RIP BILLS MAFIA

In a world overrun by social media, it has become part of our daily routine to keep ourselves entertained watching total nonsense online. Whether it is when you wake up in the morning before work, while you are sitting on the toilet, or perhaps during your commute, these are the times you pull your cell phone out and watch the usual bullshit we have all become accustomed to.

College kids doing stupid stuff like running each other over at full speed with golf carts, shooting firecrackers out of their asses only to have the entire thing backfire, literally. Back yard wrestling attempts, drunk chicks trying to smash full beer cans over their heads and failing, you get the gist.

Then there is the group of people tucked away in Buffalo, New York. A rabid fan base that encompasses all of the stunts mentioned above into one faction, and in the fall and throughout football season you can bank on waking up on Monday mornings to see some of the debauchery these folks embark on. They are known simply as BILLS MAFIA. We all know them, and watching from a safe distance we have all come to appreciate them.

Well, maybe not all of us. According to a report, the Erie County Sheriff's Department will have an emphasis this season on curbing excessive drinking and enforcing the ban on all glass bottles. The smashed bottle over the head trick happens to be one of Bills Mafia's finest. The worst part though? Any and all body slamming through tables is banned and that ban will be STRICTLY enforced. 

What has this world come to? That would be equivalent to banning the foam cheese heads at Lambeau, or cancelling the raising of the 12th Man flag in Seattle. Bills Mafia getting obliterated to the point where they think it is a good idea to slam their friends off of RV's and into burning folding tables is one of the greatest traditions alive. Forget the anthem stuff, forget CTE concerns, this is the real issue that will bring down the NFL. If there is no Bills Mafia, there is no American Football. 

If they are unable to keep up the fight, and this really is the end, at least we will always have these videos to keep us entertained. Thanks Bills Mafia, and RIP. 

THE WNBA IS CLOSE, BUT STILL NOT THERE

The Seattle Storm capped off an incredible season last night, knocking off the Washington Mystics 98-82 to sweep the WNBA Finals. The victory captured the Storm's third championship, and their first since 2010.

As their amazing season progressed into the playoffs, and I started paying attention to some of the games, it amazed me how rocking Key Arena was. As someone who longs for the return of our beloved Sonics, it was cool to see the place jumping like it once did on nights the Supersonics were playing. I also gained a new found appreciation for the WNBA. Over the years I have often mocked the league, until I realized these women are ballers and I really shouldn't be talking. So congrats to the Storm on a third championship. That is big time. \

With that said, a WNBA championship is not on the level of the four major sports, and it should not be recognized as such. Before you tell me I am sexist, Sounder championships are in the same group.

When  we think of the sports landscape in America, the NBA, NHL, MLB, and the NFL immediately come to mind. These are the leagues generating the most revenue, the most exposure, the most T.V. time, the biggest fan bases, and the toughest competition. One could even argue you could throw NCAA football into the group as the fifth major pro sport.

Don't get me wrong, the WNBA is the top echelon of professional women's basketball in the world. It isn't like the MLS in the sense that despite it being a major pro league, their is still much better talent and teams throughout the world. The WNBA is it for women's basketball, here and abroad. It is the pinnacle of the sport.

That does not mean it is on the same level of the other pro leagues, no matter how hard you want to try and convince yourself of this belief. The exposure is not there, the size of the fanbase isn't there, the revenue isn't there, therefore the league just is not there. Yet.

I have started to notice an uptick in coverage over the last year or so, whether it be on Twitter or in publications. Popular writers such as Shea Serrano and Natalie Weiner, among others, have helped increase the exposure and popularity. They can't stop there.

Sports writer Jeff Pearlman wrote an article in 2010 titled " Why The WNBA Isn't- And Never Will Be- A Popular League". In part, Pearlman wrote:

"In other words, the WNBA's emergence is a mathematical, sociological impossibility.

It has not happened.

It will not happen.

It cannot happen.

