Duke Basketball Learns Bad Sportsmanship from the Top

Even the real Ducks were laughing at Duke last night

So, I was watching the Duke-Oregon game last night, and much to my delight, Oregon was pulling away late and they ended up winning by 14 points. It was glorious on so many levels. It was great for a Duke hater, such as myself, to see them get beat by double digits. It was great to see that punk ass Grayson Allen have a miserable shooting performance, and overall bad game. It was great to see that another one of these teams led by "one and done" players get ousted by an older, more experienced team. And it was great to see that dip shit Coach K sit and grimace as his young team was getting their asses beat. The only positive for them was the play of Brandon Ingram, but I even found joy watching him try to do everything and missing shots and getting his shots blocked. This game couldn't have gone any better for me, as I was hate watching this game. I don't care about Oregon either way, but I HATE everything about the Duke basketball program. Anytime they lose, that's a win for me.

What happened at the end of the game made me even happier and showed me Duke and Coach K's real personality. They know how to act like winners, but they sure as hell don't know how to take a loss. You have to be as gracious in a loss as you are in a win, but Duke basketball is the epitome of a sore loser. So, what happened, at the end of the game, Grayson Allen was moping and dribbling hard because he was upset at the outcome. Totally understandable. I've been on the side of a loss more than once or twice in a basketball game in my life and it really stinks. But, when the Oregon guard, I believe his last name is Brooks, went to give Allen a "hug" and say good game, Grayson Allen, the whiny, bitchy little baby showed up. He pushed Brooks off of him and went and whined to his coach that the Oregon guard was a sore winner. This, coming from one of the dirtiest players in men's college basketball. This coming from the same kid that intentionally trips players on opposing teams. Also, people say he was tripped by an Oregon player last night, he was not, he slipped making a move, then tried to make it look like a trip. Go back and watch the game, the defender's foot was nowhere near Allen's feet. Not even close. He lost his footing, then tried to cover it up, like a douchebag. Allen was also seen trash talking earlier in the game when he made a block. Yeah, you blocked one shot, good for you. But, where were you when Oregon was dunking all over you? Or where were you when Oregon was making three after three on you? That's right, you were playing non existent defense and their guys were destroying you on offense all night. You were a liability Grayson Allen.

Now after the game and the hug and push off, did the mighty Coach K confront his player and tell him that he needs to conduct himself in a proper manner? That's what a responsible and respectable coach should do, right? You have to discipline your own players when they act out and make a spectacle of themselves, correct? Well, Coach K did quite the opposite. He decided, in the line to shake hands after the game, it was his responsibility to confront this player that was just trying to say good game to Grayson Allen. He grabbed him and gave him a lecture about winning with class. He told him that what he did was wrong and classless. He said that his players would never do something like that had they won the game.

I say, SCREW YOU COACH K, YOU SUPREME ASSHOLE. You are the worst when it comes to everything. Sure, you are a legendary coach, but I didn't realize that you felt the responsibility to tell one of Dana Altman's players how to act. This kid does not go to Duke and has no ties with your program, so why are you lecturing him? What gives you that right? This is the exact definition of a sore loser, and it was on full display from a Hall of fame coach last night. If I was Dana Altman, I'd be absolutely livid with what coach K did last night. Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot and Altman did this to one of Duke's players, had Duke won. Major networks like ESPN, Bleacher Report, SI, ESPNU, all of them would have been crushing Altman. But, when it's the mighty Coach K, they all brush it off. What a crock.

Plus. for Coach K to have the gall to give this kid a lesson on winning with class, I mean, come on. He has coached some world class sore losers like Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, JJ Redick and now, Grayson Allen. The list of punk ass, whiny little brats that he has coached could go on for miles and miles. Did he ever lecture these kids in a situation where it could be seen by everyone, absolutely not. He has been too busy heaping praise on their "tenacity" and "will to win". This one little act showed me pretty much everything I needed to reaffirm my hatred and displeasure with Duke and, more importantly, Coach K. Grayson Allen is a brat, this has been well established by me on the site, but he is a child, and he isn't even close to being the best player on the team, that's Brandon Ingram. Allen definitely deserves some blame for his actions last night, but Coach K deserves to be roasted by, not only me, but every respectable journalist there is because his behavior was childish. If my four year old did something like this, I would have put him in timeout for talking out of place. Coach K had no right telling another coaches player what he thinks and how he should conduct himself. This was a low class move by a very, very low class coach. I don't care how many titles, games or gold medals you have won, because you acted like a world class asshole last night. You showed all of us Duke haters who you really are and you gave us even more ammo to attack your character.

I have something to say to Coach K, you stink and I hope Duke never wins another title while you still are the coach there. You over stepped your bounds last night and I hope you realize that what you did was childish and wrong. Screw you Duke and screw you Coach K. I'm so glad you got your asses beat by Oregon last night. It was a glorious hate watch.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. The chaos of the tournament has been wothit just for Ty to see Michigan State and Duke both lose in spectacular fashion. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

LeBron Keeps Himself from Being One of the Greatest Players of All Time

How can LeBron be unhappy in Cleveland?

I was reading stories on Bleacher Report and ESPN and SI.com yesterday, to make myself angry I'm sure, and I came across one where LeBron James said that he hopes one day in the future, he gets to play on a team with Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. He said he wants to play with his friends and he feels that this ultra super team could be created with him taking a significant pay cut. He also seems to believe that they could play together for one or two years and win a ring or two. Then, I was watching "PTI", as I do everyday, and Kornheiser and Wilbon brought up this same topic and they had very differing ideas. Wilbon seems to think that this is totally okay and had no problem with it. Kornheiser was the total opposite. He said that LeBron is always looking for a better situation than he is currently in. He said that LeBron is never happy with his current team and he is always looking to pair with a super star or two.

I couldn't agree with Kornheiser more.

I know that Wilbon can't fully tell the whole story because he is, for the most part, a basketball writer and he has built relationships with these guys, but he is also, notoriously, very biased towards teams and players he likes personally. He won't say a bad word about Derrick Rose, Jahlil Okafor, anyone from Chicago really, and he won't talk bad about the Cubs, Blackhawks or Bulls, no matter how good or bad they are. He is a very, very biased journalist, and that shouldn't be how he carries himself in his profession. Kornheiser is also biased for any team from Washington, but at least he has the guts to call out super star players.

I totally agree with Tony Kornheider about LeBron and this current story. Why would he say something like this right before the playoffs? Each team has about 12 regular season games left and while he should be preparing to lead his team to the finals again, he is opining to play basketball with his friends. Also, since he returned to Cleveland two years ago, they have let him do whatever he wants to do. He wanted them to trade Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins so he could play with Kevin Love. The front office obliged. He "wrote" some phony coming home letter, trying to win back the fans that burned his jersey when he first left. The front office and Sports Illustrated obliged. When he complained about Kyrie Irving not passing enough last year, he went out and passed up every shot to "prove" that he was the teams true point guard and then bad mouthed Kyrie Irving on Twitter the next day. The front office didn't say a word. When they made the finals last year, he couldn't say anything that wasn't glowing about Tristan Thompson, basically spitting in Kevin Love's face. The front office did nothing about this. This season, they started out 30-11, but LeBron was upset with David Blatt and he wanted his buddy, Tyronn Lue, to be the head coach. Within a week of LeBron openly complaining to the media, Blatt was fired. Once again, the front office obliged their star player. I remind you, Blatt helped lead this team to the finals last year and had a 30-11 record when he was let go. Lue hasn't really set the coaching world on fire, going something like 14-8 or 15-7. Those aren't Red Auerbach numbers by any standard. LeBron still goes out and openly complains to the media about Love and Irving daily. He claims it's hard to play with Love "clogging" the lane. Bull shit. Love just sits at the three point line while LeBron dribbles for 20 seconds and shoots. He complains that Irving isn't a true point guard. Sure, he doesn't pass all that much, but he is a phenomenal ball handler and a great scorer. Also, LeBron, you wanted these two guys. You told the front office to keep Irving and to go out and trade for Love. It was your idea. He then had the front office get rid of Anderson Varejo, sign Tristan Thompson to a max contract, trade for Channing Frye, re up Matthew Dellavedova and not worry about the draft. But, none of that was good enough for him because they didn't sign Joe Johnson after the Nets bought him out. He really wanted Joe Johnson, and he let the media know it.

So, in less than two years, he has gotten his way, like a spoiled rotten little brat, but he still isn't happy with what he has created. I'm not the first, and I won't be the last to say it, but he is the star player, coach and GM of the Cavs. When they do all this, at his beck and call, it makes him the guy pulling all the strings. Don't get me wrong, I think LeBron is one of the greatest players of all time. He is a champion, multiple MVP winner and will go down as one of the best of all time. But, since his return to Cleveland, I'm beginning to believe that he is a whiner, a prima donna and possibly, the most uncoachable player of all time. Then, this story comes out. Sure, it sounds nice, but I guarantee, within two months, he would be unhappy with his role on this super team. He would clash with Chris Paul because they are both ball dominant players. They both need the ball in their hands at crucial moments. Paul is also very hard headed and would definitely fight with LeBron. He is very old, in basketball terms, right now too. Carmelo Anthony is a ball hog and has proven that he can't come up in clutch moments. This would drive James nuts. I also think the amount of iso ball and threes that Anthony takes would take it's toll on James very, very quick. He has already played with Wade, and they won two championships, but he was old during their last trip to the finals as teammates, and he would be extremely old if they team up again. Wade is also only good for about 50 quality games nowadays, so just imagine how few games he would be able to give his all in a couple of years. This all sounds good and well to James now, but I know he would get frustrated and fed up quicker than he has in his return to Cleveland.

What it all sums up to, I'm sick of James complaining and blaming everyone else for the faults of the team he has personally created. Quit opining for stars and deal with the hand you picked. Sorry that the Warriors and Spurs are historically good and one thousand times better than your Cavs team, but these are the guys you wanted. And stop saying this stuff to the media because it opens you up for criticism, which you don't handle well. Stop bitching and moaning like a baby and be happy that you get to play a game for a living and you make millions upon millions of dollars doing it. You also already have two rings. Charles Barkley would trade his whole career away for one of those rings. Also, Michael Jordan never openly complained about his teammates and he also won with guys like Steve Kerr, Bill Wennington and Luc Longley. Jordan would never want to make a super team just to win a title, he would will lower level pros up to his level and win with them. This complaining and whining is why you will never be as good as Jordan. This current story also proves why you will never be at Jordan's level. You are a great, great player, but you are also a world class whiner and you always think the grass is greener elsewhere. It's very off putting.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His basketball knowledge was acquired through years of rec league trash talk. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Predicting the Rest of an Unpredictable Men's College Basketball Tournament

The current state of everyone's brackets

As I've done with my NBA preview, my NFL preview and my college basketball preview, I'm going to look back at what was right and wrong since the first weekend of the madness that is March is through. You can go back and read my five things I thought would happen before the tournament started and you can listen to our mini episode of the podcast to hear my initial thoughts.

Right out of the gate, I was way off about Michigan State, as was almost everyone else. They really laid an incredible egg against Middle Tennessee State. I don't want to hear about other reporters saying that MTSU was wrongly seeded and that they are a really good team either. Sure, they won 20 plus games, but just look at what happened against a very mediocre Syracuse team yesterday. Michigan State would have dismantled that same Syracuse team had they taken care of business on Friday, but they didn't. MSU got out played, out hustled and out coached by a very inferior team. This has to be the biggest upset in the history of the tournament. Sure, NC State had no business beating Houston when they had Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and Norfolk State beat a much better Missouri team in 2012, but this win by MTSU was, at least in my lifetime, the biggest upset ever. MSU didn't even choke away this game, MTSU just straight up beat them, never trailing. I assumed that MSU's size and experience would make, not only this game a walk through, but that they'd coast to the title. I was way wrong, but so was pretty much everyone else. MSU blew it and they lose a ton of players to graduation. This was a major shake up that busted millions of brackets all over the country.

Then, there were my thoughts on the ACC that I was way off base on as well. Of the 16 teams remaining, 6 are from the ACC. That's impressive. Miami beat Wichita State with relative ease. Sure, WSU made it close, even taking a one point lead in the second half, but Miami started and finished that game strong and they deserved to win. Notre Dame, on the other hand, has been incredibly luck in their run to the sweet sixteen. They were down 12 at halftime to Michigan, then Michigan went ice cold and they started to make some clutch shots and Michigan still had a chance at the end until Zak Irvin took a terrible three. Also, Michigan wasn't even supposed to make that a game. Then, yesterday against Stephen F Austin, they needed a miracle tip in with one second left. SFA should have won that game and all they needed to do was box a guy out and they'd still be in it. I still don't trust Notre Dame. Syracuse got lucky with their draw. They were bigger than Dayton, then they got to play MTSU. They don't impress me at all. Duke was down at halftime against UNC Wilmington and it took the refs giving them every single call in the second half for them to win in round one. Then, they come out and shot a ridiculous percentage from three against Yale, push their lead all the way up to 27 at one point in the second half, then let Yale get back in it, getting as close as four points. Duke can't rebound and they will lose soon. Virginia has looked good. They play a slower style of basketball and they play suffocating defense. They've had an easy draw, but they have looked pretty good in their two wins. They could make final four noise if they keep this play up.

The team I was hardest on, UNC, has looked really, really good. They look like the team that was the preseason number one pick and a lot of people's pick to win the title. They cruised in round one and then they absolutely throttled Providence in round two. They look scary good right now, especially since Marcus Paige is making shots. I regret not having more respect for them. They could get to the title game if they keep it up.

My two play in 11 seeds really let me down. Michigan looked sloppy against Tulsa, but they won. Then, they came out on fire in the first half against Notre Dame, but fizzled in the second half. They should have won, but they couldn't finish, that was their problem all year long. Wichita State looked really good against Vanderbilt in their play in win, but they came out completely flat and ice cold against Miami. They put themselves in too big a hole and they could never get out of it. I was let down by both these teams. Northern Iowa also had a huge choke last night when they let Texas A&M make up a 12 point deficit in 40 seconds. I said, on the podcast, I thought they could make a run, but they really blew it last night. That was probably the biggest choke job I've ever witnessed. At least Gonzaga, another double digit seed I liked, has looked pretty good. They've won both their games handily and now they get to face an inferior Syracuse team for a shot at the elite eight.

