Your Week In Sports

Hello my Ave', another exciting week in sports has passed and Your Sports First and BlvdAve are here to bring you the skinny on the best of last week's goings on in the wide world of sports.

So lets get right to it with another.....

Week In Sports


"Money" In The Bank






Floyd Mayweather cashed in on another big payday, and fueled even more controversy in his legacy, as he knocked out Victor Ortiz in the fourth round of Saturday's WBC welterweight championship fight. Mayweather won on a controversial one two knockout combination on Ortiz after coming out of a clearance. Referee Joe Cortes then called a "box on," before looking at the timekeeper's table to see if there was any time left on the clock, allowing Floyd to land the combo on Ortiz who had dropped his hands to look at the official. 


Since the bout, there have many different points of view on who is to blame for the way this fight ended. Some believe Mayweather gave a cheap shot to Ortiz when the ref wasn't looking, also some feel that Ortiz showed his youth and inexperience by "not protecting himself at all times" when he lowered his guard in a championship fight after a "box on" call, and Cortes showed a complete lack of professional judgment went he took his eyes away from the fight to check time. Either way the WBC hasn't taken the belt away from Floyd Mayweather and I am pretty sure that he has already cashed his $40 million check. 


According to MMAPayout:

-The NY Times had a report on the payout structure Floyd Mayweather had in place for the fight  which estimates that he would receive close to $40 million. In comparison, Mayweather Productions would pay Victor Ortiz $2.5 million. The Mayweather deal is interesting when looking at the risk-reward. While Mayweather used his own money for marketing the event, he’s receiving a healthy portion of the profits.

 -While there was a push for the PPV, the MGM Grand was giving away tickets during fight week as the actual attendance was nowhere near a sellout. In comparison, Pacquiao-Marquez is a virtual sellout according to a tweet from ESPN’s Dan Rafael who spoke with Top Rank’s Todd DuBoef.

Coming Home/ Going Away

In the latest news in the NBA, Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant has been offered a contract from the Italian basketball team Virtus Bologna for over $6 mil to play during the lockout. Bryant is just one of a stockpile full of players taking their talents abroad. 

Some of the more notable players are:

• Deron Williams - NJ Nets - Besiktas (Turkey) - (one year buyout)
• Kenyon Martin - Denver Nuggets - Xingiang Guanghui (China) - (Amounts on deal undisclosed)
• Ty Lawson - Denver Nuggets - Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania) - (opt-out option)
• Rudy Fernandez - Dallas Mavericks - Real Madrid (Spain) - (out disclosed in contract)
• Chris Douglas Roberts - Milwaukee Bucks (Free Agent) - Virtus Bologna (Italy) - (Deal reached)
• Wilson Chandler - NY Knicks - Zhejiang Guangsha (China) - (no opt out in deal)
• Dejuan Blair - San Antonio Spurs - Krasnye Krylya (Russia) - (reached agreement)
• Leondro Barbosa - Toronto Raptors - Flamengo (Brazil) - (opt-out included)
• Kyle Singler - Detroit Pistons - Alicante (Spain) - (opt-out included)
• J.R. Smith - Denver Nuggets - Zhejiang (China) - (no opt out included)
• Brian Scalibrine - Chicago Bulls - Benetton Treviso (Italy) - (no contract)

In other NBA news....

• The NBA has claimed its first casualty since locking out its players over 3 months ago. The NBA has since announced that it is postponing team training camps and cancelling over 43 preseason exhibition games. All games from October 9-15 are off, according to league sources. 

"We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games," deputy commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. "We will make further decisions as warranted."

• 15 year NBA veteran Marcus Camby is free on bond after being arrested amid charges of marijuana possession.  The Portland Trailblazer center was spotted in a Porsche that was pulled over by authorities citing "equipment violations". During the pull over the officer noted an abundance of marijuana odor coming from the players vehicle. Upon furthur search the police found less than two ounces of the drug inside the vehicle. No furthur detail on the situation have been released. 