No matter how many women dunk, no matter how incredible the playoff action might seem, no matter if the league expands to Las Vegas and Cancun and hires the cast members of Glee to hand out $100 bills to every customer, well, the WNBA is what it is -- a fringe entity."

It would appear that Pearlman misfired on his assumption. 8 years later, the viewership numbers he cited have dramatically increased, attendance is up, and hey, guess what? Vegas did get a team! Although, unfortunately, they still aren't handing out $100 to every fan in attendance. 

The point is, the league is not there yet. With the level of athleticism and competition seeming to increase every year, up goes the excitement. And with that, the general interest will continue to rise and more and more folks will get on board. Having the likes of Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Kobe Bryant constantly voicing their support for the league doesn't hurt, either. 

Last night after the Storm won, it was front page news on ESPN.com. It was pulled a few hours later, but it is a start. The WNBA can't be viewed as one of North America's major sports leagues, but there is no doubt it can someday get there. 

THE MOST UNDERRATED VIDEO GAME OF ALL TIME

In honor of National Video Games Day, I thought I would write a blog post to honor one of the least talked about, mostly forgotten, classic video games of the 1990's; ESPN EXtreme Games!

Let's start off by discussing the fact that this game didn't even make much sense. It was released around the same time as the inaugural X-Games in the Summer of 1995, and while many of the sports featured in the real X-games were available to play in the video game, I would say it was "based on a true story". It was just really a racing game, and that is it. You would try to hit gates for extra points and swipe cash for new gear and equipment, but there were no tricks or style points to be had. Again, just a racing game.

It would start out with the noise of a garage/warehouse door opening, and inside would be a few different T.V. monitors (heads up, they aren't flatscreens, they are the ones that had a very deep backside and weighed about 90 lbs.) you used a giant ESPN microphone to select which sport you wanted to play.

You could rollerblade, skateboard, mountain bike, or even luge in the video game, but none of it was organized. No matter what apparatus you chose, you were going to be racing all of the others at the same time. I have never seen a guy on rollerblades racing a guy on a street luge, that's just me.

After selecting which activity you wanted to do, you would then select your rider (this was before most video games used real athletes so they were fictional), and then you would select the course. The courses were made up of various cities/states throughout the country, including San Francisco, Utah, Tahoe, and Rhode Island. Once all of this was selected, the downhill race would begin.

One of the greatest aspects of the game was the ability to knock your opponents down as you sped past them. This made it particular enjoyable when playing against your friends rather than the computer.

I remember playing this game for hours on end in my friends basement, and the excitement never stopped. After doing a little research, I discovered that shortly after the game came out Sony lost their marketing agreement with ESPN. Because of this they had to lift ESPN's name and logos off of everything and change the name to 1Xtreme. That is super lame, especially since at the time ESPN was just becoming the MOTHERSHIP that it is (was?). They were the only game in town and they were the shit, having the four letter network tied into the game made it that much more badass.

A quick Ebay search led me to one copy of the game for a whopping $7.95, but it is the non-ESPN version so no thank you. Watching YouTube clips will have to be enough for this trip down memory lane. Let me know if you have a copy, and the original PS, and I am down.

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO CHASE YOUR DREAMS!

Favre, MJ, Clemens, Foreman, Magic, Phelps, Bower. 

You can now add me to the list of stars that have come back to give it one last shot.

Almost four years to the day of my last official blog post, I have triumphantly returned.

Here is my "Why I am joining The Athletic" moment;

Recently I've come across some incredible opportunities to curate blog content for some well known websites, but first I must build up my portfolio. Writing (sports writing in particular) has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid, and as I have discovered that it might not be too late to pursue the dream, I made the decision to go after it one last time.

I am working on some basic changes to the blog, mainly a name change and layout change, but in the meantime this will suffice. I am not here for the frills, just the content. I hope that is why you are here too.