The Big 12 has been a let down for me. I thought that they'd represent 75 percent of the final four. Sure, Kansas and Oklahoma are still there and they look good too. KU has had no problem with their first two games and they should coast to the final four. And Oklahoma, while VCU put a scare in them, made in on the heels of Buddy Hield. He has to be the player of the year now after MSU and Denzel Valentine's shocking and embarrassing loss. Without Hield yesterday, Oklahoma doesn't win that game. He is a scoring machine. But, the Baylor's and West Virginia's of the world really blew it. Baylor got outplayed by Yale. Baylor was bigger, but Yale out rebounded them. Side note, if you want to see something truly great, go back and watch the Baylor postgame conference when a reporter asked a Baylor player how they got out rebounded by Yale. This player's response is priceless and hilarious. Baylor would have crushed Duke had they taken care of business, but now we will never know. West Virginia looked bad in their opener. SFA did anything it wanted at anytime against WVU. I thought WVU had final four potential, but has Bob Huggins ever really done anything of note since leaving Cincinnati except for blowing winnable games. That game was a joke and WVU looked pretty terrible.

I was also wrong about a Big Ten team winning the title. I thought it would be MSU in a cake walk. I was wrong and so was the majority of everyone else. The Big Ten still has three teams left, but who really believes Maryland or Wisconsin will win the title? I know in my preseason preview I picked Maryland, but that was a straight up guess and after watching them this past weekend, there is no way they are a championship level team. And Wisconsin got very lucky in both games. They were ice cold against Pitt, but Pitt was even colder. Then, they hit a buzzer beater to beat Xavier. That play was beautiful, but it should have never happened. That charge that was called on Xavier was one of the worst calls in a basketball game at any level. That ref wanted to determine the outcome of the game and that should never be the case. But, that terrible call let us witness one of the best in bounds plays of all time. There is no way either of Maryland or Wisconsin wins the title. Indiana, on the other hand, I do believe in. I had them picked to beat Kentucky and they looked decent doing it. They made big plays when they needed to and got stops when they needed to. They are the Big Ten's best shot at a title this year. 

Where we stand now, we have 6 ACC teams, 3 Big Ten Teams, 3 Big 12 teams, 1 Big East team, 1 SEC team, 1 Pac 12 team and 1 mid major. The way I see it now, the Big 12 is not getting all three in, but they have an excellent shot at 2. Iowa State will probably lose to Virginia later this week, KU should have no problem with Maryland, then they will get the winner of Miami-Villanova, which should be another cake walk for them. Oklahoma gets a very young and inexperienced Texas A&M team they should beat, then the winner of Oregon, the most overrated one seed of all time perhaps, and Duke, who I have ZERO trust in. They can win their next two games with ease. Unfortunately for the Big Ten, Maryland will probably lose to KU, Wisconsin can and should beat Notre Dame, but then they get the winner of Indiana-UNC who would crush them, and that leaves Indiana, and they have to face a red hot UNC team right now and I just don't see them beating UNC. The ACC's best shot, of the 6 remaining teams they have left, is either UNC or Virginia. I think Miami will have it's hands full with Villanova. Duke will probably lose to Oregon. Syracuse is going to get destroyed by Gonzaga. But, Virginia should beat Iowa State, setting up a showdown with Gonzaga, in what would be a great game. And UNC, if they beat Indiana, will coast over either Notre Dame or Wisconsin. UNC has the easiest and most likely path for an ACC team. Sorry Pac 12, Oregon will not represent your conference in the final four. St, Joe's should have won last night, but either Duke or the winner of Texas A&M-Oklahoma will end your season. Same thing for the SEC. A&M is too young and too inexperienced and they also got incredibly lucky to still be in this tournament, their season will end soon enough. Villanova will be its usual choking self soon, probably against Miami. They will find a way to lose because that is what they do. Which leaves me with Gonzaga. I love Gonzaga this year and they have been very impressive thus far. They will beat Syracuse which will most likely set them up against Virginia. I think they can easily win that game and go to the final four. They are playing top notch basketball at the right time.

So, if I have to pick a final four with the 16 remaining teams, I will go with KU in the South, Oklahoma in the West, UNC in the East and Gonzaga in the Midwest. I think from those four teams, KU and UNC will play for the title and I think KU wins. That's how I see it now. I will admit that this tournament has been fun to watch. While it may not always be appealing to your eyes, at least there's been buzzer beaters and upsets galore after the first weekend. Hopefully, that continues throughout the rest of this wacky and wild tournament.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He takes gret solace in the fact that not only his, but every realistic person out there, has a busted bracket. It is madness if you are not following Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Tulsa and Michigan Represent the Poor Quality of Play in Men's College Basketball

A visual representation of the Tulsa - Michigan basketball game

Yes, the tournament has started and yes, I'm spending time inside watching when it's in the mid 60's and sunny outside today and yes, I've already talked about the tournament at great length, but last nights Tulsa-Michigan game was the epitome of how terrible men's college basketball has been all year.

Tulsa and Michigan were two teams that had at least 20 wins, they both had double digit losses, but they also had 20 plus wins and they beat teams like Maryland, Purdue, Texas and SMU. By all accounts, those four teams are pretty good. They were all ranked for most of the season and three of the four are higher seeds in the tournament, with SMU being the lone team not in, but that's because they gave themselves a post season ban and have been recruiting illegally for years. SMU is a good basketball team. My point is that Tulsa and Michigan belong in the tournament. It is too bad that their game was total garbage.

 Tuning into that game last night was a mistake and painful to watch, but this whole season has been like that. I mean, I'm a humongous Michigan fan as you all know very well by now, but man, they looked downright awful last night, and they won the game. I knew it was going to be bad when I turned it on, saw Michigan had a 3-0 lead very early in the first half, then Zak Irvin put up a wide open three and missed everything badly. I was on my treadmill and I said out loud, "it's going to be a long, painful game to watch". From there on out, this was a very poorly played game by two teams that got at large bids.

Neither won their regular season conference title and neither won their conference tournament, but the selection committee deemed their resumes good enough to be part of the 68 team field. I don't think I could say that I agree with them after that game. I lobbied hard to friends and family, basically anyone that would listen, that after Michigan beat Indiana, they deserved to be in the field. Hell, I went on the mini podcast and told all the listeners I thought they could make the sweet sixteen. I was wrong. They will be lucky to keep their game against Notre Dame tomorrow night close. They were absolutely ice cold from the field, especially three point range, which is supposed to be their specialty. You'd think after going 4 of 18 from three in the first half, they'd stop shooting, but that was not the case at all. They kept firing away to the tune of 6 for 25 from three. Sure, Irvin hit a crucial three when they really needed it, but 6 of 25 is just ridiculous.

That's part of the problem currently in men's college basketball. No one shoots mid range shots or has an ability to drive for an uncontested layup. Everyone either wants to be a three point shooter or wants to have a dunk that makes it on ESPN's Top Ten plays. There is very little skill being possessed by most college players right now. They're all specialists and that's a big, big problem. The only player that looked halfway decent for the Wolverines last night was Muhammed Ali Abdur-Rahkman. He was the better option at point guard than Derrick Walton last night. He took some bad threes, but he also continued to drive to the basket all game long and he either finished, was fouled, or found an open shooter. Rahkman looked like a legit college basketball player. The rest of the players for Michigan looked rough. Well, their freshman center Moritz Wagner looked good, playing very good defense and protecting the rim, but everyone else did not look good. They won, but they looked bad doing it. 

Now, I'm not going to just rag on Michigan the whole time. As the old saying goes, "it takes two to tango", and Tulsa was more than willing to play equally terrible, pretty much unwatchable basketball. At one point in the first half, Tulsa had a 16-9 lead with about 10 minutes to go in the half. They looked like they may take control of the game, but they proceeded to score only 4 more points for the entire half. Let me say that again, THEY ONLY SCORED FOUR POINTS OVER THE NEXT 10 MINUTES! That's insane. It wasn't like Michigan was playing lock down defense and forcing turnovers, Tulsa was just missing everything they put up there. They missed open threes, open layups, free throws and many mid rage jumpers. It was appalling. This Tulsa team has 9 seniors and they couldn't hit the ocean in what turned out to be their last collegiate game. You'd think that they would have played with a bit more gusto and desire, but they just looked bad. Sure, they turned it on in the second half, but they could never pull away from Michigan, even though they shot less than 25 percent from three. Nine seniors and they played with no urgency and little to no desire.

This game was the equivalent of a junior varsity game. Put this game up against the Big Ten championship between Purdue and Michigan State and it's night and day. Purdue and MSU run offense that looks like a real offense and they play defense. They both can shoot mid range and they both feed their big men inside for hook shots and layups. Quite the opposite happened with Michigan and Tulsa. Tulsa had some big guys, but they were more concerned with trying to put spin moves on Michigan's big guys and tried circus shots and impossible dunks. Michigan totally disregarded their big men and just let their guards run everything on offense. It was atrocious.

I said this was going to be an exciting tournament, but I also said it would be painful to watch and last night just further hammered that point home for me. Both Tulsa and Michigan looked dreadful and I expect a lot of the same from the majority of this field and this tournament. There is going to be some very poorly played games that will be painful to watch at times. The fan in me was very happy that Michigan won and gets to continue their season, but the basketball player in me was appalled at what I watched last night. Gear up because this men's tournament is going to be rough.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor of SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Watching bad basketball does not make him happy, Brussels sprouts make him happy. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

5 Thoughts on the 2016 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament

Gyms will start to fill up on Tuesday when the madness begins.

Instead of doing a NCAA men's tournament preview, since I've already picked two different winners in two previous blogs, I'm going to give you guys five predictions of things I think will happen in this years tournament. I will not pick a winner, but I will give you 4 or 5 or even 6 possibilities of who could win. I'm also not going to pick the player of the tournament or anything like that, I'm just going to give you five random things I think will happen in the coming weeks of games. On with the countdown.

At number 5, I don't see any ACC team making it to the final four. At first glance you might think, what about UNC or Duke or even Miami, but I think the ACC is very overrated this year. Their best team is UNC, but they've shown time and time again this year that they can choke at any time. Take their home loss against Duke earlier this year. They dominated that game, but they let Duke stick around and they got beat. UNC can't be trusted. Duke won't get out of the first weekend. If they win their first game, they will most likely play a much bigger and more experienced Baylor team that will crush them on the boards and throw around their guards like rag dolls. They will get rolled. And Miami, while they've had a great year, I just don't believe in their team. They'll get bounced quick.

My number 4 prediction, one of the 4 teams playing in the play in games for the 11 seed, be it Michigan, Tulsa, Vanderbilt or Wichita State, will get to the sweet sixteen. I have the most faith in Wichita State because they're experienced and they've gone deep in this tournament in years past. But, Vanderbilt and Michigan, if they win, could make some noise. Michigan has won some big games without their best player for most of the year, and if they're hitting their threes, they can beat almost anyone. Vandy has spent the majority of this year ranked and plays high level offense and, much like Michigan, if they're hitting shots, they will win. Tulsa is the only one of these teams I have no faith in. They don't belong in the tournament and if they beat Michigan, they will get crushed in their first round game. They lost to a very mediocre Memphis team twice this year, so that says everything I need to know about them.

My number 3 prediction, Kentucky doesn't make it out of round 2. They will win their first round game, but that would set up a showdown, most likely, with Indiana. I like Indiana in that game if it happens. Indiana has more experience and more depth and if they catch Kentucky on an off night, they will crush them. I really like Kentucky's point guard Ullis, but Yogi Ferrell is a much better and older and experienced version of him. Indiana's front court is better and could easily dominate Kentucky's young and very thin, in stature, front court. IU had better depth as well. I just don't see Kentucky beating them.

My number 2 prediction, this will be a wild and crazy and fun tournament to watch. I know that I've ragged on men's college basketball, and I still think it's borderline unwatchable, but the fact that this tournament is so wide open, while it may not be pleasing to watch, it will be interesting to see all the upsets that will happen and it will be exciting. I have no faith in a lot of the high seeds, especially Oregon as a number one, but, some lower seeded teams like Yale, Northern Iowa and Gonzaga can make some noise. I especially like Gonzaga as an 11 and I like them a lot in their first round game against Utah. Utah is good, but Gonzaga is bigger and deeper and has more tournament experience. If Northern Iowa can win their first round game, I believe they can make a run to the elite eight. And Yale, these Ivy League teams get in and they're always a tough out. Just ask our editor RD about his Princeton over UCLA pick a million years ago (ed note: Did you know that I picked #13 Princeton to beat #4 UCLA in 1996? I did.) . Or look at what Harvard did last year. Basically, this is a year where literally all 68 teams can win the whole thing if put in the right situation of get hot at the right time. Which will make this an exciting tournament.

Which brings me to my number one prediction, the Big 12 will make up 3/4 of the final four, but a Big 10 team will win. I fully believe that Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma can get to the final four. KU has been lights out lately and they are the best team in all of men's college basketball. They should coast to the final four. I also believe in Oklahoma and Baylor a lot. They're both big, experienced and just flat out good. Baylor has a bunch of humongous guys in their front court that will punish smaller opponents. Oklahoma has one of, if not the, best players in Buddy Hield. That dude can put up 40 any given night and he will single handily win at least two games for the Sooners. I also like West Virginia's chances too. They play suffocating defense that frustrates teams into critical mistakes. They can do damage in the tournament. But, I believe that Michigan State has the best chance to come away with the title. They got screwed by not getting a one seed, but where they're seeded in their bracket, it's a cake walk for them. They have the best player, Denzel Valentine and they have experience and depth at all five positions. They can crush you inside and outside. They have it all. In a very weird season, they have been the one true consistent team, when at full strength.

Take these predictions as you will, but I fully believe this stuff will happen. Get ready for the tournament, fill out your brackets, and watch the craziness unfold.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The head editor is wondering where Ty put Xavier, and why he did not say the Musketeers will win it all. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ben Simmons Represents Everything that is Wrong with Men's College Basketball

The one thing the NCAA seems to be forgetting.

