Mayweather The Greatest Ever In His Own Mind

Some of you may dismiss this article right away and call me a “hater”, which has become all to common. That’s fine I don’t mind being called anything. The whole purpose of this piece is to simply put Floyd Mayweather and his loyal fans on point. The greatest boxer ever is not Floyd nor is it Muhammad Ali. The greatest boxer ever is Sugar Ray Robinson period end of story. The man was 85–0 as an amateur with 69 of those by KO. As a professional he was 173-19-6 with 108 KO’s. He was only knocked out 1 time in 285 fights, amateurs included, there can never be a boxer or fighter of any kind to better what Sugar Ray Robinson accomplished. The man once fought 20 times in a single year, 1941. It was his job and he loved it. Floyd Mayweather loves everything boxing has provided him but he doesn’t love being a boxer.

 

I believe Floyd is a great fighter but do NOT buy into his sales job of him being the greatest. He has cherry picked opponents, paid off guys to fight heavy, Juan Manuel Marquez, waited until guys were past their primes, Mosley, fought guys not quite there, Canelo Alvarez, and fought guys who posed ZERO threat and had ZERO chance of winning, Guerrero and Ortiz.

 

 

 

 

Floyd’s career was on track for him to become on the short list for best boxer ever but because of the aforementioned fights and tactics it is safe to assume he will be remembered as a great boxer but nothing more. The argument can be made that he isn’t even the greatest boxer of his era. You could make a strong case for Bernard Hopkins, the ageless wonder, has fought the far better opposition and has been just as if not more impressive in doing so than Maywaether.

Floyd really made a turn in 2006 from “Pretty Boy Floyd” to what his is now “Money Mayweather” and that turn while financially was better the same can’t be said of his legacy. He and former promoter Bob Arum went through a messy split as boxer/promoter. Since then Floyd has never fought a Top Rank, Arum’s promotional company, fighter. Real convenient of him when the ENTIRE WORLD not just boxing heads like me wanted and clamored for a Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao fight. By the way, for a man who proclaims to love money so much he ultimately turned down the highest grossing boxing match ever by not making that fight. Mayweather claimed Pacquaio was on PED’s and insisted on Olympic style drug testing once Manny agreed to that Floyd once again did a song and dance through his various mouthpieces Leonard Ellerbe and Al Haymon. Eventually Floyd came out and said why the fight would not happen.

 

On December 20, 2013, the Telegraph reported that Mayweather said Pacquiao’s association with promoter Bob Arum is the reason why the bout will not happen. “We all know the Pacquiao fight, at this particular time, will never happen, and the reason why the fight won’t happen is because I will never do business with Bob Arum again in life, and Pacquiao is Bob Arum’s fighter,” Mayweather said.

Real convenient once again Mayweather has a nice insulated excuse. So while Mayweather will undoubtedly go in to retirement, for a second time, undefeated it does not mean he was the BEST EVER as he likes to proclaim to all who will listen.

 

 

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NFL Hypocrisy

The hypocrisy in the NFL has hit an all time high. All we the fans have heard about for the past 2 plus years was PLAYER SAFETY. Commissioner Roger Goodell has been fining people at an alarming rate and suspending players for where people have been getting hit. Defenders literally have a smaller hit zone than MLB players have a strike zone.

So what does good ol’ Goodell want to do to remedy the situation?

Adding two more regular season games.

Expand the number of playoff teams (Water down the playoffs)

Now he wants to add more Thursday night games.

All 3 of these things will only hurt the game and the product of the game.

It’s a ludicrous thought to think by doing these things player’s will not be hurt more. Come playoff time do you really want to see your team playing a good majority of 2nd stringers and guys off the streets?

Injuries are inevitable in this game but doing these proposed things will CERTAINLY mean more injuries and high profiled players being on Injured Reserve.

If you’re an NFL fan you can’t like what Goodell is looking to do to the game.

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And You Thought The 2012 QB Draft Class Was Great

While I’ll admit there isn’t an Andrew Luck in the 2014 QB draft class. This class has every opportunity to be every bit as good if not better than that terrific class in 2012.

