Award Show

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Rookie of the Year- Blake Griffin's early season injury jepordizes his ability to win this award despite being the most talented rookie. Due to this Johnny Flynn may steal the award. His ability to run the pick and roll and distribute will allow him to be successful early in his NBA career. Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, and Ty Lawson are all contenders for this award as well.

Sixth Man- Lamar Odom would start on most NBA teams, and will play big minutes on a dangerous Laker team. Due to this he will be able to accumlate the stats needed to win the award and his impact will be evident.

Defensive Player of the Year- Dwight Howard is the early front runner to repeat for the DPOY. His ability to control the glass and block shots makes him a defensive threat. Ron Artest, Rajon Rondo, and Greg Oden are all darkhorses for this award.

MVP- Dwyane Wade should have won the MVP last year, but voters were scared away by the Heats lack of wins. With Cleveland expected to have a down year (thus cancelling out LeBron), and Miami's role players improving Wade should get more recognition and MVP votes this season.

Predictions Part Two

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Surprise Eastern Conference Team- The Wizards are not true contenders to represent the East in the Finals, but could cause some problems should advance to the second round. A huge jump from being in the lottery a year ago. Not only will a healthy Gilbert Arenas cause a huge jump in Washington's win total, but adding Randy Foye will pay dividends on nights when Arenas struggles. Foye's ability to play both guard positions will allow the Wizards to match up with most teams. Nevertheless, the Wizards have a ton of scoring guards, and although Arenas has become a better passer their ability to share the basketball will directly affect their success.





Disappointing Eastern Conference Team- The Cavaliers are most likely to disappoint this year. Both Orlando and Boston improved, and while the Cavs added Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker, and Shaq; none of these players fill a need. They still do not match up favorably with Orlando, or Boston. Adding Shaq was an awful move, he's a ball stopper in an offense that lacks innovation, a defensive liablity in the pick and roll, and is slow rotating on defense. I doubt the Cavs will return to the Conference Finals this year.





Surprise Western Conference Team- The Thunder should turn a lot of heads this season. Most feel they are a year or two away from being a play off team, but why not this year? At the end of last year they were very competitive, and Kevin Durant is a top ten player in the NBA this season. His presence alone should win them an extra five games. They are young and entergetic and will compete every night. Although they are in a tough Western Conference they have the talent to win 45 games this season.





Disappointing Western Conference Team- The Hornets have all the makings to fall short of their preseason playoff expectations. First, their lack of a perimeter scorer will hurt them, at times they play unspirited and lacking passion. This team will struggle to score and will be inconsistent. This will cause them to miss the playoffs.

Where Predictions Happen

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What's the start of NBA season without late Garbage Time predictions? Nothing of course, so without further ado, here are the much awaited predictions.

Atlantic Divison- The Celtics will easily win the Atlantic, in fact if any team other than the 76ers finishes above .500 in this division that would be a mild surprise. While both the Knicks and Nets were mild surprises last year, I doubt either team will make any noise this year. It's unrealistic to think the Raptors can win over 37 games, and the 76ers at best are a 45 win team.

Central Divison- The Cavs are the clear favorite in the Central, but the Bulls should contend for the divison title. Don't expect the Cavs to replicate last seasons magic and win close to 70 games. At best the Cavs are a 60 win team, but it wouldn't be surprising to see them in the 55 win range. The Bulls still lack a low post scorer to help Derrick Rose, but they will compete every night and Rose is one of the best point guards in the NBA and give them a chance to win every game this season. Detroit and Indiana will both be average teams who will win in between 30 and 40 games. Both are long shots for the playoffs, but could hang around and flirt with a playoff spot. The Bucks may be the worst team in the NBA this year, but they do have Garbage Time favorite Brandon Jennings which will make all of their games somewhat entertaining.

Southeast Divison- The Magic are the class of the Southeast. Adding Vince Carter gives them a scorer to compliment their shooters and having Dwight Howard in the low post makes them even more dangerous. The Heat, Wizards and Hawks should battle for second place in this division. All have 50 win potential. Gilbert Arenas looks to be back and better than ever, featuring improved passing skills. Randy Foye is an underrated guard who is an upgrade from a solid DeShawn Stevenson and would be a second or third option on most teams. Foye is the fourth offensive option, which shows how explosive they can be offensively. Still, this is a very important season for the Heat. If Mike Beasley and Jermaine O'neal can prove to be solid second and third options the Heat will be very dangerous this year.

