The Biggest Trade Has Already Happened in the NBA

The NBA trade deadline is approaching fast, but I think the biggest name to be traded has already happened.

There is always rumors and speculation surrounding big name players that will be the move, but I do not think that any of the big names being thrown out this year are going anywhere. I've heard Paul Milsap, Jimmy Butler, Dwayne Wade, Blake Griffin and, of course, Carmelo Anthony and Boogie Cousins possibly changing uniforms. Well, Mike Budenholzer, the Hawks head coach and director of player personnel, said he isn't going anywhere. The price that the Bulls will be asking for Jimmy Butler and Dwayne Wade will be much to high, especially for Wade, who is clearly on his last legs. Blake Griffin is not going anywhere until he is a free agent because the Clippers ownership is insane and they seem to think they can win a title with guys that have never gotten out of the second round of the playoffs. Boogie is not leaving unless a team offers the Kings an offer to great to pass up. It would have to be some big name guys and some very high draft picks. The teams that have the ability to offer those things won't. And the Knicks, try as they might, will not be able to unload Carmelo. They want to trade him so bad, but he has a no trade clause, so he can veto almost any deal he doesn't like, and teams that may want him won't give up what the Knicks are asking for in a trade. The Knicks want a good young player and draft picks, and Carmelo Anthony doesn't command that steep a price anymore. He is old, in NBA terms, doesn't pass the ball, doesn't play defense and can mess up team chemistry. Sorry Knicks fans, you guys are stuck with Anthony.

The big trade that already happened? Serge Ibaka to the Raptors. I think that the Serge Ibaka trade to the Raptors is the only "big name" deal that will be made. The Magic are clearly going nowhere and they knew that Ibaka would not resign with them this offseason, he will be a free agent at the end of the year.

With all that being said, and the fact that the Magic needed to move a player like Ibaka to make more minutes for Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezjona, they totally got fleeced by the Raptors. The Raptors won this trade by a mile. All they had to give up was Terrence Ross, who is a decent young player that could flourish now that he will be a main option, and a very low first round pick. I think they could have gotten more from a team like the Raptors, who want to win now, but it seems like they settled for the first deal that Toronto offered. Like I said, Ross is a fine player, but maybe the Magic should have, at the very least, mentioned names like Jonas Valenciunas, Corey Joseph or Demarre Carroll. This may have killed the deal, but I still think they should have at least asked.

On the other hand, the Raptors got one hell of a player to team up with guys like Valenciunas, DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Demarre Carroll, as well as Patrick Patterson. The Raptors, at least on paper with this trade, look to be real contenders in the East. I know that they are in fifth place right now, but I think this trade could easily move them up a few spots, giving them a decided edge in the playoffs. The Cavs were just dealt an enormous blow with the news of Kevin Love's injury, the Celtics are playing great, but this move should put them on notice, the Wizards are currently playing out of their minds, but Scott Brooks will find some way to screw it up, and Atlanta will not keep up this pace for the whole season. I definitely see Toronto passing the Wizards and the Hawks, pushing them up to third. Then, what if Boston takes over the one seed from Cleveland due to the Love injury, and the Cavs decide that they don't really care about seeding in the playoffs? That could put Toronto as high as number 2, which I think is a real possibility now. It all doesn't matter, the Cavs will still represent the East in the finals, but Toronto is at least trying to make it interesting.

I love the fact that the Raptors went out and got Ibaka. He is in the perfect spot again, much like when he played with Durant and Westbrook in OKC. He will be able to fit in perfectly playing the four, next to Valenciunas. Valenciunas likes to play in the post and rebound, so that leaves Ibaka the ability to spread the floor and block shots as a help defender, which is what he does best. He has also become a decent jump shooter and three point shooter. This will help DeRozan and Lowry. They will be able to drive and kick and have the confidence that one of their big men will be able to knock down open threes and mid range jumpers. Valenciunas is not consistent enough to do this, but Ibaka is. And, as I have already stated, he is going to help them out tremendously on the defensive end of the floor. Ibaka and Valenciunas as rim protectors will put fear in opponents trying to attack the rim. Valenciunas is not great on the defensive end, but he is serviceable, and with the help coming from Ibaka, he may begin to look like a much better defender. Ibaka's presence will also help the back court. DeRozan and Lowry aren't the greatest defenders, but now with Ibaka back there they can take more chances on steals and play closer man to man defense on their opponents. DeMarre Carroll is already a very good defender, so he won't need the help, but he will get it from Ibaka anyway.

This deal has made the Raptors a much, much better team, and has further made the Magic's rebuilding stage that much longer. The Raptors definitely won this trade, and I think it is the only trade that will make any difference in the regular season. Ibaka fits in wonderfully, and he needed this trade and the Magic let him go for hardly anything. This will be the only big time deal that happens in the NBA this year, mark my words.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is ticked off that his NBA2K games never let him get away with what the Raptors got away with in this trade. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Oklahoma City was not Kind to Kevin Durant.

Many of the OKC fans were not in the mood

Saturday night was KD's first game back in OKC since he signed with the Warriors. I was as excited as anyone to see this game. I wanted to see the response and to see how he and Russell Westbrook played as opponents in OKC for the first time. The first 2 games in Oakland were blow outs, but I thought that maybe OKC would have a bigger home court advantage.

Well, that was not the case. The Warriors, after the first quarter, proceeded to dominate this game, as they should. The Warriors are the best team in the West, and all of the NBA for that matter. OKC, they are the 7th best team in the West, and probably the 10th or 11th best team in the NBA. The game went as it should have.

But, that does not mean that there wasn't any drama. The first quarter was close, and any time KD touched the ball the crowd booed him relentlessly. They also booed him pretty loud during team introductions. There was a smattering of cheers for him, but for the most part, it was all KD hate. The crowd even wore t shirts that read "KOWARD". Pretty ruthless. KD came out tight as well. He made his first shot, but missed his next 5 before putting in a mid range jumper. Westbrook did not fare much better. He looked to pass way too often and settled for jumpers. He also let Curry shoot without much pressure in the quarter.

The game was tight for the quarter until the backups came in for both teams. This was where the Warriors showed how much better they are than any team in the NBA. The Warriors bench proceeded to score at will, building a lead up to 11. Then, the starters came back in and the Warriors did not let up. They built leads of 20, then 22, all the way up to 26. Then, in a short burst, the Thunder cut the lead to 18 and this is where the fireworks started.

Westbrook, in what many fans were waiting for, started to jaw at KD, saying, "I'm coming". I loved this. He finally let his anger out and it was glorious. His team was getting killed, but he wanted KD to know that he did not need him and that he would not stop coming at him no matter the score or situation of the game. KD did a little bit of talking back, but it was in the vain of someone who hides behind their friends and tells them to "hold me back". It was weak. It proved to me that KD is not an alpha when it comes to basketball. He is a much better fit as a second or third option, which is fine, but he is no top dog. Westbrook, on the other hand, he is the alpha. He runs that team. That could have been the problem the 8 years they played together, but Westbrook is the type of player that wants to be "the guy", KD, not so much.

That is fine, but the way KD has handled himself since signing with the Warriors has been what has turned me off of him, as a person. He has constantly complained about how the outside fan views him, he continues to make snide and snark comments that are definitely about Westbrook, but he never admits to it, he talks about "playing basketball the right way" with the Warriors. Basically it has been childish remark after childish remark from a millionaire.

Then, after the game, his mother complained about the fans booing him. During the telecast, the announcers kept saying that he doesn't deserve this type of treatment and that one day the OKC fans will love him again, KD himself said how nervous he was about getting booed and that it had affected his mood prior to the game. To all this I say, boo hoo. You are a pro athlete. People are going to boo you, especially the way you left that team. They are also going to boo you because of who you signed with. KD joined a team that has won a title already, and were on the cusp of winning another one. He joined the Goliath. Hardly anyone cheers for Goliath. For him to act how he acted, I was very disappointed.

In addition to the whole Westbrook thing, but KD also went head to head with Andre Roberson after a hard foul. You are going to go after Roberson, really? That is a punk move. He would never do that to Westbrook because he is afraid of Russell Westbrook. Then, to have his teammates constantly hold him back, that is one of my biggest pet peeve's when it comes to super star athletes. I do not care if he does not want to fight, but don't act like you are some hard core dude when we all know that you are not.

To his mother, who I think is a great, great lady, she had to know that the boos were coming. It was going to happen. She must have sensed that the OKC crowd had turned on him because of how he left. I get that she is a mother and wants to protect her son, but this is what happens in pro sports. Fans are irrational assholes. I should know because I am one. I love that she wants to protect her son, but there is no way she did not know this was coming.

The game played out just like it should have, with the Warriors winning comfortably, but I left more unimpressed with KD's attitude than I did before the game. He is a hell of a player, I cannot deny that, but he has become a holier than thou cry baby since joining the Warriors. This game only made my dislike for the Warriors that much stronger, and I found myself once again rooting for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook is an awesome player who needs some help on that team, but KD is now just another guy on a team loaded with talent. Westbrook proved to me, even in a lopsided loss, that he is one of the best alpha's in the NBA and KD proved to me, in a win, that he is just happy being the third or fourth option. That is what I took away from this mid season NBA game on Saturday night.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is wondering why KD doesn't just stick to his first love, fishing. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Falcons Continue to Make Bad Decisions with the Steve Sarkisian Hire.

Steve Sarkisian was just named Kyle Shanahan's replacement as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. You read that right. The Falcons, who were just in the Super Bowl, replaced their offensive coordinator who left to be the head coach for the 49ers with Steve Sarkisian.

I think this is absolute waste of a hire. They could have went out and got somebody who is much, much more experienced and already a professional coach. Besides one year as the Raiders QB coach in 2004, everything Sarkisian has done has been at the college level, and he was not that great when coaching college players. Now, he is taking over a Falcons offense that has the MVP, Matt Ryan, 2 great, young running backs in Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman, and probably the best receiver in the NFL right now in Julio Jones.

I ask, what makes Sarkisian the better, and more qualified, person to take this job over some available coaches? Like I said, he had very minimal success at the college level. He was part of Pete Carroll's staff at USC, first as the QB coach in 2005-06, then as the assistant head coach/QB coach/offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2008. That was where he found his most success, but looking back, I think I could have coached those 5 star athletes just as well as he did. With talent like that, it is not that hard to tell them to go out and play hard.

Then, for some inexplicable reason, the University of Washington gave him the head coaching job after the 2008 season. Washington was supposed to be the up and coming program, and Sarkisian was going to be the guy to return them to their glory days of the early 90's. Well, that did not happen. Washington was very mediocre during his tenure. They were always just on the cusp, and people always said that, "this was going to be the year for the Huskies", but they never panned out. Sarkisian was the same guy that brought a live tiger, in a cage, to a practice to prepare for an early season game against LSU. I guess he thought it would fire up his guys, but they got absolutely destroyed by LSU on that particular Saturday. It was embarrassing. In fact, besides a couple of wins against top tier opponents in his first season, in which Washington finished 5-7, his best record in the four seasons he coached there was 7-6. Not that great.

But, in what was a great fail upwards, after the Lane Kiffin debacle at USC, the Trojans decided to hire Sarkisian away from Washington in 2013. I was puzzled by this hire at the time. I figured they were getting an almost identical coach, but they claimed they were trying to get away from Lane Kiffin. Kiffin and Sarkisian are 2 great examples of guys that continue to fail up somehow. But, Sakisian was retuning home, and he was going to make USC relevant again. USC was in a rut since Pete Carroll bolted for the NFL, and I guess the higher ups figured Sarkisian would return them to glory. Well, that did not happen. He was a total disaster while the head man at USC. His life fell apart coaching there. They had the whole Josh Shaw incident, look it up, and the whole Stanford game where officials may or mat not have been contacted prior to a game to make some calls that would give USC an advantage. Then, I was actually watching this game, he was accused of being intoxicated during a game against Arizona State. I remember vividly watching and thinking to myself, he does not seem right on the sideline. He looked like, at any moment, he was going to barf all over the field, then the next second, he looked to be slurring words when speaking to his players. It was a mess. It was revealed later that he was going to take a leave of absence right after the ASU game, and check himself into rehab for alcohol abuse. During this time, Clay Helton was named interim head coach. Sarkisian was quickly fired after players and assistant coaches said that they could smell alcohol on his breath during practices.

I thought this was going to be the nail in the coffin as far as Sarkisian being a coach for any big time school, but after only one year away, Alabama hired him as an analyst for their football team. Saban was stocking his coaching staff with big names basically. Recruits love this, and Saban is no dummy. Sarkisian was basically an assistant offensive coordinator for the majority of the 2016 season. Kiffin called the plays, yes he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama, and Sarkisian gave his input. Then, as only someone like Lane Kiffin could do, he got fired after already accepting a job at Florida Atlantic, and Sarkisian was called on to be the new offensive coordinator for the national title game. I wrote about that game and how stagnant Alabama seemed on offense, and Sarkisian was the play caller. It was assumed that he would slide into Kiffin's spot, but surprisingly to me, and I bet a lot of other people, when the Falcons offensive coordinator job opened, they wasted little time hiring Sarkisian to the same position.

I do not get this hire, as I have stated throughout. I do not know what they saw in him that made them think he could lead the number one offense in football. His play calling in the title game was predictable and dreadful. How will that translate to the NFL? Not well, in my opinion. I feel like the Falcons are going to waste at least one year of 4 great offensive players in their prime. The only "sense" I can make of them picking Sarkisian to be the new offensive coordinator is that the head coach, Dan Quinn, was also a Pete Carroll guy at Seattle, and maybe they have a relationship since they both worked for him. I personally think Sarkisian is going to be very, very bad as the head play caller for the Falcons. I already thought that the Falcons would take a tiny step back after blowing the Super Bowl, but now that they hired Sarkisian, I think they will be lucky to got 9-7 next year. I mean, Julio Jones is incredible, and I love the running backs, but I think Matt Ryan played the best he will ever play, and with Sarkisian calling the plays, I think his inevitable fall back to Earth will be a fiery crash back to Earth now. This puzzled me, and I think it will, in the long run, end up hurting the Falcons.

