According to ESPN.com, it seems as if Allen Iverson’s chances of making a difference in this year’s NBA season are dwindling even further than they had already. The New York Knicks announced this morning that they will not be signing the 10-time all star. The former MVP and scoring champion was waived on Tuesday after taking a leave of absence for family issues, or for what most believe to be, unhappiness with coming off the bench.

This past summer (when Iverson was an unrestricted free agent) marked a pivotal point in his career. He had two options: 1) Change his attitude and playing habits, or 2) Continue to act like the immature player we have all come to know.

Teams have been scared of what they were getting when singing Iverson, and they had every right to be. Very rarely in Iverson’s career has he helped a TEAM to succeed. He has always been a player with the ability to score at will, and be a great passer as well, but rarely has he displayed the ability to work as a team player for the greater good of the team. There was that one 2001 finals run, coached by Larry Brown, which brings many people to speculate that in this time of turmoil in Iverson’s career, Brown may take a chance on him.

The real issue in signing Iverson comes back to the same point every time: Can he sacrifice his love for having the ball in his hands to create a winning atmosphere? At the end of last season, knowing his time with the Detroit Pistons was coming to and end, he said that he was willing to do anything to win a championship. He wanted nothing more than to be happy and win. But like always, things are much easier said than done. He eventually signed with the one team that showed enough interest, and yet again, displayed his displeasure with a supporting role.

Allen Iverson has always been, and will most likely always be, a cancer to the teams he plays on. He will go in and ruin any type of team chemistry that team may have had. He was able to be successful on the Sixers for many years because they would give him the ball, and let him do his thing, but after 10 years, they grew tired of his selfish attitude. From there, he went to the Nuggets, a team with great potential, and a seemingly great situation for Iverson as he would be paired with a great scorer in Carmelo Anthony, but like in Philadelphia, the Nuggets just could not develop the type of chemistry needed to go deep into the playoffs. He then traveled to Detroit, where the team grew so tired of him so quickly, they milked his back injury for everything it was worth, and basically paid him to sit on the bench for the remainder of the year. And, most recently Iverson and the Grizzlies had to part ways after only 3 games, due to his unhappiness with coming off the bench.

In today’s NBA, chemistry means everything, and Iverson is the antithesis of a player with the ability to develop chemistry. Many analysts suspected that if his stint with the Grizzlies did not go well, that contract would be his last, and in my opinion, it most likely should be. If I were in charge of putting together a team, I don’t think I would want to take the risk of having him disrupt what chemistry has already been put together. Iverson now has two choices: 1) Mean what you say and play as a TEAM player, or 2) Leave the NBA on somebody else’s terms, but please, if you do leave AI, leave with dignity and class.

I am always looking to expand my journalistic portfolio.  While this site is my baby, I had a brief stint as a contributing writer for ESPN and have been a part of many different radio shows in the past.  Most recently, I wrote a piece for The Bulletin, a newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The topic is Temple University football.  It just hit the web yesterday, and is a little outdated (Temple went on to beat Akron), but hopefully you still think it is a good read.  If you are in Philly, you can read it on those things still being printed on paper (they’re called newspapers).  For those of you outside of the City of Brotherly Love, go ahead and check it out here: It’s Time To Rally Around The Cherry And White.

Here is the first paragraph from the article:

At this time last year, the only reason that I would have been talking about Temple, was to find out which one I would be attending for Friday night Shabbat services.  But this year, I have a new reason to mention that six letter word, and it is in relation to the Owls.

Just a few days after an impressive 32 point, 9 assist performance against Chauncey Billups and the Nuggets, Brandon Jennings dropped an insane stat line. 55 points on 21/34 from the field (62%), 7/8 from 3pt range (88%), 5 rebounds and 5 assists with 4 turnovers. What makes his 55 point performance even more impressive is that he failed to score a point in the first quarter, went for 29 in the third, and most important of all, led his team to a victory.

Jennings’ difficult time in Europe has been well documented. From getting kicked out of practice for not working hard enough, to meager playing time and scoring output, many skeptics deemed his choice a failure very early on. However, Jennings apparently learned a great deal in his year abroad. While his flashy style and controversial public comments have painted one picture of Jennings, his actions and performance in the NBA have displayed something very different thus far.

When top scorer Michael Redd went down with yet another knee injury, many said “here we go again” for the woeful Bucks. However, Jennings apparently was not one of them. He has picked up the scoring load, shown poise and leadership, helping to guide his team to a 5-2 record with a 4 game win streak. He is also leading his team in points (25.6) and assists (5.1). Jennings is also adding over 4 rebounds a game, 1 steal and shooting nearly 50% from the floor and 57% on 3pt.

