2009 that I would do my best to avoid month long breaks in between posts, and I apologize because I haven't lived up to that promise yet. This is my first post of 2010, so now I really mean it when I say that I will not go another month without updating this blog.

Second semester at ASU is underway, and I've had about three weeks to get adjusted to my new schedule and classes. I'm already a lot busier than I was last semester, and I'm not at my apartment nearly as much as I was in the fall. I'm writing this and listening to ESPN Radio in an edit bay on the third floor of the Cronkite School. I'll give you a little rundown of my day to day schedule so you can see what I'm up to as I did in first semester.

Monday's and Wednesday's

11:00 a.m.- I wake up, take a shower, eat some lunch, and do any homework that I forgot to do the night before, or was just too lazy to do. I'm up at 7 a.m. on Tuesday's and Thursday's, so that's why I sleep late on Monday's and Wednesday's. (I'm 20 years old, I need my rest, so cut me come slack)

1:00 p.m.- I board the shuttle headed from Tempe to Downtown Phoenix. It's about a 20 minute drive and there's usually a lot of people on the bus. There's always a person on his or her cell phone the entire ride, or a group of people talking very loud, so I pop in my Ipod touch and enjoy my playlist of Lil' Wayne and other rap artists.

1:30 p.m.- I arrive at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, and usually stop at the local Starbucks for a few minutes before I start my first class.

2:00 p.m.- First class of the day: Spanish Conversation and Composition. This class is very similar to the Spanish 5 class I took in my senior year of high school, the only difference is that my professor is very attractive, so it's safe to say that I enjoy all of the hour and 15 minutes of class time.

3:15 p.m.- Class is over and I have a break until 6:20 p.m. I usually go up to the third floor of the Cronkite building and hang out in one of the edit bays, kind of like what I'm doing at this very moment. I catch up on 24 and other T.V. shows I missed, in addition to listening to LA Sports Live and the Mason and Ireland Show on 710 ESPN.

6:20 p.m.- Final class of the day: Videography. Interesting class, as I'm learning how to shoot video packages. We're learning the basics of filming since we're just starting, but we get to use very nice equipment and my professor is a videographer for Fox, so he knows what he's doing.

8:30 p.m.- Done with classes, and I get on the shuttle headed back to Tempe. I spend the remainder of the night hanging out at my apartment.

Tuesday's

7:00 a.m.- Wake up bright and early for morning class.

8:00 a.m.- On the shuttle headed back downtown, and instead of listening to my Ipod on the way, I take a 20 minute nap.

9:00 a.m.- First class of the day: World Literature. The only reason why I'm taking this class is because the professor who teaches it is the same professor I had for an English class last year. She's very easy, so I think it's safe for me to guarantee that I will get an A in this class.

10:15 a.m. Done with class, and I've got about an hour and a half break. During this time I watch a replay WWE Monday Night Raw online, since I usually don't get to watch it live since my roomates are wrestling haters.

12:00 p.m.- Final class of the day: Political Science. I'm really not into politics, so maybe this class will change my ways and I'll be motivated to pay more attention once I'm done with the class? (Psh, who am I kidding, I still won't care about politics after this class, the only reason why I'm taking it is because it's a required course.)

1:15 p.m.- Done with class for the day, on the shuttle back to Tempe.

4:15 p.m.- I arrive at the Blaze studios, and get ready for an on-air update that I do at 4:30.

5:00 p.m.- Update is done, and now I'm on-the-air for The Squared Circle, one of my two radio shows I do at the Blaze. The Squared Circle is a wrestling show, where me and my co-hosts discuss the latest news and events in the world of the WWE. Now I know you probably think that an on-air show about wrestling is a joke, but it gives me practice and let's face it, if I can talk about wrestling for an hour, then I can probably talk about anything.

6:00 p.m.- The Squared Circle is done, and now I have an hour break before I go on-the-air for The Sports Lounge. I'm hungry, so I go right across the street to the best burger joint in Tempe, The Chuckbox. I get my bacon cheeseburger and onion rings, and then head back to the Blaze to do some prep work.

7:00p.m.- I'm on-the-air for The Sports Lounge, and unlike the Squared Circle, we talk about real sports.

8:00 p.m.- Sports Lounge is done, and I head back to my apartment for the remainder of the night.

