Finally, something good comes out of the NFL lockout

With discussions heating up about a potential end to the NFL lockout (which went into effect on March 12) between the NFL Players Union and NFL Team Owners, there has been some optimism that the lockout will end sooner than later.

Pope was much more than just a football player this past weekend.

But regardless of whether or not the lockout culminates in the near future, ultimately nothing good has arisen from the now 91-day-hiatus. 

The lockout has caused some serious skepticism about whether or not there will be an NFL season this year.

The lockout has caused many people, myself included, to become disgusted with the selfishness of those preventing the NFL lockout from ending.

And, the lockout is also partially to blame for the arrests and legal troubles of a countless number of NFL players, an issue Bri and I discussed frequently on "The Rant" a month or so ago at the University of Rochester. Just to give you some perspective about what I mean, take this into consideration: through the first 42 days of the lockout, 13 different players had been arrested.

Do the math: 42 days divided by 13 different players = For the first 42 days of the lockout, there was 1 player arrested every 3.23 days.

If there wasn't a lockout in effect, players would have been training at NFL facilities (the NFL lockout bars players from using team practice arenas), which in turn may have prevented some of the players from being incarcerated since they wouldn't have been wherever they were when they were arrested.

But as of today, I can finally say that this lockout is the reason for something good happening.

Thanks to the NFL lockout, a six-year-old is living today.

Earlier this afternoon, ESPN.com reported that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Leonard Pope saved the life of a six-year-old boy who was drowning in a swimming pool this past weekend.

Apparently, Pope was inside one of his close friend's house in Americus, Georgia when he heard commotion outside by the pool.

"I was coming out of the house, I heard [six-year-old Bryson Moore's mother Anne] cry. She was like 'get, get him, he's drowning!' I couldn't see Bryson. All I could see was [Bryson's] fingertips at the top of the water and I couldn't see his head," Pope said in the ESPN.com article that reported this story.

Pope reacted upon seeing Bryson completely under the water. Fully clothed and with his cell phone, wallet, and all of his other belongings in his pockets, Pope jumped into the water and managed to save Bryson.

If the NFL lockout had been over at the time of this near drowning incident, Pope wouldn't have been present to save Bryson-- he would have almost definitely been at training camp in Kansas City.

"The fact that he is normally at camp and could have been in Kansas City just proved to me that he was placed here to save my son from drowning, and I thank God that he was here," Anne Moore told the Americus Times Recorder. 

Finally, something good, make that very, very, very, good, came out of this NFL lockout.

And after learning about this story, I'm not so angry about the lockout anymore.

In fact, I am thankful for it.

The NBA Finals are over...Thank DeShawn Stevenson

I've been skeptical to predict who is going to win the NBA Finals up to this point in the series.

While many have been picking the Heat to win the championship, claiming that they are just too talented for the Mavs to keep up with, I've been a bit hesitant to agree.

While the Heat definitely have 3 of the 4 best players on the court each night (LeBron, Wade, Bosh vs. Nowitzki), the Mavs surpass the Heat in one aspect: team depth.

Simply put, I've felt all along that the Mav's depth could allow them to keep up with the Heat, even though the Mavs don't have the overall star power that the Heat possess.

But, just a few hours ago, I changed my mind. I am now convinced that the Heat will win this series.

And my reason has nothing to do with basketball.

It has everything to do with the idiotic comments Mavericks swingman DeShawn Stevenson made earlier today.

I am not sure if a player's bozo comments have ever been the reason for a team winning the NBA Finals, but if not, I am confident it is about to happen for the first time this year.

The day following the Mavericks 86-83 game four win in Dallas, Stevenson felt the need to say that LeBron "checked out" in game four.

For the record, LeBron did have an awful night, especially for LeBron standards. He scored 8 points, a career playoff-low, on 3-11 shooting in 46 minutes.

Stevenson went on to explain his meaning of "checked out", by saying that "Our defense was good, but at the same time [LeBron] wasn't in attack mode. We all know that LeBron can get to the basket and when he has his shot going, it's pretty tough to keep him from the free throw line...He's trying to find other guys and Dwyane Wade has it going, so I think he's deferring. At the same time, it's good for us. It's a positive for us."

First off, let me clarify what DeShawn is trying to say: LeBron has been playing passively.

