By: Waseem Barazi

The Cavs still have a long way to go to reach their championship dreams, but last night’s 108-88 romp over the Boston Celtics was a hell of an ego boost.

The Cavaliers need to keep performing this way if they want to have a sliver of a chance to get pas the first round of playoffs, but I think whatever fired up the Cavs to snap the three-year-long drought in Boston is here to stay, or at least we hope, for LeBron’s sake.

In the second quarter, Shaquille O’Neal wen’t down with a serious right thumb injury. It is not yet clear how long Shaq will be out or how soon he can start practicing again. It seemed like nobody on the team was in tip-top shape, but that didn’t stop the Cavs from tearing up the court.

The Cavs, realizing the seriousness of the stiuation, stepped up their game in the second half to reach a miraculous 108-88 victory over the celtics. They had to do some quick substitutions leading to a line-up they haven’t used before, but that I think we’ll be seeing alot of in the future.

Coach Mike Brown didn’t panic as he knew the capabilities of his All-Star players such as LeBron James and Mo Williams. It was the first time since Jan. 3, 2007, that the Cleveland Cavaliers have won in Boston, which spans nine games, including the playoffs. This was a streak that the Cavs were happy to break.


In specific, it was Mo Williams who caught a second wind and found his shooting ability in the second half where he scored 14 of his 19 points. Nothing new to say about LeBron except that he had a 30+ point game again. That’s not all though, tack on seven rebounds and nine assists helped his team perform better and is what ultimately allowed Mo Williams to catch fire.

The story of this game is not about offense though, its more about the defense and what the Cavs need to do for the rest of the season. They have been performing dreadfully as of late, and Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics ran circles around the Cavaliers defense last night. With Ilgauskas gone and O’Neal out, it seemed to be a hopeless situation for the Cavs. This desperation is what ultimately sparked the fire for a second half comeback.

Mike Brown though in forward Anderson Varejao at center and backed him up with J.J Hickson at forward. The strategy was to replace the big men with two lightning quick smaller guys to keep up with he fast paced Celtics offense. This new combination led to a decrease of the Celtics’ shooting percentage from 60% in the first half to 22% in the second half.

By: Waseem Barazi

San Antonio fans couldn’t believe it. Manu blocking the NBA’s lead scorer? Apparently, Manu couldn’t even believe it himself.

“I was more expecting to be dunked on, to tell you the truth,” Ginobili said.

+1 to Manu for being humble, but maybe a display of more confidence would be appropriate for an NBA player. Manu’s block saved the San Antonio Spurs from what could have been a fast break play to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a win. Instead, Manu’s “underdog” block helped to lead the Spurs to a 95-87 win over the Thunder last night.

Spurs fans figured that the 6-foot-9 all star forward would dunk it in to put up an easy two points. Instead, Manu leaped up, smothered the ball with his hand, and denied Durant the points.

Even Durant had to give Ginobili credit:

“All clean, I can’t take credit away from him,” said Durant. “He made a great block. When I was at the rim, he just met me there, his hand was inside the rim and he got it.”

This block also had other implications. It ended Durant’s 29 game streak of games with 25 or more points scored. This was the longest streak since Michael Jordan’s 40 game streak in the 86-87 season.


In addition to the block, Ginobili managed an impressive 26 points. The Spurs entered this game with the seventh best record in the west. Not incredible impressive. Ginobili took note of this during an interview after the game and mentioned that the Spurs need to keep working hard and stay humble if they want to get back to the era of championship. If the Spurs don’t make the playoffs, it will be the first time since the 96-97 season, before Tim Duncan was drafted.

The 35 year old shortstop wants to keep playing for the Yankees as long as he’s having fun and is playing well there. Apparently Jeter said that the is not thinking about his future contract rate (good one, Derek). The contract is not just about money however. There are a few mitigating factors such as age, legacy, and popularity. If Jeter can’t get what he wants out of Steinbrenner, the Yankees owner, he would have to take into account whether or not his legacy would continue if he were to sign with another team. It seems that all too often a superstar will end their careers with a sub-par team just for monetary reward, with their legacy and popularity taking a hit in exchange.

It seems as though Derek Jeter is making the right choice in stating that the Yankees is the only organization hew wants to play for. It would be a shame to see Jeter fall to the wayside playing for a less popular team. If Jeter remains in New York for less cash than he would have received elsewhere, parents of young Yankees fans would be able to tell their children, with a straight face, that there are things more important than money.