I am holding myself accountable to 2-3 posts minimum each day. It will be mostly sports, but I will dabble in some pop-culture, and lets be real, it is hard to completely avoid politics in our current climate. I want to stir the pot, maybe create some controversy, and entertain.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, I want to stuff my portfolio with fresh blog work and get it out there for people to see. The last part is where you come in, if you have made it this far  that means you are intrigued, so please share my posts and my blog when you come across something that interests you.

Feel free to comment, get angry with me, praise me, critique me, whatever you feel is necessary to help push me on this new journey.

Thanks for reading, I will try not to disappoint!

STWJ: A LOOK BACK/LOOK AHEAD

THE WEEK BEHIND:

HUSKIES BEAT GEORGIA ST. AFTER FIRST HALF SCARE-

   The first half was sickening. The Georgia St. (I don't even know the Mascots name) DOMINATED a Power 5 team expected to win 9-10 games this season. It was only 14-0 at halftime. Given the 36-point handicap vegas gave this particular matchup, it felt more like 50-0 in favor of the Georgia St. Whatevers. 

   Husky QB Cyler Miles doesn't quite look like a guy who is ready to lead a team to the top of the Pac-12. The best words to describe his play the first 30 minutes would be lost and confused. Granted, he cleaned it up the rest of the way. It still is worrisome. As is the young secondary. 

   Chris Petersen's team is 4-0, but heading into conference play the honeymoon is over, and this marriage is about to get real. 

SEAHAWKS DO IT AGAIN TO DENVER-

   This one was slightly more stressful for the 12th man. They called it a Super Bowl "rematch", but it didn't feel that way. The NFL is unlike any other sport when it comes to year-to-year parity. So many things change, guys comes and go, heal and get injured, the young mature, the mature get slow. While it was Hawks-Broncos again, it just felt different. But, most importantly, the result was the same. 

   Despite choking up a 20-12 lead with about a minute to go to force OT, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks won the toss in and marched 80 yards for another victory. The stakes were not nearly as high as they were in February, but coming off of a tough loss in San Diego the weekend before, 2-1 looks much better than 1-2 heading into the early bye. 

   Other than the result being the same, a couple of other things were as well... Russell Wilson was great. He is now a remarkable 7-0 in his career against Manning, Brady, Rodgers, and Brees. Thats absurd. Another constant was that Peyton Manning and the way he operates his offense continues to be a great match up for this Seattle D. Other than Manning's spectacular last-minute drive to tie the game, he was pretty much held in check. When it is noisy, it is hard for him to control things like he does. And when he is uncomfortable in the pocket, he doesn't throw the same balls. It was both loud and uncomfortable. 

   Seattle will take this weekend off before heading to Maryland for a MNF matchup against RG3 Kirk Cousins and the Skins'. 

OREGON HOLDS ON TO BEAT WSU-

    Pullman is never an easy place to play. And for the last four years the Cougars have played Oregon tough, for at least a half. So the 21-21 halftime score wasn't a total shock. You figured the 2nd ranked team in the country would run away with it the last 30 minutes. They didn't. WSU played tough, smart football on the defensive side, and the offense was able to keep pace with Heisman hopeful Marcus Mariotta and the Ducks. And until the last four minutes of play, it looked like the Cougs might of had a shot at the major upset. It was for not. While it wasn't all to blame on the guys in stripes, the wonderful PAC12 refs definitely had a hand in the defeat for the Cougs. What else is new in this conference? 

    Oregon is ranked number 2, and looks strong. They do have holes. A banged up offensive line looks susceptible to the Cougar pass rush all night. If they want to be a part of the first "final four" this season, they will need to figure that out. And quickly. 

