2012 - Last Word On Sports

The World has noticed the World Junior Hockey Championships

Posted on December 31, 2012November 6, 2021 by Ben Kerr

Over the past several years there has been talk that Canada is the only country that really cared about the World Juniors. Tournaments held in cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Saskatoon, and other Canadian outposts have been fast sellers, and money makers for Hockey Canada for over 20 years now. And tournaments in border towns like Grand Forks, and Buffalo have been invaded by Canadian fans, with crowds full of red Team Canada jerseys far outnumbering the red, white, and blue of the United States.

Meanwhile tournaments held in places like Leksand, Sweden; Pardubice, Czech Republic, and Helsinki, Finland have seen sparce crowds. Selling tickets in Europe became such a problem that IIHF tournament organizers decided that a minimum of one out of every three tournaments should be held in a Canadian city. In fact, in 2010 Switzerland was scheduled to host the tournament, but withdrew when no suitable site could be named. Faced with a crisis, the IIHF quickly handed the tournament to Canada, and tickets in Saskatoon were sold out extremely quickly.

This year’s tournament is being held in Ufa, Russia; the first European Host since 2008 and the change in just the last several years has been remarkable. The arena in Ufa is full (especially when the host Russians are playing) and has been exceptionally loud for key matchups between Russia and the US squad; as well as today’s exciting Canada/Russia tilt. The jacked up fans cheering on the home squad have been excited at every scoring opportunity for the Russians, and have gasped at every close call around the Russian net. It really appears that they are into the tournament.

Pre-tournament games held in Helsinki were also a big event and well attended, a marked difference from when the tournament was hosted there in 2004. And these were merely pre-tournament exhibition games.

It would appear that Europe is catching the World Junior bug, something that we in Canada are very familiar with. Recent gold medal victories by the Russian and Swedish teams have set off large celebrations in those countries, as citizens have gathered in sports bars and town squares to watch the final game on large screen tvs. Victorious players flying home have been greated by thousands in airports, and treated as national heroes.

This is no longer the little tournament that only Canada cares about, as the Swedes immortalized the 2012 Gold Medal Winning “golden goal” by Mika Zibanejad on a postage stamp. Television ratings across Europe and especially in Sweden have been trending upwards in recent years as well. Next year’s tournament, scheduled for Malmo, Sweden, is expected to be another huge success.

This can only be good for the future of the tournament, and the good of the game, as more and more young hockey players can dream of representing their country on one of the world’s biggest stages. It seems as if everything World Juniors is coming up roses these days, and the IIHF must be extremely happy to be seeing the 40 year old tournament really take off.

The only country where the tournament is still unable to find it’s niche? The United States, where it is given nary a mention on ESPN, or NBC Sports, or on the sportscasts of your local news program. The tournament just doesn’t seem to make inroads during a busy College Bowl Season and the end of the NFL season and start of the playoffs. The only dedicated coverage it seems to have, is on the NHL Network. Its unfortunate because they just don’t seem to know what they are missing, which is one of the best and most exciting weeks on the hockey calendar, lockout or no lockout.

2013 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship: Quick Review

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Maksim Vasilyev

The World Junior Hockey Championship is offering some of the best hockey we will be watching for a long time, it seems. The competition has featured the best under 20 talent in the world, and since these kids are playing for their country and not just a team, there is a lot of pride and emotion that sometimes spills over onto the ice. The competition is at its last leg before we go to the 1 game elimination playoffs. So what are some of the highlights of the tournament so far?

Well, it has been nothing but good stuff for team Canada. As I write this, Canada is holding a lead over team Russia and to be honest, they are playing extremely well. There has been no evident weakness on team Canada through this tournament so far. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is leading the way, as he should; producing on a ridiculously consistent basis and leads the tournament with the most points. He also had 3 assists against Russia. The big question mark has been the goal-tending situation for team Canada and how Malcolm Subban would handle the immense pressure of the tournament. He has handled it absolutely fine, as of right now. Allowing only 1 goal against in the big game against United States and the ex-Soviet squad. The amount of talent and team work is just fantastic to watch. I can’t describe how excited I am to finally get to watch some elimination games featuring this team.

