The NBA awards for the 2012 season have been given and I want to share my thoughts on them.  I can’t say that I agree with all of them either.

Most Valuable Player: LeBron James – Miami Heat

I completely disagree with this, because I feel that Kevin Durant and Tony Parker were much more important to their teams this season.  Yes, LeBron had one of the best overall seasons statistics wise, but his team just has too much star power for him to even be considered EVER in my opinion.  LeBron had the stats, but he still doesn’t show the ability to be the go to player in clutch situations.

Durant led the NBA in scoring for the 3rd season in a row as well as having one of the league’s top records.  His downfall in this voting was Russell Westbrook, because coming down the stretch of the season Westbrook just started shooting far too much.  Durant was the runaway winner throughout the season, but somehow the voters view of it differed from mine.

Tony Parker, on the other hand led the Spurs to the NBA’s best record even with the aging Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili missing time with injuries and “rest.”  Parker easily had the best season of his career on a team that not many felt had a chance to be that good this season.  I think both Durant and Parker should have had more votes than James, especially because Dwyane Wade had such a great season as well.

Coach of the Year: Gregg Popovich – San Antonio Spurs

This is a tough call for me, because Popovich had a great season.  The Spurs overachieved with the older players they have and no one really expected them to have the best record in the NBA (tied with Chicago Bulls).  The problem with Popovich winning this award with me was the fact that the Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau led his team to the same record and without reigning MVP Derrick Rose for most of the season and Richard Hamilton for many games as well.  That fact alone should have made Thibodeau a runaway winner for the COY, but he won last season and the NBA is too political.  Therefore, they didn’t vote him two years in a row.

6th Man of the Year: James Harden – Oklahoma City Thunder

I agree 100% with this selection.  Harden is by far the best bench player in the NBA and could easily start for every other team in the league.  Lou Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers was very important to their team, mostly with his scoring abilities.  Jamal Crawford of the Portland Trail Blazers and Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks also gains consideration every season as well.

Most Improved Player: Ryan Anderson – Orlando Magic

I agree with this selection.  Anderson had a very good season both scoring and rebounding.  He opened things up for a lot of players on the team especially Dwight Howard.  He also led the league in 3 pointers made.  I think that Kyle Lowry of the Houston Rockets would probably have won if he stayed healthy.

Defensive Player of the Year: Tyson Chandler – New York Knicks

I completely disagree with this selection more than the MVP and COY awards.  Serge Ibaka was by far the best defender in the NBA this season.  He led the league in blocks and made every team think before coming into the paint.  Chandler wasn’t even the best defender on the Knicks this season.  Iman Shumpert was a much better defender, especially on the ball.  The NBA voters need a do-over on this one.

Rookie of the Year: Kyrie Irving – Cleveland Cavaliers

This was the easiest decision for the NBA this season, since there weren’t any other rookies that could even be in the discussion with Irving, except maybe Ricky Rubio, but he missed most of the season with his injury and his numbers still weren’t in comparison.  The Cavaliers replaced LeBron with a very talented and exciting player to watch.  I’m not comparing the two, but the franchise is headed back in the right direction.

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You see it far too often in sports from the NBA to MLB to the NHL to the NFL and any other professional sports organization.  A team does the unthinkable and wins a championship and then the next season their team is so unrecognizable that you can’t even fathom them having a chance to win again.  This concept of management has always bothered me and I just don’t get it.

I look at this from the perspective of a fan, because I’m not calling the shots for any of these teams.  Yet, I would think it is easy to understand the motto “If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it.”  That statement is common sense, but a general manager or owner have the impression that they have to “make the team better” by making pointless changes.

The Dallas Mavericks surprise run to the 2011 NBA Championship was led by their defense.  Tyson Chandler and DeShawn Stevenson was the main factors of their run to the title.  Then they had key role players like J. J. Barea and Peja Stojakovic played a part in it as well.  Championship teams over the course of history have star players and great defense, period.  The Mavericks came into the 2012 season thinking they were above the facts, mostly due to their owner Mark Cuban, and changed the look of their team.

The Green Bay Packers went through the same situation this season after winning the Super Bowl the prior season.  The loss of Cullen Jenkins and Atari Bigby, mixed with the aging of future Hall of Fame CB Charles Woodson showed the vulnerability of their defense.  The team still went 15-1, but when it mattered the most the defense could not help them.  Had the team went out and re-signed a force like Jenkins, I easily could have seen them repeat as Super Bowl champions.