Stevenson is right. LeBron has been a bit passive in his play, especially in last night's game. And as Stevenson hinted, a passive LeBron is clearly a good thing for the Mavericks because LeBron's game thrives on being aggressive. His aggressive basketball play is what makes him great, and without that, LeBron is simply not LeBron.

Not to mention, the Mavs had the Heat just where they wanted them after last night's game, with LeBron and the Heat feeling unsure of themselves.

I might end up eating my words, but here
goes nothing: Heat will win the
NBA Finals and LeBron will score
25+ in both game 5 and 6

After the Heat's 88-86 game three win on June 6, the Heat had to be on cloud nine. All the experts were saying the series was over, and the Heat probably felt the same.

But after losing game four, the Heat were brought back to reality. The Mavs proved to the world that the series is far from over, and that they are more than capable of winning it all.

So now I ask DeShawn Stevenson, how dumb can you be? Why make the comments you made?

Because of Stevenson's unnecessary comments, LeBron's passiveness is no longer a positive for the Mavs. I am confident LeBron will not play as passively as he did in game four for the rest of the NBA Finals.

Stevenson just lighted a fire that was not--but was in dire need of being--lit. This is what LeBron needed to turn around his performance, something to motivate him and get him angry.

LeBron just got that something, courtesy of DeShawn Stevenson.

I'm banking on LeBron having a huge game five tomorrow night and game six on June 12, thanks in large part to Stevenson's comments.

Now, I'm not big on predictions, but I'll give it a shot here anyway. Why not? Let's have some fun and make the rest of the series a bit more interesting (for myself anyway).

It's a best of 3 game series now that the series is deadlocked at 2-2. Whichever team wins two games first will be named the 2011 NBA Champion.

My prediction: Heat will win the next two games, with Lebron scoring 25+ in both game 5 and 6.

And if my prediction comes to fruition, one thing is for certain.

DeShawn Stevenson should receive the NBA Finals MVP.

Giants GM Brian Sabean speaks out on Posey-Cousins collision

Giants GM spoke out on the Posey-Cousins collision.

The collision that ended San Francisco Giant's catcher Buster Posey's season took place over a week ago (Wednesday, May 25), but emotions are still running high from people in the Giants organization.

Giants General Manager Brian Sabean openly shared his feelings yesterday during a radio interview on KNBR of San Francisco, and absolutely ripped Florida Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins for his season-ending hit that left Posey with a broken leg and several torn ligaments in his ankle, saying the collision was "malicious".

One of the most interesting aspects of this whole story is that Posey is just as upset as Sabean--apparently, Posey has refused to return an apologetic phone call from Cousins.

Cousins has issued several apologizes and has faced serious criticism following the collision. According to ESPN.com, he has received several death threats and MLB's security department has been monitoring the situation.

I am looking forward to the next time the two teams match up because I have to think the Giants are surely going to enact some revenge against the Marlins and Cousins. Perhaps there will be a bench-clearing brawl- who doesn't love watching one of those in a baseball game?

The two teams play one another in a three-game series from August 12-14 in Florida.

Here is the story that was published by ESPN.com with all of Sabean's comments. But take a look below to see what Sabean had to say about the whole situation.

---"Why not be hard-nosed? If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another game in the big leagues, I think we'll be happy."

---"[Cousins] chose to be a hero, in my mind, and if that's his flash of fame, that's as good as it's going to get, pal. We'll have a long memory. Believe me, we've talked to [former catcher Mike] Matheny about how this game works. You can't be that out-and-out overly aggressive. I'll put it as politically as I can state it: There's no love lost and there shouldn't be."

Posey's season ending injury could have, and should have, been avoided

Cousins collides with Posey at home plate. Clean hit? You be the judge.

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey is busted for the year.

No more enjoying one of the most exciting catchers in the game.

And it all could have, and should have, been avoided.

For those of you who have been preoccupied with Memorial Day Weekend fun and have been oblivious to the hoopla that has surrounded this Posey crisis, the situation took place on May 25, 2011 when, in the 12^th inning of a 6-6 ball-game, Florida Marlins centerfielder Scott Cousins tried to score a run from third on a sacrifice fly off the bat of left fielder Emilio Bonifacio. 

It was a bang bang play, and Cousins maliciously collided with the Giants' pitch-caller, leaving Posey rolling on the ground in agonizing pain.

