Dunk Contest Review

   All-Star Weekend was this past weekend, and the dunk contest was as crazy as ever. Zach LaVine came back to defend his crown in the Slam Dunk Contest. Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic was his only real competition as we all figured out as the competition started. They both started out with pretty good dunks that put them above the rest of the field. Then, Aaron Gordon got the excitement started, when he brought out the Magic mascot (who was on a hoverboard), and had him spin around in circles as he somehow timed it perfectly and did a 180 degree turn and slammed it home. LaVine followed that up with an alley-oop catch and dunk from the free throw line. Gordon then jumped over the seven foot tall mascot and did a between the legs dunk and threw it down hard. LaVine then did yet another free throw line dunk. Gordon then captivated the audience with his under two legs dunks over the mascot. It was one of the best dunks that I've ever seen in a dunk competition and probably ever. Overall, the dunk contest was by far the best I've ever seen, and probably the best that there has ever been.

Colts Offseason

    With the NFL Draft coming up this spring, I'm going to tell you guys what I think the Colts should do. In this upcoming draft, the Colts will definitely need to draft some offensive linemen because about 75% of their problems could be solved if they had even a sub par offensive line. With Andrew Luck fully healthy next year, if we could just build up a strong front, to block for him, that would be ideal. However, they also are gong to need a running back, so I think they they should draft Ohio State running back, Ezekiel Elliot. He is an explosive runner, extremely fast, and can power through the defense, and go as far as to compare him to Adrian Peterson. The Colts won't be able to do all of their work in the draft, so they will need to get rid of Andre Johnson and possibly Frank Gore. They didn't do a lot of work last year, and they could get over 20 million extra dollars from releasing them. With that money, you could get a few offensive linemen, and a decent cornerback to play across from pro-bowler Vontae Davis. One cornerback that could make a big impact if he stays healthy, would be Prince Amukamara from the New York Giants. He is an outstanding corner when healthy, but he has only completed one full season in the NFL. If they got him and he could stay healthy, the Colts defense could be a force to be reckoned with. The last move they need to make, is to resign Adam Vinateri, and also sign/draft a defensive lineman or two. If they could get Muhammed Wilkerson from the New York Jets or draft a talented defensive lineman, they could put a lot of pressure of opposing quarterbacks.

Trade Deadline Rumors

     The trade deadline in the NBA ends in approximately six minutes and there are still some trade rumors going around. One rumor I heard about, but I don't know how legitimate it is, is that the Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly offered Kevin Love and Timofey Mozgov to the Sacramento kings in exchange for All-Star center, DeMarcus Cousins. This would be an enormous step forward for the Cavs, as they would have all the pieces to contend with any team in the league. I would personally like to see this happen, although it likely won't because then two of my three favorite players in the league would be on the same team. One trade that just happened a few minutes ago, and probably the biggest trade so far, is the Phoenix Suns trading Markieff Morris to the Washington Wizards for DeJuan Blair, Kris Humphries, and a projected first round pick this year. The last trade rumor that I heard that might happen, is the Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly in negotiations with the Milwaukee Bucks to try and trade Ricky Rubio for Michael Carter-Williams. So far, the trade deadline has been pretty boring so far, and it doesn't look like there will be any blockbuster trades this season. The only reason that I say it is boring this year is because last year there was a record amount of trades and I got updates like every five minutes of someone being traded, but that didn't happen this year, so I'm a little disappointed.

Jarrod Uthoff

   Jarrod Uthoff, forward for the Iowa Hawkeyes, has recently been named as a top 20 finalist for the John Wooden Player of the Year Award. Uthoff was selected along with 19 other players, but a lot of them aren't as good as him, so I think he'll have a good shot at it if he can keep his outstanding play up. Most of the candidates aren't really that deserving of the award, but there are a few players that could give Uthoff a run for his money. Uthoff is averaging 18 points, six rebounds, and nearly three blocks per game, all while shooting almost 50% from the field. He will most likely win the Big Ten Player of the Year Award, but it would also be cool to see and Iowa player win the National Player of the Year. Some of the favorites besides him are. Buddy Hield, Denzel Valentine, Ben Simmons, and Gary Payton II. One big factor of who will win, is where their team is currently ranked. Right now the Hawkeyes are sitting at fifth in the nation, and if they can stay there or move up, Uthoff has a great chance of winning.