The other squad I would like to highlight is team USA. They are slightly less talented than some of the teams in this tournament, but you would hardly notice it with their play. The USA squad is playing fantastic and displaying excellent work ethic. The standout for me has been Alex Galchenyuk and Vince Trochek. The skill that Alex Galchenyuk posses is fairly impressive, but it seems that he is playing with some passion as well. Another kid who is just flying around the ice is Trochek, if you watch the games I think his name gets named the most for team USA. In the game against Russia, I think Makarov really stole the show as United States was really good at working the puck down-low and had a fairly decent amount of chances. I would like to see a bit more out of Seth Jones, especially in the big games that are coming up in the elimination rounds. ( USA vs Canada highlights )

Here we are, my tournament favourite and my mother-land country, team Russia, have not shown to be the offensive threat they should be.I think that in the two big games they have had to-date, against USA and Canada, they have shown a huge weakness in having a poor forcheck defense. USA and Canada are extremely comfortable with working the puck around the boards and Russia seems to spend ages chasing these teams and trying to get the possession of the puck.

From a player perspective the results have been mixed thus far. Makarov and Vasilevski both have been playing well, especially Makarov against the USA. However, Yakupov has been fairly disappointing. He has been flying down the ice carrying the puck and trying to beat two or three defensemen on his own, resulting in nothing but a blocked shot or a failed move. The disappointment here is that most of the Russian attacks seem to end this way. Russia has not controlled the puck in the opponent zone and most goals resulted from fast breaks down the ice. The shot totals reflect this as well. The best player, from the drafted kids, has been Mikhail Grigorenko. He has been fairly effective and active at dishing out the puck and using his big size. Overall, I think the passing and work around the boards will have to improve for Russia to have a chance at beating Canada, Sweden, and team USA in the elimination rounds. As Russia loses to Canada with 4-1 being the final score, it is time to go back to the drawing board and adjust a few things to help generate a bit more offense.

Team Sweden was expected to win their group and they have. It sort of surprised me that Switzerland took them to the shootout, but the big yellow managed to get it done led by a trio of Victor Arvidsson, Sebastian Collberg, and Emil Molin. Finland had an epic shootout with Sweden, losing 7-4, but just like this game most of the tournament did not go as well as most Finnish fans would have hoped.

With a loss to the Czech Republic and an overtime win against Switzerland, Finland has dropped down out of the medal rounds. Switzerland and Czech Republic have proved to be much tougher than expected; well maybe we expected the Czechs to play well, but the Switzerland squad was definitely a surprise to me. Both nations are not considered Hockey super powers and it would be interesting to see if any of them can muster an upset here as Belarus did that one year against Sweden.

This tournament so far has provided some phenomenal hockey. There is no reason to talk about the lockout, right now, because of the wonderful experience we are having watching the junior championship. To me there is nothing better than national teams playing against each other on a the big Euro ice. The most exciting part is just coming up and we will provide the overview and match up highlights shortly.

You can click here for the full schedule and the results.

Quiet the Lockout Talk, I'm Trying To Watch Hockey

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Mitchell Tierney

I meant to wake up for at least some of the United States- Russia game, I honestly did. However, when all was said and done I awoke tired and drowsy at around noon and had missed the entire game. Buzzing from Canada’s victory over Slovakia, one which was thrilling if nothing else, I was intrigued to see who had become Canada’s main competition. I quickly turned on my computer and headed to one of my favourite sports sites in search of the result. All in all, it took me about 5 minutes to find out that Russia had defeated the US 2-1 in most likely the best game of the tournament thus far. That is because what came up as the headline story disturbed me worse then any New York Islanders third jersey.

The first image that popped up on the website were of two faces that I had tried so desperately to forget. Those would be the faces of Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, who appeared in picture like ghosts from my worst nightmare. Now I would like to consider myself a lockout optimist. Up until recently I truly believed that a deal would get done. Read my earlier article for this site where I outlined why the NHL’s December cancellations where not the end of the world, but in fact probably a positive for the agreement. However, all of the my lockout optimism, and I would consider myself among the most optimistic, evaporated when I heard mention of the NHL and NHLPA going to court.

At that point I lost interest, especially with the excitement of a foreign concept called “live hockey” taking place with the World Juniors. Seeing that headline and banner annoyed me quite a bit. At this point I don’t want to hear anything about the NHL lockout or the NHL for that matter until the dotted line at the bottom of the CBA has been signed and a season is set to be played. The majority of hockey fans feel the same way, which is why it is so frustrating that hockey media outlets continue to make this their main focus. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that this has been a difficult year for hockey journalists. They have been forced to cover everything up to and including Steve Fehr’s sweater choice.

