2012-13 Philadelphia 76ers How Many Wins Will Equate To Successful Seaon

Last year during a strike shortened 2011-12 NBA season, the Philadelphia 76ers advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs for the 1st time since 2003. Gone are veterans Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand. 6th man Lou Williams has moved on as well. Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner the young talented duo remains. Ditto for Thaddeus Young. Via trade and free agency, Philadelphia has added Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson, Dorrell Wright and Nick Young. The last 3 players mentioned should be available to stretch the defense with their ability to knock down the 3. That helps Bynum in the post and when healthy Andrew can demand a double team, get to the free line or even kick the ball out to open shooters. Doug Collins the 76ers head coach seems to have plenty of talent to work with. Lavoy Allen the young big man returns along with veteran Spencer Hawes to provide front court depth. Don't forget about Kwame Brown who was added for his interior defense and rebounding. Personally I like the kid from Villanova, who'll play backup point guard Maalik Wayns. Wayns passes the ball that leads to a Lavoy Allen basket I refer to as the Temple/Nova Big 5 connection. They key to the season is keeping Bynum healthy. That allows players to slash to the basket and shoot 3s. I feel like Philadelphia winning 50 games and appearing in the Eastern Conference Finals, would make 2012-13 a successful season. Wednesday night they'll open the season vs. Andre Iguodala and the Denver Nuggets at the Wells Fargo Center. Let the 82 game journey begin.

Giants Despite Falcons Undefeated Record Lead The Pack As Top NFC Team

Atlanta after going into Philadelphia and beating the Eagles by double digits remain undefeated at 7-0. Personally just can't get on the Falcons wagon during the regular season, they'll have to prove it in the playoffs. During the Wild Card round vs. Giants a season ago, the Falcons scored 2 points. The year before with home field advantage and a bye, they were beat by Green Bay in the Georgia Dome by 30 points. Now the defending Superbowl Champion New York Football Giants are 6-2 riding a 4 game winning streak and evening their NFC East record at 2-2 after a road win vs. Dallas which meant coming back after blowing a 23-0 lead. They have won 2 titles since 2007 and Eli Manning is a late game comeback artist. To round out the current top five teams in the NFC in no particular order : Chicago, Green Bay and San Francisco. Teams like Seattle, Arizona, Minnesota look like they could challenge for the NFC 6th and final playoff berth. With teams like Philadelphia and Dallas trying to get into that mix and maybe Detroit. With that said it's still a half of season remaining to be played.

James Harden Trade To Rockets Shouldn't Be A Shock Writing Was On The Wall

Saturday, reigning NBA Sixth Man Of The Year winner James Harden was traded from Oklahoma City to Houston. Now it's up to the Rockets to resign the upcoming free agent. The writing was on the wall during the London Olympics this summer. Big man Serge Ibaka was resigned by OKC, that alone spoke volume, meaning Harden may not be in future plans. Durant and Westbrook obviously are already in the Thunder future plans as they were already resigned. The move clearly was all about the $ and at the end of the day, the NBA is a business. Especially after the organization and Harden representatives couldn't agree on an extension. OKC Thunder front office orginally are from San Antonio and clearly that was a Spurs type move. OKC also will receive some draft picks in the trade and a few young players including UConn rookie Jeremy Lamb. Kevin Martin is another player the Thunder got in the trade. He can score the basketball as a 3rd option, especially when he's on the floor with Westbrook and Durant. OKC should be a major player in the Western Conference for years to come.

Giants Sweep Tigers In Route To 2nd World Series Title In 3 Years

3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval took home the 2012 World Series MVP. During the Giants Game 1 victory over Detroit in San Francisco, he hit 3 home runs off Justin Verlander. From that point on the Tigers couldn't catch the Giants. San Francisco won Game 4 in extra innings to finish off the series at Comerica Park. The Giants after trailing the Cardinals 3-1 during the NLCS closed that series winning 3 straight. SF then went on to win 4 in a row, including World Series shutouts in Game 2 and 3, to finish the season winning straight. Credit the Giants defense and pitching, they shut down Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera the AL Triple Crown winner. Detroit swept the Yankees in the ALCS and now know the feeling in the Fall Classic. Manager Bruce Bochy of San Francisco has won another championship with a lineup that is nearly as different as the one in 2010.