I believe Brett Hundley is the top of the class. While most pundits and writers are putting Teddy Bridgewater at the top of the draft I like Hundley’s game better and his physical build better, While both are listed at 6’3” Hundley weighs 225 and Bridgewater a much lighter 195. I see Hundley as the almost perfect build. Lighter and faster than a Daunte Culpepper and heavier than Michael Vick with good running ability. I’d say Hundley is a better version of Cam Newton and I think Bridgewater is going to have a hard time staying healthy in the NFL at his size.  Then you have to look at the competition each guy has faced and Hundley has clearly played the better competition. Plus Bridgewater has had some injuries, wrist/ankle. Hundley has been durable. In addition to Bridgewater and Hundley the other QB’s in this class include Marcus Mariota, Tajh Boyd, and some kid name Johnny Manziel. With second tier guys like A.J, McCarron, Aaron Murray, Stephen Morris, Derek Carr, and David Fales.

Obviously this is assuming Manziel and Hundley come out this year. So while Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, and Russell Wilson was/is a special QB class the 2014 has the potential to be even better.

Roger Goodell- Has Too Much Power

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is far too powerful than what is best for the league and the players in it. His ability to suspend players for any amount of time is ridiculous. The discrepancies in the suspensions he has handed down is far and wide. He keeps pushing for the league to go to an 18 game regular season schedule which is absolute bull. It will water down the season and make having even a remotely healthy team next to impossible. Then he keeps pushing for a franchise in London. There are a million reasons that’s a terrible idea but the most obvious one is no player born and bred in the United States of America dreamed of playing NFL football in the United Kingdom.

Both the 18 game schedule and the London franchise is all about one thing, more money. I just hate to hear these things because I have seen first hand how a league can get too big for itself and ultimately wind up not generating the money they once did. Heck it’s already happening people much rather watch the game on their HD television where they can buy a 12 pack for roughly the same cost as 1 beer at the actual stadium.

I have to blame the NFLPA though when it comes to how much power Goodell has, they should have fought for an independent third-party to review all suspensions and fines but they backed down because the players didn’t want to lose any game checks. Now Goodell and the NFLPA are in a fight over HGH testing. They seemingly had a deal until Goodell decided he did not want an independent third-party to go over the hows. whens, and the punishments if a player is caught using human growth hormones.

I understand Goodell is the owner’s puppet but I believe his ego is highly involved in everything that comes up in the league.

If he knows what’s best for the NFL and himself he will look to get Los Angeles a team or two and finally end the 18 game garbage. If not he may become the man who ruined the NFL.

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The Great Debate…..Comparing Era’s, Don’t Do It

So awhile back I was listening to Detroit radio host Matt Sheppard talking about Miguel Cabrera‘s season. He brought up Joe DiMaggio and how as a rookie he had something like 33 strikeouts THE ENTIRE SEASON. He pointed out the leader of strikeouts at that date was Mike Napoli who was close to around 200 strikeouts in August. No doubt what Joe DiMaggio did was incredible but I got to thinking in his time he faced 1 pitcher the whole game everyday. He never had to face middle relievers, specialists, or closers. I think it’d be fair to say his strikeout numbers would’ve been higher. How much higher? Nobody knows.

You take the NHL for example a player like Gordie Howe faced Goaltenders who wore next to nothing in padding. Compared to today’s goalies their padding probably takes up 65% of the net. Advantage Old School.

You look at the hockey stick itself and Howe played with essentially a piece of tree. Whereas today’s players play with composite graphite sticks that are ultra light. Advantage New School.

The NFL you can only breakdown by the decades otherwise the gap is just too enormous to justify. From how it was a running league to the current day wide open passing offense’s.

The rules in the NBA and NFL in particular have changed the games almost completely. You can’t really play defense, at least the way we grew up knowing defense, anymore and it’s saddening and a big adjustment to both the fans and players.

Joe Montana is the best QB who ever played in my opinion but many want to argue that Tom Brady is. Brady is great but EVERY Super Bowl he won was off the foot of Adam Vinatieri.

The debates are what make sports fun though but for me I want to stick to debating the same era’s. Barry Sanders v Emmitt Smith, Mario Lemieux v Wayne Gretzky, and so on.

So consider the factors of each player from their era’s to play a real role in these debates.

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NFL Whip Around

After 2 weeks of NFL games here’s a little of what we know.