MARINERS TANK-

The Mariners surprised everyone this season. With strong pitching, a group of youngsters that took on their new managers attitude of fighting until the last pitch, and a veteran superstar presence in Robinson Cano, they stayed in contention all the way until the end. As I write this, they sit 2 games back with 2 games to play. It will be nearly impossible, but they gave it a hell of a shot. What had been the strength of the squad all season long, the pitching staff top to bottom, began to fade the last few weeks of the season. Felix Hernandez had a few rough outings after having a miraculous, record-breaking summer. Hisashi Iwakuma showed signs of fatigue, along with comeback player of the year candidate Chris Young. With a very spotty offense, they needed those guys to go how they've been going all year until the very end. 

   It is a huge letdown that they most likely won't be in the playoffs for the 13th consecutive year, but Mariner fans have a lot to be excited about. The team is young, and this season has probably made them hungrier than ever. Dustin Ackley may finally be coming into his own, and minor league prospect DJ Peterson might be one of the most electric ones we have seen in a long time. If this was just the beginning, great things are to come. Add a few more pieces next year, and they should be one of the favorites to grab a wild card at the very least. 

    

What Lies Ahead:

HUSKIES OPEN PAC-12 PLAY-

    After starting the season 4-0, Chris Petersen will get the real thing going Saturday afternoon against the 16th ranked Stanford Cardinal. The 4-0 portion of the schedule wasn't pretty. And the Dawgs will need to get it together in a hurry if they stand a chance to compete not only Saturday, but the rest of the way in a crazy competitive PAC12 North. The Huskies almost pulled off the upset last year in Palo Alto, this time around they will have the crowd behind them, and a younger Stanford offense to battle. It should be a good one. I think the Dawgs will get it going on offense, and the front line on the D (Danny Shelton anyone?) will be able to do just enough to get some big stops against the Cardinal power run game. Huskies 31 Stanford 24. BOOK IT.

THE CAPTAIN SAYS GOODBYE (It's real this time)-

    Yankee captain Derek Jeter will play his final games ever. He will cap off his career at Fenway Park, no less. For as much as I hate the Yankees, he was one guy I could always cheer for. He was a part of childhood, growing up and watching him become one of the best shortstops to ever play the game. In the late 90's/early 00's, it usually went A-Rod, Nomar, and then Jeter. The first two were power guys, Jeter wasn't. In the end, he was the last man standing. Nomar got hurt, and never returned to his old self. A-Rod, well, he's just an asshole. Miguel Tejada squeaked into the conversation in the mid 2000's, but that didn't last long. It is Derek Jeter who will go down as one of the best shortstops to ever play the game. 

    The farewell tour has gone on all summer, and some say it was too much, and too big of a publicity stunt. Sure, it probably was. But all those fans that attended when the Yankees were in their town got to see Derek Jeter one last time. It is something you can talk about for a long, long time. While it may have been dragged on, it was a cool way to go out. 

THE TWEET OF THE WEEK-

Steelers To Wear Patch Honoring Victims Of Ben Roethlisberger http://onion.com/1wwAhhJ  pic.twitter.com/VDHdXODuMd

 

Jake's Take:

Bill Simmons And The Mothership That Is ESPN-

Simmons, the long-feuding yet very popular and outspoken columnist/tv personality/podcast curator of ESPN/Grantland fame bashed the NFL and Roger Goodell, and then dared his employer, ESPN, to come after him for it. He has said some risky things in the past. Last year he received a 1-week Twitter suspension for calling a Richard Sherman/Skip Bayless First Take 'debate' "Embarrassing". And in 2009, Simmons received a two week social media suspension for bashing a couple of Boston-based sports talk guys. So this isn''t his first rodeo, but this one was definitely different.

What did the network do? They suspended him for three weeks, (or one week longer than the original Ray Rice suspension), and he will not appear on any and all platforms for the duration. Oh, and he also can't use his social media tools during that time. 

The question is, did they do this because of what he said about Roger Goodell? Or was it because he dared ESPN do do something about it after? Well, its probably a little of both. While quite a few ESPN personalities have spoken out against the league in the wake of recent events, many of those folks have been former coaches and players. They can write that off as guys who are in the "fraternity" giving their opinion. Simmons is just a journalist. You would think he gets paid what he does for his strong opinions, but the mothership cannot allow him to bash a league that generates the kind of money for them like the NFL does. 

