Can Anyone Beat The Heat?

          Miami has an amazing opportunity to achieve a three-peat for the NBA Title this coming year and at the moment, is there any team capable of challenging them? With such a powerful starting five and sixth man they would be hard enough to beat even without their versatile bench. Lebron and Wade have both shone that they are capable of single-handedly leading teams in seasons past and after three years playing together and developing chemistry, they are seemingly unstoppable duo. Together, they conquer teams and while watching them, it seems like you're watching men play among little boys. They tear through defenses by finding holes, drawing fouls, and making their shots and pummel offenses with their stealing, blocking, and rebounding. It is bad enough having to try to stop this dynamic duo on their own, but when they are also on a team full of other great players it is damn near impossible!
          When Bosh, Chalmers, and Allen are added to the equation, the chances of even staying in a game with the Heat are far worse. Bosh may not be one of the tallest centers around, but what he lacks in height is more than made up with his quickness and versatility. Chalmers is a well-rounded and solid point guard who can easily dish the ball out to any other one of his teammates on the field without any hesitation caused by questioning their skill sets. Allen is one of the best, if not the best, sixth man in the league right now and is a tremendous threat from beyond the arc. Knowing this, how can the Heat be stopped?
          The only thing that they are lacking is size. They are just a very small team compared to most in the league and are forced to overcompensate with hustle, aggression, and three-point shooting. Lebron may play a big game, but he is not very tall compared to other players at his position especially when he is the power forward. So, an ideal team to beat the Heat should have height or a roster with great depth of skilled players. Clearly, no team that just has one superstar and a couple other decent players has a chance to be greater than the Heat. This knocks off the Bulls and the Thunder as candidates to beat the heat because having just D-Rose or Durant won't cut it when they are having to battle James and Wade. So, who could challenge them?
          It seems that the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks are the only teams with a fighting chance. The Nets have great depth and are a team full of seasoned all-stars, but they do have their downside. There has to be a lack of chemistry among the team that has acquired multiple new players, such as Pierce and Garnett, who now must begin their first year under the franchise with a very different roster. Also, they do not have height either, having only Garnett and Plumlee both at 6'11", which will not make the Heat a good match-up for them. The roster is alos old which decreases their chance in future years and is not as quick or aggressive as the Heat. Thus, the Nets' chance is slim, but if chemistry is not an issue they will still be a threat. The Knicks seem to have more of a chance. They have an extremely talented roster like the Heat and also have height. Tyson Chandler and Amar'e Stoudemire are both aggressive and agile big men that are great on both sides of the ball and give them the height advantage and over the Heat along with support from Aldrich. They also have star-player talent from Carmelo Anthony and other skilled players such as Felton and Peace. J.R. Smith is a top sixth man just like Allen from the Heat which makes their sixth man talent evenly matched. They still will most likely not be as good as the Heat because Chalmers is a better guard than Felton, they have no match for Wade at guard, Lebron gets the edge over Carmelo, and the height advantage alone isn't enough to stop the Heat. Thus, there are few teams that even have a chance at beating the Heat and none probably will.

FEAR THE BEARDS

          What does a former WWE Champion and a MLB Outfielder have in-common? Most would say that their only major similarity is that they are professional athletes, but in this case it is much simpler. Great beards. Daniel Bryan of the WWE, the man who gave birth to the phrase "Fear the Beard", challenged Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick to a Beard-Off until the end of 2013.

          Bryan targeted Reddick via twitter saying that he would not have the audacity to take on the self-proclaimed "King of Beards" in a head-to-head best of the beards competition. He tweeted this on March 5th of this year and later went on saying, "Also, I encourage my followers to mock [Reddick's] beard at every oppertunity, and let him know that I alone am #KingOfBeards". The rules of the competition are simple: at the end of the year, fans will vote for whomever they believe has the nicer beard and the loser has to shave it off completely. Reddick starts off at a great disadvantage since Bryan has had an eight month head start and has far more twitter followers than Reddick, outnumbering him by over 500,000 followers. On the other hand, Reddick's beard is seemingly growing a lot faster, so he still has a chance of victory unless the voting is baised on the concept of who has more fans.