There is no question that we surely will see players choose the path of Brandon Jennings by going to Europe as opposed to their requisite year of college. There also certainly will be those who are not fit to make that jump. Hopefully we do not see a rash of “advisors” steering players who should be playing college basketball, towards the overseas payday for their own monetary gain; however, it may in fact be a good move for some players.

Maybe it takes a year of sitting on a bench in Europe, getting treated like any other professional player and having to work hard, rather than walking around a college campus like a celebrity for a year. Maybe it is too stressful for some to be labeled the next Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, etc. every night on ESPN during March Madness. Maybe, for some, this really is a successful path to choose.

While it is still too early to grade the Jennings experiment a complete success, I would venture to say that he is off to an exceptional start and proving a lot of doubters wrong. Somewhere Sonny Vaccaro is smiling.

From an early age, Hogan has been an entertainer through and through and had a natural rapport with his fans. However, wrestling was not the first entertainment career that the Hulk ventured into. Hulk showed interest in music and guitar and played in several bands while he launched his overwhelming wrestling career. He provides the audience with his first-hand experience struggling to make it in the wrestling world and sharing some of his secrets along the way. Despite the time consuming career of Hulk Hogan, this book focuses much more on his personal experiences happening out of the ring. Much of us are familiar with VH1’s reality TV show that featured the Hogan family called, “Hogan Knows Best.” The family was portrayed to be seemingly happy and content with life, but under the soft-script laid deeper problems that would result in Hogan hitting rock bottom. In this book, Terry captures and engages the audience by disclosing his deepest flaws that range from taking steroids to contemplating suicide in recent years. Oddly enough, it was when the reality show began to fizzle that reality actually set in on Hogan. In the midst of a tragic accident involving his son, attempting to launch his daughter’s singing career, getting a divorce from his long time wife, Hulk is facing unemployment for the first time ever. Just as he nearly convinces himself and the audience into believing he is out for the count, he hulks up and chooses to move forward by practicing the values that the Hulk Hogan persona once preached.

The journey through stardom with Hulk Hogan is entertaining to say the least. I found this book especially appealing because I lived and breathed the Hulk Hogan era and can relate with many of the characters mentioned in the book. It is really intriguing to see a private look at Hulk Hogan’s life, but at times he becomes over dramatic and can bore me with repetitive and predictable story lines. By the end of the book it was satisfying to know that Hulk Hogan and Terry Boella are one in the same and will remain that way.

Hulk Hogan’s book, My Life Outside the Ring, is of value to anyone looking for insight from an inspirational person. If you are fortunate enough to know the answer to this question I pose, then you can find yourself with a free copy. Post your answer in the comments section. Please use your actual email address, as that will be my method of contacting you to receive your shipping address.

Wrestlemania IX  took place in 1993 and marked Hulk Hogan’s brief return to the WWF. Who was his legendary tag-team partner and longtime friend?

Starting in 2009, there are two classes of free agents: international and domestic.  Domestic free agents can only sign with other NPB teams while international free agents are free to try their luck overseas as well as sign domestically.

In order to qualify as an international free agent, players must play nine seasons in the NPB.  To qualify as a domestic free agent, players drafted before 2007 must wait eight seasons.  Players drafted after 2007 are only required to wait seven seasons before being declared domestic free agents.  This is a much longer period than in MLB.  Can you imagine an MLB superstar having to wait eight seasons before signing with a big market club?

Also, in contrast to MLB regulations, players must be on the team’s top roster for 145 days in order for it to count as a “year” for free agency purposes.  Time spent injured or in the minors does not count.  Therefore, it can take much longer than eight or nine years for a player to be eligible for free agency in Japan.

Further, teams that sign a domestic free agent in Japan are required to compensate the player’s former team with either money or players.  Many players decline free agency and remain with their teams.  This basically means that Japanese free agency is almost non-existent compared to MLB.  For example, after the 2008 season, 83 players qualified for free agency.  Only 7 actually filed.

This year, roughly the same amount of players are eligible.  One Japanese player has already filed: Ryota Igarashi of the Yakult Swallows. Igarashi is a 30-year-old right-handed relief pitcher.  He went 3-2 with three saves and a 3.19 ERA in 56 games last season.  His best season was 2004 when he had 37 saves and 86 strikeouts in 66 games.  It will be interesting to see how many more actually file.

With the recent reinstatement of Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount, the era of second chances continues in the world of sports.