The Marlins ended up winning the game 7-6, as Cousins was safe. But the same could not be said about Posey, who fractured a bone in his lower left leg, effectively ending his season.

To make matters worse, Posey, who was batting .284 with 4 home runs and 21 RBIs and was in the midst of a 13-game hitting streak prior to the collision, also suffered torn ligaments on both sides of his ankles. 

I’ve watched the video (click "video" to watch the collision) over and over again and I still can’t fully grasp what in the world was going through Cousins’ head before his Lawrence Taylor-esque tackle on Posey. 

Is anyone else drawing comparisons between  Cousin's hit on Posey and LT's infamous hit on Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theisman that fractured Theisman's leg and ended his career?

Maybe I'm being a bit dramatic here given the hits took place in two different sports, but Cousins did a pretty good impersonation of LT in my opinion.

The worst part about Posey's season ending injury is that the entire disaster could have easily been avoided. 

While it's important to note that his take out was completely legal, Cousins decision to obliterate Posey was one of the most classless acts I've ever seen take place in sports.

First off, I have no clue as to why in the world Cousins was even tagging up on Bonifacio's fly ball. The ball hit by Banafacio probably will go down as one of the shortest sacrifice flies in MLB history. Thirty feet towards home plate, and that ball is an infield fly.

Simply put, Cousins had about as much business tagging up in that situation as Chick-fil-A has on Sundays.

And just for the record, Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays.

But the bigger issue here is how one man, Scott Cousins, did not have a brain — or heart— during the four-second-time span it took him to run 85 feet and tumble 5 feet from third base to home.

Former MLB catcher Mike Matheny put it best when he recently said, "You know what, it wasn't a dirty play, he didn't come high spikes, he didn't come high elbow. But it wasn't a necessary play. He was hunting. Buster gave him an option and he didn't take it."

It's one thing if a base runner collides with a catcher when he is blocking the plate or if he is sitting in front of home plate, well-prepared and ready to absorb a body to body explosion.

But Posey was not blocking the plate at all, nor was he in any way expecting a collision to occur. 

Posey left half of the plate open for Cousins to slide into, but instead, Cousins chose to deck Posey unnecessarily.

Posey also was just turning his head around to apply a tag on Cousins when he was given a "blindside" hit surprise by Cousins (a la Lawrence Taylor once again). Posey was completely defenseless in that situation.

There was nothing Posey could have done to prevent the collision, or at least protect himself from being seriously injured.

There was everything Cousins could have done, like slide or not even tag up to run home in the first place.

_______________________________________________________

Now, I know much of the media is suggesting possible rule changes to prevent base runners from taking out catchers, and I think there is one is one logical way this issue can be fixed: The MLB should prohibit players from colliding with catchers if they are in a defenseless position, or in other words, are not prepared to take a hit from an incoming freight train. 

If a player does collide with a catcher in this manner, he should be immediately called out and, depending on the severity of the hit, be ejected from the game.

There is no reason why players should be getting hurt from preventable hits such as Cousins'. MLB players have to worry enough about getting hurt in a plethora of other ways such as overusing their arms or getting hit by 90+ mile per hour fastballs.

In baseball and every other sport, there are so many unpreventable injuries players can get that are just part of playing the game. Why not minimize one way a player can get injured in baseball, especially if it's a scenario that can easily be prevented?

The bottom line is that while he did nothing wrong according to the rules of baseball, Cousins should not have even had the opportunity to end the season of one of baseball's best players.

But until the MLB does something about the current state of base runners trying to take out defenseless catchers, Buster Posey may very well not be the only catcher who is busted by a heartless collision this season. 

Leave LeBron alone already; his "Decision" was a great decision

LeBron James (and "Bipoley Moley") was all smiles during his "Decision" on July 8, 2010.

For the past week, I’ve been driving 120 miles a day— 60 miles from my house in Cherry Hill, New Jersey to my job in Atlantic City and then 60 miles back home. As gruesome as the trip usually is for me (by the 40^th mile, my lower back pain from sitting is probably comparable to the pain San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey dealt with when Florida Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins decked him at home plate a couple nights ago), I find some relief in listening to XM-Sirius Sports Talk Radio— there’s nothing like hearing sports rants from a couple of my ranting idols, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo on Mad Dog Radio channel 86 and Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio channel 84. 