You’re A Mess

These teams are either ravaged by injuries or just don’t have the talent where it matters. QB mainly but Jacksonville has nothing to work with on any level.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Washington Redskins

Pittsburgh Steelers

New York Giants

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minnesota Vikings

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Heading The Right Way

These two teams are finding out what they have at QB and could really have both found their guy’s.

Oakland Raiders

Buffalo Bills

Somewhere In The Middle

These teams aren’t overly impressive but should be watched because they have the talent to make some noise,

Tennessee Titans

Arizona Cardinals

Detroit Lions

St. Louis Rams

Philadelphia Eagles

Indianapolis Colts

Very Impressive (so far)

These teams have looked good so far and for Miami and K.C. in particular the improvement is noticeable.

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Chicago Bears

The Unknowns

These teams all have the talent to make the playoffs and ultimately win a Super Bowl but as of today. They haven’t been good enough to separate themselves yet.

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Baltimore Ravens

Houston Texans

New England Patriots

The We Don’t Care About You

These teams pretty much have given us the same thing for years now and that doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon.

Dallas Cowboys

San Diego Chargers

New York Jets

ALREADY ON THE HOT SEAT

Greg Schiano– His Rutgers mentality is going to land him back in the college game very soon. I think, he’s already lost this team and I expect it to only get worse.

Ron Rivera-Not giving Cam Newton any help will be his undoing.

Jim Schwartz- He is in straight up denial if he truly believes this isn’t the Same Old Lions. Since he’s been the Lions coach they have been league leaders or towards the top in both passes dropped and penalties. He is not willing to put guys on the bench that are hurting the team either with penalties or bad play.

Rex Ryan– The writing has been on the wall for a while now and Rex knows it.

Jason Garrett- The ginger has never been a good coach and it’s not getting any better with his play calling been stripped away from him.

 

 

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From Medical Courier To National Sports Radio Show Producer- Dave Druda

Big thanks to Dave Druda for taking the time for this interview. Dave is a producer on the national simulcast The Tim Brando Show on Cbs Sports Network and on SiriusXM College Sports Nation. I was very happy to have this guy on, Dave tells us about how he came into the sports radio business. We discuss everything from his love of Florida State to television shows Breaking Bad and Duck Dynasty, his trip to St. Jude Children’s Hospital and hanging out with Larry The Cable Guy.

I hope if any of you haven’t listened or watched the Tim Brando Show that you will and hopefully this interview will inspire you if you love sports and want to do something in or around the games. You can follow Dave on twitter @DaveDruda

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How Canelo Can Pull The Upset ?

Saul Alvarez faces Floyd Mayweather Jr. tomorrow night at what is looking likely to give the record-setting pay per view numbers from the  Mayweather vs De La Hoya fight in 2007 a run for it’s ppv numbers mark. Now many causal fans of boxing are already giving Floyd the victory, which to be honest ever since the Oscar De La Hoya fight, makes it logical because Floyd has never TRULY put himself up against a fighter who had more than a miraculous chance of winning. Since the De LA Hoya fight Mayweather has fought; Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley, Victor Ortiz, Miguel Cotto, and Robert Guerrero.

You say well he fought 2 potentially 3 Hall of Famer’s in Marquez, Mosley, and Cotto. Well in the Marquez fight Floyd essentially bought that victory by coming in over the weight limit and have zero intentions of making weight he paid Marquez $600,000 for being over the agreed upon catch weight of 144 lbs. Versus Mosley he fought a fighter well past his prime and still Mosley was able to land a right hand that buckled Floyd’s knees and had Mosley been 3-4 years younger he probably would have been able to capitalize on that but Mayweather weathered that and went on to easily out box Mosley the rest of the fight. Cotto showed the best of all these fighters versus Mayweather.  He was able to land body shots and jabs in the middle of the fight, even bloodying Mayweather’s nose at one point. Cotto ended up winning 2 rounds on 1 judges card and 3 on the other 2 judges. Cotto though was ultimately not the one to get the job done.

So what can ‘Canelo’ Alvarez  take from all of this? A lot actually.

1-Stay dedicated to the body of Mayweather.

2- You’re going to miss him, don’t get frustrated by it.

3-Switch it up instead of leading with a jab come with a hook.