Northwest Division- This is the toughest division in the NBA this season, but the favorite has to be the Nuggets. Carmelo Anthony has turned into a complete player and is slowly but surely entering the Wade-James-Bryant league in the group of men amongst boys. Ty Lawson has looked good early on and will be a surprise Rookie of the Year canidate. Portland and Utah will both push Denver as 50 win teams, but lack the offensive fire power Denver has. Oklahoma City will not contend for the divison this year, but may secure a playoff spot. Kevin Durant is a top three scorer in the NBA, Russell Westbrook has looked great, and Jeff Green is a solid option who can contribute 15-20 points a game. The Thunder's lack of experience and true number two option may keep them from securing a playoff spot. Lastly, Minnesota will be one of the worst teams in the NBA this year. Still, the future looks bright with Kevin Love, Johnny Flynn, and Al Jefferson.

Pacific Divison- The Lakers are clearly the favorite in the Pacific. They return everyone from their championship team except for Trevor Ariza who was replaced with Ron Artest. Artest is a better shooter, defender, and scorer than Ariza and has been well behaved in both Sacramento and Houston so the questions about his affect on the Lakers' chemistry are a bit unfair. The Clippers and Suns will battle for second place in the divison without threatening the Lakers. Both have talent to win 50 games at best, and anything less than 45 wins will be considered a disappointment for both teams. Nevertheless, expect the Clippers to make the playoffs and the Suns to miss the party for a second straight year. Although Golden State as talent, they appear to be in turmoil and still do not make a commitment to playing defense, this will cause them to be a bottom feeder in the NBA once again. Unlike Golden State, Sacramento lacks talent other than Tyreke Evans and Kevin Martin and will struggle to win games. If they eclipse the 20 win mark, they will have had a successful season.

Southwest- The Spurs appear to be the best team in the Southwest this season. They were already a dangerous team and with Richard Jefferson will contend in the Western Conference. Dallas will challenge the Spurs, but still aren't a major threat. I expect a down year from New Orleans who are in desperate need of a scoring guard. Chris Paul is forced to manufacture almost all of their points and may wear down as the season goes on. Houston and Memphis could both quietly contend for a playoff spot. Memphis is young, but should have an explosive offense which will win them a few games. Houston lacks a scorer until Tracy McGrady returns, but will compete and play defense. This will keep them in a lot of games, but in the end I don't see them in the playoffs.

A Season on the Brink

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After a disappointing loss against Woodland Hills last week, the Central Catholic Vikings are looking for answers. One week they look great (see: at Upper St. Clair, at Cannon Mac, and against Ursuline), the next well not so much (blowout losses against Woodland Hills and Mt. Lebanon). After the most recent season altering loss, the coaching staff has decided to make some changes, most notably at quarterback where senior David Smyers will not start this week. While this change is not a total surprise, his incumbent is. Sophomore quarterback Perry Hills will get the nod at quarterback over Junior quarterback Tony Pompeo. Pompeo has spent all of this season as the teams back up quarterback and has the support of not only the student body, but the majority of the team. When I asked Viking players to comment on the change, all expressed their disappointment in Pompeo not starting, and began to hint at a divided locker room between the players and coaches. Furthermore, Pompeo has varsity experience as he has not only started every JV game this year, but also saw time on varsity as a freshman at Fox Chapel.

Still, what makes this move most shocking is the timing. This weeks opponent Penn Hills has a stout defense featuring two of the best corners in the country in Brandon Iffel and Cullen Christian (Christian plays safety, but is the number three corner in the country according to rivals.com). Playing against a team with such a decorated secondary wouldn't you want to start a more experience quarterback, that also has the backing of the team?

Penn Hills prides itself on stopping the run and getting to the quarterback, coincidentally this also seems to be the formula for beating the Vikings. The Vikings are 0-2 when sophomore running back Damion Jones-Moore does not rush for over 150 yards. Lastly, Pompeo at 6-3 215 is known for his command of the pocket, against a team that will blitz on about 60% of their defensive of snaps the decision not to start Pompeo may prove to be costly.

Vikes Back on Track

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Redemption. That was the word Pittsburgh Central Catholic football players were using to describe this week's game against Upper St. Clair. After coming out flat against Mt. Lebanon last week, and falling behind 23-0 before you could blink, and then 30-7 at halftime, the Vikings ensured another let down would not occur against the Panthers tonight. Led by a stout defense, and sophomore running back Damion Jones-Moore, the Vikings returned to their winning ways with a 31-7 win over USC. The Central defense flew around holding the Panthers to 179 total yards and the offense did their part as Jones had his third 200 yard game this season and senior quarterback David Smyers threw for 112 yards with a touchdown pass to junior Dustin Lowman; the second time that duo has hooked up this year.

With tonight's win, the Vikings put themselves back in the conversation for a WPIAL championship, but there are still some questions about this team. Are the Vikings done with their first quarter-first half no shows that were seen in the first three games? Will Jones-Moore be able to hold up for an entire season with the current workload he's getting (over 30 carries tonight, which is an abnormally high amount in high school)? and most importantly, how will the Vikings handle being in the media's good graces again? They thrived as the underdog this week, but after tonight's blowout win, Central will be considered a favorite again. Can this group of Vikes stay motivated with the success?

