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By David Banks Russell Westbrook and James Harden has been a huge impact of the game of basketball. These two dominant scorers are hungry to be on top and are putting on a show.
In February, Westbrook averaged 25.2 points per game, 12.2 assist per game, and 8.6 rebounds per game. Casually hovering near a triple-double average for the month of February. Harden’s average was 31.5 points per game, 6.9 assist per game, and 6.9 rebounds per game just behind first place Stephen Curry. James beats Russell in the points category, but if you want to be involved a little more Russell Westbrook is the man in February. I say this season, Russell Westbrook is a better player overall because he currently have 15 triple doubles. He's tied with Michael Jordan and right behind Fat Lever. Westbrook is on the pace of taking the number one spot from one of the All-Time greats, but in my opinion the greatest all-around player in history Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson had 17 triple doubles in his 1988-89 season. Sources say, “Russell Westbrook is 3rd player in last 40 yrs to record 6+ triple-doubles in a calendar month.” You got to appreciate greatness while it's here. At one point Oklahoma City Thunder were a perfect 15-0 in games where Russell has a triple double this season.
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By Terry Coleman  After nine years of playing in the NFL, Marshawn Lynch has announced his retirement. On Sunday, at 9:11 PM, Marshawn posted a picture on Twitter with his cleats hanging on a telephone wire. Lynch is a five time Pro-Bowl and one time All-Pro Selection. During the 2013 football season he helped lead his team to the Super Bowl and a big win over the Broncos. Marshawn was the offensive flag carrier in the Super Bowl. During the 2015 season he was only limited to seven regular-season games and one in the postseason due largely to an abdominal injury that required surgery. He finished his season with a career low of 417 yards in his final season.
One of the most memorable moments in his career was the superb run he made against the New Orleans Saints in 2010. He broke several tackles consecutively and ran for the eventual game winning touchdown. Lynch is known not to talk much, he is more of a just a do it type of guy. He is one of the top running backs ever as shown by his stats. Many of people will miss the man they call “Beast Mode.” Marshawn isn’t the type to have a press conference and announce his retirement. He thought of a better and more powerful way to do it by taking a picture of his cleats on a power-line and posting it on Twitter. The way he announced his retirement was a perfect sendoff for the man he was on and off the field. By Ivan Avalos  In the beginning of the season, if you asked fans who they thought would win the league you would expect them to say Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool or any other top team in the Premier League.
But as the season stands now a different team is in the run for the league title, Leicester City. The Foxes finished in 14th place last season and survived relegation zone by 6 points is now on top the league by 5 points with 7 games to go. “Leicester don’t have that much of a budget to work with like the other teams do” said McMahon student Kevin Martinez (16).According to ESPN, Leicester City have a squad worth of 54.4 million dollars, with their most expensive player being Leonardo Ulloa, 10 million dollars, while Tottenham have a squad value of $161.1m, Arsenal 251.9 m and Manchester City have $418.8m. A big reason why they are first is because of the attacking duo of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez. Vardy, who at one point was playing soccer in the 5th tier in the English League, leads the Premier League top scorers chart with 12 goals while Mahrez sits in second place with 7 strikes. The Algerian winger also has the second most assists with 11, and 5 provided to Vardy . In the midfield they have N’Golo Kante who has been a commanding presence in the center of the park with 82% passing and 25 total chances created. Meanwhile Robert Huth is running the defense that has stopped many big teams in England winning 55% of his duels. “I hope Leicester City win so that Arsenal or Tottenham don't win it” said Martinez, who is a Chelsea supporter and doesn't want to see one of his team's rivals win the league, “I would be really mad if Arsenal or Tottenham win the league.” And this is not the only reason people are hoping they can lift the league title. Leicester City have found themselves as the underdogs who everyone is rooting for to win the league. Even fans of their rivals are hoping that the Foxes can top the table Leicester do not play in any european leagues like the other big teams in England. At least 6 less matches in 5 months. This allows them to have more rest time to prepare for the league, rest time that the other teams do not have. Leicester City have proven to be a good teams having only losing 5 games in all competitions and having only 7 games left everyone is watching them and hoping they do what was once considered unthinkable. By David Bonaney  Detroit has had many elite superstars over the past decade, but the Lions have been on and off every other year.
Can that be the reason why these superstars from the past decade have ended their career in the middle of their prime? One of the NFL’s Greatest running back of all time retired in his prime. Barry Sanders could’ve, should’ve and would’ve broken many more records if he stayed in the NFL, he would’ve changed the whole Rushing yards list. Barry had 1,470 rushing yards in 1989, in his rookie season. Barry averaged an easy 1,000 yards every year he was in the league. Just in his second season, he rushed for another 1,000 yards with 1,304 yards. Quite an impressive feat given that the second year is known as “the sophomore slump season” - a less than average performance following an excellent year. Towards the end of Barry’s career, the second to last season, Sanders had 2,053 yards his next season. Barry Sanders was hands down the best running back in his time talent wise. He was a player that didn't have an elite offensive linemen ever and somehow he squeezed his way through the big guys like Dick Brutus, Deion Sanders, Lawrence Taylor, and Etc. Also he also became the rushing champ in 1990 over guys like Thurman Thomas, Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson and many more. Barry Sanders has 3,062 carries in 10 years for the Detroit Lions, with 15,269 yards and 99 touchdowns. Although, Barry ended his career earlier than he should. I personally think there’s a serious problem with the Lions organization because they’re letting down great future Hall Of Famers such as Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson. The Lions front office need to get their minds together and make these players feel at home. In 2012, Calvin Johnson broke Jerry Rice’s yards in a single season record of 1,964. In the game that helped Johnson become the only player in NFL history to get 100 yards receiving in eight straight games he also became the first with 10 receptions in four games in a row. That game was against the Atlanta Falcons, he had 11 receptions for 225 yards, which boosted him to a season record with 1,892 with a game left to rewrite history. Rice had 1,848 for San Francisco in 1995 and he’s known to be the greatest wide receiver in NFL history. Imagine if Barry Sanders stayed until his body said stop…. He’d make some crazy damages and he’d also rewrite history. I feel like Adrian Peterson would’ve been chasing Barry Sanders record instead of Eric Dickerson. Same goes for Calvin Johnson, I feel that if Calvin took it a little more serious his stats will go crazy. We don’t want to see another superstar leaving the league before their prime or in their prime because that's just no fun. We want exciting players like Calvin Johnson destroying ESPN’s Top 10. By Jack Coulter  Recently an ESPN documentary from the series 30 for 30 called “Fantastic Lies” was released depicting the 2006 trial of the Duke Lacrosse team after an alleged gang rape. The documentary addressed several high tension issues of race, wealth, and education. With the documentary most major objective was showing how the case became a product of poor journalism of assuming the players were guilty until proven innocent. This whole documentary brought to the forefront the perception of white athletes in the eye of the media and how, at least at the collegiate level, they are seemingly dispensable and are easy to condemn.