As a person in control of a franchise, the mindset should always be to keep the core players in place, while maintaining the chemistry and defense.  This is how you win championships at a high rate, just ask the New England Patriots and San Antonio Spurs of the past decade.  Look at the teams who have won at a high level on a consistent basis and you see the model to go by.  The Mavericks are a prime example of what not to do after winning a championship.

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According to a report from ESPN:

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana was told Friday that New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis had an electronic device in his Superdome suite that had been secretly re-wired to enable him to eavesdrop on visiting coaching staffs for nearly three NFL seasons, “Outside the Lines” has learned

Sources familiar with Saints game-day operations told “Outside the Lines” that Loomis, who faces an eight-game suspension from the NFL for his role in the recent bounty scandal, had the ability to secretly listen for most of the 2002 season, his first as general manager of the Saints, and all of the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The sources spoke with “Outside the Lines” under the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals from members of the Saints organization.

It is believed that Loomis had the ability to listen to private conversations of the opposing team’s coaching staff for most of the 2002 season, and all of the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

In regards to the fan reactions to “BountyGate” an oft-made comparison cited in fan discussions is between “SpyGate” (the New England Patriots video scandal) and “BountyGate” (the Saints bounty system) with many Pats and Saints fans defending both scenarios. NFL fans have also chimed in on the debate and the oft-made comparison weighing in on the question; “Which is the worse of the offenses?”. But now, the Saints have incorporated something completely different than the videotaping of practices and put a cherry on an offseason sundae that has ravaged the once proud and revered franchise.

Ideally, the Saints could listen in or have access to pre-game meetings, locker room strategies and any information relayed from a coach to a player or team in the visiting locker room.

Another big black eye for Loomis’ Saints who have had an undying support system which I reported on here

As a fan, I am waiting until tomorrow night’s “The Rantin & Ravin Show” to add my comments on the matter as a whole, by then I assume even more information will have come out. But to say this is going to help matters for the Saints is an understatement.

Is it fair to say Mickey Loomis goes the route of Gregg Williams with an indefinite suspension?

How will this impact the Drew Brees contract negotiations?

How do you feel about the New Orleans Saints now?

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Over the years there have been many debates about the cities or teams that appear to be “cursed” in the world of sports. A long drought of winning, no championships and/or a combination of a every team in a specific city having a history of atrocity are all bulletpoints in any debate on the topic.

May of us are fast to point to the city of Cleveland as being the most “cursed” of the cities in the sports world . The Catch, Curse of Rocky Colavito, Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, Cleveland Browns relocation controversy, 1997 World Series, and The Decision all come to mind when gauging the misery of Cleveland sports. But in all reality,  Cleveland is known for not winning any major sports championships since 1964, close to 50 years ago.

Then there is the city of Buffalo. The cities apparent innability to win a Super Bowl, Stanley Cup and even , during the existence of the Buffalo Braves, an NBA title.

But few of these cities and even fewer of these teams compare to the misery that is the Portland TrailBlazers.

During the 1970′s and in particular from March 15th, 1977 until Feb. 28th, 1978, the Blazers won 60 of 75 regular season games and were led by a young Bill Walton to an NBA title during the 76-77 season. Walton averaged 18.6 points, 14.4 ‘boards, 3.2 blocks in the regular season and was a big factor in the Portland attack. Most importantly, he was the building block of a foundation, a foundation towards a bright and prosperous career.

But in the ’77-’78 season Walton discovered he had yet another problem with his and would later find out that the navicular bone in his left ankle was broken. Walton’s career would take a big hit and so would the TrailBlazers organization which seemed to be on the cusp of building an incredible team.

Not to be outdone by the 70′s the Blazers took misery into their own hands in 1984. With another building block in place (Clyde Drexler drafted in 1983, Hall of Famer) the Blazers held the 2nd overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. Many scouts and experts were buzzing about the promise of a young North Carolina prospect by the name of Michael Jordan. Many of these same prospects were worried and scared by  Kentucky’s Sam Bowie who was experiencing leg issues throughout his college career.

Nonetheless the Portland TrailBlazers drafted Bowie. They would later state that they drafted Bowie over Jordan because they felt they didn’t need another shooting guard since they had drafted Clyde Drexler the year before. We all know how that turned out.

The Blazers put together a nice run in the 90s behind Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey, Terry Porter and Drazen Peterovic (for a short time) and made the finals twice, once in 89-90 against the Detroit Pistons and again in 91-92 against Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, losing both series.