Steve Sarkisian is not the man for this job. He would not have even been in my top 25 of candidates, but I guess he was the Falcons first, and only, choice to take over for Shanahan. I think it is going to be a nightmare.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has a bad feeling that the ghost of Bobby Petrino will not be good for Steve Sarkisian in the ATL. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Knicks Need to Move on from the Terrible Tenure of Phil Jackson

The Knicks in the Phil Jackson Era

Phil Jackson needs to be fired.

Plain and simple, he has been an absolute disaster in his job with the Knicks. He has only made one good decision since taking the job, and he openly questioned that decision when it was made. Of course, I'm talking about drafting Kristaps Porzingis. So far, a year and a half in the league, Porzingis has been everything people hoped he would be, but he has been so much more. He attacks the offensive and defensive glass for rebounds. He has nice footwork in the post and he canstep out and hit the three. If he keeps this up, he will be in the league for a long time. But, Phil Jackson openly mocked the pick. He said that he did not think the kid would be able to cut it in the NBA. He said he was too skinny and wouldn't be able to handle the pounding. Well, a year and a half in, Porzingis is far and away the best player on that team. I mean, it is not even close.

Then, this offseason, Phil Jackson went out and traded for Derrick rose and signed Joakim Noah to a 4 year 72 million dollar contract. Lets look at the Rose trade first. Jackson traded Robin Lopez and some other young players to the Bulls for Derick Rose. I wrote at the time that I thought it was a great trade for the Bulls and a terrible trade for the Knicks. Fifty plus games into the season, I have not changed my mind. Sure, the Bulls are treading water, but the Knicks have been terrible. Derrick Rose has proven to be a ball stopper. He cannot hit jumpers, he ices out open teammates and he comes and goes as he pleases. He also makes wild claims that this is a "super team" and that he wants a 150 million dollar contract this offseason. I really liked Derrick Rose when he was first in the league, he was a wonder to watch flying to the rim, but since his last year in Chicago and this season in New York, I have been turned off by him as a player and a person. But, Phil Jackson never says a bad word about Derrick Rose.

Then, Jackson gives Jo Noah 18 million a year, and he just cannot stay on the floor. This signing was extremely puzzling to me at the time. Had it happened 5 years ago, it would have been great, Noah was a legit MVP candidate, but he has not been able to stay on the court since then, and his game has deteriorated. He does not see the floor like he used to. He is not the force on defense that he was a few years ago in Chicago. His shot it absolutely awful, see his air balled free throw a few weeks ago. He can't rebound like he used to. But, the main problem, he just cannot stay healthy. I do not have the numbers in front of me, but if I had to guess, I'd say he has played in less than 30 games this year. This signing has been terrible, and they still have 3 plus years left to pay him. But, again, Phil Jackson says nothing bad about his decision to sign Noah, and he will not openly criticize Noah.

Those ill advised signings are nothing compared to the way Jackson treats his "star" player, Carmelo Anthony. Look, I'm a big Carmelo critic, I do not think he cares about defense, I think he is a ball stopper, I think he is a ball hog, I think he takes bad shots and I do not think he can be the best player on a title contender. But, the one thing that no one can criticize about Carmelo, he is an excellent offensive player. More so, he is an elite scorer, no doubt. But, since signing him to a max deal, Phil Jackson has done nothing but openly critique and constantly try and trade Carmelo. He, it seems, is always saying something to the press about Carmelo's lack of passion and ability to lead. It is not the 90's anymore Phil Jackson, and these players today will not take that kind of shit. But, Phil Jackson cannot seem to help himself. Recently he said some nonsense about not being able to change the stripes on a leopard, or some bull shit, which was clearly a shot at Carmelo. He has also come out and constantly stated that he is doing anything and everything to trade Carmelo. It has gotten so bad, Carmelo is frustrated with the Knicks home crowd, and they have been booing him relentlessly. It is, dare I say, unfair to Carmelo Anthony. He does not deserve to be booed by his home crowd. If anything, the Knicks fans should be booing Phil Jackson for all the stupid decisions he has made since taking the job there.

Also, Phil Jackson seems to think he can get whatever he wants in a trade for Carmelo. I'm sorry, but no championship level team is going to trade a starter or key reserve for Carmelo Anthony. The Cavs aren't going to trade Kevin Love for him. The Clippers will not trade any of their three main guys for him. The Celtics aren't going to give up any of the Nets picks they have, or any young player they drafted. The Wizards aren't trading John Wall or Brad Beal for him. The list can go on and on. The Knicks are not going to get a kings ransom, the one that Phil Jackson expects, for an aging ball stopper that plays no defense. It is not happening. But, Phil Jackson is so aloof to this, he thinks he can float out big named players and people will believe him.

Well, I do not believe one single word that comes out of his mouth. Jackson has made his bed, and now he has to lay in it. Every decision, save for the one he complained about, that he has made has been terrible. He has crippled this once proud franchise. The Knicks are a joke, and that makes me, a rabid NBA fan, sad. The league is better when the Knicks are good. But, with Jackson making all the decisions on the players, they will continue to be a doormat. Do the right thing James Dolan, for once in your god damn life, and fire Phil Jackson. He tactics are old and tired and he has been a disaster. Keep Carmelo, and fire Phil Jackson. It should be the easiest decision in your NBA life.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His only memory of Phil Jackson in New York is one of failure. The glory days are long gone for Phil Jackson in MSG. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Another View of the Super Bowl

Let me get something out of the way. Ty is the best sports writer on all the internet, and any views I have on the Super Bowl are a distant second to his thoughts. I also totally agree that the game was one half of good team vs garbage team and another half of good team vs even bigger garbage team. I am also not happy that an obnoxious front runner like President Trump was able to hear about his favorite team winning the game. There were so many things to hate about another Patriots Super Bowl victory, but Ty has already covered it all.Having said that, I feel like there are two other big stories that almost no one is talking about, and this is what Super Bowl 51 should be remembered for.

First ugly fact that no one wants to accept, the Patriots won their fifth championship because of a coin toss. The outcome of Super Bowl LI was determined by a flip of chance. Never before has the biggest game of the year gone to overtime, and that was a good thing. The overtime rules of the NFL are a joke. The fact that after four quarters of play, the NFL thinks it is good competition to let one big play end the game. In the regular season, that fact is annoying. In the Super Bowl, it makes a mockery of the entire competition. Maybe the Falcons would not have scored, their offense was pretty average in the second half, but not even getting a chance to compete is idiotic. A few years back the NFL tried to fix their overtime rules, but those fixes did not work in the biggest game of the year. New England's comeback was incredible, but they won the game because their captains made the correct guess in a 50-50 game of chance. The sports press does not want to point out that the NFL let their championship get decided by a coin flip, but that is what happened. Why play any games if the Lombardi Trophy gets rewarded to the team who makes a lucky guess. I guarantee you that the NFL will have college like overtime rules within the next few years. When that day comes, everyone will recognize that the Patriots fifth title was decided on the head of a commemorative coin.

The other story no one in the sports press will talk about, but every single fan knows, is that the Patriots are known, and admitted, cheaters. The fact that the NFL has been dominated by an organization who openly cheats has not been good for the league. Many people will defend the Patriots by saying that everyone cheats. My response is that no one else gets caught as often as the Patriots do. The sports media wants to protect their cash cow that is the NFL, but the public has made up their mind. The Patriots are cheaters, and most fans of football dislike this. Boston fans are reason enough to hate any team, but the cheating in New England is the real reason everyone hates the Patriots

I personally think the Patriots cheating culture, and the sports media's willful ignorance, is not the biggest problem facing the NFL. I was rooting for the Patriots because they are unapologetic about their cheating. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has kept the Patriots cheating in the front of all league news, while he ignores the real problems in the NFL. Time after time he casually dismisses cases of domestic violence, he ignores the mental health of the players in an incredibly inhumane way, and he has no problem blaming the fans for the owners shortsightedness and greed. I dismiss the Patriots cheating, because Roger Goodell thinks it is important. Whatever Roger Goodell is fighting must be worth defending. Goodell defends domestic abusers, incompetent medical professionals, and greedy owners. Those are the things I choose to fight.

That is my view of Super Bowl LI. A game of two bad halves that came down to a damn coin toss in the end. The Falcons choked, yes. The Patriots won a record fifth title, yes. Those are instant reaction stories from the sports media. I was happy to see Roger Goodell look very uncomfortable handing the trophy over the Patriots, but if my only interest is an embarrassed buffoon, is the NFL really even worth watching? Maybe all the games can be decided on a coin toss next year, and save everyone a lot of time. I still think the Patriots will win a record sixth title. They will find a way to weight the coin on the heads side. They cheat, that is the Patriots way, and Roger Goodell is powerless before their awesomeness.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast? If you think Roger Goodell is doing a good job? Are the Patriots not cheaters? Are you Sean Spicer? I want everyone to know your thoughts . Write for us.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing 

A Non-Classic Super Bowl Won by the Wrong Team

Evil prevailed last night in the Super Bowl.

I know that I picked the Patriots to win, but when the Falcon went up 28-3, I was very, very happy. They had dominated that whole game up to that point. They could not be stopped on offense, going short burst drive after short burst drive, and their defense was more than up to the task of shutting down the Patriots offense. Hell, they pick sixed Tom Brady, which barely ever happens, especially in a Super Bowl. Julio Jones ended up with only 4 catches, but they were four of the greatest catches I had ever seen. Devonta Freeman and, up until he got hurt, Tevin Coleman were gashing the Patriots defense for 5 or 6 yards a carry. I mean, how on Earth could they lose, I, and I bet almost everyone else watching thought.

Then, the Falcons went into a prevent on defense. I do not know if this is from being worn out, the Patriots ran 93 plays to the Falcons 46, or the Patriots just figured it out. The Falcons also decided that they needed to keep throwing the ball instead of utilizing their extremely effective run game. This was one of the biggest brain farts in the history of pro sports that I have ever witnessed. Dan Quinn, who is a defensive guy, who had his defense playing man all game and getting pressure routinely in the first half, decided with a 25 point lead that he had to go to a prevent. This was a fine idea at the time it seemed, but when the Patriots scored a TD and a field goal to cut it to a 16 point lead, I would have applied the pressure again. But, he stuck with the prevent, much to his dismay. I was baffled why he did not go back to putting the pressure on. That is how you beat the Patriots. But, he decided that he needed to back off and play the pass. I just don't get it.

On the other side of the ball, I know that you have the MVP, Matt Ryan, and maybe the best receiver in the game in Julio Jones, but why not lean on that running game up 25 points. It had worked for them all game, but they came out and passed like they were in a shootout. The Patriots defense clamped down in the second half, but I think it would have been moot had Atlanta stuck with the run game. I only saw a few carries that went for 0 or negative yards. But Atlanta Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers about to be named new coach decided that he needed his MVP quarterback to throw the ball a bit more. All this passing led to the biggest momentum turnaround I have ever seen in a Super Bowl in my lifetime. The Patriots, down 16, blitzed a linebacker on 3rd and 1, the Falcons inexplicably put Ryan in shotgun and called a long pass play. The linebacker got through the O line with ease and strip sacked Matt Ryan, to set his team up with great field position with about 6 and a half minutes left. The Patriots turned it into a quick TD, converted the 2 point play and then we had a game.

Down 8, I was pretty sure the Falcons could still salt away the game, but they went back to throwing the ball and making stupid mistakes. First off, on that last drive of the Falcons entire season, Julio Jones made one of the greatest catches on the sideline in Super Bowl history to set his team up at the 23 yard line with less than 4 minutes left and a field goal would ice the game for them. But, the Falcons proceeded to get sacked, called for a holding penalty, never mind the fact that the refs missed a blatant face mask on the Patriots, and they were all the way back near mid field, way out of field goal range. They had to punt the ball, and they gave the Patriots a chance with over 3 minutes left. The Patriots proceeded to drive the ball 91 yards for the game tying TD and 2 point conversion. During this drive, Julian Edelman made one of the best Super Bowl catches ever, for those keeping track at home, that is 2 classic catches in one game, Tom Brady scrambled for 19 yards, which he never does, and the Falcons just could not get a break and they gave up that TD with relative ease.

With the 2 point play being so easy for them I knew then that the Patriots were gong to win, if they won the coin toss in overtime. They, of course, won the toss and Brady and James White drove that team down the field and White scored the game winning TD in overtime. The Falcons offense never got another shot with the ball. I do not know if they would have done anything with it, but they never had a chance, which makes the NFL's overtime a travesty.

Lots of people are saying that this was one of the greatest Super Bowl's ever, but I do not know if I agree. As our head editor and owner of the site told me on a call earlier today, this was a game where one team was hot in one half, and the other was hot in the second half. I totally agree with him. It was exciting, but frustrating as well. I could not believe what the Patriots were doing in the first half, and I could not believe what the Falcons did late in the second half. It was an exciting game, but I do not know if I will remember it like I remember the Broncos beating the Packers, Malcom Butler's interception 2 years ago, the 49ers crushing the Chargers, the Rams beating the Titans, the Patriots beating the Rams, all those games seem, at the moment, more important and better, in my opinion. Yes, this game cements Tom Brady as the greatest QB ever, but he was really awful in the first half. Do not forget that. He was really, really bad in that first half.

Also, do not forget that the Falcons blew this game. This is, quite possibly, the worst loss in the history of pro sports ever. The Patriots did not win, the Falcons lost. I feel real bad for my friends that are Falcons fans today. I also feel for anyone that is not a Patriots fan, which is about 95 percent of the country. This is just another sign that, sometimes, evil prevails. We got evil being dethroned when Clemson beat Alabama, but the Patriots comeback restored the Goliath in sports. I almost always root for the underdog, and the underdog looked great for 40 minutes last night, but Goliath only needed 20 minutes to comeback and win.