4- Use the uppercut.

5- Cut off the ring.

6- Anticipate the shoulder roll, when he rolls a shoulder make sure you come with a body shot right behind it.

7- Keep the pressure on. Canelo will not win fighting only in spurts like he did in his last fight with Austin Trout.

I believe this fight is finally a fight….. A) People want to see and B) A fight that actually involves a live opponent.

Floyd has many of the advantages going into this fight. Canelo has a few too. Canelo obviously has the power advantage.  This is the first time since 2007, six years ago, that Mayweather is fighting twice in one year. So we will see how that comes into play. Will Floyd not be as sharp in the latter rounds?

I really like Canelo to pull the upset and I believe he will. My prediction is Alvarez wins by TKO in the 7th round. Yep I’m picking Alvarez to win this thing. I don’t think this moment or stage is too big for him and I don’t believe Mayweather intimidates him at all.

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Matthew Stafford’s Critics Are Unfounded

Matthew Stafford, the name brings up automatic debate. His mechanics, 1-23 vs winning teams, and on and on. Matthew Stafford’s career can be summarized by yesterday’s game. The Lions had 2 offensive touchdowns overturned and a defensive touchdown taken away from a penalty.

At halftime the Detroit Lions had 5 dropped passes. Calvin Johnson had a 20 yard Touchdown reversed because he failed to complete the “process” of the catch, 1 fumble (Brandon Pettitgrew), 1 Interception off pass deflected at the line on scrimmage, Deandre Levy Interception Touchdown called back (Ndamukong Suh illegal block), and Louis Delmas flagged for taunting Vikings WR Jerome Simpson.

Now is Stafford perfect? No, nobody is but he is darn good. He can’t help what Suh, Delmas, Pettitgrew do. Nor can he control if his WR is going to complete the “process” of the catch. All he can control is where he throws the ball and what he does when the ball is in his hands. How many times did we watch Joey Harrington take stupid sacks when he could have just thrown the ball away? Stafford plays a smart game for the most part. Everyone is going to make mistakes but Stafford rarely makes the same ones.

For some reason SOME Lions fans think Stafford is a bad QB. I totally disagree. Could he mix in a few pump fakes? Yeah. All in all I think he is a Top 10 QB in this league and only ascending. So while Ron Jaworski can babble on ESPN about how horrible Matthew’s mechanics are according to him, who wasn’t exactly a great QB himself. Love these analysts who weren’t really that good and crush these guys playing today. Sean Salisbury was an ESPN analyst for crying out loud. Now if Kurt Warner or anyone with some real credibility speaks I will listen but these ESPN guys are just made for tv. Their job is to stir the proverbial pot. ESPN has become a joke.

So while Matthew Stafford knows the QB gets the love for the Wins and hate for the Losses it’s hardly all on him.

Show me one of these names you’d bring back over Stafford.

Charlie Batch
Daunte Culpepper
Ty Detmer
Gus Frerotte
Jeff Garcia
Joey Harrington
Drew Henson
Jon Kitna
Erik Kramer
Dave Krieg
Mike McMahon
Scott Mitchell
Dan Orlovsky
Rodney Peete
Drew Stanton
Andre Ware

You can’t honestly say Stafford is not better than all these guys. At least I can not.

 

 

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5 Biggest Questions For Lions vs Vikings

1- Can Detroit run the ball? The Detroit Lions haven’t been able to sustain a rushing attack since the days of running back James Stewart. Yes it’s been that long folks. Well find out against a good Vikings defense whether or not they will be able to do so this season.

2- How will the offensive line play, especially the right side? With rookie Guard Larry Warford and Tackle Jason Fox taking over for the departed Gosder Cherilus and Stephen Peterman. Will Riley Reiff fare well against All World Defensive End Jared Allen?

3-Will the team as a whole stay away from self destructing penalties?

4-Will the Lions find a consistent 2nd receiving option opposite Calvin Johnson?

5- Will this defense create turnovers? Last year they were terrible with a -16 in turnover ratio.

 

It’s not a must win but it’s a HUGE game for many reasons. A home game against a divisional opponent, Lions went 0-6 versus divisional opponents last season, this season has many implications for the coaching staff and the front office so getting off to a fast start is essential.

 

 

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