Blake Griffin Trade?

   With the trade deadline coming near us, and the Los Angeles Clippers growing distant with Blake Griffin, will they look to trade him? Blake Griffin has always had a small problem with controlling his anger, but this time, he took it outside of the court. At a team dinner last week, Blake Griffin reportedly punched and equipment manager in the face, and once the manager started scurrying, Griffin chased him and punched him again. The Clippers just recently suspended him for four games, ans there are rumors out there that they are looking to trade for him. Some of these rumors include going to the Denver Nuggets, in exchange for Kenneth Faried and some other role players. One of the other possibilities I saw, was him getting traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Michael Carter-Williams and Greg Monroe. I don't know how realistic these trade rumors are, but all I know is whatever team gets him is getting a new star player.

Peyton Wins Second Ring and is the G.O.A.T.

      On Sunday night, Peyton Manning, quarterback of the Denver Broncos won his long awaited second Super Bowl. The last time he won, was back in 2007, and he has waited nine years to capture this moment again. Although he didn't do much in the game and it was largely won by Denver's defense, everyone knows he deserved this ring for his outstanding career. The question is now, is he the greatest of all-time? I thought before he won this Super Bowl, that he was the best quarterback of all-time, and now that he has captured his second ring, this only proves that he is even more. He is the all-time leader in passing yards, all-time leader in touchdown passes, he has the most wins by a quarterback in NFL history, and now he is a two time Super Bowl champion. Sure, some quarterbacks may have more rings than Peyton does, like Tom Brady, but none of the quarterbacks that have the rings, have the great statistics to match up with Peyton.

Kobe Bryant is my Dad

    On Tuesday night, Kobe Bryant showed flashes of him old self as the Lakers played the Timberwolves. Kobe Bryant, who is 37 years put his team on his back and carried them to a narrow victory over the Timberwolves. Bryant had a season-high 38 points along with five rebounds and five assists. Bryant joined elite company with Karl Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Jordan as the only players to have 35+ points, 5+rebounds and 5+assists in a game while being over the age of 37. Bryant also had seven three pointers, which was his first time making that many in a game since 2010. This really excited me to wake up Wednesday morning and see that Kobe went off, because it is cool to see a guy who is considered elderly in his sport, go off against the next possible Kobe, Andrew Wiggins. I hope that Mr.Bryant continues to play at this level for the rest of the season and then not retire, because I want to see him play again next year.

Peyton Manning Retiring?

     The end is near for the greatest quarterback or all-time, Peyton Manning, but how close is it? Peyton Manning was talking with Patriots head coach, Bill Belichek after their win in the AFC Championship, and Peyton said, "Hey this might be my last rodeo, so it sure was a pleasure". This brought up many questions as to if he'll retire after the season. In a press conference a couple days ago, Manning was joking and said that the media took it out of context and that he actually participates in rodeos and he's going to have to stop. I think he should retire after Sunday's game whether he wins it or loses it. If he wins it, he goes out a winner and if he loses it, he lost in the greatest stage in football. Also, you cant guarantee that he'll make it back to the Super Bowl so if he played next year and got bounced in the first round, it would be a disappointing end to his career. A statement from Colt's owner, Jim Irsay came out today, and he said that if Peyton decides to retire, he should come back and sign a one day contract with the Colts and retire for his former team. Personally, I would love to have him do this, because he's the reason the Colts were great for so many years and for him to come back and retire would be great for him and Indianapolis.