SF Giants Tie NLCS Force Cardinals To A Game 7

NLCS Game 7 will be played Monday night in San Francisco, of course weather pending. The scheduled starting pitchers for the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals are Matt Cain and Kyle Loshe. The winner of the game will host Game 1 of the 2012 World Series on Wednesday vs. Detroit. San Francisco and St. Louis are the last two National League representatives in the Fall Classic. These two teams are also the last two World Series Champions. Obviously something has to give. St. Louis took a 3-1 series lead after their Game 4 victory back at Bush Stadium. San Francisco won Game 5 to get the series back in San Francisco trailing 3-2 in the best of seven series. Sunday evening the Giants won Game 6 to even the series 3-3. Over the past two postseasons St. Louis has already won elimination games in Philadelphia and most recently in Washington.

Tigers Sweep Their Way Into 2012 Fall Classic

For the first time since 2006 the Detroit Tigers will play in the Fall Classic. Over in the National League the Cardinals currently lead the Giants 3-1 in their best of seven NLCS. The last time Detroit were in the World Series they loss to St. Louis. If the Cards are able to advance to the World Series, they'll set up two things : a rematch from 2006 and the Cardinals would be attempting to win back to back World Series. Detroit had to battle down the stretch just to capture the AL Central, the White Sox would not go away to the bitter end. The Tigers led by manager Jim Leyland won ALDS Game 5 in Oakland to advance to the ALCS. The team avoided blowing a 2-0 series lead. Then went into the Bronx and took a pair of games from the Yankees. The team returned to the Motor City and finished the Bronx Bombers off.

Reid Fires Juan Why Did He Ever Hire Juan

The Philadelphia Eagles are 3-3 heading into a bye week. Coming out of the bye week on October 28th, they will face the undefeated Atlanta Falcons a team that's 6-0. Defensive backs coach Todd Bowles will replace fired Juan Castillo has defensive coordinator. Philadelphia is riding a two game losing streak after the defense couldn't hold a 1 point 4th quarter lead late in Pittsburgh. That last defensive sequence included a 3rd and 12 which Philadelphia gave up a 1st down to Pittsburgh. That was many of several plays that set up a game winning field goal for the Steelers in their 16-14 victory. Philadelphia lead Detroit 23-13 Sunday with about 5 minutes left to play. The Lions forced overtime and eventually won 26-23 in the extra period. Why did Andy Reid fire Castillo ? Why did Andy Reid hire Castillo ? Juan Castillo is a hard worker yet he comes from the offensive side of the football as an offensive line coach. Prior to the 2011 season Reid hired Castillo as defensive coordinator...go figure, 22 games later it's over.

Philadelphia Sports Fans & Media Over React Especially To The Eagles Settle Down Relax

Let's see Philadelphia has a total of 4 major professional sports teams and a total of 6 championships during the Superbowl era. Unfortunately the Eagles have 0 Superbowls only a pair of NFL Championships pre Superbowl era. The Flyers won back to back Stanley Cup Finals in 1974 & 1975, while the 76ers won the NBA Finals in 1967 & 1983. In 2008 the Phillies won their 2nd World Series title, actually becoming the 1st Philadelphia franchise to win a championship since 1983 and that was 4 years ago ! It's frustrating especially with the Philadelphia Eagles under Andy Reid because they have not won a Vince Lombardi trophy since he's been the coach the past decade and a half. Media overact to every lost but hey maybe that's their job. However can the same be said for the fans. No NFL team is perfect, titles aren't won in September or October yet they can be lost. NFL is a marathon not a sprint. Fans really think at this point rookie Nick Foles will lead Philadelphia to the promise land, especially with Michael Vick turnover issues after Week 5. Now when the Eagles win fans walk around with so much bravado. Yet when they lose please replace players maybe even coaches. Reid I can agree with due to overall stubbornness. Yet with players it's too much. Firm believer you have to keep an even keel week to week. Maybe as a city when we aren't used to winning, it plays a role in overall fan behavior, where you may not see that as often with other cities that have won and are winning. NFL which we learned in recent years from the Giants and Packers, just get into the NFL Playoffs and go from their both teams won titles without having the best regular season records. The (215) saga continues...