I know that I bag on men's college basketball a lot and today will be no exception. The game has become way too watered down. The talent level isn't nearly as good as it was, as little as 6 or 7 years ago. The "one and done" culture has ruined the game. You can't ever really figure out which players are on which big time team because the majority of that team leaves after one, or if you're lucky, two years. Kentucky, who was in the Final Four last year, lost 7 players to the pros. You read that right, 7 players left with at least 2 years of eligibility left. They're ranked in the top 25 again, and will make the tournament again, but the only player I can name that's still on the team from last year off the top of my head is point guard Tyler Ullis. He's good, but if you are a top 25 team, I should be able to name 3 of 5 starters I think. I know they had a great recruiting class, but they always do and they are always changing the roster.

This is so frustrating to me, a big time basketball fan. I love all basketball, especially the NBA, but I used to love college basketball, not anymore though. I hate the "one and done" culture and this season has been a huge reason why. All these "studs" that were going to come in and turn the top teams around have not really lived up to the task. The two best teams in college basketball, Kansas and Michigan State, have mainly upperclassmen. They're led by guys that have been there before and know how to play. Oklahoma is also a really good team, led by a senior, Buddy Hield. Those three teams I have faith in to go far in the tournament.

These teams led by freshman, teams like Duke, Kentucky and LSU, I have no faith in to make deep tourney runs, or even make the tournament. Duke will be there, but Grayson Allen(sophomore) and Brandon Ingram(freshman), will not guide them to back to back titles, they'll be lucky to make it to the first weekend. Kentucky will bow out very early because their freshman class has been a humongous disappointment and they have no upperclassmen leader, except for the oft injured Alex Poythress. And then there's LSU, the team that is the reason for this blog today.

Louisiana State University had the cream of the crop sign there, Ben Simmons. This kid was a can't miss prospect out of Australia. He was a once in a lifetime player. He could pass like Magic, shoot like Durant and run the floor like Chris Paul. He was going to bring LSU back to its glory days, when Shaq was patrolling the paint. He was compared, by every journalist no matter what publication, to all those players I mentioned above. He was supposed to be the best freshman since Kevin Durant was at Texas for one year, said Bill Simmons. This kid was going to make this season a must watch for college basketball fans. Now, with all that being said, he is a very good basketball player and he will almost certainly be the first pick in the NBA draft, but there is also some problems that have come along with this kid.

First of all, LSU has a slim, and I mean very slim, like winning the SEC tournament may be their only chance to make the NCAA tournament slim, chance at getting in. Some of this is coaching and some is the kid's fault. The coach at LSU clearly doesn't know how to use Simmons properly. He'll use him as a decoy way too often and he doesn't have the ball in his hands at critical times, even though it's clear he is the best player on the floor. But Ben Simmons sometimes seems gun shy at the end of critical games and he passes on the final shot way too much. I know he wants to be unselfish, but if you are supposed to be the best player in over a decade, you have to be selfish and take those final shots, you're team is expecting that out of you.

Then there is the fact that LSU has almost no chance of making the NCAA tournament. Most teams that have had a big time recruit like this have made the tournament and most have made very deep runs. Duke won the title with three freshman as their top guys. When Durant was at Texas I believe they made the sweet sixteen. Kentucky last year made the final four and won with an Anthony Davis led team a few years before that. Arizona, with Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made the elite eight last year. So yeah, most of these freshman led teams make at least some noise in the NCAA tournament. Even though the NCAA doesn't recognize it, Michigan and the Fab Five made the title game in their first and second seasons. LSU though, they look like your prototypical NIT team. Good enough to be over .500, but barely. They are 18-13 as we speak, with little to no quality wins. They do not have a resume that screams at large bid, not even close. If they don't win the SEC tournament, I don't see them getting into the NCAA tournament. There are a lot of better teams that have better resumes that are more deserving of an at large bid.

Which brings me to my last and most crucial point of today. Ben Simmons was not eligible for the Wooden Award, given to the best player in men's college basketball, for "academic reasons". Some reporters, mainly ESPN and Bleacher Report, came out and said what a travesty it is that this kid won't even be considered for the award, that it was an injustice to a great player. I say, what the hell is the matter with you morons that think basketball is more important that getting good grades? I know that most of these "one and done" players don't go to go to school, but at least the ones there make the grades, or it's made to seem that they have made the grades, keeping them eligible to play. Ben Simmons has clearly not been up to snuff in the classroom which is the most important thing. It's called student athlete for a reason. There is a reason student comes first. That is the main thing you should be focused on when entering college, being a student first and an athlete second. I know, he's going to be a multi millionaire in less than 2 moths, but Jesus Christ, go to class. I guarantee that the professors will just pass you for showing up. Also, I don't think he'd even have a 10 percent chance to win the award. I'd give it to Denzel Valentine, Buddy Hield, Perry Ellis or Georges Niang before I'd even consider Ben Simmons. Those guys are all leaders on top 25 teams that should make deep tourney runs.

People in the major media, I'm looking at you Bleacher Report and ESPN, need to stop coddling this kid and make him own up to his faults. He will be the first pick in the upcoming draft, but what if he is a bust? What if he is Sam Bowie? Will the same reporters still be there for him? I doubt it. This kid is good, possibly great, but he needs to get his head on his shoulders and grow up fast if he wants to earn the money that is about to be showered upon him. He is not Steph Curry or LeBron James or Kevin Durant yet. Hell, he's not even at DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry's level yet, at least those guys have proven they're real NBA players.

Screw the NCAA and screw the NBA for this stupid "one and done" culture that they've created. It's a menace and it will cheapen the NBA is 5 or 6 years. Enjoy great basketball now because the "one and done's" are coming to ruin professional basketball.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He often wonders why these kids even bother with college, play overseas and then come to the draft. It seems so simple. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Is it Time to Give Up on The OKC Thunder?

The hoop is a symbol of the current state of the Thunder

I know that in my NBA mid season review and my NBA preseason preview I had the OKC Thunder as a dark horse championship contender. Yes, they're my favorite team, but I legitimately thought, at full strength, they could compete with the Warriors, Spurs and Cavs. They have two of the five best players in the game on their team. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are lights out. They are superior scorers and a threat to anyone that the opposition puts on the floor. After those two guys, with Serge Ibaka being the lone exception, they're pretty thin. Sure, Steven Adams is a good defender and rebounder and Anthony Morrow is a good shooter, but guys like Dion Waiters, Kyke Singler and Enes Kanter do not make a title contending team.

The Thunder do have the third best record in the West, and in the league I believe, but last nights game, that they absolutely blew to the Clippers, shut down any hopes of winning a title that I had. The hopes were pretty fleeting to begin with, the Warriors are historically good and the Spurs are the Spurs, but I still had hope because of Durant and Westbrook. They both played good last night, except for the dumb three that Westbrook took with 10 seconds left, but they always perform. It's the rest of the team that concerns me. In the first half of last nights game, they couldn't miss. Same couldn't be said in the second half, they were ice cold. Not only were they missing shots, but they were playing no defense and looked undisciplined. It was frustrating. They are so Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde. The Thunder will look unbeatable during one half, but then they turn a switch and they look like a mid level Eastern Conference team the next half.

Last nights game wasn't the only time this has happened. They've looked very mediocre since the all star break ended. They can't close teams out, i.e. The Warriors game last week. They had that game won multiple times, but they couldn't close it out. Sure, Curry hit a miraculous shot to win, but the Thunder should've never been in that position. They had that game won, but they found a way to blow it. They also have trouble putting away, or even beating teams they should beat. Take the recent Pelicans game. The Pelicans have no one besides Anthony Davis, but the Thunder decided they didn't have to play hard and decided to not play defense and they lost to a very mediocre team. They've looked downright bad since the break. I don't know if it's coaching or they don't have what it takes or the talent drops off way too much after Westbrook, Durant and Ibaka, but something is wrong.

Yes, the Thunder will make the playoff and even win a round or two, but when they have to play the Spurs or Warriors, they will get scorched. I want to believe in them, but they've done nothing lately that lets me believe in them. They're in a bad funk and they need to get out of it before they get trounced in the playoffs to an inferior team.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He wants to believe in the Thunder, but reality keeps getting in the way. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Grayson Allen is Carrying on the Blue Devil Tradition

Just try and trip me, jackass

I want to take my time today to take a crack at this punk ass Duke men's basketball player, Grayson Allen.

This kid is a world class asshole. He looks like every whiny, over priveledged arrogant white kid that has played basketball at Duke. The problem with him, he isn't even in the top 25 or 30 or kids that have played at Duke. He is not that bad, but he is not some superstar that is going to set the NBA on fire in two years either. He reminds me of another white kid that was looked at as a "star" by some idiot analysts when he was in college and that kid is Aaron Craft. Does anyone remember this douchebag? Yes, I have a preconceived hatred for this kid because he played at that lame ass college full of cheaters in Columbus, Ohio, but he was not this "great" that so many analysts made him out to be. He was dirty, he was a cheap shot artist, he was a terrible shooter and he did not make that team any better. Not at all in fact. Without guys like Jared Sullinger on the same team as him, they would have been lucky to be a .500 team had Craft been their best option. He was an annoyance that hasn't made it out of the D League, so maybe he wasn't this all time great college player. I see a lot of the same thing in Grayson Allen that defined Aaron Craft. Grayson is a better shooter, but trade his shooting for Craft's defense, and you get the exact same player.

In addition to being overhyped, Grayson Allen is one of, if not the, most dirty players in all of college basketball. How many times does he get to trip opposing players before the ACC lays down some real punishment? Sure, they sent him a letter to reprimand him and deemed that sufficient, but that's a crock of shit. If this kid played anywhere else, save for Kentucky, he would have been suspended multiple games for tripping people. First of all, tripping an opponent on a hard wood floor could cause a very bad, possibly career ending injury. What if one of the two kids he tripped fell so hard they smacked their heads on the floor and were concussed? Would the ACC deem that enough of a problem to suspend him? Sure, if he played for Syracuse or North Carolina, but not for anyone on the Duke Blue Devils. Coach K is a standup guy and he doesn't teach his players to be dirty, right? Absolutely not, he has had some of the dirtiest players to ever step foot on a college basketball court, but no one in the main stream media has the guts to call him out.

Let's look at some past dirty players that the mighty Coach K has had. You have to start with Christian Laettener. He is one of the all time greatest college basketball players, but he was also one of the dirtiest. He'd kick players while they were down, he'd foul guys excessively hard when it was not needed, he was arrogant and could be a malcontent. Hell, ESPN even did a "30 For 30" on him called "I Hate Christian Laettener", that how epic his play and his dirty play was. It turned out to be a fluff piece because that's how ESPN rolls, but at least some got to show and tell about his dirty play. Later in his coaching career you can take guys like Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer and Steve Wojohoweski. These guys all came off like they were good, decent, respectable human beings on the court, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Battier was an arrogant, self righteous asshole while in college. Whenever he didn't get a call he thought he deserved, he would bitch and moan so much, that officials would give in. Carlos Boozer used to set dirty and illegal screens all the time while at Duke, but no one ever called him out on it because he was "playing the Coach K way". Steve Wojohoweski was an undersized little shit that fouled everyone on every play because that was his way of trying to get in opponents heads. Even recently you can look at players like Kyrie Irving, Greg Paulus and Jahlil Okafor. Kyrie Irving was a prized recruit who only played 11 NCAA basketball games, but was looked at as a star because of the nice things Coach K had to say about him. Now, he comes off as a diva. He couldn't lead the Cavs to the playoffs when it was his team and now that LeBron is back, and is the unquestioned leader and coach and GM, reports have come out that he is unhappy with his role and he wants to be traded. Sounds like a whiny, spoiled brat to me, AKA a Duke Blue Devil. Greg Paulus was so average at college basketball, he tried his hand at football and that was a disaster. He sounds like another kid that was given everything he wanted in life, no questions asked, and when the times got tough, he whined and complained instead of working hard at something else, AKA a Duke Blue Devil. Jahlil Okafor is proof positive of "getting way too much, way too soon". He won a title in his lone season at Duke, was looked at as the star of that team, was drafted in the lottery and now, he's making mistake after mistake, and is he really a good NBA player? First of all, without Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow, Duke doesn't even come close to even being in that title game, so no, Okafor was not the reason they won. Second, sure he ended up in a terrible situation, being picked by the 76ers, but that doesn't make it okay for him to get in bar fights and to play terrible, non existent defense. He is also a bad teammate. He clearly only cares about his stats and himself, AKA a Duke Blue Devil.

Now we have this Grayson Allen shithead. This kid may take the cream of the crop. He is the worst since Laettener, but at least Laettener could back it up with his game. Allen is mediocre at best and he is an extremely dirty player. This tripping nonsense needs to stop before he really hurts someone. It also makes the play look even worse than it has all season. It is childish and the fact that the ACC and Duke aren't doing anything about it makes it even worse. I'd take all the players, plus a lot more, that I mentioned above before I'd even consider this Allen kid and his childish behavior on the court makes me even more sure that I would not want him on my team.

So, no Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas and Seth Davis and Clark Kellogg, Grayson Allen is not a transcendent player, he is a malcontent, whiny and arrogant douchebag, AKA a Duke Blue Devil.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He has a love hat relationship with Duke basketball, he loves when they lose and hates when they win. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Chaos of the College Basketball Season will Extend Well into March

This season has even our ancestors confused

As I've done with the NBA, NFL and MLB seasons, I want to check up on my preseason preview for men's college basketball and see how I did and what I think will happen now that the regular is just about done.

First of all, this season of men's college basketball has been very, very ugly. There is no clear cut best team out there. The talent pool has been incredibly watered down by this new "one and done" culture. These kids don't go to college to learn how to play team basketball anymore, they go to increase their draft position. No one plays team basketball anymore. It's all one on one and let me show you my skills to prove that I can play at the next level. Adam Silver needs to focus more on changing the age limit rule for early entry in the draft and less on the "hack a whoever" problem. Men's college basketball is becoming a joke, and until they do something to remedy the "one and done", it will remain a big, big problem.

I really dislike college basketball at the moment.

With all that being said, I still watch because it is basketball and I love basketball. As I said before, there is no clear cut top five teams. Last year it was almost a foregone conclusion that Duke, Kentucky and Wisconsin would be three fourths of the final four. Michigan State making it was a surprise, but they are also a traditional powerhouse, so was it really that surprising? Nope. This year though, it's a total crapshoot. I bet gamblers hate how wide open it is this season. There is, at least, 10 teams that have a legitimate shot at making the final four and winning the title.