The Blazers would return to prominence in 2000 with a stacked roster of NBA All-Star caliber players like Damon Stoudemire, Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith and a young Rasheed Wallace. But again, the curse would rear it’s ugly head.

In what many consider one of the biggest chokes in NBA playoff history Portland had a 15-point lead with little over 10 minutes left in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. But the Blazers collapsed historically and the Lakers, led by Shaq and Kobe, mounted a historic comeback to win the series and eventually the NBA title.

In 2008, the Trailblazers held the #1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Two prospects were slotted to be the Top 2 picks, and Ohio State big man by the name of Greg Oden and an impressive forward from Texas named Kevin Durant. Oden wasn’t considered as promising of a prospect as Durant, plagued with some injuries in college and questions regarding how he would transition to the NBA style of play.

The Blazers selected Oden with the 1st pick. Oden had micro-fracture surgery on his right knee before his rookie season and wouldn’t debut until his 2nd year in the league and he wouldn’t stay on the court long after that. Oden left his NBA debut game with a foot injury after playing only 13 scoreless minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers.

On February 13, 2009, he injured his left knee (chipped knee cap) in a game against the Golden State Warriors and missed three weeks. On

December 5, 2009, Oden injured his left knee in the first quarter of a game. He later underwent surgery for a fractured left patella and missed the rest of the season. On November 17, 2010, the team announced that Oden would have micro-fracture surgery on his left knee, ending his 2010–2011 season.

On February 3, 2012, Oden underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. On February 20, 2012, Oden was scheduled for a procedure on his left knee similar but during the operation, further damage to the articular cartilage was discovered, and Oden underwent his 3rd micro-fracture surgery.

Finally, On March 15, 2012, Oden was waived by the Blazers.

But the Blazers had a promising star in Brandon Roy to build around right? Wrong. On January 17, 2011, Roy underwent arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees and Roy announced that his knees had degenerated so much that he was retiring from basketball. Another big blow to the Blazers.

To top things off, center Lamarcus Aldridge, diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome in 2007, received heart surgery at the beginning of the season to evaluate the status of the electrical system of his heart, recently underwent hip surgery.

Fans are not the only ones who are buying into the idea of a curse. Former TrailBlazers center Marcus Camby, who now plays for the Houston Rockets, was asked by ESPN’s Marc Stein about a Portland curse:

They might not want to admit it, but when I was there, my goodness, people were saying, “Are we really snake-bit? Are we really cursed?” Doubts and talks like that came about. Everybody just tried to brush it to one side and remain positive, but it was hard to escape because everybody was talking about it. It’s hard to argue when it keeps happening year after year after year.

Considering the Trailblazers are the only major sports team in the city of Portland does this one case become that much bigger? Does it trump cities with multiple teams with similar woes?

My thoughts are, yes. In some cities there are distractions (ie. other teams) that can help fluff the impact of one team’s shortcomings. But Portland only has the Trailblazers.

There is not NFL team, no NHL team and no MLB team to help cure the city of Portland of it’s sports misery, no timeout from the misery of the Blazers.

Naturally hindsite is 20/20 but the Blazers were moments away from 2 amazing dynasties. If the Blazers had passed on Bowie they would have had a backcourt of Clyde Drexler and Michael Jordan to carry the torch for Portland. Imagine how that turned out.

Furthermore imagine is Portland took Kevin Durant over Greg Oden. They would have had a lineup of Aldridge, Roy and Durant to lead them. But we all know how that turned out.

Sad thing is it will probably be a long time before Portland ever gets another chance to right the ship. They did a good job of ridding themselves of the “Jail Birds” monicker of the early 2000′s but swerved right into another pitfall.

I can’t help but feel bad for Portland. A city that is “all in” with the Blazers and often has to walk away from the table broke, defeated and ravaged.

Odds would suggest that eventually you hit on a winner. At least Portland sure hopes so.

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With the much anticipated fight between Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao on hold yet again, the world turns their attention to the less important fights they set. Mayweather will be fighting Miguel Cotto on May 5, 2012 while he awaits his jail sentence which starts June 1. Pacquiao is set to fight Timothy Bradley on June 9.

Mayweather and Pacquiao are considered the two best fighters in the world. They are ranked #1 and #2 by Ring Magazine as the best pound for pound boxers. The potential fight between the two has probably been the most hyped and talked about fight since Tyson vs Holyfield. It has been an ongoing back and forth battle of words between both fighters and their camps. It’s been over two years that the process started to create a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao, but will it ever happen? I have my doubts that the fight will happen, but I know for a fact the appeal of the fight would be tarnished if either fighter loses their upcoming fights.

