Oregon's crazy new basketball floor is quintessentially Oregon

In addition to the most uniform combinations and the most luxurious locker rooms of any school in the nation, Oregon will soon be able to lay claim to the country's most original basketball floor. Oregon officials unveiled the floor of newly built Matthew Knight Arena on Friday, and to say the least the design lives up to the school's reputation for cutting-edge panache and flair. The court is framed on all sides by a forest of fir trees, an homage to the school's picturesque Pacific Northwest setting and to Oregon's 1939 national title team nicknamed "The Tall Firs." Kilkenny Floor is named after Pat Kilkenny, a long-time supporter of Oregon athletics who served as the school's athletic director from 2007 to 2009 and ran the recent coaching search to replace Ernie Kent. In the center of the floor is the slogan "Deep in the Woods," which is meant to intimidate opposing teams. (Yes, seriously)Considering Oregon's deep-rooted ties to Nike, it shouldn't surprise anyone that Tinker Hatfield is the designer of the floor. Hatfield, a former Oregon track and field star and vice president of design and special projects for Nike, designed many of the shoes from the famed Air Jordan line.

Not 1, Not 2, Not 3.....

I'm talking about the number of championships these studs will bring. Wade's House, Lebron's Kingdom, and Bosh's Pit. What more do you want people. What more can you wish for. Lebron said, "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat."If your a Heat fan and you hear that, you pretty much are about to shit your pants. It's so incredible to even think about. An idea that one cannot fathom. A superteam if you will. Ridiculous. Insane. Unfair. Unbelieveable. "I feel bad for who ever has to guard me and Lebron," said Dwyane Wade. "When I get a rebound, I can outlet on my right to Lebron, or I can outlet on my left to D-Wade. I'm a lucky man," said Chris Bosh and yes he is. George Sedano from 790 the ticket asked if not winning a championship this upcoming season would be considered a failure to the "Dynathree" and D-Wade grabbed the mike and simply said "Yes." Heat fans, and all other basketball fans out there must know that: "We mean business on the court. We came together to win championships. People can say whatever they want, they can call us team Hollywood and what not but they will all thank us later when their seats fill up in their arenas because of us coming to town." Spoken by the "Dynathree."

Courting The King

Tommorow is the big day, a holiday if you will. July 8th 2010 at 9 PM ET, the time Lebron James announces where he will be playing for the next few years. A lot went down these passed couple of weeks regarding the signing of NBA freee agents. Amar'e Stoudamire signed a 5 year 100 million dollar deal with the New York Knicks, Carlos Boozer signed a 5 year 80 million dollar deal with the Chicago Bulls, and the biggest news of all, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade have decided to sign with Miami and perhaps develop a "dream team." The only player left to decide is Lebron James. Does he choose to stay in Cleveland, join Amar'e in New York, become a part of the Chicago Bulls organization with Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer, or does he unite with Bosh and Wade in Miami and form the "dream team." The Bulls is a convincing choice after having just signed Boozer, the Knicks have a ton of talent in Amar'e Stoudamire and David Lee, The Cleveland Cavs just brought new head coach Byron Scott into the picture but Wade and Bosh in Miami. To be perfectly honest and truthful, the most tempting scenario of them all is Lebron James joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in the 305. We will find out very soon where Lebron James will be heading....

Viva Espana

An epic semifinal took place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Durban, South Africa. The powerful Germans took on the crafty and methodical Spain team. The winner would go on to face powerhouse the Netherlands who had not lost in their last 24 matches. That is unheard of. This semifinal was anticipated to be a high scoring 3 to 2 game but it was an absolute grind for moth teams. Spain dominated with time of possession in the first half but were not able to capitalize on many scoring opportunities. Finally, in the second half, an improbable source game through and broke up the scoreless draw. On a corner kick in the 76 minute, #8 Xavi sent it into the box and defender #5 Carles Puyol came out of nowhere and buried it into the back of the net on an incredible header. Germany was unable to get an offense going all game and they came up short against a better more experienced Spanish team. Stay tuned, mark the date, Sunday July 11th at 1:30 ET, Spain will face the Netherlands in the World Cup Final.