I'll start with the ACC. The ACC has the team that most consider the "best" team in North Carolina, but they just lost to an unranked Duke team at home. Sometimes UNC looks like world beaters, other days they look average. Duke has been wildly inconsistent this year. They were in the top ten, fell out of the rankings completely, then beat Virginia and UNC. They are a team that relies on streaky shooters and freshman and sophomores and their underclassmen are nowhere near as good as their underclassmen last year. Virginia has experience, but they play ugly offensive basketball. Notre Dame is okay, but they will lose an early round game in the tournament. Louisville gave themselves a bogus postseason ban, due to all their sex parties and their sex depraved head coach, but I don't think they would have made much noise in the tournament anyway. Miami may be the second best team in the ACC, but they are classic tournament chokers. everyone else is mediocre. UNC should be the cream of the crop, but I have no faith in them after what happened against Duke.

The Big East has two good teams and that's it. No disrespect to Georgetown, but they peaked early. The Big East is Villanova and Xavier. They played last night and number 5 Xavier knocked off number 1 Villanova. It was a good game, but the problem with these two teams, they always get seeded very high in the tournament and they always lose way earlier than they should. They both have experience, but like I said, that experience is used to getting knocked out of the tournament early. I'd love if they proved me and everyone else wrong and made a deep tournament run because I like both these teams, but I don't think that will happen.

The SEC has been very average this year. Kentucky was supposed to be great, signing another excellent class, but they have been one of, if no the, most inconsistent team in all of men's basketball. They have no go to scorer and their stud freshman have not lived up to the preseason hype. Texas A&M is ranked, but I couldn't tell you the name of one player on that team. LSU was supposed to be awesome since they signed Ben Simmons, the overall number one high school recruit, but they might not even make the NCAA tournament. Arkansas is mediocre, Ole Miss and Mississippi State both stink and so does the rest of the conference. Kentucky will still win the SEC, but they are not the same team that they were last year.

The Big Ten, my conference that I watch, has been very unpredictable. Michigan State is supposed to be the cream of the crop, but they've had to deal with multiple injuries and very inconsistent play. They are still really good, but not as good as I thought they would be. Iowa has come out of nowhere and put themselves into the top ten, but they have lost three straight and one of those losses was to a very bad Penn State team. Maryland, my preseason pick to win the title, has been as inconsistent as Michigan State. They started out on fire this season, climbing all the way up to the number 2 ranking, but they recently lost to a Minnesota team that was winless in Big Ten play. Michigan, my team, has been without Caris Levert for most of the season but, they've beaten the teams they are supposed to beat. But, when they played quality competition, they've been absolutely run out of the gym. Michigan State, Indiana, Iowa and Xavier all beat them by double figures and made it look easy. Indiana, the current leader of the conference, has looked good, but when they have to play on the road, they are not the same team. They get every call at home, but the road, where it's called fairly, they look average. Wisconsin has come on strong lately, but I have zero faith in them and their former coach, Bo Ryan, is a world class scumbag. Even with Indiana sitting atop the conference, Michigan State and Maryland are the two best teams in the Big Ten.

The Big 12 may be the best conference in college basketball this year. Oklahoma, Kansas, West Virginia, Texas and Baylor have spent the majority of the season in the top 25. Oklahoma and Kansas look really good. They are the two teams that may be the only "sure thing" in college basketball this year. The issue is that KU has a tendency to choke, and who knows with Oklahoma, especially since Buddy Hield has been in a mini slump. West Virginia plays suffocating defense, but very poor offense. Baylor seems to be good only when playing at home and Texas is still learning Shaka Smart's system.  KU has proven twice, beating Oklahoma at home and on the road, that they are still the best team in the Big 12.

The mid majors I mentioned in my preseason preview, Witchita State and Gonzaga have been major disappointments. Witchita State had everyone back from a team that almost made the final four last year, but they have been pretty mediocre this year. And Gonzaga has fallen off a cliff. I believe I had them in my preseason final four, but they have been pretty terrible this year. The mid majors are not going to crash the final four at all this year.

Even though it's been a rough year to watch, the major conferences will be well represented in the tournament and make the final four. Like I said, this season is wide open, but I will take a crack at the final four anyway. I guess, and I cannot stress how much of this is literally a guess, UNC, Michigan State, Kansas and Oklahoma will be in the final four and Oklahoma will win it all. Once again, total guess. So, there is my almost end of the regular season wrap up for men's college basketball. The one thing that will be fun, while it will still be a rough watch, at least the tournament will be exciting and all 68 teams that make it will have a shot at the title. Hell, maybe we will finally see a 16 seed beat a 1 seed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. This college basketball season may provide another big upset, like the Princeton UCLA game that the head editor will not shut up about. It is your duty to follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Winners and Losers Stay the Same After the NBA Trade Deadline

Everyone kept the hands they were dealt

The NBA trade deadline has come and gone in the last week. I know that other writers write an immediate winners and losers article only minutes after the deadline happens. Me personally, I need time to think about what happened and all the player movement. I don't think you can honestly say who won or lost a trade the moment after it happens unless it's something huge. For example, when Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups were traded to New York for basically nothing, the Knicks were clear winners, although they've only won one playoff series since Carmelo has been in New York. I agree more with a writer like Zach Lowe, my favorite NBA writer, that you need almost a full year or even two before you can really pick any winners or losers from the trade deadline. But, for the sake of argument, I will do my best to pick some teams that "won" the deadline, and who "lost" the deadline.

First of all, there were none of the big name moves that I and a lot of other sports writers thought would happen. I was certain that Al Horford was going to be a Celtic, I thought Jeff Teague would be gone, I was almost 100 percent certain that Dwight Howard would be anywhere but Houston and I figured LeBron would get his way and the Cavs would dump Kevin Love. None of those guys moved. I was even pretty sure that the Clippers would deal Blake Griffin because they are playing so well without him and he is a locker room problem, but no movement for Griffin. With that being said, the big names usually don't move at the trade deadline. Very rarely do we see superstars change teams with less than 30 games to go in the regular season. Why change chemistry now with so little time left in the season? By this point, we pretty much know who is going to be in the playoffs and who is going to be in the lottery. The big name guys get dealt in the offseason, right after the free agency dust settles. I do fully expect guys like Horford, Howard, Teague and Griffin to be on new teams starting next season. Hell, if the Knicks don't get any better, I wouldn't be shocked to see Carmelo get traded to a contender, The Knicks are going to go to a youth movement led by Kristaps Porzingis, and Carmelo will be 33 going into next season. the Knicks are no longer his team. And, depending on how the Cavs do, I think they will get swept in the Finals, or even beaten by Toronto in the Eastern Finals, Kevin Love could have a new team next year, if LeBron the GM gets his way.

This trade deadline featured no real superstars or team changing players. The best players that got traded were Tobias Harris to Detroit and Jeff Green to the Clippers. Those are not guys to build a team around. In Jeff Green's case, he is a good player that has a ton of upside, but he has also been traded four times in his short career. That's not a look that a player should strive for. He started his career in OKC and didn't get the minutes he needed and couldn't grow as a player. He was traded to Boston, were he would look like an all star one night and look like a 12th man the next night. He was then shipped to Memphis, were he played his best basketball, but that's not saying much. Sure, he was a decent slasher, but he missed more open jumpers than he made and he was wildly inconsistent on defense. Now, he is on the Clippers, where he is expected to take on the load until Blake Griffin comes back. I know LA fans and LA sports writers think this is a good trade, but I disagree. Green, while being a great talent, has never lived up to his high praise when he was a rookie. He is wildly inconsistent and he is not the game changer that fans and sports writers in LA think he can be. The only good that came from this trade was the Clippers unloading Lance Stephenson. The Clippers are the 4 seed right now, and they will stay there, Jeff Green will not help them leap frog the Thunder or the Spurs and no one is going to catch the Warriors. The Pistons getting Tobias Harris was a pretty good move for them. I like this trade a hell of a lot more than the Jeff Green move. Tobias Harris wasn't being used properly in Orlando and I think, with a coach like Stan Van Gundy, he will thrive alongside Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson. I don't like that they had to give up Brandon Jennings, who I really, really like, but he is coming off a torn ACL and the Pistons gave Reggie Jackson a lot of money this offseason. They have moved on from Brandon Jennings. This move will firmly put the Pistons in a good playoff position, especially in the East, and Harris could help them make some early round noise.

Other than those two guys, the next biggest name to move was Markieff Morris, who was traded from Phoenix to Washington. I don't really know where he fits in DC and this felt like a desperate move by a very desperate team. Morris is a very good basketball player, but he is also a whiner and can be a malcontent. Look at all the stuff he did in Phoenix after they traded his brother. The front office in Phoenix definitely deserves blame for being shady and trading his brother after they both took discounts to play together, but the NBA is a business and shady stuff happens in business all the time. I don't see Markieff Morris making the Wizards a legit threat. John Wall deserves better help than that. Other than these three, guys like Randy Foye, who is having one of his worst statistical years, got traded from Denver to OKC for DJ Augustin. I don't think either team really gained or lost anything from this trade. The Cavs acquired Channing Frye, but he will not push them over the edge. He will not stretch the Warriors or Spurs as much as people may think. And the Bulls shipped Kirk Hinrich over to Atlanta. This trade would have been good about 6 or 7 years ago, now, who cares.

If I were to pick a "winner" from this trade deadline, I think it is pretty clear that it's the Detroit Pistons. They got a proven scorer in Harris and, if he is willing to be coached up a bit, he can turn himself into a pretty good all around NBA player. Harris next to Drummond is a pretty good and formidable front court. Phoenix, while a total disaster in every other aspect of an NBA team, at least got rid of an unhappy player that was causing problems and they got a first round pick out of him, so they may be a slight winner, and that's the only time they will be called winners this year.

As far as "losers" go, no real team did anything that will help or hurt them with player acquistions, so the only "losers" I can find are, we, the fans. Now, we should know by now that the big names get moved in the offseason, but I expected at least one big time star to get traded. Why didn't the Rockets dump Dwight Howard? Was the asking price too high, or did no one want him? I know he's a free agent this summer, but why not rent him for 30 games? All credit to Bill Simmons, why didn't the Trailblazers try and get him to help them in their playoff run? He could have helped them, and he always seems to show up and play good basketball in the playoffs and they would only have to deal with him for 30 games and they could let him walk this offseason, no problem. Or, why didn't the Celtics do something? I have read they tried, but they couldn't pull anything off. They have the most assets and Danny Ainge has been chasing a star for three years now. I thought they could have gotten Horford, Love or Blake Griffin, but they got none of them. Where we sit now, they are a three seed in the East, but with their rag tag roster, they will not beat Cleveland or Toronto. Had they added a star, I wouldn't say the same thing. And, the Knicks were quiet, but they have no assets and it would have taken them moving a big name to get another big name. Phil Jackson wasn't going to do that and had they tried to trade Carmelo, he has a no trade clause and he could have voided any trade he wanted.

This was a very uneventful and very quiet trade deadline, but they have been for the last four years. There a no real winners and losers because we just don't know how these things will pan out. Look for this summer time to be very busy with lots of big named guys finding new homes. Summer is where the action will take place.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is practicing being all excited for the trade deadline as a basketball writer, and then being disappointed as a fan. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.

Ty's Mount Rushmore of Sports Greats

I was also quite the athlete back in 1760's

Much like my previous Mount Rushmore of Comedians blog I did a few weeks ago, today I'm going to do something similar, but I'm going to talk about my four sports idols. I'm going to do one player from baseball, basketball, football and college football. College basketball, with the lone exception of the Fab five, whom I love, no one single player has left a lasting impression on me. Same with hockey, which I know absolutely nothing about and soccer, which I also know nothing about. I know how to play both sports, but I never really watched hockey or soccer on a regular basis. In fact, I never watched hockey or soccer ever, they just aren't my thing. But, basketball, baseball, football and college football are my thing. I love all four of them and there has definitely been multiple players that have left long lasting impressions on me. It was really tough for me to pick out four single players, but I trudged through and figured it out.

Are you ready? Here it goes. 

Let's start with major league baseball. So, my favorite player of all time is Jackie Robinson, but I never saw him play. I was born in 1982 and all I know about Jackie Robinson is the history and how truly great of a player he was. But I was around and I watched Tony Gwynn play a ton of baseball. I am a Cardinals fan, but I'm a bigger Tony Gwynn fan. He is the best hitter that I have ever watched. His approach at the plate was like no one else. He had 20/10 vision and he could literally see the seams on the ball, making it easy for him to pick what pitch was coming at him. He could spot a 90 mile per hour fast ball as easily as he could spot a 75 mile an hour curveball. He regularly hit .350 to .375 every season he played. He even flirted with .400 many times during his career. You could also mark it down in pen that he would get, at least, 200 hits every season. He was a pretty decent outfielder as well. He was great at tracking fly balls and he had a pretty above average arm. Sure, he played right field, but in the pros, right field is just as tough as any other outfield position. When I got to see Tony Gwynn play live it was always a teaching moment for my father, who was also my little league coach. He had me watch Tony Gwynn more than any other baseball player I can remember. My dad used to tell me how great of a hitter he was and that it was important for me to watch how he played the game. Tony Gwynn was the consummate pro. He never got involved in off field stuff and he was always looked at as a great teammate and a great player. Tony Gwynn is in my personal top ten of all time great baseball players. He doesn't get the credit he deserves, but he is an all time great, no matter what anyone says.

When it comes to basketball, the best player and my favorite player is Charles Barkley. I know this is a departure from the soft spoken and humble Tony Gwynn, but I love Charles Barkley and I've tried to model my game after him since I was 10 years old. He is an undersized, a little overweight power forward that rebounded and scored with the best of them. When he came in the league with the 76ers, when they were actually competent, he got to learn from the great Daryl Dawkins. That was a great mentor for him to have. Then, when he ended up in Phoenix, his career took off. This was when I really started to love the way Barkley played. He was brash, he was arrogant, but he was great. His matchups with the Bulls and Michael Jordan were epic. They would trade points and the games were always close, but he could never get over the hump. That was not for lack of effort, the Bulls were just the better team. Charles Barkley became a legit star when he was in Phoenix. While he was a Sun, that was when he did his whole "I'm not a role model" campaign for Nike. While that commercial made my friends dislike Barkley more than they already did, my love for him grew from there. This was the one time in my life that I can say that I liked the arrogance that an athlete was putting out there, and even though he didn't want to be a role model, he became an even bigger role model to me. I even love him now on his NBA show on TNT. He is the best basketball commentator on the best pre and post game basketball show on TV right now. Not only did I love Barkley as a player, but I like him even more as a TV personality. It gets no better than Charles Barkley for me.