Check out what Derek Jeter had to say in full: (Quotes courtesy of Bryan Hoch)

“This is the only organization I’ve ever wanted to play for,” Jeter said. “That’s still true today. I was a Yankees fan growing up, and this is where I want to be. I’ve never envisioned myself playing anywhere else, and hopefully I don’t have to.”

“I think it’s unfair to be talking about myself when we’re trying to win,” Jeter said. “That’s the approach I’ve always had. It’s not going to change. I know it’s going to cause speculation and stories out there, but it won’t be a distraction because I won’t be talking about it.”

By: Waseem Barazi

San Diego poster boy LaDainian Tomlinson was let go by the Chargers yesterday. Did the Chargers franchise make the right decision. What would spur San Diego to give the NFL’s 2006 MVP the boot before the end of his contract? There is no doubt that Tomlinson’s productivity and speed are on the downswing. It would be ridiculous to assume a 30 year old man could perform as well as he did at 22 years old.

Despite this, I think it was a mistake for the Chargers to release Tomlinson. Although his ball carrying statistics may have taken a hit, his knowledge of the fundamentals remain. One does not win an NFL MVP award by talent alone. Talent is the natural ability to perform, but skill is necessary to succeed. Learning how to turn talent into a skill is what LaDainian Tomlinson could have provided the Chargers with. It would have been an ideal situation to have Tomlinson paired up with a talented young back who Tomlinson could mentor.

All other arguments aside, Tomlinson may still have some juice left in him. Other notable running backs who played into their 30’s were Walter Payton and Emmit Smith, two of the greatest running backs to have ever graced the NFL. I foresee this decision by the Chargers leading to a burning desire for Tomlinson to make the franchise regret their decision. Expect at least one great season from Tomlinson before he decides to call it quits

Is it time to celebrate? I would say not quite. The USA team would still need to conquer the Russian team, considered by many to be the best in the world with star player Alexander Ovechkin. Despite this fact, Olympic hockey remains a unifying force for each country participating.

This win brings up a very important point. NHL owners have threatened to pull their players from the winter Olympics. This makes financial sense considering each team would have their players return battered and bruised from the intense competition. However, I believe that the NHL should use the uniting element of the Olympic games to garner attention fro the NHL in the US and Canada. Advertisement slots during the Olympic hockey games could help draw in would-be hockey fans who otherwise would not be interested.

Upon discovering that teammate Paul Carter’s younger sister had recently been diagnosed with cancer, the Gophers shaved their heads to show support for the 13 year old girl. The Gophers went on to beat the Badgers 68-52 but this unifying force came a bit too late in the season for the Gophers.

Courtesy: Eric Miller/University of Minnesota



As college athletics become increasingly commercialized, it is refreshing to see an act such as this that reaffirms my faith in our college students. In the grand scheme of things, this show of support will not directly impact the young girl’s health, however the fact that these athletes took their time to think of the concerns of a young girl who was dealt an unfortunate hand is a great gesture that I would like to see repeated more often. I think it is important for all of us to take note and to remember that there are more important things in life than sports(not many though).

By: Evan J. Thomas

Let’s start of by saying that I am not a Lindsey Vonn hater. The 25-year-old statuesque blond with model looks is a world-class skier with all world talent. Vonn is competing against the best of the best that the world has to offer. But wait a minute! Has Vonn become the subject of an over exaggerated shin injury so the NBC brass and the US Media could hype up the darling of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics for ratings?

We know the Olympics are all about the drama of competition. We see the way the media has to have a dramatic story behind every competitor and their rise to stardom from the small towns, the farms, or the hardships that they grew up with to get to this point. Was anyone really THAT interested in watching the women’s downhill until hearing of the potential set back to Vonn?

We first heard the reports about 2 weeks ago that Vonn had a serious shin injury that may potentially keep her out of the Olympics. All skiers have nagging injuries whether it’s back stiffness, knee, ankle, joints or just bumps and bruises from training. Does anyone really think that the shin injury would have stopped Vonn from pursuing her Olympic dream? With all the grueling hours of training would an injury like this really hold Vonn back from competing in the biggest moment in her career? I think not.

We all recall the image of Curt Shilling and the bloody sock and what he had to overcome to pitch in the 2004 World Series. This time we have Lindsey Vonn sitting at the Olympic podium discussing the probability of her being able to overcome the injury and compete in the games as throngs of reporters scribbled every word and flash bulbs from dozens of photographers snapped away.

Since Vonn has underperformed in previous Winter Games and has never won gold, could the injury be a potential excuse in case she failed? She had talked about the pressure of performing and how she relished it; how she was so deeply aware of Bode Miller’s hype-and-collapse in Turin, and how she would make sure his failures did not happen to her. If she overcame the injury and won gold she would become an iconic figure in the Winter Games. This is exactly what NBC wants!

