Sport Thoughts

The NBA 2023-2024 Season is less than a week old and a major blockbuster trade has occured. James Harden has finally got his trade demand  granted to the LA Clippers. The Clippers were Harden’s specific trade destination since his initial June trade request. The Philadelphia 76ers went against their original decision to keep Harden on the team. The 76ers will now prioritize on the development of rising star Tyrese Maxay following James Harden’s departure. The Philadelphia 76ers would receive multiple draft picks, along with third year guard Kenyan Martin Jr. and veterans Robert Covington, Nick Battum & Marcus Morris. The LA Clippers would also acquire PJ Tucker in the James Harden trade. The LA Clippers could be seen as the biggest winner of the blockbuster trade. The Clippers get their third star to pair with All Stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. They add PJ Tucker to the bench to improve the team’s depth. They are now ranked the fifth betting favorite to win the NBA 2024 C...

The World Series is finally here. The big dance will see a very different cast of players compared to the previous years. The 2023 World Series will be the first time since the 2016 World Series to exclude the Houston Astros or the LA Dodgers. The Texas Rangers enter their first World Series dating back to 2011. The Rangers have never won a World Series in their franchise history. The Diamondbacks enter their first World Series in 22 years. 2001 was the year of the Diamondbacks only World Series Championship. Both the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks could be looked at as underdogs in this years championship. Both teams have the star power in offense and excellent caliber pitching. The Rangers are currently the betting favorites over the Diamondbacks, which makes sense from a home field advantage standpoint. The Texas Rangers will need All Stars like Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia and Marcus Seminen to step up. The same could be about Diamondback All Stars Corbin Carrol, Katel M...

The American League and National Championship Series have come to an end after a intense seven game battle. It was the first time since the 2020 postseason where both league championship series went the full distance of seven games. The final results were shocking when reflected upon. The Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies were both favorited to go back to the World Series. A rematch between both teams would have marked the first World Series rematch since the 1978 World Series. The thought of a rematch was legitimate once Game 5 was completed. Both the Astros and Phillies were up 3 games to 2 games with one win remaining. The Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks would need to win back to back games on the road. They did just that, eliminating the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies in seven games. The Diamondbacks won their series witch clutch hitting from Katel Marte, Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel. The Diamondbacks starting pitching and bullpen were nearly perfect i...

The 2023-2024 NBA season begins this week. Expectations increase at the highest when a NBA team starts a new chapter. The NBA has recently become more known as a player empowerment league. A league where a star has the power to request a trade at any time. Entering the 2023-2024, there are several NBA All Stars, who could change the league with the power of a trade request. Last season, mid season trade requests from Kevin Durrant and Kyrie Irving helped reshape the Eastern and Western Conferences. The East and West reshaped again following offseason trades of Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday. With the new season comensing, NBA Teams will need to start their season hot and keep their stars happy. Pressure will surely play a factor for contending teams including the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks. The thought of trade requests from Joell Embiid, Donovan Mitchell and Luka Doncic could negatively impact these franchises presently and going forward. NBA teams c...

The 2023 NBA Pre Season has come to an end. It is time to analyze the stand outs from the exhibition games. For starters, the Boston Celtics look like a force to be reckoned with. Their big 4 consisting of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis looked dominant in their pre season games. The Milwaukee Bucks duo of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo look they could become the best duo in the NBA. The East might be a two team race but it does not excuse the quality of eastern conference teams. The Philadelphia 76ers did not see James Harden play a single pre season game for them, hoping he can get a trade to the LA Clippers. Teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks struggled defensively in their pre season games, while teams like the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks showed a lot of promise. Out in the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns promoted their elite big three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. They looked like ...

The MLB 2023 playoffs have progressed into the league championship series. The final four tesms could be considered a shock to many baseball fans. The 2 Seed Houston Astros will take on the 5 Seed Texas Rangers and the 4 Seed Philadalphia Phillies will take on the 6 Seed Arizona Diamondbacks. All four teams finished the regular season with 90 wins or less. The defending champion Houston Astros will be the favorites over the Texas Rangers. Both teams finished with 90 total Wins but the Astros won the AL West Division through a tie breaker. The Astros won many games in 2023 against the Rangers, recently sweeping them in early September. The Rangers will enter the match up with the hottest offense and have gone undefeated thus far into the playoffs. The Rangers have the better offense but the Astros have the better pitching staff. The Rangers will need Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia to lead the way to victory. The Astros will fight fire with fire as Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker...

