March 9th. Maybe one of the most mundane dates on the calendar. The doldrums of winter are slowly creeping to an end. Daylight Savings Time is a few days away. Snow is still on the ground, but the end is in sight.
For Chicago Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson, March 9th was a weird one. Robinson, who had 1,250 yards and 6 touchdowns last year, was franchise-tagged on Tuesday. The Bears top receiving threat will get a $3 million dollar raise in 2021, making $18 million this coming year.
Apparently, $18 million isn’t enough for A-Rob, as it appears he has taken up a new career outside of being a top-flight NFL wide receiver, NBA insider:
Per sources, Andre Drummond will be signing with the nets. They get some reinforcement on the defensive end and the glass. Look for them to still be active around the trade deadline lol
That’s right. The same Allen Robinson who hauls in touchdowns in Chicago (for now) is infiltrating the NBA news breaking game. Robinson has sources, and he’s using them.
Andre Drummond is one of the biggest names potentially be on the move in the NBA; but that’s not the story here. The story is an NFL wide receiver spreading his wings and taking on Woj, Shams, and anyone else who wants that NBA news breaking smoke.
I hope Robinson nails this scoop, continues to drop bombs on Twitter, and becomes the newest NBA source that we can rely on for our inside information.
NBA All-Star Sunday is our focus this week. We recap an enjoyable Sunday night, event by event, in this week’s SSM.
The premiere event in our basketball binge Was the Taco Bell sponsored Skills Challenge A long shot winner, Domantas Sabonis Dribbling, passing, shooting, guy could not miss
Next event up, the three point contest From behind the arc, let’s see who’s best Trey’s were falling, it was a tree point flurry An obvious winner here, the man, Steph Curry
The dunk contest was the halftime show We had Obi Toppin and two names you won’t know It was Anfernee Simons of Blazers fame Who won the contest, and cemented his name
Now the main event, Team Lebron vs. KD Alley oops, no defense, and plenty of three’s A glorified scrimmage, but it’s always fun 170-150 was the score, Team Lebron won
Another ASG in the books, a way different look Great job by the NBA, and all who partook A normal All-Star weekend next year, fingers crossed Without events like this, sports fans would be lost
We have finally reached the end of a brutal February. What happened in sports during the last week of this snow-filled month? We recap in this week’s SSM.
A single car wreck rocked the golf universe Tiger Woods’ accident luckily could have been worse Today we had a nice tribute after a week full of dread Golfers at the Workday Championship, wearing Sunday Tiger Red
Rooting for a guy who has been through absolute hell Teammates once again with Johnny Manziel Another chapter in the Josh Gordon story A hopeful step to a return to NFL glory
Bryce Harper came to Spring Training with a hot take for all He says the NL East “is the best division in baseball” Top to bottom he may be right, the division is a beast What about the other league? An argument for the AL East?
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ season looking bleak As of this weekend they’re on a seven game losing streak In a long and loss-filled season, someone has to give them shine Unfortunately for the ‘Wolves, plenty more losses down the line
On the other side of the spectrum, the Nets won eight in a row Their last win came on Thursday when they beat up on Orlando But the Mavs came into Brooklyn, and the win streak was no more Dallas took it to Brooklyn, 115-98 was the final score
We’re kicking off a new series; and we’re going by the numbers. This countdown is dedicated to the best players of all-time by each jersey number. No concrete formula here, just career stats, impact on the game, and some good old fashion opinion. Let’s hop right in.
He’s called “The Great One” for a reason. Hard to pick a favorite stat to demonstrate Gretzky’s dominance, but one of my favorites is that if he never scored a goal, he still would have had 11 straight 100-point seasons and won four scoring titles.
Honorable Mentions: Manny Ramirez, George Mikan, Warren Sapp
Not a widely popular number, so not our largest name on the list. Appropriately nicknamed “Big Snacks,” Hampton made five Pro Bowls as the Steelers nose tackle in the early aughts.
Anyone who goes undrafted in their respective sport and go on to become a Hall of Famer is good enough for this list. Randle made seven Pro Bowls and was a six time first team All-Pro selection en route to Canton.
“The Minister of Defense” was one of the greatest free agent signings of all time, when he left the Philadelphia Eagles in 1992 and signed with the Green Bay Packers. He finished his career with 198 sacks, two NFL defensive player of the year awards, and a Super Bowl ring.
Honorable Mentions: DeShawn Stevenson, Gabriel Landeskog
An obvious answer for a surprisingly strong number. But Rodman’s five rings, seven NBA All-Defensive first selections, and nearly 12,000 career rebounds puts him on our list.
