Running

I know this is a little different than many of my other posts, but with my last post, I wanted to give some education to any runners out there:

There has been a big movement towards "barefoot" or "minimulistic" running as of late. The biggest reason being a book...yes books still change culture. The book was called "Born to Run" and is a book about a tribe in Mexico that runs as a tribe. They do no have a place that they ever settle down, they constantly run. People found out that these runners are able to run so much longer, and with out injury because they are running barefoot. This means that they are not tricking their body by protecting it with tons of cushioning and springs on the bottom of their shoes. Because of this lots of the top running companies have come out with shoes that are supposed to be as close to barefoot as possible, while still protecting your foot from the road.

http://www.shopnewbalance.com/detail.asp?style=MW10MM&s1=Froogle&s2=DF&s3=MW10MM&gclid=CICv4pbBz6gCFYS8KgodUX-cgg

http://www.saucony.com/store/SiteController/saucony/productdetails?stockNumber=20072-1&showDefaultOption=true&skuId=***4********20072-1*M115&productId=4-103840&catId=cat10004&iCID=Video-Kinvara

PS I am very supportive of the second shoe, it is currently what I wear, and I love it.

The one thing that I want to warn you of is that you need to make sure these shoes are an okay fit for you. Unless you have very good foot stature, and a very neutral running style, you should NOT use these shoes. They do not offer enough support for pronators or supranators.

Besides that my best advice is to start running! It's fun, healthy, and a great way to get rid of stress.

NFL Draft

Winners and losers

With the draft finally coming to an end last night, I want to go over 2 of the teams that I think did the best job of drafting and 2 teams I think did the worst.

2nd Best: Atlanta Falcons

The falcons took the expensive route and chose to give up multiple trade spots in order to move up and get Julio Jones (WR out of Oklahoma). J.Jones gives the falcons another deep threat that ads yet another dangerous addition to their offense. The one thing that the Falcons did seem to pass over is their Defense. But in all honestly it was obvious what the Falcons focus was during this draft.

The Best Draft: Tampa Bay Bucs

After a surprisingly good year for the Bucs, it was obvious that they would need to continue to improve to keep out with the new standards. I think that when they looked at what needed to be improved they had the perfect draft. They took back to back DE, which will help them stop the run this year (if there is a season), one of the only things that really hurt them last year. With these addition I think that the bucs will be a real force this season.

2nd Worst: Carolina Panthers

The only real reason why I dont like the Panthers draft is because of what they did with pick #1. Taking a very big risk like Cam Newton. Although I do see him eventually being a good QB, having him start for a team that has so many needs right now is not the best way to get him where he needs to be.

Worst: Arizona Cardinals

I was very obvious that the Cardinals decided to ignore the awkward elephant in the room, the fact that they need a QB. Instead they decided to try and rebuild every position on their team instead of focusing on one area. They have too many weak positions, and not enough draft picks in the world for them to fix the problems they have in one season.

QB Comparison

So with the NFL Draft coming up, there has been a lot of talk about the big 4 QB's in the draft: C. Newton, R.Mallet, B. Gabbert and J. Locker. But who do they remind us of?

C. Newton - The best qualities of Newton are the fact that he is a flat out athlete. Tall guy with speed to match. Some of the issues - attitude,  and inability to read secondary. Although he is not quite as accurate as Steve McNair, I think this would be the best comparison for C. Newton.

R. Mallett - Yet another QB who's physical features make him a very very scary opponent. The only question is, will he be a Culpepper, or a big flop like Russell. Because of attitude issues I believe that R. Mallett will not be successful in the NFL and unfortunately I think he will flop like Russell.

B. Gabbert - Gabbert seems like the everyday QB in the NFL, he is competitive, a great leader and can throw the leather off of the ball. I see him being very similar to Joe Flacco, give him the right team and I honestly think he could become a very good QB in the NFL.

J. Locker - Locker is a tough guy to read. He has had amazing seasons in College football, but then again has had very disappointing seasons. I think he has the physical traits necessary but I worry about his mental toughness as a QB. I could see him as a T. Couch (BIG FLOP) unless he goes to a team where he can learn from a veteran QB for a couple years.

Twitter

About once a week there will be a story about an athlete saying something stupid on twitter. And while its obvious that sports reporters love all these athletes being on twitter because it provides them with great news, is it good for the sports?

Personally I have to say yes it is. Given usually it doesnt show the best side of these athletes, for instance Roddy White (Atlanta Falcon all star Wide Receiver) just tweeted, "Why are the 49ers even wasting their time with Alex Smith (QB for 49ers)".  And while Roddy had no right bringing this up and really no room to speak, the freedom of speech allows him to speak his mind, and lucky for sports fans, twitter allows these dumb athletes to make their thoughts (or lack of thoughts) public.

Not only this but it allows fans to make connections with athletes that they were never abel to do before. Being able to stay in contact with what these athletes have to go through on an everyday basis.

So for me: GO TWITTER! Keep on posting these usually dumb, but hilarious comments please!

Play of Series

1 vs 5
The other day at dinner, my friends and I started discussing the NBA playoffs. Now it is no secret that I prefer college basketball over the NBA for multiple reasons, one of which is the playoffs. We started a very heated argument about the playoff system.

My argument was that I believe the best playoff systems are those that are 1 and done.