But at the moment, there is hockey, and quality hockey. The World Juniors have so far been an entertaining tournament and have been covered extensively. But I would much rather hear about an equally entertaining Spengler Cup then I would anything to do with a league that has caused me so much disappointment. I understand that they need to cover this, and there is still a faction of the population who are interested in the negotiations. But putting it as a headline on any top sporting website, especially with two intriguing stories from a very important World Junior tournament?

Twitter has been no better. At any mention of the lockout all of my favourite hockey analysts absolutely drop everything and begin to launch their opinions and thoughts. It has led me to unfollow several journalists who were once staples on my Twitter feed. At some point enough is enough in a process that has been as repetitive as any modern pop song. There has been a least 5 or 6 different instances when journalists were reporting that the lockout could be near its end and obviously the bargaining table is still set. I understand this was a major development, that this could lead to the real end of the lockout. But I have heard it before, more then once.

So please hockey media, there is high quality and compelling hockey being played at the moment. Please don’t overcast it with the kind of politics that every hockey fan has become sick of hearing. At least not until both sides shake hands.

Cain Velasquez: What Did I Tell You?!

Posted on December 30, 2012March 20, 2017 by Mark Modeski

For almost a year and a half now, I have been defending Cain Velasquez from people who would say that he “really just didn’t have what it took to beat Junior Dos Santos”. After last night, I don’t think I will need to defend my argument ever again. Typically, I stay away from writing direct fight analysis, but last night being such a big fight, and one of the few that I have really looked forward to all year, I figured it warrants some direct attention from this writer/fan.

I’ve always contended that Cain got caught in the first fight – a patented upper cut that landed in the right place at the right second by a sharp striker was what won JDS the first fight. However, Cain is the more all-around talented fighter of the two in my view. I am not taking anything away from Dos Santos on the first fight; he went in with a game-plan and executed it – out-box your opponent and knock him out. It’s a tried tested and true strategy that is employed by many stand-up fighters in MMA, and frankly Velaszquez walked right into the trap that was laid out for him. Knowing the type of fighter that Cain is, I was surprised that he fell for this in the fight on UFC on FOX 1, BUT I was sure it wasn’t going to happen again.

Last night at UFC 155 Cain regained his title, and did so in devastating fashion (as I have told people he would do all along). Three factors basically dictated the outcome of this fight, as I see it:

1. The Striking Line: Velaszquez out-struck JDS by a factor of almost 2-to-1 (111 significant strikes, versus 57 landed by Dos Santos), a metric that was basically even keel in their first match-up, with only a combined 15 strikes having been thrown between the two on UFC on FOX 1. Cain was never reckless with his striking at UFC 155, never believing he could just wade in with punches. Instead he opted to take his time and wear his opponent down – and Dos Santos face after the fight spoke loudly to this.

2. The Relentless Takedown Attempts by Velasquez: What was most compelling, I believe, was Cain’s insistence on landing the takedown. A good fighter always learns from their mistakes, and Cain showed remorse last night for not having utilized the shoot in the first match-up. Almost from the get-go Cain tried to get this fight to the mat. While I was impressed with the initial takedown defence by JDS, after Cain finally got the Brazilian on his back a certain confidence came over him. With 11 takedowns landed in the fight (versus 33 attempted) by Velaszquez, it was hard not to believe that Cain was winning the fight by using his bread and butter technique.

3. The Gas Tank: I believe this was ultimately the determining factor in the fight. After about the midway point in the first round Dos Santos looked visibly wore down (the knock down by Cain at this point likely didn’t help things), going into the 5th round of the fight, Velasquez looked fresh as a daisy. This frankly surprised me a little, as Dos Santos has shown respectable cardio in his previous fights – but, in this case he just seemed like he could never mount a formidable offence due to fatigue. It allowed Cain to have his way with his opponent throughout most of the fight; takedowns and strikes suddenly became a lot easier for Velasquez, and Dos Santos started to look like an extra from “The Walking Dead”.

Sometimes once ground-based fighters find some success on the feet, and they tend to abandon the skill set that got them where they are today. This is what happened to Cain in the first match-up. He had been knocking guys out left-right-and-center, and went in wanting to do the same thing in the first time these two matched up. Obviously he failed. Coming into this second fight, you could tell that there was a tailor made plan in place, and it was executed to perfection.