I guess, congrats Patriots, but I wish that the Falcons had pulled out that win. They blew it, and I felt gross after watching all the post game stuff. I felt like the wrong team won last night, but hey, that is the way it goes. But I do not think by any means that this was a "classic" game. I thought it was a game where the wrong team ended up winning.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He did thoughourly enjoy seeing Tom Brady, Robert Kraft, and and Bill Belichick having a good time while NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looked like the odd man out. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Charles Barkley is Right about LeBron James

It is time for Barkley and LeBron to grill up their beef

By now all NBA fans know of the spat between LeBron James and Charles Barkley. Today, I'm going to give my take on what's going on. I said on our mini podcast that I side with Charles Barkley, and while I still do, I am going to give points as to why both are right and wrong.

So, first off, LeBron has done nothing but gripe about his teammates, the lack of another playmaker, the fact that the front office has "done nothing" and so on and so forth. To all this I say, stop it LeBron. The Cavs and the front office and the GM have answered your every beck and call. When you came back 2 years ago, they traded away Andrew Wiggins to get Kevin Love. I know Love is figuring out his role with the Cavs now, but he is hurt, and I'd honestly much rather have Andrew Wiggins. He is a playmaker, a much better defender and young. Then, after getting beat by the Warriors in the finals 2 years ago, in the middle of the next season, with the best record in the East, they fired David Blatt and hired your buddy, Ty Lue. It turned out to be the right move, the Cavs went on to win the title, but still, you wanted Blatt out, and you got your wish. Then, this offseason, you wanted Mike Dunleavy on the team, the Cavs signed him and it did not work out. So, they traded Dunleavy away and got Kyle Korver for you. That has not worked out yet. I know the roster is thin, but the people who make the decisions have done everything you have wanted them to do. That is why people call you the GM and the coach, as well as the player.

Lebron is far and away the best player in the NBA, there is no question. But, this constant complaining at this point in the season, needs to stop. It seems like LeBron does this every year. He did this last year, when he took 2 weeks off, which was well deserved, but he had many complaints about the team during his mid season vacation. It just seems like that when LeBron isn't the most talked about player in basketball, he finds some way to get his name out there so everyone, me included, will talk about him.

I agree with Barkley that this makes him a whiner. In fact, I was fully on Barkley's side after LeBron came out with all his comments. I do think that LeBron whines way too much. I do think that he wants to have all the best players on his team so he doesn't have to give his full effort. I do think that he, and most NBA players, are way too friendly nowadays. I do think he blames everyone but himself, and that comes off as childish at times.

Where I disagree with Barkley, LeBron has a legitimate complaint about his playing time. He is playing way, way too many minutes. He is in fact leading the league in minutes played. That is a lot to ask from a guy that has been to 7 straight finals, played in multiple Olympics and goes extra hard in the playoffs. But, that is not Charles Barkley's fault, that is the fault of his handpicked coach and his handpicked roster. See, even when I try and find a way to agree with LeBron, I still find reasons why I think his comments were out of line. Barkley is not making him play all those minutes. That is his coach, as I already said.

And sure, LeBron pointed out that Barkley was friendly with some of his rivals, but all of that was off the court. He may have cracked one or two jokes during a game here and there, but when they were playing, Barkley wanted to crush the team and players in front of him. There was no hugging or high fiving Jordan before games from Barkley. But, when Dwayne Wade and LeBron meet in a game in the middle of the season, they embrace like family, which is just fine, just do not try and claim that Barkley did the same stuff. He did not. I watched him obsessively because he is my all time favorite NBA player.

Also, to call him out for the whole I'm not a role model thing, that was ridiculous. That was a marketing campaign from Nike, and it was so much more memorable than any commercial you will do with the same company. I also liked the message of the I'm not a role model thing. He was flat out telling parents and fans that he is simply a basketball player, and that the parents and people in kids lives should be their role models, not an NBA player. While I may have modeled my game after Barkley's, he was never my role model. My father is my role model. So, if James thinks it is on him to be a role model, that is his deal. He doesn't need to drag Barkley into his personal decisions. And the whole spitting on a kid thing, come on with that nonsense. If he did spit on a kid, I'm sure it was on accident, and to bring it up now, that makes you sound more like a "hater" than Barkley.

All of this is just nonsense. LeBron James is above all of this. He does not need to fight with former NBA players. He is never going to change their minds, just like they are never going to change his mind. This is childish, and I feel like LeBron is starting to realize that his name isn't the biggest in the NBA anymore. He is still the best player in the world, but more people that watch and talk about the NBA want to talk about the Warriors, Russell Westbrook, Giannis Antentekoumpo, James Harden, Joel Embiid and some of the newer generation of players. This was clearly, in my opinion, just a way for LeBron to keep his name as the top story for a day or 2 on sports radio, TV and blogs. This will all be forgotten about in about a week, thankfully. But, I just need to let everyone know that I am fully on Barkley's side with this "beef".

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Hear his thoughts on all things sports by downloading the newest edition of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Midseason NBA Checkup

We have reached, actually passed by number of games, the middle of the NBA season. Most teams have played between 41 and 44 games. As I will do every year with each sport I do a preview of, I am going to do my midseason update for the NBA. Instead of going through all 30 teams individually, I have it sectioned off into 4 different groups. This makes it easier for me and an easier read for you. Alright, enough talk, lets get into it.

My first section is titled, "Team That Are Right Where They Are Supposed To Be". This section has teams like the Nuggets, Bucks, Bulls, Raptors, Celtics, Hornets, Magic, Clippers, Thunder, Lakers and Suns. Lets dive a little bit deeper into why I think these teams are right where they are supposed to be. Teams like the Bucks, Bulls, Hornets and Thunder are all right around, or just above .500. I did not expect these teams to be much better than that. Sure, some are fighting for playoff spots, but will they do any real damage? I don't think so. The Thunder are the one team I could see doing some things, they do have Russell Westbrook who is having an incredible year, but he cannot lead this team to a title, especially in the West. The Clippers are the Clippers and now Chris Paul is hurt. They will be lucky to get to the second round of the playoffs. The Bucks are okay. Giannis Antentekoumpo is a full fledged star and one of the most exciting players, and Jabari Parker seems to be figuring the game out, but outside of those 2, the Bucks are average, and their record shows that. But, Antentekoumpo has become must watch TV, and I love the fact that he is starting the All Star game. The Celtics are really good, Isaiah Thomas is an awesome scorer, but I do not expect them to push the top teams in the East. The Bulls started hot but have cooled off as of late. They just have too many old guys, and for some reason are unwilling to give the team over to their best player, Jimmy Butler. Until they do that, they will be a middling Eastern Conference team. The Hornets either can't stay heathy, or they are what they are, a .500 team that gets bounced in the first round of the playoffs every year. I'm going to go with the latter. Kemba Walker is great, but this team will not make the conference finals with him as their "go to guy". It is not happening. They'll get to the playoffs and they will exit early, that is their destiny.

The Magic, Lakers and Suns are very below average NBA teams, and that is no surpirse. Sure, the Nuggets are fighting for the 8th seed in the West, but they are 8 games below .500, have no premier scorer or defender and they, while fun to watch, are very ho hum. The Magic are much of the same. Serge Ibaka has brought nothing to that team, Elfrid Payton still hasn't figured it out, Jeff Green is doing Jeff Green things. The Magic are destined to be below .500 until they get another super star via the draft. The Lakers, after starting "strong" at 10-10, have lost 23 of their last 28 games. They are still too young, do not play much defense and they still need a few years before they get it together. The Suns stink, but they are doing that on purpose. Devin Booker is an incredible basketball player, but he is surrounded by guys like Alex Len, Dragan Bender and the corpse of the once great Tyson Chandler. The Suns are bad, but that is what everyone expected. They are in full tank mode. Good or bad, these teams are doing what I expected. 

My second section is titled, "Surprises". In this section, I have the Wizards, Kings, Heat, 76ers and Hawks. Let us first look at my bad "surprises". I thought the Kings were going to be much better this year. I did not think they would be like the 4th or 5th best team in the West, but I thought they would compete. Sure, they are in the race for the 8th seed in the West, but whatever team wins that is going to get smoked by the Warriors. I liked Mike Malone as the head coach and I thought Boogie Cousins was going to set the NBA on fire. Cousins is doing his part, but he is still a headache. Mike Malone has been less than superior as the head coach. The rest of the team is just awkward parts that do not fit. The Kings stink. I figured the Heat were going to be bad, but not this bad. They are truly awful. It doesn't help that Justice Winslow is pretty much done for the year with an injury, but everyone else on that roster is garbage, except for Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside is putting up All Star caliber numbers, but he has no help. Goran Dragic wants out of there, Tyler Johnson is incredibly overpaid and the rest of the Heat is just bad. I'm literally shocked at how bad they really are.

Now, the teams that are playing better. The Hawks, after dumping Kyle Korver, I assumed they were going to have a fire sale, but they have stayed pat, and they have looked really good. Milsap is playing great basketball. Dennis Schroder is leading the team. Dwight Howard is being quiet and averaging a double double. Tim Hardaway Jr has been very impressive lately. The Hawks are playing well, and I just assumed they were going to throw in the towel after trading Korver, but they have gone a whole different direction, and it is working for them right now. The Wizards started off terribly, but since John Wall has become unstoppable, and become an enforcer, they have played much better. They have been blowing opponents out lately too. Wall looks incredible and the rest of the team is following his lead, as they should. This is the Wizards team I expected to see from the start of the season. The final "surprise" for me is the 76ers. I have been very hard on this franchise, but when Joel Embiid plays, they look like a real NBA team. Joel Embiid is a legit up and coming star in the NBA. He is so, so good. When he doesn't play, they look like the 76ers, but since his minutes have been upped, and the fact he gets to play more games, they have looked decent. Hell, they went on a win streak recently. The 76ers are still really bad, but with Embiid continuing to get better everyday, they could return to being a playoff contender sooner rather than later.

Section 3 for my mid season update is titled, "Teams I Was Wrong About". This list has teams like the Trailblazers, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Rockets, Pistons and the Pacers. The Trailblazers have been an absolute mess and I thought that they were going to take the next step after their success last season. Lillard and McCollum are a great offensive backcourt, but they play no defense. The Blazers also have no front court threats and they gave Evan Tuner way too much money. This team is going nowhere fast, and I thought that they would be firmly in the playoff race at this point. The Grizzlies have played very well despite injuries and the age of this roster. I thought that they would be a middle of pack West team, but they are fighting for that 3rd or 4th spot. Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Tony Allen and Vince Carter are leading the way, and if I was one of the upper tier West teams, the Grizzlies would scare me a bit with their tempo and how well they play team basketball. The Pelicans have been an enigma all year. Anthony Davis started out on fire, but they weren't winning. Then, he cooled off a bit and Jrue Holiday came back and they started to play very good basketball. They dug themselves into a deep hole early on, but they are climbing their way out of it. I thought that they'd be a playoff team, which they still have a shot at, but they have such a steep hill to climb to get there. The Timberwolves, on the other hand, I thought were a year away from the playoffs, but I thought that they'd be a .500 team, at the very least. Well, they can score, but they cannot play defense, and that has killed this team. They have looked better as of late, but they still look like they are a year or two away from truly competing. The Pistons are just downright stinky on offense. I figured they would take the next step and become the 4th or 5th team in the East, but they have no offense. Reggie Jackson has been throwing up bricks since he came back from injury, Tobias Harris isn't scoring, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has not gotten better, Andre Drummond barely sees the ball in the post, this team is a mess. 

The Rockets, and the Pacers, were probably the teams I was most wrong about. I thought they were going to implode, just like they did last season, but they have been great. They are the 2nd or 3rd best team in the West, and maybe the 3rd best team in the league. James Harden at point guard has been a revelation, and they are playing this "space and pace" offense to perfection. They still think defense is optional, and I think that will doom them in the postseason, but man are they great right now. The Pacers I was wrong about, but for a different reason. I thought the Pacers had a great offseason, and that would turn into a great regular season. I picked them as the number 2 team in the East, but they have not looked good. They are in the playoffs right now, but they would be a 6th seed I think, and they have had infighting, complaints from Paul George and they just do not seem to mesh well on the court. The Rockets, for good, and the Pacers, for not so good, have made me look like an idiot.

My final section is title, "Teams I Was Right About" This list includes the Warriors, Cavs, Spurs, Jazz, Knicks and Nets. Lets get the Knicks and Nets out of the way first. The Nets are garbage. I picked them as the worst team in my preseason countdown, and they are living up to that "lofty" pick right now. They have not cracked double digit wins yet and they look like a D League team that just happens to be in the NBA. The Nets stink. A lot of people were high on the Knicks after their offseason, but I was not. I did not think bringing in oft injured old guys that were good 5 years ago was going to work, and surprise surprise, the Knicks are mediocre. Derrick Rose cannot stay healthy and just leaves the team when he feels like it. Joakim Noah has become a shell of himself. His air ball free throw last night is the best representation of where he is now and how bad the Knicks are. Carmelo wants out, but who wants a 32 year old "star" that only wants to play offense? Not a contender and I'd wager on that. The Knicks are still a long way away from competing. The Jazz are playing very good basketball like myself, and many others predicted they would. They play great team basketball, and they have a swarming defense. If this team stays together, they could be good for awhile. The Spurs are the Spurs. They play the best team basketball of any team in the NBA and they play suffocating defense. Gregg Poppovich is the best coach in the NBA, and as long as he is on the sideline, the Spurs will continue to be great. Having Kawhi Leonard is a big help too, and LaMarcus Aldridge has been great so far this season. The Cavs, while in a bit of a slump as of late, are still the Cavs. They still have LeBron, Kyrie and Kevin Love and they will breeze their way to a third straight Finals appearance. And they get JR Smith back soon. The Cavs will be just fine.

Then we have the Warriors. They are the best team in basketball, and they are just now figuring out how to play with one another. They are deadly everywhere on the floor and they play the best defense in the league. The Warriors are great and if they do not win the title this year, I'd be more shocked than Clemson beating Alabama in the College Football Playoff this year.

