Selling the Ring

Chane Behanan has been cleared of all charges in the involvement of the auctioning of his Final 4 ring from 2012.  Behanan's mother immediately filed a police report to the Cincinnati police after receiving a text that it had been posted for bidding online.  Behanan had given the ring to his grandmother to keep, and was very upset that the ring had been stolen and put up for auction.  The rings are all customized with the players name on them so it is very easy to find out which ring belongs to which player.

The Real 12th Man

As Jacoby Jones burst towards the sideline on a kickoff return Thursday night in Pittsburgh against the Steelers, he noticed someone on the field not in pads or in stripes.  This man was Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach, Mike Tomlin, who was casually walking up the field during the kickoff return and found his way off the white of the sidelines and into the green of the field, directly in the way of the return man Jones.

The NFL has issued a statement that they will review the play and that Tomlin should have been penalized for stepping on the field, and the official who was on that sideline could be downgraded for letting Tomlin get in his way and also for not throwing a flag on him.  This review of the play will almost certainly come with a fine from the NFL.

No Biting in Basketball

A high school girls basketball coach in Mississippi was forced to resign recently to alleged assault to a player of his.  However this assault was not a normal assault by any means, he was accused of biting a player in the face during a time-out after she had a bad play on the court.  The player was taken to the emergency room upon return from the game to have her face checked.  Just last year, Doyle Wolverton, the accused, became the 2nd all time winningest girls basketball coach.  Looks like in this situation Mr. Wolverton let his anger get the best of him in his situation.

Incidents like this goes to show you that you as a coach and a role model you need to learn to control your anger and understand the consequences of your actions.  Because of this assault he not only lost his job now but very well may not be able to get another job ever again.

The Subway Series Battle

Could Robinson Cano really leave the Yankees to go play across town for the New York Mets?  It is highly doubtful, but it has at least been discussed.  Cano's agent and representative Jay-Z had a sit down dinner with the Mets COO and GM to discuss the possibility of his client donning the orange and blue of New York.

Most consider this interview simply just a push from Jay-Z or Cano to get the Yankees to try to re-sign him because of the absolutely lucrative contract he is expected to ask for in free agency.  Also according to the Mets statement this dinner and discussion of Cano was initiated from Cano's side, not the Mets.

@Suns

The Phoenix Suns were the first professional sports team to sign with Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings service.  The Suns signed a one year deal with this service and it is able to track twitter activity for the team, during its games.  The things the Suns can now track are, how many tweets are being sent per game, how many of those tweets are being seen, at what point in the game the most tweets are seen, which app is being used to post that tweet and what key words are used in that tweet.

MVP Finally Back in the 'Burgh

Andrew McCutchen has finally brought back some long wanted hardware to Pittsburgh.  It's not the hardware the team wanted going into the year and into October, but its a step in the right direction.  McCutchen won the NL MVP, the first Pirate to do so since 1992, when Barry Bonds won the coveted award.  McCutchen was undoubtedly the face of the franchise this past year, leading the Pirates to their first winning season in 20 years and the first home playoff game in PNC Park history.  He received 28 of the 30 first place votes for the ballot.

McCutchen was also able to bring home the Silver Slugger award this year as well.  He was absolutely the right choice for this award, he meant the most to his team, more than the other 2 finalists.  And that is what MVP means, the Most Valuable Player, to your team.  He is a clubhouse leader, on the field leader and now an MVP, with many more to go.

Sean Taylor

Eric Rivera Jr., 23 was convicted monday of first degree murder, over 6 years after he shot and killed then Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor.  Sean was shot and killed in a botched robbery when he went to confront the men who broke into his home after they had kicked in his door.  Rivera admitted in a video taped interrogation session with the police that he was indeed the man who fired that fatal shot.  He then went on to say he only admitted to it because the police virtually forced him to admit to it.  Rivera was also convicted of armed robbery, and even though he wasn't sentenced to the fullest extent of the law, he could still be facing life in prison.