America is and always has been a land of second chances. Throughout America’s history, immigrants have fled from persecution, whether it be religious, racial, or economic, to start anew in the United States. Whatever they had done in their prior lives was wiped clean when they set foot on American soil and they were given a second chance. The sky was the limit and this is one of the aspects which makes America so great. Most of our ancestors were the product of second chances and therefore we, as a people, are predisposed to sympathize with individuals who are in a position to garner another shot.

Whatever reason it may be, the last few years have brought this willingness to forgive to the forefront of the world of athletics. Athletes have always been misbehaving, but the way in which respective leagues deal with this misbehavior has changed throughout the years. From minimal sanctions to extreme sanctions, I believe commissioners and coaches have finally found a happy medium in how to deal with misbehaving athletes. Depending on the infraction, the coach should over-punish the athlete. This tactic garners the praise of the commissioner, the other schools within the conference, and the general public. It reinforces the idea that the main purpose of collegiate athletics is to promote equality, professionalism, and sportsmanship. As difficult as it might be for a coach to over-punish his star player, the benefits far outweigh the burdens in the long run. If, as in Blount’s case, the coach wishes to re-instate the player down the road, he can have the latitude to make this choice without backlash or uproar from anyone. If the coach takes the matter out of the commissioner’s hand at the outset, then he is the one who can decide how to proceed further down the road.

Whether it be Michael Vick or LeGarrette Blount, truly remorseful athletes are and should be given second chances. Not third or fourth chances, but second chances. Regardless of whether or not they succeed, if they have shown legitimate remorse, they deserve the opportunity to prove that they understand their mistakes and are ready to move forward.

You have heard of Brandon Jennings.  He had problems attaining the requisite scores to go to a D1 school and decided to play his first year out of high school overseas.  His struggles were documented, but he was still a lottery pick of the Milwaukee Bucks.  There were many doubters.  He has shut them up thus far.  Through five games, Jennings is leading the Bucks in points-per-game (18.4), assists-per-game (4.4), and minutes-per-game (31.6).  Doubters have become believers, and it has made the NCAA nervous that young players will read up on the Brandon Jennings Experiment, deciding to play overseas for a year, pocket that money, and then hopefully be a lottery pick in a future draft.  Not so fast..

While Brandon Jennings may have “cheated the system”, there are those that believe he will be a rare exception.  They look at someone like Jeremy Tyler, who has not yet tested his luck in the NBA or its draft, but has been struggling mightily overseas in Israel.  Tyler left the states a year younger than when Jennings left; he left before he completed his senior year of high school.  His coach in Haifa is not too fond of him thus far, calling him lazy, out of shape, naïve, and immature. I find it interesting that after only two games, Pete Thamel of the New York Times can already confidently say,

The Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings skipped college and had rocky moments while playing last season in Rome. But they were nothing compared with Tyler’s.

What does this tell us?  Not much, yet.  Tyler still has a lot of time to prove himself overseas.  And let us not forget how much criticism Jennings received before becoming a solid player in the NBA.  It seems like some of our memories are very short.  I think it is way too early to call Tyler a bust.  However, if Tyler is unable to thrive in Israel and does not pan out in the NBA, then perhaps Jennings will be looked at as a fluke success story, and Tyler’s story may dissuade others from following his path.

One thing that is certain is that there are a lot of important people paying particular attention to how Tyler fairs in the long run.  Those entities include advisors like Sonny Vaccaro, agencies like Wasserman Media Group, executives within the NCAA, David Stern, shoe companies, and many others.  Personally, I hope that Tyler wakes up and gets his mind right, because as an agent, I love having more options for potential clients.  If a future Jennings or Tyler came to me asking for guidance on what to do, I’d like to have confidence that playing overseas instead of NCAA basketball will not kill his future.

Being a fan of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and more specifically, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), I have followed the sport closely and admired the skill and level of the athletes involved and the business savvy of the people in charge. MMA is an emerging sport around the world with the UFC being the number one organization internationally;  it has the deepest talent pool, and the most name recognition. If it were up to me, everyone would share my passion for the sport and I could talk about a pay per view event with the common sports fan like it was a Monday Night Football game, sharing in depth opinions and competitive banter. Instead, I have a few friends who enjoy the sport casually and am left trying to “convert” the others, much like the UFC is trying to do with mainstream sports fans.

