24,000 is Just Not Enough These Days

Last night Kobe Bryant became the youngest player to reach the 24,000 point milestone in his illustrious career, after scoring 41 points against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Bryant managed to squeak by the record-that was held by Wilt Chamberlain-by just 38 days before Chamberlain reached the mark.

Bryant, 31 years, and 75 days old, needed every bit of a head start he got after skipping college and heading right into the NBA after high school to beat Chamberlain's record, while Chamberlain had three years of college under his belt before deciding to leave.

Now in his 13th NBA season, this just puts Bryant 14,360 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-who is the all-time NBA scoring leader with 38,387 points.

Though it might seem like Bryant has a decent shot at the record, I wouldn't count on it. Even with his head start to his pro career, it looks like it will take him about six to seven more seasons to reach the all-time record with the pace he's on.

And let's face it, even though many have said Bryant has that Jordan-esque drive to be the best,
1. He is not Michael Jordan
2. There's a reason why four out of the top five all-time leading scorers are big men-it's easier for them to have a longer, more prosperous career.

However, I am not down-playing Kobe Bryant. He's a great NBA player, and his four championship rings reflect that. He's just not at Kareem, or Wilt, or Michael status just yet.

5 Reasons the Yankees Will Repeat Next Year

1. As of now, it looks like most of the key players are coming back next year except for the two free agents, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui (World Series MVP). But with both of them being a below average fielder, especially Matsui you can barely run, the Yanks will be looking at free agents Matt Holliday and Jason Bay to fill that void.

2. It seems as though they have figured out their bullpen, and it will be a staple of the team next season, that is if Girardi decides to keep Phillip Hughes and Joba Chamberlain there.

3. Coming to the twilight of their careers, I'm sure Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettite don't want this championship run to be one and done, and show they still have what it takes to win multiple championships.

4. Even though Joe Girardi seems to be off the hot-seat for now winning the World Series, he still has Joe Torre's five more World Series appearances, with three of them as wins to fuel him to another one.

5. The Yankees have the money to repeat next year, and I am sure the Steinbrenner's will do everything they can to have the Yankees team of 2010 even better then this years championship one.

A-Venged (...Maybe)

David Ortiz, Kirk Gibson, Dave Henderson, and now Alex Rodriguez. These are the only players in MLB history with two or more game-tying or go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning or later in one postseason.

Rodriguez hit a game-tying home run on a 0-2 count off of the Angels' closer Brian Fuentes in the bottom of the 11th. Along with his late-game heroics, Rodriguez is now hitting .368 in five postseason games, with three homer runs and eight RBIs.

So does this make Rodriguez the new Mr. October?

I wouldn't quite christen him that yet. Yes, Rodriguez seems so much more comfortable than any other postseason, but he's been here before. Let's see what he does if the Angels force a game seven, or what he does if the Yankees make the World Series.

Maybe this success has to do with his new-found happiness from his relationship with Kate Hudson, or maybe it's because Rodriguez owns the Angels. This past game-tying homer was his 68th homer run against the Angels (the most any active player against any one team).

Whatever the cause is, if Rodriguez keeps this up, he will go from a playoff goat to a playoff great, at least until he chokes again next season.

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (To South Africa)

Wednesday night, the U.S. men's soccer team clinched first place in their FIFA conference, CONCACAF, in a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica. Jonathan Bornstein headed the game-tying goal during the fifth minute of stoppage time. Just four days earlier, the team clinched yet another World Cup berth in South Africa next year with a 3-2 victory over Honduras.

This is where USA soccer fans get disappointed. You count how many times the U.S. has gone into the World Cup with hope, momentum, and maybe the U.S. finally taking that next step in international soccer, becoming an elite team. Yet this seems to never be the scenario.

So why do I feel that this year could be different? It even feels different. Maybe it's because U.S. made it all the way to FIFA's Confederation's Cup finals, taking down then #1 world ranked team Spain in the semifinals and going into halftime with a 2-0 lead over current #1 world ranked team Brazil, but eventually losing 3-2.

Yes, this gave USA confidence, and certainly was shocking to all Americans out there. But I feel that the emergence of a legitimate offensive attack. Jozy Altidore, at a young age of 19, has becoming a big, lethal weapon for USA.

Charlie Davies added to that youth attack until he was seriously injured in a one-car accident in Alexandria, Virginia in which Davies suffered a lacerated bladder, fractured right tibia and femur, a fractured elbow, and facial injuries leading to him being out 6-12 months.