When it comes to NFL football, I'm going to go back to a player with humility and who was/is very humble. The best offensive football player that I have ever watched, and he is one of my all time favorite players, is Barry Sanders. When I was a kid, I was still a Packers fan, but I loved watching Barry Sanders more than any player the Packers threw out there. Barry Sanders was the most athletic and the most graceful athlete, with Bo Jackson maybe being the lone exception and challenger, that I have ever watched. Barry Sanders made a three yard run more exciting than anyone else going for a 90 yard TD run. He would be stopped behind the line for a 6 yard loss, break multiple tackles and make multiple moves, run up field and get 3 yards and it was thrilling. When Sanders was in his prime, he was the Lions offense. Sure, they had Herman Moore and Scott Mitchell, but who really remembers those two guys? That Lions team was all about Barry Sanders. He never had the help he needed, but he made the Lions a perennial playoff team and guided them to at least 10 wins a year. I would stop everything I was doing, be it playing outside or playing video games or playing baseball, basketball or football with my friends, whenever Barry Sanders was on. He was must watch TV. And talk about being a humble pro. He never celebrated or did dances or put the spotlight on himself. He'd get a thirty yard gain and walk back to the huddle and get ready for the next play. He'd score a TD and he'd hand the ball to the officials and high five his teammates. He was the epitome of how to play the game and act like you've been there before. I love Barry Sanders. The day he retired, at the absolute prime of his career, I was shocked. I thought it was a joke or a hoax. He couldn't really be leaving football, he was just about to break the all time rushing record and he was the best in the game. But, he really walked away, never to return. I give him credit now, walking away without any serious injuries and his mind still fully intact, but at the time, I was upset. I felt robbed of seeing, at least, 10 more years of great football from Barry Sanders. But, he did the right thing for himself and his family and I understand that now. Barry Sanders in the greatest running back of all time, in my opinion.

Now, we get to my absolute favorite sport and my absolute, unquestioned favorite player of all time. The sport is college football and the player is Charles Woodson. I've written a whole lot on the site about Woodson, but he is the greatest football player I've ever seen, especially when he was at Michigan. I have a ton of all time favorite Wolverines. Guys like David Harris, Jarret Irons, Anthony Thomas, Tim Biakabutuku, Brian Griese, Marlin Jackson, Mercury Hayes, Tai Streets, I could go on and on and on, but no one is better than Charles Woodson. He was the best. His covering skills are unmatched. Teams purposefully threw away from him because he could pick off anything. Go back and look at that interception he had at Michigan State, the one handed one, it's incredible. While he was a lock down corner, he was also an electrifying kick returner and receiver. He could take a punt to the house at any time, look at the 1996 game against OSU, and he was a great over the middle receiver, look at that 96 OSU game again or earlier that season against PSU. He was just phenomenal. He is also the only primarily defensive player to win the Heisman. The day he won the Heisman, Michigan basketball, led by Louis Bullock and Robert Traylor, upset number one Duke and it was my birthday. It was a great birthday and a great day to be a Wolverines fan. Charles Woodson was also just a good guy. He was a great teammate, a great player and a great representative of Michigan football. He is the best defensive football player that I've ever seen and when he was starring at Michigan, that's when my true love for them really, truly started. Charles Woodson was the catalyst. I love absolutely everything about Charles Woodson. Of the four athletes I've mentioned, Woodson is number one and the first face that would get carved into my personal Mount Rushmore.

So there you have it, my Mount Rushmore of pro and college athletes. There's a lot of other people I could have mentioned, but these are the four that stood out to me. These are the four best, and my favorite, athletes in what I consider the four major sports.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. Do you like reading about Ty's Mount Rushmore of Athletes, well you can listen to him tell his stories on the X Millennial Man. Make sure you give it a listen and rate us on iTunes. When you are done listening, read more from Ty on twitter @tykulik.

It is Time to Talk About What Peyton Manning has Done Wrong

Being a shill for bad pizza is one of many alleged crimes Peyton Manning should answer for.

Around this time last year, one or two weeks after the Super Bowl 49, all I heard about on ESPN and all other sports media shows was "deflategate". These outlets couldn't talk about this non story enough. ESPN itself has multiple channels that have sports programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and I'd venture to say that at least 10 to 12 hours, passed around all their channels, ran some kind of story related to "deflategate".

For those of you that forgot, "deflategate" centered around some under inflated footballs in a game that the Patriots won 45-7 over the Colts. I've written a bunch of stuff on this non story. It's stupid and pointless and it gives people another reason to hate on the Patriots. "Deflategate" is the most nonsensical story I've ever heard. Is it morally and ethically wrong? Yes. But, is it cheating? Absolutely not. Not even close. Go ask anyone QB out there and they will all say that they like to have the balls a specific way. When Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was asked about this, he said he always had the ball boys take a little air out of the ball for an easier grip. When Aaron Rodgers was asked about this, he said he likes the balls to be over inflated to give him a better grip. Basically, any QB will do anything to gain an advantage. "Deflategate" is akin to watering down base paths in baseball, or using a certain basketball in a certain arena. It's morally wrong, but people tend to look the other way. Who really cares and who really thinks that under inflated footballs helped the Patriots win? No one that has some sense and intelligence.

So, I figured that this year, with the recent allegations and new stories coming out involving Peyton Manning and sexual assault and having HGH delivered to his home, that ESPN would be all over this. These are actual real news stories involving another Hall of Fame QB also coming off a Super Bowl win. These allegations are much, much more serious than some under inflated footballs. I mean, we are talking assaulting a female staffer while a student at Tennessee and the HGH thing, that is steroids. With how much time is being dedicated to getting rid of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, I figured both these stories would be plastered all over all sports media.

Well, that is unfortunately not the case. I turned on ESPN the other day when "NFL Live" was on because I naturally assumed that they would talk about these allegations and nothing else. I was very wrong. Not only did they not talk about it, they didn't even bring it up. Instead, they focused the entire hour long show on potential free agents at the tight end position. That's right, they figured that potential free agent tight ends were more important to talk about than two major stories involving an extremely high profile player. Could ESPN be anymore in the bag for Peyton Manning and the Manning family? They are just as bad as Jim Nantz when it comes to the blinders they put on whenever someone bad mouths "The Sheriff". It is appalling that they refuse to talk about these terrible, sometimes heinous accusations being brought up. When Nantz was asked, prior to the Super Bowl, why he doesn't talk about the HGH allegations, he blew it off and called it a "non story". This coming from the same guy that chastised Tom Brady last year for some under inflated footballs. Talk about a double standard. When ESPN finally did get an interview with Manning himself about the HGH, it was a total puff piece and they did not press him one single time. They basically told him that he was right and sided with him, claiming that the people accusing him where just jealous of his fame and success. This is the same network that ran, and still runs stories on "deflategate". It's sickening that they continue to defend Manning and his family when someone in his home is getting HGH sent to them. That is a performance enhancing drug and those are supposed to be illegal. I guarantee if Tom Brady, or any Patriot for that matter, had been accused of using HGH, ESPN would have been all over it, calling them liars and cheaters. But, they won't do that to the great Peyton Manning. They assumed, how could someone so wholesome cheat? Why would he do that? He would never under inflate footballs.

Well, thanks to the New York Daily News, once again no ESPN involvement, we come to find out that Peyton Manning may not be as wholesome as we portray him to be. A story was released last week claiming that while he was enrolled at Tennessee, he shoved his naked butt, testicles and penis into the face of a female trainer. When she brought this crime, yes that is a crime, to the higher ups at Tennessee, they blew her off, basically telling her that a student athlete was more important than her dignity. Then, after Tennessee paid this lady off and she moved on to do many great things as a trainer, including working with Olympians, the Manning family wrote a book and destroyed this ladies credibility. She couldn't get a job anywhere because everyone believed the "wholesome" Peyton Manning over her. Why would he lie and why would his family and the University of Tennessee lie about this? Well, as I just mentioned, what he supposedly did is a crime. You cannot force your genitalia in someone's face. What the New York Daily News story reported was, he shoved his genitalia into her face when she was occupied helping someone else. This is a very vile, very disgusting thing for a person to do. I know the Manning defenders will say that he was a kid and kids do stupid things, but this goes beyond stupid, this is disturbing. I was a kid once too, and I never thought to jam my business into anyone's face. Not ever. That takes a special kind of disturbed person. Then, to trash this lady in a book, how classless and guilty does that make one look? If I believed him before, I definitely don't believe him or his dad now. To publicly go after someone like that, that is an admission of guilt. Trying to make someone else look bad for your past childish and abusive behavior, another admission of guilt in my opinion. 

I have not heard anyone at ESPN once talk about this. The only hint of anyone talking about it was on "PTI" and all Wilbon and Kornheiser said is, "he has to speak about these allegations". They didn't attack him the way they attacked the "deflategate" stuff last year. The only people I've heard talk about these allegations are, the aforementioned New York Daily News, a great twitter follow @SportsTalkVM and the wonderful Deadspin. They are the only people that have come out and chastised this childish, abusive and criminal behavior that Peyton Manning showed while at Tennessee and while in the NFL. ESPN won't touch this story with a ten foot pole because they are afraid that they may piss off a powerful football family, but it is in their business to talk about these heinous crimes because that's what good sports journalists do. They don't hide from major stories involving major stars. They sure as hell didn't hold back from attacking Tom Brady, Bill Belichek and the entire New England Patriots franchise when they may or may not have under inflated footballs. So, why do they just stand on the sidelines and give the Manning family a free pass? Are they in bed with Papa John's too? If they are, get out of that relationship because Papa John is a monster and his pizza stinks. Are they afraid of Roger Goodell and the NFL? Yes, they one hundred percent are afraid of that and that sucks because it is really cheapening their own product.

That brings me to what I really think is the problem, and that is the fact that ESPN is hiring unqualified yes men and women to be their anchors and broadcasters. Their bosses, the NFL included, tells them to jump and they ask, how high. They are brain washed people that are terrible at their jobs. These crimes that Manning is being accused of should be talked about a whole hell of a lot more, but until ESPN hires some competent people, I will continue to go to much better news sources like the New York Daily News, @SportsTalkVM and Deadspin. At least they have the guts and the know how to attack this cheater and sexual assaulter.

Screw you Peyton Manning, you are the Bill Cosby of the NFL.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

Dwight Howard Deserves Better Than the Rockets

Where does it say these numbers will win an NBA title?

With the NBA trade deadline this Thursday, one name is being thrown around and it's a forgone conclusion that Dwight Howard is going to be traded from Houston to any number of teams. Boston, Atlanta and Toronto have all been brought up as potential landing spots. If you watch ESPN or Fox Sports News or any number of sports media outlets, they are all saying the same thing about Dwight Howard. He's a malcontent, he complains too much, he can't coexist with another star, he's too much of a diva, he's lost his dominant form from five years ago, basically he is the problem they all say. This was the case when he left Orlando in free agency. He didn't like Stan Van Gundy and he quit playing mid way through his last season. He then signed with the Lakers and his one season there was an absolute train wreck. He didn't like playing with Kobe Bryant, coaching was sub par at best and he looked genuinely unhappy that whole season.

Then the big blockbuster deal when he joined the Rockets. He was the missing piece that this team needed, or so it was thought. His first year there, they did okay, but they bowed out of the first round of the playoffs to a Thunder team that didn't have Russell Westbrook. Then, he missed the majority of the first half of last season due to many injuries. The Rockets played surprisingly well in his absence, with James Harden coming on very strong, heavily involved in the MVP race. In fact, Harden was the players choice for MVP last year. But, when they needed Dwight Howard the most, he came up pretty big for the team. He was a key cog in their run to the Western Conference Finals last year. In their three game win streak to complete their comeback against the Clippers, it was Howard, not Harden, that made the difference. He was a force on defense. He was rebounding at an extremely high rate and he was getting whatever he wanted in the post. He made DeAndre Jordan look like a rookie at times during that series. He seemed to be regaining his dominating form.

Then, this past offseason happened. James Harden decided partying and dating a Kardashian was more important than staying in playing shape. Dwight Howard seemed disinterested in even playing basketball. The Rockets traded for Ty Lawson, a deal I still very much liked at the time, but he was coming off multiple DWI and DUI offenses. Basically, this team was in the news for all the wrong reasons. The season started and they limped out of the gate. The Rockets started 4-7 and fired Kevin McHale, a move I still disagree with. Sure, it's up to the coach to come up with a good game plan and the Rockets had little to no interest in playing defense, but the players also have to be invested in getting better and staying in shape. It was clear that Harden and Howard had not done their job. But, instead of taking it on themselves, Harden and Howard blamed coaching, thus the firing of Kevin McHale happened. But, JB Bickerstaff is not the answer at head coach, and to his credit, he was put in a terrible situation. He said it himself, and I couldn't agree more, he is coaching a "broken team".

So now, sitting at 27-28 coming out of the All Star break, the Rockets are looking to make deals, although I think it's a moot point. This team, if they make the playoffs, will be out in the first round. There were reports last week saying that both Harden and Howard met late into the night with GM Daryl Morey, but I believe Harden was the only player present at that meeting. I truly believe he told Morey that it was him or Howard, that one of them has to go.

Now we get to the part where I actually defend Dwight Howard, something I never thought I would say. Sure, Howard is whiny and arrogant and self righteous, but he can still be dominant if put in the right situation. The way the Rockets run their offense is terrible for a big man like Howard. They give the ball to Harden at the top of the key, he dribbles for 15-20 seconds, then he either jacks up a contested three, or he tries to drive to the basket to draw a foul. I don't see how anyone, with Harden being the exception, would like playing in that type of offense. The Rockets are boring and they are predictable. And when you are a big man, you need touches to stay motivated. I don't care if it's just an easy dump pass to him in the high post and he kicks it back out, at least he got his hands on the ball during that possession. It's asking an awful lot, to tell your big man, hey we need you to play hovering defense, rebound at a very high rate and hustle down on offense, but there's only a 25 percent chance you will touch the ball. Any big man would laugh in the coaches face if they asked them to do that. I don't think that Howard is the real problem and I don't think getting rid of him will solve all their problems.