I think it is ridiculous. Many are saying they had to make an example out of a guy like Simmons, (well-paid, well-known etc.), and let it be known you can't do what he did. Or else. The thing is, he was dead on with his thoughts. Not too many people have stopped watching the NFL after these scandals, (You are lying if you say you have) the PR crisis is still very bad. The league and anyone the league makes cash for want the negativity gone. They may or may not have shut Bill down without him calling them out, we will never know. He gave them the invitation to do it, and it was perfect for them. Had he not ended it with that, and they still suspended him, it would have looked a lot worse on them. Now they can give whatever reasons they want, and it's hard to question them. You can't walk into work, bash one of your biggest clients, and then dare your boss to say something. *DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME* 

ESPN will always be scared of what is said and who its said about. They don't run themselves, they are run by the leagues and individuals that generate the cash for them. It is the same reason they fall in love with athletes that may not be the best or most interesting, but they are popular. Tim Tebow, anyone? If I were Simmons, I'd pickup, tell them to F*** off, and get out of there. Of course, that isn't happening. His Grantland website and the four letter network have a joint partnership. It's the same reason why the TV show "Playmakers" was taken off the air. The NFL didn't like how it depicted drug use, domestic violence, and gay players so they asked ESPN to yank it. They did it immediately. Ironically, years later the show plays out like another episode of Hard Knocks. ESPN works for the man, and until they don't act so frightened, guys like Bill Simmons will be held back from speaking freely and doing their jobs to the fullest. 

I'M BAAAAACK!...

It has almost been one year to the day of my last blog post.

Reading the headline on that piece hurts. "Keep Calm People, The Kings Will be Here Soon".

Ouch.

I guess I should start this off by apologizing. I was wrong. I let the Seattle homer in me, along with my deep emotions on the issue, over shadow the potential for a failed attempt by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer to bring the NBA back to our city. It still hurts.

It seems like it was well over a year ago all of that drama was playing out. I really thought we had it in the bag. I think Chris and Steve probably did too. A year later, the Kings have wrapped up another bad season (thats still better than no season at all), the guy who was suppose to run the basketball operations for our new Sonics just got a job in the Big Apple running the Knicks. And the Milwaukee Bucks, another team thought to be a potential player in future Seattle hoops, just sold to a couple of guys who will keep the team in Wisconsin. That despite the Hansen/Ballmer group reportedly offering a much higher price than what Senator Herb Kohl received.

Enough about that topic for now, that isn't the reason I am writing this. This post is meant to be a "reintroduction" of sorts. Keeping up a blog isn't easy. It's not hard, but it isn't easy either. The itch is always there for me. I am always posting on Facebook, sending out tweets. I constantly find myself discussing sports at all times during the day. That is when I ask myself, "why don't you do your blog anymore?". Others ask me this at various times as well. I almost rebooted it that week in December when The Seahawks crushed the Saints on Monday night, and then Robinson Cano left the Yankees to come play for our lowly Mariners. I didn't though.

Another time came in mid January, when the Hawks were running through the playoffs, well on their way to our first ever world championship. Once again, I didn't.

That is what finally brings me to the point of all this. I have been working for the past month or so on a new, weekly post I will be doing right here. It will be pretty basic. Straight-forward, easy to read, and hopefully fun and entertaining. It will consist of three parts:

I will do a week in review. Simple concept. I will discuss major events/outcomes/performances/stories from the past week in the sports world. Maybe other topics as well, depending on the given week.

Next, I will do a look ahead. Discussing big games coming up, important dates, trade deadines, etc...

The final part will be a short column on one specific topic. A rant/opinion of sorts. Most of the time I will probably be aiming to piss you off. (Coug friends...)