          Reddick responded in a playful yet mocking way when he accepted the challenge tweeting, "Bring it. YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!" using Bryan's signature catch-phrase. Reddick is a huge fan of WWE and has personally met many superstars, yet this is his first encounter with Daniel and greatly appreciates the friendly competition.  He is also looking forward to establishing a lasting relationship with the WWE and who knows what could happen from there! It is not likely that Reddick will be giving up a solid career in baseball to pursue a career in professional wrestling, but I believe that it is possible for him to be a guest appearance towards the end of the beard-off. So, the A's should not worry about losing their star right-fielder for the upcoming season, but should be prepared for the consequences of the end of the beard-off: the death of a beard.

          Whether Bryan or Reddick wins, one legendary beard will meet its end and the other will be crowned the King of Beards!

                                                                    Two great athletes........

                                                                              Two amazing beards.............

                                                                                     One Winner................

                                                                                             YOU Decide!

                                                              BEARD-OFF 2013!!

The Return of John Cena

          After just over two months, WWE Superstar John Cena announced his return to be this Sunday at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. The former WWE champion left the day after Summerslam to undergo surgery for a partial triceps tear. Despite the usual recovery time of four to six months, Cena is returning back to action this Sunday. When questioned about how he quickly returns from injury, John jested with the reporter saying, "Please don't spread the rumor that I'm some kind of real-life X-Man or something like that." John later went on to say that surgeons give estimates of recovery time that do not necessarily apply to all people. Cena believes he is "a very dedicated physical therapy patient and that helps a lot." The idea that he may be a real-life X-Man should not be thrown out the window yet! Cena was back to his normal weight training just sixteen days after surgery and he only waited that long because he had stitches in for two weeks and was not allowed to and had to wait an additional two days for the wound to heal up to avoid infection. John believes he is ready for his returning title shot.

         He will be in a match with current World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio for the title. John considers being "named No.1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship is a blessing." John knows that Del Rio is on top of his game right now and isn't coming off the couch, but he still thinks he can pull out a win and be crowned champion. He is planning to end Del Rio's current reign of four months and start a new reign of his own.

         The stipulations for the match have not yet been decided, but much is expected for the match as a pay-per-view title match. With the match for the WWE title already being graced with stipulations and a special guest referee, Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, Cena's match will need to have something special to make it as interesting as the other match. The feud over the WWE title is far more interesting than the Alberto's title reign, so Cena will really need to step things up and have a hell of a match( no pun intended) in order to gain more popularity for the other title. The final question that remains is will Cena be able to compete at the top of his game after returning from the injury so soon?

        In my opinion, Cena should have taken more time of to heal, recuperate, and train to insure a victory upon a later return at the next pay-per-view in Massachusetts. He would be returning in his home state and fully healed for sure which would give him greater momentum upon his return. Cena is most likely not on top of his game, but will be able to compete with Del Rio and will put forth a valiant effort. He could pull out a victory as long as Del Rio does not target the formerly injured arm of Cena. Good luck Cena and we wish you a great return. 

Denver: Just Best Team of 2013 or One of the Best Team in History?

