I'm Just Here So I Won't Get Fined

Another Super Bowl still the same Marshawn Lynch. The NFL was threatening to fine Marshawn Lynch $250,000 if he didn't show up to the Super Bowl media day. So as he did last year he did the same this year and showed up to media day and stay the minimum time he was supposed to stay. When will the NFL finally realize that this man doesn't want to talk to the media he just wants to play football and go beast mode. Reporters continued to ask him questions and he gave them the same answer "I'm just here so I won't get fined". Even the legendary corner Deion Sanders got shot down by beast mode but he did get a response better then I'm just here so I won't get fined.  Deion Sanders said, " I appreciate you, man. I'll talk to you later, my brother". Marshawn Lynch responded saying, "We going to do that . I said we going to do that. God bless you, man".

Anytime a player blows a hall of famer corner back off reporters should know to step back and just leave him alone. Marshawn has made it clear time and time again that he is not about that talking he is about that action boss. Every professional player isn't a person who likes the spotlight some just want to play the sport they love and that's it.They aren't playing for the glamour of the fans or media they play because they love the sport and have been dreaming since they were to kids to be playing professional sports. Everyone can't be as talkative as Tom Brady or Richard Sherman.

Marshawn is a quiet player who let's his game do the talking unlike most professional players in today's time. You have to admire that about him he's the type of player to not say much but when he gets that football he can run over 7 people then break for a 80 yard touchdown run. Marshawn Lynch is the Greg Popovich of the NFL when it comes to talking to media. A lot more professional players should be like Marshawn Lynch and let their game do the talking instead of trash talking and their game doesn't back up what their mouth was saying. The media and the NFL is trying to force Marshawn Lynch to talk to the media and they need to realize that's never going to happen.

LOB

LOB saves the day again ! For those who don't know what LOB stands for it means Legion of Boom. Legion of Boom is a term for the Seattle defense. While Russel Wilson was struggling and everything  seemed to be going Green Bay way but the defense stopped the Packers two drives in the red zone in the first quarter and forced them to kick a field goal. If it wasn't for LOB stopping Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense the score could of been much worse then it was in the first quarter. The only downfall for LOB in the first quarter was the touchdown Aaron Rodgers threw to Randall Cobb. So although it looked bad for the Seahawks to be down 16-0 at halftime.

But the second half was the Seahawks half. The Seahawks outscored the Packers 22 to 6 in the second half not even including overtime. The turnaround for the Seahawks was the fake field goal that turned into a 19 yard touchdown from the punter Jon Ryan to rookie lineman Gary Gilliam that probably fooled just about everyone in the world and it looked like it didn't phase Pete Carroll at all. From there that is when the momentum shifted to Seattle. In the fourth quarter Seattle forced the Packers to kick yet another field goal to make the score 19-7 with the Packers leading. Usually when a team has a lead like that late  in the 4th quarter you would think that team will have that game in the bag well that clearly wasn't the case in today's game.

The next drive for Seattle only took 7 plays for 69 that lead to a 1 yard touchdown for Russell Wilson that took only 1 minute and 43 seconds.  If that wasn't enough Seattle went for an onside kick and got the bounce they needed and recovered the onside kick. Once Seattle got the ball back from the onside kick they marched down field which lead to a Marshawn Lynch 24 yard touchdown. Then if that wasn't enough they went for two where Russell Wilson just chucked the ball up and prayed one of his receivers caught it and his prayers were answered it fell right into Luke Wilson hands. At this point Seattle had their first lead of the game up 22 to 19 with just a minute and some change left. But, that was just enough time for Aaron Rodgers he got the offense down in field goal real quickly which lead to Mason Crosby making his fifth field goal to force overtime. But the Seahawks won the coin toss and elected to receive which lead to a 35 yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Jermaine Kearse to end the game with Seattle Seahawks beating the Green Bay Packers 28 to 22 which makes them the only team other then the 2003 & 2004 New England Patriots to go to back to back Super Bowls.

LOB dominated Aaron Rodgers and the Packers explosive offense picking off Aaron Rodgers twice. Even with Russel Wilson horrible performance in the game of 4 interceptions LOB kept Seattle in the game which later lead to Seattle winning. All that talk all year that Seattle needs a #1 wide receiver I believe their wide receiver core held up well. Doug Baldwin had 6 catches for 106 yards. Although Jermaine Kearse only had 1 catch even though he was thrown to 5 times that one catch was the biggest catch of the game which lead to a touchdown in overtime that sends Seattle back to the Super Bowl. Also you never really need a powerful receiver when you have a beast mode running back like Marshawn Lynch who carried the ball 25 times for 157 yards and 1 touchdown. But will LOB be enough to beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl we will find out February 1st.

Father & Son Reunion

This year NBA teams have been trying to make their team a contender  without having to do it the day of the trade deadline. For the first time in NBA history we have a team that has a father and son on their roster. The Los Angeles Clippers whose coach is Doc Rivers have made a trade that sent Austin Rivers from the New Orleans Pelicans  son of Doc Rivers to the Clippers. Although Austin Rivers really hasn't turned out to be the NBA product everyone anticipated. Austin Rivers could still be asset off the bench to give Chris Paul some rest when needed. But this could be the move that sparks Austin Rivers career because he knows for sure he will get more minutes in Los Angeles then he did in New Orleans since his Dad is the coach.

Austin Rivers only played 22 minutes a game this season for the Pelicans playing back up to the young talented Jrue Holiday who can play all game and rarely got tired. However this is a different situation with the Clippers. The Clippers starting point guard is very talented but they need to start cutting his minutes per game down so he can stay healthy. Chris Paul is always banged up heading into the playoffs because the Los Angeles Clippers overwork him during the regular season. I feel as though he needs a credible back up point guard and I think in due time with the right mentor ship from Chris Paul to Austin Rivers  Austin will be that backup he desperately needs.