As far as a Finals prediction, it is going to be Cavs-Warriors part 3, and I still have the Warriors winning in 5 games. My preseason MVP was Kawhi Leonard, but it is clearly a two man race between Russell Westbrook and James Harden, and right now, I'll go with Westbrook. He is averaging a triple double after all. Defensive Player of the Year is Draymond Green, no ifs ands or buts about it. He is a Swiss army knife and plays incredible defense. Rookie of the Year is Joel Embiid, and I will hear no other arguments. He is incredible. Coach of the year has got to be Gregg Popovich. He lost Duncan, and the Spurs are still the 2nd best team, according to record, and he is the reason why.

So there you have it, my mid season update on the NBA. I'll come back when the playoffs are set, but as of right now, this is how the season has looked to me, so far.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He should not feel that bad, Houston and Indianapolis have been making people fell stupid for a variety of reasons. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Two Best Teams in the NFL Will Make for a Great Super Bowl

We hope the game day nachos live up to the great match-up

Yesterday's NFC and AFC title games were a waste of time. Both games were blowouts. The Patriots and the Falcons were clearly the 2 best teams in their respective conferences. I'm not going to do a Super Bowl preview, I already picked the Patriots to win when I did my full preview and yesterday did not change my mind. I still have the Patriots winning a close game.

What I do want to talk about today, the 2 correct teams are playing for the Super Bowl in 2 weeks. As I have already stated, the Falcons and the Patriots are the 2 best teams in the NFL this year. I'm sure some people, Roger Goodell I'm talking to your punk ass, wanted to see the Steelers beat the Patriots, but lets be real, the Patriots are a far superior team. Sure, the Steelers were riding a big win streak, and they looked great, but who did they really play to end the season or in their first 2 playoff games? I believe they ended the regular season with match-ups in the final 2 weeks against the Bengals and Browns. The Bengals were tremendous underachievers this season, it's probably due the fact they did not change their team name to the Harambe's, and they kept their games close. The Browns were the joke of the NFL this year and the Steelers needed a comeback to beat them in week 17.

In the playoffs, the Steelers got the Dolphins in round one, with a backup QB. The Steelers did what they were supposed to do to an undermanned opponent. The Dolphins, due to both injury and coaching, are not as good as the Steelers. The fact that they blew them out was a foregone conclusion. Then, against a Chiefs team, they did not even score a touchdown and they won. To this I say, they got to play playoff Andy Reid, and playoff Andy Reid is atrocious. He makes terrible decisions and outcoaches himself. Also, the Chiefs offense leaves a ton to be desired. They have no real threats on offense and the Steelers knew that, and they controlled the game. The other playoff teams in the AFC were the Texans and the Raiders. The Texans are terrible and they did not deserve a playoff spot. The Raiders starting QB broke his leg in week 16, and they played a third stringer in their playoff game. The Steelers would have easily beaten either of those teams handily.

Unfortunately for the Steelers they had to go to Foxboro and play the Patriots, who were coming off an 18 point win where people, myself included, said they looked bad. Well, last night, they looked like the Patriots. Tom Brady was whipping the ball around on a very young secondary and exploited every weakness in that young secondary. Then, when the pass game loosened up the rush, Legarette Blount, Dion Lewis and James White took over running the ball. The game was close for a half, then the Patriots seized control and never let up. Hell, with a 27 point lead, Brady was still throwing the ball. The Patriots did exactly what most should have expected. I could not believe how many "experts" thought the Steelers were going to win that game. It was a laugher from the third quarter on. The best team in the AFC is representing their conference, as they should be. 

Now lets get to my team and the ass whooping they took yesterday. If the Patriots-Steelers game was done by the third quarter, the Falcons-Packers game was done after the first drive. The Falcons went right up the field, scored a touchdown with ease and never looked back. Green Bay proceeded to miss field goals, fumble the ball, get sacked, throw picks, basically anything and everything they could to lose the game. They looked god awful yesterday and the Falcons took full advantage, as they should have.

But, looking at the teams in the NFC, who was better than Atlanta? Some may say that is was the Cowboys. I say no way. The Cowboys were paper tigers. They had a great regular season, but when they needed a playoff win, their defense and coaching reared its ugly head. Is Jason Garrett not the Andy Reid of the NFC? He puts together decent regular seasons, then always craps out in the playoffs. Jason Garrett is a bad NFL head coach.

Yesterday we saw what Atlanta can do to a terribly prepared, coached and injury riddled defense like Green Bay's yesterday. They smashed the Seahawks the previous week. They crushed Russell Wilson all game and Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and the best duo in the backfield in the game right now, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, ran rough shot over them. The other 2 NFC playoff teams were the Lions and the Giants. The Lions lost 4 in a row going into the playoffs and Matt Stafford was hurt. They were doomed the moment they walked into Seattle, so just think of what that Falcons offense would have done to them. The Giants have a very good defense, but they still have Eli Manning. I do not care how good your receiving corps is when you have Eli Manning throwing the ball. The Falcons would have crushed the Giants, much like the Packers did. The Falcons were clearly the best team in the NFC.

So, while Fox may not like the matchup because it only has one "marquee" team or while Roger Goodell may be terrified of what will happen if he has to hand the Lombardi Trophy over to the Patriots or Vegas can't pick good odds or whatever other crap people may complain about, the Falcons and the Patriots are far and away the 2 best NFL teams and this is going to be a good Super Bowl. The Patriots are the Patriots, but not a lot of people know that they have the number one scoring defense in the NFL. The Patriots have a very good, very underrated defense. And the Falcons, well, they have Julio Jones and the number one scoring offense in the NFL. It is strength on strength for the Super Bowl. I love this matchup, and since I have no rooting interest, I cannot wait to watch and see what happens. I think the Patriots will win, but it would be pretty sweet if someone like Julio Jones has an epic game and somehow gets the win for the Falcons. I'm hyped for Super Bowl 51, and I think everyone else should be too.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was glad that Green Bay was out of the game so early, that freed him up to other more productive things through the night. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Voters are Idiots. Thomas and Westbrook Deserve to be NBA All Star Game Starters

Ty is tired of the voters ruining our goven... basketball.

I had a whole mid season NBA update I was going to write today, but instead, I have to talk about the complete snubs that both Isaiah Thomas and Russell Westbrook got by being not voted as All Star starters. The mid season update will have to wait until Monday.

Let us first talk about Isaiah Thomas. No one, in the entire NBA, scores as many points as he does in the fourth quarter. If I'm correct, I believe that he is averaging 10 points per game in the fourth quarter alone. That is amazing. He gets critical points at the most crucial times in games. Some say that the Celtics don't have a go to scorer or someone they can rely on in key moments, but I beg to differ. Not only does Thomas average the 10 points per fourth quarter, he averages 28 points per game, as a 5'9 shooting guard, and 5'9 is generous. He is probably closer to 5'7 or 5'8. And he gets his points in the paint. You may see his size and expect he is a jump shooter, but he is more an attacker than a shooter. He can shoot, don't get me wrong, but he is so much more lethal going to the rim. He goes in among 6'8, 6'9, 6'10 and 7 footers and gets buckets. His first step is deadly. He has a great step back jumper that is almost as un guardable as Kareem's sky hook. The other night I watched him play the Hawks and I was blown away at how, not only efficient, but how good he was at offense. He is having an incredible year. The counter point to this, people say he doesn't play defense, but neither does Kyrie Irving, James Harden or Steph Curry, but they were voted as starters this year because of their offense. Why can't Thomas be on the same list as those guys. It's not like this is his first year as a legit scorer, he has been doing this since he was in Sacramento. Isaiah Thomas will get on the team as a reserve, but he definitely deserves to start over Kyrie Irving, and I think Irving is great, just not as good, or as important to his team, as Thomas is to the Celtics. Isaiah Thomas is the reason the Celtics have gotten better every year since Thomas was traded there, and he is now a perennial All Star, but he should have been a starter this year. It is really a shame that he is not because there is almost no one more deserving than him this year.

The reason I say almost is because of Russell Westbrook.

HOW ON EARTH IS HE NOT A STARTER ON THE WEST TEAM THIS YEAR?! HE IS AVERAGING A TRIPLE DOUBLE! HE IS CARRYING THE THUNDER BY HIMSELF! THEY LOST KD AND THEY ARE STILL A DECENT TEAM!

Sorry, I just had to yell type that.

Seriously, what else does Westbrook have to do? I get James Harden being one of the starters, he is having a tremendous year, much to mine, and a lot of other people's surprise. But, to have Steph Curry, who is a tremendous basketball player, as the other starter, that is a bad look. Steph is great. Steph is an All Star. Steph is the 2 time MVP. He has a title. But, is he the first option on his team anymore? I already mentioned that he thinks defense is optional, although he has played better this year. His numbers, for him, are down. Steph, second only to LeBron, is probably one of the most beloved NBA players, but Westbrook is unequivocally having a better season than Steph or Harden or Irving or DeRozan or Lowry or any other guard you can think of in the NBA right now. I say again, he is averaging a triple double. The last guy to do that, Oscar Robertson in the 60's. He is carrying the Thunder on his back, and then some. Who else does he have since KD left town this offseason? Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams, Enes Kanter and Andre Roberson are fine, but they are not the threats that these other guys have on their teams. Steph has Klay, KD and Draymond Green. Harden has bombers like Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon and also a very good, young big man, Clint Capela. Kyrie Iving has Kevin Love and LeBron. DeRozan and Lowry have each other. I mean, all those guys have much, much better teammates than Westbrook yet, the Thunder are still 7 games above .500, and they are in the thick of the playoff race in the West. I thought they would make the playoffs, but due to Westbrook's tremendous play, they are playing very decent basketball. The fact that he is not a starter is so ridiculous. I know the All Star game does not really matter, but this is supposed to be the best of the best, at least the starters, and the fact that the guy that is averaging a triple double is not a starter, that is an absolute joke. The fan vote needs to be thrown out. Clearly, we the fan, cannot get it right if the fans that voted did not vote Westbrook a starter. I totally agree with Kevin Garnett when he said that this is the biggest snub in the history of the All Star game.

Both these guys got screwed over by the fan, and I just had to get this off my chest today. Both Isaiah Thomas and Russell Westbrook will be All Stars, but they deserve, and should be, starters. No question about it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. These snubs are the worst thing that happened in America this week. Yes, nothing else terrible went down today. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Grayson Allen and Derrick Rose Represent the Dark Side of Basketball

Allen and Rose are the clouds over some bright and sunny basketball

I was going to write 2 separate pieces about 2 basketball players, but I feel like I can lump them into one piece. Each has been a headache for their teams and fans all season long. Each were once the darlings of their fan base as well, but now, they have lost a lot from the ones who once loved them. One plays college basketball, and the other was a former MVP, All Star and seemed like an all around good guy, until this season happened. I'll start with the college player first because men's college basketball is not the NBA. The NBA is more important.

We have 2 more incidents since Grayson Allen's "suspension" was ended after one game of him acting like a jackass. I know that I have ragged on this kid before, but he is such a shit head, I just can't help myself. I have to hate on this kid. So, last season, he trips the FSU player as his team is getting beat, and he is playing poorly. One time, maybe it was just a mistake. But, coming into this year, you just had the feeling that this punk was the newest Duke player to hate. He started the year as a consensus All American, and many picked him to be player of the year. Well, the season did not start as he expected, and he has let his frustrations boil over. Against Elon earlier this year, he purposefully tripped a player that beat him off the dribble, then threw a tantrum, like a spoiled rotten child, on the bench.

The ever douchey Coach K did not suspend, or even reprimand Allen on the spot, I guess he thinks he only has to reprimand kids on other teams when he gets beat in the tournament, but instead said that they will "take care of it internally". Then, when he gets pushed on the subject of this kids poor sportsmanship and behavior, he defends him, and says that at Duke, they do things their own way. What a bunch of shit. Allen was finally "indefinitely" suspended and had his captaincy taken away from him. I thought this way too little, way too late. It took all major media outlets calling this kid out before Coach K finally suspended him. I think the decision was made easier when Coach K had to announce that he was having back surgery.

Allen finally gets suspended, and surprise surprise, Duke loses their next game to Virginia Tech. With one game left before his leave of absence, Coach K lifted Allen's "indefinite" suspension, and reinserts him in the starting lineup for the very next game against Boston College. What a crock. This game was a big blowout, in Duke's favor, but Allen wasn't lighting it up like he sometimes does. He had a very mediocre game, like he has had all year. Amidst the blowout, while fighting through a screen, Allen contorted his body and stuck his right leg behind him and appeared to trip a Boston College player. Of course it was the talk of sports radio and TV the next day, but no one did anything about it. Coach K did not suspend him, the ACC said there wasn't enough evidence to suspend him, Allen just got a free pass.

Then, while getting hammered by FSU the other night, Allen was chasing a loose ball and in his attempt to save it, he physically shoved a FSU assistant coach. Many people said that this was a "hustle" play. I have played basketball for almost 30 years now, and when I have "hustle" plays, I have never shoved another player, let alone an opposing coach. This was blatant and it seems to be Allen's calling card. When things aren't going his way, he reverts to being the spoiled brat that he is, and shoves and trips the opposition. Look at all the crap that Draymond Green has to deal with, what with the constant kicking of testicles, and he is looked at as the biggest villain ever. But, I'd have to say that Allen is worse. He is not as good a basketball player, and he gives me even more reason to hate on Duke. This kid is a punk, a spoiled rich white kid that never faces consequences for his rude actions and he should not be allowed on a basketball court if he continues this nonsense. Grayson Allen is a joke.

Now, lets get to the NBA player. I think we all can agree that Derrick Rose's best days are behind him. He is not the slasher and penetrator that he was 6 years ago. He does not play the game with reckless abandon like he used to. He doesn't attack like he used to. Sure, he has flashes, but he just isn't the same player, 2 Achilles injuries will do that to anyone. He is also a very suspect jump shooter and defender, but he was always mediocre in those 2 areas. He was able to make up for it early in his career with his athleticism, but now, he is just a wasted high contract player.