        It is quite obvious that the Denver team is the best in the NFL this season, but are they more than just that? At this point in the season, the Broncos average 46 points per game which, if they maintain their average, will break the NFL record of 38.3 points per game. They would also destroy the record of most points in a season, 589 points by the Patriots in 2007. Not only are they scoring a lot, but they also have a 18.2 points per game differential, 91 points total, which is also on pace to beat the NFL record of 315 points also held by the Patriots in 2007.The question is if they can maintain their dominance or will they stray from the path?
        The Broncos show near perfection on offense and only have one interception, five sacks, and a few lost fumbles. Prater has also made all of his field goal attempts and PATs. Their offense is untouchable in its versatility and depth. Peyton Manning, one of the greatest QBs of all time, has five offensive weapons he can ditch the ball out to. Defenses haven't been able to stop him due to the fact that they can't cover all five major aerial threats and even if they did, they would then be too vulnerable to the running game. Knowshon Moreno has well over 300yards on the season with over a five yard average per carry and four touchdowns. This is very impressive due to the fact that Broncos are mostly a passing team, yet will most likely have a 1000yard rusher in Moreno. Peyton Manning shows his dominance and place among the elites by passing for twenty touchdowns, over 1,800 yards, and a 75% completion rate with only one interception! Manning has been able to connect TE Julius Thomas in the end zone on multiple occasions and constantly delivers the ball the veteran wide receivers Wes Welker, Demaryius Thomas, and Eric Decker. This amount of success makes it no mystery that the Broncos passing offense is ranked first and also their overall offense. With such a powerful offense, is there actually a chance that the Broncos could still stray from their path of dominance?
        The answer is yes. Although their offense is near perfect, their defense is far from it. The Broncos do have the top rushing defense letting up less than 70 yards a game and allowing few touchdowns, but their pass defense needs some work. Their pass defense is last in the league allowing more than 300 yards per game. Another problem the Broncos face is their turnover differential considering they only have one more takeaway than giveaway. To insure that they continue to win easily, a better pass defense couldn't hurt their chances.
        In my opinion, unless something extreme occurs, the Broncos will not only break many NFL season records, but crush them! They will go undefeated, win the Superbowl, and be considered the greatest team in NFL history. They will be facing the Seahawks, the worst team in the league, this upcoming week and the estimated point spread is the greatest in history. Good Luck Broncos!

Chase for the Cup Update

     After winning the first two races of the Cup, you would believe that Matt Kenseth would have a huge lead over the other drivers. You would also be wrong in this case. Matt Kenseth only has an eight point lead over five time champion Jimmie Johnson with seven races still remaining. This may not seem to be a problem for Kenseth since he has been quite impressive as of late, but Kenseth has only finished ahead of Johnson once before in The Chase. This fact must be in the head of Kenseth and may be causing him even more worry on top of the other stress of racing for the cup. Competitor Jimmie Johnson disagrees saying “Matt has always been incredible at scoring points and getting the most out of his race car on a given weekend. He doesn’t let emotions rattle him much."  Whether or not emotions will play a role or not, there is no doubt that Kenseth has been far more impressive this season than any of the previous ones. Kenseth has set personal records for wins in a season (7) and laps lead (1380) which are greater than his numbers when he won the cup in 2003. Matt is well respected by his competition and their crew chiefs. Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, praised him saying, "He’s a good driver. He’s a clean driver. He understands where he’s at on the race track.He really gets it. He gets it more than most of the drivers out there. He knows when to get the (heck) out of the way. He knows when he has the best car." Respect is mutual between most of the top drivers and they know that any driver that makes it to The Chase can upset the rest. Much of the talk suggests that the victor this year would either be Johnson or Kenseth, but other drivers are still within reaching distance of the title. Currently third in the standings, Kyle Busch, is only four points behind Jimmie Johnson. If you are capable of using simple math, you realize that he is therefore only twelve points behind Kenseth. He should be considered a high risk threat due to him still being very close in the points and due to Busch's ability to win races. Busch was the youngest driver to win a Sprint Cup Race, youngest to win a pole, and youngest to qualify for The Chase. He also holds the record for most Nationwide series wins in his rookie season which just shows how truly amazing he is at achieving victory. The rest of the drivers in the running are a decent ways further back in the points, but they still have a chance with seven races remaining. Fourth place Kevin Harvick is thirty-nine points behind the leader and would need to race significantly better than the three drivers ahead of him in order to win the cup. The rest of the drivers in the Chase goes as follows: Jeff Gordon-39 points behind  Greg Biffle- 41 points, Ryan Newman- 48 points, Clint Boyer- 51 points, Kurt Busch- 55 points, Dale Earnhardt Jr- 57 points, Carl Edwards- 65 points, Joey Logano- 66 points, and Kasey Kahne- 78 points. Thus, The Chase for the Cup remains full of possibilities for all drivers to change their positions in the standings and will most likely come down to the last race to crown a winner.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/10/05/2861885/jimmie-johnson-resurgent-matt.html#storylink=cpy

  He really gets it. He gets it more than most of the drivers out there. He knows when to get the (heck) out of the way. He knows when he has the best car"

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/10/05/2861885/jimmie-johnson-resurgent-matt.html#storylink=cpy