Author: backinphilly

Worst Person 31-Raptors Mascot

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Well, I’m back and ready to get another worst person in sports out. This episode doesn’t even involve an athlete or a coach or even an owner. There’s no front office propaganda or anything like that. No crimes were committed, but a MASCOT tore his Achilles.

Yup, you read that right.

The Toronto Raptors’ mascot tore his Achilles tendon during a performance for a school in Halifax.

The main problem with this is that now Toronto doesn’t have a mascot. For some reason, every article I’ve read about this “injury” classifies the Raptors as a team with playoff aspirations.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at this accusation. I feel a little weird writing about basketball during football season, considering that of the big four professional sports in the US, basketball is at the bottom of my list.

Other than Rudy Gay and Kyle Lowry, there’s not a whole lot of talent on their predicted starting five.

Quite honestly, I don’t even remotely care about the state of the Toronto Raptors, or basketball at all right now. It’s football season.

I just think it’s a little bit strange how a MASCOT is getting national recognition when his team plays in Canada.

That’s just two things that don’t register with me.

Worst Person 30-Sergio Garcia

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Had to make one about this guy.

Sergio and legend Tiger Woods have been fierce rivals for years. They don’t like each other, and there are few things more exciting than watching two of the world’s best square off in tournament after tournament. In the recent Player’s Championship, Tiger was victorious for yet another win on the season. No major wins yet, but he should get one soon.

Anyway, Tiger and Sergio were bickering at each other again because Sergio claims that Tiger warming up for a shot while he took his tee shot threw his concentration and resulted in a less than desirable lie for Sergio.

The Player’s Cup officials disagreed with Sergio and over the course of the week, Sergio has been making references to “fried chicken”, a popular racial slur towards African-Americans, and using the reference to belittle Tiger and his race.

Dude, just shut up and golf. If you suck, you suck. I used to root for Sergio if Tiger was having a bad week. Sergio is one of my favorite golfers. However, after some of his most recent antics, I can’t root for that. Before people give me a load of garbage about how I still promote Tiger after all his extra-marital affairs, I have one piece of defense. While cheating on a wife is wrong, I’d rather be a cheater than a racist.

I’m not sure when that picture was taken, but at least they are staying cordial and shaking hands. They still hold golf to the high standard that it was meant to be held.

A Week to Remember

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Well, this week has been just incredible. I have faced a TON of success this week.

The big day was Thursday, where I not only received a strong SAT score but also won 1st place in the sports writing category of the Tri-County Journalism Competition that me and my class went to.

Last year, the first place winner was also named John and due to a dramatic pause last year, my heart sank in anticipation of hearing my last name called. However, last year was not my destiny.

Instead, the powers that be made me wait until this year, where I finally corrected my wrongs, and earned the top prize.

I’ll be honest. I was a little bitter this year after one of my classmates (who happens to be one of my closest friends) won a Ventura County Star award for her sports journalism and I received nothing. However, I should be thanking her. I gained a new sense of determination going into the competition this past week after not getting the Star award. By the way, I’m really not that bitter being as she really put out an incredible article to win her award. I was very proud of her. Way to go Daphne!!!!

Anyway, the SAT score isn’t as big of a deal to me despite its affect on my college resume. The journalism accomplishment makes me feel that sense of superiority. I came into the competition expecting that I would win something. I was hopeful for first place. But I knew that after last year, this was my time.

Way to go, OVS journalism! We really made things happen!

Pokemon

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There’s a lot of different sides to me. There’s the Eagle-fanatic side that just loves the NFL and his Eagles. There’s the Honey Badger, my deranged, athlete side who simply has no regard for his own or anyone else’s well being. That side is also known as my “power trip”. And then, there’s my nerd side.

I am a bit of a nerd. I am an absolute Star Wars addict. I could look at a picture of a character, and probably give you a solid name and specific event that occurred in that character’s theatrical life.

But, as into Star Wars as I am, I’m a huge video game freak. My favorite franchise is the Super Smash Brothers series made famous by those awesome people at Nintendo. But there’s always been a very close second.

That would be the Nintendo-produced Pokemon franchise. Everyone knows about Pikachu, but I know about the other 600. It’s a whole world that I just love to immerse myself in from time to time. In fact, over the weekend, I went out and purchased one of the newest installments in the franchise, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.

I just realized how lame that actually sounds, but the game is once again very entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable.

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Worst Person 29-Titus Young

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Everyone kinda saw this one coming. The only real question is why haven’t I done a worst person on Titus Young way earlier?

I’ll be honest. I thought he was going to grow up, and figure it out. Instead, he’s turning into a diva wide receiver that can’t stay out of trouble with the law. He kind of reminds me of Chris Henry.

What? Too soon?

Oh well.

Anyway, Titus Young has had a rapid decline in the NFL as he has gone from the number 2 target of Matthew Stafford behind Calvin Johnson, to a job-less, confused young man.

His locker room antics caused the Lions to release him, and he was picked up by the Rams. However, less than two weeks later, the Rams cut him too.

Not a lot has been released about what he had going on in the locker rooms or in coach meetings. Regardless, this sequence of events has led to the downfall of Titus Young.

But he’s back in the news once again, and this time, he’s not in trouble with a team. He’s in trouble with the law.

This past week, Titus was arrested three separate times, including two times in a 15 hour span.

I had very high hopes for Titus. I expected solid football-related things out of this guy. Unfortunately, I don’t think another team will take a chance on him. I feel bad for him, but he did it to himself. Currently, he is being held and his family is considering whether or not to pay bail for him.