One and done means that the playoffs become the most exciting part of the season, as it should be. The beauty of sports is that you need to be able to win day in and day out. I don't care if one team would win 9/10 times, what matters is that 1 game, the game that decides it all. The reason why athletes come in day after day and push them selves to new levels is to become more consistent, in order to prove you are the best you need to be able to win THE  big game. Not 4 out of 7 big games. This is proven by the fact that the only really exciting games in playoff series out of 7 is game seven. So what is the point of playing the 6 games before hand?

Argument for a Series.

In all honesty the only legitimate argument is money. They fact that basketball, hockey and baseball stands get to sell out their arenas for 7 games instead of 1, means that there will always be series.

Final Four

I have to say, considering the direction that the NCAA tournament has gone in, I think I have done pretty well. Especially in the last couple rounds. So here are my probably correct next round picks:

First Game:

University of Kentucky(4) vs University of Connecticut (3). Both of these teams have played amazingly to get to this point, whether through last second shots by Smith to get them past OSU or big step up play by the freshman Lam to push UCONN past Arizona. This game is going to be very entertaining, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing which team is able to step up through the pressure of being in the final four to make the Championship game. My prediction for this game: UCONN. I have been backing UCONN to win this tournament from day 1 and I still believe that with great coaching by Jim Calhoun and clutch shooting by Kemba Walker it will be very hard to take them out. The only thing to worry about is that UK does have strong inside play from some of their younger guys, and with UCONN big men often getting in foul trouble, UK may be able to capitalize. Hopefully fouls do not become a problem and UCONN can breeze through this game.

Second Game:

Butler University (8) vs Virginia Commonwealth University (11). Yes that is not a typo, and 11 seed is in the final four, a team that so many analysts criticized for making the tournament have battled through big conference team after big conference team to make it to the final four. However, there next road block is going to be tough. Much of the reason VCU has made it this far is because of their young gutsy coaching, unfortunately, Butler has the same exact style of coaching, and with close win after close win, it is hard to say that Howard and the Butler Bulldogs will not find a way to sneak through this game as well. My prediction Butler wins and continues through to their second straight Championship game.

Title Game:
UCONN (3) vs Butler (8)
Butler lost in a heart breaker last year to Duke in the final game. Unfortunately for the Bulldog fans I think history will repeat its self, and the UCONN Huskeys will walk away with the title. Yes Butler unarguably has the heart, but when it comes to talent, they just cannot stand up against the UCONN powerhouses. They are too fast, too clutch, and too good to not win this title.

March Madness

This NCAA tournament has been nothing short of entertaining, with last second wins, big upsets and unbelievable plays. Although just about everyones bracket has been completely destroyed, there is no doubting that this tournament is probably the most entertaining month of sports.

Even though my bracket has been pretty brutalized like everyone else's I do want to talk about what I think will happen in the rest of the tournament.

First of all lets start in the east:

We have (1)Ohio State vs (4)Kentucky and (11)Marquette vs (2)North Carolina.

I believe that Ohio State will beat kentucky. They have way to much fire power. There is a reason why they are the number 1 over all seed, they are big, fast and can shoot teams out of the gym. They have proved that by winning their last 2 games by an average of 30+ points. Next I think that Marquette will continue their run by taking out the North Carolina Tar heels. With smart inside play and good coaching they have managed to take down 2 very talented teams in Xavier and Syracuse, both which play very similarly to North Carolina. 

That leaves us with the (1) vs (11) seed. As much as I would love to choose Marquette, I cannot see Ohio state loosing to a team that can match up so well with them inside.

Next we will go with the West:

We have (1) Duke vs (5) Arizona and (3) Uconn and (2) San Diego State.

I believe that Arizona will take out the number 1 seed Duke blue devils. They have been playing very well as a team, and with duke coming off a very unimpressive "win" over a pretty week Michigan team, they have a lot to prove. Next I think that Uconn will take out San Diego State. Uconn has the 3 things i look for when i look for a championship team. 1. good coach who has been there before. 2. good inside players and 3. a player that can make the clutch shots (Kemba Walker) this player is by far the most amazing player in the tournament and can take over a game. For this reason I think that Uconn will go on to beat Arizona and make the final four.

Next is the South West:

This section gives us the (1) Kansas v (12) Richmond and (11) VCU vs (10) Florida State.

This section has been by far the most entertaining. Unfortunately i think the run for the (12)Richmond spiders (who i called to pull up the upset over the (5) vanderbilt team) will lose. Kansas is a very good team and with the brother connection it is hard to see them losing to anyone soon. Next I think that VCU will continue their amazing run by beating florida st, unfortunately this is where it will end. Kansas is too strong and will make it to yet another final four.

Finally is the South East.

We have (8) Butler vs (4) Wisconsin and (3) BYU vs (2) florida.

I think we will see Butler beat Wisconsin. They have somehow found a new gear once the tournament started, with 2 close wins over Old Dominion and Pittsburgh. I also think that florida will knock out BYU. Although BYU has looked strong i think that florida has too much size and is simply too deep for BYU to keep up with.

With Butler v Florida i think florida will edge out butler. Again i think that the size of florida will be their key.

Let me know what you think...agree dissagree. I'll write again soon to let you know what I think for the final 4.