I don’t want to take anything away from Dos Santos. He has been stringing together some impressive wins against valid opponents (e.g. Frank Mir, Shane Carwin, Roy Nelson), and I was really starting to become a believer that he might have the right stuff to be the future face of the heavyweight division. However, I think when all was said and done we saw that a multi-tool skill set and sound game-plan won the day for Cain.

Champions of the day need to be more than a fighter who is REALLY good at one aspect of the game. The days of Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes are gone. Today is the day of Jon Jones, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva (who does have a phenomenal ground game), Jose Aldo and Cain Velasquez. Hopefully, Dos Santos will evolve the same way – as I am sure the third match-up between these two will be a reckoning for one of them.

Photo Credit: The Doppelganger (talk) (Adam Etheridge).

A Pint of NFL: How Tailgating is Like a Beer Sampler Pack

Posted on December 30, 2012November 5, 2021 by Michael Kovacs, ADMIN

For all football fans who have been patiently, or maybe not-so-patiently, waiting for the 2012 NFL season to kick-off, the time has finally arrived and all that is wrong in the world is now right, if even for just a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. However you chose to celebrate the return of your Sundays, I’m sure you added your own twist and unique flavour, making it essentially “yours”. For many fans, tailgating is what makes your experience particularly exciting.

Really, is there anything better than arriving at a stadium hours before kick-off, with a cold brew or two in hand and some form of meat grilling on the barbecue, discussing the upcoming season? Thought not. But as you know, not all tailgates are created equal. It takes many seasons of honing your craft before you have arrived. The best advice I can give is to keep your eyes open, befriend your more experienced neighbours, and listen to the professionals. But we can take that one step further. Lucky enough for you, I have the ultimate solution for the rookie tailgater, as well as the well-seasoned professional. Stay with me…

Every tailgate I have been to is very unique. Each city, and each team has its own flavour, own traditions, and overall atmosphere. As I sit in my basement enjoying the Bills vs Jets game, I purposely opted for a “Sampler Pack” from a nice Canadian brewery, Rickards, as a way to celebrate the many flavours of NFL tailgating. The pack has four very different brews – a red, white, blonde and dark.

First up for me is the Blonde. Having tried it before, I know it to have a mild taste, in a way like a rookie tailgater who tends to forgets to pack things like seasoning. God love ’em. My blonde, beer that is, is so refreshing. While not a microbrew in any sense of the word (brewed by behemoth, Molson’s), for me this one carries that ‘micro’ taste. Perfect for summer time, and standing well on its own, this blonde is quite tame when compared with the very bold tastes of the other three patiently waiting for me in my fridge, but more on them in due time.

My wife’s delicious pulled pork has been slowly cooking, and will be ready just in time for the 4:30 Packers-49ers game, but that kind of dinner is not suited for this rather shy blonde, as it would be completely overpowered. I think I’ll plan my last beer, the dark, to accompany dinner. Nonetheless, as a newcomer to Rickards I am thoroughly enjoying this Blonde, and in a sense I wish that I had just opted for a few more of these instead of the sampler…rookie mistake, perhaps.

Speaking of rookies, according to Jeff “Doc” Dockeray (aka the “Gridiron Chef”), owner and host of TailgateRadio.com, the biggest rookie tailgating mistake he has seen over and over again in his extensive tailgating experience is not coming to the parking lot prepared. It’s not good enough to leave it until game day to start thinking about menu, beverages, cooking methods and so on.

As I mentioned before, there is a solution for all tailgaters no matter how long you’ve been at it – TailgateRadio.com. This new radio program is ready to bring tailgating discussion to another level, with its upcoming show, “Beyond the Field”, set to air very soon on Live365. Get inside tips and tricks from the good people who have been doing it for most of their lives.

My Rickards Blonde was particularly refreshing, but would its red cousin be as delicious? I cracked it open, took a swig, and was greeted by a very heavy red. I’m not a big fan of reds, and truthfully I wasn’t too excited about this one compared with the others in the pack. Rickards Red is the brand’s flagship beer, the one that put Rickards on the map. Interestingly, as expected, it is also my least favourite early in the game. The very sweet taste is just too much. I liken it to caramel and various other candies, and I’m more of a “salt” guy anyway. While I appreciate the many flavours, I just don’t like how they meld together. It’s almost like an icewine with brandy in that it is a dessert-only beer for me, and even then it’s too sweet. Better polish this one off right-quick.