And the young guns aren't the only ones scoring. Veterans such as Clint Dempsey and Conor Casey (who scored 2 goals in their 3-2 win over Honduras) have added to the mix. Then, of course, there's Landon Donovan, who seems to always be the steady hand in USA's offense.

So as the 2010 World Cup starts to approach, don't be afraid to cheer on USA, because this year your heart might not be broken.

Ovechkin is My Homeboy

Alexander Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby? That has become the great debate that many around the NHL have been arguing over for the past 4 to 5 years now.

However when it comes to the best player in hockey these days I feel it's no competition.

The one player I'd want on my team if I were a general manager in the NHL would be the most dominating player in hockey, Alexander Ovechkin.

Who wouldn't want a player who can go out everynight and expecting him to score two goals a game. So far this season Ovechkin hasn't dissappointed and gotten me right back into a hockey mood. In just three games Ovechkin has 5 goals, 4 assists, and is a plus-6.

There is a reason Ovechkin has won the Hart Trophy for Most Valuable Player the past two seasons. He single handedly makes the Washington Capitals a better team, and as he showed in the playoffs, he can carry them pretty far.

This is where most people say Sidney Crosby is better, especially after the Penguins won the Stanley Cup last season and knocking off Ovechkin's Capitals in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. And this brings up the agruement that Crosby is a better player because he makes the players around him better.

Yet, undoubtabley the Penguins in general just had a better team, better players and a stable goalie situation and the Capitals and Ovechkin still took the Penguins to game seven.

You can't be successful in the NHL playoffs when you're not clear on who your starting goalie is and that's what one of the Capitals issues were, flip-flopping inbetween Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov. While the Penguins had a guy in net who they drafted in the first round as their franchise goaltender in Marc-Andre Fleury.

Don't forget about Evgeni Malkin as well, who in his own right could fight for the title of NHL's best player, while the Ovechkin's best teammate is defenseman Mike Green.

Will anyone give Ovechkin some credit? I know I will. If I ever got the chance to choose either Crosby or Ovechkin for my team, always give me Ovie.

Bad News for the Jets

Braylon Edwards was traded this morning from the Cleveland Browns to the New York Jets for wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, linebacker Jason Trusnik and two 2010 draft picks. And what do the Jets get? The big-play making receiver that gang green fans have been yearning for.

Something that Jets fans don't realize is that Edwards has had the case of the "drops" for the past two seasons that I wouldn't consider #1 receiver material. Yes, Edwards had a huge 2007 season with over 1,200 yards and 16 touchdowns, but even then Edwards was second in the NFL with 12 dropped passes and three fumbles.

This decline in production or lack of concentration has been placed on him wanting to get out of Cleveland and their losing ways. Now some people might take this as, "hey, this kid just wants to win." But I take it as him quitting on the team. I don't want don't someone on my team that doesn't have that desire to win, or will to push a team to victory.

And this might not be apparent first to gang green, but give it a year or two after the honeymoon is over, maybe the Jets aren't as successful as this season, maybe he's not getting the ball enough and then guess who quits on the team? That's not something or someone I want involved with my organization.

I haven't even mentioned the recent problems that Edwards has gotten himself into in Cleveland, that might have been the last strike for him in Cleveland to initiate this trade, after punching Edward Givens (a promoter and close friend of Lebron James) outside a nightclub.

The NFL has said they are looking into the situation and if any legal actions are taken you can be sure that a suspension may be around the corner and I'm sure that's what Mike Tannenbaum and the New York Jets wanted when they made this trade...a four week suspension.

Was the price the Jets paid for Edwards too steep? I suppose time will only tell.

Wait...Baseball's Exciting?

Why can't baseball be this exciting all 162 games throughout the season?

The Minnesota Twins just clinched the AL Central after beating the Detroit Tigers in a 12 inning thriller of a tie-breaker game after being 7 games behind the Tigers just over a week ago.

The game was highlighted by Fernando Rodney (the Tigers closer) pitching four clutch innings, several close plays at home plate, and the Twins' Carlos Gomez scoring the game winning run in the bottom of the 12th.

Now this isn't the first exhilarating walk-off tie breaker game in the MLB. Just two years ago in 2007 the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres in 13 innings, ending with the controversial play at home plate ending in umpire Tim McClelland calling Matt Holliday safe. The Rockies road this momentum straight to the World Series where they met their match in the Boston Red Sox.