So it came down to Wednesday’s showdown on the bumpy and blood stained Franz’s run. A handful of competitors met their match on the hill as they lost control and wiped out one by one before Vonn’s attempt at Olympic Gold. Vonn furiously raced down the slopes, gliding and weaving her way to the finish line while hundreds of flag waving and cowbell ringing family and fans cheered her every move. Vonn crossed the finish line and collapsed on the sun-drenched snow in sheer delight of her accomplishment. Her championship time was 1:44.19, but her winning time was secondary to the grinding competition of the day. Vonn embraced her husband and cried for several moments as TV cameras and photographers fixed their lenses on her every move.

Vonn showed no signs of discomfort during her gold medal run. “My shin was killing me but I somehow found the aggression and intensity I needed to have a good run,” Vonn said. “When I crossed the finish line and seeing my name up there at No. 1 it was overwhelming, was the best feeling of my life.” As she stood during the medal ceremony Vonn had tears of joy in her eyes as the gold medal was placed around her. It was a gritty performance from Vonn nonetheless.

I am not taking anything away from her as a competitor, though I can question how all this was manipulated to the Olympic viewers by NBC and the media. Vonn will go down in history as a fighter and vicious competitor. She will be offered million dollar endorsement deals. We will be subject to her hocking products on various commercials like moisturizers, hair products and dietary supplements. Her blond locks and good looks will be gracing the pages of every major magazine. She will be the subject on every major talk show as she discusses her personal and professional setbacks. Vonn’s talents made her a sports figure, but the media has made her a household name.

Evan J. Thomas is a contributor for sportsremix.net and he is also a professional photographer, his work and blogs can be seen at www.myspace.com/evanjthomas also follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/evanjthomas and Facebook www.facebook.com/evanjthomas1

By: Waseem Barazi

As of yesterday, WR Donte Stallworth has been signed to the Baltimore Ravens. Just in case you aren’t familiar with the story, here’s a little recap. On March 14, 2009, Donte Stallworth struck a pedestrian in his Bentley in Miami Beach, Florida. The victim was a 59 year old Mario Reyes. After investigating, the police came to find out that Stallworth’s Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) was .12, over the nationwide legal limit of .08. Stallworth claimed that Reyes was not in a designated crosswalk when crossing the street and that he tried to flash his lights in an attempt to warn Reyes. It is clear, however, that any man facing such charges would make claims such as these in an attempt to persuade of innocence. Stallworth was charged with a DUI and second degree manslaughter. His sentence was 30 days in jail beginning July 10, 2009. Of this 30 day sentence, Stallworth served 24 days. He now has a one year $900,000 contract with the Baltimore Ravens.

I understand that this discussion is like beating a dead horse, however I must make the comparison of Donte Stallworth to Michael Vick. On dog fighting allegations, Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison. During this time, Vick lost a large deal of his fortune, and was even forced to claim bankruptcy. Also, he was incarcerated shortly after the birth of his daughter. The punishment of Michael Vick unfairly punished his family as a result. In the case of Donte Stallworth, the only person hurt was innocent Mario Reyes who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My argument is not that Michael Vick should have received less of a sentence because dogs are not important. My argument is that Stallworth should have received a harsher punishment. What kind of message do we send to our children when we say that a dog’s life is more important than a human’s life? Also, if the NFL truly cared about role models for children, they would not have reinstated either of these players.

Time and time again the Los Angeles Lakers have proven themselves to be the top NBA team of the 2000’s.  Championship after championship, ring after ring, the Lakers have preserved their spot in NBA history.  However, as always, some skeptics would claim that the Lakers are only dominant because of the presence of Kobe Bryant, arguably the best basketball player int he NBA right now.  However, I would argue that with the Kobe Bryant out with an injury, the Lakers continue to prove they are a championship team

In their February 16th game against the Golden State Warriors, every member of the Lakers squad stepped up their game.  This holds especially true for Shannon Brown, called in to take Kobe’s spot while he’s injured. Shannon Brown scored 27 points with 10 rebounds.  Those are almost Kobe like figures.

The most important aspect for the Los Angeles Lakers is their depth.  On any given night, any member of the 5 man starting team might be the night’s high scorer. Gasol, Artest, and Odem are each dominant players on their own.  Any team would be lucky to have any of these guys as their star player, but the Lakers contain a supporting cast of star players for their superstar, Kobe Bryant.  For all the naysayers and skeptics, rest assured, the Los Angeles Lakers really are as good as everyone says.

See highlights from their most recent win over the Golden State Warriors here