Sports WRLD

[jordanthurmond]

IS ZION BACK!?

The New Orleans Pelicans have had a massive roller coaster of a season this year. They got off to one of the worst starts in the National Basketball Association’s history at 1-12. At this pace, they were looking like they were going to be the team with the worst ever single season record all-time. They started getting a little better going into the all-star break and looked like they could possibly be able to turn things around to be a middle of the pack team. They then traded with the Portland Trail Blazers to acquire CJ McCollum who helped lead the Pelicans to a good second half of the season and have a chance to make the playoffs through the play-in tournament. To make this seem slightly more impressive, their star, former #1 draft pick, Zion Williamson broke his foot during the offseason that took over half a year to heal and did not play a single game during the regular season. After the Pelicans secured a spot in the playoffs and found out that Devin Booker would be out for the three weeks, rumors have been spreading that Williamson may be able to join the team for a playoff run. Williamson is hands down the most explosive player in NBA history and one of the most fun players in the league to watch, but he was also an all-star last year in his sophomore season with an impressive 27.0 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game. With his raw athleticism and true ability, it would be very possible that the Pelicans could surprise many as a dark horse in the playoffs. This would sure be an exciting finish to an incredible NBA season.

[jordanthurmond]

Will the Suns Prevail?

The National Basketball Association has had a year of injuries, disappointments, and surprises. The Lebron-lead Lakers finished in 11th place in the Western Conference with a team whose roster has guaranteed Hall of Famers making up nearly half of it. Plagued with injury, this team greatly disappointed and slightly tarnished the great legacy of Lebron James. Teams like the Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves greatly exceeded expectations and proved to be outstanding teams. The Grizzlies will likely end up with the Most Improved Player in Ja Morant who took his team from having a winning percentage of .500% to the 2-seed in the NBA Playoffs in the matter of only one year. The main story in the NBA now though is the three-week injury to Devin Booker. Appearing to be favorites to win the NBA Finals coming into the playoffs, the Phoenix Suns lost their biggest star that led them to the 1-seed in the Western Conference during the regular season. This could really make things interesting as the Pelicans attempt to be only the fifth 8-seed ever to upset a 1-seed in the playoffs.

[jordanthurmond]

Baseball is Back!

Baseball is finally back! While baseball was technically back with the spring training games that started weeks ago, the regular season began on Thursday, April 7th and fans could not be happier. Starting on this date also means that we will still be able to watch Jackie Robinson day on Friday, April 15th. After months of lockout and players and MLB officials not being able to budge on their views of how baseball should be played, it seemed like baseball would not have any chance of being played for a long time. It hurt the most when the season started to get postponed because of this lockout. The baseball world was relieved to see both parties come to an agreement as it meant that we would finally get our beloved sport back. Fans were worried that Jackie Robinson Day would not be able to be played with the delay in the season. This means that the season returning when it did is great for baseball so that we can all still appreciate and celebrate this great day and achievement in baseball history.

[jordanthurmond]

Will Deshaun Watson Even Play!?

Deshaun Watson was a high school football phenom who was raised with three siblings in poverty by a single mother, who lost the ability to speak because of a battle with cancer. He was a top-notch student, person, and football player at Clemson University where he led the team to a College Football National Championship. He immediately emerged as one of the best players in the NFL when he drafted with the twelfth pick of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. He seemed to be someone of good character and someone who gave back to the community which made him a beloved player on and off the field. However, in March 2021, he had allegations made against him for sexual misconduct and assault. These are not things that anyone takes lightly, and it must be taken seriously to figure out the truth. However, it can be difficult to find the truth when there is no hard evidence against the person who has done this. Since this time, there have been 22 civil cases filed against Watson and he was suspended for an indefinite time from the NFL. It is hard to believe someone with this kind of image would do something like this, but considering the number of allegations, it is also hard to believe that he did not do it. This past week, Watson was traded by the Texans to the Cleveland Browns with hopes that he would be able to play at some point. Some cases have already seen not guilty verdicts, but there will still need proof that he has not done these horrible things before he will ever step foot on a field again.

[jordanthurmond]

History for the Bronx Bombers

In the 121 year history of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball franchise, they have won 27 World Series titles and had 61 players inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame. The Yankees are largely regarded as the greatest franchise in the history of not just baseball, but of any franchise ever in the sports world. Thus being said, before this season in the MLB, since 1901, there have only been eight teams that have had two separate players hit a home run in both of the first two games of the season. The Yankees were not one of these teams. In their opening series of the 2022 MLB season, the Yankees faced off against their biggest rivals, the Boston Red Sox. Again, this is largely seen as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, rivalries in the history of sports. In the first two games of the Yankees season against their rivals, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton both hit home runs in each of these games. This solidified the Yankees franchise as the ninth ever to have players accomplish this feat. This is highly impressive of these players to do and even more so considering how great some of the teams that the Yankees have had over the years. It is another accomplishment in the long list for the historic franchise.

