Pirates make moves

The Pirates were pretty quiet during the winter meetings but in the days following the meetings they made a few aquisitions. They signed free agent first baseman Lyle Overbay and outfielder Matt Diaz. This goes along with a few smaller signings they already made and the big adding of manager Clint Hurdle. Maybe the future is a little brighter for the BUCS?

BCS Madness

Every year around this time everyone starts to talk and complain about the good old BCS system. Already this year like in recent ones past it has created conroversy. Many fans want to see a playoff system for various resons. I would also like to see a playoff format for the simple reason that every top team has a fair shot. In the current system there are teams going to BCS bowls from the Big East and ACC who are unranked and underserving of playing in these bowls. However, I like most people would rather see a playoff system because the BCS is a huge mess.

Oden Done for the Season, Again

Former number one overall draft pick Greg Oden will undergo microfracture knee surgery and not play this season. The Portland Trail Blazers center hasn't played since December 5th of last season because of other injuries. This begins to raise the question if Oden is a bust because he has now missed two full seasons and the majority of last season after being drafted first by the Blazers in 2007. He missed his rookie season because of the same surgery on his right knee and now he will have surgery on his left knee that repairs damaged carlidge. Oden has only played 82 games over his first three seasons and will be a free agent this summer. He is the first number one pick since Kwame Brown that won't be offered a contract extension at the end of his rookie contract. It's disappointing to see something like this happen to a player because his career was so promising coming out of college at Ohio State.

Posey is NL's Top Rookie

San Francisco Giants cather Buster Posey was named the NL Rookie of the Year today. In my mind this was an obvious choice because he carried the Giants through the playoffs offensively to an eventual World Series Championship. He hit .305 during the regualar season with 18 homers and 67 RBIs. He didn't even play the entire season as he was called up from the minors in May. His strong point of the season though was in the playoffs where I can remeber seeing him on the SportsCenter highlights numerous times for hitting big home runs.

Cold night for the Heat

The "Big 3 Era" of the Miami heat began last night but not as expected. Lebron James managed to score 31 points but the Heat fell to the Boston Celtics 88-80. I turned the game on in the second half last night and just laughed and flipped the channel because Miami was down 15 points. This was the story for the majority of the game as the Celtics were ahead by 12 to 15 points. Miami's struggles can be contributed to only 21 points combined by Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh and too many turnovers by the big three. With three superstars like this on one team you had to expect some problems though. I know they are saying championship or bust in Miami and I would like to see them win because I am a LeBron fan, but I just don't see it happening without a dominant post player. I can see much of the season going like last night where James and Wade turn the ball over and miss many shots because they both are used to having the ball all the time and being the premiere perimeter player on their team.

Underdog Series

This years World Series features the Sanfrancisco Giants and Texas Rangers, two teams that probalby weren't picked to be here at the beginning of the seasson. The Giants defeated the favored Phillies with numerous big name pitchers and the Rangers defeated the oh so hated Yankees. Its nice to see these teams advance when many of the baseball analysts picked a Yankees/Phillies series. I myself would have expected the two other teams to advanced because they have bigger payrolls and more big name players, however I love the fact that two new teams get to compete for baseballs greatest prize.

Controversial Review

The Pittsburgh Steelers improved their record to 5-1 Sunday afternoon by defeating the Miami Dophins 23-22. A fumble by Ben Roethisberger at the goal line late in the fourth quarter proved to be the deciding factor in the game. As Ben dove for the endzone, he fumbled and the referee initially called a touchdown for the Steelers but then it was challened and overtured. This was expected after seeeing the replay, but the second part of the review was who recovered the ball in the endzone. Because there was no conclusive evidence that the Dopphins recoved the ball, the Steelers got to keep the ball on their own half yard line and kick a field goal to go up 23-22 and eventually win by that score. It apppeared that after the fumble Dolphins players came up with the ball, and one of their players did have the ball after the refs separated the players. But becasue there was no direct evidence on tape that a Dophin recovered the ball, the Steelers got to keep it and kick the game winning field goal. This sparked a ton of controversy around the league, with analysits and especially with Dolphins fans. Do you think the refs made the right call and is this rule justified in this situation?

Bucs dump Russell

After suffering 105 losses during the 2010 campaign, the Pittsburgh Pitates decided to part ways with manager John Russell after three seasons. General Manager Neal Hunnington said it was a tough decision to make because he was very commited to make good things happen. I think the decison was the right one though because the team only won 17 games on the road and had as more losses than I can ever remember. Something had to be done from the management standpoint due to all of the young talent the team has blooming right now, they have to go nowhere but up. I hope to see them get a bigger name manager and a few veteran pitches so maybe they can flirt with .500 for once because I do like the young offensive players they have such as Neal Walker, Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez and Garrtet Jones. I just hope to see a winning season sometime soon.

Roethlisberger Returns

After serving a four game suspension, Steelers $100 million dollar franchise quarterback returned to the teams facilities on Monday. The team didn't miss the quarterback as many predicted they would as they started out 3-1 and are recognized as one of the better teams in the AFC. If it wasn't for a last-minute touchdown by T.J. Houshmanzadeh they would be sitting pretty at a percept 4-0. Much of the Steelers success so far is contributed to their stellar defense in which they missed so much last season. The offense however will love to have Big Ben back as it will open up the passing game a great bit. Pittsburgh hopes to get back to their winning ways in week 6 against 1-3 Cleveland because they have a buy this coming week.

Intro

My name is Nick Powers and I'm a sophmore in the Sport Management program at Slippery Rock. I went to high school at Butler and lived there all of my life. Last year I transfered here from WVU becasue the Sport Management program there is less accredited and SRU is much more affordable and close to home. In my spare time I enjoy playing basketball, golf and snowboarding. I am a true Pittsburgh fan following the Steelers, Pens and Pirates on a regular basis. I am proud to be from Pittsburgh and love the great sports tradition the town has. I enjoy listeneing to hip-hop music and my favorite artist is Wiz Khalifa who is also from Pittsburgh. When I graduate from Slippery Rock I hope to get a job with a college or professional sports program and my dream job would to eventually become an athletic director.