Cotto is coming off a dominating and revengeful victory over Antonio Margarito who won the first match-up. The fight directly after, Margarito was caught with tampered handwraps for the Shane Mosley fight and due to the damage he put on Cotto many believed he got away with those same handwraps in that fight. So in retrospect I consider the only loss by Cotto coming to Pacquiao and he has been motivated ever since. I think Cotto has the best chance to beat Mayweather than anyone he has recently fought. I can envision a 12 round masterpiece between them and can’t wait for May 5 to come.

Bradley is coming off a TKO over Joel Casamayor, which was one of the KO’s he has in his career. He reminds of Mayweather with his boxing skills and lack of power. He does his best to outbox his opponents and definitely uses his head well. He also has a pretty strong chin and I can’t picture Pacquiao knocking him out, but I think Pacquiao’s power could affect him. Pacquiao just barely won a majority decision in the third fight against Juan Manuel Marquez and this is probably the best fight for him. This fight most likely will go 12 rounds as well and I don’t know what type of fight Bradley will fight. If he fights scared he will lose, but he only wanted the payday in my opinion after declining a fight with Amir Khan, whom I think would have beaten him.

Even though the entire boxing world waits for the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight, I think a lot of the hype has died down and the public is just sick and tired of the games. Both fighters can only hurt their chances of the biggest payday in the history of boxing if either of them were to lose. The next two months will be highly analyzed by the experts and fans, but the outcome better be victories or else boxing will suffer.

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LeBron James' Twitter account

I  have news for you LeBron….you are not Trayvon Martin.  You are a multi-millionaire who may have no idea that he is in way over his head.  You are a grown man who may have possibly acted out emotion and not intellect.  It’s possible that you unintentionally helped fan the perilous flames of anger and hate when what we really need is a call for calm.

Did you stop and think what response your photo and your Tweet may cause?   Trayvon Martin’s death is obviously an extremely emotionally charged topic.    It appears that many people have made up their minds that George Zimmerman is guilty of murder before they even know the facts.  Irresponsible race baiters whose names don’t deserve mention on my page, have done their part to purposefully promoted hate and outrage towards Zimmerman for personal gain and self-promotion, yet they don’t know many facts.   Here’s what I know for sure:  Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman.  I also know that many people hear opinions and misinformation about the night of the shooting and retell it as if they are facts. What facts have you learned?  Are you sure they are facts? Don’t misunderstand me, as a father, my heart bleeds for the Martin family.  I hope I never come close to feeling what they feel.  I’m very impressed with the poise they’ve shown throughout this tragic ordeal and I have no criticism towards them at all.  If you are trying to show support for his family, that great.  But you took a picture and posted a Tweet, so like it or not, you have a responsibility.  You said that you want justice.  What does that mean to you?  From my experience, many people say they want justice, but they actually mean revenge.

What if Zimmerman is found not-guilty of second degree murder………what will you say then?  I’m not a psychic, but if he is found not-guilty,  I predict rage, riot, vandalism and numerous beatings of random innocent people.  If he is found guilty, I predict that the aforementioned is  possible anyway.  I’ve read many of your Twitter follower’s responses and the vast majority are on board with what you have done.  Here’s the bottom line LeBron:  You have a huge following.  People adore you, respect you and will listen to you what you have to say.  You need to speak out immediately and let people know that any violence resulting from the Trayvon Martin case, now or in the future, are futile and unacceptable.  This is a ticking time bomb and it may become gruesome.  Will you accept any responsibility?  People are listening.

Respectfully,

Doug Durdaller

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Let’s just be real, did anyone here really think that the Philadelphia Flyers would actually sweep the Pittsburgh Penguins in their round 1 series?  Did anyone really consider that the Penguins would just pack it in and go back to Pittsburgh without a game to play? On Wednesday night, the Penguins avoided elimination, by winning game 4 by a score of 10-3. No it was not the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. This wasn’t really a touchdown and a field goal to a field goal. This was NHL playoff hockey. This was the same team that days ago, lost 8-4 and was quickly unfolding. This was the team that had so many questions to answer, and so many doubters that they were indeed the team that was picked by any and all odds makers, as the team most likely to have the best odds to win, not only the series, but the Stanley Cup. On the flip-side, was this the real Philadelphia Flyers team, the team that asserted itself as offensively dominate, defensively average in games 1,2,and 3? Was this the team that had the swagger on the ice for those aforementioned games? What went wrong? Where did it go wrong? and can it be fixed, before Fridays game 5? Some will tell you game 5 is the most important of games, if the Pens win, it’s back to being “a series”, if the Flyers win, well its adios for the Penguins. I will try to answer these questions, and try to evaluate what the chances are that the Penguins have of making history and coming back from being down 0-3