Having done my research on the Tailgate Radio show and its host/owner, I can assure you the guests will be top-notch. With many high-profile guests already set up for the site’s initial launch, I assure you TailgateRadio.com has the steam to succeed. I’m not going to get into the owner’s tailgating credentials (you can find them here), let me just say this is who you want to learn from. Having many contacts from around the NFL (players, management, and hangers-on), it is sure to be entertaining. But what I’m interested in is twofold: the tips and tricks I will pick up to strengthen my own tailgate, as well as the discussion in between Sundays. I wonder if I can coax some beer discussion? Never know.

The Rickards White was the beer I was most looking forward to. While not being a “beer and citrus” kinda guy, this one works very well. I decided to hit it in two ways – a tiny dash of lemon (I mean really tiny), and a piece of orange peel. I swirled it around a bit, and man, was it refreshing. The citrus and coriander just screams “summer afternoon”, and I can see myself at Ralph Wilson Stadium with tens of thousands of my best friends as we discuss the Bills D, whether Fitz is our guy or not, and how to get Stevie Johnson into the game. It brought me right to the parking lot on a summer afternoon. Next Sunday can’t come soon enough.

The sweet smell of pulled pork coming from the crock pot sitting on my counter upstairs forced me to drink my White way too quickly. I wish I’d taken my time, but I was helpless. I blame the bbq sauce perforating all the way to my man cave. But just as I was about to commit the cardinal sin by opening my final beer with no reserves before the late afternoon games, my patience was rewarded by my wife who so kindly told me that “Dinner’s ready!”. Bless her.

And now to the main course – pulled pork with my wife’s BBQ sauce, on toasty fresh kaisers with mashed and carrots. Fantastic. I also did well by holding on to Rickards Dark, which served as co-headliner at this meal. After pouring it into my signature beer glass reserved for special occasions, leaving about a finger of head, I almost immediately smelled the maple that this beer is known for. I’ve tried this beer before, quite a while ago mind you, and this time I managed to find a trace of chocolate on the mid to late finish. Really, it was the perfect choice to complement what turned out to be a stellar pulled pork. While the beer would be even better in early fall on a crisp day, I’ll settle for late summer on a rather warm evening. Beggars can’t be choosers. I do have just two minor complaints, which are admittedly a little snobby. First, that finger of head was gone after about two short minutes. For those that don’t know, that’s pretty quick, and usually not ideal. Secondly, it wasn’t quite as dark as I would have hoped. Not that I really care about the colour, but a dark really should be getting close to black, not stopping short at barely chestnut.

My sampler pack was a lot like tailgating. I enjoyed four very different beers, each with its own unique character. I have had the good fortune of having done a lot of tailgating over the years at various venues, and across several leagues. There are such differences between the atmospheres from city to city, team to team, some of which are subtle nuances, while others are as clear as night and day. If anything, it’s refreshing to change things periodically by trying a new beer or a new tailgating venue. Sometimes it works out very well (Rickards White), while other times not so much (Rickards Red).

We at LWOS wish all the best to the Gridiron Chef on his foray into Internet radio. We will all be tuning in for what is sure to be educational and highly entertaining. We are also excited that the Gridiron Chef is joining us all season long by contributing a weekly column, “Q&A With the Gridiron Chef”.

If you enjoyed this edition, feel free to visit my column, “A Pint of NFL” and see how other beers are compared to the likes of Terrell Owens, Jerry Jones and other NFL players. You can also find me on Twitter – @APintOfNFL.

Bowl Preview: Orange Bowl, #12 Florida State vs. #15 Northern Illinois

Posted on December 30, 2012November 5, 2021 by Lindsay Higgins

This year’s Orange Bowl pits underdog mid-major and BCS buster Northern Illinois against perennial power and ACC Champion Florida State.