NFL Network + NFL Films Great Idea With 'A Football Life' Documentary

September 15th, 2011 was the 1st episode of the NFL Network and NFL Films collaboration : 'A Football Life'. During the time this article was written through the 1st 2 seasons a total of 12 shows have aired. 5 more episodes are slated to air during the remainder of season 2. Bill Belichick was the initial documentary that aired in the fall of 2011. Now coming full circle Belichick was aired on the most recent show which featured '95 Cleveland' a team he coached since 1991 before being fired. That was the final season in Cleveland before Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore then becoming the Ravens. This is a small example of the bigger picture of how value the recently deceased Steve Sabol of NFL Films was to the NFL. Personally always been a fan of Ray Lewis he appeared early on during season 2. Also as a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, I enjoyed season 1 episode that featured Jerome Brown and Reggie White. New episodes usually air on Wednesday evenings, I suggest any football fan to tune in, especially the one's who may never saw an episode of the series.

Yankees Cowboys Lakers Fans How Legit Are They When They Aren't From New York Dallas Or Los Angeles

New York Yankees 27 World Series titles, Dallas Cowboys 5 Superbowl titles and Los Angeles Lakers 16 NBA titles. All three teams have a combined 48 professional championships. Personally I understand the concept people can like whatever franchise they desire. What I don't understand is why do fans of those teams that aren't from : New York, Dallas or Los Angeles make up reasons why they follow those squads. Few admit those were the teams in their respective childhood that were always on television, before the days of cable and Internet. It was basically watch those teams on television or don't watch sports at all. I hear plenty of fans who don't live in those cities respond to reasons why they like those teams, one of those reasons are : "My parents or relatives liked the Yankees, Cowboys or Lakers", so now I like them. Some fans like at minimum 2 of those 3 teams. I never understood why fans didn't choose the Mets, Oilers (at the time they were in Houston) or the Clippers, my guess is those franchises don't have enough championships. Who knows the way a fan follows a sports team, may also show the type of person they are personality wise.

Orioles Clinch 1st Postseason Birth Since 1997

It's only a matter of time before the Baltimore Orioles learn their postseason fate. Now that the team has clinched a playoff spot, they'll need to see in their final two regular season games will they be a division champion or wildcard entry. The birds have an outside chance of over taking the Yankees for the American League Eastern Division title, however they could enter as a wildcard and face Oakland in a one game playoff to advance to the ALDS. No one expected Baltimore to make the 2012 MLB playoffs prior to the start of the 2012 season. Let alone with the AL East, especially with the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays as division foes. Kudos to the City of Baltimore, their fans and the organization. Let's see how long their postseason ride last after a 15 year playoff wait.

Washington Nationals Clinch 2012 NL East

Monday evening vs. Philadelphia, the Washington Nationals lost the game yet they were able to celebrate. Late in the game a mini celebration took place in the home dugout of Nationals Park. The 2nd place Atlanta Braves just lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, clinching the 2012 National League Eastern Division for the Nats. It's their 1st division title since arriving in Washington from Montreal. Next weekend they will enter postseason play with an opponent yet to be determined at the time of this blog. Atlanta will battle St. Louis or Los Angeles during a one game playoff, the winner will take on Washington in the Division Series. Key question : is this a one year lightning in a bottle situation or can the Nationals become a threat in the division for years to come ?

NFL Referees Are Back

Let's see it took an entire preseason and four weeks into the 2012 NFL season for the locked out officials to return. The regular officials received a standing ovation this past Thursday during the Browns vs. Ravens game. The remainder of the crews returned Sunday, they got some calls wrong, yet they got many that were right. I assume the first few weeks back will be the referees version of preseason for them. They simply had to return after the forgettable Monday Night Football ending between Seattle and Green Bay. Also the prior weeks saw the replacement referees struggle left and right with the speed of the game. I guess at the end of the day they did the best they could do. Now officials your back, get ready for the boos to return at some point during the season. It's simply too much like right.

Heisman Hopeful Turns Morgantown Football Into A Basketball Score

2012 is the 1st year West Virginia is playing the the Big 12 Conference. During the final Saturday in September the Mountaineers played host to the Baylor Bears. Heisman Trophy hopeful Geno Smith led West Virginia to a 70-63 win over Baylor. This game obviously lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 133 total points and the two teams combined for 19 overall touchdowns. The game was certainly an instant classic on the college football scene. For West Virgina's Geno Smith the star quarterback definitely had a Heisman resume building type game. Let's see can the Mountaineers keep the hot offense going in the weeks to come and get to a BCS Bowl Game later this season. Both schools saw their basketball programs make the NCAA Tournament this past season and a basketball game broke out on Saturday at least from a scoreboard standpoint.