Gyan and Ghana Prevail

On Saturday June 27, the United States had a chance to right the history books and make their mark in FIFA World Cup history. The U.S has not made it passed the knockout stage for the past 3 World Cups and the United States did not plan to come up short this time around. The United States scratched their way into the knockout stage by earning a point with a draw versus England out of sheer luck, Tying Slovenia 2 to 2 after trailing by two in the second half, and beating Algeria one nil in dramatic and thrilling fashion. The US is led by veteran and leading scorer Landon Donovan and young superstar Jozy Altidore. Their ruthless goalkeeper Tim Howard was also vital to the Unites States' success. Their biggest obstacle was yet to be overcome and they sure had their hands full with Ghana. Ghana, the lone African nation to make it to the knockout stage advanced because of timely scoring and steller defense led by goalie Kingson. Ghana had not allowed a single goal thus far in the entire World Cup and their defensive method had really been paying off. Their scoring was nothing to write home about but they possess one of the world's best strikers, #3 Asamoah Gyan. A man who is absolutely dangerous from outside the box and can shoot with both feet. Alexi Lalas, ESPN soccer commentator said, "Gyan has the best left foot in the land." The US sure had their work cut out for them and if they wanted to advance further on into the World Cup, they were going to have to go out there and earn it. The US got off to a slow start as usual and gave up an early goal in the 4th minute to midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng. A well struck left foot by Prince made it passed goalkeeper Tim Howard and the US were down yet again. The US made some changes during halftime and came out firing in the second half. Clint Dempsey was fouled inside the box and the US had an opportunity for the equalizer. Landon Donovan did just that and knotted up the score at one a piece with the penalty kick. After 90 minutes we decided nothing and in the 94th Asamoah Gyan struck again and with an incredible strike from 15 meters out and ended the hopes of an entire nation. Say goodbye U.S.

A Defensive Disaster

In the 2010 NCAA Baseball Super Regional in Gainesville, Florida, the Miami Hurricanes battled their bitter rivals, the Florida Gators. The Florida Gators manhandled the Miami Hurricanes in game 1 of a three game series. Florida's ace Alex Panteliodis threw a complete game and held the Canes to just 2 runs. It was a must win situation in game 2 for the Hurricanes to continue their playoff hopes. Being down all game, Canes center fielder Nathan Melendres hit a 3 run blast in the top of the 8th inning to put the Canes up 3 to 2 and gave the Canes their first lead of the series. All the Canes needed to do was pitch and play defense, they were unable to obtain such a simple second nature task. Prior to the 9th and final inning of game 2, the Canes defense made 4 errors which is unexceptable in such a crucial situation (Keep that in mind). The Miami Hurricanes manager Jim Morris called for their experienced lights out closer Daniel Miranda to close out the deal and get his team to a CWS(College World Series) deciding game 3. Miranda needed two outs to record to seal the deal in game 2. He made some great pitches and got himself a "double play ball." Third baseman Michael Broad mishandled the ground ball and the Canes were not able to record a single out. Miranda beared down and got a clutch strikeout on the Gators hottest hitter Brian Johnson. All they needed was 1 more out to force a game 3 to see who was moving on to the CWS. Miranda threw a great change up low and away and got pinch hitter Nolan Fontana to roll a groundball to shortstop Stephen Perez. Perez fielded it cleanly and just made a god awful throw to first base which first baseman Scott Lawson could not handle. All I was thinking was take your time, you have time to make a good strong throw. He flat out choked. He tried to will and guide the ball to 1st instead of just throwing it. Eventually, the Canes got out of the inning and in the 10th inning, yet another defensive blunder occured. A high shallow fly ball was hit to right field and right fielder Pelaez just dropped the ball. He didn't even touch it. That run came on to score and it was over. The Hurricanes finsihed the game with 7 errors. Are you kidding me!!!! You cannot be serious!!!! A flippin high school team can play better defense. My grandma can catch a pop up for god sakes. This is almost too painful to blog about but you just cannot expect to win a game when you get only 3 hits and make 7 errors. What an embarassment.