To hear UFC president Dana White tell it, if there were four corners on a street and on one corner there was a basketball game, one corner there was a football game, one corner there was a baseball game and on one corner there was a fight; everyone would go watch the fight. This statement might make sense, especially when the UFC can go overseas to England and have an easier time marketing itself than the NFL; but I don’t think people would stay and watch if the fighters were just laying on each other or kicking each other in the leg every 30 seconds or so; I’m sure they’d find their way back to the football game at some point. This is the biggest problem in my opinion the UFC and fans like myself face in recruiting more fans. People love to watch two guys stand up and throw punches at one another. Chuck Liddell became a celebrity and grew the UFC brand by doing just that, but it is hard for a prospective fan of the sport to understand the complexity of the ground game and what goes on. Deciphering a good punch is way easier then noticing a solid display of the rubber guard. Never heard of the rubber guard? Don’t worry, most people haven’t and that barrier can make a technically sound fight look like two guys laying on one another for extended amounts of time. This is bound to happen from time to time, but what if it happened in a highly anticipated main event that you paid $50 to watch?

On April 19, 2009, UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva fought number one contender Thales Leites for the title at UFC 97. I had convinced a few friends of mine to come watch the fight with me at a local bar and was doing my best to try and describe the dominant brilliance of Silva’s career to that point, and get them ready for an exciting main event. When the fight did happen; however, the opponent, who must have heard what I thought was going to happen to him, failed to engage Silva and it made for, in my opinion, the most boring 25 minutes of my life (you can compare it to watching the Browns-Bills game earlier this year). Afterward I found myself trying to make excuses for the UFC and told my friends it was a fluke, but needless to say, it has been much harder to get them to come to any more pay per view events on a Saturday night.

Two weeks ago, UFC 104 happened in Los Angeles at the Staples Center. This was a big market event for the UFC,which was traveling outside its comfort zone of Las Vegas, and there were a lot of new fans and money to be made. The main event featured Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the title. What transpired was much like my experience with the Anderson Silva fight, only Rua, the clear cut winner of the fight, lost in a decision. This left the fans who had watched and the people who had covered the event dumbfounded and it had been an anti-climactic end to a sub par night of fights. Former UFC Light heavyweight champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson had this to say about the fight: “I was watching the fight this weekend with the director of the A Team movie, the movie crew & a couple of actors & I never been ashamed to be a part of MMA till now. The UFC looked like (sic) this weekend. The main event was boring. I anticipated that because let’s be real.. Machida is a boring fighter. But Shogun getting robbed like that was pretty cut throat. Then you hear Joe Rogan say you ‘you have to beat the champ to be a champ.’ & that made me think the UFC are full of (sic)!”

Fights like this lose fans, period. A more casual fan buying a UFC event for the first time would be hard pressed to shell out his hard earned money on a pay per view or substantially higher priced seats to an event after an experience such as this. It is hard to put a finger on how to go about making the sport more attractive to potential viewers, but I think the UFC needs to amend its for-the-most-part stellar plan and deliver the kind of quality that is undeniable.

There is a lot of uncharted ground to be covered for the UFC in its quest for world domination. I think for the most part the organization is doing a good job, but lately I would say that it has become complacent in its company mold, and to really shine, it needs to bend it a little. In the coming weeks, I will continue to write about MMA and the UFC, sharing my opinion,s because I have seen the great fights and know how good it can be.  I just need you guys to join the fun.

I am interested in hearing what you guys think and how you perceive MMA on this site, so leave comments and hopefully we can have some fun with a weekly MMA thread.

Here is our very last division preview for the 2009-10 season.  Hopefully you are enjoying the start to the NBA season.  It is tough to stay focused on it when we are in the midst of a great football season and a really exciting World Series.  Anyway, my pick in the Pacific is…the Lakers.  Yeah, it is a boring pick, but I had to go with the purple and gold.  I keep joking with my friends that the Kings are my sleeper pick.  If it actually does come through, remember where you heard it (disclaimer: I really think that the Kings have absolutely no shot).

Last week, I posted my 2009-10 preview for the Miami Heat.  I think we will have an above-average season, but I see the Magic taking this division.  Solid offseason moves, and a great man in the middle by the name of Dwight Howard.  Thus, I’ll give him some love by placing his image at the top of this post.

Atlanta Hawks: Peachtree Hoops

Charlotte Bobcats: Rufus on Fire | QueenCityHoops

Miami Heat: Peninsula Is Mightier | SportsAgentBlog.com

Orlando Magic: Third Quarter Collapse

Washington Wizards: Bullets Forever | Hoops Addict | Truth About It

Bonus Links: See full schedule here | Also see SBNation preview storystream