Category: External Sports (Page 194 of 821)

      Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben added to UFC 132

      April 5, 2011 /

      According to HeavyMMA.com, a middleweight clash between heavy-handed brawlers Chris Leben and Wanderlei Silva has come to fruition, as the two will meet at UFC 132 this July.

      A middleweight bout between Wanderlei Silva and Chris Leben is official for UFC 132 in Las Vegas, Nevada for the promotion’s annual Fourth of July weekend event.

      UFC officials announced the bout on Monday.

      Leben, who experienced a career resurgence with dominant victory over Jay Silva, Aaron Simpson, and Yoshihiro Akiyama in 2010, was disappointed against Brian Stann, losing via technical knockout at UFC 125 last January. He is an even 3-3 over his past three years of competition in the UFC.

      Silva, meanwhile, jumped back on the right track in his last contest with a unanimous decision victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 110. The former PRIDE superstar has been out of action since the early 2010 victory, which was his debut at the 185 lb. mark.

      Read the full article.

      External Sports, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

      UConn shuts down Butler, 53-41

      April 4, 2011 /
      Connecticut Huskies guard Kemba Walker celebrates after the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Butler Bulldogs during their men’s final NCAA Final Four college basketball game in Houston, Texas, April 4, 2011. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      Connecticut shot 34.5% from the field, including 1-of-11 from long range, and turned the ball over five more times than Butler and still won the game by 12 points.

      More than anything else, the story tonight was Butler’s shooting. They made just 12-of-64 (19%) from the field, and only 3-of-31 (10%) from two-point range thanks in part to UConn’s 10 blocked shots.

      Greg Anthony called it the worst performance he’s ever seen in a championship game and that’s half true. It was a terrible shooting performance, but the Bulldogs played pretty great defense, holding UConn to just 53 points on 35% shooting. So for that they should be commended.

      Regarding the shooting, UConn contested a lot of shots, but the Bulldogs missed some open looks as well. If anything, tonight’s game is yet another argument that the Final Four should take place in a basketball arena instead of in a football stadium. There was a piece in the Wall Street Journal today about how the shooting in domes decreases by an average of 4%. It’s simply tough to shoot in such a big building because there isn’t anything behind the basket to help give the shooter a frame of reference.

      I’m not going to go into specifics about player statlines because they’re all pretty ugly (on both sides), but the play of UConn’s Alex Oriakhi (5-of-6 from the field, 11 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks) and Jeremy Lamb (12 second-half points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block) were collectively the difference in the game. Oriakhi gave Matt Howard and Andrew Smith fits around the basket and Lamb’s scoring broke the game open in the second half.

      Congratulations to Jim Calhoun and UConn on a great year. It’s amazing to think that we have a national champion who didn’t even finish in the TOP HALF of its conference. (UConn was 9th out of 16 teams in the Big East.) Since they didn’t bother to mention it during the telecast, let’s not forget that Calhoun will be suspended for the first three games of the Big East schedule next season for recruiting violations that happened under his watch. For his part, Calhoun has fought the NCAA’s ruling every step of the way.

      College Basketball, External Sports, March Madness

      Mike Vrabel arrested for theft at Indiana casino

      April 4, 2011 /
      Denver Broncos running back Correll Buckhalter (R) gets past Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Mike Vrabel for a gain during the first half of their NFL football game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri December 6, 2009. REUTERS/Dave Kaup (UNITED STATES SPORT FOOTBALL)

      We knew that the lockout would affect some players in profound ways, but who knew it would result in one player robbing a casino? And a player who is just days away from appearing on the players’ behalf for Wednesday’s antirust lawsuit against the owners, no less?

      ESPN.com is reporting that free agent Mike Vrabel was arrested for felony theft at an Indiana casino on Monday. He was booked at 5:28AM and was released at 10:39AM after posting $600 bail. The rest of the details are sparse, but the 35-year-old Vrabel has already released a statement through his agent:

      “It was an unfortunate misunderstanding, and I take full responsibility for the miscommunication,” Vrabel told ProFootballTalk.com in a statement through his agent Neil Cornrich. “I feel comfortable that after talking with the appropriate parties, we will resolve this matter.”

      I was being facetious with my “robbing a casino” comment in the first paragraph, but it is a rather humorous situation. Not for Vrabel of course, but for fans that have had to put up with daily reports about how the lockout will never end and how there will never be another football season ever. EVER.

      Make no mistake: this is an embarrassing situation for Vrabel. He’s two days away from having to appear in court and he’s out getting arrested for felony theft. Even if it was just a huge misunderstanding, he was still arrested and he’s still one of the faces for the players during their ongoing battle against the owners. So in essence, it’s not just embarrassing for him but for all of the NFLPA as well.

      External Sports, NFL

      Who is the best rebounder in the NBA?

      April 4, 2011 /
      Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love (42) holds back Dallas Mavericks forward Brian Cardinal (C) in front of Timberwolves’ Michael Beasley (R) during the first half of their NBA basketball game in the Target Center in Minneapolis, March 7, 2011. REUTERS/Eric Miller (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      Over the past few weeks, I’ve tackled the MVP race, triple-dozens, point guard characteristics and three-point shooters, and now it’s time to take a look at rebounding.

      To be eligible, a player has to meet the following criteria:

      1. He must appear in at least 50 games.
      2. He must play in at least 24.0 minutes a game.

      I took the top 30 players in terms of Total Rebounding Rate (the number of rebounds a player gets as a percentage of total available rebounds available while he’s on the floor) and plotted Offensive Rebounding Rate (ORR%) against Defensive Rebounding Rate (DRR%).

      Here is the list of eligible players (in alphabetical order): Andrew Bogut, Carlos Boozer, Kwame Brown (yes, Kwame Brown), Marcus Camby, Tyson Chandler, DeMarcus Cousins, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol, Marcin Gortat, Blake Griffin, Chuck Hayes, Roy Hibbert, J.J. Hickson, Nene Hilario, Al Horford, Dwight Howard, Kris Humphries, Serge Ibaka, Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, Amir Johnson, DeAndre Jordan, David Lee, Kevin Love, JaVale McGee, Greg Monroe, Lamar Odom, Emeka Okafor and Zach Randolph.

      Below is the chart. As always, click on it to see a bigger version.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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