Rose recently has become a bit of headache for coaches, GM's and teammates as well. His time in Chicago, at the end, was rough. I don't think he liked that the coaches and players wanted to hand the team over to Jimmy Butler, who is much better than Rose. He didn't like being marginalized, and all but forced his way out this past summer. He got traded to New York, and since the trade happened, he has flown off the rails. He called the Knicks a "super team". He showed up to his press conference dressed like I dress, and I have zero fashion sense. He openly talked about wanting big money in his next deal, and didn't seem to care if it was with the Knicks. His first impression was a disaster.

Then, when he got on the floor, the chemistry just didn't work. I know some people were high on the Knicks (ed note: I was), I was not, but he and Carmelo Anthony cannot coexist as teammates. They are both ball hogs that play no defense, but at least Carmelo can hit an 18 footer. Rose also seems to ignore big men, instead trying to go to the basket himself. When Rose is on the floor, players like Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle O'Quinn barely see the ball. Those guys need to get the ball to get engaged in the game, but Rose will not give it to them. Hell, even Carmelo has tried to get the post players involved recently. But, Rose does not. He has become a ball hog when he does show up for games.

Rose has missed some time this year due to nagging injuries, but what he did the other day was bizarre. He just disappeared before a game. No call, no show. He wasn't answering his phone, or returning text messages. It was like he vanished. Eventually it surfaced that he wasn't available due to a "family emergency". Look, I hope everything is okay, but that is the type of excuse I would use when I did not want to go to one of my shifts at the various sandwich shops I worked in. Also, if I no called no showed at those menial jobs, I would have been fired. What did the Knicks do you ask? They started him the next night. Just like with Allen, Rose faced no consequence for his childish actions.

Rose said while he was away that he was contemplated retiring from the NBA. But, the very next night, he brought up his upcoming free agency and said the he wants a contract that will pay him 150 million dollars. IS HE INSANE! NO ONE IS PAYING YOU THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY DERRICK ROSE! NOT EVEN THE 76ERS! I cannot believe the foolishness coming from him right now. I do not know what happened to Derrick Rose. When he was at Memphis, and then his first couple of years in the NBA, I genuinely enjoyed watching him play. But, after the injuries, fall out in Chicago and this whole ridiculous half season in New York, I just do not care for Derrick Rose the basketball player. He appears selfish and single minded, just like Grayson Allen.

These 2 are peas in a pod, in a bad way. They are selfish assholes that think they are bigger than the game. Well, I have news for you too, you are both irrelevant and not that many people, if any, really care about you as basketball players anymore. Your time is up Derrick Rose, and Grayson Allen, you're a never was that never will be.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He urges the developers of a new NBA Jam to include a Derrick Rose / Grayson Allen team. They can trip others, throw tantrums, and disappear during points. Just like real life. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Michigan Wolverine Basketball is Not Getting Better Anytime Soon

What Ty looks like watching Wolverine Basketball

After getting absolutely annihilated by Illinois last night, this Michigan basketball season, which started with so much promise, is beginning to look pretty dire. At the start of the season I thought that they would be a mid level team in the Big Ten. I figured they'd win the games they were supposed to, lose the games they were supposed to and maybe have a few surprise victories as well. I thought they would definitely make the NCAA tournament and hover right around 20 wins. I figured they would look a lot like last years team, only a bit better.

That was how the season started. They looked really good early on. They were making shots. Zak Irvin looked fully healthy, and he was hitting his mid range shots and three pointers. Derrick Walton was running the offense efficiently. Duncan Robinson was a sniper off the bench. Muhammad Ali Abdur Rahkman was slashing and getting to the rim with ease. Even their big men, Mark Donnal, Moe Wagner and DJ Wilson, were getting big rebounds, playing solid defense and hitting the occasional jumper.

But, something happened right before Big Ten play. Their first loss came to South Carolina. South Carolina absolutely suffocated them on defense, and Michigan could do nothing. They were also giving up easy dribble drives, and leaving guys wide open from three. I thought, no big deal, they weren't going undefeated, they will fix this. In the next game, against a nobody team, they did just that, and throttled whoever they played by almost 20 points. Then, they traveled to UCLA, who was the number 2 team in the country at the time. UCLA was coming off a big win at Kentucky, and they looked legit. I was nervous about this game being a blowout. But, Michigan played a great first half, matching everything that UCLA did. I even had hopes that maybe they could pull the upset. The second half came, Michigan had their lapses that they showed against South Carolina, and UCLA ended up pulling away with relative ease. Michigan still scored 90 plus points, but they gave up over 100. That is unacceptable in college basketball.

The Wolverines lost that game, then they lose their Big Ten opener on the road to Iowa, in overtime. They had a lead, but they couldn't close the game out, and they were letting guys shoot wide open threes, like the South Carolina game again. Still looking for their first Big Ten win, they were 10-3. Not bad, but not great. Their first Big Ten win came against Penn State. PSU is not a good basketball team. Sure, they have beaten Michigan State this year, but MSU is one of the most inconsistent teams in all of college basketball. But, During the PSU game, I did not like what I saw from Michigan. Again, they were just letting guys get into the lane with little to no resistance. PSU must have had, at least, 5 wide open layups. Then, when they would clog the paint, they would leave shooters wide open for threes. It was very frustrating. PSU built a 13 point lead in the second half, but as I said, they are not a good basketball team, and Michigan made enough plays to eek out a win.

I did not feel good after this win. I hated the way they were playing basketball. The defense was non existent. They were playing way too much one on one. Irvin kept jacking threes, even though his shot was wildly off from deep that night. Derrick Walton inexplicably chose to not shoot unless it was crucial, or at the end of the shot clock. The big men did nothing. No rebounding, poor interior defense and dumb shots from all 3 of them. Duncan Robinson looked scared on the court that night. It was the first time he looked like a division 3 transfer. Something just didn't sit right with me.

They then played Maryland. Maryland was also struggling a bit coming into this game. But, Michigan just did not play well. They kept the game close all the way to the end, but they just did not have enough gas in the tank. Whenever Michigan would cut the lead to 2 or 3, Maryland would rattle off 4 or 5 straight points and build there lead back to 8 or 9. And normally I'd say that they were making lucky shots, but when no one is guarding you that close, those are easy shots to make. They also let Maryland have their way in the post. This seems to be a recurring theme this year. They can't figure out a way to stop you inside, or if they do, they leave shooters wide open at the three point line.

Last night's game, at Illinois, was a disaster. Michigan played hard for about 18 minutes, then Illinois blew the doors off of them. What was once a 2 point lead for Michigan ballooned to 13 for Illinois at halftime. It was the same story. They stopped Illinois inside, but let shooters shot with no defense. They also just stopped making shots as well. Michigan looked so bad last night, it made me a little sad. Illinois ended up winning by 17 points, but it was not even that close.

This is the same team that, 4 years ago, was playing for a national title. Sure, the players have changed, and they might not be as good as Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III or Mitch McGary were, but they should not have a drop off this bad. Hell, the year after their run to the title game, they were in the Elite Eight. They were even in the tournament last year and won a game. Something is not right at Michigan right now. These are John Beilein guys, and I love John Beilein, but they are not doing wwhat they need to be doing on either end of the floor. Where we sit right now, they are 11-6 and 1-3 in conference play. Things are not going to get any easier for them as well.

As much as it pains me to say it, I think Michigan may be one of the worst teams in the Big Ten this year. They play no defense, they can't rebound, they aren't making their shots and they play too tight. The majority of this team is seniors, so hopefully they will wake up and realize that this is it for them, but watching them right now, I do not see that happening. Things seem to be getting worse before they get better. Hopefully they can prove me wrong, but with the way they are playing right now, I do not see that happening. Not only are they not going to make the NCAA tournament, I would not be surprised if they got left out of the NIT.

John Beilein needs to coach these kids up some more. These are his type of players, and I blame a lot of what is going on right now on him and his staff. Shore this mess up or else enjoy your vacation at the end of the regular season because if this play continues, I guarantee you will not be playing in any postseason tournaments.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His love for Michigan does not make him blind to rec league levels of basketball playing. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Clemson Comes out on Top in a Classic College Football Sequel

I was going to write about something different today, but that will have to wait until tomorrow, because the College Football Playoff Championship last night was absolutely incredible. We got Alabama-Clemson part 2, and I think the sequel may have been better than the original. Don't get me wrong, last year's title game was great, but last night's title game was on a whole other level. For about 3 quarters, it was kind of boring, and was going as expected, but the fourth quarter made this game an instant classic.

In the first three quarters, Alabama dominated the pace and tempo of the game. They were able to run on Clemson, and when they gave them the ball, Alabama's defense was able to control, and even rattle Clemson and Deshaun Watson. At the end of the third, the score was 17-14, Alabama. When the fourth quarter started, Alabama had the ball, and Jalen Hurts, who had a horrific passing game, found OJ Howard wide open and he ran 68 yards for a score to put Alabama up 24-14. I figured that was the end for Clemson. I figured Alabama's defense would put the clamps on the Clemson offense, like they had almost all game, and the offense would be able to salt the game away by running the ball.

Deshaun Watson would not let that happen. Right after the Crimson Tide took that 10 point lead, Watson seemed to wake up, and he immediately drove his team down the field. Aided by a late hit call, Watson took off on a designed QB run, and had one of the best non TD runs that I have ever seen. He went to the corner of the field, looked like he was going to step out of bounds, but instead turned the ball up field and dove for the goal line. He was definitely pushed out of bounds before he got in, but on the very next play, Wayne Gallman ran the ball in easily. Clemson was now within 3 points, and it seemed like they grabbed all the momentum. Alabama then got the ball back, did nothing with it and punted. Clemson got it back, did nothing with it as well, and punted. Then, same thing for a third time with Alabama.

After all the punting back, Clemson and Deshaun Watson took over the game. He drove that team down the field, making precise throws, and picking the perfect spots to run, when it was needed. On the eighth play of the drive, Watson found Williams for a 4 yard strike, and for the first time all year, Alabama was on the ropes. Clemson took the lead in the title game, scoring 14 unanswered points against the vaunted Alabama defense. Some have said, I'm sure I was one of those people at times this year as well, that this Alabama defense was one of the best of all time, but Clemson ran roughshot over them halfway through the fourth quarter.

Alabama would not be silenced so easily. After Clemson took the lead with just over 4 minutes left, Alabama got the ball back, and Steve Sarkisian finally opened up the playbook. They ran one of the better wide receiver pass plays that I have seen. It was perfectly executed. Earlier in the drive, Alabama also converted a crucial fourth and one with a bruising run from Damien Harris. Then, facing a second and medium, in the face of the blitz, Jalen Hurts did what he does best. He saw that Clemson had brought all their linebackers, and he took off. He proceeded to go 30 yards untouched on his way to the end zone, giving Alabama the lead with just under 2 minutes left. All the joy that the Clemson fans had was gone.

With Alabama in the lead late in the fourth, the cameras panned to Watson. He had a look of "I'm not going out like this". He looked confident. The fear from early in the game was gone. He was in the "zone", as it were. On the kickoff, Clemson's returner almost looked like he was going to go the distance, but he got tripped up at about the 35. This was when Watson took over. He was zipping the ball into very small windows to receivers that were covered very well. On one play, his tight end stretched as far as his body would let him, and he pulled the ball in. Mike Williams, who is awesome, was beating the Alabama secondary with relative ease, and Watson was finding him on this last drive.

Clemson drove it all the way down to the 6 yard line, and with 6 seconds left, they went for the win. The announcers were saying that they thought that they should kick the field goal and play for overtime, but I loved the call to go for the win. The ball was snapped and Watson rolled to his right. Clemson ran a "rub" play, Alabama fans I'm sure thought it was a pick play(it actually looked like it may have been a pick play, but this is one opinion from a guy that had no skin in the game), and his small slot receiver, Hunter Renfrow, was WIDE OPEN. Watson hit him in the chest and Renfrow crossed the goal line with one second left on the clock. The extra point was good and Clemson had a 35-31 lead. The Tigers then proceeded to do an "onside" kick, and they recovered and Watson came out and kneeled on the ball, and the game was over.

My heart was racing, and I DIDN'T EVEN CARE WHO WON! This was an incredible title game. I think Deshaun Watson proved all his doubters wrong. People said he was overrated and inconsistent all year, but when it was a big game, Watson played his best. I am still flabbergasted that he did not win the Heisman. I also do not understand how he is not the best available QB in the upcoming draft. He is so much better than Deshon Kizer, Mitch Trubisky or any other QB that is going to be draft eligible. I'd take Watson if I needed a QB without any hesitation. Watson proved last night that he was the best player in college football. He looked phenomenal last night, when he needed to be phenomenal. Alabama's vaunted defense looked tired and shocked. They could not stop Watson last night, and he played even better last night than he did last year. They just flat out could not do anything to slow him down. They looked awesome for 3 quarters, Alabama's defense that is, but when it mattered most, they got exposed.

Games like these are why I love college football so much. It was kind of boring for a bit, but when it came down to crunch time, this game more than lived up to the hype. Also, quick shout out to Dabo Swinney for giving Colin Cowherd the business in his post game press conference. I loved it, and I'm so glad whenever anyone can point out how stupid Colin Cowherd truly is. Anyway, congrats Clemson. you were the better team last night and you had the best player on the field. Deshaun Watson will rightfully go down as one of the better college QB's of all time. He played so great last night, and for his entire career. He seems a bit underrated to me, but I think he will finally gets the credit he deserves. What a game and what an ending to the college football season. Just incredible.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He never thought Clemson was a fraud, he picked them to win at the beginning of the season. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Kyle Korver to the Cavs is OK. Not Great, Just OK

The scales of NBA power have not tipped that much

Now that the Kyle Korver to Cleveland trade is official, I have a few takes.