In my opinion, the two main problems on the Rockets are Harden and, way more importantly, Daryl Morey. Harden has been a diva since his last year in OKC. He didn't show up in the finals and when they didn't offer him a max contract, he said he felt disrespected and left in a huff. The Thunder, when healthy, are a much better team without Harden, no matter what Bill Simmons says (he does seem to have had a change of heart). And the fact that he wanted to make his "brand" bigger this offseason, that that was more important than staying in shape, tells me a lot about James Harden the player and person. He really screwed this team this offseason and he's screwing them over during the season.

Forget about the players, Daryl Morey and his analytic nonsense have been the main culprit that has caused this mess in Houston. He thought pairing a three point shooting, ball dominant two guard and a ball dominant, really good rebounding center would work because the numbers told him so. Numbers were wrong. He took a chance on Ty Lawson, even though they already have Patrick Beverly, because the numbers said having two point guards would make them more explosive. Numbers were wrong. He thought firing McHale would solve problems because McHale wasn't taking his analytics serious and that JB Bickerstaff, according to the numbers, would turn this team around. Numbers were wrong. This whole craze of analytics and numbers is about as useful as "moneyball" was in baseball. Sure, you will have a decent regular season, making the playoffs regularly, but, how many World Series have the Oakland A's won since Billy Beane took over as GM? Zero, that's how many. In fact, I don't even think they've made an ALCS in his time. The way to build a team is through developing draft picks and pairing veterans that know how to play the game. This numbers nonsense needs to go. The Warriors and Spurs don't use analytics, they just develop players and win titles.

So yes, if the Rockets do trade Dwight Howard, I hope it comes back to haunt them. I hope he gets on a team that feeds him the ball and I hope he dunks it all over James Harden and Daryl Morey and I hope he laughs while he's doing it. I cannot believe that I defended Dwight Howard, but all the problems with the Rockets don't solely lie on him. James Harden and Daryl Morey deserve the majority of the blame.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. The numbers tell him that it is time to stop watching the Rockets. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.

Welcome Back NBA Dunk Contest

Practicing for the 2025 dunk contest

This past Saturday, I witnessed one of the greatest dunk contests I have ever seen. The dunk contest has fallen pretty far the past decade. It was long and boring. Contestants got as many tries as they needed, dragging the contest past the two hour mark, easily. The contestants weren't that good either. Sure, you'd get a Blake Griffin, although I think he's very overrated, or a John Wall or even a Dwight Howard, but for the most part, we got guys like Nate Robinson and Terrence Ross. These guys are all phenomenal athletes and freakishly athletic, but we didn't get the stars that the fans wanted.

Back in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's, we got the biggest stars to compete in the dunk contest. Guys like Larry Nance, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter, just to name a few, regularly competed in the dunk contest. Those were some of the best competitions. The coin flip showdown between Jordan and Dominique was so, so incredible, even though Dominique got totally screwed out of the win. When Dr. J was in the contest, he was doing things no one at the time was doing. I didn't see that one live, obviously, but the videos of his dunks are awesome. When Larry Nance was in, he looked like he was floating through the air. It was majestic. Then, in 2000, I witnessed what I consider to be the greatest dunk contest ever. I don't remember the other contestants, but I sure as hell remember Vince Carter. He did some of the most incredible, mouth agape dunks I'd ever seen. The "hand in the cookie jar dunk", going between his legs on a bounce pass, throwing it off the side of the backboard, I mean, it was just insanely athletic and so impressive. I remember sharing his sentiment, after doing the windmill off the side of the backboard, that the contest was over. You could see him mouthing the words, "it's over", and he was 100 percent correct. He absolutely dominated that dunk contest. The fact that I don't even remember his competitors shows you how incredible his dunks were. After that contest, I was sure that the dunk contest was going to be as great every year. I was very wrong.

The All Star weekend dunk contest became boring, as I said before. Too long and no stars. Some will tell me that the Blake Griffin contest, when he dunked over a car, was exciting. I say you are wrong. Who cares that he jumped over a car. It would've been impressive if he dunked over the top of the car, but he went over the front hood. I bet the majority of NBA players can do that exact dunk with no problem. The Blake Griffin hype was at it's peak then, and his dunk was way overblown. Like I said, he is overrated. Some will also throw out the Nate Robinson back to back wins, but those were incredibly boring and his dunks were not even close to what Spud Webb did when he won. Spud Webb only had three chances to do his dunks. I believe that Nate Robinson, whom I enjoy, went on for almost thirty minutes before throwing down one impressive dunk. He had unlimited time and attempts. You give any NBA player that much time, they will come up with something great. Other people may even think that the Dwight Howard win was impressive, but he barely did anything. Also, he's a 7 footer, he better damn well do something impressive. But, he didn't really do anything impressive at all, unless you count wearing a Superman cape as impressive, I don't. So, yeah, the dunk contest was in a real rut.

Last season Zach Lavine of the Minnesota Timberwolves, made it kind of exciting. The pool of contestants still wasn't that good, but the highlights the next day of what Lavine did had me and a lot of others intrigued. He did some really cool stuff that kind of hearkened back to the good old days of the contest. Then came this past Saturday night. The contestants, once again, weren't household names, but two of the four are big time jumpers. Hardcore fans of the NBA know all the contestants and know that Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon are world class leapers. They can "jump out of the gym". The other two contestants, Will Barton and Andre Drummond are decent athletes too. Barton is a freakishly good jumper. No one knows him because he plays very sporadically on a pretty bad Denver Nuggets team, but he can jump. Andre Drummond is an All Star, but he's not known for his dunking ability. He's a rebounder and defender. Both Barton and Drummond failed to impress, but Barton not doing well was the only shock to me. Drummond didn't belong in this contest. Then, Lavine and Gordon owned the rest of the night. Aaron Gordon went first and his first attempt was awesome. He soared through the air and completed a bounce pass between the legs windmill. It was awesome. Then, Zach Lavine did a 360 windmill, behind the back reverse dunk. It was something I'd never seen before and I was hooked. They traded one awesome dunk after another. Gordon brought out the Magic mascot and did a between the legs grab off the mascot's head dunk. Awesome. Lavine then proceeded to catch an alley oop from the free throw line dunk. Phenomenal. Then, Aaron Gordon did the best dunk I'd seen since Vince Carter. Using his mascot again, he took the ball off his head again, but then he put the ball underneath his legs and reverse slammed the ball. It was the best dunk I have ever seen. Go watch it right now, it is so cool. Then, Lavine did some more stuff from the free throw line, including a windmill from the free throw line. That takes so much leaping ability and so much athleticism and Lavine made it look easy. The two of them traded 50's from there on out, until Lavine finally won in a dunk off. Watch the whole duel, it is awesome.

This was the best dunk contest since 2000 and probably the best dunk contest of all time. Aaron Gordon and Zach Lavine brought it back from the dead. The dunk contest was appointment TV when I was a teenager, then it was really bad for a decade plus, but if it continues to be anywhere close to where Saturday night was in the future, I will be in front of my TV every All Star weekend to see the dunk contest. It was that awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once saw the head editor to an epic double jump dunk. It is a slam dunk to follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Mid Season Checkup on Ty's NBA Predictions.

Ty's picks are actually in better shape than the hoop.

Now that we have made it to the All Star break in the NBA, I want to go back and look at my giant, 10 day NBA preview I did before the season and see how it looks now. I did get some things wrong, we all do, and I will address those first, but I feel like I picked the top teams pretty well, with one exception.

So, before I pat myself on the back, let's get to the stuff I was off base on. First of all, I was way off on the New Orleans Pelicans, the Dallas Mavericks, the Portland Trailblazers, the Houston Rockets, the Washington Wizards and the Milwaukee Bucks. In the case of the Pelicans, I thought they'd be much, much better than they've shown this season. Sure, they've suffered a plethora of injuries, but they just don't look like that good of a team right now. I watched them play the OKC Thunder last night and they got blown out. The game wasn't even competitive mid way through the third quarter. Sure, they didn't have Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans, but they still have Anthony Davis, my preseason MVP and Defensive Player of the Year winner. Davis has looked good, but he was supposed to look great. He was supposed to be the new face of the NBA. He hasn't shown that he is ready to take the next step, but he still has time. This is a lost year for the Pelicans. Too many injuries and a terrible start doomed them. They should blow it up and try to get a decent pick to add next to Davis.

I also thought that the Bucks would be a much better team than they are right now. They haven't really had to deal with any injuries, they just can't play competent defense and they have no go to scorer. Giannis Antentekoumpo has not taken the leap he was expected to take, becoming kind of a nuisance. Jabari Parker has not lived up to the hype that he can be a top tier scorer and he plays no defense whatsoever. The Greg Monroe signing has been an absolute disaster and their back court is mediocre at best. They have looked pretty awful this year. They already had their highlight of their season, when they ended Golden State's perfect start.

The Washington Wizards can't stay healthy and they can't get John Wall any kind of significant help. Wall is a star. He is one of, if not the, top point guard in the NBA, but he has no help at all. Bradley Beal was supposed to be his wingman, but he can't stay healthy and when he is in there, he's been ice cold from the field. Marcin Gortat looks slow and is not scoring like he did a year ago. Nene looks disinterested and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets traded. Otto Porter Jr has been hit or miss and other than those guys, they have very average NBA players. But, it all really boils down to piss poor coaching from Randy Whitman. The fact he still has a job is ridiculous. He is the one wasting John Wall's talent. I feel bad for John Wall because he's a really great basketball player.

The Houston Rockets have been a mess from the start of preseason. James Harden decided he'd rather party than stay in shape. Dwight Howard can't get touches, but he also mopes and complains more than any NBA player I've ever watched. The trade for Ty Lawson, which I loved, has been a complete disaster. And this team, as a whole, plays absolutely no defense. The offense they run is equally terrible. I swear, they tell Harden to dribble for 20 seconds, then either shoot a 3 or try to drive to draw a foul. It's atrocious. They fired their coach after 11 games, but they haven't been any better since letting McHale go. As was reported last night, this is truly "a broken team".

Now, to get away from teams I thought would be good that aren't so good to teams that I expected to take a step back, but are playing much better than I thought. First, the Trailblazers. They traded away 4/5 of their starting lineup and made some interesting offseason moves, but damn it if it isn't kind of working for them. They lost LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Wes Matthews and Nic Batum, but still find themselves in the playoff race. If they do end up making the playoffs, it will be as an eight seed and they will get crushed by Golden State, but I thought there was no way they'd win more than 25 games this year. Damien Lillard really is that good.

The other team that I kind of crapped on, thought they were too old and that they missed out on some key free agency moves, the Dallas Mavericks, have been very competitive. Dirk is still Dirk. He is still getting 18 to 20 points per game and his jump shot is still unguardable. Wes Matthews, their only free agent signing after the DeAndre Jordan fiasco, has been great, coming off a torn ACL. He has actually looked really good, considering his injury. Chandler Parsons has been okay, he just does what he does, and that's enough for this team. But, Deron Williams has been rejuvenated by his move to Dallas. He was done in Brooklyn. His career seemed to be over, but he has played some pretty good basketball since joining the Mavericks, much to mine, and everyone else's surprise. He looks like a decent NBA point guard again. You have also got to give a lot of love to Rick Carlisle for the job he's doing with this team. He is a top of the line NBA coach. .

Now, let's get to the stuff I was on the mark with in my preseason preview. Golden State and San Antonio have been great. Golden State, whom I've written about a couple of times already, has been historically great. They are the most fun to watch NBA team that I've ever seen. Steph Curry is the best player in the NBA, no questions about it, and they also have Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut and Andre Igoudala, and I could name a lot more. They are so, so good.

The Spurs are right there as well. The Aldridge signing has been great and Aldridge has taken very easily to playing the "Spurs Way". David West, who they signed for the veterans minimum, has been a great addition as well. Then they still have Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. I know Ginobli just recently got hurt, but they can plug Patty Mills, Danny Green, or anyone on their bench to take over until Ginobli returns. Sure, they got blown out by the Warriors recently, but the Spurs save their best for the playoffs. I still really like the Spurs to compete for the title this year.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been pretty good as well, yet no one is really talking about them. They won their 40th game last night and Kevin Durant looks like he is 100 percent back. To go along with Durant, Russell Westbrook is still doing all the great and reckless things he does on the court, but he's found a way for it to help his team this year. Serge Ibaka is still one of the top rim protector and he has increased his range all the way out to the three point line. Steven Adams is the new Bill Laimbeer and the rest of the team knows their place. Andre Roberson is a lock down defender, DJ Augustin and Cameron Payne are strictly there to give Westbrook short breaks. Enes Kanter is instant offense off the bench and Dion Waiters, when he is on, can score in bunches. OKC is lurking and I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs if I were either San Antonio or Golden State.

In the East, there are two teams and that is it. The Cavs, another team I've written plenty about, is the best team in the East, but they have a problem with their roster and since they fired David Blatt, Tyronn Lue hasn't really set the NBA coaching world on fire. I wouldn't be surprised if they make some moves, trading guys like Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov and/or Tristan Thompson or Anderson Varajo and bringing in more shooters, but it won't matter, they will still lose in the Finals. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving are great, but then you have guys like JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova and James Jones that are playing critical minutes in the playoffs. LeBron the GM needs to make better player personnel decisions and sign good NBA players, not his buddies.

The other team from the East that is setting the world on fire completely took me by surprise. I thought the Toronto Raptors would be good, but not this good. DeMr DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are playing All Star level basketball, although Lowry is the only one that made the team. Jonas Valenciunas is becoming that rebounder and low post scorer that they need him to be. Corey Joseph has been awesome since he signed there this offseason, scoring points and playing good defense. DeMarre Carroll, who's been out with an injury, looked just as good as he did last year in Atlanta, playing lock down defense and hitting open shots. The Raptors have been a whole hell of a lot better than I thought they would be, especially after their rough finish in the playoffs last year, and they look like a real threat to the Cavs. I would love if the Raptors faced the Cavs in the East Finals, swept them and then get crushed by either OKC, Golden State or San Antonio. That would be hilarious to me because it would freak out David Silver and make the fans in Cleveland that much more miserable. I really, really like Toronto.