Making something out of nothing... in a bad way

By Eric Y

Last Friday, South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier admitted he did not vote for Florida quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow as All-SEC quarterback. Spurrier was the only coach in the conference to vote for a quarterback other than Tebow. ESPN, among others, has spent a lot of time covering this story. Talk of the Head Ball Coach "dissing" his alma mater and their star was all over the news. But I have to ask: why do we care?

Ok, ok, we get it: Tebow should have been unanimously the first-team quarterback. But does this error, this mistake, which Spurrier himself fessed up to, really deserve this much fuss? Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead getting ONE vote does not mean Tebow isn't on the first team. And do you think Tebow is upset that Spurrier accidentally voted for someone else? Do you think a good guy like him is gonna go on a rant, calling out the Gamecocks, because of this? No! Of course not! There is nothing so newsworthy about this mistake that it should be the headline of the SEC media day, where we should be hearing about the upcoming season and not Tim Tebow's virginity.

This whole over-reporting of the SEC first team "scandal" really leaves me wondering: is ESPN turning into the MTV of sports television? Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of SportsCenter and of when the station shows games. But more and more of ESPN is becoming off-the-field stuff and less and less is about what's actually happening in the game. Of course, a little bit about what's happening to athletes off the field is good, but after hearing about Terrell Owens' antics and reality TV show and the pregnancy testing for Dirk Nowitzki's girlfriend every day, you get pretty sick of it. Why don't you tell me how Owens, the same wideout who was exiled from three different cities, can mesh into Bufallo's system and thrive? How about you spend just a second talking about Nowitzki's performance on the court and not in bed?

Often times, I turn on the TV expecting to see a game on ESPN, but, most times, I'm disappointed to see yet another goddamn E:60 report on Michael Vick and his puppies. ESPN is slowly but surely turning into MTV, showcasing the World Series of Poker but not Major League Baseball, and Outside the Lines but not NFL Live. And that's why I like ESPN Classic; they show actual sporting events (with the exception of American Gladiators, but it's entertaining). I'd rather watch a football game from 10 years ago than hear about a punk wide receiver who kills a guy but doesn't get 10 years.

On a totally unrelated note, Tim Tebow's reported girlfriend is totally bangin. I wouldn't mind if the guys on ESPN talked about her a little bit more.

The Prince who should be King

By Eric Y

Many players in all sports leagues are sifted into two separate categories: underrated or overrated. There's always a few sleeper players (e.g. Ben Zobrist) who end up in all-star games, and there's always a few players who sign stratospheric contracts then drastically underperform (e.g. Jose Guillen).

In Major League Baseball this year, a great amount of attention is given to St. Louis Cardinals' superstar Albert Pujols, who is neither underrated nor overrated. With everyone focused on him, not many are paying attention to the most underrated player in the MLB: Prince Fielder.

Some casual baseball fans might know Fielder as "that guy who won the Home Run Derby a couple weeks ago." But if you look closely at the Milwaukee first baseman's stats, you realize what an outstanding season he's actually having. Fielder is tied for fifth in the National League in home runs, but that's no surprise to me. What's really surprising is that he has, in one season, gone from a one-tool, power-hitting slugger, to a .300 hitter.

But Fielder hasn't just raised his batting average; he's raised almost every other statistical category from last year. His On-Base Percentage raised from .372 in 2008 to .438 (second in the MLB, behind Pujols), and his Slugging Percentage leaped from .507 to .610 (also second in the bigs). His On-Base plus Slugging Percentage skyrocketed from .879 to 1.048 (second in the MLB). His Value Over Replacement Player (the number of runs contributed beyond what a replacement-level player at the same position would contribute if given the same percentage of team plate appearances) is 49.4, which is less than only Pujols and Florida Marlin shortstop Hanley Ramirez. Fielder's hitting is the key to the Brewers success, and his hitting has helped everyone else on the team thrive.

But hitting isn't all Fielder can do. Fielder went from one of the worst defensive first basemen in the majors (17 errors in 2008, second worst in the MLB) to a much more sound defender (only 4 errors thus far). Fielder is also the most fleet-of-foot 268-pound players I have ever seen. Fielder isn't going to be a big threat to steal a base, but he is a very smart and good baserunner, and is actually pretty damn fast (Prince holds the distinguished record of heaviest player ever to hit an inside-the-park home run, which he did last year).

At age 25, Fielder has nowhere to go but up. Right now, he will have to settle for second-best behind Pujols. But the Big Broccoli has nowhere to go but up. Watch out.