Suh has had a late-career number change to 93, but he donned 90 early in his career for the Lions when he was arguable at his best. During his time rocking the big 9-0, Suh was the NFL Rookie of the Year, made four Pro Bowls, and was a three time NFL First Team All-Pro.
Honorable Mention: Ryan O’Reilly
High numbers, a lot of hockey players and defensive lineman, to be expected. Will we have some different sports and positions represented in our next set of jersey numbers, 89-80? Only time will tell.
If you’re reading this in the midwest, you’re likely experiencing apocalyptic snow. Grab a blanket, stay inside, and enjoy this week’s SSM.
A blockbuster trade in the NFL A rare sight indeed, a cold day in hell Jared Goff and Matt Stafford, a quarterback swap The Rams on their way to the NFC’s hilltop
Another big name on the move this week Nolan Arenado to Cardinals, Card fans freak Nolan does have an opt out option after 2021 The NL Central hoping he’s one and done
The Brooklyn Nets have won four in a row After a slightly slow start, the big three on a roll They’re scoring 126 points per game during this recent hot streak Unless you’re Philly or Milwaukee, in the East it looks bleak
Ladies and gentlemen…let’s all welcome to the stage, the hottest new talent in Brooklyn, James “The Beard” Hardeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!
It’s about to rain in Brooklyn. The (fish)Nets have brought in a smokin’ hot new entertainer to grace the stage at The Barclays Center. On Tuesday, James Harden went full bare ass, railed the Rockets organization, and has been traded. He will be bringing his wild, some might even say exotic, style of play to Brooklyn moving forward.
No reports have been filed as to how Harden traveled from his old home to his new one. Was it in a mile high plane? Did he run onto a train? Possibly traveled via waterway in a motorboat? No one knows.
Harden has made many, many dollar bills putting a ball through a hole, and has been tipped exceptionally well. His career highlight may have been when he climbed to the top of the pole in the 2018 MVP race. Harden erected himself to the tip top of the league, and looked down at everyone in the crowd who couldn’t take their eyes off of everything he was willing to let us see. The spotlight was on The Beard; he put on a show, and did not disappoint. The MVP became a VIP.
But here we are, in 2021, and the show is over. The club in Houston has shut down, if you will. Harden will no longer own any Houston Rockets jerseys; if that were all he owned before the trade, he would be totally topless. He has turned the other cheek on The Rockets. The Beard will now need to learn a whole new offense, and become abreast of his new Nets teammates.
Here’s hoping this fresh start will spring new life into Harden, and that he opens himself up to his new organization.
The NBA is the the best in the big four sports at a lot of things. They by far and away have the best commissioner in Adam Silver, they lead the charge in the “bubble” phenomenon while getting their sport back on track during the pandemic, and have been for the most part the league least afraid to take stands on both social and political issues.
They also are not afraid to get weird with it when it comes to uniforms, which I respect. Don’t get me wrong, I love the traditional uniforms of Alabama football, Yankee baseball, etc. But getting out of your comfort zone is always a good thing, both in uniforms and in life. In recent years, the NBA has begun creating new uniforms for teams, calling them “City Edition” jerseys that are meant to show “team history and unique city stories.” The 2021 versions were fully released today, and boy are they something.
Atlanta Hawks – while the MLK tribute is awesome, this looks like a jersey from a low budget, late 90’s Disney movie about a team full of scrubs who pulled out all of the right tricks, and had juuuust the right amount of luck to upset the far superiorly talented rivals from across town.
Boston Celtics – an ode to the 17 championship banners hanging in TD Garden, this jersey is the aforementioned far superiorly talented rivals from across town that the Atlanta Hawks beat in the low budget late 90’s Disney movie.
Chicago Bulls – the Bulls slogan is “Touch the Clouds,” which is ironic because they haven’t touched anywhere higher than eighth place in the Eastern Conference in the past five years.
Dallas Mavericks – hard to find much wrong with these, besides the fact that one of the NBA’s best players, Luka Dončić, wears number 77. Get the hell out of here and give the man a real number.
Detroit Pistons – very fitting slogan here, “Tough Together,” Pistons fans have had to watch some tough looking basketball together for the last decade or so.
Golden State Warriors – hard to argue with this one, paying tribute to Oakland after moving into their new arena in San Francisco. Like most things The Warriors have done since they drafted Steph Curry, this was done right.
Los Angeles Clippers – these are pretty much identical to the Clippers 2019-2020 “City Edition” jerseys, so bonus points for fresh creativity. Bonus points for making me want to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas when I see the font.
Memphis Grizzlies – these are solid, but I wish they would’ve just went for it with the old Vancouver Grizzlies uniforms, which are just gorgeous and remind me of another one of my favorite old players, Bryant “Big Country” Reeves.