As far as award predictions, Steph Curry is the MVP. I picked Anthony Davis, but it's Curry. Emmanuel Mudiay, my preseason rookie of the year, has been hurt and can't shoot, so I will now go with Karl Anthony Towns. He is a star in the making. Kawhi Leonard is hands down the Defensive Player of the Year and Gregg Popovich has to be coach of the year. You can't give it to Steve Kerr, and Adam Silver doesn't have the cojanes to give it to Luke Walton, so it's Poppovich.

To close it all out, at the All Star break, my finals prediction is going to be Golden State and Cleveland. I know I picked San Antonio and Cleveland, and that could still happen, but Golden State is something special this year. Not only will Golden State repeat, probably sweeping the Cavs out of the Finals, but I think they will break the single season record of wins. In 1996 the Bulls finished 72-10 and I think the Warriors will finish this season at 74-8, besting them by two games. The Warriors are that good and they will finish their historic season with a second straight NBA title.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He really wanted an all Canada final of the Raptors and the Grizzlies, but then he realized that Memphis is not in Canada. He also realized their are no Grizzlies in Tennessee, no lakes in LA, and definitely no Jazz in Salt Lake City. The NBA is weird. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Denver's Defense Would not Allow Peyton Manning to Lose the Super Bowl

It was better to shut your eyes than to watch the offense in Super Bowl 50

Last night Super Bowl 50 was played and once again, my prediction was wrong. 

Sorry Carolina Panthers fans for jinxing your team.

I, along with almost every other sports prognosticators, was certain that Carolina would win. I thought it was going to be close, but I thought Carolina, and more importantly Cam Newton, would be able to pull through in the clutch. Carolina has the better athletes and the better team, at least that's what I thought.

I did not think that Denver's defense would live up to the moment once again. They harassed Tom Brady all game during the AFC title game and they did the same thing to Cam Newton last night in the Super Bowl. This is what took me by surprise. Constantly getting pressure on Tom Brady seemed easy. New England's offensive line was atrocious all season, Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola weren't 100 percent and Tom Brady is a very immobile QB. I assumed Cam Newton would be able to evade pressure pretty easily last night. I was extremely wrong. Newton's line gave him plenty of time, but all his receivers were blanketed all game and he held the ball much to long. Also, Damarcus Ware and Von Miller were getting to him fairly regularly.

This just wasn't the game that I thought it would be. It was one of the worst offensive performances by two teams, in any football game, let alone the Super Bowl, that I have ever witnessed. I assumed the Broncos would stall on offense most of the game. Peyton Manning is past his prime, their run game has been hit or miss all season and their receivers routinely drop passes. Carolina though, they have been running rough shot through good defenses in the regular season and the playoffs. They seemed to score at least 30 points every game. They don't have the best receivers in the NFL, not by a long shot and their running game is sub par, but they have the best QB in the NFL. Cam Newton won the MVP. I just figured he would will this team to a victory, like he has all season long. But, as I mentioned before, the Broncos defense made his life miserable all game. They constantly hit him. On designed QB runs, Denver always had two or three guys gang tackling Newton. They didn't give Newton's favorite target and safety blanket, Greg Olsen, any space. I think he only had two catches the entire game. What it all boils down to, Carolina laid an egg on offense, but I think it was due to how great of a defense Denver had this year. Everyone, myself included, kind of thought that Denver's defense was okay, but if they had to face a mobile QB like Newton, they'd be exposed. My belief in Cam Newton was so strong, I just assumed he would find a way to win this game for his team. But, that Denver defense just wouldn't allow it.

This brings me to my main point today, this 2015-2016 Denver defense is the greatest defense that I've ever watched. I know Seattle had a great defense, that destroyed pretty much the same Broncos team in Super Bowl 48, but they don't even come close to how great this Denver defense was this year, especially in the playoffs. The Ravens had a really good defense the year they won the title, but I feel like their numbers were inflated by playing a much inferior Giants team in their Super Bowl win. Some other teams in recent history have had good defenses, the Ravens again when they beat the 49ers, The Colts team that beat the Bears, hell, even the Packers defense when they beat the Steelers was in the top 10 of the league, but none of them compare to Denver. Now, I was only 3 years old and I only know them from stories and old NFL Films shows on ESPN, but I feel like this Denver defense is right up there with the 1985 Bears defense. You know the one I'm talking about, the one with William "The Refrigerator" Perry, Ron Rivera, coach of the Panthers last night, Richard Dent and Mike Singletary, among many others. They are the supposed "greatest defense" of all time. Now, this may be blasphemy, or just my age, but I feel like this Broncos defense is a better defense than the 85 Bears.

Hear me out Generation Xers and Baby Boomers.

The 85 Bears were dominant, but they had a very competent offense to go along with their legendary defense. Sure, Jim McMahon is not the best QB to play in the NFL, but at that time, he was better than Peyton Manning was last night. They also had Walter Payton. No way are CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman even close to being on Walter Payton's planet. They had good receivers and tight ends that weren't used a lot, but they didn't need to be because they had Walter god damn Payton. This Broncos defense had to win games for them this year. Sure, if the 85 Bears offense gave their defense 14, it was a done deal, but for this Broncos team to win, they needed scores from their defense, because their offense sure as hell wasn't performing at any level. Peyton Manning is an all time great, but near the end of that game, while it was still a one score game at 16-10, Gary Kubiak and the offensive staff of the Broncos did not trust him to throw the ball. They would rather run it three times, gain 6 or 7 yards and punt it away and let their defense do their magnificent work. And that defense delivered with flying colors.

Anytime Carolina looked like they may grab some kind of moment, Denver would come up with a sack, a fumble of a tipped pass on third down to force a punt. They did this all throughout the playoffs. When the Steelers had the ball, driving to salt the game away, boom, fumble recovered by Denver that leads to a game winning field goal. Two weeks ago against the Patriots, they made Brady look like a mediocre QB and shut all their weapons down. Sure, Gronk had over 100 yards receiving, but 90 of that came on two plays. Denver won that game because of their shut down defense. And then last night, against the best offense, by a wide margin, in the NFL, they held them to 10 points and just barely over 200 yards total offense. They even scored a TD for the team on a strip sack. Von Miller and Damarcus Ware looked like the future Hall of Famers that they will be all game last night, especially Miller. Miller had 6 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles, the first leading to a TD. He was a man amongst boys last night. He's a free agent going onto this off season and his performance last night is going to make him a very, very rich man. I was so glad that they gave him the Super Bowl MVP too.

I was petrified, literally, that they'd give it to Peyton Manning because that's what jackasses like Phil Simms and especially Jim Nantz and the majority of the people watching last night wanted to happen. They so badly wanted Manning to be the guy to will this team to the win, but he did next to nothing in the game. He was under 50 percent completion, he passes looked slow and downright bad, he had happy feet all night and he looked scared. His team didn't even have faith in him to throw in the 4th quarter, as I said before. The run game wasn't really there either, so CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman were out of the MVP talk quick. But, the deserving player got it. Von Miller and the Broncos defense won that Super Bowl, no ifs ands or buts about it.

This game will go down as one of the most ugly offensive performances of all time, but that Broncos defense is legit. To me, they are the greatest defense of all time. But, the unfortunate thing, no one will remember them because this was probably Peyton Manning's last game. That's all the sports media will remember and that is a travesty. We just witnessed the greatest defensive playoff run of all time, but the casual fan will only remember it being Peyton's last game. That is a shame. The true football fan will realize we just witnessed greatness, but that's only about 25 percent of the population.

So yeah, good for you Peyton, you were part of the team that may go down as having the best defense of all time, but no one will remember how truly remarkable this defense was because you were on that team and you are the "star" player. But, I say congrats to the Denver defense. You guys were the ones that made this Super Bowl win possible and I will remember this game for your dominating performance. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He wants to welcome Peyton Manning to the club of bad quarterbacks on winning Super Bowl teams. Trent Dilfer and Jeff Hostetler will pour you a drink. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Millennial Memories From a Decade Plus Worth of Super Bowls

Many of our memories are of the food being better than the game.

With Super Bowl 50 just around the corner, I want to look back at some Super Bowl memories that I have had over the past decade plus. I've watched a lot of football in that period of time and I have some good and not so good memories of Super Bowl's past. I know that I wouldn't get the exact Super Bowl number, so I will just describe some teams and some of the games that I remember and I'm sure that most people would be able to pick the game I'm talking about. First, I want to go back to the early to mid nineties. Those Super Bowl's are some of my very first memories of realizing that this is a big game. I don't so much remember the games, but I remember moments and, more importantly, teams.

First of all, I was a big time band wagon fan when I was a child. Whichever team won the Super Bowl, that was my favorite team and the team I remember being on the bandwagon for the Dallas Cowboys of the mid 90's. Looking back on it now, I despise this team, but when I was a kid, they were the champs, so I rooted for the champs. If I could go back in time, I'd yell at the young me for being a fan of this team. They were so arrogant and so flamboyant, and as I've gotten older, I'm all about "acting like you've been there before". I don't need flash, just score a TD, give the ball to the ref and go to the sideline. That's why I like Barry Sanders so much. That Cowboys team though, save for Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith, were all about flash. I loved it as a kid, but as an adult, I don't care for it. But, that Cowboys team, for a young football fan, was so easy to like and say you were a fan.

The team I should have stuck up for back then was the Buffalo Bills. They played the game the way it was supposed to be played, but added that up tempo, no huddle offense. They were a ton of fun to watch and I liked Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas just as much, if not more, than Aikman and Smith. The Bills also had one of my all time favorite players, Bruce Smith. But, they couldn't get over the hump, especially against the Cowboys. The Bills were the only team to make four straight Super Bowls, and they lost all four of them, three via blowouts. Everyone remembers Scott Norwood and wide right, but what I remember most about those Bills-Cowboys Super Bowls, was Don Beebe chasing down Leon Lett and striping the ball out of his hands. That game was an absolute blow out, but Beebe still wouldn't throw in the towel and after chasing Lett down and stripping the ball, John Madden said something that I will never forget, "Don Beebee is the fastest white guy in the NFL". At the time, I thought it was weird and if a commentator said something like that now, it would be a huge deal all over the internets.

Moving on to more modern Super Bowl memories, I remember when the Rams won their Super Bowl while in Saint Louis. They had one of the best offenses in the history of the NFL and I thought that they were going to crush the Tennessee Titans, but that didn't happen. Now, the Rams won, but it was a low scoring slug fest type of game with Mike Jones tackling Kevin Dyson at the one yard line to preserve the win for the Rams. It was their defense, not their historically great offense, that won that game for them. Then, when they played the New England Patriots, led by backup QB Tom Brady, the next year, it was a foregone conclusion that the Rams would win again. They had the much better team and much better players. Then, the game happened and the Patriots won on a last second field goal. People will look back at that game and say that the Patriots only won because of "spygate", but Bill Belichek outcoached Mike Martz and no matter how much "spygate" may have helped them, the Patriots played a much better game and Martz sorely underused his best offensive weapon, Marshall Faulk. That Super Bowl was a great example of one coach being prepared and the other coach being very under prepared. That 's why the Patriots won.

And thus, began the dominating run of the Patriots. Sure, teams like Pittsburgh and my Green Bay Packers and the Seahawks and the Colts have won Super Bowls in this time, but the one consistent team has been the Patriots. They have played in 11 of the last 15 AFC championship games and they've been to 6 Super Bowls, winning four of them. I already talked about them beating the Rams. They've also beaten the Eagles in a Super Bowl. That Eagles team had Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens, but that wasn't enough to beat the Patriots. What I remember most about that Super Bowl was McNabb barfing in the huddle and Owens making great catches and then excuses for why it wasn't his, but everyone else's fault, that the Eagles got beat. I remember their Super Bowl win over the Carolina Panthers. The Patriots should have won that game going away, but Tom Brady threw one of the worst interceptions I've ever seen with a 14 point lead and the Panthers came all the way back to tie the game. Then, their kicker kicks the ball out of bounds, gives the Patriots excellent field position, and they win by a field goal once again. Then, their two losses to the Giants. One, they were undefeated and favored by 10 plus points. There was no way they were losing that game. But, the Giants constantly harassed Brady and they couldn't get their offense rolling. They still had a chance to win, but Eli Manning chucked the ball up in the air, after evading multiple sack attempts, and David Tyree made the best, and his last, catch I've ever seen. He pinned that ball to his helmet and the Giants went on to win by a field goal. Their second loss to the Giants also came down to one team dropping a pass, the Patriots and Wes Welker, and the other team making a miraculous catch, the Giants and Mario Manningham. That drop that Welker had was crushing. Had he caught that ball, the Patriots could have easily salted the clock away. But, that catch by Manningham, on a terrible throw from Eli Manning, was humongous and that kept the game winning drive alive. The Patriots played in last years Super Bowl, and they should have lost, until Pete Carroll and his offensive staff made the worst play call of all time. Why on earth they did not give that ball to Marshawn Lynch on the one yard line is still extremely baffling. But, Brady did pick apart the "legion of boom" and put his team in position to win, as he always does.

Now, I'm by no means a Patriots fan. I'm indifferent when it comes to them, but they have been the one team that has always been there at the end. Like I said, they've been in 11 AFC title games in 15 years, and they've won more tan half of them. This is why they're so prevalent in my recent Super Bowl memories, I will never forget the Packers win over the Steelers, but I can't help but notice how the Patriots are always in it until the very end. They're the most dominating team I've watched and that is why they are the team and they've played in the Super Bowls games that I remember most.

With all that being said, I hope we get a good, memorable game on Sunday so I can start making new memories about a new team, be it Carolina or Denver.

I think it will be Carolina.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. Do you love reading about his memories, well tomorrow you can hear him tell the stories on the X Millennial Man podcast. Read more from Ty by following him on twitter @tykulik.

We Need To Stop Making Excuses For Violent Athletes

Violent people belong behind a fence with razor wire, not in our arenas and stadiums.