Thursday's- Same schedule as Tuesday's, except I don't have my radio shows in the afternoon/evening. My roomates and I have a tradition to go to Buffalo Wild Wings every Thursday night. We all order 24 boneless wings, eat as much as we can, and then bring the rest back as leftovers. Thursday nights also mark the beginning of the weekend for me, since I don't have any classes on Friday's.

Friday-Sunday consists of my roomates and I watching a lot of sports, catching up on sleep, and going to parties. I'm having a blast with second semester thus far, I'll keep you posted as the semester progresses.

Don't want to wait for my new posts? Then check out my twitter and become a follower to see what I'm up to on a daily basis.

My Personal Top 10 Sports Moments of the Decade

Happy New Year to you all. With the end of 2009 comes the beginning of 2010. A new decade is upon us, and I'm sure there will be as many great moments in the world of sports as there have been this past decade. I compiled a list of my personal top 10 moments of the decade. Keep in mind that I am a Los Angeles native, therefore mostly all of these moments have something to do with an LA team. So here we go, starting from #10.

10. January 4th, 2006. The BCS National Championship Game: USC vs Texas

USC was attempting to become the first team in college football history to win three straight National Championships. Standing in their way from history was Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns. Young had perhaps the single best performance in a National Championship, as he accounted for 467 total yards, and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 4th and 5 play.

9. March 23rd, 2006. UCLA beats Gonzaga in the Sweet 16

The Bruins trailed the entire game, but then scored the final 11 points of the game to defeat the Zags 73-71. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored the go ahead basket with 10 seconds left, as the victory punched the Bruins' ticket to the Elite Eight. This game was memorable because the then Gonzaga star Adam Morrison was sprawled out on the court and was crying after the game.

8. April 14th, 2004. Kobe Bryant beats the Portland Trail Blazers in OT

Kobe Bryant won the Lakers the Pacific Division, as he nailed a three pointer in overtime to give the Lakers a 105-104 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Kobe also hit a three pointer at the buzzer in regulation just to send the game to overtime. The best part of this was that Kobe made the incredible shots over Ruben Patterson, who had dubbed himself "The Kobe Stopper."

7. The 2008-2009 Arizona State Basketball season.

The Sun Devils swept UCLA and Arizona in the same season for the first time in god knows how long, and made it to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. It was a pleasure to watch the team in person, as I got to see guys like Jeff Pendergraph and James Harden. Many great memories from my first basketball season as a Sun Devil.

6. December 2nd, 2006. UCLA beats USC.

This was without a doubt the best football game I have ever been to in person. USC was ranked #2 coming into the game, and would have been in the National Championship had they beaten the Bruins. Eric McNeal intercepted a pass from John David Booty with a little over a minute left, to secure the 13-9 upset for the Bruins. This quite possibly could be the greatest upset in the history of the storied rivalry, as no one thought UCLA had a chance to win.

5. May 13th, 2004. Derek Fisher's 0.4 shot.

Game 5 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs thought they had the game won after Tim Duncan hit a miraculous shot to put them up 73-72 with 0.4 seconds remaining, but Derek Fisher had plans of his own. As Shaquille O'Neal put it best, "One lucky shot deserves another."

4. June 14th, 2009. The Lakers win their 15th NBA Championship.

This title was special for me because Kobe Bryant is my favorite basketball player, and for years and years I had to put up with all of the Kobe haters saying that he could never win a title without Shaquille O'Neal. It felt great when the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in five games, as all the doubts and all the haters of Kobe Bryant were silenced.

3. April 30th, 2006. Kobe Bryant beats the Suns.

In Game 4 of the 2006 Western Conference First Round Series, and the Lakers leading the series 2-1, Kobe made a looping runner with seven-tenths of a second left to send the game into overtime. In the extra period, Kobe hit a 17 footer that gave the Lakers a 99-98 victory. Unfortunately the Lakers blew the 3-1 series lead, as Phoenix won the next three games. This probably would have been the #1 moment had the Lakers won the series.

2. October 2nd, 2004. The Dodgers win the NL West

The best moment I've had as a Dodger fan came on this day. The Dodgers were down 3-0 going into the bottom of the ninth against the San Francisco Giants. It was the final Saturday of the regular season, and the two bitter rivals were fighting for a spot in the playoffs. Dodger Stadium was packed, and in the Dodgers last chance to win the game, they scored seven runs, capped off by Steve Finley's grand slam. The Dodgers won the NL West for the first time in 16 years, and in doing so, eliminated the Giants. Unfortunately there is no youtube video, however if you click here, then you can scroll down and watch the video.