Jordan Staal scores enroute to a 10-3 thumping of the Flyers in Wednesdays Quarterfinal matchup- Getty Images

              Where did it go wrong?  Plain and simple, on special teams. While the Pens struggled games 1-3 on the power play, they feasted on the power play in game 4 going a lofty 4 for 9 on the power play at a incredible 44%. Its really that simple folks, special teams has been the so-called “x-factor” for the series. Taking a look back at games 1-3 the Flyers feasted on the Pens PK, and then wanting more decided to feast on the Penguins PP, scoring multiple short-handed goals. So anyone can give you a moment within a game, but the truth of the matter is the reason the Pens won, is because they owned the special teams play in game 4. I wouldn’t look any further to why teams win games in the playoffs, then to the special teams. At this point in the season, most of these teams are pretty equal at 5 on 5, so of course the biggest factor would be special teams play! The Flyers did convert on both of their PP oppurtunities, but after period one, it was ALL Penguins. The Flyers played reckless, on both ends of the ice, and that really is what led to 9 PP’s for the Pens. Even though it was tightly officiated game, the Flyers played role-reversal with the Penguins and became the team oft penalized, oft frustrated, and often outplayed.

             Can it be fixed? Yes, it sure can. Will it be fixed? I undoubtedly know it will. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, had the Flyers working at practice just today on PK, PP and 4 on 4 drills. He also had a long talk, with the team, at center ice about staying disciplined, not taking bad penalties, and being aware of time, space and score. Time, space and score you say? What TSS means is, being aware of game conditions, protecting leads, but not sitting on them, pushing play when space is allowed, eliminating cross ice passes, and being aware where each player is on the ice. It really is referring to being accountable for every pass, every shot, every shift, and every period. Laviolette also spoke about playing with “more jam”. Playing with more jam, means, standing up the blue line, making the other team dump the puck in, instead of allowing them to skate into the offensive zone freely. It mean tightly checking each guy, making it difficult to get an offensive flow going for the opposition. It means being defensively accountable (even forwards). What bothers Laviolette the most is lack of accountability. Give him effort, and play the system and you will earn your ice time.  These are all thing that can be fixed, and fixed pretty quickly. The Flyers all know what is at stake, and they know that giving ANY team any kind of breathing room when they are down 3-1 in a series, can be dangerous…after all the Flyers were in the exact same position the Penguins now find themselves, in 2010 when they came back from a 0-3 deficit against the Boston Bruins. Can it happen again? Yes it can. Will it happen again? If the Flyers don’t fix what ailed them in game 4, yes it will!

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A possible Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight could suffer from a loss.

Another Floyd Mayweather fight, but still the opponent isn’t named Manny Pacquiao.  Oh well, who really expects that fight to happen anyway……I know I’m not one of them.  May 5, Mayweather will put his undefeated record on the line against Miguel Cotto.  This isn’t the fight the world wants to see, but I think it’ll be very exciting nonetheless.  Does Cotto have what it takes to win in the most important fight of his career?  Soon we’ll all find out.

Cotto has only 2 losses on his record, one to Pacquiao and the other was a controversial loss to Antonio Margarito.  Margarito was caught using tampered handwraps in the fight against Shane Mosley directly after the win over Cotto, but because of the damage inflicted on Cotto a rematch was made.  Cotto dominated Margarito and won by TKO in 10 rounds.

Can Cotto use his momentum from his past 3 fights and pull an upset over the loud mouthed “Money” Mayweather?  This is going to be a very big fight and could also put a stop to the much anticipated Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight.  I feel like Cotto matches up well with Mayweather even though he is much quicker than Cotto.  Floyd just has no power to me and I think Cotto can catch him with a few clean shots and change Floyd’s game plan.

Mayweather is known to have a strong chin and is very defensive minded, but a clean shot can slow him down.  That was evident when he was tagged by an old Mosley and was obviously dazed.  If Mosley had been in his prime, he could have easily beaten Mayweather in my opinion, but I’m only one person.  All of the Mayweather fans would disagree as they would about this upcoming fight.  I’m ready to find out what happens, but if you ask me Miguel Cotto has the best chance of any fighter Floyd Mayweather has seen in the past to win.

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