Thats it. Nothing too fancy. Just something that I hope you will look forward to reading each Thursday when it is posted. And please, pass it along to anyone else you think may enjoy it!

Thanks for reading this far, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Keep Calm People, The Kings Will Be Here Soon...

As this Sacramento Kings to Seattle saga enters the final round, I thought it would be a good time to

hop back on this blog after a two year hiatus, and sooth the nerves of my fellow Seattle diehards. Everyday I get asked questions about the situation, and what my beliefs on the matter are. Apparently, these people think I actually know what is going on. And while I like to think that I do, I really have no clue. I don't think the NBA has any idea, either. I have studied the story from the beginning, and I continue to do so everyday, at all hours. I have gone about it from every angle, being calmed by the local media members, and angered by the people in Cowtown. All the while getting frustrated by the non-biased national talkers and scribes who sit firmly in the neutral zone. I have gone to city council meetings, and have sparred late into the night with Kings fans on Twitter. Enough with the numbers, the facts, and all of that. This post is not about that, it is just about why you should feel good and be positive about what will happen.

For me, this thing started on a muggy June day in 2011. It was the Fremont Solstice festival, and I was standing in a beer garden at LTD, proudly wearing a green and yellow Supersonics t-shirt. A guy approached me, complimented me on my Supes' gear, and we proceeded to discuss the topic. All of the memories the Sonics gave us as young kids in the 90's, and the pain that was caused when the team up and left for the city that shall not be named in 2008. This mystery man then told me something I never let go of...his brother, who lived in San Francisco, was friends with a guy down there that had begun the process to build a new arena and bring our team back. I expressed how awesome that would be, we said bye, and went our separate ways. While it was always in the back of my mind, I never thought much of it. What does some drunk guy at a beer garden really know about this?

Apparently, he knew it all.

It wasn't more than six months later, in December of 2011, that news began coming out that a San Francisco hedge-fund manager was scooping up land in the SODO district. And for what? Well, to build a basketball arena, of course. Just like that man in the beer garden, this hedge-fund manager was a mystery man in his own right.

Coming up on the two year anniversary of that Solstice festival, we now know this man as the second coming...Christopher Hansen.

His plan started quietly, and rapidly picked up steam. The grand idea started becoming much more clear, the rest of the group started taking shape, rallies were held, more land was purchased, arena discussions began popping up on city and county council agendas, and shit got real.

And then it happened, in January, right when our Seahawks remarkable season came to a brutal end, we had amazing news. The once former mystery man, turned local legend, Hansen, along with the CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, and a couple of guys with the last name Nordstrom, had reached an agreement to purchase the Sacramento Kings and move them to our city. At that time, this thing seemed all but done. Little did we know, it was only the end of the first quarter.

Here we are now, the clock winding down in the 4th. We have had the lead the whole game, and despite Sacramento getting some calls from the refs that seem...I'll say generous, we just need to close this out. Our team of All-stars have not once misled us, let us down, or made a misstep. Not one single time. What once seemed like a dream, is right there in our grasps. While the people in Sacramento have held press conferences on the reg, talked about their "whales" who would save the team, and spewed rhetoric after rhetoric about their arena "deal" (they use that term loosely), our guys have sat quietly, occasionally making it rain a couple extra million dollars just for good measure.

Some people I talk to are upbeat about the situation, others worn out from it, and a few extremely pessimistic. I say the same thing to all of them, "don't worry, we got this". I feel like I have Russell Wilson under center, and Marshawn Lynch in the backfield. We just need one more first down to drain the clock. You would feel good about that, right? So, yes, there is a chance of a mistake, but it just doesn't happen too often.

Instead of getting caught up in the numbers, the biased opinions, and the history, just focus on what we know is true. We know that what we have to offer in Seattle is a better all around deal. Most importantly, we know our team has never let us down.

To close, I wouldn't pop the champagne just yet, but the locker rooms are definitely covered in plastic, and the bottles are on ice.

Keep calm...We got this.