First off, this has to mean that the Hawks are about to have a fire sale. Korver was in the final year of his contract, and I suppose the front office figured they'd better get something for him before he leaves in free agency. Paul Milsap looks like he's the next one to go. Milsap is an awesome basketball player, and I'm sure he wants to play on a contender and, he is 32, which is old for a "superstar" in the NBA today. Milsap is going to get paid by someone this offseason, and just like with Korver, I think Atlanta wants to get something for him before he walks. I have heard many, many people say that Milsap being traded is basically a done deal. The 2 teams that come up most are Toronto and Boston. I think either spot would be a great destination for him, and I think it would push both of those teams to the second seed in the East.

Tim Hardaway Jr is another player who's name has started to pop up as a possible trade asset. He won't yield much of a return, but he hasn't really put it together in the NBA like many thought, and he too is in the final year of a contract, so get something while you can. At best, I think the Hawks could get a second rounder for him.

A lot of people have brought up a possible Dwight Howard trade. I think this would be insane, but that is what Dwight Howard brings with him everywhere he goes. I do not think he will be traded, but with all the possible moves, and the Korver move being official, I'm not sure Howard will want to stay on a team that is not going to get far in the playoffs, or even make the playoffs. He is nearing the end of his career, and I think he'd rather be on a contender, than a team going nowhere, even if it's his hometown.

With all this being said, I think the Hawks are going into a youth movement. I do not think they are tanking, where we sit right now, they are 20-16, so it is too late to tank. I also think the young guys could be decent. After Korver being traded, and the inevitable Milsap trade coming, I do not think they will make the playoffs this year, but they have some good young guys on their roster. I love Dennis Schroder. He may be inconsistent, but he is talented and has great confidence in himself. I think Kent Bazemore is a good role player. Mike Scott is a tough defender and a decent three point shooter. Their 2 rookies, Tauren Prince and DeAndre Bembry, have a ton of upside. So, I think, in a year or two, they could be a middling Eastern Conference team, and definitely a playoff team. The Hawks are going to unload their big name players, but I do not think it is as bleak as some have predicted after the Korver trade.

This leads me to my Cavs takes. A lot of people really like this trade. I do not think it changes much at all. This is still the Warriors title to lose. Sure, they blew a lead to Memphis recently and that the Cavs beat them on Christmas day, but the Warriors are still the best team in the NBA. Yes, the Cavs beat the Warriors, as I said, but the Warriors dominated that game almost the whole way. And, it was a midseason game, on the road. Who really cares, or even remembers who won these games. I have no clue who won any Christmas day game in 2015, and I am a humongous NBA fan. What I took away from that Cavs game, and I am getting back to the Korver deal, I promise, was that the Cavs tried really, really hard, and only KD and Draymond gave full effort for the Warriors. I feel like Klay and Steph took that game off. They let KD shoot as much as he wanted. They are still trying to figure things out with this impressive starting 5, and Christmas day was another "practice" of sorts for them. But, the Cavs really put forth full effort. LeBron, Kyrie and Kevin Love went at them hard. The rest of the Cavs were giving it their all, as they should. And, they still needed a miracle win on a crazy lucky shot from Irving.

What I gleaned most from that game was that the Cavs needed even more space. Korver brings them this. He is a great 3 point shooter, but the Cavs already have a younger, and a much, much better defender version of Kyle Korver in JR Smith. Smith is ten thousand times better than Korver. This is no disrespect to Korver, but he is old, his shooting is not what it once was, he plays no defense and JR Smith blends with this squad so much better. I'm sure they will play him off the bench, but who will he play with? Will it be him, LeBron, Kyrie, Love and Smith? Then they have no rebounding with Tristan Thompson on the bench. Put Thompson in for say Kevin Love, they do not have as much floor spacing as they would like. Put Thompson in and take out Smith, you have the liability of Korver playing defense. I see a lot of holes in what many seem to think is a "homerun" trade.

Give me the Warriors no matter what. The Warriors are still the much better team, in my opinion. The Cavs will roll through the East, unless Milsap gets dealt to Toronto, and I still think the Cavs would win, but when they get to the finals, they will have to face a much, much better and younger Warriors team. So, while some seem to think this trade makes the Cavs the new favorite to repeat, I do not see it that way. I just see an aging 3 point shooter, that thinks defense is optional, being added to a team that has the look of being afraid of what the Warriors may do to them when they inevitably meet for a third time this June. This is what I think of the newest member of the Cavs. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He thinks it would be fitting for Dwight Howard to end up back in LA with another overrated team. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Minnesota Football Keeps Making Bad Choices with the Hiring of PJ Fleck

The Golden Gophers Football Plan

Yesterday I chastised Minnesota for letting Tracy Claeys go for, basically, standing up for his law abiding players. I thought when it happened it was wrong, and I still think it is wrong. Today, I am going to double down on crapping all over the University of Minnesota because I do not think that the hiring of PJ Fleck is all that big a deal, for many reasons.

First off, he is a coach from the MAC, that has an overall record of 30-22 in 4 years. That isn't awful, but it is not that great either. Thirteen of those wins came this season, so before that, his overall record in 3 years was 17-21, 4 games below .500. That doesn't scream national power to me.

Sure, Western Michigan had a great, wonderful season, but it was not that impressive if you really break it down. Their schedule was not that hard. The MAC is not a very good conference. There seems to be one team from the MAC every year that explodes like this, but, the very next season, they come crashing back to Earth. I remember a few years ago, Ball State was the talk of college football. They were riding an 11-0 record, but they blew a late conference game, then got crushed by a power 5 team in their bowl game. Same with Northern Illinois. A few years back they made a BCS bowl, then proceeded to get their heads smashed in by a pissed off Florida State team. The MAC does not have a team like Boise State. Boise State takes on all comers, crushes every opponent in their conference, and deserves to be in big time bowl games. That is why Chris Petersen got a big time job at Washington, and has that team in very good shape for years to come. PJ Fleck did not have the resume that Petersen had when he got his first big time job. And Washington football is a much bigger deal than Minnesota football.

Also, Western Michigan's 2 best wins during the regular season came against 6-6 Northwestern and 3-9 Illinois. They pounded Illinois, as did every other decent college football team. But they needed a miracle to beat Northwestern, who I need to remind you, Northwestern lost to a FCS school the week before on a last minute field goal. Had that player from Northwestern just went down, instead of stretching for the goal line, then fumbling, Western Michigan and PJ Fleck would not have been talked about as much as they were all season. But, he did, and WMU won.

Other than those 2 "power" 5 teams, WMU feasted on much lesser opponents all season long. Is it any wonder as to why this team never reached any higher than 15 in the playoff polls? I know these polls are totally arbitrary, and I usually disagree with them, but I feel like they got WMU just right. And, being the one non power 5 team to be undefeated, they did deserve the invite to the Cotton Bowl, but they got a reeling Wisconsin team, that played 2 QB's that whole game. Wisconsin has a great defense, but their offense leaves A LOT to be desired. But, for the most part, they completely controlled WMU all game. I know the final score made it seem closer than it was, but remember, WMU scored a very late TD to pull within 7, and that TD was incredibly lucky. When WMU had to play a real team, you saw how good they really were. They were fine, Corey Davis is a great receiver, but if they were in the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC or Pac 12, they are, at the very best, an eight win team.

My final reason as to why I do not think Fleck is a great hire, no other big time school, that had a head coaching vacancy, brought him in so much so for an interview. Texas did not call. Oregon blatantly made it known that they had no intentions of bringing him in. Houston chose to just promote an assistant, instead of bringing Fleck in. LSU all but laughed off the assumption that he was a candidate. No major college football program ever really gave Fleck a second thought.

In fact, this hiring made me think of Michigan, 5 years ago, when they hired Brady Hoke. When I heard that Hoke was getting the job, I tried to convince myself that they were doing the right thing. They were giving a guy that paid his dues the chance to coach a major team, to bring them back to prominence. And, he looked like the right hire in his first season, but things went to shit after that. When he had to recruit his guys, which he did a good job of getting good players, and coach them up, which he was atrocious at doing, he failed tremendously. Michigan got worse every year under Hoke.

I think the same thing is going to happen with Minnesota and Fleck. His name is hot right now, but what has he really accomplished, against good opponents? Like I said earlier, props to you for going 13-0 in the regular season, but when you had to play a real team, you were immobilized and outcoached by a million miles. You have great enthusiasm, but that will only take you so far. You have to recruit against the likes of the University of Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa, Penn State, Nebraska and Michigan, just to name a few. You also have to play these teams every year. You do not have the luxury of being the underdog from the underdog conference anymore. You have to face 9 Big Ten teams a year, and they all aren't Northwestern and Illinois. This job is going to be very, very tough.

Sure, the hiring seems great now, but so did the hiring of Hoke, or when Helfrich took over at Oregon, or when Lane Kiffin took the job at USC. How did all those end up? Not so great. Claeys getting canned was bad, but I feel like this hiring of Fleck is just another misstep in a program that I once respected, but makes me lose respect everyday with each decision they make. Good luck Minnesota, but honestly, I hope this all ends very bad for you.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His father is a Minnesota alum, and has refused to share any Golden Gopher gear until Ty gets off his soapbox on the football program. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Being Loyal to His Unpaid Players Cost Tracy Claeys His Job At Minnesota

How will Coach Claeys live without the Minnesota Spring

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team just recently fired their head coach, Tracy Claeys. They fired him for standing by his players after they threatened to sit out the Holiday Bowl after 10 players were suspended for alleged sexual assault.

First things first, those players that got suspended one hundred percent deserved to be suspended, if they were proven to have done the heinous acts they were accused of doing. There is no place for these type of actions to continue to happen in football. It is disturbing and disgusting, as I wrote yesterday, and have touched on many times on the site. The players that were accused, deserve their punishments, and they should not be allowed on the football team.

With that being said, I understand why Claeys stood by the other players that threatened a boycott. The rest of the team was going to sit out their bowl game, until the suspended players were reinstated, or they got the full story on why they were suspended. These kids had little to no idea why their teammates were suspended. That is on the university and the AD, not the coaches, to explain to these kids why these players got in trouble. But, in typical NCAA fashion, the players were left in the dark, and when they threatened to sit out, they were roasted on social media, by former players and by all the major sports networks. They were called childish and were deemed as spoiled jocks. And Tracy Claeys was not immune to the disrespect. Now, as I said before, the suspended players deserve the punishments, but the current players, and the head coach, do not deserve the blame.

Imagine if this same situation happened at Florida State when Jameis Winston was accused of the same thing. If the players and Jimbo Fisher threatened a boycott, I guarantee that outlets like ESPN and Fox Sports 1 would be calling them brave, and say how proud they are of them for standing up for one of their teammates. But, this happened at Minnesota, and they are not a blue blood in the college football world.

This situation actually reminds me a lot of what happened at the University of Missouri a few years back. Now, the thing at Missouri was much worse. I mean, racial insensitivity in this day and age is very, very scary. But, people roasted the kids that boycotted, again calling them names and calling them spoiled. I was one hundred percent on the side of the players at Missouri when they boycotted, and their coach at time, Gary Pinkel, joined the boycott. But, no one called him names and raked him over the coals. They praised him for standing with his kids. Like I said, the situation at Missouri was worse, but it still reminds me a lot of what happened at Minnesota this year.

After the Golden Gophers inexplicably beat Washington State in the bowl game, after they ended the boycott by finally get a fully explained response as to why the kids were suspended, Minnesota decided a few days later that Tracy Claeys time as the head coach there was done. This is completely baffling to me. He is clearly a players coach. The kids there loved him when he was the defensive coordinator, and they seemed to like him even more when he was the head coach. After Jerry Kill had to step away, due to all the seizures, he hand picked Claeys to take over. He was one of Kill's guys all along, and he seemed like the perfect fit for Minnesota. The team was also competitive with him at the helm. They were a 7 win team his first full season as head coach, and they won 9 games this year. For Minnesota football, that is quite impressive. But, the AD decided that he needed to get rid of a guy that stands by his players. They figured that he had enough time as a head coach, and they let him go.

I ask, what exactly did he do that was so wrong and bad enough for him to lose his job? He stood by his non suspended players. He won enough games to be in bowl games. The non suspended players loved him. The rest of the coaching staff loved him. Jerry Kill picked him to take over. None of this sounds like he deserved to be fired. And if Minnesota is expecting someone like Chip Kelly or Mark Helfrich to come there and coach, they are out of their god damn minds. I would bet all the money I had, if I were a betting man, those guys would rather take a job as an assistant at a big time program, than come into Minnesota as the head man. Kevin Wilson, who seems like a miserable human being, took a job at the University of Ohio State rather than another head coaching gig. Mike Debord took a different coordinator job, rather than a head coaching job. Same thing for Matt Canada. There is no one, at least not a big name person, that aches for that Minnesota job. So, if they are expecting a big name, they have another thing coming. They'd be lucky to get a guy like Brady Hoke right now. Hell, maybe Glen Mason will take over, but those are their best options.

I have read today that some former players and coaches, mainly Jerry Kill, are crushing the AD right now, and I love that. I also love the shots that Claeys fired while being interviewed after he was fired by a local TV station, saying, "at least I won't be freezing my ass off in Minnesota anymore". He was clearly upset, and angry, as he should be. This firing was unjust, and I personally hope it sets Minnesota football back. Claeys did not deserve this. This is ridiculous.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has also taken his name out of the Minnesota coaching search and has opted to keep coaching his 4 year olds team. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

All Hail the ACC, Kings of the College Football Bowl Season

The crown is not that heavy

After yesterday's 2 bowl games, I am quite disgusted in how my conference, the Big Ten, has performed, but it is not just the Big Ten, most other power 5 conferences, except for the ACC, have been pretty mediocre.

Let's get the Big Ten out of the way.