With the news coming out last week that Blake Griffin will miss the majority of the regular season after punching the Clippers equipment manager, repeatedly, and breaking his shooting hand, I ask everyone today, why do we let athletes get away with heinous acts like this? Why did Blake Griffin feel the need to punch this guy so many times, in the face, to the point of injuring himself? And why are their people out their defending him? I heard Charles Barkley, my all time favorite basketball player, on Bill Simmons podcast recently say that "this stuff happens all the time" and that we "shouldn't overreact to this news". That's insane! If any regular Joe did this at their job, they'd be fired immediately, no questions asked. But, we as a society, feel like it's okay to give professional athletes a pass and that is very disturbing.

In the last two years, we've had far too many incidents involving violent behavior coming from pro athletes. And yes, football is the main culprit, but it's spilling over into other pro sports. The athletes that are involved in these incidents are pretty famous too. Kids are supposed to look up to these people. I've written about how terrible Hope Solo, Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice are on the site before, but lets not forget about Aroldis Chapman's domestic violence charge that was recently dropped. A trade was voided because the Dodgers didn't want that PR mess. He was basically a sitting duck until the New York Yankees traded for him and the whole story went away. Or what about all the off season, in season and now post season stuff that's coming out about Greg Hardy? He abuses multiple women, still gets a contract from the Dallas Cowboys, has multiple fights with multiple teammates during the season and now, in the offseason, he can't seem to stop partying. Why does he still get a free pass from the morons over at ESPN? Also, in the college ranks, look at former Missouri QB Matty Mauk. He had to get suspended four times before they kicked him off the team and they only kicked him off when a video of him doing cocaine surfaced. He's not some hot shot QB that's going to help Missouri win many games, but he was a division one caliber QB so he got way more chances than any other non student athlete at Missouri gets because he's good at sports. Why the double standard? It's not fair to the 95 percent of students that don't play sports. They slip up once, they're expelled. But, if you're competent at football, you get way too many chances. That doesn't seem fair.

Now, there's this new story about Johnny Manziel physically assaulting his ex girlfriend that ESPN and Jerry Jones will certainly try to cover up. How many chances does this punk get? He has made mistake after mistake since his sophomore year of college, but everyone seems to write it off. He can showboat and anchors think it's him getting in opponents head, not him being a selfish asshole. Then he slips in the draft because of "character issues", but that's not his fault either. When he does get on the field in the NFL, he looks lost and slow, but it's never his fault, it's coaching and system. When he goes to rehab, but then is spotted 6 months later drinking on the bye week, it's said that he's a young kid and young kids make mistakes. And now we have the second time that he's been brought up on physical abuse charges. People seem to have already forgotten that he was charged with pushing his ex girlfriend's head into the car window before the season started and now there is this new story of him assaulting her at, you guessed it, a bar. Why does this born with a silver spoon, spoiled punk keep getting second, third and fourth chances. He's not a good pro and he's an even worse person. He needs to be in a real rehab, getting real help. I don't need to hear Tony Kornheiser and Ron Jaworski make anymore excuses for Johnny Manziel. I'm fed up with it.

Which brings me to Blake Griffin. The stuff I've heard, from people I really respect, people like Charles Barkley, Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe and Kevin Pelton, just to name a few, is downright absurd and kind of disturbing. Like I said with Barkley earlier, he claims this happens all the time. That doesn't make it right. That is not a viable excuse for someone to physically attack someone smaller than them. The only repercussion that Simmons, Lowe and Pelton can seem to find is to trade him to a different team. Oh yeah, go let him beat up some other team's equipment manager, that will solve his anger problem. These same guys will say, "he apologized, it's over", are dead wrong. You know how many times physical abusers apologize, then do the same exact thing a month later? The vast majority of them. My mom works in a battered women and children's center and she's told me some of the guys have apologized upwards of 10 to 15 times, only to abuse again and again. In fact, and I'll give Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon credit here, they are the only two sports anchors I've heard say that Blake Griffin needs to be suspended immediately for at least, the rest of the season. I agree, except they should have added, suspended without pay. It's like I said earlier, anyone that works a regular job, if they physically attacked someone, they'd get fired that instance, without hesitation. But, there's that double standard with pro sports. I've also heard some of the people that are pro Blake Griffin say that they've been mad enough at a friend to hit them, but they never say that they actually hit them. This is no real friendship if Blake Griffin thinks it's okay to punch this guy until he breaks his hand. This is a sickening act done by a disturbed man child.

I wish we as a society made these abusive athletes responsible for their heinous actions. Instead, we sweep it under the rug and forget about. and therein lies the problem. Everyone needs to be held accountable by the horrible things they do, pro athlete or not.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He was once so mad at the head editor that Ty beat him by 80 on NCAA Football 2006. No hitting, just humiliation. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Do Not Change the Rules for Bad Free Throw Shooters

Plenty of open hoops to practice some free throws

So, I was reading one of my favorite websites this morning, Deadspin, and I read an article entitled, "NBA Teams Have Found Creative New Ways to Intentionally Foul " about the intentional fouling that is going on in the NBA right now to put poor free throw shooters at the line. This isn't the first I've heard about people wanting this rule changed. This is probably the one hundredth time I've heard people griping about the "hack a whoever" strategy that teams are employing. Like I said, Deadspin did a whole piece on it today, it's a great read, and I've heard sports writers and journalists I really admire like Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons also complaining about this strategy.

Well, I'm here today to tell everyone that I side with Jalen Rose on this topic. He was on some kind of NBA countdown show on ESPN and he said something along the lines that these guys are pro athletes and they should learn how to shoot free throws. He doesn't mind the "hack a whoever" strategy and neither do I. I 100 percent agree with Rose's assessment. These guys get paid millions upon millions of dollars and they can't make more than 40 percent of a shot that is about 13 feet from the rim and zero defense on them. It's a "free throw", defense is not allowed. I coach 9, 10 and 11 year olds that are better free throw shooters than these guys that get paid real money to play basketball, that's a shame. It's upsetting that such an easy shot has become so hard for particular big men, I'll get to some of them in a minute, that it literally slows this fast paced game to a halt. NBA games should take no more than 2 to 2 1/2 hours, but with this big men unable to shoot free throws, the games are stretching to 3 plus hours sometimes. That's ridiculous.

Let's look at three particular poor free throw shooting big men. First, I want to point out Shaquille O'Neal. The reason Shaq is first, no one made a stink when teams were "hack-a-shaqing" throughout his Lakers run. It was deemed "smart coaching" and a "good strategy" at the time. What's baffling about Shaq, he was a decent free throw shooter in college and his first couple of pro seasons. Then, he put more muscle on his body and he just stopped working on free throws in practice. It got so bad for him, he was literally shot putting the ball to the hoop. Still, he was about a 50 percent free throw shooter, even at his worst. It was bad, but not as bad as some current players. Shaq was also bigger than anyone playing at the time, so most of his attempts at the free throw line came on "and one" plays. He'd make his shot, usually a dunk, and only have to shoot one free throw. I mentioned Shaq first because of the double standard that is coming up with the next two players I'm going to mention.

Like I said before, when people were intentionally fouling Shaq, it wasn't that big of a deal. I don't recall anyone saying they needed to change the rule. Now, we have two of the absolute worst free throw shooters I've seen in my 20 plus years of watching NBA basketball, DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond. When these two step to the line, look away because you'll see something very ugly. The kids I coach are told to not watch the two of them play because of how poorly they shoot the ball. Now, I don't like DeAndre Jordan, that's been well chronicled on the site, but I think Andre Drummond has potential to be a game changing type of player. He has perennial all star potential and he puts up huge rebound numbers. But, his free throw shooting is so atrocious and that's holding him back from being a big time player. Just go back a couple of weeks and look at his free throw stat. He was 13 for 36. That is downright terrible. His team still won the game, but man, that's a bad, horrendous stat line. Just awful. DeAndre Jordan, he's so bad at free throw shooting, he's been pulled in critical moments of critical playoff games because his coach doesn't trust his free throw shooting. He has decent form, but the shot always goes wide, either left or right, doesn't matter, it's ALWAYS wide. I mean, he has even air balled multiple free throws in a single game multiple times. You are getting paid huge money DeAndre Jordan to play basketball, so you should never, ever air ball a free throw. Never. That is awful. How does an almost seven footer air ball a free throw? It's just appalling.

Now, these guys that want the rule changed think it's unfair to the other players on the court and it's unfair to the fan. I say, practice your god damn free throws. It's the second easiest shot in basketball, behind the layup/dunk. There's no one guarding you. You get 10 seconds to shoot the ball. All you have to deal with is some dumbass fans yelling stupid shit at you. I know you guys can dunk and rebound. I sure as hell hope you'd be good at that. Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan are both close to seven feet tall, they should be able to dunk and rebound with ease. When you're a pro, your game should be well rounded. I mean, at least Shaq made 50 percent of his free throws. Drummond and Jordan both shoot in the low 40's and I believe Drummond dipped into the mid 30's after his 23 missed free throws the other night. I'd suggest, instead of working on your next alley oop, or outlet pass off a rebound, which they both excel at, spend all of your practice time on free throws. Also, go into the gym on off days and work on your free throw shooting. You guys are pro athletes. Your only job is to make your game better.

This is why I agree with Jalen Rose. Everything I said above, he's said multiple times on multiple sports shows. The NBA shouldn't have to change their rules so these pathetic free throw shooters gain another advantage. These guys should work on their free throw shooting, or they should get used to sitting on the bench in crunch time. It's as simple as that. I really like you, everyone at Deadspin, Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons, but to suggest changing the rule is asinine. I am 100 percent on Jalen Rose's side. Learn how to shoot a god damn free throw.

That's your job.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. In 1998 he hit one hundred percent of his free throws, 2 for 2. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Congrats LeBron on Building a Perennial Runner Up

Prediction on where Cleveland will finish the season

With the news last week that the Cleveland Cavaliers fired David Blatt, I'm going to hate on the Cavs once again.

This news is not surprising, but it should be. The fact that it isn't surprising is part of the huge, huge problem that this firing shows. First of all, what else did the Cavs want from David Blatt? He won 50 plus games in his first season and the team made the finals. Sure, they lost, but they played what is looking like one of the all time great teams, the Golden State Warriors. I don't think any team was beating the Warriors last year, and no one probably will this year either. This season, they had a record of 30-11 when they fired Blatt. That was good enough for first place in the East, by two games, and fourth best overall in the league, behind only Golden State, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Many journalists and pundits will say the firing was deserved because of how handily they got beaten by both San Antonio and Golden State, but if that's the sole reason he got fired, every single other coach that doesn't coach for the Spurs or Warriors should be fired. They beat everyone all the time. They are far and away the two best teams in the NBA. Others will say that Blatt couldn't handle the egos and the big stage. Well, he guided the team to a finals appearance last year and they were firmly in first place in the East this year. He also won multiple titles as a coach overseas and he had the best wining percentage for a head coach in the NBA since Red Auerbach. He also led the Cavs to the finals after losing Kevin Love in the first round and Kyrie Irving in the first game of the finals. That sounds, at least to me, like he was doing a pretty bang up job as an NBA coach.

What this firing really boils down to is LeBron James didn't want David Blatt to be his coach, he wanted Tyronn Lue. This was evident from the first month of last season. LeBron didn't work well with Blatt and he would go to Lue, who was an assistant, whenever there was a timeout or when he was getting rest during games. It was clear after one month of games last season that James clearly favored Lue to Blatt. So, 41 games into this season, David Griffen gave in to his superstar player and got rid of the coach that he didn't like. I don't buy any of the talk coming from the ESPN moron analysts like Stephen A Smith or Brian Windhorst that LeBron had no say or no idea that they were firing Blatt. He one hundred percent knew it was coming because he told the front office to do it.

The Cavs management haven't said no to LeBron since he returned to Cleveland last season. He wanted Kevin Love, so they traded Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for him as soon as they could. How much better would the Cavs be if they kept Wiggins and signed James? LeBron and Love cannot coexist together. Love is a much better player when he can post and then float out to the three point line. That doesn't work for LeBron, he needs the lane open to go to the hoop. That's why he and Bosh meshed so well in Miami. Chris Bosh is a much better big man shooter than Love will ever be and he has a much better on court demeanor than Love has. Bosh just wants to win, Kevin Love just wants stats. I bet within two weeks, LeBron will tell the front office to trade Love because they just don't play well together and I think they legitimately dislike each other. And the front office will give their spoiled star exactly what he wants. LeBron also demanded they get another big that is defensive minded and two perimeter players so they went out and got Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and JR Smith. Now, Mozgov is barely playing because he too clogs the lane, Shumpert can't stay healthy and JR Smith is wearing t shirt that say "shoot till my arm falls off". How'd that three man trade work for you in the finals LeBron? Oh yeah, you got smoked when the Warriors went small and ran all over you.

Then, this past offseason LeBron left the Cavs with little to no cap space after maxing out Love, one of the worst offseason deals, and had to resign marginal NBA players like Richard Jefferson and Matthew Dellavedova. Those are not players that will help bring a title to Cleveland. They also maxed out Tristan Thompson, who has the same agent as LeBron, and he has not lived up to the hype at all, not even close. And now, they fired Blatt to hire LeBron's buddy, Tyronn Lue. He has zero head coaching experience at any level, but the Cavs front office, AKA LeBron James, decided he was a better fit than a coach that led them to the finals and first place in the East after half this season.

In Lue's first game as head coach, playing the Bulls in Chicago, another first year coach, Fred Hoiberg, absolutely schooled him with his decision making and player personnel decisions. The Bulls dictated the flow and the pace of that game and won easily. Lue got his first win last night, but the Cavs had to go down to the wire with the Timberwolves and they are not good, not yet.

I guess what I'm trying to say, it's all on LeBron James now. He can't blame the coach. When they trade Love, he can't blame the chemistry and inexperience. And when they make the finals and lose again, it will be solely on him. The Cavs have given him everything he has asked for and it all rests on him now. He has no more excuses. The media may give you a pass, but the real basketball fan knows, it all rests on you now. This is the team LeBron wants and he has no more excuses. When the Cavs make the finals and when they lose, he has to take all the blame because he is the coach, the GM and the star player of this team. No more passing the blame LeBron. Once the Cavs trade Love, this is the team you constructed.

The Cavs that will be good enough to be the runner up once again in the NBA.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once tried to assemble his own rec league basketball team. It did not go well. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.