POW!!

Yes, I know how to spells Pau Gasol's name, but "Pow" is a nice way to describe what has happened to the Lakers since they acquired the big man earlier this month. The Lakers are 10-1 with Gasol and currently winners of 9 straight. They have the best record the Western Conference, just came off an 8-1 road trip, and look like the favorite to win the NBA championship this season...and oh yeah, Kobe is happy. Even though the Lakers had a respectable record before trading for Gasol, they definitely did not look like a championship team, more like a team with a lot of promise. This great move by the Lakers turned the team around, and this is without their other big man Andrew Bynum. It seems like the Lakers won't be able to lose another game once he comes back. Their starting five is just ridiculous and it seems like they blowout their opponents every night. The funny thing is their only loss in the last 11 games came to the Atlanta Hawks. Since acquiring Gasol and being 10-1, the Lakers are averaging 110.5 points per game, which is 2.7 points per game higher than their season average. They are allowing opponents to 97.3 points per game, which is down 3.2 from their season average and their average margin of victory the past 11 games is 13.2, which is 6.1 up from their season average. So the Lakers as a team are improving in every category on both offense and defense. Kobe Bryant for the season averages 27.8 ppg 6.1 rpb 5.4 apg. During the last 11 games his points per game dropped to 23.5 and rebounds to 4.9. But what I like is that Kobe is trusting his teammates a lot more and he is averaging 1 assist more per game over the last 11 games. It may not seem like much but it really is for him. Gasol's numbers are about the same as his season averages but what the has done to the Lakers is astonishing. He has not only improved their team but triggered trades by the rest of the contenders in the West. Teams realized that the Lakers are a force to be reckon with Gasol and they had to act quickly. I like how the pinky finger scare of Kobe Bryant faded away when Kobe decided to put 41 points up last game versus the Suns. The Western Conference is stacked and any team can beat the other in a playoff series but I truly feel the Lakers will represent the Western Conference in he finals and win. I don't think their is a team in the league that can hang with the Lakers in a seven game series. They are extremely fast, they score a lot of points, and lately have been playing great defense. Good job to Lakers on listening to Kobe to get him some help on scoring and not giving in by trading him away. He is one of the most talented players in the league, if not one of the most talented ever. ---CJ

URI Gymnastics

University of Rhode Island Gymnastics team came out on fire at their first home meet and defeated Brown Unveristy 189.850-183.550. Your probably wondering why I am writing about gymnastics let alone URI gymnastics. Well the big news out of URI is they are replacing gymnastics with womens lacrosse. Its effect start of next season. Being a member of the media and shooting college gymnastic events I can't go into my full thoughts or tell you what to do, but I do recommend checking out the tips I give below to learn more about it.

One thing I have really noticed in shooting gymnastics the past couple of years is how close all the girls are and how much support they give each other. It really is a close knit community and I am glad to be able to shoot gymnastic meets every year.

Where can you learn more? The first place you can learn more is on facebook. The facebook group "Save URI Gymnastics" is the best to check out. The link is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10180038645 Don't have a facebook account? Get one!!! Read about the group it will tell you everything you need to know.

Next thing I suggest is go to a meet!!! I wish I lived a little closer to Rhode Island to cover a meet, but Nebraska is far away! :) If you live in the area, I really suggest going and checking out the team.

What if you can't make a meet, then show your support and buy a gymnastics t-shirt. I contacted the URI bookstore and you can't buy the t-shirts online but you can order one by calling 401-874-2722, they only have sizes L and XL at this time.

I wish the URI gymnastics team the best of luck the rest of the season. You guys are an inspiration to a lot of people and stick together like I know you will.

What Else Can You Say

The New York Giants pulled one of the biggest upsets in the history and I think everyone who watched last nights Super Bowl will always remember where they were at when they saw it all go down, the New England Patriots Empire that is. I canis 't help but get the jitters everytime I think about it and how every single player on the Giants must feel after pulling off a miracle. It's so exciting to see such a great team like The Patriots fall when they were on top of the world. 18-0 folks, 18-0! One more game, the only game that really matters, the Patriots can't win it. Give vredit to the Giants more than anything though. They did it, they did the unthinkable. Not only is it amazing that they were 12 point underdogs but more amazing at how they shut down the Patriots record setting offense and made Randy Moss and Tom Brady look human again. Eli kept his composure all game, and by the Giants scoring on the first drive, I really believe it set the tone for the rest of the game. The Giants came to play, and just like their players said, they didn't beat themselves before the game started like other teams. They came to play and they came to win, not to be just another road block on the Patriots road to perfection. They came to the Super Bowl and absolutley hit the Patriots right in the mouth and nobody saw it coming the way they did it, holding the Patriot offense to just 14 points and making Plaixco look like a prophet. It was clear that the Giants intensity was at a much higher level than the Patriots and you can really tell who wanted it more, not who wanted it handed to them. Congrats to Eli for overcoming any obstacle who would ever have to face in his career on being compared to his brother because now both Mannings have a ring. Congrats to Plaxico for being so confident in his prediction and congrats to Tom Coughlin for sticking to his hard nose style coaching strategy and finally getting his team to the big game again and winning it. Most of all, the Giants are awesome for not believing in the false sense of confidence garbage people said they have from their week 16 close loss to the Patriots. It was real confidence and it was the biggest tool they used in winning this game, believing they are the better team in the game and truly believing they can beat the ever powerful Patriots. For the first time ever last night I was really a Giants fan and for the rest of my life I will never forget how amazing Super Bowl XLII really was. Eli is the man and maybe one day it will be a Manning vs Manning Super Bowl!