NBA Last Night

     Last night in the NBA, there was an extreme amount of greatness that was on display. In the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Orlando Magic game, Victor Oladipo and Kevin Durant both scored 37 points a piece and Kevin Durant hit a game winning three pointer with .05 seconds left int he game. Point Guard, Russell Westbrook also had one of the best triple-doubles ever recorded from a guard. He finished the game with 24 points, 19 rebounds and 14 assists. The Charlotte Hornets also snapped the Cleveland Cavaliers five game winning streak. The Golden State Warriors won their eighth straight game, as Stephen Curry dropped 51 points and Draymond Green recorded a triple-double. John Wall and the Wizards lost the game to the Warriors, but he put up 41 points to try and keep them in the game. The Sacramento Kings also took one the Minnesota Timberwolves last night. Wolves' sophomore forward, Andrew Wiggins had his second straight 30 point game while DeMarcus Cousins of the Kings had 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Slam Dunk Contest Overview

    This year's dunk contest participants have officially been released as of yesterday. The people participating this year are, last year's champion, Zach  LaVine, Andre Drummond, Will Barton, and Aaron Gordon. Zach LaVine is probably the favorite again this year due to the fact that he easily won the contest last year and did some extremely difficult dunks with such ease. One person I'm sure will do great, is Andre Drummond. He is a 6'11 center and I'm not sure if he can jump very high, so it'll be interesting to see what he can pull off. Will Barton is a 6'5 shooting guard for the Denver Nuggets, who has burst out of nowhere and been a giant help for them. I don't know a lot about him but I have seen him a little bit and he looks like a pretty good athlete who could pull off something special. Lastly, Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic. For being 6'9, he can jump out of the gym. He is one of the most athletic players in the league and could pull off the upset. I think that Zach LaVine will win it again, however Aaron Gordon and Will Barton could be a good battle for second place.

NBA Rising Stars Prediction

        The NBA All-Star Weekend is coming up in a few weeks, and the Rising Stars roster is the only full roster out, so I'm going to talk about it and give my prediction on who is going to win it. The Rising Stars game is exactly what it sounds like, it is a game that features the young players in this league who will hopefully blossom into NBA stardom. The NBA is doing this game a little differently this year. They split it up and made it into a Team USA and a Team World and they will split it up and play against each other. The roster for Team USA, is Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, Zach Lavine, Jabari Parker, Elfrid Payton, D'Angelo Russell, Marcus Smart, and Karl Anthony-Towns. The roster for the Team World consists of, Kristaps Porzingis, Andrew Wiggins, Dwight Powell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Clint Capela, Mario Hezonja, Nikola Jokic, Emaanuel Mudiay, Nikola Mirotic, and Raul Neto.

        My prediction for this game is relatively easy and I am going to pick Team USA. Team USA has some pretty athletic guards that Team World is not going to be able to keep up with, and also they have some superior big men that will dominate down low and do work. Team World isn't that great of a team at all and really only have like three good players. Wiggins and Porzingis will be forces ro reckon with, but besides them, nobody on that roster is really capable of making that team as good as Team USA.

Super Bowl Preview

       The Super Bowl is in about two weeks and the best football game of the year will feature the two number one seeds from each conference. The Denver Broncos will face off against the Carolina Panthers in the most anticipated game so far this season. Most people on social media and on the television are basically giving the game to the Panthers because of the fact that they completely dismantled the Cardinals in the NFC Championship. However, the Panthers haven't played the Broncos #1 defense in the NFL yet. This should be a great test for the Panthers and Cam Newton, to see if they can score as many points as they normally do against the best defense. On the other side, the Broncos need to step up their game offensively as they go up against the #2 scoring defense in the NFL. As far as predictions go, I think that the Broncos defense will prevail and they will win the game, 28-24.

AFC Championship Review

        The AFC Championship was this weekend and the game went exactly as i wanted it to. Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 20-18. The game was great for me to watch personally because for all four quarters, the Broncos defense was hitting Tom Brady brutally. Sadly. Mrs. Brady wasn't injured after the game, which makes me a little sad, but watching his face after they didn't complete the 2-point conversion, was priceless. Peyton Manning played well in this game, but the Bronco's offense needs to score more than 20 points to beat the Panthers in the Super Bowl. I did get a little scared at the end of the game when Rob Gronkowski completed a pass deep into the Bronco's territory, but I had confidence that their defense could stop the Patriots. This game was yet another solidifying moment that Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady. Manning has beaten Brady four times in AFC Championship games, and only lost one time.