Titus, you have two choices. Either shut up and play, or continue to ruin your life.

And that’s D-Town for ya!!!!

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So Detroit did EXACTLY what I called. I predicted a Detroit Red Wings first round 7-game series win against a top seed. I was just about as close as possible.

I predicted that Detroit would take down the Blackhawks in the first round. That didn’t quite happen.

Instead, Detroit did one better and made it into the playoffs as the 7th seed, dealing with the Anaheim Ducks. They just took them down in 7 games.

I watched the last couple minutes of the game, and I was in awe as to how well-disciplined that Detroit team is.

I’m gonna dissect it all this week. I haven’t really researched all of the game tape yet. I only saw the last period.

One thing is for sure. Despite him not having a goal or an assist, there’s gonna be plenty of Pavel.

My new predictions-In round 2, I expect the Kings to deal with the Sharks after maybe 6 games. The Sharks get very tired very quickly. As for Detroit, after what they did against the Ducks, the sky is the limit for them. However, Chicago is a completely different story. I think Chicago will take that series. We will see.

What Goes Through My Head?-An Exclusive Look Into My Viewings of Sunday Night Football

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As many of you guys know, I have an addiction to sports, particularly the NFL. I love just about everything about it. It’s fascinating and I like to break down just about everything that I see during the game.

So I thought I would show you guys what I was doing while watching the Eagles-Giants Sunday Night game back on September 30th.

For those that are not football fans, some of this might be cryptic. However, everything that is on this blog following this explanation was written on the spot during the game.

Enjoy my mind!

Crazy night
• Winner takes lead of NFC East
o Barring Cowboys on Monday night
• Dawkins retirement
• LeSean McCoy starts slow, then explodes
• Michael Vick struggles still
• Nnamdi bum eye (somehow hurt his eye-Hospital?)
• Brandon Boykin slot corner rookie pains
• Brent Celek continuing his big season
• Dominik Hixon’s massive extension catch over DRC
• Vick finally getting his legs back
• DeSean actually taking the hits now
• Offensive line holding their own
• No turnovers FINALLY
• Lots of pass rushing on both teams
• Same commercials all the time
• Clay Matthews in back-to-back ads
• New punter-who cares
• Why did Cris(Collinsworth) and Al(Michaels)dissect the holding technique of McBriar?
• WHY CAN’T THE EAGLES PLAY SPECIAL TEAMS?
• Nnamdi didn’t go to the hospital
o Playing with a visor now
• Eagles’ stadium still has a prison apparently?
• Is this a different game with a healthy Hakeem Nicks?
• Can Boykin stop Cruz? (I guess not)
• Who can stop Cruz?
o DRC can do that
• Picks off Manning in the red zone
• No sacks through 3 quarters
• Battered and bruised
• Who the hell is Stanley Havili?
• Why doesn’t McCoy start off games that well?
o Mainly a closer?
o Is he good or Eagles’ o-line clutch?
• Is Celek getting better at blocking?
• Why do the Eagles want to use Bryce Brown?
o What is his talent?
o Dion? Polk?
• Vick throwing like a blind man? You’re supposed to be a professional, dude.
o Throwing it away or bad route running?
• First sack of the night with 10 minutes remaining
o Chase Blackburn gets to Michael Vick
• Turnover leads to score
o Not touchdown

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World’s Strongest Man

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Well, I watched a lot of World’s Strongest Man videos over the past week. There were a lot of very impressive iron men lifting, benchpressing, squatting and so on. I’ve always wanted to possess that type of raw power.

Apparently, I need to be foreign.

Just ask Mariusz Pudzianowski, arguably the greatest World’s Strongest Man champion of all time, winning the competition five times.

Brace yourselves. This is a human man from Poland.

That’s a freakin’ guy.

Just wanted to show you guys an image of what a truly buff individual really looks like.

Girls, stop freaking out over guys with big arms and nice abs. This guy could kick the crap out of any of those tools.

Movie Day

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Well, on a lazy Sunday, what better way to spend my time but watching a bunch of movies?

So let’s take movie role call.

I started with Happy Gilmore. Unfortunately, my Netflix wouldn’t let me watch it. So, that one was a bust.

So I ACTUALLY started with Coach Carter. Everyone should see that movie. It’s basketball and it’s awesome. That was great.

Then I ventured into the hockey genre, and watched Goon and Slap Shot. Goon reminds me a lot of me. It’s a hockey player that really doesn’t care about anyone. He fights, and that’s it. My temper matched his. Slap Shot is an interesting classic as well. Just more hockey and that’s that.

Then, I finished up the day with some Jackass and Nitro Circus. Doesn’t get much better than watching a few guys try and hurt themselves. It’s just awesome.

Anyway, let me continue my evening of Nitro Circus and maybe some other weird stuff.

NFL Draft RECAP!!!!

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Didn’t I tell you? I had NO CLUE what was gonna happen.

I’m gonna talk about the Eagles tonight, and I might get into the other picks later on this week.

First up is Lane Johnson, offensive tackle from Oklahoma.

This kid is a solid offensive lineman. Very fast and very athletic. He’s going to shore up a solid Eagle offensive line.

Some fun facts about the draft are as follows.

The Vikings had 3 first round picks this year, the first time that has happened since 2001 with the Rams.

There were no running backs taken in the first round for the first time in the Modern Draft era.

There was only one quarterback, and it wasn’t Geno Smith.

These are facts.

This week, I will bring you through all the draft picks that I think are important. I named Lane Johnson this time so that I can follow with a blog dedicated to him this week.

Stay tuned, psycho sports people!