[jordanthurmond]

Trout Surpassed by Teammate

For the first time in seven years, Mike Trout was not ranked as Topps #1 overall Major League Baseball player. He was ranked #2 behind his own teammate, Shohei Ohtani. Having the greatest start to any career that has ever been seen from any baseball player that has walked the planet, he has slightly declined over the past couple years, but only because of injuries. While healthy, he is still the greatest player in the MLB, but his injuries have cost him lots of games and lots of his usual production to go along with them. When I said that it was the first time that Mike Trout has not been the #1 player in seven years, this meant that he had been ranked in the top spot six consecutive times. He was going for history with lucky number seven. There have only been three other athletes ever in their respective sports to achieve the top spot seven consecutive years. With legendary athletes like Muhammad Ali, Wayne Gretzky, and Michael Jordan, he would have put himself among some great company. Each are arguably the greatest players in their sport. Even though Trout was unable to achieve this seven straight years, it is still very impressive to say the least and he will likely continue to put up numbers that could someday make him the GOAT of baseball.

[jordanthurmond]

Go Away Brady

While sure Hall of Fame men’s college basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski from Duke University has finished his long, legendary career, for sure Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Tom Brady decided to pull a quick one on everybody and add more to his own long, legendary career. After retiring following the 2021-2022 season on a loss from the Los Angeles Rams, Brady took slightly over two months to decide that he has “unfinished business” in the football world. The 7x Super Bowl winner, 3x MVP Award winner, 5x Super Bowl MVP Award winner, and 15x Pro Bowler who holds records in almost every throwing category one could imagine decided that he still has more to add to his list of accomplishments. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers being loaded with lots of talent, Tom Brady will surely have at least one more shot to make the playoffs and possibly win yet another Super Bowl. The Buccaneers coach, Bruce Arians, retired just a couple days ago which leaves a question on who will lead Brady and the Bucs this year. However, knowing that they have Tom Brady leaves no question that they will be one of the best teams in the league. Will Tom Brady retire after one more ring or is he going to play for decades to come and try to win twenty Super Bowls? He seems to be ageless, and I have the thought in the back of head that somehow Brady could make this a reality. Only time will tell.

[jordanthurmond]

So Long Coach K

This March Madness has lived up to its name and has turned out to be one of the greatest tournaments in the history of college baseball. With St. Peters having the furthest run of any 15-seed ever to a legendary rival matchup between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils, this tournament is one for the history books. The Tar Heels and Blue Devils are known as one of the greatest college sports rivalries and arguably one of the greatest sports rivalries overall. Going into Saturday’s rival game between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils, all college basketball fans knew that it was Duke’s coach’s, Mike Krzyzewski, last season as a coach and possibly his last game since all tournament games are elimination games. Coach K’s first ever loss as a coach for the Blue Devil’s came to the Tar Heels in December of 1980. In his last ever home game as a Blue Devil, the Tar Heels beat him. Now, in the first ever March Madness matchup between the two rivals, Coach K’s career has ended at the hands of the Tar Heels by a score of 81-77. In this tight game, there were over fifteen ties and twenty lead changes. Not only will this be a March Madness for the books, but this game itself will end up going down as one of the greatest games in men’s college basketball history.

[jordanthurmond]

The Ultimate Rivalry

You could not have scripted March Madness any better. With the Cinderella story from St. Peters to there being only one 1-seed left in the Final Four, to the rival matchup between Duke and North Carolina for a spot in the National Championship. Duke and North Carolina have the most prominent rivalry in all of college basketball and probably the most in college sports as a whole. What makes this game so much more special than the average rival game is that a spot in the National Championship is on the line and it is Duke’s longtime (and legendary) coach’s, Mike Krzyzewski, last season ever as a coach. Duke is favored in the game as they won the ACC regular season title (North Carolina finished second), and they are a 2-seed compared to North Carolina being an 8-seed. North Carolina bested Duke in Coach K’s final home game ever during their last matchup in the regular season. Will this be a revenge tour for Duke or will the Tarheels break the hearts of Blue Devil fans once again? Only time will tell.

[jordanthurmond]

Peacocks Stun the World

8-seed North Carolina just beat 15-seed St. Peters in the Elite Eight, ending possibly the greatest Cinderella run in March Madness history. St. Peters was an average team that played in a subpar conference and barely squeaked into the tournament. Less than two percent of over 17 million people that filled our March Madness tournament brackets had this team making it past the first round. It just so happened that they took out 2-seed Kentucky, ended a 7-seed Murray State’s 21-game win streak, and eliminated 3-seed Purdue to be the first team in NCAA basketball history to make it to the Elite Eight as a 15-seed. To make the story even better, they were the first team from New Jersey to make it to the Sweet Sixteen since Seton Hall did it back in 2000. The point guard for that Seton Hall team was, now head coach of St. Peters, Shaheen Holloway. After the miraculous tournament run from St. Peters, Holloway was immediately offered the head coach job of Seton Hall which he will likely accept.

[jordanthurmond]

CInderella Story??

