Brad Hubbard Basketball, College Basketball, Football, Hockey, NBA, NFL, NHL

The Sunday: Shots, Saves & Scene

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

One And Done

Greg Hardy’s time with the Dallas Cowboys is at an end. He didn’t play a full season due to his suspension, fought with teammates on the sidelines and generally lost the backing of everyone in the organization.

Unknown at this time if another NFL team will take a chance on a player who threw his girlfriend onto a couch full of guns and threatened to kill her. He is really a stark contrast from another Briarcrest teammate, Michael Oher.

 

And The Save

How do you get noticed when you are minor league hockey players traveling on buses from some low population center to another? You have your name be Bud Halloway and you layout to stop an empty net goal.

 

Steph Curry Moment Of The Week

How about a game winner from 35 feet-ish away after he went to the locker room earlier in the game to get his ankle fixed up after he had it stepped on. The man continues to impress…no, he continues to amaze.

 

For The Win….

Well he wasn’t Steph Curry but he did win $18k by making this half court shot on College GameDay. Beers are on this guy!

 

And Scene

Former Mississippi State defensive lineman Chris Jones probably had better days. Nothing like ripping your skin tight shorts and have your junk fall out during your job interview.

 

Advertisement
Brad Hubbard Basketball, College Basketball

Blue Villain

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

Mike Krzyzewski and Duke are the standard in college basketball. Year after year they are competing for national championships, putting players into the NBA and Coach K is bringing home Olympic Gold Medals every couple of years. So it comes as a shock that sophomore guard Grayson Allen wasn’t suspended by the team or the conference after tripping an opposing player.

From the video, it seems pretty evident that Allen purposefully tripped Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes. While Duke handled the matter internally and the conference publicly “reprimanded” Allen, it all seems to fall short.

This wasn’t Allen’s first transgression this year either as the Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore points out. Allen is now embolden to be the latest in a long line of hated Duke players.

Now compare Allen’s punishment to that of Oregon State’s Jarmal Reid. Reid tripped a ref earlier this year and was suspended four games by the university and it could have been longer.

There needs to be consistency. Yes these are separate situations, conferences, etc but that shouldn’t matter. The NCAA should step in and suspend Allen for at least a game. Having two similar incidents with different consequences doesn’t make any sense.

All that being said, what’s done is done and the case is closed. So just mark Allen up as the latest Duke Villain.

Brad Hubbard Basketball, College Basketball, Hockey, NBA, NHL, Soccer

What To Watch: Fri. 2/26 – Sun. 2/28

All times are Pacific.

Friday February 26th

Minnesota Wild at Washington Capitals – 4pm NHL.TV: The Caps are the top team in the NHL and the Wild are fighting for a playoff spot. And what is a Friday night without Ovi?

Charlotte Hornets at Indiana Pacers – 4pm NBA League Pass: This one will go a long way in determining if and where the Hornets are in the playoff picture.

Cleveland Cavaliers at Toronto Raptors – 4:30pm NBA League Pass: LeBron and company head north to take on DeMar DeRozan and the Raptors.

 

Saturday February 27th

Oklahoma at Texas – 11am CBS: When isn’t an OU vs Texas game fun?

Louisville at Miami – 11am ESPN3: Somehow a major ACC and top 15 match up made it’s way to ESPN3. Strange.

Arizona at Utah – 11am ESPN: The Wildcats are coming off a tough loss in Colorado and now have to face the Utes. Tall order.

St. Louis Blues at Nashville Predators – Noon NHL.TV: Divisional battle between two teams looking to improve their playoff position.

NY Rangers at Dallas Stars – 1pm NHLN: Inter-conference battle that features one team that is second in the NHL in goals per game (Dallas) and one that is 12th in goals against (NY).

Maryland at Purdue – 1pm ESPN: Big matchup in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers loss by 11 in Maryland a few weeks ago but things should be different and Mackey Arena will be rocking.

UFC Fight Night – 1pm UFC Fight Pass: Anderson Silva vs Michael Bisping live from London. Too bad this fight didn’t happen three or four years ago.

UNC at Virginia – 3:30pm ESPN: The Tar Heels head north to Charlottesville to take on UVA in a top 10 matchup and massive NCAA Tournament implications.