Miami Heat – this is the perfect city/team for something like “City Edition” jerseys. Miami can do anything with any neon pink, blue, orange, etc. and make it look great. A very solid, wavy effort here.
Milwaukee Bucks – does anyone really associate Milwaukee with the Great Lakes? I don’t, but can only assume this is what Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted, and The Bucks continue to do whatever they can to keep him happy and in Milwaukee.
Minnesota Timberwolves – this is just generally boring. Also the slogan “The North Star That Guides & Unites” is pretty great for a organization that has seemingly no direction at this point.
New Orleans Pelicans – an ambitious stab here, although I think it came out looking more like what I would have came up with for uniforms of my “Create A Team” in NBA Live 2002. You know, the one with Steve Francis on the cover.
Orlando Magic – Orlando has messed around with incorporating orange into their uniforms in last years “City Edition,” and I just don’t get it. They have a great color scheme, and should use it here.
Sacramento Kings – I can see thousands of bros at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza rocking these bad boys solely because is has “sac” on it, which is approval enough for me.
San Antonio Spurs – very smooth. Slick font, crisp lines across the chest. I’m all in here.
ROAM THE NORTH@Raptors City Edition jerseys are launching in March 2021. Shop the rest of the Raptors City Edition Collection today ➡️ https://t.co/NyoY8DuBlr
🗓️ NBA Season Starts Christmas Week with Games Beginning Tuesday, December 22. pic.twitter.com/f5iIlW1NSy
Toronto Raptors – from a team that’s going to be playing in Tampa Bay next year, missed opportunity to double up on your sales by throwing “Tampa Bay” and “Toronto” across the chest. Those friendly Canadians are too nice to make people pay twice though, eh?
Washington Wizards – ending our recap here with a banger. These are great, from the throwback logo to the flag pattern moving down the sides. This is the best thing the Wizards franchise has done in a while.
Even though it seems like the NBA season ended last week, it will be back on Christmas Day. Bring on The Association and all of the great, and not so great, “City Edition” jerseys that come with it.
The Milwaukee Bucks are, by all accounts, the best team in the Eastern Conference. Arguably the NBA. They have one of, if not the best player in the NBA in Giannis Antetokoumpo, finished the shortened season with the best record in the NBA at 56-17, and ranked first overall in margin of victory (10.7 points per game) by a large mark over the second-ranked Clippers (6.44 points per game).
That last stat is interesting, because the Bucks have a point spread problem.
Earlier this month, the Brooklyn Nets upset the Bucks. A fairly significant upset if you know anything about the NBA. However, as Action Network points out, the Nets 119-116 victory was the largest in the history of point spreads. The Nets closed as anywhere between an 18.5 to 19 point underdogs, and won outright. An absolute improbable bet that would have netted anyone willing to take the Nets money line $1,500 on a $100 bet.
But, anyone can have a bad night, right? Injuries, off shooting night, rest, anything can all come together and cause the statistically largest upset in NBA history. No way it could happen again.
WRONG. The Bucks opened up today’s NBA playoff schedule with Game 1 of their series against the Orlando Magic. The Bucks, the top seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, closed at a -13.5 point favorite over the eighth-seeded Magic. Giannis and the boys laid another betting egg. Not only did they not cover the -13.5 point spread, the lost outright. The Magic upset the Bucks 122-110, dealing another embarrassing blow the Milwaukee and their large point spread issues.
I luckily stayed away from this one, but feel for all of those poor souls out there who thought the Bucks would blow out a poor Magic team. Keep your chins up, Bucks bettors, we still have three more games to go today. Shake it off and get back up there on that horse.
We hope everyone had a wonderful, safe, socially-distanced holiday weekend. With all of the loud fireworks, long days at the pool and on the boat, and late nights around the bonfire, it’s time to take the foot off of the gas, slow it down, and find your center with this week’s SSM…
The NBA is getting close, to a return to play Positive tests for players and staff, causing some dismay Adam Silver, the commish, says it’s no guarantee That if the virus continues to spread, the season will finish completely
More COVID news effecting sports, this time the NFL Teams are allowing fans to change their season tickets, opt out or sell Bears, Bills, Jets, Texans, Giants and Patriots have so far allowed this plan Who wants to see any of these teams live anyways, not even die hard fans
Speaking of the NFL, Tom Brady at it again Flirting on Instagram, with his boy Julian Edelman Cam Newton is now in town, the new king of Foxborough With Belichick and Cam, Pats might go 16-0
Deron Williams is finally off the books, for The Brooklyn Nets Bobby Bonilla continues to fleece The New York Mets A big week for hilarious contracts, we have to say Good for Deron Williams, and Happy Bobby Bonilla Day!