First off, the top three teams in the conference all lost their bowl games. Michigan, my team, played piss poor defense all game, didn't wake up until the fourth quarter, and they lost the lead as quickly as they took it from Florida State. Michigan was clearly the better team, but 4 or 5 plays were the difference in that game. I'm still so angry at how they performed and how unprepared the coaching staff had them at the start of that game. It was brutal.

But, not as brutal as Penn State blowing the Rose Bowl yesterday. They blew 14 point leads twice in the second half. In fact, they had those leads in the fourth quarter, and still found some way to lose the game. They looked overmatched in the first half, but came out guns blazing in the third quarter. But, none of that mattered because of poor play calling and terrible defense, by both teams, for them to blow it. Also, Penn State should not even have a program after what happened there, but I have talked and talked about that whole situation enough. But, with a 7 point lead late in the fourth, they could not get a first down after running all over USC all game and gave them the ball back with 2 plus minutes. They then proceeded to get 2 pass interference calls against them, and then give up a 27 yard TD pass. So, I figured overtime, but Trace McSorley, who is not nearly as good as he thinks, chucks the ball in the air with 40 seconds left, and naturally, the ball was picked and returned to put USC in field goal range. Of course USC made the kick, and of course people said it was a "moral" victory for Penn State, but all in all, it was a terrible game, with no defense played and piss poor play calling, but hey, it was a "moral" victory. What a crock.

Then, there was the abomination that was the University of Ohio State(you all know what I'm doing by now). They had no business in the playoff, and I'm more than thrilled that Clemson absolutely crushed this team. They looked over-matched in every area of the game. Clemson is ten thousand times better, and they proved that tenfold.

In fact, the only Big Ten teams to win their bowl games were 6-6 Northwestern, 8-4 Minnesota and Wisconsin. Wisconsin's win was forgettable, but they won. That almost hurts more than anything else. The Big Ten laid a big, big egg this bowl season, going 3-7.

But, the Pac 12, SEC and the Big 12 have not fared much better. The SEC does have Alabama, and Florida and Tennessee and LSU had good wins, especially LSU, but other than that, they have been ho hum. Alabama will probably win it all, but other "blue bloods", like Auburn, Arkansas and Texas A&M looked rough. Auburn played good for one half last night, then proceeded to get crushed by Oklahoma(more on Brent Musberger's ridiculous Joe Mixon stuff tomorrow). Arkansas looked great in the first half, racing out to a 24-0 lead, but then got outscored 35-0 in the second half to Virginia Tech. I do love watching Brett Bielema lose though. And A&M got housed by a not so good Kansas State team. A&M was in the top 10 at various points this year, climbing all the way up to 4 in the initial playoff poll, but they looked awful against Kansas State. Overall, the SEC is 6-6 in bowl games.

The Big 12 was a bit better, at 4-2, but they only sent 6 teams to bowl games. Oklahoma roughed up an outmatched and very injured plagued Auburn team last night. K State crushed A&M like I said, and Oklahoma State cruised over Colorado. Baylor somehow won, but screw that team and everything that team should get punished for, Baylor is a bunch of slime bags and they do not deserve to have an athletic program, much like Penn State. But TCU got out played by Georgia. They made it close, but in the end, they did what they have done all year, and could not close it out. And West Virginia looked terrible. People thought this was when WVU would announced that they'd be a force next year, but instead, they got crushed. Sure, the Big 12 has a winning bowl record, but Baylor should not be playing, Oklahoma's star last night, I will write all about this tomorrow, should not be playing and Oklahoma State played an overrated Colorado team. Kansas State's victory is the only decent thing from the Big 12.

The Pac 12 has been up and down. USC won, but they gave up 49 points and needed a miracle last night, and they gave up a million rush yards. Utah barely beat a very mediocre Indiana team that fired its head coach before the bowl game and Stanford let UNC back into the game and needed a big stop on a 2 point conversion to win. Colorado, as I have mentioned, got hammered by Oklahoma State. That wasn't even a game. Washington State inexcusably lost to Minnesota, only scoring 12 points. This was the same Minnesota team that needed a late TD to beat Rutgers, Rutgers people. And then there was the unfortunate "playoff team", Washington. They do not belong on the same field, or even a field within 50 miles, of Alabama. That game was atrocious and boring. Terrible performance by them, but every team lays an egg when they play Alabama, especially when they have over a month to prepare for you. Washington was a paper tiger.

The ACC, the conference I am usually hardest on, has had a wonderful bowl season. I need to say, I picked an ACC team to win the title this year, Clemson, and that is still in the air, but the rest of the conference has had the best bowl season, by far, of the power 5 conferences. Where we sit now, they are 8-3 during bowl season. Clemson crushed the University of Ohio State, as I have mentioned, and they had a legit shot at Alabama next Monday. Florida State made the necessary plays and beat Michigan, who was much better than them. FSU just made the plays at the right time. Miami hammered what was supposed to be the coming out party for West Virginia. Virginia Tech dominated the second half and pulled away from Arkansas. Georgia Tech won their game fairly convincingly. Wake Forest, now that teams did not know what was coming, beat a much better Temple team. I mean, even the teams that lost played well. UNC fought all the way to the end with Stanford and Pittsburgh blew it against Northwestern, but they had just lost their offensive coordinator, and they still kept it close. Louisville was the only ACC to look really bad, but they had to play a swarming LSU defense and that defense absolutely shut down Heisman winner Lamar Jackson. Look, Clemson still has a shot to win it all, and that would be really, really big for the conference that everyone, including me, craps all over all the time. The ACC has been far and away the best conference during bowl season, and I can't believe it.

Good for you ACC, and I will be rooting for Clemson on Monday night to knock off the juggernaut that is Alabama football. Go Tigers.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Michigan losing by one was tough, Ohio State getting destroyed and embarrassed was glorious. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty's 2016 NFL Playoff Predictions

Ready to tee up with the playoffs

The NFL playoffs are set, and I'm here to tell you who I think will walk away as Super Bowl 51 champs. I was obviously wrong in my preseason predictions. The Panthers, and Cam Newton, had an atrocious season. They looked pretty bad all year long. I was way, way off on that one. I was right about the Patriots though. I did not think Brady's suspension was going to affect them that much, and it didn't. They went 3-1 without him and 11-1 with him, giving the Patriots the best overall record in the league at, 14-2. I was off on the Cowboys though. I thought they would not be good, no matter who the starting QB was, but they have a tremendous offensive line, and Ezekial Elliot and Dak Prescott played like seasoned vets all year. Will it happen in the playoffs? We will have to wait and see. With all that being said, lets get to how I see this playoff playing out.

I'll start with the AFC. From 6 to 1, we have Miami, Oakland, Houston, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and New England. Only 2 of these teams, in my opinion, have a legit shot to go to the Super Bowl. The Wild Card matchups in the AFC will be Miami vs Pittsburgh and Oakland vs Houston.

Miami has had an okay season, but they have not beaten anybody all that decent this season. They might have the shadiest 10 wins in all the NFL. They have a good defense, but not great. Their offense, especially with Ryan Tannehill out, who I do not think is that much better than Blake Bortles anyway, is not very good. They have excellent receivers, but with Matt Moore leading the offense, it doesn't matter. Jay Ajayi exploded in the middle of the year, but since then, he has been average. The Steelers, on the other hand, have a lethal offense. Even though he is a horrible, god awful human being, Ben Roesthelisberger can still sling it, and he always gets help from the refs. He has his whole career. LeVeon Bell is one of the best running backs in the league. Antonio Brown is one of the best receivers in the league. The Steelers have a decent offensive line. Where they struggle is defense. They get gashed a lot. But, with Matt Moore being the QB, and Ajayi coming down to Earth, I do not see the Steelers short comings on defense giving the Dolphins a shot in this game. Steelers win this game fairly easily, 28-14.

The other game would have been a blowout, had Derek Carr not broken his leg 2 weeks ago. I still think the Raiders are better, but that was a crushing loss to this team. The Raiders now have to rely on either Connor Cook or Matt McGloin. Yeesh. They still have Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree and Latavius Murray, but no Derek Carr is brutal. Their defense, while Swiss cheese at times, has played better lately. They did not look great yesterday, but they have stepped up since earlier this season. Houston is a laughingstock. They do not belong in the playoffs at all. They are more bogus than the Dolphins, but since they are in such a crappy division, they get to go to the playoffs with only 9 wins. They have no offense, except DeAndre Hopkins. But, he barely sees the ball since both Osweiler and Tom Savage are mediocre. They also have no running game and their defense is a joke. As I said, the Raiders will win, but this game will be ugly. Final score of 13-3.

So that would pit the Steelers vs the Chiefs and the Raiders vs the Patriots. These should be good matchups. I think the Steelers-Chiefs game could be great. I think the Chiefs will pull out the win, but it will be tough. The Chiefs have a better overall team, and their defense is much better than Pittsburgh's. I also think that the Chiefs will be able to hold onto the ball and run at will against the Steelers, thus making the Steelers strength, their offense, moot. Andy Reid will not blow this chance, and he will pull out a hard fought victory, 21-17.

The other game is going to be a bloodbath. The Patriots, after Brady's suspension, are out for blood. They want to destroy anyone in their way so that Roger Goodell has to hand them the Lombardi trophy. Unfortunately for the Raiders, without Derek Carr, they will be the Patriots first victim. Sure, the Patriots do not have the best defense, but it is serviceable, especially against a team without their star QB. And this Patriots offense is surgical. Brady picks apart secondary's. He has made guys like Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola household names. He's doing the same with Chris Hogan and Malcom Mitchell this year. They also seem to have limitless options at running back. They can go with Legarette Blount for power, James White for speed and Dion Lewis for a bit of everything. And even though they lost Gronk to injury, they have Martellus Bennett, and he is awesome, and very tall. The Patriots are ready to beat the shit out of some people. I have the Patriots winning big, 34-10.

That would give us a Chiefs-Patriots AFC Championship. This will be a good game. The Chiefs are the one team in the AFC that can compete with this Patriots team. They have guys that can shut down the Patriots skill players, but they do not have any real game changers, except maybe Tyreek Hill, on offense to score with the Patriots. I think it will be a very good game, maybe even come down to the wire like last year, but Andy Reid will rear his ugly head at some point, and Belichek will capitalize, as he always does. This will be a low scoring, hard fought Patriots win, 20-13. The Patriots will represent the AFC in Super Bowl 51.

As far as the NFC goes, the seeding from 6 to 1 goes, Detroit, New York, Green Bay, Seattle, Atlanta and Dallas. I legitimately feel like almost any one of these teams can make a run to the Super Bowl, and yes, I am including the Lions in the discussion.

The Wild Card matchups will feature the Lions vs the Seahawks and the Giants vs the Packers. The Lions are an enigma. This team had no business even being competitive this season, especially after Calvin Johnson retired. They had no running game. Stafford had never put it all together. The defense is good, but spends too much time on the field. But, somehow they managed to get 9 wins and make the playoffs. The Seahawks have been incredibly inconsistent all year. At times they look like the clear cut favorites, at other times, they look mediocre at best. They have a good defense, but they are not what they were 2 years ago, and they are missing some key pieces. They also do not get pressure like they used to. The offense is very average. Russell Wilson has not taken that next step towards the upper echelon of starting QB's. He may be hurt, but he just does not look like the guy that many thought he would turn out to be after the Seahawks won 2 years ago. I think he is a better version of Colin Kaepernick, but not by much. Their offensive line stinks. They cannot protect the QB, and they do not open up running lanes. They have good receivers, like Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse, but they lost Tyler Lockett to a broken leg, and now they have no deep threat. They have also never really figured out how to use Jimmy Graham. He has become a mid tier tight end since the trade. With that being said, the game is in Seattle, so I do think the Seahawks will win, but it will be a very ugly game, much like the majority of the NFL this year. It will also be very low scoring, with a final of 10-6.

The other matchup, being a Packers fan, is my nightmare. I hate the Giants, and it is because they always seem to pull out some miraculous win, no matter how bad Eli Manning plays, or where the game is played. My only hope this season though, Tom Coughlin is gone, and Bob McAdoo is the coach, and he is as predictable as they come. Green Bay is also on a roll right now. Aaron Rodgers, after his selfish calling out of his teammates, has played lights out. So has Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams. Ty Montgomery has been a revelation. The offensive line is clicking. Hell, even the defense is playing better during their 6 game win streak. I'm always nervous when the Packers have to play the Giants though. I bad mouthed McAdoo, but Mike McCarthy is just as bad, possibly worse at times, but I do think the Packers will pull out the win. They have a better team, with much better skill players(yes, I think the duo of Nelson/Adams is better than Cruz/Beckham Jr), and I think Eli will make a big mistake. I have the Packers winning 28-23.

So that would give us second round matchups of Seattle-Atlanta and Green Bay-Dallas. Atlanta should easily beat the Seahawks. They have a better QB, better receivers, a better line and a better running game. They also do not have the injuries that Seattle has. I think Matt Ryan should be the regular season MVP. He's been great. So has Julio Jones. He has been un guardable at times. He is so tall and so fast and has great hands and runs great routes. The revolving door at running back works for them, and Devonta Freeman is coming on at the right time. Atlanta is a serious threat in the NFC. I have them beating Seattle fairly easily, 24-10. It will be close for a half, but Atlanta will pull away in the second half.

The other side has Green Bay-Dallas. This is supposed to be Dallas' year, right? They have everything going for them. They have home field throughout the playoffs. They have had a dominating year on the offensive side of the ball. They have the best offensive line in all of football. Ezekial Elliot and Dak Prescott are the future. Dez Bryant is playing better without Romo. This is supposed to be the year for them Cowboys, right? I do not know if it is my blind love for the Packers, or what, but I think the Packers will beat them, and I do not think it will even be close. The Cowboys will come out hot, but this is a team led by rookies, and I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have vets like Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Julius Peppers, Davante Adams, Clay Matthews, some of which have won a Super Bowl, than rookies leading my team in the playoffs. This is not meant to take away from Dallas' great season, but I think the moment will be a bit too big for them. They have won a lot of games, 13, but some have been very ugly, and I just think their luck is going to run out. Maybe it is my blind love, it totally is, and my hatred for the Cowboys, it is that as well, but I think the Packers will go to Jerry World and win this game. I also think they will win by 2 scores, with a final of 28-17.