Opening Night Let Down

In Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center, opening night did not go quite as planned, at least for some Blazers personnel.  The team had installed Wi-Fi in the building over the summer and had a soft test of it a few weeks ago with a minor league hockey game but had yet to have 10's of thousands of people try to connect to it all at one time.  According to a team official the Wi-Fi had "an uneven opening performance."  

The Blazers also implemented a new ticket selling strategy this year.  They do not want tickets to get into the secondary market for a lower price.  The team announced that the game was a sell-out, however there were obvious empty seats in the arena.  Seems to me like the Blazers weren't exactly ready for their opening night.

The Bearded Gang

The 2013 World Series has been full of controversial calls, crazy endings, a plethora of offense and a lot of facial hair.  The Boston Red Sox and their beards are now just one game away from clinching their 8th World Series, and first since 2007.  The Red Sox have been known this season for the beards that the majority of their players have been growing throughout the year.  This is a hard nosed team that wants to win.  

It overall has not been a very good series for the Cardinals, who have had a tough time shutting down the Sox offense, and one man in general.  David Ortiz is batting a whopping .733 in the World Series, and has been driving in run after run, yet the Cardinals continue to pitch to him and let him have these opportunities.  The Cardinals leash is as short as it can get now with a deciding Game 5 coming up in Boston.

American Football in London?

The NFL has been trying their best over the past few years to really reach out and start to expand their market into London.  In 2014 there will be 3 games in London, similar to past years, however the NFL has had serious thoughts of making a possible 8 game schedule into London.  However Peter King of SI puts it pretty frank saying there will be a problem trying to sell a team as bad as Jacksonville to London, and it will be a problem taking a home game away from a successful team's fans in America.  The game on sunday between Jacksonville and San Francisco pulled in a whopping attending of 83,559.  The NFL might want to start seriously considering a few more games in London if for attendance purposes only.

Hurricane of Problems

The Miami Hurricanes football team has finally found out their sentence after a 2 1/2 year investigation of their football program.  The Canes got a light slap on the wrist from the NCAA by not receiving a bowl ban, and only losing 3 scholarships a year over the next 3 years.  This investigation was sparked due to a man named Nevin Shapiro, the NCAA was weary of his interactions with the Men's Football and Basketball teams at Miami.  Mr. Shapiro is a convicted felon who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for being the mastermind before a $930 million Ponzi scheme.

If you ask me I think the NCAA turned a blind eye to whatever was happening in Miami.  The investigation took entirely too long for Miami to receive such a minimal sentencing from the NCAA.

Can't Win? No Tickets Sold.

The New York Giants have consistently been one of the most powerful teams in the NFL, year after year putting out a good product on the field for their fans to watch and cheer on.  All of that, including winning 4 Lombardi Trophies since the mid-1980's.  This season however has been one that many would like to forget.  The 0-6 Giants got their first win last night against the Minnesota Vikings in prime time on Monday Night Football.  Because of this horrid start ticket prices have dropped in the secondary market by 40%.  It is a shame that such a loyal and avid fan base as the Giants have to go through a season such as this, but every fan base does at some point.  However no one was expecting this to happen this season, just two years off a Super Bowl win.

Advertise Here

The Pacers have reached a deal with a sponsor that is a first of a kind.  They reached a deal with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation to sponsor on their home court.  This is the first deal an NBA team has made with a corporate entity to sponsor on the hardwood.  The NBA is only allowing one sponsor to be on the floor, placed in two different spots on the floor.

I hope this sponsorship doesn't get out of hand in the NBA and they don't become like the WNBA and end up with sponsors on their jerseys.  In the end for corporations its all about the money.

Above is the court side sponsorship.

The Next NBA Superstar

Andrew Wiggins is the next big thing in the game of basketball.  The 18-year old Canadian basketball sensation will be a freshman this year at the University of Kansas playing under coach Bill Self.  It has been rumored that the market for an endorsement deal for the young Wiggins could potentially be bigger than LeBron James' when he entered the league.  Rumors of his contract have been in the area of 140-180 million over 10 years.  An absolutely absurd contract, just to sponsor one NBA player.