• Miami Heat star forward LeBron James is attempting to restore his likability after last season's disappointing defeat at the hands of the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. The MVP pokes fun at his preseason proclamation after the Heat signed the forward, stating he believed the team would win "Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, but seven championships. In a recent McDonald's commercial promoting the Monopoly game, the company made light of James chance at winning an NBA championship to that of winning the McDonald's Monopoly game. 

I'm About To Go C.A.M.!

I am a fantasy football genius. I got Cam Newton in the last round. Peyton Manning in the first....

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has surpassed expectations and set history in the process. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft set an NFL record in his first game as a starting quarterback in the NFL, 24-37 passing for 422 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 18 yards and a touchdown. He became the first quarterback to ever throw for 422 yards. 

Cam then came out in Week 2 only to follow up with a 432yds, 28-46 passing effort for a touchdown and three interceptions. Despite the interceptions, Cam continues to amaze analysts and football fans alike, showing true pocket patience and a raw talent level. But the haters will still hate and expose the fact that despite Cam's remarkable performances at quarterback, the Panthers are still 0-2 headed into Jacksonville to meet the Jaguars and rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert. 

Im excited to see what the future has in store for the rookie quarterback. And so far so good.

And it doesn't hurt I started Newton in my fantasy league after Peyton Manning was announced to possibly be out for the season... Thanks Cam!

In other NFL news...

• Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was sidelined in last Sunday's game with a punctured lung and injured ribs. Only to return in the 2nd half with the Cowboys down 14-21 and threw for 12 of 16 for 201yds and two touchdowns with no interceptions to rally the Cowboys back to a 27-24 victory over the San Franciso 49'ers. Impressive, but let's see how Romo fares when Dallas heads into Washington to face the Redskins. 
• Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick returned to the Georgia Dome for the first time since he was arrested in an alleged dog fighting ring that sent him to prison for over a year. Since that arrest Vick has redeemed himself and earned the respect of the NFL and even the Atlanta Falcons fans and ownership. But it was Atlanta that had the last laugh as the Falcons defeated the Eagles 34-31 and knocked Vick out of the game with a concussion. 
• In the wake of all the Cam Newton hype, Tom Brady looks to potentially snap Dan Marino's single season record of 5,084. Newtons 854yds in the first two games of the season was impressive, but Brady has surpassed that mark in the first to games throwing for over 904yds (only other player to throw for over 900yds in two consecutive games is New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms (945). Saints QB Drew Brees was just 15 within reaching the mark in 2008. 
• The NFL sent out a memo to all 32 teams Wednesday, warning teams of fines, suspensions, and loss of draft picks if the league determines the players faked injuries during a game. Although several players and coaches admit it is an accepted practice. Some coaches and personnel also noted that they were not above condoning phony injuries if it gives their team a competitive advantage. 

In other news around sports...

• Online poker juggernauts Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker are all in jeopardy, as the online poker world was brought to a halt by indictments that the sites committed bank fraud, illegal gambling offenses and money laundering. On Tuesday, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney has motioned to amend the forfeiture and civil money laundering complaint to highlight that Full Tilt Poker and its board of directors operated the company as a "massive Ponzi scheme".

• Philadelphia Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds, who is black, had a banana thrown at him from the stands Thursday night during a 4-3 exhibition shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

As Simmonds took the first shot in the shootout, a banana came flying into his path as he skated in on Detroit goalie Jordan Pearce.

Simmonds said in a statement about the incident:

"I don't know if it had anything to do with the fact I'm black," Simmonds, a 23-year-old Toronto native, said Thursday. "I certainly hope not. When you're black, you kind of expect (racist) things. You learn to deal with it."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman condemned the act in a statement to the media as well:

"We have millions of great fans who show tremendous respect for our players and for the game. The obviously stupid and ignorant action by one individual is in no way representative of our fans or the people of London, Ontario." 

 

Let's hope this was just a separate incident of a fan not liking the ripeness of the fruit and just was expressing his frustrations with the facilities vending crew.



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