Detroit Red Wings at Colorado Avalanche – 5pm NBC: It’s not the most ideal conditions for an outdoor game, in fact it should be a balmy 60 degrees when the puck drops. Probably not what the NHL was hoping for when they scheduled this one.

DurantGolden State Warriors at Oklahoma City Thunder – 5:30 ABC: The Splash Brothers invade the house that Durant and Westbrook built. Rumors are swirling that Durant will join the Warriors in the off season but it’s a long time between now and then. This is going to be a stellar game.

 

Sunday February 28th

Manchester United vs Arsenal – 6am NBCSN: So Man U isn’t the team they once were…this is still a helluva soccer game.

Washington Capitals at Chicago Blackhawks – 9:30am: Dude….what an awesome game for a Sunday…or any day for that matter.

Iowa at Ohio State – 1pm CBS: Come for the basketball and stay to see why Iowa is going to make a lot of noise in the tournament.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins – 3pm NBCSN: These two are neck and neck in the Atlantic division.

Paul George DunkPortland Trailblazers at Indiana Pacers – 3pm NBA League Pass: Portland is a long way from home but a Damian Lillard vs Paul George matchup is too good to pass up.

 

 

LA Kings at Anaheim Ducks – 6pm NBCSN: The Ducks have really turned it around and are only two points back of the Kings for the top spot in the Pacific.

Brad Hubbard College Basketball

The Bad Record Breaking

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

The bad news at Tennessee just got a little worse. 

Lady VolsThe Tennessee Lady Vols have fallen out of the Top 25 for the first time in 31 years. That’s right, 31 years. That’s 565 consecutive weeks. Now that record is done and the eight time National Champions are not among the top 25 teams in the country.

Take a moment to ponder that record. The last time the Lady Vols were not in the Top 25 was in February of 1985. None of the current players on the Lady Vols roster were born yet by about a decade.

The Lady Vols former arch rivals were UCONN are the longest running women’s team in the top 25 with 428 consecutive weeks. Talk about insult to injury.

Brad Hubbard Basketball, Football, NBA, NFL, NHL

The Sunday: Be Like That

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

Speechless

Monty Williams may not be a household name to a lot of people despite his decade long NBA career as a player, former head coach and now assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He will be after his eulogy for this wife who died in a car accident a few weeks ago. There really isn’t anything else to be said, just watch his eulogy….even if you are not religious.

 

Ride Off

Jared Allen is an animal. He terrorized quarterbacks for well over a decade. And like any good cowboy, when your time has come, you ride off into the sunset.

 

Impaled

A 14 year old girl was impaled by the wood floor during a basketball game in Wisconsin. No, I didn’t make this up. She is alright and should be playing basketball again soon but, it’s still creepy.

That Just Happened

Let’s be honest, there was not a lot of national attention for the Buffalo Sabers at Columbus Blue Jackets game this past week. There was afterwards when David Legwand made this absurd shot.

 

Steph Curry Moment Of The Week

Brought to you this week by Russell Westbrook.

 

 

Brad Hubbard Innovation, Media, MLB

Concurrent Availabilty

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

Bob Bowman knows his stuff. 

Bowman is the head of MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM for short or just BAM) which streams more than just baseball. They also handle HBO, WWE, NHL and others. So when he talks about the probability of a Google or Apple taking over the NFL’s Thursday Night Football (TNF) digital rights and delivering three to five million concurrent streams on a weekly basis, he is rightfully pessimistic.

Code Conference

Bowman is incorrect in one fact, someone has done a big number of concurrent streams before. The Red Bull Stratos jump a few years ago did eight million concurrent streams. YouTube did not say that these were all in the US which is why Bowman said that ‘no one has come close.’ No one has come close to doing it on a regular basis much less every Thursday Night.

It is interesting to note that one of the most influential people in streaming live events is saying that a tech company will not solely own sports rights any time soon. Looks like a semblance of the status quo will remain for quite some time

Brad Hubbard College Basketball, Hockey, NBA, NHL, Racing, Soccer

What To Watch: Fri. 2/19 – Sun. 2/21

All times are Pacific.

Friday February 19th

Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks – 5pm NBA League Pass: The top two teams in the Southeast go head to head in the ATL.

Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls – 5pm NBA League Pass: Bulls have been hurting as of late and the Raptors have been on a roll. Can the Bulls turn it around in the house that Jordan built?

Paul George DunkIndiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder – 5pm ESPN: Inter-conference matchup with Paul George vs Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant which is basically part of the starting lineup for Team USA in the Olympics this summer.

 

Saturday February 20th

Duke at Louisville – 9am ESPN: It’s still strange to think that of this is as a conference game but it is. Duke is coming off a huge win at UNC this past week but they are a depleted bunch and this might be too much for Coach K and his Blue Devils.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins – 9:30am NHL.TV: These two are currently locked into the last two playoff spots in the Eastern conference.

Miami at UNC – 10am CBS: Huge matchup in the ACC. Carolina has to put the pieces back together after their crushing loss to Duke this past week. The Hurricanes are very, very good and could give the Tar Heels their second loss in a row at home.

Oklahoma at West Virginia – 1pm ESPN: Top 10 matchup with massive implications for tournament seeding and for the Big 12 title. Remember, the Mountaineers beat Kansas earlier this year at home.

LA Kings at Nashville Predators – 5pm NHL.TV: The Kings are atop of the Pacific division but they have some teams hot on their tail. Meanwhile the Predators are at the end of just a nasty swing of games against top teams.

Boston Bruins at Dallas Stars – 5pm NHLN: East meets West in a game of two teams headed for the playoffs.

Purdue at Indiana – 5:30pm ESPN: Purdue may be ranked higher but it’s Indiana that is tied for first in the Big Ten. It’s an in-state matchup with a whole lot riding on it.

Klay ThompsonGolden State Warriors at LA Clippers – 5:30pm ABC: Dub City vs Lob City from LA. Oh and they are first and second in the Pacific division. Seriously, is there something else you needed to do on a Saturday night?

 

 

Sunday February 21st

Chelsea vs Manchester City – 8am FS2: It’s an FA Cup weekend in England and this is one of the better match-ups.

Daytona 500Daytona 500 – 10am FOX: It’s that time of year again. Time for 200 laps and 500 miles of hard nosed racin. Buckle up and see if  Joey Logano can make it two in row. Boogity Boogity Boogity Let’s Go Racin Boys!

Chicago Blackhawks at Minnesota Wild – 12:30pm NBC: The division rivals head outside as part of the Coors Light Stadium Series. It won’t be snowing…or below freezing but it should be fun none the less.

Cleveland Cavaliers at Oklahoma City Thunder – 12:30pm ABC: These are two of the best teams in the league with the firepower to win it all.

Calgary Flames at Anaheim Ducks – 4pm NHL.TV: The Ducks are on fire right now and the Flames are looking to claw their way into playoff contention.

Detroit Red Wings at NY Rangers – 4pm NBCSN: You just can’t help but watch a game featuring two of the NHL’s Original 6.

Brad Hubbard Football, Media

Corruption Isn’t The Only Problem At FIFA

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

It is no secret that FIFA is corrupt and under investigation. With their election coming up in a few weeks 60 Minutes took the time to remind us just how bad and almost comical it is.

FIFA on 60 Minutes

The sad thing about this is that corruption isn’t the only issue facing FIFA. Sexism is a major issue as well.

Former President Sepp Blatter, who is now banned and under investigation in a couple of countries, once said that women could ‘have tighter shorts’ when asked on how to promote the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

FIFA has also been accused of not taking racism seriously enough. While it will implement racism monitoring at 2018 World Cup Qualifiers, many feel FIFA hasn’t gone far enough in discouraging the practice of racism in the game.

So when you see something about the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, or UFC just remember….it’s not as bad as FIFA.

Brad Hubbard Daily Fantasy Sports, Media

Frontline Tackles Daily Fantasy Sports

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

It was only a matter of time before the state and federal governments got involved and now Frontline took a swing at daily fantasy sports (DFS) along with the New York Times.

For the record, I do think it is gambling however I also believe that their should be a long hard look at legalizing sports gambling nationally. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver advocated for the legalization of sports gambling in an op-ed in the New York Times last year.

The Fantasy Sports Gamble

Watch it here

New York Times stories on DFS