8:30 p.m. EST, Jan. 1
From: Miami
On: ESPN

credit: NIU Athletic Department

When Northern Illinois Has The Ball: The surprising Huskies rank 15^th nationally in total offense, as well as ninth in rushing. Quarterback Jordan Lynch has to be the main concern for the Seminoles’ defense. Lynch has a ridiculous 1,771 yards and 19 touchdowns this season- rushing. Overall, the Huskies have a whopping 3,252 yards on the ground this year for an average of just over 250 per game. Most recently, running back Akeem Daniels has been the main ball-carrier other than Lynch, as running back Leighton Settle missed multiple games due to injury. Senior wide receiver Martel Moore is the player to watch in the passing game. One thing to keep in mind is that Northern Illinois’ offensive line doesn’t feature a single starter from last season.Florida State may have lost leading tackler Cornelius Carradine to injury late in the season, but they should still be able to take advantage of the inexperience of the Northern Illinois line. Defensive end Bjoern Werner, a native of Germany, leads the ACC in sacks with 13. Of course, when they pressure, they’ll have to have a Plan B in case Lynch manages to escape and take off. It’s unclear who is even coaching the Noles’ defense at the moment, as defensive coordinator Mark Stoops took the head coaching job at Kentucky, taking with him defensive ends coach D.J. Eliot, and neither will be coaching in the bowl game. Northern Illinois, too, will be overseen by a new coach as Dave Doeren moves on to North Carolina State and offensive coordinator Rod Carey takes over.

credit: TotalFratMove.com

When Florida State Has The Ball: Quarterback E.J. Manuel, like his counterpart Lynch, is always a threat to tuck the ball and run, although he hasn’t done so as much this season. The primary runners are sophomores James Wilder Jr., who stepped up after senior Chris Thompson suffered a season-ending injury for the second year in a row, and Devonta Freeman. They’ve combined for 1,213 yards and 19 TDs. Rashad Greene has emerged as the main receiving threat. The ‘Noles rank 13^th nationally in points scored, averaging just under 40 per game. Manuel does have 10 interceptions on the season, and he can be pressured into bad decisions. Northern Illinois should be able to bring the pressure as they have a number of defensive players with very respectable sack totals.

Northern Illinois’ defence has been overshadowed by their prolific offence, but they have put up some impressive numbers. Consider that they are 18th in the nation in points against, 34th in total defense, 11th in sacks and 9th in tackles for loss. The NIU front seven has spent much of the season in opponent’s backfields, and will hope to do the same at the Orange Bowl to Florida State. One thing to keep in mind though, this FSU offense is better than any team the Huskies have faced this year, and the dual threat of Manuel may give them issues in Miami. A major key will be containing him in the pocket and forcing him to become a more one dimensional throwing threat.

Prediction: I think this game will be a lot closer than most people are probably expecting, but I do think Florida State will prevail. Seminoles 28, Huskies 24.

Photo credit: Haaron755 at en.wikipedia

Chasing Perfection – The 82-0 Team (Preview)

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Jordan Leung

This is a popular question that gets asked almost every time a very talented team gets assembled. Can this team go 82-0? Can they eclipse the 95-96 Bulls record of 72 wins and 10 losses?

Obviously we can count out the Big 3 Celtics, the Big 3 Miami Heat, and this year’s Super-Lakers out of beating the Bulls, because none of them have even come close to passing that mark.

But an 82-0 team? It can be done. Right now the Los Angeles Clippers are playing pretty much seamless basketball, and that is the reason why they have been winning so many games.

As with many things in life, too much of something isn’t necessarily a good thing, and overloading with talent may end up doing more harm than good. The 82-0 team will not happen with 12 star players, but rather a few stars who can play well with each other, and a cast of elite role players that can play off these stars.

In my quest to create the perfect team in the 2012-2013 season, I may have to draw upon the 95-96 Bulls team for inspiration as to how a ‘perfect team’ is built.

Star Power

Not only did the Bulls have the greatest basketball player of all time, they also had the second best perimeter player of that era, and a player that many experts and fans alike consider the most versatile defensive player in the history of the league. Despite making only two All-Star games, Dennis Rodman is another Hall of Famer, and one of the greatest power forwards of all time despite only averaging 7.3 points over his career.

Role Players

At the other guard position was Ron Harper, once an explosive scorer who turned into an all-around solid player with good size, and just enough point guard skills for the Phil Jackson triangle. Luc Longley tipped off every game with his great size at the center position. He was certainly no slouch, and possessed average to above average skill in many categories. The Bulls had the Sixth Man of the Year in Toni Kukoc, and the greatest 3-point shooter of all time (in terms of career percentages) in Steve Kerr. That was pretty much it during the playoffs as Phil Jackson kept to a 7-man rotation. Also noteworthy about this team- none of the 12 players in the playoff roster were under the age of 27.

