Eric Balkman
Is LeBron the new Stifler?
From the “You-Couldn’t-Make-This-Stuff-Up-If-You-Tried” file, try to digest this nugget: According to sports blogger Terez Owens, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West is doing the nasty with Gloria James, the mother of his teammate and NBA MVP LeBron James. I feel like I should stop writing after that sentence because there’s nothing else I can state that will [...]
Windy City Pressure
Expectations can do funny things. Like when a mediocre football team with a (sometimes) suffocating defense goes out and makes a blockbuster trade for a franchise quarterback. And then it signs an offensive coordinator that has been responsible for some of the most dynamic offenses of the past ten years, albeit not having a ton [...]
“Breaking news”
You have to love that scroll at the bottom of the screen. ESPN’s Bottom Line is one of my favorite things about the network. It gives me everything I need to know in bite-sized pieces, including breaking news. Boy, am I am captivated by that breaking news red glow at the bottom. It gets my [...]
Pesky ping pong balls
What a kick to the gut. When the New Jersey Nets came up short in winning the NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday night, they may have lost out on much more than Kentucky point guard John Wall, whom many analysts think will be the number one overall pick of the draft. The Nets may have also [...]
Hooray for non-hustling Hanley
After watching the replay several times, I can’t help but think that Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez and manager Fredi Gonzalez have turned this moving violation into an all-out 40-car pileup. To catch you up, Ramirez, (literally) booted a lazy Texas leaguer that he could not get to in left field from his position. He then [...]
The games off the field
Only 409 more days. That’s right–in fewer than 59 weeks, the 2010 NBA free agency period opens. And it will open sans LeBron James. No Dwyane Wade, either. Chris Bosh will be inked to a team already. Not even Joe Johnson will be available. All of those guys get their big deals this summer. But I [...]
Disgusted with myself
The weekend of Feb. 12-14 marked an important one for the sports world. You had the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics on Friday, followed by skiing, ski jumping and speed skating headlining the rest of the weekend. The “Super Bowl” of auto racing, the Daytona 500, took place on Sunday and Danica Patrick also [...]
A marked improvement
The NBA’s 19-year-old age requirement has been a sore subject for many basketball fans since its inception four years ago. NBA fans don’t like it because it deprives them of talented players for a year. College fans don’t like it because it deprives them of talented players for three more years. I have to tell [...]
Peyton Manning’s legacy
If you cringed when you read the title of today’s post, you’re probably not alone. I’m not sure which phrase, between “Who dat?” and “Manning’s legacy”, I have heard over the last 48 hours. That said, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt brought up an interesting take on his radio show earlier this week. Van Pelt said [...]
Putting ‘Who dat?’ to rest
As I watched Bourbon Street fill up like Black Friday at the mall, a teary-eyed Drew Brees hold his young son on the field and most of Sun Life Stadium go nuts after the final seconds of the Super Bowl ticked off the clock, I couldn’t help but be amazed at what just took place. [...]