NFC Championship Preview

      The NFC Championship game is this weekend, and will feature the Carolina Panthers vs. the Arizona Cardinals. Unlike my last blog, i don't really have a favorite to win this game due to the fact that both teams are well deserving and fun to watch teams. The Panthers are 16-1 this season and coming off of a huge win against the Seattle Seahawks, who were known to have one of the best defenses in the league. Cam Newton has been playing the game with such great energy and enthusiasm, I expect that he will come out and do that again this weekend. The Carolina defense is also of of the best in the league with the best linebacker in the game, Luke Kuechly and in my opinion the best cornerback, Josh Norman. The Carolina Defense played absolutely incredible in the first half against the Seahawks, but slipped up in the second half and almost allowed a comeback, so they'll have to be better in both halves if they want to win. On the other hand, the Arizona Cardinals are a great team as well, with quarterback, Carson Palmer and receiver, Larry Fitzgerald leading the way. The Arizona defense is also a great part of their team and will look to shut down Cam Newton. They have one of the best corners in the league, Patrick Peterson and he will look to stop all of Carolina's deadly offensive weapons. Both teams will have to play some great punt and kick return coverage as well, because both teams have lethal return men that will look to take punts/kicks to the endzone. Overall I would like for the Cardinals to win so Larry Fitzgerald can get the Super Bowl ring he deserves, but I think that the Panthers will win 27-21.

AFC Championship Preview

    The AFC championship is this weekend and it is a highly anticipated match up between Peyton Manning and his bitter rival, Tom Brady. This game will be the 17th career meeting between these two as starters and this game probably is the most important one for Manning because he is known for not winning in the postseason, so getting to the Super Bowl will be a great leap forward to his legacy. As far as the game goes, the Broncos have had one of the best defenses in the league so far and will have to come up huge against the Patriots. The Broncos won the previous match up this season, due to C.J. Andersen getting as 44 yard touchdown in overtime to win it. The Broncos will have to get it done in regulation if they want to win because they cant afford to bank on another huge play in OT to get them past the Patriots again. Obviously, I didn't talk about the Patriots as much, because I hate every single one of their players, coaches, executives, fans, waterboys, towelboys, and pretty much anybody who supports them. That being said, I hope that the Broncos destroy the Patriots and that Tom Brady breaks both of his legs, both arms, lacerates his kidney, gets four concussions, and has to have five vertebrae removed from getting hit so much. Peace out!

NBA All Stars

         The NBA All-Star Weekend is coming up in February, and the All-Star votes are being tallied up week by week. The most surprising thing to almost everyone, is that Kobe Bryant, who is retiring at season's end, is the leading vote receiver in the NBA. I was surprised hearing this, because he isn't having a great season so far, but the fans need to see Kobe in an All-Star game one last time. One bad thing is about fans choosing the players is that Kyrie Irving, who has only played five games this season, is most likely going to make it in. As much as I enjoy watching Kyrie play, he doesn't deserve to be an all star at the moment, and will take away a spot from a a more deserving player. The last thing I have to say is that, the fans voted in Draymond Green, of the Golden State Warriors when I don't think he  is completely deserving of a spot. He is just getting hyped up by the media because his team is 33-2.

Rose Bowl

     The Rose Bowl was kind of a disappointment this year. Stanford scored on the first play of the game on a long pass to Christian McCaffery and they didn't slow down from there. They returned a punt for a touchdown, ran trick plays, and just dominated the Hawkeyes for the first half when they were up 35-0. The second half however was a different story. The Hawks out scored Stanford 16-10 in the second half and only lost by 29. The Hawkeyes has a great season this year and was definitely one of the best seasons Iowa has ever had.

Rose Bowl Preview

      This year, the Iowa Hawkeyes made it back to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Rose Bowl is arguably the best bow that a team can go to besides the National Championship. This year, the Stanford Cardinal are back in it for the third time in four years and look to bring a trophy back to the Pac-12. This should be a great game between the fifth and sixth ranked teams in the country. The Hawkeyes are 12-1 and had a perfect regular season before falling to the Michigan State Spartans I the Big Ten Championship. The Cardinal lost their first game of the season to Northwestern and have been perfect ever since. Stanford has one of the best players in the nation, in running back Christian McCaffery who is the most all-purpose yards in college football history so he'll be a big factor that Iowa will have to stop. I hope Iowa wins this game, but they will have their hands full.