Breaking News: The Wizards are in Trouble

When the Wizards lost to the Pistons on Sunday, alarms could’ve been heard from the nation’s capital. Going into the All-Star break, the Wizards were struggling and the injury to Bradley Beal had hampered the early progress the team had made in the Eastern Conference. Wizards were once contending for the top spot in the east, yet now they’ll consider themselves very lucky to have home court in the first round. The emergence of Atlanta, Toronto and the Cavaliers finally finding form combined with a terrible form the Wizards have gone into has signaled trouble for Coach Randy Wittman.  

After the 106-89 loss at the hands of the Pistons, Wittman said “We played the last couple of quarters like it was a pickup game.” Washington, who were blown out by the Cavs at home on Friday and had lost to the Hawks and Raptors prior to the All-Star break are now 10-17 vs. teams above .500.

The team did make a trade in hopes of changing the mood by sending veteran Andre Miller to Sacramento for Ramon Sessions but Wizards problems lie deeper. Without Beal on the floor, the team simply has no spacing and seems clueless on the floor. Paul Pierce’s inability to consistently deliver from the 3-point line hasn’t helped matters either. Also, Washington’s big strength in NeNe and Marcin Gortat only comes in the offensive end. Sunday proved once again that Washington can’t protect the paint as well as it should. Pistons big men Andre Drummond had 18 points alongside 16 rebounds. Former Georgetown star Greg Monroe had 15 points and 15 boards. The return of Beal might solve the team’s inability to shoot 3’s but the rest will be tough to figure out. 

The Man No One Wants to Fight

When news broke out over the weekend that the long awaited fight between Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao was finally going to happen in May, the sports world went insane, literally. What many didn’t see was the fight that took place Saturday night between WBA and IBO Middleweight Champion of the world Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and Englishmen Martin Murray in Monaco. The undefeated Golovkin who came in to the fight carrying an impressive knockout streak of 18 fights had to work in this fight but proved too tough for Murray, who showed massive heart despite being overmatched with power. 

Battered, bloodied, and one eye closed, Murray was knocked down three times before referee Luis Pabon brought the fight to a stop in the 11^th round. Murray, who after the fight said he didn’t even remembered the second knockdown showed massive heart to hang in with Golovkin, but simply didn’t have enough in the tank to threaten the champ.

Golovkin, now 32-0, and riding a 19 match knockout streak is struggling to find an opponent that’s willing to fight him. The aforementioned Pacquiao and Mayweather fight takes the two out of contention. Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is schedules to fight James Kirkland and WBC Middleweight Champion Miguel Cotto simply wants no piece of GGG. The caveat to the situation is that Cotto might be stripped of his belt if he doesn’t fight Golovkin this year. On a weekend where many were one big fight was announced, boxing fans will hope it’s the start of a year that will go in history books and Golovkin Vs. Cotto would be the ultimate icing on the cake that is Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao. 

Benson Henderson Vs. Brandon Thatch, Rocky Vs. Ivan Drago of 2015

Former UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson is no stranger to dramatic fights, but Saturday nights back and forth affair with Brandon Thatch was one for the books. 31 year old Henderson decided to move up a Welterweight to fight Thatch who held an 11-1 record coming into the fight hadn't lost a fight since 2008. What ensued between the two fighters was one for the history books. Thatch, fighting in front of his home crowd in Colorado got off to a flying start and attacked Henderson from the get-go. Henderson, a former champion survived the onslaught of attacks to stay in the fight. The fight was reminiscent of Rocky and Ivan Drago and had fans on the edge of their seats. Thatch, looking considerably bigger than Henderson eventually slowed down in round three. The experience of Benson "Smooth" Henderson was a huge factor as he eventually beat Thatch via a rear naked choke in the fourth round. Thatch who simply had no energy left towards the end, had emptied the tank... literally. The battle which ended at 1 a.m late Saturday night earned both participants fight of the night honors. Henderson, who looked out of division and out of place, pulled out an important victory to start the road back to the belt. Whether he goes back to Lightweight or continues his journey in the Welterweight division is unclear. What is clear is that Henderson never disappoints, no matter who he's fighting. 

English Premier League Receives Massive New Television Deal

The English Premier League announced that it had struck a deal worth $7.9 billion over a three year span with Sky and BT sports earlier this week. The deal which is set to start in the 2016-17 year, is eye opening to say the least but not surprising. The league is also expected to add about $4.3 billion a year during the same time internationally. To put things in perspective, NFL earns about $3 billion per year, while the NBA will take in about $2.66 billion when the new television rights start in 2016-17. EPL is getting bigger and bigger while other leagues throughout the continent are struggling with financial issues.

The ramifications of this deal are huge for all parties involved. Considering most clubs in Europe are struggling with UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) teams in England now have resources to build themselves up for decades to come. The exciting world of Premier League Football has made top teams global brands in the world and small cities throughout England recognizable in places no one would expect. Manchester United, one of the biggest club is now being traded publicly at the New York Stock Exchange. Manchester City and Chelsea are now perennial powerhouses and smaller clubs like Southampton who were struggling in the lower levels of English Football earlier in the century , now have the ability to compete for the Champions League due to some wise spending. The Premier League is now a destination all players want to go to. Whereas, the Serie A in Italy was home to the best in sport in 90's and La Liga in Spain during the 2000's, the English Premier League has swooped in and has taken over not only the continent but the world. What will happen in the future no one knows, what is certain however is that the English Premier League has a bright future ahed while other leagues are playing catchup.

Under the Microscope ... All the Time

On Thursday, The Cleveland Cavaliers dominated the Clippers in all facets of the game in route to their 105-94 victory. The night however, will unfortunately be remembered for something completely different. Clippers All-Star point guard Chris Paul was T’d up by rookie referee Lauren Holtkamp. Here’s what Paul had to say about the decision afterwards:  "The tech that I get right there was ridiculous. I don't care what nobody says, I don't care what she says; that's terrible. There's no way that can be a tech. We try to get the ball out fast every time down the court, and when we did that, she said, 'Uh-uh.' I said, 'Why, uh-uh?' And she gave me a tech.That's ridiculous. If that's the case, this might not be for her." What ensued from the comments was a social media frenzy, media ripping of a man who let’s not forget is the head of the players union as well. ESPN’s headline after the comments was “Chris Paul rips female rookie ref.” In the day and age where everything an athlete says goes under the microscope, this is probably the worst situation. Was Paul right in criticizing the official? Absolutely not, he’ll probably get a hefty fine from the league. But to go and put a label on the man and say the referees gender was a factor is crossing the line. Truth of the matter is, male referees receive the same treatment and Paul’s opinion on her decision making on the court had nothing to do with her gender. Let us not try to make a meal of something when clearly there is nothing going on.  

Super Bowl XLIX

Unless you are a New England Patriots fan, Super Bowl XLIX finished with millions thinking what should've / could've happened. Its the Great Unknown in sports. Would Marshawn Lynch been able to punch it in for the game winning touchdown? The answer to that will forever live in infamy. If there's one thing that is a sure thing with the Seattle Seahawks team is that they have the core nucleus in place to contend for titles in the next decade.