Coaching

And who can forget about coaching? Everyone has their own opinions on the significance of a head coach in the NBA. I’m in the camp that only a select few coaches are actually good coaches in the NBA. Many recent ‘Coach of the Years’ have been fired within one or two seasons of winning their award. The best NBA coaches are direct complements to their star players, and design a team’s offense and defense according to their star players strengths and weaknesses. He also needs to be able to earn the respect of all his players, so he is not Erik Spoelstra. Obviously with the 95-96 Bulls, Phil Jackson pretty much perfects the triangle, and utilizes his 7-man rotation to play with maximum synergy. What more can you ask for from the NBA coach with the most championships in NBA history?

A cursory look at other greatest NBA teams show that they follow a similar team format. It goes without saying that the other Bulls teams of the 90s were similar to the 95-96 team. The 99-00 Lakers feature two of the greatest players ever, and great role players like Glen Rice, Ron Harper, Robert Horry, A.C. Green, and of course, Derek Fisher rounding out the roster. The Bird Celtics and Magic Lakers also featured multiple Hall of Famers, and cohesive role players that helped hold the team together.

I will set some ground rules before making this team, for the fear of making this team ‘too’ unrealistic. This team will be slightly unrealistic no matter what, but there has to be a line somewhere because there is no team in the NBA where Russell Westbrook is your 12^th man. For the sake of this team I will be creating a 9-man rotation that will win 82 games in the regular season, and hopefully win the title as well.

So the rules – The team will have a maximum of 3 NBA All-Stars, with a limit of 2 All-Star starters. The rest of the starting lineup can be constructed from any NBA starters. The 6^th man can be a starter caliber player, and the rest of the bench has to be actual bench players in the NBA.

Stay tuned for the next article, where I reveal my ‘perfect’ team.

credit: jimcchou via photopin cc

NFL Week 17: Win, Spread, Over/Under and Game Score Predictions

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Forrest Doran

Welcome Back to The Sports Savant’s Weekly NFL Picks, Week 17 Edition!

It’s the final week of the NFL regular season and it’s been another very successful season of picks for The Sports Savant! Based on my current record to win, it looks like I will come up just short of last year’s impossible record of 180-87 through the Superbowl, which bested every NFL expert published. It will take an unprecedented run through the next week and the playoffs to match the loss column from 2011 now that I have 85 losses on the year as of Week 16.

What has been an big plus this year over last is my winning record against the spread, like I did last year, but the real surprise has been my scorching hot success against the over/under, which I finished with a losing record in 2011. This year if you had put money on all my picks, you made more money than last year’s picks with my increased record in the spread and over/under picks.

Before we look at my picks for Week 17, let’s take a look at how last weeks picks shaped up and my overall records for the 2012 NFL season…

*WEEK 16 RESULTS*
Winner: 11-5
Winner w/ Spread: 9-6-1
Over/Under: 10-6
———————————————
Trifecta: 6
Strikeouts: 1
Perfect Team Score Predictions: 2 (Jacksonville, Washington)
Perfect Game Score Predictions: 0

___________

*2012 Overall Record*
Winner: 154-85-1 (.644)
Winner w/ Spread: 121-113-6 (.517)
Over/Under: 124-109-7 (.532)
——————————————–

Trifecta: 62
Strikeouts: 42
Perfect Team Score Predictions: 28 [Week 1]: New England [Week 2]: Indianapolis, San Francisco [Week 3]: Chicago, Washington, New York(A) [Week 4]: Cleveland, Philadelphia [Week 5]: Green Bay, Seattle, San Diego [Week 7]: St. Louis, Tampa Bay [Week 9]: Miami, Tennessee, Green Bay, Arizona [Week 11]: Detroit, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis
[Week 12]: San Francisco [Week 13]:Chicago, Houston [Week 14]: Detroit [Week 15]: Miami
[Week 16]: Jacksonville, Washington
Perfect Game Score Predictions: 2 [Week 9]: Arizona @ Green Bay [Week 11]: Carolina v. Tampa Bay