Adidas and Nike are the two main suitors for Wiggins.  Both companies have a lot of money invested in crucial players in their specific companies.  Because of that, it will be interesting to see which company decides to spend the most money and lock up Wiggins for the long term.

New Format, New Jerseys

Nike took over the NFL clothing rights last year, and has slowly but surely been making their impact be felt in the uniform design.  They hadn't made their "big splash" until Wednesday when they unveiled the new Pro Bowl uniforms.  As many have said, these jerseys have a large striking similarity to the Oregon Ducks uniforms.

They are flashy, vibrant and give the NFL and the Pro Bowl a whole new look.  They will no longer follow the classic blue and red format for the NFC and AFC jerseys.  The Pro Bowl will also no longer follow the classic format of the teams being selected as NFC and AFC players, instead this year it will be somewhat like a draft format.

These jerseys are a great idea, whether they don't appeal to everyone or not.  You can't make everyone happy in your decisions.  The Pro Bowl is by far the least watched or cared about All-Star event between Basketball, Baseball and Football.  This is an attempt to give the Pro Bowl new life and try to rejuvenate the NFL fan base to watch.

The New Ralph Wilson

The Buffalo Bills just released the first drawings of the renovations they plan to make to their stadium in 2014.  Some of the renovations include, easier and bigger entry ways, wi-fi throughout the stadium, and new and bigger HD video boards.  With the stadium renovations and restorations, this also will include a 22% space increase for the restrooms.  

All of these improvements seem as if they are for the fan to have a better experience.  The Bills are an up and coming franchise in the NFL and this will be another large step in the right direction for their organization, for even though they are not the most successful, they have a great and loyal fan base.

Mr. Agent Jay-Z

Musician and Businessman Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z is now officially certified by the National Basketball Players Association.  His certification includes the ability to negotiate player contracts.  The NBPA agreed to certify Mr. Carter in June, however he needed to sell his minority stake in the NBA team, the Brooklyn Nets.  The NBA received official confirmation that Mr. Carter sold his stake to new head coach and former NBA Point Guard, Jason Kidd, thus leading to his official certification.  Jay-Z's official agency is known as Roc Nation Sports.

Jay-Z has developed a terrific business model to follow, and is one of the most successful businessmen out there right now.  Not only does he control a life that many dream of, but also controls it terrifically.

Paralympic Coverage

In a pretty big development, the NBC Sports Group is in the process of completing a deal that will carry next year's Winter Paralympic Games, live from Sochi.  This will be the first time these games are shown live in the United States.  This deal includes upwards of 50 hours of live footage from these games, which is a huge increase from the just 5.5 hours of tape delayed footage from the last games.  

I think it will be very interesting to see what the ratings are like from these broadcasts.  These are world class athletes in their own way.  I know I will definitely watch this and give it a shot, as I think it could be very interesting.  Will you watch it? 

No Commercials? Sounds Good

On October 30th, the Sacramento Kings will tip off their "new" era against the Denver Nuggets.  However during this broadcast the local news station, who is doing the broadcast of the game will include no commercials, yes you read that right, zero commercials.  Every sports watchers dream, an interruption free broadcast of a sporting event.  The Kings, who were as good as gone from Sacramento are now in full re-build mode.  Their newest addition being part owner Shaquille O'Neal.  With plenty of young talent, a new rejuvenated fan base, and ownership that wants to win, there are signs of a bright future in Sacramento.

Starting Up

My name is Gino Masterani and I am currently a Sophomore at Slippery Rock University and a Sport Management Major.  I am an Intern on the Football Team up here, so that is where most of my time goes.  I am from Sewickley, PA, about 45 minutes from campus here in Slippery Rock.  I am an only child coming from a relatively big Italian family.  While at home and not in school, I enjoy just hanging out with my friends as much as possible and being active.

This blog will consist of plenty of sports informations and facts, but certainly a little biased opinion, but how could you not expect that?