I Like Sportz

     Alright alright, I think it's painfully obvious to everyone who knows me that I like sports.  Embrace it!  The title simply comes from The Lonely Island song "We Like Sportz" (which is phenomenal) Here's a new idea I'm gonna debut for this ol' blog, it's gonna be a daily sports rundown/musing on the recent events.  It's going to be done in the same vein as the guys over at The John Report do things.  One major headline and then several other stories.  I'll try to include all sports in the headlines and will do my best for this to be a daily thing, along with the song of the days.  So here's the first of hopefully many editions of I Like Sportz.

Top Story

Kobe!

Last night Kobe Bryant proved to everyone that, well, he's still Kobe Bryant.  He went off for 48 points against the Phoenix Suns, the highest scoring output in the short NBA season thus far.  He closed the game out, scoring 15 of the Lakers final 17 points and led the way to victory for Los Angeles.  A lot of people seem to doubt Kobe, which probably does nothing more than to motivate him to kick even more ass.  This guy is the greatest player to play in the game for the past decade and in the discussion for one of the all-time best.  The fact that there are still people doubting him year in and year out is ludicrous.  He's on a team with guys like Josh McRoberts, Troy Murphy, & Devin Ebanks playing major minutes.  More often than not, Kobe is gonna have to take over games.  It's unclear whether or not that will lead to a successful year for the Lakers, but people better be prepared to deal with a motivated and hungry Black Mamba.

And This Happened...

Brandon Paul goes off - Illinois junior guard, Brandon Paul had a career night in Champaign, Illinois last night against number 5 overall Ohio State.  Paul led the unranked Illini to a 79-74 victory as he scored a career high 43 points, 28 of which in the 2nd half.  The efficiency for Paul was off the charts as he only took 15 shots in total and made 8 three-pointers en route to Illinois' 13th straight victory at home.  Paul's 43 was the 3rd most points in Illinois history.

Mark Sanchez gets called out - A week ago, the New York Jets 3rd string quarterback Greg McElroy was chastised by the media/fellow NFL players when he became outspoken about the less than ideal Jets locker-room.  The Jets were a massive disappointment, after their head coach Rex Ryan claimed they would win the Super Bowl, they failed to make the playoffs this past season.  Now an anonymous Jets player has called out starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez.  The player claimed Sanchez has become lazy and content, knowing he will never be benched.  The anonymous player went on to say that if Peyton Manning becomes available, the team would be "stupid" if they didn't try to get him.  What I don't understand is, why isn't this guy being bashed?  McElroy may have broken some unwritten locker-room "code" but at least he manned up and let everyone know who he was.  This coward of a teammate is saying all this stuff behind an anonymous tag.  The Jets are a mess and if I were Peyton Manning, I'd stay away.

The Miami Heat blow a lead & LeBron disappears - Admittedly, the Miami heat are playing extremely well here early on in the NBA season.  Last night was the first time the Heat just plain fucked up, losing to the Golden State Warriors in overtime.  Not only did they blow a 17 point lead to a team immersed in a 5 game losing streak, but LeBron disappeared when it mattered most.  While he ended up with a solid stat line (26 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) he did it all in the first 3 quarters.  During the 4th quarter & overtime, when the Warriors made their comeback and ultimately won, LeBron didn't make any sort of dent in the game.  Former Miami Heat player, Dorell Wright scored 8 points in overtime, including 2 of his 6 three pointers for the game.   The Warriors were also led by newly signed guard, Nate Robinson, scoring 24 points off the bench, including 14-14 at the free throw line.  The Heat will be fine, but this is something their fans do not want to see.  LeBron disappearing late in games is nothing new and if he continues to do it, the Heat won't win a championship.

Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III declares for NFL draft - So who's gonna take RGIII in this year's NFL draft?  Andrew Luck is the consensus number 1 pick, which belongs to the Indianapolis Colts, so who takes RGIII?  RGIII won the Heisman Trophy last season, in a year where it was Luck's to lose.  RGIII had a ridiculous year, throwing for 4,293 yards, 37 touchdowns, and only 6 interceptions.  To add on, as a dual threat QB, he rushed for 699 yards and 10 more touchdowns.  He has questions as a pro ready quarterback, but he can be grateful for a guy like Cam Newton, someone with a similar game, because he had a very good rookie season and will most likely calm the nerves of potential teams looking to draft RGIII.  I think the Colts take Luck number 1, but I wouldn't be surprised if the St. Louis Rams took RGIII with the 2nd pick, or perhaps another team trades up to get him.  We'll just have to wait and see.