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      Magic players say that Nelson will play

      June 2, 2009 /

      GM Otis Smith and Jameer Nelson have tempered their optimism publicly, but the Orlando Magic players seem to think that Nelson will play in the Finals.

      Nelson participated in a full team practice Tuesday for the first time since tearing the labrum in his right shoulder Feb. 2. While Nelson and coach Stan Van Gundy still said the point guard’s status won’t be determined until game day, players said Nelson looked “terrific” and expect him to be on the court against the Los Angeles Lakers.

      “It’s still no in my mind,” Smith said. “There’s a very smidgen of a chance he can play.”

      That “smidgen” seems to be growing.

      Nelson has been playing full-court games and practicing in non-contact drills for the last two weeks. Tuesday, he participated in every drill.

      Players said Nelson wasn’t in his All-Star form, but even not completely healthy, he was better than most NBA point guards.

      If Nelson can come back at 85-90%, it would be a big boost for the Magic. Rafer Alston has been great at times, but he had some brutal games shooting the ball against the Cavs. He went 1 for 7 in Game 2 and 1 for 10 in Game 5, which were both losses for the Magic. In Orlando’s four wins, he averaged 17.0 points and shot 25 of 56 (45%) from the field.

      NBA, NBA Finals, News, Rumors & Gossip

      The NBA Finals: Position-by-Position

      June 2, 2009 /

      It’s not the matchup that everyone (outside of central Florida) wanted to see, but it’s a good matchup nonetheless. The Magic proved in their series against the Cavs that they are currently the best team in the East, and they’ll face the battle-tested Lakers who are coming off a pair of rough and rugged series against the Rockets and the Nuggets.

      Orlando has been the more consistent team and they don’t get rattled. They get down big with regularity and have been able to get back into games by playing one possession at a time and not worrying too much about the scoreboard early on. Conversely, the Lakers have been “bipolar” (to quote their star) and no one really knows which team is going to show up. It seems to be a matter of focus and effort, and the Lakers have struggled with their consistency in both areas of the game. There are times that they look like the best team in the league and there are times when they look like they should have been knocked out in the first round.

      Let’s look at each position and break down the different matchups…

      Continue reading »

      NBA, NBA Finals

      Hanley Ramirez to play through pain

      June 2, 2009 /

      According to a report by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez is playing hurt right now, but but doesn’t plan on missing any time.

      “I don’t want to sit on the bench,” said Ramirez, who went 3 for 5 and scored his 400th career run. “I want to be out there trying to help my team win. I talked to [manager Fredi Gonzalez] and told him let’s see how it is every day. I want to play and I’ll be out there tomorrow, too.”

      Give Ramirez credit for realizing he’s better at 70 or 80 percent than anyone the Marlins could replace him with at 100 percent. Whether to play hurt is always a tough call for an athlete. Ramirez may not be stealing any bases for a while, but he sees the standings and knows the Marlins can’t afford to drop much further below the .500 mark and stay in the National League East mix.

      This might not be a significant story to some, but don’t forget about a month ago that some within the Marlins organization were upset with Ramirez’s hustle (or lack thereof). Him playing through pain shows his dedication to his team and speaks volumes for his mental toughness.

      Fantasy spin: If Ramirez is playing hurt, it certainly hasn’t showed in his stats line. He went 3 for 5 on Monday, driving in a run and scoring twice. He has now had back-to-back three-hit games and has eight hits in his last three contests.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      A chat with WEC fighter Mike Brown

      June 2, 2009 /

      You may not have known who Mike Thomas Brown was a year ago, but chances are you do now if you’re a fan of Mixed Martial Arts. Brown is the WEC (World Extreme Cage fighting) featherweight champion. His career record is 21-4-0 and Brown has won his last nine fights, with his last loss coming on Dec. 2, 2005 by submission. On Nov. 5, 2008, Brown defeated Urijah Faber by TKO in 2:23 to win the WEC title. Faber was then considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world as he had won 13-straight fights lasting over three years before losing to Brown. Since beating Faber, Brown defended his belt successfully against Leonard Garcia on March 1 of this year with a submission in under two minutes after staggering Garcia on his feet with a solid combination of punches. Fighting out of American Top Team in Florida, Brown appeared in the UFC in 2004 in a submission loss to Genki Sudo, but now the former Norwich University wrestler prepares for his rematch with Faber, which takes place Sunday, June 7 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif. The fight can be seen on VERSUS at 9:00 p.m. ET.

      Brown took a few minutes away from his training for the fight to speak with us on the rematch and his MMA career.

      The Scores Report: How has your life changed since your first win over Faber?

      Mike Thomas Brown: Since the Faber win, I probably do a few more interviews and get recognized a little more. You know, each time you win, your pay goes up a little bit, so I am making a little bit more money, but nothing major has changed.

      Continue reading »

      Mixed Martial Arts

      Does Vince Young want out of Tennessee?

      June 2, 2009 /

      On Monday, Titans quarterback Vince Young told WMAR-TV in Baltimore that he wants a chance to play or he wants out of Tennessee.

      From Rotoworld:

      Young lost his starting job to Kerry Collins last year when he struggled horribly in new coordinator Mike Heimerdinger’s offense, then sprained his MCL in Week 1. “If them guys don’t want me to be in there, it’s time for me to make a career change,” he said. “I’m ready to play ball. If they’re not ready for me to play ball, then somebody is.” The Titans say V.Y. will compete in camp, but he’d have to outplay Collins by a huge margin to regain the position.

      As a football fan, I can’t respect that. I can’t respect an athlete saying, ‘If my team doesn’t want me, then I’ll find someone else who will.’

      How about competing for once? How about going out on the field and proving that you’re better than the guy you’re competing against?

      See, that’s the trouble with athletes these days – they get everything handed to them. From the moment their talents are recognized as youths, everything is given to them and they rarely have to earn playing time. It’s no wonder we as a society like hearing about stories of players who were always told they weren’t good enough. It’s because those players had to work for everything they got and they never stop working, even when they’ve “made it.”

      Young was a god at Texas, so when he got to the NFL he must have figured that everything would continue to be taken care of for him. And when shit hit the fan, what happened? He hid behind his fragile emotions instead of fighting to stay on the field.

      The Titans want somebody who’ll fight for a win every week, which is why Kerry Collins will remain the starter. If Young wants his job back, he has to earn it and just based on his comments from the TV interview, I’m not sure he’s willing to work for it. He’d rather have the job handed back to him and be coddled for the rest of his career.

      Granted, I didn’t see the interview so maybe I’m taking what he said out of context. But based on the quotes from him above, Young needs to grow a pair and challenge Collins for the right to play on Sundays instead of whining about how Tennessee might not want him. They gave him $58 million to be the starter – they want him to play. He just has to want it for himself.

      NFL

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