Stephen Strasburg throws gas

Mark the date ladies and gentlemen, June 8th 2010, the day pitcher Stephen Strasburg makes his Major League debut. Well, if you saw the game, it was quite simple, he was remarkable. In just 7 innings he strck out 14 batters. Are you kidding me! Thats an average of 2 strikeouts per inning. Stephen Strasbug came from San Diego State University and went 11-2 with a 2.23 era and led the nation in strikeouts. We all new he could throw 100 mph but the incredible "yacker" we had no idea about. It's arguably his best pitch. Strasburg was motivated not only because it was his first major league start but a player from the opposing team really sparked his fire. Pittsburgh Pirates' outfielder, Delwyn Young said, "This is just another pitcher. I not worried about him. I don't care who he is or where he came from. This is just another pitcher to me." This wise ass comment did not help the Pirates' cause against Stephen Strasburg as the majority of their lineup struck out 2 times. Young however did back up his comments by hitting a solo homerun against Strasburg so he did not look like a complete fool. Strasburg was as expected, incredible. By for the most built up MLB debut of any player in the history of the game.

You Cannot Be Serious!

Sorry for my leave of absense. I've had a ton of school work and I was in the middle of baseball season.

Speaking of baseball, who would have thought that of all the great pitchers in the Major Leagues, Dallas Braden would be the one to throw a perfect game. I mean it's Dallas Braden. You cannot be serious. Well, you just never know what you are going to get when you turn on a baseball game. Dallas Braden, an absolute "nobody" from the Oakland Athletic's threw a perfect game against the team with the best record in baseball at the time, the Tampa Bay Rays. Huh? Fun Fact for you: Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game last year against guess who-the Tampa Bay Rays. The first time in baseball history that the same team is responsible for the last two perfect games to occur in the Major's. Not only that, Dallas Braden is the first pitcher to throw a perfect game on Mother's Day. A special day for the record books.

NFL Offseason Aquisitions

Recently, trade rumors have been going on in the NFL about which teams are going to lay down the offers and the big bucks to try and sign a maximum free agent for a long term contract. Big names availabe in the free agent market include Julius Peppers, Anquan Boldin, Karlos Dansby, Antrel Rolle, and Brandon Marshall. Not a bad group to choose from. So... pick your poison. The Dolphins did just that in signing Cardinals Linebacker Karlos Dansby to a 5 year $43 million deal. Dolphins had a weak linebacking core in the 2009 season. The Dolphins run a 3-4 defense so not having a strong linebacking core hurts. Karlos Dansby is just the player the Dolphins need to turn around their defensive flaws, to say the least. In my opinion, the biggest move made thus far in the offseason was by the Baltimore Ravens sigining WR Anquan Boldin. Anquan Boldin is one of the most proficient WR in the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens have an old receiving core. Anquan Boldin will work well in that high powered running/throwing offensive system. The Chicago Bears signed veteran defensive end
Julius Peppers which should be beneficial to a defense that likes to blitz and rush the quarterback. Brandon Marshall will soon meet with the Seattle Seahawks to discuss signing a contract. Antrel Rolle(who went to the U!!) signed with the New York Giants who struggled this past year both offensive and defensively. Antrel Rolle will greatly improve their secondary. Stay tuned for more updates.

Player/Coach Press Conference Rants

This is a new video feature brought to you followers by the A-ZONE. This new video series will include some of the funniest, most jaw dropping press conference rants from your favorite players and coaches. So sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Jets Are For Real

The New York Jets seem to be the "Cinderella" of this years 2009 NFL playoffs. The team that turns it on late. The team that performs and "shows up" when they need to. They get the job done. They are well coached, they run the ball well, and they play good defense. That is why they won there last 4 games of the regular season. That is why they are here. They were able to run all over the Cincinatti Bengals and were able to contain Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco thanks to speed rusher Calvin Pace and shutdown corner Darrelle Revis. Mark Sanchez has really come into his own. He has not thrown an interception in 4 straight games which has helped lead the Jets to 4 straight victories. Previously, Mark Sanchez led the NFL in interceptions with nearly 20. I would not be surprised if the Jets go into San Diego and beat the Chargers.