NBA 2K12 Relives Association’s Greatest Rivalries

Bird and Magic make up 2/3 of the retro cover athletes for 2K12.

NBA 2K12 is paying tribute this year to the greatest rivalries basketball has ever known, meaning gamers will have the opportunity to play with the likes of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, and Kareem Abdul-Jabar. The cover athletes are Jordan, Bird and Magic this year, and this year will pay homage to the legendary players that turned the NBA into a culture rather than just a basketball league. Who would have thought this was possible when they were flossin’ in the 80s?

Klinsmann Brings U.S. Soccer Into New Era

Jurgen Klinsmann will bring a new attitude to U.S. Soccer.

After an embarrassing loss to our neighbors to the south, the brass of the U.S. Mens National Soccer Team knew it was time to can Bob Bradley. There was certain conservative, counter-attacking approach the U.S. National Team had under Bradley, as he preached the importance of defense and never truly developed a premier scorer besides Landon Donovan. Of course, you can’t really blame a Head Coach for that, as most of the players on these National teams play for other squads and only play as a unit on occasion. With that being said, it can be tough to form chemistry, but Klinsmann, a German soccer legend, will have to formulate some sort of cohesiveness to see results. World Cup qualifying is just around the corner.

Klinsmann appears ready to shake this team up, wanting to implement a style of play that has America focusing on ball control and dictating the pace of play. If Coach Klinsmann wants a high-octane, skill oriented system like that he ruled in Germany, he will need to re-vamp parts of this roster, notably portions of the defense and some of the center midfield. New stars will emerge and some faces may disappear. The provocative plan will reflect the times- after seeing the United States Womens National Team reach the World Cup Final, America seems once again ready to contend in the world’s most played sport. That means learning on the fly for Klinsmann, who will lead the U.S. into battle against Mexico in Philadelphia on August 10th. Best of luck.

Kevin Durant Is Still A Basketball Player.

Memo to the NBA: Your players will continue to play basketball, with or without you. Kevin Durant laced up at Rucker Park in Harlem to do the latter last night and word has it he dropped an impressive 66 points during the Entertainers Basketball Classic. Taking into consideration the fact that he was playing a crew called the Sean Bell All Stars (who are probably some of Harlem’s finest, respect), KD made it rain from beyond the arc- so much so that this clip could have ended with the iconic words ‘Be Legendary.’ Take note that hitting treys outdoors can be significantly harder than doing so indoors- just another display of a perennial NBA superstar not waiting to hone his craft.

The NFL and It’s Wildest Weekend in Recent Memory

Nnamdi Asomugha landed in Philly after a weekend of NFL shake-ups.

The lockout was lifted, and the NFL front offices began scrambling to make up for an entire offseason’s worth of roster moves that needed to be made. There was no lack of excitement as a number of free agent stars found new homes, and quite a few trades shocked fans everywhere. Breaking down where some key names turned up:

Nnamdi Asomugha signed a 5-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, who were arguably the most aggressive team in this crazy period. He was the prized gem of this free-agent class and will play with Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on a stellar defense that makes the Super Bowl favorites in the NFC. Plaxico Burress was out of jail for a matter of hours before signing a 3.17 million dollar deal with the NY Jets, bolstering their reputation as a squad that makes room for talent even if you have some baggage. Donovan McNabb was shipped off to Minnesota, Tavaris Jackson went to Seattle, and Reggie Bush signed on to be a Miami Dolphin. Kevin Kolb will finally get a fair shake in Arizona, Darren Sproles will be returning kicks in New Orleans, and Roy Williams got his wish to play for the Chicago Bears.

The Colts didn’t want to lowball their star quarterback, giving Peyton Manning a fat 5-year deal worth 90 million that ties him with Tom Brady as the highest paid players in the NFL. The Patriots made the shocking decision to bring in massive D-Lineman Albert Haynesworth to fill out their nosetackle position; the move was regarded as trademark Bill Belichick as he agreed to bring in one of the most notorious troublemakers in the League, but it proved to be a Low Risk, High Reward type of deal seeing that they only gave up a 2013 draft pick. They also appeased fans by going out and getting the talents of Chad Ochocinco, giving them the top-flight wideout that radio show hosts had been whining about not having for years. The Buffalo Bills signed returner/wideout/quarterback Brad Smith, a timely home-run hitter that could fit in nicely with Chan Gailey’s offense. Nick Barnett was also signed to the Bills, filling the hole of Paul Posluszny, who signed with the Jaguars. It’s not easy keeping up with the other teams in the AFC East but the Bills obviously felt that there was no need to over-spend (sigh). The Ochocinco move was the cherry on top of a tumultuous series of days that completely changed the landscape of the NFL. Buckle up, this is going to be a wild ride.