NOTE: The team with a negative number in parenthesis “(-3)” next to their name is the favorite to win the matchup and the number represents how many points the favorite has to score more than the underdog to count as a winning bet. The over/under for the game is represented by a number in parenthesis with the letters o and u “(o/u 46)”. The number represents the amount of points you are wagering whether or not the two team’s combined score will be in excess of or short of. Official betting lines courtesy of www.footballlocks.comDon’t forget to visit therealsportssavant.blogspot.com to check my game picks or right here on lastwordonsports.com at The Sports Savant channel. And now for my Week 17, NFL picks…New York(A) @ Buffalo(-3.5) (o/u 39)
Savant Spread Pick: Buffalo and the points to win ~ 23-13
Over/Under Pick: UnderMiami @ New England(-10) (o/u 46)
Savant Spread Pick: New England and the points to win ~ 27-17
Over/Under Pick: Under

Baltimore @ Cincinnati(-2.5) (o/u 41)
Savant Spread Pick: Cincinnati and the points to win ~ 23-20
Over/Under Pick: Over

Cleveland @ Pittsburgh(-10) (o/u 34.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Pittsburgh and the points to win ~ 23-10
Over/Under Pick: Under

Indianapolis v. Houston(-7) (o/u 46.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Indianapolis with the points;Houston to win ~ 23-17
Over/Under Pick: Under

Jacksonville @ Tennessee(-4) (o/u 42)
Savant Spread Pick: Jacksonville to win ~ 20-17
Over/Under Pick: Under

Philadelphia @ New York(N)(-7.5) (o/u 46)
Savant Spread Pick: New York and the points to win ~ 27-17
Over/Under Pick: Under

Dallas @ Washington(-3) (o/u 48.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Washington and the points to win ~ 27-24
Over/Under Pick: Over

Detroit v. Chicago(-3) (o/u 44.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Chicago and the points to win ~ 21-16
Over/Under Pick: Under

Minnesota v. Green Bay(-3) (o/u 44.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Minnesota to win ~ 26-21
Over/Under Pick: Over

Tampa Bay @ Atlanta(-5) (o/u 45.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Atlanta and the points to win ~ 20-16
Over/Under Pick: Under

Carolina @ New Orleans(-5) (o/u 54)
Savant Spread Pick: New Orleans and the points to win ~ 28-20
Over/Under Pick: Under

Kansas City @ Denver(-16) (o/u 42)
Savant Spread Pick: Kansas City with the points; Denver to win ~ 27-13
Over/Under Pick: Under

Oakland @ San Diego(-9.5) (o/u 39.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Oakland with the points; San Diego to win ~ 21-17
Over/Under Pick: Under

Arizona @ San Francisco(-16.5) (o/u 39)
Savant Spread Pick: San Francisco and the points to win ~ 31-10
Over/Under Pick: Over

St. Louis @ Seattle(-11) (o/u 41)
Savant Spread Pick: Seattle and the points to win ~ 27-13
Over/Under Pick: Under

photo credit: Matthew Straubmuller via photopin cc

Hammer Radio: UFC 155 Preview

Posted on December 29, 2012August 3, 2022 by Ben Kerr

The Boys at the Hammer feature weekly coverage of all things MMA. This week they are back with a new episode previewing UFC 155 and you can listen to the archived podcast by clicking here. Hammer Radio 125.

“It’s the last episode of the year, and it’s been a pretty quiet one for MMA news. At least we have UFC 155: Dos Santos vs. Velasquez II coming up this weekend, so we spend the whole show previewing the really deep card, most notably the UFC Title Heavyweight rematch.”

The Hammer features LastWordOnSports’ own writer Greg Persson, long time internet superstar Steve Jeffrey, and is hosted by MMA aficionado Dave Abraham.

The Hammer has had interviews with some of the biggest names in MMA over the years, including BJ Penn, Dan Henderson, Sean Sherk, Mark Coleman, Rory MacDonald, Brendan Schaub, Mark Bocek, John Makdessi, Mark Hominick, Martin Kampmann, Johnny Hendrix, and others. They continue to bring unparalleled, independent coverage of all things MMA to fans of the sport.

They’ll give you the straight goods and the Last Word.

Don’t forget to tune into “Friday is MMA Night” on Last Word Radio from 9-10pm EST. If you miss the show, it will be available in our archives or on iTunes for podcast download.

Also, check out our BRAND NEW sports forums!

Main photo credit: MartialArtsNomad.com via photopin cc

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Year: 2012