Super Bowl XLII

After two weeks of thinking about this game and if it is going to be close or not, I have finally come up with my prediction. New England Patriots 41 New York Giants 27. At first I was really thinking that the game would be closer, maybe a once score game with the Patriots still winning but my thoughts changed this weekend. After all the new speculation of spygate and the possibilities that the Patriots cheated when they first won a Super Bowl under Belichick when they beat the Rams in 2001; I have changed my mind and really think the game won't be as close as I had first thought. I think the recent news of the Patriots cheating is going to give the entire team a bit of a boost, even though I can't think of either team needing one because they are playing in the biggest game of thier lives. Either way though, I really think the spygate allegations is going to bolster the Patriots just like it did after week one when they were first charged. Also, this is Tom Brady's 4th Super Bowl, and he already has 3 Super Bowl MVP Trophy's, so he's been on this stage before and has performed great, so we can rule out any Super Bowl jitters. On the other end, there's Eli Manning. Now he has ben playing great throughout the playoffs and most of all, he is controlling the ball and the pace of the offense which has been a big issue for Eli in past seasons and playoffs. After winning 3 straight road games in the playoffs, the last being at Green Bay, and having played the Patriots really tough in week 16 (lost 38-35) I really believed the Giants would make this a close game until now. Not to say that 41-27 is bad but I just don't see the Giants coming within single digits of the Patriots, just because most of the Giants have never even played in the Super Bowl and Eli Manning hasn't played in a game this big in his entire life. Either way, the Giants are a fabulous team with extreme talent everywhere on both sides of the ball. They have the best pass rush, a dominating running game with Jacobs and Bradshaw and very talented wide recievers and linebackers. Now we all know the Patriots are amazing everywhere on both sides of the ball as well but I do think the Giants have more strength at the linebacker and running positions. In a nut shell, I think the the game will be close in the first half, with the Patriots getting an early lead, a close third quarter, then the Patriots pulling away in the 4th. I want to see the Patriots win, but I also want to see Eli and the Giants pull off what could be the greatest upset ever. NE 41 NYG 27.

Santana update

Well I was close, the news just came out about the details of Johan Santana's contract extension with the New York Mets. Six-year, $137.5 million on top of the one year he does have left for $13.25 million, making this deal be 7 years $150.75 million! Wow, Wow, WOW. What is up with some sports reports coming out that the Mets wouldn't do this? They made the trade knowing how much it was going to cost and they did it anyway, making Santana the highest paid pitcher on average per season ever. Nice job Mets.

Big Deals

There have been two big trades in the American Sports World this week and both were complete today. The first was between baseballs New York Mets and Minnesota Twins in which the Mets sent 4 minor league prospects to the Twins in exchange the highly sought after pitcher Johan Santana. Santana has arguably been the best pitcher in baseball for the past 4 years in which he has had 4 straight 15 win seasons and his highest era was last season at 3.33. Even though his era was up and his wins were down last season compared to the previous three season, Santana still managed 235 strikeouts and was still dominate almost every game. The Twins last year were plagued by early injuries and just never really got on the winning track the rest of the season, compared to winning the American League Central Division Title 4 of the past 6 seasons in which Santana played a huge part in that, if not the biggest. Santana will make a huge impact in the National League and now has the Mets in the driver seat as the team to beat. Already a team stacked with offensive talent the Mets last season lacked a strong starting pitching staff behind John Maine and in turn the Mets couldn't repeat their divison title. Johan Santana will get them back over that hump and the Mets really will be an amazing team and should finish with the best record in the NL. I also feel that he will lead the NL in wins and probably era. Its not a bold prediction what so ever, but a Cy Young should be in his hands by the end of the 2008 season. As for the Twins, they received 4 minor league prospects, 3 of which are pitchers. All have decent minor league numbers, nothing to turn our heads about just yet but the Twins have been very good about bringing players up from the minors and them having success in the big leagues. I can't wait to see how much Santana is going to get on his contract extension because he can definitely get above 7 years 125 million like Barry Zito got last season, and you know the Mets didn't do this trade without knowing what the cost was going to be.

The next trade was today in the NBA between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Mephis Grizzlies. I don't think the idea of this trade was ever surfaced and I really don't think fans saw it coming. The Lakers traded the 2001 number one overall pick center Kwame Brown, last years first round pick guard Javaris Crittenton and two future first round picks in exchange for center/power forward Pau Gasol. This trade is good for both teams but in much different ways. After losing Andrew Bynum to a knee injury on January 13th the Lakers have gone just 3-5 since. Kwame Brown has stepped but hasn't done much and has been criticized for not being nearly as atheltic as Bynum, I agree with the critics. Now, the Lakers look like they have a real shot at the NBA title this season, especially when Bynum returns. That will give them Bynum at center, Gasol and Odom at power forward, Derek Fisher at point guard, and of course Kobe Bryant at shooting guard. Now how is that for a starting five? I say best in the West. Is the NBA going to see two of the best NBA franchises of all-time meet in the NBA championship with the Lakers vs Celtics? Maybe its too early for me to bark something like that but I think it just might happen. Gasol has been a great player throughout his career but has just been on a bad team with the Grizzlies. Gasol is always around 20 ppg 9 rpg 3 apg and 2 bpg which are stellar numbers and any team would love to have him. Oh yeah, Gasol is 7 feet tall, just like Bynum. As for the Grizzlies, this trade was actualyl really good for them too if your optimistic because they are getting 2 future first round picks, and 2 previous first round picks, and it will open up some salary cap room. I'm happy for Gasol though because now he really has a good chance of winning a champioship before the end of his career. The Lakers are now in the elite teams in the west with the Spurs, Mavericks, and Suns.

**any stats used I borrowed from espn.com**