 

Gilbert Arenas Been Done With Manners..

Arenas displayed his categorical system of female BBM contacts to the world.

 Despite being notorious for keeping firearms in his locker to handle unpaid gambling debts with his own teammates, Gilbert Arenas is seen generally as a good guy. His lady fans may not have been in agreement with that notion after Arenas changed his Twitter avatar to his Blackberry Messenger contact list- 33 ladies categorized in ‘Best at fellatio,’ only 1 in ‘Girls I respect,’ 38 ‘Girls who gave it up on 1st nite,’ and 35 other ‘Girls who like girls.’ Pretty impressive list from a bros perspective, but I doubt any of his BBM ladyfriends will be contacting him anytime soon. Also note his self caption: ‘Jefe’ and the modest tagline of ‘There can only be one me.’ Touche, Gilbert.

Michigan, Texas Dominating College Football Recuiting World

Big Blue has a number of prized recruits committed to this year's class.

Rivals.com has released their first look at who is on top of the recruiting rankings this year, and in the #1 spot belongs to Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns. While they haven’t held onto that top spot since Vince Young was a senior in high school, they have already gotten commitments from 12 4-star recruits and one 5-star (Aledo, TX Running Back Johnathan Gray.) Other Texas commitments include  Austin, TX Wide Receiver Cayleb Jones and Denham, TX D-Tackle Malcom Brown. The surprising school in the #2 spot is the Michigan Wolverines- after giving Brady Hoke the Head Coaching position they have a full head of steam recruiting-wise. They already have 20 commits, including Offensive Linemen Kyle Kalis and Erik Magnuson. The highest ranked Linebacker in Michigan will also be attending, Royce Jenkins-Stone. Not too bad considering the lackluster season the Wolverines have endured in the past few years.

Florida State, Florida, and Miami fill out the #3, 4 and 5 spots on the list. After that falls a number of big-name schools: LSU, Auburn, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and USC. These marks are all tentative, of course, as no one is officially going anywhere until National Signing Day in February, and these high school superstars have been known to jump ship last-second. Whatever uniform these guys suit up in come Saturdays, It’s shaping up to be another exciting season in the college football world.

Madden ’12 Scrambles for Completion; Hits Stores August 30

Hillis holds down the Main Screen.

With the suits and the players coming to terms with this new Collective Bargaining Agreement, American men everywhere thanked their lucky stars and went out to pick up their Fantasy Football magazines in preparation for the new season (probably should have waited until Free Agents get signed this weekend. Amateurs..). With video games becoming one of the most booming and profitable industries in our economy, the moneymaking cow that is Madden will be able to see success once again- the threat of a lockout meant big dollars lost for the corporate execs’ that put millions of dollars into making these games in the first place. The NFL-licensed product features Cleveland Running Back Peyton Hillis this year.

EA Sports on the end of the Lockout: “We are thrilled, as fans of NFL Football, that a resolution has been met and that the season will kick off without interruption.” Thrilled, yes, but also rushing like hell to create the first round of roster updates. The discs are likely completed and packaged already, and with the flurry of Free Agent signing expected to alter the landscape of the NFL the logical move would be changing the teams up with the EA Sports online update. The EA Sports corporation also renegotiated it’s license with the NFL, only second in value to the television rights for this year. ‘Midnight Madness’ will occur across the country again this year on the night of August 29th- a timeless tradition.

Screenshots below.

NFL Lockout Set to End. (Reportedly.)

Goodell and Smith.

And the men of America take a collective deep breath- it appears that there will indeed be football after all. It was a long struggle between the owners and the players, and the ones who were really suffering were the driving force behind the entire NFL- the fans. Now ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is reporting that Goodell and the NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith have ‘settled the last remaining issues’ and will put a deal together today. The new collective bargaining agreement will last ten years.

Once this new deal is finally agreed to, there will be a flurry of Free Agent signings, as teams have needs that range from practice squad players to elite superstars. Saturday at 2pm is the opening of the floodgates, and after that training camps and mini-camps will commence. Team facilities can open as soon as tomorrow. Maybe the Bills could take this opportunity to sign a left tackle or an outside linebacker- but then again, it is the Bills.