For only the third time in NCAA basketball history, a team that was marked as a 15-seed has made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Three days ago, St. Peters upset Kentucky in a game that everyone knew was a sure win for Kentucky, but clearly, we were wrong. Less than 2 percent of bracket makers picked St. Peters to beat Kentucky. St. Peters shocked the world again when they beat 7-seed Murray State in the second round of the tournament in the game to get to the Sweet Sixteen. It is very rare that we see a team ranked this poorly go this far into tournament and it is a miraculous sight. They have a huge test against 6-seed Texas, who has handled their first two opponents with ease, to get to the Elite Eight. Could this possibly be a historical Cinderella story, or will their run be cut short by the likes of a strong Texas team? Only time will tell.

[jordanthurmond]

Best Time of the Year

It is finally that time of the year for the best month of sports. Baseball is starting back, NBA teams are battling for playoff spots as the end of the season approaches, and March Madness is making everyone lose their minds. March Madness is the 64-team tournament that is played in the end of every college basketball season. Many sports fans partake in picking who they think is going to win all these games with over a quintillion different possibilities. There were over 17 million brackets made this year and after only two days of the month-long tournament, none are perfect anymore. What ended most people’s perfect brackets was St. Peters vs. Kentucky. Kentucky was one of the best teams this year and over 6 percent of people had them winning it all. St. Peters is a school who most had never heard of and were not very good throughout the year. 98 percent of people picked Kentucky to win, and St. Peters surprised the world to upset one of the best teams. I cannot wait to see how many more crazy, unexpected things happen during this crazy month of sports.

[jordanthurmond]

We May Lose Jackie Robinson Day

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson made his Major League Baseball debut. If you are not familiar with why this is important, Jackie Robinson was the first African American to enter the MLB. To honor what is largely regarded as the most important achievement in sports history, the MLB has Jackie Robinson Day. Every MLB player wears the number 42 on April 15 of every year since this was the number that Robinson wore. No other players are allowed to wear this number on any other day since Robinson’s number is the only universally retired number in the league. Because of the ongoing turmoil between the Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, an agreement for play cannot be reached. The longer that there is no agreement, the longer the delay of opening day. If it continues, there will be no MLB games played on Jackie Robinson day for the first time since it began in 2009. This would be tragic for the sport and for the bigger meaning of the game.

[jordanthurmond]

2nd GOAT is Ageless!

Lebron James is the second greatest player in NBA history. He has constantly been one of the best in the league since he was drafted in 2003. He is second only to Michael Jordan who was and will forever be a legend. On March 5, 2022, Lebron James became the fourth player in NBA history to score 50 or more points in a single game at the age of 37 or older when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors, 124-116. James finished the game with a whopping 56 points. He joins the elite company of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Jamal Crawford. Jordan and Bryant are both considered top ten players of all time and Crawford was very good during his time. Lebron is getting old but is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon and has said that he would like to continue playing until his son, Bronny James (still in high school), is in the league so that they could be the first ever father-son duo in the sport.

[jordanthurmond]

Devastating Baseball News

Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association sign contracts with one another every several years to ensure that all players, staff, and the MLB are happy with the terms of payment, play, and all else regarding baseball. For any games to be played, both parties must come to an agreement on these matters. After the end of the last MLB season, the most recent agreement came to an end which means that the MLBPA and MLB must come up with this agreement before the next season can start. For spring training and the season to start on time, the contract must be signed by Monday, February 28, 2022, tomorrow. With neither party wanting to give in and there being no progress, it seems like it is going to be impossible for the season to start even close to on time. No games that have not been played will be made up. All of this is devastating news for baseball fans who were looking forward to the beginning of what it likely going to be a great season.

[jordanthurmond]

Fire Ants Sweep the Catamounts

This weekend, the WVU Potomac State College Catamounts visited Sumter, South Carolina in their baseball season opener for two games against the University of South Carolina – Sumter Fire Ants. The Catamounts came into the series ranked tenth in the nation in the NJCAA and finished last year with a record of 35-8. The Fire Ants came into the series unranked and finished last season 32-24. This weekend, the Fire Ants took both games with scores of 10-6 and 4-1 improving their record to 11-3. The Catamount’s record is now sitting at 1-2 on the year. This is a great start to the year for a very talented Fire Ants team. It was an especially good weekend considering how good their opponent is and the fact that they were missing four of their best pitchers. The Fire Ants are looking to build on their momentum and continue to keep winning games through their region opener in a few weeks.

[jordanthurmond]

Hot Start for a Freshman

Corner infielder for NC State baseball, Tommy White, is in his first year of collegiate baseball. Deemed an All-American, White was a top-tier recruit in high school. In the opening weekend for D1 baseball, and in his first three games as a college baseball player, White is proving to be one of the best in the sport. White is 9 for 14 with five home runs, 12 RBIs and just two strikeouts. His slash line is at .643/.706/1.714. If you are familiar with baseball, you know that this is an insane stat line. If you are not familiar with baseball, I should let you know that this is an absolutely insane stat line. This has been one of the best opening weekends of any freshman that college baseball has ever seen and it is no doubt that we will be hearing a lot more about him in the future.