So that would give us Atlanta and Green Bay in the NFC Championship. this is where the Packers win streak ends. They have no one that can guard Julio Jones, and Matt Ryan is playing so god damn great right now. This will be a very high scoring game, close to the end, but Atlanta will win, 38-35. This game is going to be filled with offensive fireworks, and Atlanta has the better weapons on offense to do just that.

Super Bowl 51 will pit Atlanta and New England. This is a pretty good matchup, or at least I think so. Both teams have so so defenses, but they each have explosive offenses. The Super Bowl will be very high scoring, but in the end, I think New England puts it away, and Goodell has to hand that trophy over to Belichek and Brady. Atlanta will keep it close for three and a half quarters, but New England, behind Legarette Blount, not Tom Brady, will put this game away in the fourth quarter. I think the Falcons will be so keyed up to stop the Patriots pass game that it will open up the run game for New England. Blount is going to have a big game. He is the best of the three running backs the Patriots use, and they will ride him to a win in the Super Bowl. I expect him to go for over 100 yards and, at least, 2 touchdowns, and win the Super Bowl MVP. Like I said, it will be close for awhile, but New England will put it away early in the fourth, and win 38-28.

There you have it, my 2017 NFL playoff preview and picks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. With the Packers and Wolverines, 2016 saw a lot of sports heartbreak. 2017 will not be a repeat for Ty's teams. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The SeedSing 2016 Year in Pop Culture: The Best, and Worst, in Sports

Continuing my best of lists of 2016 today, I'm going to count down the top 5 sports moments of the year. This has been a year of some big, monumental sports moments. Lots of stuff has happened in 2016 in major professional sports. Many "curses" were broke, some big names traded teams, there was some incredible displays of athleticism and so much more. Enough chat, lets get to it.

At number 5, I have the 2016 NBA dunk contest during All Star weekend. The dunk contest had been in the toilet for over a decade plus, until this year. The last great dunk contest I remember was when Vince Carter was with the Raptors and did some of the most impressive dunks I had ever seen live. I'm a little too young to remember when Jordan dunked from the foul line, or when Dominique Wilkins should have beaten Jordan in a great dunk contest. I was not alive when Dr. J was showing the world how athletic basketball players can be at the professional level. I barely remember Spud Webb winning, but I have seen the highlight tape a thousand times. But, after the Vince Carter show, I tuned in to every dunk contest from there on out, and they were all terrible. There were too many missed dunks. It is supposed to be a "side show" of sorts, but some contests took that concept way too far. The best players, and dunkers for that matter, were not participating. I did not, and still don't, think that Blake Griffin's dunk over the front of a car was all that impressive. It was just flat out bad, and boring. Then, last year, both Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon showed up. The contest wasn't great in 2015, but Lavine and Gordon were. Then, this year, they went to a whole new level. It was a total, anything you can do, I can do better, contest. Gordon would jump over a mascot, put the ball under his legs and do a reverse jam. To top that, Lavine took off from the foul line, put the ball between his legs and jammed it with ease. It was a thing of beauty to watch in real time. I wrote about this dunk contest earlier this year, claiming that it was back, and I cannot stop thinking about how truly awesome, and athletic it was. I know that this is a total niche thing for a rabid NBA fan like myself, but there is no doubt in my mind that the 2016 dunk contest is easily one of the top 5 sports moments of the year.

At number 4, I have the epic ass whoopings that both, Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps put on their opponents in the Rio Olympics. They were astounding to watch. Look, I do not care about swimming, unless Michael Phelps and the Olympics are involved. When Phelps is competing, I want to watch. I even named him my top athlete of the 21st century. He is undeniably the greatest champion in pro sports. He competes at the highest level sport, and dominates. When he wins, because he pretty much always does, it is a shock if he doesn't blow out his competition, and we are talking about Olympians here. These are the best of the best in the whole world, and Phelps dominates them all. The same can be said for Usain Bolt. He is the greatest sprinter ever. What he has/is doing in sprinting, at his age, is beyond incredible. This guy doesn't only win, but he blows away his competition, and he does it in style. This year, when he looked back at his opponents in one of his final races, with a smile on his face, shows you how truly dominant he is. He does wonders on a track. If he is not on your relay team, forget about winning gold, you are going for silver. Same thing if it is a solo race, and Bolt is there. He is going to win, and he is going to beat your ass while doing it. These are easily the 2 best Olympians of my lifetime, and maybe of all time, and they showed that ten fold in Rio this year.

At number 3, I have Kevin Durant signing with the Golden State Warriors this offseason. When he did that, it shifted the entire balance of the NBA. Before, when he was still in OKC, there were 4, possibly 5 teams, that had a realistic chance at winning the title. But, when KD decided on July 4th that he was going to Golden State, that trimmed an already small list from 5 to 2. But, honestly, if the Warriors do not win the title this year, it will be a failed season. When KD signed, the Warriors immediately had the greatest spacing ever. They can put him, Curry and Thompson on the floor, and good luck guarding that. People said, well they lost all their rebounders and rim protectors to get him. So what, they got Kevin freaking Durant! And, they still have Draymond Green, who can rebound and defend 4 and 5's with relative ease, even though he is maybe 6'8. Big deal that they lost Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes and Mareese Speights, they got KD. They also got Zaza Pachulia and David West, so they did not really lose all that much. Look, as I write this, the Warriors are far and away the best team in the NBA, and they haven't completely figured out how to play together. Some may say, well the Cavs just beat them on Christmas, but the Cavs gave that game their best effort, still needed help from the refs, have Steph go ice cold, and they still needed a last second shot from Irving to win. This Warriors team is the greatest collection of shooters that I have ever seen. It is cute when people say that the Clippers, Spurs and Cavs can beat this team, but if they play to their full potential, the Warriors should breeze to a title this year, and that all happened when KD signed that contract.

At number 2, I have the aforementioned Cavs coming back, down 3-1 to the Warriors, to win the NBA title. LeBron brought a championship back to Cleveland after a 60 plus year drought. Sure, they needed help from the refs, and for Curry and Thompson to play very average basketball, but what that team, and more importantly, what LeBron and Kyrie Irving did in games 5, 6 and 7, was incredible. They both played perfect basketball. Even guys like JR Smith and Kevin Love showed up in big moments. Smith hit some humongous, crucial threes. Kevin Love turned into a rebounding machine, and played some great help defense on a very important possession in a pivotal moment of game 7 against Curry. This comeback was amazing. Kyrie Irving was unconscious and unstoppable on offense and LeBron proved, that when he turns it on, he is unstoppable and the best player by a mile in the NBA. This was a big, big deal, and it only took LeBron 2 years to accomplish this lifelong goal. What a moment for the Cavs and the city of Cleveland.

But, all this stuff pales in comparison to what happened in the MLB this year. There is no sports moment, no matter what people may say, bigger than the Cubs winning the 2016 World Series. They ended a 108 year drought. It took them extra innings, a coach trying to blow the game, but a team of young guys that would not let this team lose. There was even a rain delay in that epic game 7, adding more historical meaning to one of the greatest baseball games ever played. I am not the biggest baseball fan in the world, but even I tuned in, after the 6th inning, to watch this game. But, the Cubs, much like the Cavs, had to come back from a 3-1 deficit. This was so much bigger than the Cavs deficit though for the Cubs. The Cubs were the best team, bar none, in the MLB. The Cavs were expected to lose, but the Cubs, they were the odds-on favorites all year to win the World Series. They had to have an epic comeback to fulfill their potential, and they did it. And, even though I'm a lifelong Cardinals fan, it was not that hard to root for the Cubs this year. They have a likeable team. This will change in a year or two, because this Cubs team is going to be great for a long time, but this year, they were kind of hard to root against. The Cubs ending a 108 year drought is, far and away, the biggest sports moments this year, and will be for quite some time. It was epic and it was, as much as it pains me to write this, kind of cool to see them win. Good for you Cubs.

As far as the worst moments in sports this year, all the abuse and violence that pro athletes are being accused, and convicted of, is just dreadful. These guys, and girls, are deplorable human beings that think it is okay to bully and put hands on people that are weaker and smaller than them. Be it Adrian Peterson, Richie Incognito, the Giants douchebag kicker, Hope Solo, anyone that has done it before and continues to do it now, makes me hate watching sports news because this domestic abuse is happening way too much, and it is getting scary. These people need help. They need to be suspended, or even better, kicked out of their pro leagues to teach them some kind of lesson. It is even happening at the college level. Look no further than what happened at Baylor this year. All this stuff is gross, disturbing and upsetting. It is becoming way too common, and it needs to stop now. It makes me upset, and makes me dislike people like Roger Goodell and Mark Emmert, the head of the NCAA, that let these things happen all the time with little to no punishment, more than I already do. Stop the hate and the violence.

That's it for today, come back for my final best of 2016 list tomorrow.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His number one sports moment for 2017 will be when Urban Meyer leaves Ohio State because he has a health issue named Jim Harbaugh. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Grayson Allen has Evolved Into the Most Pure Duke Basketball Player

Coach K has Grayson's binkie ready

Earlier this year, I wrote about what a petulant little brat Duke guard Grayson Allen is. I compared him with many other Duke players that seem to have the same disposition, arrogant, whiny, spoiled brats that get whatever they want from their coach and the refs. He is probably, talent wise, the worst one of the bunch, but that is besides the point.

We have had 2 instances this past week that have went above and beyond his true terrible attitude and the way he carries himself on a basketball court. He acts like he is the greatest player in college basketball, but he may not even be the sixth or seventh best player on his team. But, his arrogance has gotten out of hand.

First off, he is not playing up to the incredibly high, unachievable goals that writers and pundits put on him this preseason. People were calling him an All American, saying he was going to be the player of the year and that he would cement himself as a first round draft pick in the 2017 NBA draft. He has been average, at best this year. As I have already said, he isn't even the main man on his own team, let alone a player of the year candidate.

Then, earlier this week, he went for a layup against some very low level out of conference opponent and missed. But, on the way up, he assumed he would get fouled, so he looked for contact that wasn't there. The defender smartly pulled away, not risking grabbing a cheap foul, and decided to just let these 2 points go. But, Allen missed the shot, and when he went to the ground, he threw a fit, and since the game was at Duke, the ref blew his whistle and called a foul. This may be one of the worst calls of all time, at any level, that I have ever seen. The defender literally did not even touch him. The coach of the opposing team was beside himself, as he should have been. I mean, Duke gets so many cheap calls, but this was on a whole new level. Seriously, go find tape of this and tell me when and where he got fouled. He was not touched.

Then, the other night against another low level non conference team, Elon, Allen came back with his trademark trip. He was having another poor performance, which is becoming his norm, and when he was beaten on defense by an Elon player, Allen did what he does best and tripped the kid. He blatantly stuck his leg in the air, almost kicking the player, and the Elon kid fell to the ground. After the foul was called, and a timeout ensued, instead of looking remorseful, or anything emoting regret, Allen decided it was time for him to throw yet another tantrum. This one was one for the ages. He looked worse than my 4 year old when I tell him I'm not buying him a toy at Five Below. He was jumping up and down on the bench, seemingly trying to hold back tears and yelling at anyone within earshot. And this is the supposed player of the year? Please. 

Afterward, many people wanted to know why Coach K has never done any real punishment for all this nonsense from Allen, and he said that they deal with this stuff internally. Bull shit Coach K. You want Allen to be your next Laettener, Parks, Redick, any of those guys, but he is not. Coach K may be the biggest hypocrite of all this Grayson Allen ridiculousness. He protects the players he likes and the ones on his team, but he feels like he needs to call out Dillon Brooks for hitting a long three after Oregon had the tournament game wrapped up last year. I heard Stephen A Smith, who I almost always disagree with, say this morning that if this was a Kentucky player coached by Calipari that the media would put his feet to the fire, so why don't they do the same with Coach K? I could not agree more, as unbelievable as it is for me to agree with Stephen A Smith. If this was say, Malik Monk tripping players over and over and over again, and throwing multiple tantrums, the "good" folks at ESPN would be punishing Monk and Calipari's handling of the situation. They already chastise him for all the "one and done" recruiting, but they turn around and praise Coach K for "adapting to the new style of men's college basketball". What a crock.

Duke should be embarrassed by this. Grayson Allen did get suspended indefinitely, but I guarantee that, by the start of ACC play, he is reinstated, and ESPN will then praise Coach K for his "handling" of this situation, even though it took Allen tripping a third player before he did anything at all. And all the talk from NFL execs saying they don't want Fournette or McCaffery because they are sitting out a bowl game, if I were a NBA GM, I would not touch this tripping, tantrum throwing child with a ten foot pole. There is no way I'd draft him. He would be a pariah from the moment he meets his new teammates. I can deal with the Draymond Green stuff because he is an incredibly gifted basketball player, which Grayson Allen is not.

The person that deserves the most blame for allowing this behavior to continue on an unusually regular basis is Coach K. This stuff has been going on at Duke since he was announced as the head coach there. The player deserves a lot of the blame, but players also act like their coach. They learn all the stuff from their coach. The coach is like there parent away from home, and we all know that children, for the most part, want to be like their parents. So, while Allen deserves a good share of blame, I also think Coach K deserves just as much, if not more. He is the figurehead that kept allowing this type of activity to constantly occur. Shame on Allen, Duke, but most of all, Coach K.

Duke basketball is becoming synonymous with having privileged assholes on their team that think they are bigger than the game, and that is sad. I hope Grayson Allen never plays basketball again, and I hope Coach K gets caught in some kind of recruiting scandal and he is relieved of his duties. Until then, this nonsense will continue to occur, and most of ESPN will be there to heap praise on this joke of a university.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He never thought he would see the day that one Dike basketball player would make Christian Laettner look like a gentleman. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.