Clearly Jordan Farmar wasn't the backup point guard the Clippers were looking for he only averaged 4.6 points, 1.9 assists, and 1.2 rebounds in just 14 minutes per game. Whereas Austin Rivers  averaged 6.8 points, 2.5 assists, 1.9 rebounds in just 22 minutes per game. Rivers minutes will probably go up anywhere from 25 to 30 minutes per game. Only time will tell if this was the right move made by the Los Angeles Clippers organization. But, one thing Austin Rivers has in his favor is he has a coach in his father that has confidence in him and will put him in the game more then he went into the game in New Orleans.

Blockbuster Trade

Last night a blockbuster trade had been completed between 3 teams Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, & Oklahoma City Thunder. Dion Waiters has wanted to be a starter and star for a long time and it seems like he still will not get that wish. But he will be getting the bulk of the minutes at the shooting guard position for the Oklahoma Thunder but will still come off the bench for Andre Roberson. The Cavs have got rid of a huge talent in Waiters but getting the headcase JR Smith and the injury prone Iman Shumpert could fill the void under the right leadership. If JR Smith can keep leveled headed and stay out of trouble and Shumpert can get back healthy from the separated shoulder injury the Cavs could find the bench players they needed to keep them in contention for a championship run. Because the bench players they have such as James Jones, Joe Harris, Matthew Dellavedova, Brendan Haywood and AJ Price just isn't going to cut it. Also the Cavs got a protected first round pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder that they will only receive if it falls out of the top 18 which is highly likely the way the Thunder has been playing lately. So the Cavs basically have got the best part of the trade.  Also the Cavs get a top 15 protected pick in 2016 and 2017 before turning into second round picks in 2018.

However the Knicks were in this trade for a different reason they are in a rebuild mode especially with the knee injury on Carmelo Anthony with no timetable return when he will be back in action. So basically I'm shocked they didn't ask for any first picks. At least they got a 2019 second round pick from the Cavs. But they were able to get rid of Shumpert and JR smith contracts which will save them 20 million dollars. This will help them in the off season to be able to spend money on these high profiled free agents becoming free agents this summer. They're rumors that the Knicks are going to try and target Marc Gasol in the free agency now they have the money to make this rumor possibly come true if he decides to leave Memphis this summer. Also now they can go after shooting guard Arron Afflalo in the summer who can help the Knicks on both sides of the ball. Melo can finally start getting the pieces he deserves to make the New York Knicks a contender team next year.

But the main player in this trade was by far Dion Waiters. Can Waiters be the piece the Thunder been missing to win a championship? Time will only tell how well he fits the Thunder scheme. I feel as though he will bring energy off the bench and get the team some quick buckets. But the main question everyone is asking will he be able to accept that off the bench role or still complain about not starting? But overall the Thunder are getting a overall offensively sounded shooting guard something they have been waiting for from Jeremy Lamb which just hasn't happened yet. Also the Thunder really came out big by being able to keep Reggie Jackson and still doing this trade. We will see 3 months in the playoffs if the Cavs or Thunder made out better in this trade.

Playoffs Woes Continue

Another season cut short yesterday for the Cincinnati Bengals and Andy Dalton. The Cincinnati Bengals lost to the Indianapolis Colts 26-10 in the AFC wild card game. Andy Dalton played a sub par game but in the playoffs you have to play a superb game if you want a chance to win the game. Dalton completed 18 out of his 35 passes for just 155 yards along with a costly fumble. Andy Dalton hadn't looked comfortable the whole game he was sacked 3 times and never seemed to get any type of rhythm going. It was clear he missed his main targets AJ Green, Jermaine Gresham. But they still had some weapons that should of stepped up such as Giovani Bernard, Jeremy Hill, Mohamed Sanu, and Jeremy Hill. Giovani Bernard basically was nonexistent in the game just carrying the ball 3 times for 6 yards which is highly unacceptable. Giovani did however catch 8 passes for 46 yards but that still help the Bengals too much. Jeremy Hill did score a touchdown but that really didn't give the Bengals too much momentum because that would be the only the touchdown the Bengals would score that game. Mohamed Sanu was the really the key factor to step up with the loss of AJ Green he needed to play above his talent level if the Bengals had any shot of beating the Colts in Indianapolis. Sanu only had 3 catches for 31 yards on 7 targets. What really hurt the Bengals is when Ray Maualuga hurt his hamstring going to the sideline for a defensive substitution in the second quarter.

Once Maualuga went off Daniel Herron had a field day running on the Bengals defense. Herron rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown with an average of 4.7 yards per carry. Daniel Herron also caught 10 passes out the backfield for 85 yards.The pass rush wasn't really there when Maualuga left Andrew Luck picked that Bengals secondary and did whatever he felt like throwing for 376 yards and 1 touchdown. Luck got his favorite target back in TY Hilton who caught 6 passes for 103 yards. Also Hakeem Nicks started to play like the old Nicks from his New York Giants days before he started getting injured a lot. Nicks caught 3 passes for 59 yards. With the Bengals being 0-4 in the playoffs under the Andy Dalton & Marvin Lewis era jobs can be up in there for Lewis and the Bengals could look for a quarterback in the draft or free agency to replace Andy Dalton or make him compete to keep his starting position. Because being one and done  4 years in a row is highly unacceptable especially when you sign a contract extension for 6 years $96 million dollars you have to produce as star quarterback. So don't be surprised if the Bengals try to restructure Andy Dalton contract in the off season.