It is often discussed how black athletes, such as Cam Newton, are unfairly and quickly judged for their actions when other white athletes are given a pass for their outlandish actions. However, what is not often discussed is the perceptions of white athletes. White athletes are often expected to act as mature, non-showy, athletes, The media wants the white athletes to simply play the game with no exaggeration, no extras, just do what you have to and that’s it. The white athlete is thought to rarely take on the chippy, bad guy type persona. Yet, discussing Duke University’s athletics again, they have had a history of having those hateable white athletes. First beginning with Christian Laettner and now with Grayson Allen, who has tried to trip people during games on multiple occasions, these two have embraced this mold. Despite this, the stereotypes still exist and it raises the question of why any sports stereotypes based on race exist. Almost all people have heard the phrase, “white men can’t jump” which is widely accepted as non-offensive by any means, but as Casey Gane-McCalla of the Huffington Post puts it, “why not “Black men can’t read defenses”? Would this phrase be considered offensive while the one stereotyping white basketball players would not be? Sport stereotypes exist everywhere from white and black athletes typically confined to specific positions whether it be a lack of white point guards or a lack of black quarterbacks, there seems to be a disparity in certain positions. Another major stereotype is by which means an athlete “made it big”. White athletes are typically credited to hard work and discipline to get to the top while black athletes are credited with this natural talent for their success. Why is it that there couldn’t be a hard working disciplined black athlete who made his own talent or a naturally gifted white athlete who was amazing without putting the work in. Any and all these stereotypes were started long in the past, but that's where they should remain, in the past. Hosted by David Bonaney, Amari Brown, and Jahmerikah Green-Younger By David Bonaney  Los Angeles Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell has caught some rhythm in the past few games. Russell helped the Lakers with the W, he was the second leading scorer of the game against the Golden State Warriors with 21 points.
After the All Star break Russell has been averaging 21.4 points per game on 55 percent shooting, 62 percent from three, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game before the Denver Nuggets game. But against the Brooklyn Nets D’Angelo had a career high with 39 points. He’s been improving his game from his mentor Kobe “Jelly Bean” Bryant. Stephen Curry Says D’Angelo Russell Has “Total Skill Set” and said he’s soon to be a star. I think he’s gonna at least be at Damian Lillards level of play by next year and years from that he’s going to be something big to talk about. Now that the first matchday has come and gone, we were given the chance to assess the frailties and strengths of the clubs in America’s top flight. With the highest scoring opening day in MLS history, it seems as though this will be an exciting season with lots of attacking play. Here are two high scoring teams that we think will do well this season.  Best Bet - LA Galaxy Galaxy will hope to improve upon their disappointing Knockout Round exit last season with the help of three fantastic signings. Over the winter break, coach Bruce Arena strengthened the team with a variety of signings, the best of which included defenders Jelle Van Damme and Ashley Cole and midfielder Nigel de Jong. These European veterans join superstars Steven Gerrard and Roy Keane to form a formidable team. However, this means Galaxy have a very old squad, which can come with its own problems. The 4 -1 result over the weekend might look good on paper, but the defense seemed to struggle and were lucky not to conceded 3 or even 4 goals. The bright spots for the Galaxy included the young American international Sebastian Lletget and substitute Mike Magee who scored two goals and provided an assist. De Jong and Cole also did well in their full MLS debuts. Galaxy look to be the best team in the Western Conference, and could put together a good run. Western Conference Finish: 1st Playoff Finish: Semi-final Other Best Bets: FC Dallas, Portland Timbers, Toronto FC  Exciting Underdog - NYCFC After moving 10 players in and 10 players out, some might call NYCFC a brand new team, again. A disappointing season saw them missing out on a playoff spot by 12 points and it was clear that NYCFC needed a change. The management at the club did exactly that, bringing in a brand new coach with Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira. NYCFC were able to keep all of the core players that were key for them last season and replaced players that did not perform at the expectations that the board and fans had for them. After their first match, a 4-3 win over Chicago Fire, it is clear that their defence is going to be a clear problem for them if they want to finish in a playoff spot. This appears to be a very top-heavy side with the win over Chicago tying the highest scoring game for the NYCFC attack all last season when they tied Toronto 4-4. Despite all the defensive troubles, this offense could very well carry them into the playoffs.
Eastern Conference Finish: 4th Playoff Finish: Quarter-final Other Exciting Underdogs: Orlando City, Real Salt Lake Hosted by David Bonaney, Amari Brown, and Jahmerikah Green-Younger |
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February 2020
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