Ladies and gentlemen, my personal #1 moment of the decade

1. May 26th, 2002. "The Shot That Finished The Queens"

Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and the Sacramento Kings in a series that the Kings led 2-1 at the time. The Kings led by as many as 24 points, and led by eight points with under four minutes to play. But the Lakers were resilient and never gave up, as Robert Horry's three pointer at the buzzer shot capped off the miraculous comeback. The Lakers went on to win the series and the 2002 NBA Championship. This shot has become known simply as "The Shot That Finished The Queens".

So there you have it, my top 10 moments of this decade. Here's to plenty more to come in the next.

Up and Running Again

Hope everyone had a good Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate. I sincerely apologize for the month-long break between posts. I really don't have an excuse other than the fact that I had finals and then I just got lazy. My last post was on Thanksgiving Day, so what's happened since then?

I called two ASU basketball games. One of the calls went great, and the other one didn't go so great. I had a good time regardless, and I'm looking forward to the two games I will call after the holidays. ASU starts Pac-10 play Thursday against UCLA in Los Angeles. The Sun Devils finished their out of conference schedule with a 10-3 record.

I'm done with first semester of sophomore year. I'm on winter break and have been home for about a week and a half now. It's been nice spending time with the family and catching up with old friends from high school.

Those of you who listened to the Sports Lounge/Face-Off Bowl Preview Show remember that I made picks for all 34 bowl games. Ten games have been played as of tonight, and I have picked the winner correctly for six of those games (Rutgers, Middle Tennessee, Marshall, Pittsburgh, USC, Clemson).

Here are the remaining 24 games with my picks (in parenthesis) for those of you who did not listen to the show, or do not remember my picks. Starting with the list of Bowl Games before New Years Day.

Independence Bowl- Texas A & M vs Georgia (My pick-A & M)

EagleBank Bowl- UCLA vs Temple (My pick-UCLA)

Champs Sports Bowl- Miami vs Wisconsin (My pick-Miami)

Humanitarian Bowl- Bowling Green vs Idaho (My pick-Bowling Green)

Holiday Bowl- Arizona vs Nebraska (My pick-Arizona)

Armed Forces Bowl- Houston vs Air Force (My pick-Air Force)

Sun Bowl- Oklahoma vs Stanford (My pick-Stanford)

Texas Bowl- Navy vs Missouri (My pick- Navy)

Insight Bowl- Minnesota vs Iowa State (My pick-Iowa State)

Chick-fil-A Bowl- Virginia Tech vs Tennessee (My pick-V-Tech)

Moving onto the New Years Day Bowl Games (Excluding the two BCS Bowl Games)

Outback Bowl- Northwestern vs Auburn (My pick-Auburn)

Capital One Bowl- Penn State vs LSU (My pick-LSU)

Gator Bowl- West Virginia vs Florida State (My pick-West Virginia)

Games after New Years Day (Once again excluding the BCS Games)

International Bowl- South Florida vs Northern Illinois (My pick-USF)

Cotton Bowl- Oklahoma State vs Mississippi (My pick- OSU)

PapaJohns.com Bowl- South Carolina vs Connecticut (My pick-UCONN)

Liberty Bowl- Arkansas vs East Carolina (My pick- Arkansas)

Alamo Bowl- Michigan State vs Texas Tech (My pick-Texas Tech)

GMAC Bowl- Central Michigan vs Troy (My pick-Central Michigan)

Now to the BCS Bowl Games

Rose Bowl- Ohio State vs Oregon (My pick-Oregon)

Sugar Bowl- Cincinnati vs Florida (My pick-Florida)

Fiesta Bowl- Boise State vs TCU (My pick- Boise State)

Orange Bowl- Iowa vs Georgia Tech (My pick-G-Tech)

BCS National Championship Game- Texas vs Alabama (My pick-Texas)

I promise you it won't be another month until my next post.

The Day of Thanks

Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day. It sure didn't feel like Thanksgiving considering it was 80 degrees here in LA during the daytime.

So in the spirit of the holiday, I'll go ahead and list some sports-related things that I'm thankful for, in no particular order.

I'm thankful that...

