Extra Credit: Sting Is Here!

A great time in wrestling and a great ending to a pay per view, Sting makes a shocking return to take out the nWo. On a side note, I've been without internet access for the past two weeks so I'm sorry for the disappearance but I'm back now.

Extra Credit: The Miz is Awesome

After talking with people about how WWE doesn't put enough effort into their hype videos anymore I remembered this one from this year's WrestleMania. It was excellently done and really put The Miz over as someone who deserved to be wrestling at WrestleMania instead of a reality TV star who was riding that to some WWE fame.

Extra Credit: DeSean Jackson Rips Out New York's Heart

Does it get any better then this? After a huge comeback to tie the game and with just seconds remaining on the clock, DeSean Jackson bobbles the punt but picks it up and takes it to the house for the victory with no time left on the clock.

Bautista and the Blue Jays Caught Stealing

If you haven't heard yet, Jose Bautista is a really good baseball player. And when he's playing up north of the border, he's one of the best and most feared hitters in baseball. After his first boost in 2010 that saw him go from a season high of 16 home runs to a total of 54 and his OPS jump .240 points the rumors started swirling about steroids. But with the lack of a positive test, the claim that Bautista made an adjustment to his swing accounting for the added power, and that most of his home runs were pulled to the same side of the field left the steroid rumors without a lot of fuel to put on the fire.

Well, now it isn't just rumors that are going to around about Bautista and the rest of the Toronto Blue Jays and it doesn't have anything to do with performance enhancing drugs. Players and managers are accusing the Blue Jays of using the aide of people in the outfield to steal signs and the stats are backing up those claims.

There is a great article about it up here from ESPN and in that article it has the stats that suggest there is something going on whenever the Blue Jays step up to the plate at the Rogers Centre. The numbers are so out of control that Cris Myers, a writer for Baseball Prospectus, even wrote a piece on how in was more then just a statistical anomaly before this report came to light. It isn't as if it's just for Bautista either, there are other players that are having huge splits between home and away games.

As for what is allegedly happening, it boils down to this. There is man in a white shirt in the perfect spot to be seen by a batter in the outfield seats. The batter wouldn't even have to adjust his stance to be able to see this fan, and the placement is obviously of the utmost importance. Somehow, whether someone else is watching the signs through binoculars and relaying the signs or something else, the “fan” is being told what pitch is being thrown. If it's an off-speed pitch such as a change-up, curve, or slider the “fan” will raise his arms up over his head. And if he doesn't raise his arms, the players know that they can sit on a fastball and swing for the fences.

Personally, I think that it's the truth. Teams will try anything to get an edge, especially in your division includes the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Add that to what the players have said and the stats that back up the idea that it's more then just a conspiracy theory and you have a believer in me.  

Extra Credit: Devin Hester Returns a Field Goal for a Touchdown

As a Bears fan I've seen all of Devin Hester's returns for touchdowns but this one is by far my favorite and with the NFL season quickly approaching I couldn't think of any better way to get ready then to watch some of our favorite plays from seasons past. First up, Hester surprises the Giants by catching their field goal attempt and takes it to the house!

Extra Credit: Carmelo's Coming Home

Today I've actually got two videos to post. The first one is the commercial that was played before Carmelo Anthony's first game as a New York Knick and the second video is a fan made version of the same commercial, only using clips from Carmelo in a Knicks uniform. Both are excellent and if you're a huge basketball fan like myself, probably gave you goosebumps the first time you saw them.

Extra Credit: Durant Catches Fire at Rucker Park

When I started this blog I told myself that when I wasn't going to just posting quick news updates and tidbits from here and there. I was going to be actually writing. But the problem with that is that I'm not writing every day so this place can go a week or more without getting some new content. So after brainstorming around a bit, I've decided that I'm going to be posting a video on here at least once a day that I feel is worth sharing. And to kick things off we see Kevin Durant doing what he does best, getting buckets at the world famous Rucker Park in Harlem.

With the lockout looking as if it's going to claim the NBA season this year players are looking elsewhere to showcase their uncanny ability to throw a ball into a hoop. Whether it's Deron Williams signing a contract to play in Turkey, Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant taking their talents to the Philippines or Kevin Durant going from the Drew League in LA to Rucker Park in Harlem, these players are going to find a place to play basketball. "I do this" is a quote from Kevin Durant after all of this and if I do say so myself, he does it pretty damn well.

My Love for the RFA Process

In free agency, there are so many rumors and double talk that for the most part, you're better off just sitting back and watching the dominoes fall rather then try and predict who is going to sign where. My favorite times are when a player claims that don't want to really leave the team that they are on but the money is simply to enticing, it always makes for an interesting situation but one that doesn't come around as often as you would think. That isn't a bad thing either, it's a great thing for both the players and teams that there is something called restricted free agency.

Now I know that if you're reading this you more then likely know what restricted free agency is but after having a conversation about it with someone I work with I don't think I ever realized just how much I like the fact that it is exists in the sports worlds of the NFL and the NBA.

The way it works in the NBA is once a player gets to his restricted year, the team has to sign that player to a qualifying offer and after they do that, they have the right to match any contract the player signs with any other team that off-season as well as the ability to work out their own agreement with him. The player can either go out and find himself the best deal out there and see if his team will match the offer or simply wait a year and become an unrestricted free agent.

As for the NFL, it's slightly different. It works pretty much the same way but instead of a qualifying offer, the team places a tender on a player that is worth a draft pick depending on how much the tender is worth. Then, if another team signs that player the team with the players rights can either match the contract or let that player go for the draft pick that the player was tendered for.

My reasons for liking it are fairly simple, it gives teams in both leagues a chance to either pay their players fairly based on what they are getting from an open market or get some compensation for that player. It rewards teams for drafting well and gives them time to plan ahead in case a player decides that he is more then likely going to be leaving by not signing a long-term extension before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Well, unless you're Cleveland. And while it isn't something that important, it is an aspect of the sports world that I think gets overlooked and if used correctly, can help keep a team on the right track while giving the player options.