But one thing that is really getting on my last nerve is the sports radio’s ongoing obsession with grilling LeBron James over what has commonly become known as  “The Decision”-- when LeBron announced his decision to sign with the Miami Heat on an hour long television segment on ESPN in early July 2010. 

That’s right. For all you non-Sirius-XM listeners out there, the controversial issue of LeBron’s “Decision” is still being discussed all over sports talk radio, as if the topic hasn’t been discussed enough times over the past year.

             

Now, I do understand why, nearly 11 months after LeBron made his “Decision” to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and sign with the Miami Heat, the issue of LeBron’s controversial decision is all of a sudden resurfacing as a major controversy in the sporting world— LeBron originally took a lot of heat (pun-intended baby!!) for leaving the Cavaliers, and now that he is in the NBA Finals, all of the LeBron haters, namely all of the Cleveland fans out there, want to have their second course in expressing their never-ending frustration and anger towards LeBron.

             

But enough is enough already. Leave “King James” alone!

              

I am sick of the sporting world’s denigration of LeBron, completely and utterly sick of hearing the same thing from pretty much every single LeBron hater.

             

Here is the cliché response I’ve heard nonstop from radio personalities and fans alike in response to LeBron’s decision to leave Cleveland: “Well, I’m not upset he left Cleveland, I’m just upset about how he went about the whole thing. He owed it to the Cavaliers to tell them he was leaving before announcing it to the world. He was wrong, narcissistic, ignorant, arrogant, and selfish for having his “Decision” on national television.”

             

Well, you know what I say in response to that?

             

All of you LeBron haters out there are WRONG!

             

Does anyone realize how great the “Decision” really was? Does anyone realize that LeBron’s 11-minute interview on ESPN with sportscaster Jim Gray raised almost $2 million that was distributed among 59 Boys and Girls Clubs of America? That means that on average, $181,818.18 was made for charity each minute of the interview.

             

In addition to the $2 million, LeBron arranged for the donation of $500,000 in computers from Hewlett-Packard and $500,000 in apparel from Nike.

             

Have you ever heard of any non-profit organization or person ever raising that amount of money in such a small time frame? Call me crazy, but I’d be hard-pressed to believe there is any charity in the world that has the means to raise money that fast.

             

Two million dollars in eleven minutes, plus another one million dollars in computers and apparel.

             

Think about how many problems in the world would be solved by now if that amount of income could be collected for worthy causes and charities on a regular basis.

             

Regardless of what anyone says, LeBron did a great thing by making his “Decision” a worldwide event on ESPN. And I truly feel that way, even though the rest of the sporting world feels otherwise.

           

LeBron could have left Cleveland the way Cleveland fans thought he should have— the way that every other free agent leaves a team— by telling ownership he was going to sign elsewhere. But if LeBron did that, $3 million wouldn’t have been donated to a very worthy cause.

             

Thus, LeBron turned a nothing event into a something event— by leaving the Cavs the way so many people wish he did, $0 would have been raised, but by leaving the Cavs with his “Decision”, $3 million was raised.

             

In fact, I think LeBron has set a precedent that should be followed by the rest of his counterparts in mainstream professional sports.

             

If you’re a big-time athlete like LeBron, why would you not have a television show announcing a decision such as LeBron’s, when by doing so, you could raise a huge sum of money to help people who truly need it?

             

So this is the message I have for all you Cleveland fans and LeBron haters out there: you all are the ones being selfish right now.

             

Not LeBron.

             

LeBron made the world a better place by bringing in $3 million for charity.

             

All of you LeBron haters have done nothing but debase LeBron for his “Decision”, claiming that you wish he went about leaving Cleveland differently.

But by doing this, all of you LeBron haters are showing just who is actually selfish. By saying you wish "The Decision" never happened, you're all showing you could care less that LeBron raised $3 million for a foundation that relies heavily on donations.

             

LeBron haters, you all have the right to be sad and upset that LeBron left the Cavs. I get that.

But please, stop bashing a man who turned a nothing event into a something event.

             

Even though I may be the only one in the sporting world who feels this way, I COMMEND LeBron for his “Decision”.

             

I can only hope that with the plethora of NBA stars set to become unrestricted free agents in the next two years (a la Tim Duncan in 2011 and Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams, and Steve Nash in 2012), more players follow in LeBron’s footsteps and turn a nothing event into a something event.