And don't forget about last year's 1-0 shutout win for the Chicago White Sox over this years victors, the Minnesota Twins.

I don't know if this is because of the magnitude of the games, but these tie-breaker games have become what I feel is the best that baseball has to offer in big games, next to maybe a game seven in the LCS or World Series.

If all of the baseball season, or at least the baseball playoffs were like this baseball could reclaim it's place as America's favorite past-time. I mean, we can't always have the Red Sox coming back from three down over the Yankees to beat them and break the curse of the bambino.

Bye, Bye, Bobby?

After the reports on Sunday that the chair of the board of trustees at Florida State University wanted head coach, Bobby Bowden, who's coached there for 33 years to step down. This came after FSU's third loss this season, and the program in general has been on the decline for about eight years or so now. The Seminoles played in five national championship games between 1993 and 2001 and won the championship in 1993 and 1999.

Besides the decline of the football program, it has been reported that having Jimbo Fisher in the waiting as next head coach in line has added to the pressure from the board of trustees to kick out Bobby.

Fisher was deemed the head coach-in-waiting in 2007. If he does not succeed Bowden at the conclusion of the 2010 season, Florida State -- under the terms of its agreement with Fisher -- would have to pay him $5 million. FSU has begun working on the structure of a five-year pact that would settle how much Fisher is to be paid when he takes over, if not further define when. Was reported by ESPN.

However since Sunday, it has further been examined that FSU has said Bowden will not be let go after this season, yet it has been discussed of having Fisher assume greater responsibility next season over Bowden.

Now even though FSU has come out and said they're just not going to oust Bowden out of the door, I can not do anything but still be flabbergasted over this entire situation. Does FSU have no respect at all for the second winningest coach in college football history? The coach that has brought them to 5 national title matches and winning two? The man who single handedly put FSU on the map for college football.

If I were FSU whoever was quoted at saying that they want to oust Bowden at the end of this year should be ousted themselves. But you can't just blame this all on one single soul.

What I would have done was about 5 years or so ago, ease Bowden into retirement, or you just letting him go by moving him to a position like head of player development or anything in that nature. So as the years go on you can slide him out of the coaching position and plug in Fisher with what would be a seamless transition.

But that's not what FSU has done, so will they get out of this rut they have found themselves in recently? Probably not until they resolve this coaching situation and find some stability.

Welcome, welcome

This is one of my favorite times of the year sports-wise...football is kicking into second gear entering October, hockey and basketball season are starting up, baseball playoffs are right around the corner, and World Cup qualifiers are going on. So I figured, 'Hey, great time to start.'

I'm no athlete, but I hope to bring a different perspective on sports from football, to hockey, to soccer and anywhere in between.

So welcome...and enjoy.

Let's get down to business. I mean, there is a full weekend of NFL football ahead. So here are a few of my picks...

1 p.m. games:
Bucs @ Redskins - The Redskins need to win this game after losing to the Lions and a near loss at home to the Rams, however I wouldn't take the 7.5 points for the Redskins to cover. Redskins

Giants @ Chiefs - This should be a blowout win for the Giants, and after their man-handling of the Bucs I feel it's going to be a similar outcome. Look for the Giants to easily cover the 8.5 points. Giants

Ravens @ Patriots - With Welker a game time decision for the Patriots, it might be tough for New England to keep up with the Ravens' newly found, high-flying offensive attack against the always stifling Ravens D. The Patriots are a 2 pt favorite, I wouldn't go with it. Ravens

4 p.m. games:
Jets @ Saints - Drew Brees' offense vs. Rex Ryan's defense. I would usually go with the great D, however the Saints offense is just playing too well, but the 7 pt spread is too much for me with Rex's defense. Saints

Cowboys @ Broncos - The Cowboys will bust the Broncos' 3-0 bubble this week even without Felix Jones. Go with the 3 pt spread. Cowboys

Sunday Night Football:
Chargers @ Steelers- This is not a must win game, but close enough to one for the Steelers. If they lose they could possibly fall 3 games behind the Ravens in their division. And I still don't trust a Norv Turner lead Chargers going into Pittsburgh. However don't go with the 6.5 spread. Steelers

Monday Night Footall:
Packers @ Vikings - Look for Rodgers to have a Favre-esque performance (circa 1996) against the Vikings with the Vikings as a 3.5 favorite. Packers