The MLB second round has come to a close. The Division Series could be summed up with two words: multiple upsets. For the first time in MLB playoff history, two teams who won 100 or more games were swept at the same time. The 90 win Texas Rangers upset the 101 win Baltimore Orioles and the 84 win Diamondbacks upset the 100 win LA Dodgers. Both series felt like total mismatches. The Rangers offense dominated with clutch home runs from Corey Seager, Mitch Garver and Adolis Garcia. The starting pitching from Nathan Eovaldi was at an elite level. The Orioles starting pitching struggled deeply and their offense went cold in games one and three. The Texas Rangers Vs Baltimore Orioles series could be best described as a veteran caliber team out-slugging and out-pitching a young team on the rise. The Arizona Diamondbacks Vs LA Dodgers series could be described as the complete opposite. The Dodgers were the veteran team, who were competely out-played and out-hustled by the up and coming Dbacks....

The playoff format of the MLB has evolved drastically over last the three years. In 2020, the MLB playoffs saw the introduction of the of best of three Wild Card series. All playoff teams played a first round series at the time. A year later, MLB brought back the one game Wild Card matchup. It was a matchup that saw the most negative criticism. The best of three Wild Card series was brought back last year but with a major difference. A change was made where the best two division winners receive a first round bye. The first round bye would negativily impact both National League 1 and 2 Seeds. The 111 win LA Dodgers were upset by the 89 win San Diego Padres and the 101 win Atlanta Braves were upset by the Philadelphia Phillies. Fast forward to 2023 and it appears to be a deja vu scenario. The 101 win Baltimore Orioles and 100 win LA Dodgers are currently down 0-2 in their respective Division Series. The underdog 90 win Texas Rangers and 84 win Arizona Diamondbacks have a chance to sweep ...

The MLB 2023 playoffs has entered the second round. The remaining playoff matchups are all interesting and fairly even matched. The Division Series matchups include the Baltimore Orioles vs the Texas Rangers, the Minnesota Twins vs the Houston Astros, the Philadelphia Phillies vs the Atlanta Braves and the Arizona Diamondbacks vs the LA Dodgers. Each series will have it’s key X-factors. The Texas Rangers have several veteran players with playoff experience, including shortstop Corey Seager, second baseman Marcus Semien and starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. This veter caliber team will go up against a young and upcoming team, led by catcher Adley Rutschman, third baseman Gunner Henderson and outfielder Cedric Mullens. Playoff experience and veteran leadership could play huge roles in this playoff series. The Minnesota Twins will face the Houston Astros for the first time since the 2020 playoffs. Both teams look very different since that timeframe. The Houston Astros will be heavily favor...

The Wild Card round of the MLB playoff has come and gone. There were four total Wild Card series sweeps. Each series had its moments of interest and concern. The Texas Rangers pulled off a series upset against the 99 win Tampa Bay Rays. The Rangers outscored the Rays 11-1 in the two games combined. The Rays were outmatched and outplayed on every level of the game. Their offense missed key players including All-Star shortstop Wander Franco, outfielder Luke Raley and former All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe. The loss of these three hitters played a major role in the Rays complete lack of offense. The Rays have now lost 7 straight playoff games dating back to the 2021 Division Series. The Toronto Blue Jays were very similar to their rival Tampa Bay Rays. The Blue Jays were eliminated by the Minnesota Twins in surprising fashion. The Twins broke an 18 playoff game losing streak and won their first playoff series since 2002. Both Wild Card games were close but ended in the same result fo...

The Jrue Holiday trade biding war has been completed. The Boston Celtics are the winners and now have acquired their new starting point guard of the 2023-204 NBA season. The Portland Trail Blazers traded Jrue Holiday to the Boston Celtics for center Robert Williams, point guard Malcolm Brogdan and draft compensation. Holiday will not only remain in the Eastern Conference but he will rival his former team, the Milwaukee Bucks. Jrue Holiday is a huge upgrade for the Celtics at the point guard position, replacing recently traded, Marcus Smart. The Boston Celtics will now establish a big 3 consisting of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday. Their big 3 will have a chance to go head to head with the Milwaukee Bucks new big 3 of Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. It is obvious and clear that the Bucks and Celtics improved this offseason. Both teams will be considered in the S Tier rankings, while Eastern Conference teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami He...