1. The Arizona State Football team has only one game left in their season. The Sun Devils are 4-7, and I'm not sure how much more of this mediocrity I can take. For the first time since the 1940's, ASU will finish with back-to-back losing seasons. By the way, what are the odds that the first time in 60+ years that that happens just so happens to be my first two years at ASU? Just my luck, right? The Sun Devils play host to the hated University of Arizona Wildcats for the Territorial Cup this Saturday. This will be my first time attending a UA-ASU game as a student, and I'm looking forward to it. Sun Devil Stadium should be pretty electric. A win over the Wildcats will make the season for the Sun Devils.

2. Arizona State Basketball is just getting started. The Sun Devils fought hard in a loss against the #7 Duke Blue Devils last night in New York. ASU is 4-1, and should be able to finish in the top four of the Pac-10 this year since the conference is so weak. Coach Herb Sendek is doing some great things with the ASU Basketball program, and I'm happy to be here while it happens.

3. Pau Gasol is back in the Lakers lineup. The defending champions are 3-0 since his return, and they have won all of those games by double digits. The Lakers are very tough to beat with Gasol in the lineup, and if everyone can stay healthy, (and that is an important if) the Lakers should have no problem getting back to the NBA Finals.

4. All of the sports-related opportunities I've had at ASU. Not a lot of broadcast journalism sophomores around the country can say that they have been an on-air radio personality for their first two years of college, which I'm fortunate to say that. I've been able to do play-by-play and color commentary for Pac-10 sporting events, which is another thing that not a lot of people my age can say. I've had the pleasure of meeting a lot of people in the sports media industry, and I've also had the pleasure of interviewing some high profile people, such as ASU Men's Basketball Head Coach Herb Sendek, and Petros Papadakis of Fox Sports Radio. I'm looking forward to the new opportunities I will have in my last two and a half years of school.

Go Devils! Beat the Cats!

Weekend Wrap

Well this weekend in sports wasn't exactly a good one for me. The Lakers got humiliated twice, and Arizona State lost yet again.

Let's start with the Lakers. On Friday they got embarrassed by the Denver Nuggets, as they lost 105-79. I stated in my weekend preview that the Lakers could have made an early statement to the rest of the NBA if they came away with a win, but instead they came out and looked nothing like the team that beat the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals in May, not to mention the team that won the championship in June. They scored 23 points in the 2nd half, which is a franchise low, and they shot just 35% from the floor.

I figured the Lakers would rebound from the bad loss in Denver, and come back home and defeat the Houston Rockets last night, but I was wrong. Instead Houston came into Staples Center and handed the Lakers their second straight loss in their 101-91 victory. The Rockets outplayed the Lakers in nearly every aspect of the game, but most noticeably in the rebounding category, as Houston outrebounded LA 60-38. The Lakers' shooting woes carried over from Denver, as they shot just 38% from the floor.

The Lakers' record is now 7-3, which is somewhat disappointing considering some NBA experts thought they could be 20-1 after their first 21 games. I think the Lakers are finally feeling the effects of not having Pau Gasol in the lineup. With Gasol, the Lakers are a bigger team, they are a more physical team, and they are a better offensive team.

I'm not disappointed over the fact that the Lakers have lost their last two games, but I'm disappointed with the ways in which they have lost. It seems to me like they're in a championship hangover, and that they're playing with zero effort and nothing to prove. Teams are gunning for them this year since they're the champions, and I would hope to think that they would be more prepared. You rarely hear a Staples Center crowd boo the Lakers, but last night they did, and they had every reason to do so.

Let's talk about the Sun Devils of Arizona State University, who lost their fourth game in a row Saturday night against the Oregon Ducks. ASU is now 4-6, and has two games remaining: at UCLA, and home against Arizona. Even if ASU wins their final two games and becomes bowl eligible, it is highly unlikely they will go to a bowl since there are six teams in the Pac-10 that are already bowl eligible (USC, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, and Arizona). At this point I'm just hoping ASU can beat Arizona (That will make up for this lost season).

I will be coming home this weekend to cover the ASU-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl for The Blaze.

I've jumped on the Stanford bandwagon since my sister is an alum, and since their football team is actually good. Stanford beat the hell out of USC this weekend, and in doing so ended the USC dynasty, much to my delight. I hate Pete Carroll, I hate the USC marching band and the only two songs they know how to play, and I hate everything about the USC football program, so seeing them get their butts kicked in their home stadium made my weekend. If Stanford somehow makes it to the Rose Bowl, I will be going (assuming my sister can hook me up with some tickets).

No Sports Lounge this week due to The Blaze's coverage of ASU Basketball, so I will be off-the-air until after Thanksgiving.